[normhead]

I Posted a challenge thread for those interested, two images from the DA18-135, DA 17-50, 21 ltd, Sigma 18-250, and Sigma 8-16 for those who think they can tell the difference. Give it a try.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/12-post-your-photos/290283-landscape-yet-...challenge.html

[northcoastgreg]

I have the Tamron 17-50m and it is useful and fast, also sharp. But there is something about it. I just don't love it as a lens. I can't put my finger on it as to why. Maybe it's colour rendition does not have that Pentax look, even with processing in CameraRAW. Maybe it is the bokeh. I just don't know. The images just look a bit flat in comparison to a Pentax Lens. Hmmm.

This is an interesting observation. It reminds us that there can be more to image quality than just sharpness. I don't think there's any doubt that, spec wise, the Tamron 17-50 is better than the FA 24-90. The Tamron not only features a faster, constant aperture, but is consistently sharper, edge to edge, throughout it's zoom range, than the 24-90. But the FA 24-90 features those Pentax colors, and renders very well for a zoom. It produces images that look great to human perception, even when the edge to edge sharpness at the wide end can't be described as stellar.

My advice would be to look at images from the Tamron 17-50 from good photographers who don't over process their images and then decide whether the lens general look that the lens tends to produce fits one shooting style.

[JPT]

So it looks like my kit will be something like this.



The DA 10-17 FE and FA 77 in the front compartment and the (yet to be bought) K-5 IIs, FA 24-90 and the FA 35 in the main compartment.

I had the idea of also taking my trusty GR Digital for rectilinear B/W wide-angle shots, but in the process of using it to take this picture I discovered it has finally give up the ghost. It will hardly stay on long enough to take a photo, even with the battery fully charged. I've had almost 10 years of use out of it, so I can't complain.

[UncleVanya]

Bad battery?

[JPT]

Bad battery?

Good idea! I have the means to check that because my wife has a old Lumix camera of the same era that has the same battery.

I'm not all that hopeful, though. It was behaving very strangely with the menu only sometimes coming up and various buttons and controls only selectively working, but in a different way each time I powered up.

[audiobomber]

The Tamron bested the Sigma 17-50/2.8 and Pentax Flagship lens, the DA*16-50 in center sharpness in the Pentax forum comparison.

The Sigma is significantly sharper at f2.8 and f4 across the frame, according to DXOMark.
Click on MEASUREMENTS > SHARPNESS > FIELD MAP. (You can select different focal lengths and apertures).

Pentax smc PENTAX DA 16-45mm F4 ED AL on Pentax K-3 versus Tamron SP AF 17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical [IF] Nikon on Nikon D5200 versus Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM Nikon on Nikon D5200 - Side by side lens comparison - DxOMark

Every other pro review agrees: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/10-pentax-slr-lens-discussion/282988-land...ml#post3084167

[VoiceOfReason]

I'd still go with the 18-135 if getting a sealed body since you never know what the weather will bring, and I've been caught out in the weather with mine and didn't worry one bit.

[clackers]

I'd still go with the 18-135 if getting a sealed body since you never know what the weather will bring, and I've been caught out in the weather with mine and didn't worry one bit.

It's heresy, I know, but I can't remember the last time I saw a photo on this forum taken in the rain. :-)

I don't doubt that some are taken but they're obviously not keepers.

[UncleVanya]

It's heresy, I know, but I can't remember the last time I saw a photo on this forum taken in the rain. :-)

I don't doubt that some are taken but they're obviously not keepers.

Lol, I think it is more about having peace of mind in so so conditions. I've gone out in lightly misting rain that I wouldn't have ventured into because of wr. The threat of a sudden rain used to keep me in.

[clackers]

Yeah, FWIW my two zoom kit with the K-30 in rain is the 18-55 WR and DA* 50-135.

[arkav]

It's heresy, I know, but I can't remember the last time I saw a photo on this forum taken in the rain. :-)

I don't doubt that some are taken but they're obviously not keepers.

Concern about getting caught in the rain is part of it. For me, WR is also for when I'm pushing through wet vegetation and/or jumping across mud/water ( and not necessarily making it ).

[tibbitts]

It's heresy, I know, but I can't remember the last time I saw a photo on this forum taken in the rain. :-)

I don't doubt that some are taken but they're obviously not keepers.

That's an interesting point. I don't have any posted here, but I've taken pictures I like in light rain. I think if the rain is just a misty rain, you see a general degradation in sharpness/contrast, and you can partly overcome that. But when you get big blobs of rain I haven't figured out how to deal with that. It's not like snow where if you have big, slow-moving snowflakes, you can work that into the picture - especially if you can shelter the camera from the first several feet of falling snow, so the closer flakes aren't huge and out-of-focus.

I've never had a problem with not having WR lenses, however I have gotten water blobs inside my K100 (visible under the top LCD until it dried.) I believe WR is generally more important for the body than for the lens, although obviously it's a nice feature to have for any equipment.

[VoiceOfReason]

It's heresy, I know, but I can't remember the last time I saw a photo on this forum taken in the rain. :-)

I don't doubt that some are taken but they're obviously not keepers.

Here you go!

SLP at Night by Voice0fReason on DeviantArt

Not only was it wet, but it was cool too. I took a bunch that night and got some decent keepers.

[normhead]

Maybe not in the rain but in the dewey damp....


WR is great for walking through damp foliage, and yes, you do get water droplets on your gear. That being said, it rained 4 of the 6 days on this trip, and not one picture taken in the rain.

But on other trips.... taken with the Optio 90W, the problem is , on canoe trips, your gear is all in water proof pelican cases, if you open the box, you expose the not so waterproof lenses as well as everything else in the box to rain, so usually you don't want to take your DSLR out even if it's WR.


Some more Optio90w rain images..




Now if you were walking around town where you could duck into a coffee shop, it might be a different story.

[VoiceOfReason]

I've had people freaking out at me out with my camera in the rain in Tennessee, Germany, Belgium, and Michigan. I thought one Canon user was going to have a heart attack when I went through a small waterfall with my K5 and 18-135 one time. I educated him about Pentax and had him thinking about a second system for hiking.