[Sandi in Halifax]

Thinking of investing in the new pentax 70-200 but and not getting the K-1, gonna use it on my K-3.
Is it worth the extra money above the Tamron or Sigma 70-200?????

Help????


Sandi

[rawr]

Sigma 70-200

Which version. There were 4. The latest is the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM.
And all are discontinued for K-mount (although there may still be some of the latest one floating around new). So for Sigma, the options may only be for 2nd hand.

Tamron's 70-200 Di LD (IF) Macro is optically great, but lacks weather sealing or stabilisation (like the newest Tamron), and the screw-drive AF may not be as fast as the new Pentax DFA (and won't be as quiet).

So it all depends on your priorities I guess as to whether the new Pentax is worth twice as much as the Tamron, or many times more than a used Sigma.

[kenspo]

Its two different worlds...Both in price, quality and what you get from the lense. If you can afford the Pentax one, its a no-brainer. If not, I'm shure both Tamron and Sigma does a decent job.

[Unregistered User 8]

Is it worth the extra money above the Tamron or Sigma 70-200????? Help????

I think your choice is like spending $X on a new Porsche or $X on a 2nd hand Ford. If money is not an issue, then the Pentax 70-200 would definitely be my choice. The firmware is compatible with the Pentax and I would be very confident that the optics are superior as well. When trying to justify a new purchase to myself ( which isn't very hard !! ), I divide the purchase price by 10 years. I purchased my K-3 in 2013 for $1328 Australian dollars, so $132 a year for 10 years is not much to pay for such a mighty camera. I think you will find that the enjoyment had by using such a lovely piece of kit is well worth it. Good luck with whichever lens you choose.

[nomadkng]

When trying to justify a new purchase to myself ( which isn't very hard !! ), I divide the purchase price by 10 years.

10 years? I don't think I've owned anything camera related for longer than 3. My K10 became a 20 which became a 5iis which became a 3 which became a 1 all since 2006.
I have bought and sold over 30 lenses on PF alone, not counting ebay.

But maybe I'll try your math when I debate whether to get the Pentax 24-70...lol

[6BQ5]

Unless you are shooting action shots then the lack of "fast" autofocus mechanisms may not hinder you. Even then, unless the action is up close, your focus point will be closer to the infinity end of the scale vs the close focus end of the scale. The amount of movement required to change your focus from 20' to infinity is really small. Something like the K-3 ought to complete the motion really, really quick. It's not like the camera is cycling the focus from one end to the other and back. I wouldn't worry about the screw drive mechanism. It's fine for the most part.

Weather sealing may be another issue. I wish my Tamron was weather sealed for a peace of mind. It's not ... so, oh well.

Optically the lens is just fine. I used it to shoot indoors at ISO 10000+, f/3.2, Tv = 1/400 and I'm perfectly happy with the results.

[robjmitchell]

On a K3 I would probably go the Tamron, unless you really want WR. On a FF the lens gets used more for portraiture than sports and then your looking at more subjective considerations like Bokeh. Obviously corner performance is more important too, not that we know how the pentax lens performs yet.

[monochrome]

10 years? I don't think I've owned anything camera related for longer than 3. My K10 became a 20 which became a 5iis which became a 3 which became a 1 all since 2006.
I have bought and sold over 30 lenses on PF alone, not counting ebay.

But maybe I'll try your math when I debate whether to get the Pentax 24-70...lol

I'm on my 9th year with my K10D (2007), but I also bought a K-01 (early 2012) and a K-3 (Dec. 2014) new, so I use 3 years for digital cameras. Lenses, IMHO, have a replacement life of 10 years, but they're essentially forever.

Mind you, 90% of my lenses are older than 35 years.

[Sandy Hancock]

I had the Sigma EX DG HSM II version of the 70-200/2.8, and recently got the DFA*70-200

Compared to the Sigma, the Pentax (in no particular order):

is much sharper wide open
shows *much* less chromatic aberration. Like almost zero!
focusses equally quickly on the K-3, but much more decisively
works perfectly with the HD1.4xTC (vs not at all)
is weather sealed
has better damped focus and zoom rings
has more AF modes and a focus limiter switch

The only negative is it is bigger and heavier, but I'll live with that

[Driline]

On a K3 I would probably go the Tamron, unless you really want WR

So basically what your'e saying is that the Tamron is = to the new Pentax D FA in every way except WR. Boy I'm going to save $1,000 then and buy the Tamron. You have to be pretty stupid to spend all that extra money on the Pentax just for WR

Yes....I'm being facetious.

[robjmitchell]

So basically what your'e saying is that the Tamron is = to the new Pentax D FA in every way except WR. Boy I'm going to save $1,000 then and buy the Tamron. You have to be pretty stupid to spend all that extra money on the Pentax just for WR

Yes....I'm being facetious.

Lol I did say probably! Obviously the $1000 dollars saved would be spent on something like a spare 31ltd!

[sjyoon20904]

I have dfa 70 200 AND tamron 70 200.

Pentax is built like a tank. Just for build quality, I don't think any lens can touch this one. Not even canon 70 200.

For optical perspectives, I don't think it is 2 or 3 times better than tamron. It's way better, but not $1000 better.

I'm keeping Pentax.
I think it's worth THAT much more money just for build quality alone.

AF on k3, I don't think Pentax is faster than tamron's screw drive. May be sigma is faster? But Pentax 70 200 gets there with confident. No hunting, or micro adjusting.

BTW my tamron lens is on eBay for sale less than $500 if you're interested. Shop around. You can get tamron at great price.

[Nicolas06]

So basically what your'e saying is that the Tamron is = to the new Pentax D FA in every way except WR. Boy I'm going to save $1,000 then and buy the Tamron. You have to be pretty stupid to spend all that extra money on the Pentax just for WR

Yes....I'm being facetious.

The tamron is already great and thanks to Pentax it focus quite fast on a K3 that provide good in body screw drive motor. It must lighter (almost half the weight) a bit smaller, and has kind of macro mode. Maybe the Pentax is better, but to justify the price difference... here you can get the tamron for less than 600€ while the 70-200 is more like 2000€...

I bet that in most cases, the picture would look great on both... But one is 1400€ less and half the weight. That's not to be overlooked. If you stay on APSC, for the price difference, you can get a K3 + a 17-50 and also a used DAltd to compliment. If you want to go FF, the price difference almost pay for the K1 body.

It is only if you have everything else already and that money is not an issue that the Pentax would justify. That and an assistant that carry the lens for you.

[Driline]

That and an assistant that carry the lens for you.

Is she hot? Blond? Because if that's the case I'm all over this lens

[normhead]

Is she hot? Blond? Because if that's the case I'm all over this lens

But then, you won't be thinking about photography will you?