[lesmore49]

I have the 16-45 Pentax for more than a year on my K10D. It's a great lens....I use it as the general lens, for landscapes, portaits, buildings....I love it. Noisy lens....to be honest I've never noticed.

I find it's very sharp and clear. I use it a lot for photographing vintage cars and trucks, hot rods, sports cars, etc. I'm blown away with the clarity and colour rendition of the special interest car pictures, taken with this combination of the K10D and the 16-45 Pentax. I've never used the Sigma 17-70 so can't comment, unlikey to get the Sigma in my case, as I'm very satisfied with the 16-45.

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Last edited by lesmore49; 02-01-2009 at 09:01 AM.

[jeffvictorino]

Just got my Sigma 17-70mm all of its praises are confirmed true, relatively sharp across the focal range, usable and doesn't show much difference at wide open. Mine can do f/4 just a nudge below 70mm (i think its around 63-65mm).

The things i miss with pentax is, the quick shift AF, with quick shift I can the focus at ballpark range and let the AF do the minor adjustments, my K10D is having a hard time focus at low light when the focus is way off, but can confirm accurately if the focus just needs minor adjustments. Second is the way the sigma is zoomed, zooming out is counter-clockwise unlike my DA lenses. The zoomring is also stiff, probably to prevent creeping. Third is the hood, i almost exclusively use the hood every time because i prefer it over a UV filter for protection. Its very difficult to mount, unlike the pentax hoods, it also doesn't have an access hole for use with a CPL filter.

[Marc Sabatella]

Marc, I am thinking about getting the Pentax 17-70. Do you have this lens, is that any good?

I don't have it - I was just responding to the AF noise issue. It's pretty much a given that two similarly-sized screw-drive zooms are both going to be a lot louder than any SDM lens.

[lesmore49]

I bought a couple of after market lenses (not Sigma or Tamron) for my 1968 S1a back in the mid -70's I was never happy with them felt that they were a compromise...lenses that were designed to work with all different makes, such as Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Miranda, Konica, Minolta, Olympus, etc....boy makes you realize how many SLR camera companies have gone out of business since then.

There are , also a lot less,after market lens companies now, pretty well just Sigma and Tamron and although I haven't used them I get the impression from others that these brands are fine pieces of equipment.

But, even if these after market lens companies are making top notch equipment, I can't shake my previous, expensive, unhappy experience with after market, not the genuine Manufacturer's stuff, made specifically for their cameras.

I know it's just me, I need to get with the program and that, is it Tamron that makes some current Pentax lenses with the Pentax brand affixed.