[johnnyhuman]

I have a Sigma 24-70 HSM in Canon mount. It's a wonderful lens, I'm very happy with it. Very sharp all around. I don't have a Canon 24-70 to compare it with, but I did shoot a test against my SMC-M 50/1.7 mounted on a 5dii. Essentially, I couldn't see any real difference between the zoom and the prime, which impressed the heck out of me. (You can see the results of that and a few other samples here: Arthur Domagala )

[soccerjoe5]

The Sigma is so nice and compact, compared to the Canon and Nikkor

So, devisor, what did you end up doing? Are yuou still shooting with the DA* or something else?

[Jonson PL]

Hi Eric,
You could consider the FA* 28-70/2.8 AL.

Btw, Benji was talking positively about the 12-24/4 :
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/696467-post1.html

yes, I've been shooting with K10D and *istDS on the Antarctica & South Georgia. One day my K10D + Sigma 100-300 were TOTALY wet after few hours of rain on one South Georgia beach. K10D stopped working - but after 12 hours in very dry & warm cabin it started to work again. To say a true tempreatures in January are rather over 0 C.

In Poland during winter we have from time to time -10 degrees and even less. It never stops me to use my *istDS. If it is kept inside my parka it works without problems. Even if it stops because of cold batteries I always have warm backup in my inside pocket.

Good point to remember, always keeping a warm spare battery inside the parka