Originally posted by cport acoufap: Congrats to your order ;-) How is the AF of 11-18? Is it fast? Could you compare it to some other lenses you have? I am really thinking of this lens, but fast AF is a must for me ...
Hi, cport. It's my first *lens. Great build and look & feel. And my first lens offering such a wide field of view.
Years ago I tested the DA15 and DA12-24, made some test shots. DA12-24 delivered better images IMO, so optically the better lens. But I didn't like the built quality for the price tag (nearly 1.000,- ) - much worse than the DA*11-18. I loved the look & feel of the DA15. So I decided to go with the DA15. Great build quality and ergonomics are important parts to have some fun, not solely image quality. I had the Irix 15 nearly on order when Pentax announced the DA*11-18. I waited more than one year to get it.
The DA*11-18 offers a new world to discover including night photography. As I already posted I also can use it from 15 to 18 mm (15 w/o hood) with the K-1 - that's great!
Concerning AF speed I guess it's comparable to the DA18-135, if you compare both at 18mm. Nothing measured and it surely depends on light and focal length etc.
In general AF speed is not that important for these focal lengths IMO. At 11 mm and 2,2 meters distance of subject you already get infinity depth of field from 1,1m on!
My tip would be:
Disable af per release button, use af back button instead and you'll gain full control over af. You won't loose any time pushing the release button because af function will be decoupled. If the subject is "far" enough (... and that's really near) for most action you only need to prefocus on a near enough point.
Have a look at the app PhotoPills. You'll find a "pill" that tells you everything about the DoF of a "focal length - aperture - distance" constellation. With this info you'll be able to decide if you really need ultra fast af on this lens or not.