| Latest Review Posted | SMC Pentax-DA 17-70mm F4 AL [IF] SDM
The background i read on this lens is that it was built as an extension of the very popular DA 16-45. I do a fair amount of photography for a live performance theatre (plays), and i've always had to change out my Tamron 28-75 f2.8 when i had a need below the 28. Although this lens is not as fast as the Tamron, the F4 is suitable throughout its range, perhaps slight softness at the 70mm end. Except for dark scenes, this will give me great flexibility in shooting for most plays.
Lens creep is a real anoyance to me and its good to see that this lens zoom is so well damped that is has none.
The lens review site, photozone.de, complimented it highly:
The Pentax DA SMC 17-70mm f/4 AL SDM is undoubtedly the most desirable standard zoom lens in the current Pentax lens lineup. The resolution characteristic is very good without any significant weakness.
http://www.photozone.de/pentax/408-pentax_1770_4?start=2
The photozone.de review was dated Dec 2008 and was done on a K10. I've noticed that on the lenses retested by photozone.de on a 16 mp K5, there is often an increase in resolution by up to 19%.
I know that in some of the earlier reviews, some problems with the SDM were encountered. Latest polls on PF shows that there is a marked decrease in SDM problems across the board. The plus side of SDM is the lenses are very quiet when shooting at events. And this particular lens has the fastest focusing speed of any of my, now 3, sdm lenses.
I'm going to enjoy this lens a lot... |
