| Author: | | Senior Member Registered: July, 2008 Location: Sammamish, WA Posts: 161
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 2, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $80.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | sharpness, color | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 6
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Autofocus: 8
New Or Used: New
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I've had this lens for years and it's still working great on my K5.
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: February, 2011 Posts: 2
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 9, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $140.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Very nice sharp lens with good colours | | Cons: | Non so far. | | Sharpness: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K-5
Autofocus: 9
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I bought this lens with Ebay (Germany) for only $ 140,--. I think this is a very nice lens, with good colours, sharpness and AF. Like it better than the kitlens. Well built.
I bought it to use on a K-x, but I tested it on a K-5. Results are very nice.
Good quality for its price!
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: August, 2011 Location: Leeds Posts: 49 | | Review Date: February 11, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $30.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Sharp image, nice colour rendition | | Cons: | occasionally hunts | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
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I managed to snag one of these from ebay at a ridiculously cheap price to replace my 18-55 WR kit lens. the lack of the WR is a shame but in all other respects this is a gorgeous walk around lens and an excellent buy over the 18-135WR pentax offering due to price.
I recently went for a walk with this around london on a very variable day for weather and light. It coped well but did hunt slightly when things got very gloomy, but a quick re-acquire of the target and it was fine. Not noisy at all, good colour rendition of subjects and paired up with my K3 this was great to use.
Samples were all shot handheld.
_IMG1081 by tellan3397, on Flickr
_IMG0974 by tellan3397, on Flickr
_IMG1186 by tellan3397, on Flickr
_IMG1176 by tellan3397, on Flickr
_IMG1271 by tellan3397, on Flickr
_IMG1265 by tellan3397, on Flickr
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: December, 2010 Location: Phoenix Arizona Posts: 893
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 21, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $172.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | HSM, more telephoto range than kit lens | | Cons: | AF/MF selector on lens, zoom turns opposite of Pentax lenses | |
Good all around use lens, lives on my K-50. Provides sharp images, I haven't noticed any vignetting. Has a heavy, solid feel. Focusing is fast and silent. Only problems, when switching to manual focus, you need to slide a switch on the lens to release the focus ring to manually turn it. And, the zoom ring turns in the opposite direction of Pentax lenses. I would rate this lens comparable to the Pentax 18-135 WR in image and focus performance. For half the price.
| | | | | | | Senior Member Registered: September, 2012 Posts: 100 | | Review Date: October 11, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $180.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Very good sharpness, colorful, AF speed and accuracy | | Cons: | f4 | |
Buy it from Japan. Used, offcourse!
I take it with a borrow K20D to a wedding. Almost is verygood.
The lens (and sigma lines, so) create the red color very fine.
HSM lens are very fast and reliable.
Wish it's a 2.8 constant  | | | | | New Member Registered: May, 2012 Location: Brasov, Romania Posts: 5 | | Review Date: April 1, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | sharpness, built, price, DOF | | Cons: | distortion at the wide angle, big barrel at 18mm | |
Sharp enough, all around good for vacation.
Fast and accurate AF. f/3.8@ 18mm is a joke, in fact is about f/4
| | | | | New Member Registered: May, 2012 Location: Brasov, Romania Posts: 5 | | Review Date: April 1, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | sharpness, built, price, DOF | | Cons: | distortion at the wide angle, big barrel at 18mm, | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 8
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Sharp lense; f/3,8 at 18mm is a joke, in fact is about f/4
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: April, 2011 Location: New England Posts: 27
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 27, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $345.00
| Rating: 8 |
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Bought this lens as a starter zoom .. Have been very happy with the results I have gotten with it  | | | | | New Member Registered: June, 2012 Posts: 8
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 31, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $395.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Basically everything - sharpness, autofocus speed especially, look and feel | | Cons: | Gets to f5.6 a tiny bit early but is sha-AR-p from when it gets there | |
I was blown away by this lens, I expected mediocre image quality because in my experience, variable f-stop lenses all are, and Sigma's non-EX range is average as well - but not this one.
Sharpness: It is SO much more than you'd expect. At f5.6 when it first forces you that aperture (about 65mm) you think "Damn, it's gone to f5.6" but then you see the result and you don't care. It is seriously up there with pro grade lenses like the Tamron 28-75 (stopped to f5.0) or even the DA* 50-135 wide open.
Range: Well... you know the range. Incredible when put together with the shaprness.
Bokeh: Nothing to complain about.
Autofocus: SCHMOKIN'. I can get someone jogging straight at me to be in focus.
Handling: It's REALLY nice except for the small complaint that it zooms backwards. Other than that is feels much like a DA*.
I add another category with "Macro": which it does TECHNICALLY not well at about 1:3.7, but it looks pretty darn good when it does, and 125mm is a great length for macro. Stopping to f6.3 or f8.0, the sharpness is well and truly good enough to crop about 4x over (if the ISO isn't too high).
All in all, my most used lens.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: June, 2011 Location: Near Sydney, NSW Posts: 331
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 27, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $348.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Great range, nice feel, good enough optics, HSM superquick focus!! | | Cons: | I suppose it could be faster but it would probably double in price | |
If I could give the autofocus on this a 20, I would.
Everything else is absolutely fine, don't get me wrong (and I have some seriously nice lenses to compare it to) but there's basically a few jobs I bought this for that basically no other lens can do. I call it the "recessional" lens - because if you've ever tried to shoot a wedding and get the bride and groom as they do a Usain Bolt down the aisle, you'll know that nothing but the fastest autofocus will do. Now at this stage you might say "it's not the only lens with HSM" - no, but it's the only one that is A) still available new and B) with the perfect range. The couple get closer to you much faster than you can backpedal - so you can start at 125mm and then pull back, all the while keeping them in focus at f5.6. I wouldn't be using faster than f5.6 even if I had it, because as I said - they're basically running, and you need a bit of a buffer in depth of field.
So basically, I'm saying this lens is amazing for back and forth moving objects - children too, for them it's great.
I bought this because I was curious about certain aspects of it, but now, it'd be hard to part with.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: July, 2009 Location: London Posts: 212
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 20, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $300.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Good feel - value | | Cons: | | |
Before I bought the lens, I compared Pentax, Canon and Nikon equivalents using data from the German Photozone site. The results made me think this ought to be a good buy. The lens has two switches, zoom lock and AF/MF. The AF/MF is handily position to the top left, making it easy to switch mode. The focus from end to end is only 1/8 of a complete turn. The autofocus speed using my K20, was not startling but reliable, even down to quite low light levels.
The lens at 18mm showed no visible vignetting, at 125mm no significant CA and acceptable sharpness. Given the price and the performance of comparable lens, I would judge this SIGMA as very good value.
110mm f8
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: November, 2010 Location: Melbourne Posts: 294
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 8, 2011 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Silent autofocus; not too heavy; solid build | | Cons: | Soft at the long end; occasional AF accuracy issues | |
I opted for this lens instead of the standard Pentax 18-55 kit lens when I bought my Kx. I was really happy to have the extra reach, and I was very happy with the solid build quality (the plastic Sigma uses to make lenses is far more solid than Tamron's, for example).
I've used this lens for a variety of occasions, including landscape, portraits, and even a fashion show. Having said that, I wouldn't recommend using it for a fashion show as it just isn't fast enough at the long end
Anyway, I think for the price, this is a nice lens for beginners and intermediate users. I will eventually upgrade to something with a similar focal range but faster aperture, but for now it does a good job 
Some photos:
Will add more (which aren't in any of my albums) at a later time. Cheers.
| | | | | New Member Registered: May, 2011 Location: Brisbane Posts: 4
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 21, 2011 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Great image quality, not too big or heavy, feels right | | Cons: | None | |
I'm just so happy with this lens. Had it 9 months now. The sharpness, the boken and the colour are great. Delivers way more than it cost. And get this, I got it as the kit lens with my Kx for just $675 all up. It feels really good sitting on the front of the Kx. The Kx is so tiny that the lens actually gives you something to hold on to.
Yeah I could say it that its not fast enough for low light but you don't get that at this price. I knew that it was 3.8 - 5.6 when I bought it. Guess thats why I bought a Metz 58 AF1.
Speaking of flash ..... the lens is big enough to cast a shadow when using the pop-up flash. Yeah I guess thats the other reason why I bought a Metz 58 AF1.  | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: April, 2009 Location: Ireland Posts: 1,048
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 7, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $195.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Very sharp, quiet and quick focusing. | | Cons: | Heavy, big. | |
I bought this lens off e-bay UK after reading the first 4 reviews here, mine is the DC 3.8 - 5.6 HSM version. I thought, rightly or wrongly, that a 7x zoom lens would probably be better optically than an 18-200mm 11x and after considering the photos I take could not see the need for the extra length, I have a 70-300mm Tamron for that.
It was bought because I knew I was going to have to do quite a bit of traveling and I found the 18-55 II kit lens a bit short and I did not want to keep changing to the 50-200mm kit lens which is now largely redundant.
It is a very nice lens and I find my copy very sharp, it's disadvantages are the weight which I find trying after carrying it for a day and it's size, it's not that discrete a lens. I find the 18 - 125mm coverage just fine for me, together with my Sigma 10-20mm it covers just about every normal subject I can think of. I have had no trouble with lens creep.
Am I going to get rid of this lens and go back to the Kit 18-55 II because of it's lighter weight - maybe, am I going to sell it - NO!.
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: March, 2009 Location: EU Posts: 32
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 4, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $310.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | handy range, sharp, great image quality, solid build | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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I bought it without much conviction 1 year ago. Just needed some walk around zoom (longer then 18-55 kit). The Sigma became my favorite and basic zoom lens on DC.
Sufficiently sharp, good colors rendition, HSM works quiet and fast, is made of high quality plastic it seems to be the same as EX sigma lenses - no gold strap and case only
Highly recommended!!!
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