| Author: | | Veteran Member Registered: June, 2007 Location: Singapore Posts: 348
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 4, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $300.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | sharpness, bokeh, close focusing function. | | Cons: | Mainly QC issue. Bad copies of this lens gives it an undeserved bad rep. Secondly, prone to flare with the light facing the lens. | |
Now I realise that most zoom lenses don't merit a 10 / 10 rating - not many primes merit a 10 / 10. I have rated this as such, and there needs to be a basis for comparison.
Now, well known primes that I would rate 10 / 10 are: the 3 FA Ltds, Voigtlander 125mm/2.5, among others. The basis of my rating is that these lens achieve perfectly what they are built to do, and they're pretty darn good to handle, and have an additional 'omph' factor, that gives them their unique characteristics.
For zooms, I haven't wanted to rate any 10 / 10 before. zooms I owed were F 35 - 80 (kit), FA 28 - 105 / 3.2 - 4.5, FA 80 - 320, Tokina 28 - 70 / 2.6 - 2.8, F 17 - 28 fisheye.
The sigma 24 - 70 is different from the other zooms I've come across. It compares very well against the Tokina 28 - 70 / 2.6 - 2.8 I used to have, in terms of sharpness across the whole range, and much much better CA control. Pretty sharp wide open for a zoom lens - images are just very slightly soft, but very useable. Bokeh is creamy. IQ is inferior to the FA Ltd primes, but only half a notch, which is saying something.
Now, compared against a prime, the IQ from the sigma won't be 10/10 - but on its on merits, given the flexibility a zoom offers over a prime, the close focus function, and everything considered, then yes - the sigma does merit a 10/10.
Finally, shots from the lens, as below:
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: November, 2010 Location: Hueytown, Alabama Posts: 1,508
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 20, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $160.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Focus is quick and accurate with K-1,Build,Plenty sharp for portraits | | Cons: | Small zoom ring | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-1
Autofocus: 9
New Or Used: 10
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 IMGP0782 by Tim Crumly, on Flickr
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: January, 2010 Location: Otago Posts: 38 | | Review Date: April 28, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $650.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Versatile, sharp, performs well in most light | | Cons: | subject to focus issues | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 8
Value: 10
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I think this lens is a little underrated here - but that may just be my emphasis on value for money!
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: August, 2007 Location: Metro Detroit, Michigan Posts: 50 | | Review Date: December 4, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $650.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, Bokeh at 2.8, lens AF/MF switch, Lens hood | | Cons: | A little large | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 8
Value: 9
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This lens has been a very handy lens to keep a hold of when I've been shooting weddings. A great overall lens to keep on your Pentax for all of the time that you need it. You can bounce it down to 2.8, and throw it as wide open as possible for the brightness. A great... great lens.
| | | | | | | Junior Member Registered: March, 2010 Location: Texas Posts: 48 | | Review Date: December 3, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $630.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Fast AF, Constant f2.8, looks impressive | | Cons: | Heavy, Large, 82mm filters are expensive | |
I have the HSM version which is almost twice as much as the Macro new. I got a pretty good deal on a basically new lens which was probably returned because someone didn't like it. The images can be extremely sharp but it'll take me some more play time to find out exactly how. Wide open is a little soft but it will focus quietly and accurately. One of the best lens I have at the moment and is definitely worth it for the price I paid.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: February, 2009 Location: San Mateo, CA Posts: 179 | | Review Date: November 8, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $339.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Build quality, sharpness, color, easy focus | | Cons: | weight, size | |
Just got the Sigma 24-70 Friday evening (2 days ago), from KEH, who rated it EX+. It came without box or manual, but with caps and hood. Only the minor marks on the mount showed it had been used.
Having read all the reviews of this lens I could find, I rushed into some low-light testing (in my kitchen at night) to see if I would encounter the focus problems reported by others. I’m happy to report that my copy does very well in low light when focused either by my K20D, set for single (vs. continuous) autofocus, or manually. The very large glass elements light up the viewfinder enough, even for my 64-year-old eyes. The deep DOF seems to help focusing also. Both of the following 100% crops were focused under normal “kitchen-level” incandescent lighting and shot with the built-in flash.
Autofocus 55mm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19123528@N03/4084958872/in/set-72157622633144019/
Manual Focus 70mm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19123528@N03/4084959284/in/set-72157622633144019/
Haven’t had time to do much natural light testing outdoors yet, but what little I have done is encouraging. Colors are rich both indoors and out—I should note that I leave the image tone set on Natural in my K20D, but this lens still saturates pretty strongly, especially greens.
So far so good—I’ll update this post when I’ve done some more shooting.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: March, 2009 Location: Perth Australia Posts: 1,514 | | Review Date: April 3, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $600.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | range, iq, build, speed, focus ring | | Cons: | weighty | |
A really fantastic lens. Comes highly recommended by http://www.photozone.de/ (see for full detailed review)
No real flaws to this lens, its great for macros to landscapes!
 | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: September, 2006 Posts: 5,697 | | Review Date: March 18, 2008 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | sharp, dual focus system | | Cons: | size, weight | |
This lens is a pleasure to use in most shooting environments.
I'm actually finding myself grabbing it over my favorite prime lenses more often than I'd like to admit.
I'm finding it sharper than I would have dreamed possible, the colours are rich. And the dual focus system allows you to manually focus when required with autofocus engaged. Without causing any internal damage, like you would with some auto lenses.
The only things that I'm not overly fond of are the size and weight.
It'll give you a workout if your not already used to bigger lenses.
I managed to get this pic with it while on a short walk during a windy spring day.
and here's the 100% crop of the fly.
I think that it would have been even better on a calm day, since it was tough focusing on the moving object.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: February, 2011 Location: Brno Posts: 295
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 3, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | FF lens, build quality, fast focusing, aperture ring, F2.8 | | Cons: | Contrast could be better | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Camera Used: K3, K5, K20D, MZ-10
Autofocus: 8
New Or Used: New
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I bought this lens for a good price in used condition. F2.8 is quite usable, but lacks contrast and detail a bit when compared to modern Sigma 17-50/2.8. Some CA is also visible. F4 setting is very usable. It seems to be sharpest around 35-50mm range. Thanks to 9 aperture blades the bokeh is pleasant and nicely circular.
AF is fast and +/- accurate as camera body allows.
Lens is quite big and heavy, built on a high quality standards. Lens zoom creep is jus slight in part of the range, but my lens is used. Other parts ale nice and stiff.
Lens hood seems to be small sometimes.
Also the reversed design, where lens extends towards to 24mm and retracts towards the 70mm end, is a bit strange.
But keeping in mind how old this lens is and how cheap it was for an F2.8 autofocus zoom, it delivers a lot.
It would be interesting to try it on FF digi camera..
 | | | | | Junior Member Registered: January, 2011 Posts: 45 | | Review Date: April 16, 2014 | Not Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | fast lens, everyday shooting, fast AF | | Cons: | soft at f2.8, heavy, big | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 6
Value: 7
Camera Used: K5iis
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I borrowed this lens for 3 days. Used enough for the three days.
I should mention that a copy I had was bad copy, that was dropped previously and zoom ring was stiff. But optically it was perfect. AF works fine, not Back and Front focus issue.
Sharpness, aberration: I gave 8/10. because it is soft for EX line up lens at f2.8. very soft and CA appears through the frame even at focus point. But when stopped down to f4, it produces sharp images, CA almost gone. Very sharp between f4.0-11.0. And also flare is a big issue.
Bokeh: good, colorful blurry background. bokeh shape is almost round on center. but on edges, it loses round shape.
Handling, Autofocus: way too heavy to carry around if you use external flash and battery grip at same time. I don't use strap, but I installed the strap because I am worried of total weight. Zoom ring is too small. I liked its big focus ring and AF/MF switch operation. Pull the focus ring for MF and push it back for AF. when in AF, focus ring rotates freely and affects nothing. but beware when in MF mode on the lens. If your body in AF mode and when you press AF button on the body rotates the focus ring may cause a damage if you are holding the focus ring. AF is faster than my Sigma 17-50 HSM. Very fast, believe me.
Value: it is around $350 for used ones. I think it is overprice for this lens.
I won't recommend this lens to anyone who looking for pro quality F2.8 zoom lens.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: April, 2011 Location: Arizona Posts: 888 | | Review Date: June 19, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $340.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | sharp enough, good build, handling | | Cons: | flare, lens hood | |
Good lens for the price, decently sharp wide open and really sharp stopped down a bit. Build is good enough, although doesnt compare to the 70-200 HSM II. autofocus is about average for this kind of lens.
cons? the hood. Its too small and a tad flimsy. Flare handling could be better. I dislike the finish, although that's a matter of taste really.
bottom line: good lens for the money, although there are times where i catch myself wishing i picked up the tamron instead. Had the tamron gone to 24, this would not be in my bag right now (saving up for the HSM version currently)
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: August, 2010 Location: Toronto Posts: 13,667 | | Review Date: November 15, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | good low light, good walk around range, reasonablly sharp | | Cons: | cna be heavy when used without grip on camera, manual focus some times quicker inlow light | |
Not as consistently sharp as a prime, but it's low light performance is good, Some CA wide open but lightroom profile deals with all but the worst example. occasional flare problems but the hood helps
Over all if I could only keep one lens in y collection this would be it right now
recent shot outside the 100 Club at midnight f2.8 iso 1600 very little post done oh and that's not Wlater it's John Catto of the Diodes and many other bands
Walter Lure at the 100 Club by Eddie Smith, on Flickr
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: December, 2009 Posts: 45 | | Review Date: April 21, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $300.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Sharp everywhere | | Cons: | Not sharp for non-macro close-ups | |
I use mine when carrying my Sigma 70-200/2.8 also. From medium distance to infinity the lens is very sharp. Non-macro closeups are a little soft wide open but this may actually be a portrait design feature. Compared to the Sigma 24-60/2.8 which is sharp at any distance the 24-70 seems heavy. But still won't trade mine away.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: September, 2008 Location: Cape Town, South Africa Posts: 107 | | Review Date: April 21, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $550.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | nice big, sturdy size, fast focusing, pin sharp, colors, contrasty | | Cons: | Sigma's erratic quality control | |
First thing you notice when you use this lens, compared to the cheaper pentax kit and zoom lenses, is how fast it focus'es - very quickly!!
and it delivers pin sharp, deep rich colors and very contrasty photos.
Unfortunately, you sometimes have erratic quality problems with Sigma lenses, and that is the problem I had.
when I first got it, it either took pin sharp images or totally out of focus images, notwithstanding the k10d giving the in-focus beep.
Took mine to be checked out by Sigma and got it back 3 days later with them having to reset the focusing mechanism inside the lens.
since then no problems and works like a dream.
sadly, whilst I wanted the F2.8 for very low light work, the pentax doesn't back it up, and had the lens hunting and hunting until I eventually packed it all away.
So the F2.8 will give you greater low light ability, but you will reach the limits of your camera before you reach the limit of the lens.
great lens - definitely highly recommended, giving it an 8 instead of a 10 due to the initial quality issue.
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: October, 2007 Location: Niagara, Wisconsin U.S. of Ay. Posts: 394 | | Review Date: December 16, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $390.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Low / poor lighting capabilities. | | Cons: | Heavy, Flairing, focus searching occasionally. | |
Let me start by saying I am no expert, and my terminology probably isn't correct.
The lens is plenty fast enough and takes fairly sharp photo's throughout its range.
For a lens that has an 82mm filter size, you would think it would have a large glass. It doesn't. The curvature of the front glass is very large and any light that hits it from an angle results in a flairing effect. The hood does very little to help. Care must be taken to avoid bright light sources at the lenses outer edge, such as arena lighting, etc...
I recommend this lens because it is reasonably priced for a 2.8 and its range makes it an everyday lens.
I hope this helps.
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