Author: | | Junior Member Registered: March, 2009 Location: EU Posts: 32 | Review Date: March 1, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $100.00
| Rating: 8 |
Pros: | macro abilities, useful zoom range, fast AF, light | Cons: | plastic built, prone to flare and CA | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 8
Value: 9
| | As for macro I would rate it 9/10, apart from this my rate would be 7/10 so I put 8
I use it especially to shoot macro but generally this is not my favorite lens.
It is very light so AF is one of the fastest (similar to FA 28-70). Sometimes suffers from CA and has prone to catch flare. Should be stopped down to be quite sharp, the best is F7,1-11. Plastic bayonet - as for now nothing to worry.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: November, 2010 Location: California Posts: 2,223 | Review Date: February 24, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $60.00
| Rating: 10 |
Pros: | My carry around lens - small, fits well and has incredible IQ | Cons: | None so far | | This lens has become my only kit lens that I take anywhere. I bought it after looking at the reviews in this forum and after seeing the photograph of the airplane landing above this comment. The macro is just formidable. I use it more often that any. It is a portrait lens too. All the good things said above. I do not understand the comments about the cheap built. This lens looks and feels sturdy. It is the II version. All automatic. The macro botton is just fine, you have to read the manual to understand how to use it the first time after that is just fine.
The first picture is out of focus, it is my fault. I have a focussed image in Flicker. I will post it here later on. | | | | Veteran Member Registered: November, 2009 Location: Brisbane Posts: 3,561 | Review Date: February 14, 2011 | Not Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 2 |
Pros: | cheap | Cons: | Very poorly built. | | I got this lens brand new in 2002 as a kit with a Pentax film body, optically it was fine as a "kit lens" but i rarely used it.
Last year i pulled it out to use, and after a couple of weeks the lens fell apart in my hands and it was still like new. Very poor construction.
| | | | Senior Member Registered: July, 2008 Location: Makawao, HI Posts: 195 | Review Date: January 10, 2011 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 7 |
Pros: | Cheap, sharp | Cons: | Cheap? | | This lens was free when I bought my K10D second-hand. I've seen them on ebay for $10....worth at least 2-3x that.
Sometimes finicky to move the lever out of macro. In bright, mid-day sun, it can get goofy with exposure (maybe the K10's got a prob w/ the lens?)
I'm sure there're better offerings around, but it does put out some really good, sharp photos at a very useful range. | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: February, 2010 Location: California Posts: 1,602 | Review Date: May 19, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $30.00
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | $, good IQ (sharp), macro | Cons: | cheaply built | | As I do with all of my reviews, I take into account how much I paid for the lens. This lens will not compete with the Pentax 17-70 or and similar lens but it is a very good lens. Pictures are very sharp when stopped down to 8. Stopping down to 8 also corrects the CA. Pretty much this lens is very good at 8 and above.
Good lens to bring on a hike or vacation. If it breaks, who cares, it was $30.
Well worth $30.
| | | | Veteran Member Registered: April, 2009 Location: Waldorf, MD Posts: 1,861 | Review Date: March 1, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 8 |
Pros: | Sharp, lightweight, 1:2 Macro, Inexpensive | Cons: | A little cheaply built | | This lens is a solid buy. Mine has a metal mount, as I've heard some use a plastic lens mount, but mine does not. Brand new for $40, it's a good, sharp 28-80 zoom. Focus travel is small, so it focuses quickly, even in Macro at 80mm. It's very light, so it's not a burden to carry around, though it does feel as though it'd break if you dropped it.
A really really good lens, especially for the price.
| | | | Inactive Account Registered: February, 2010 Location: cali Posts: 22 | Review Date: February 18, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $35.00
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | Cheap Macro - Fast Focus | Cons: | | | Here are my first 2 shots out of the box ... sure I'll get better when I get the feel of it more. | | | | Veteran Member Registered: August, 2009 Location: Łódź, Poland and Riverside, California, U.S.A Posts: 488 | Review Date: November 29, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $28.00
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | Good zoom range, light weight, cheap! | Cons: | average build quiality, rotating front lens (not a neg. for me but can be for those that use filters other than UV) | | I bought this lens to fill the mid range zoom in my kit. I run a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8, a Pentax SMC-M 50 f/1.4, and the kit lens Pentax SMC DA 18-55 f/3.5-5.6. With nothing above 50mm, I decided to give this lens a whirl. I was pleasantly surprised at the image quality. It's very sharp, focuses fairly quickly, and has a Macro function which is an added bonus. I have found that the camera needs to be on to switch out of macro focusing, or else the button is stuck. The lens focuses by rotating the front part of the lens, which can be a problem for those that use circular polarizers or other filters. In comparison of build quality, it is on par with the kit lens. It does have a tighter focus ring than the kit lens. If you need a decent midrange zoom that doesn't break the bank, this is the obvious choice. It's light, with a good reach, and it's cheap! For the price, it's the biggest bang for the buck.
| | | | Site Supporter Registered: April, 2009 Location: Hampstead, NC Posts: 17,290 | Review Date: November 5, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 8 |
Pros: | Decent sharpness for zoom, quick autofocus | Cons: | macro button only works if camera on | | I bought this lens on Ebay for $20, and it turned out to be a steal. The lens is pretty sharp and auto focus is quick. It's pretty small and seems to be built well. It's not as heavy as a Sigma 28-70 epsilon, but it's significantly heavier than the Pentax FA of the same focal length. The only problem is the macro switch tends to be a little difficult to switch sometimes. The macro feature does work well.
I have had a similar lens in Pentax, Promaster, and the other Sigma (this is the II, the other has no designation but I'll call it the I for this review) I took some test shots of some target images with the two Sigmas using a tripod and aperture priority. I shot images with each lens at 28mm, 50mm, and 80mm, at f14, f11, f8, and wide open. The following observations were true across the range. The focus target in these images is the Morton Salt girl. The II has a little better color and has better contrast. While the I and II are very similar in sharpness near the focus area, it drops off in the I as you move away from center. This was a surprise.
Here's a few of the test shots:
Sigma 28-80mm 1:3.5-5.6 Macro 28mm f14.0:
Sigma 28-80mm 1:3.5-5.6 II Macro 28mm f14.0:
Sigma 28-80mm 1:3.5-5.6 Macro 53mm f8.0:
Sigma 28-80mm 1:3.5-5.6 II Macro 50mm f8.0: | | |