Inactive Account Registered: September, 2010 Posts: 56 | | Review Date: October 2, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $750.00
| Rating: N/A |
| Pros: | brilliant pair line resolution trhought the focal range | | Cons: | under/over focus on K-7 | |
Brilliant lens. only donwside I have found so far is over/under focus. Unfortunatelly, it is different on 50 and 150 end. AF compensation fix the problem, but you have to keep in mind what end of lens do you use.
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Inactive Account Registered: January, 2008 Location: NC Posts: 787 | | Review Date: July 21, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $729.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | sharp, fast, silent, FTM | | Cons: | a little heavy | |
excellent lens. bought this instead of the 50-135.
the HSM is fast and quiet (not 100% silent)
optics are top notch
there is some back focus, but easily adjusted
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Veteran Member Registered: March, 2007 Posts: 3,381 | | Review Date: June 14, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $675.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | F2.8, lightweight, excellent build quality and optics, fast focus | | Cons: | no tripod collar, a bit soft at 150mm f2.8 | |
I like this lens a great deal. The optics are excellent and it is very sharp from 50-135mm at f2.8 and up with very good bokeh. IQ is on par with my DA 12-24mm. The softness at 150mm f2.8 is negligible and a bit of post processing/sharpening brings it up to par. Excellent build quality, fast focusing and its pricing are a plus. When mounted on the K7 it easily fits in a shoulder bag for a walk around lens for in-the-bag attachment to my bicycle handle bars. Sample images and info here:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/53035-sigma-50...hootout-4.html | |
Veteran Member Registered: March, 2008 Location: Oslo Posts: 309 | | Review Date: June 2, 2010 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Fast, light, focal length, IQ, build quality, HSM, sturdy hood | | Cons: | Flare resistance, magnification | |
Simply a very good lens, that offers a very useful focal length range, good speed, mostly very good sharpness, and reliable AF. It is quite a bit lighter and smaller than 70-200/2.8 zooms, and will for many people offer a more useful range on APS-C.
If you need weather sealing, the DA*50-135 is obviously a better choice, but other than that, it's mostly a matter of taste. The Sigma is somewhat cheaper, but generally very similar to the 50-135 in terms of IQ.
If it has a weak point, it would probably be at 150mm and f/2.8, but still far from bad, at least if you don't shoot newspapers and make graphs for a living. Also, itis somewhat prone to flare in sunlight. Using a hood helps a lot, though. No problems with other light sources, it's perfectly fine with stage lights.
Uses for this lens include 'general purpose walkaround' live shows (when some distance away from the stage) and portraits. I find the bokeh very nice, especially for portraits, very 'calm', even with difficult backgrounds.
All-in-all, I'd say it is a good work horse; not spectacular or exciting in any way, but does its job, and does not leave anything to be desired.
Update: It seems like adjusting the focus helped the lens gain sharpness at 150mm. I've upgraded the score to a '9'.
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