DA 17-70 question

I have the Pentax K100d , so I know this lens will not autofocus with my camera.
But I love the range and I know that one day i will upgrade my camera.

How easy is this lens to autofocus ?

How is the quality of close up pictures I mean semi macro ?

I would love to see shots of close up subjects done with this lens.

I know the other alternative would be the Sigma 17-70 but I would like to keep the same filtersize 67 mm so I can use all my lenses with the same filter.

Thanks for the input.

Ulrich

http://www.flickr.com/photos/uloo/

Anyone ?

The Sigma 17-70 is a very good lens. So if you really want AF and the range you may consider dropping your filtersize demand and get the Sigma. However you could also consider getting a newer PENTAX body Switching to the K-7 has made me a happy Pentaxian.
--
Jan Rinze
http://picasaweb.google.com/janrinze

I have the DA17-70 and like it very much. As I have a K-7 I normally use it in AF mode but yor question stimulated me to try a macro shot in manual mode. It is quite usable but you should be aware that the focusing ring is very narrow and the amount of rotation from close to infinity is quite small so you need a steay hand to achieve fine focus. The review on Photozone is a very fair account of this lens.

That looks very promising.
Thanks for your effort.
But I think I will go with the Sigma 17-70

Good choice and you'll save a load of money. With all that money you save you can get a filter and still have £200 $200 or whatever currency left over to put towards a K7 or whatever upgrade.

Funnily enough I've just been fooling around with my sigma 17-70 while cleaning my kit. I haven't used it for a few months and forgot how good it is...

You get F/2.8 up to 21mm which is handy, some great sharp close ups and the performance is stunning pretty much all across the range. Yes, slight vignette at either end but stopped down there are no issues. I took a few shots earlier at around 58mm f5.6 and the sharpness,contrast and colour is superb...

The only caveat is perhaps the size which after having the DA40mm glued to my K10 for the last month is quite noticable, particularly when zoomed out and focusing close. It's farily heavy but nothing abnormal in its class.

For that price you can't really grumble about the relatively insignificant issues with this standard zoom.

Go for it.

Uloo said:

That looks very promising.
Thanks for your effort.
But I think I will go with the Sigma 17-70

Click to expand...

I think you are probably right as you will enjoy AF while waiting to upgrade. The only other point to consider is that if you upgrade to a K-7 you get the nice feature of lens correction but it only works with Pentax DA,DA L or D FA lenses. It is not a big issue as of course such corrections can be applied by PP software to any make of lens if needed anyway.

Archie