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January 09, 2007
[ THE HOLIDAY TEST BENCH ]
DPEXPERT's equipment reviews and articles are spin-offs from columns written for The Age Livewire section and the Sydney Morning Herald technology website. This means that we can't post full reviews here until they have first appeared in The Age/SMH.
Right now Livewire is appearing in a shrunken holiday form so there Is no Imaging section, but that doesn't mean we have been idle! Oh no! We have been busy, busy, busy.
The Pentax K10D has been and gone through our hands and the full review will appear in February.
What did we think of it? Amazing value for money. A 10.2mp camera with in-body image stabilisation, auto dust removal, a brilliant white balance fine-tuning system, mirror lock-up and DNG as one of its native RAW formats.
We tried the camera with a Pentax 16-45mm lens which is an excellent optic. Note the modest zoom range — there is nothing ostentatious about this lens, it is simply top construction and optical quality.
The Pentax K10D plus Pentax 16–45 lens has a RRP of $1899. This is a real challenge to Nikon and Canon who cannot match Pentax in this price range.
The Panasonic Lumix L1 is also in dpexpert's hands at the moment. This is the first digital single lens reflex from Panasonic and is a product of collaboration between Panasonic, Leica and Olympus.
The L1 uses the four/thirds lens/sensor combination originally developed by Olympus and Kodak. The sensor in the L1 has 7.4mp and the lens carries the Leica name although we presume it is not made in Germany.
Wherever it is made it is a superb optic. In fact it is so good that it almost justifies the extraordinary price that is asked for the camera. At about $3800 this looks like a camera priced well above what the market will bear, considering that inside it is pretty much an Olympus E330 and has the shortcomings of that camera.
The achilles heel of the Panasonic and the Olympus is the small, incredibly dim viewfinder. This is a result of the decision to fit these cameras with so-called "live view" LCD screens, making them the only DSLRs that use the LCD screen as an optional viewfinder. This is achieved by doing away with the prism in the viewfinder and replacing it with mirrors arranged horizontally. The image is split between the optical viewfinder and the "live view" sensor. It is the answer to a technological question that no one asked.
Apart from that the Lumix L1 is beautifully made [there is a Leica badged version of the camera – the badge will set you back about $1000! snobbery is not cheap] with the shutter speed and aperture dials exactly where they should be on a camera. There is no body-top LCD function read-out which is a pity.
But that lens! There is no other kit lens anything like it. Images from the L1 are gorgeous.
[Panasonic Lumix L1 sample images]
The Sigma 18—200mm lens looks too good to be true. But this compact zoom works extremely well. It is well made and has surprisingly moderate distortion at both ends of the range. Keep in mind that this is the equivalent of a 27—300mm zoom on a 35mm camera and you get some idea of the achievement of the designers and manufacturers.
Construction quality is good and it is mechanically smooth. Auto-focus is so-so for speed but spot on for accuracy.
The down-side? It is slow — f6.3 at its longest extension.
*
Posted by terry at January 9, 2007 11:05 PM
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Comments
I like this lens specs but need something faster! Can anyone suggest where I can hire, borrow a 120mm to 200mm lens at about f2.8 to 3.5 ? I have a Nikon D70s and would like to get some great people shots at the Mornington Peninsula International Pinot Noir celebration featuring the worlds best value wines ($30 to $3000 per btl). Experience suggests I need something longer than my std lens. dates are Feb 9 and 10 for the event ( http://www.mpva.com.au/images/pnc07_registration72.pdf ). Any advice or help would be welcome. David of Red Hill (fizz@eldridge-estate.com.au )
Posted by: David Lloyd at January 11, 2007 09:16 AM
Re the Sigma zoom lense:
how does it compare to the
Tamron AF 18-200mm
F/3.5-6.3 XR Di II LD
Aspherical (IF) Macro
with lens hood [on special at Ted's, I just noticed - $599.95]?
Also, I have Elements 3 and am soon to install Elements 5. I don't use the Organiser function. Should I uninstall v3 first, or does it get overwritten, with v5 installed into the same location? If it installs v5 totally seperately, I don't think I need v3 anymore.
Thank you.
Posted by: Dave N at January 25, 2007 03:34 AM
The Tamron has identical specs to the Sigma so I would expect it to be similar in performance.
If you look at this web site where users rate lenses
http://www.photozone.de/active/survey/querylenstxt.jsp?filter=%221=1%22
you will see that both the Sigma and the Tamron are considered to be very poor quality lenses on all counts. It wouldn't surprise me if they were to come from the same factory.
I must be blunt -- trying to get a lens with an 18 to 200mm focal length range for $500 is like believing in a free lunch. One day it may happen when lens technology has some sort of breakthrough, but not now.
Posted by: Terry at January 26, 2007 03:04 AM
Terry,
Your column about correcting lens abberations in today's Green Guide 01-02-2007 (with a review of this lens) indicates that barrel distortion is dependant on aperture. That is simply incorrect. Changing the aperture will have no effect on the curvature of straight lines that is characteristic of barrel distortion.
Why is it impossible to find an email address to contact you now? I used to be able to find one, or at least a contact form at your website.
Posted by: Peter at January 31, 2007 09:29 PM
Peter: You are absolutely right. What I intended to write was "at or near the end of the zoom range." Damned if I know why it came out as "at or near full aperture". Sorry about that.
TL
Posted by: Terry at February 1, 2007 11:15 PM