Chasseur d'Images test of 20 Pentax lenses on the K20D - Page 2

thibs · 05-21-2008, 03:01 AM

DA70

Light vignetting wide open, very slight chromatic aberration, very slight distorsion, Very sharp performance from wide open. Superb mechanical quality.

Rating: 5/5

FA 43

Very slight vignetting, chromatic aberraton a bit high but reasonable from a non digital lens, well controlled distorsion.
OK wide open and very good rom f/2.8. Excellent from f/4 and up.

If you don't need brighter than F/2.8, DA40 is a better deal.

Rating: 5/5

FA77

Slight vignetting, very slight chromatic aberration, no distorsion. Very sharp from wide open but not homogenious (center a lot better than corners), homogenious from f/4 and up.

Again, if you don't need the light, the DA70 is better deal.

Rating: 4/5

DA18-55II

Sensible vignetting at 18mm but well controlled at other focals. Heavy chromatic aberration at 18mm, moderate at 23 and well controlled upward (well don they say). Heavy distorsion at 18mm, negligable only between 25 and 40mm.

Sharpness globally good through the range. Very nice kit lens but they regret absence of SDM.

Rating: 4/5

thibs · 05-21-2008, 03:03 AM

Originally Posted by Matjazz

Are they saying zooms are better than DA* primes or did I get it wrong? And which zooms are they talking about?

They compare (in general) constant bright zooms to primes and notice that those primes are so much better than equivallent zoom (like 7à-210/2.8, 100-300/4 etc.)

thibs · 05-21-2008, 03:15 AM

FA24-90

Vignetting very moderate, well controlled chromatic aberration, very good distorsion for a zoom, performance OK at 24 and 90mm but very acceptable. High performance between those focals.

Rating 4/5

FA* 28-70/2.8

Vignetting not negligable at 28 and 35mm, very slight chromatic aberration, very good distorsion, Very good shrapness at f/2.8 and exceptional at other focals.

Rating: 5/5

FAJ 75-300

Vignetting almost inexistant, chromatic aberration heavy from 200mm and very noticeable at 300mm, good distorision. Sharpness: focussing difficult at longer focals, f/11 is a minimum to have acceptable results at 300mm.

In general, it is no match for the K20D: to avoid !

FA35/2

Vignetting: very good even at f/2, chromatic aberration very slight, distorion very slight, Sharpness amazing: soft at f/2 (some focussing unpreciness), good from f/2.8, excellent at f/4 and up.

Rating: 5/5

FA50/1.4

Vignetting present at f/1.4 but almost inexistant from f/2, moderate chromatic aberration, distorsion almost nonexistant, Sharpness amazing: decent from f/1.4 (precise focussing), very good at f/2 and excellent from f/2.8.

Rating: 5/5

thibs · 05-21-2008, 03:25 AM

DFA50 macro

Very slight vignetting, aberration almost non existant, distorsion almost null, excellent perofmance from wide open, dimishes slightly at f/11, really noticeable from f/22.

They ask for an SDM version. Superb lens but mechanical quality so-so...

Rating: 5/5

FA*85/1.4

Very noticeable vignetting at f/1.4, less at f/2, never null but negligable upward. slight chromatic aberration, performance OK at f/1.4, very good at f/2 and excellent from f/2.8

Rating 5/5

FA 135/2.8

Vignetting negligable, amazingly low chromatic aberration, no distorsion at all in practice, excellent performance from wide open, diffraction dimishes performance at f/22. They like it very very much

Rating 5/5.

*christinelandon* · 05-21-2008, 03:31 AM

Thibs, thanks so much for these posts. Did they test the DFA 100 Macro, perchance?

thibs · 05-21-2008, 03:39 AM

Originally Posted by christinelandon

Thibs, thanks so much for these posts. Did they test the DFA 100 Macro, perchance?

No, the complete selection of lenses has been posted. I expect it to be the same kind as the DFA50 however.

*tranq78* · 05-21-2008, 08:13 AM

Thanks for the posts! You saved me some research. My French is terrible, I would have had to get my wife or kids to translate for me.

*clawhammer* · 05-21-2008, 01:14 PM

Thanks for the summary! I don't speak french and live in America, so I had given up on hearing how well these tests went. Sounds like I just might be getting the 17-70- thanks for all the info on it!

Maxington · 05-21-2008, 04:55 PM

Pretty good score across the board for all the lenses, good to see.

Pity they didn't test the 31mm Limited....

ankit · 05-21-2008, 05:01 PM

thibs, awesome! Thanks for these posts.

*falconeye* · 05-21-2008, 06:21 PM

@thibs, thanks for the great post!

Today, I tried to fetch a copy at Munich main station. But the international news store was closed and occupied by a special anti terror squad because there was an abandonned piece of baggage.

The anti terror squad really didn't appreciate my argument that fetching my copy of chasseur d'images could well be worth the risk

So, from 17 lenses, 11 got *****, and 5 got **** rating. Maybe, they should introduce a six star category for Pentax lenses then

*Lance B* · 05-21-2008, 07:02 PM

Originally Posted by thibs

Anyone owning a K20D should buy this magazine IMO.

Lots of optics tested here: from FA* 27-70/2.8, FA*85/1.4 to all Limiteds, DA*, the new DA17-70 SDM etc...

Most lenses are quite good and a couple numbers simply excellent !!

Talking about recent lenses:

- DA 17-70 SDM: it is good, vingettes a lot at 17 but it very nice upgrade over the kit lens. They say there's no focus touch up (!! to be confirmed) but there's indeed weather sealing.

- DA*200/2.8: excellent !!

- DA*300/4: excellent !!

- DA35/2.8 macro: excellent !

DA* 50-135 and DA* 16-50/2.8: centering defects but otherwise very good.

A lot more lenses tested, you should really buy this magazine.
More when I can buy one.

Thanks for the info.

Can you advise on some of the other lenses, please. Like the FA*18-70 f2.8, FA*85 f1.5, did they do the FA*80-200 f2.8?

Thanks in advance.

rparmar · 05-21-2008, 09:26 PM

One overall question: These ratings are so high. Is this a tribute to Pentax lenses or does this magazine tend to always rate at the top end of the scale? Perhaps some comparison ratings from Canikon would help. or better yet, from Zeiss and Leica.

Originally Posted by thibs

DA17-70 SDM

*Vignetting visible at 17mm and 70mm where you need to close aperture two notches to eliminate it.

*First half of zooming range gets chromatic aberation of red/blue fringes, very visible. It is THE drawback of that lens. Not better than 16-45 it seems on that point.

*Distortion: very noticeable until 21 where it becomes less intrusive and is pretty workable.

*Sharpness: performance level exceptional until 50mm where it goes down, especially wide open.

Seems the DA16-45 is much the better lens then. I'm not surprised, since it seems to perform way beyond its intended scope.

Originally Posted by thibs

FA77

Slight vignetting, very slight chromatic aberration, no distorsion. Very sharp from wide open but not homogenious (center a lot better than corners), homogenious from f/4 and up.

Again, if you don't need the light, the DA70 is better deal.

But light trumps all, so it would not be right to rate this less than the 70mm. Also, the lack of sharpness at borders wide open is a feature, not a bug. That's what makes it so good for its intended purpose, portraits.

thibs · 05-22-2008, 12:46 AM

Originally Posted by rparmar

One overall question: These ratings are so high. Is this a tribute to Pentax lenses or does this magazine tend to always rate at the top end of the scale? Perhaps some comparison ratings from Canikon would help. or better yet, from Zeiss and Leica.

Chasseur d'IMages has not been very keen to Pentax, historically (last 15 years). So I think those lenses really deserve what they got.

thibs · 05-22-2008, 12:47 AM

Originally Posted by Lance B

Thanks for the info.

Can you advise on some of the other lenses, please. Like the FA*18-70 f2.8, FA*85 f1.5, did they do the FA*80-200 f2.8?

Thanks in advance.

If you read the whole report I posted in the couple posts, you will see they DID test FA*28-70/2.8 and FA*85/1.4. They did not test the 80-200/2.8 however.