SFx + 28-70 - My new 80's Vintage

barbosas · 06-05-2008, 03:44 AM

I've heard good things and bad things about this lens, elements splitting, etc... well, but LBA is much powerful then those comments, and seeing that the price for the new DA17-70/4 will be msrp 600$, i started searching for this constant F/4 zoom.

Regarding the camera i don't know much, but it feels nice in the hand.

For a reasonable price bought the lens with the camera attached and everything is near mint, so i can't complain much.

Some pics of it - Pentax SFx and Pentax 28-70mm F/4

And a few test pics (k100d + FA28-70) :(don't have color film yet)
Only pp contrast and curves, JPEG straight from the camera

28mm / F4

28mm / F8

70mm / F8

100% crop of the above

70mm / F4

100% crop of the above

It seems a good kit:

- the lens is a bit heavier then the kit lens, but it's much more 'compact' and 'solid',
- build quality is similar to my FA35 and FA50 (don't know if it adds anything new to my DA18-55II, probably not, except for 20mm at long end, duhh)
- from the 1st test, image quality and colours seems good
- the camera i didn't have opportunity to use it yet, but everything is working and looking very good

You can see all full size images here:
Zenfolio | Pedro Barbosa | Pentax SFX
Zenfolio | Pedro Barbosa | Pentax-FA 28-70 F/4

Here ends my last journey through LBA (... and CBA) world.

zx-m · 06-05-2008, 06:19 AM

I thank you for posting the photos. I have no experience with either the camera or lens, and so it is nice to see good, detailed shots of them. Let us know what you think of the camera.

Glen

Trawlerman · 06-05-2008, 10:03 AM

Looks good to me.

I have a Z-1 that came supplied with this lens but i've not used it as it also came with the 28-105mm as well.

I guess I should give the 28-70 a whirl and see if it performs ok.

zx-m · 06-05-2008, 10:21 AM

I agree, Trawlerman. The 70mm shot at f/4 looks better than I would have imagined it would.

Pentaxke · 06-05-2008, 10:27 AM

How much megapix is that camera?

Congrats on your purchase! I have that lens too and I am pretty impressed with the IQ of it...

barbosas · 06-05-2008, 12:02 PM

Originally Posted by zx-m

I agree, Trawlerman. The 70mm shot at f/4 looks better than I would have imagined it would.

Me too, and with a little more pp the image could come up much better.

Originally Posted by Pentaxke

How much megapix is that camera?

Congrats on your purchase! I have that lens too and I am pretty impressed with the IQ of it...

Since it takes film, i guess it has a looooot of mega pixels.. ohhhh and it has a full-frame sensor too

Originally Posted by zx-m

I thank you for posting the photos. I have no experience with either the camera or lens, and so it is nice to see good, detailed shots of them. Let us know what you think of the camera.

Glen

That's exactly what made me post this, didn't found much info/pics about this camera

Originally Posted by Trawlerman

Looks good to me.

I have a Z-1 that came supplied with this lens but i've not used it as it also came with the 28-105mm as well.

I guess I should give the 28-70 a whirl and see if it performs ok.

My 1st choice was the FA28-105/3.2-5.6, but i couldn't found one at a reasonable price, so i turned to the FA28-70/4

Done a quick search in eBay and there's very few auctions selling this camera.

zx-m · 06-05-2008, 12:03 PM

I like your sense of humor, Pentaxke.

The term "film camera" has always sounded strange to me

skid2964 · 06-05-2008, 01:41 PM

Thanks for posting pics, I just bought an old P30T with a similar lens.
Test photos have not arrived back from processing yet. Will post when received.

woof · 06-05-2008, 06:12 PM

Nice kit. I have that lens and like it a lot despite it's supposed QC issues... at 99.00 for a mint copy, mine has long ago paid me back. It's quite light and compact. I don't mean to hijack, but since there is some interest in this lens in this thread, this picture was taken with my copy.

barbosas · 06-07-2008, 04:26 AM

@woof

Awesome image

cupic · 06-07-2008, 06:02 AM

Film still has appeal

Lets hope it to be side by side with digital

cheers

Stevopedia · 08-03-2008, 10:40 AM

Please excuse me for resurrecting an old thread...

The SF series was Pentax' first successful, mass-produced AF body series. They were introduced in the late 1980s and are comfortable to hold. The shutter itself isn't to loud, but the winder makes an awful racket and the AF is noisy too. The AF is also a single point and sensitive only to horizontal detail. The SF1n/SFXn has a top shutter speed of 1/4000; the others only go to 1/2000. The "n"s have auto-bracketing, the others don't. The midline (SF1/SFX) and top-line ("n"s) have additional shooting modes that the base levels (SF-7/SF-10) don't.

My dad has an SF-1n, and I think it's a verrrry nice camera. I really like it.