[MegaPower]

Embarassed? No reason to feel so.
I'm planning to stick on oversized DA*200 hood on my 28-70. It's going to make the combo look like I had 50-135 on just touch fatter. I'm quite looking forward to it especially as my K-7 is black, lens is silver/black and hood will be black! Sweet

I already put the DA*200/300 hood on my 80-200 with some sanding work on the hood, it looks great.
There are no modification needed for the 28-70 and you should do it.

[Katsura]

If you like this lens wide open, try it at f11 or f16 for landscape or other deep dof situations...it's really good. Or try it with a person in the foreground to one side and an extensive mid to long distance subject or line leading away from the person--again at tight f stop for deep dof. I"ve had many shots published that I set up purposely to exploit the great sharpness at deep dof.

Granted I haven't shot with such small f stops, but won't diffraction come into effect at f11 or smaller?

I find the optimum sharpness for this lens around f5.6 to f8

[Ash]

Nice samples Peter.
Looks like you've got yourself a good copy.
Would the DA* 200 hood cause any vignetting on the 28-70? It looks to be too large for the focal range...

[dgaies]

Would the DA* 200 hood cause any vignetting on the 28-70? It looks to be too large for the focal range...

When I had the FA*28-70+DA*200 hood combo, I actually never noticed any vignetting, and I was specifically looking for it as I expected a hood that size might cause an issue. If I recall correctly, I think part of the reason there isn't an issue is because at 28mm the lens actually extends a bit and the front element of the FA* is actually moved up part way into the hood (making the effective hood length smaller). The hood actually attached to the FA* body, not the end of the lens, so as the FA* expands when changing focal length, the hood stays fixed relative to the movement of the front element.

That said, I don't have the FA*28-70 anymore, so perhaps once Peter gets his hood he can confirm all that

[axl]

Hi guys,
I did try it already in a shop. I talked shop owner in letting me try the hood from display DA*300 on my lens. No purchase though as he didn't have the hood separately (Dan, I'll PM you taday!). From those few shots I took I couldn't find any vignetting and I suspect (as written above) that the reason is the fact that FA*28-70 is actually longest (physicaly) at it's widest setting + the fact the hood attaches to the body and inner barrel moves separately from it (kind of like DFA100WR.

[dgaies]

I did try it already in a shop. I talked shop owner in letting me try the hood from display DA*300 on my lens. No purchase though as he didn't have the hood separately (Dan, I'll PM you taday!).

Ordered from B&H today, I'll have it tomorrow, and it will on its way to you by Wednesday. Enjoy

[mikeSF]

congrats axl! great lens and i am sure we will see many more excellent images from you and the lens.

[axl]

Ordered from B&H today, I'll have it tomorrow, and it will on its way to you by Wednesday. Enjoy

Thanks a lot!

[axl]

congrats axl! great lens and i am sure we will see many more excellent images from you and the lens.

Thanks Mike.
The full size image you linked me was one of the last straws
I do quite like it but the jury is still out on this one. The colours and contrast are great but I have to say that DA*55 outresolves it even at f1.4!

[MegaPower]

Now, did anyone think about to put the large PENTAX icon on the hood, like those 645 hoods?

[axl]

I did, and I did even try it in store. I believe it was 80-160/4 FA, that I tried. It would lock on (if pushed hard enough) but the problem was it was petal hood. FA*28-70 has 4 lock points at 90degrees (N-S, E-W as on compass). This 645 hood had 4 contact points but at angled by 45 degrees compared to FA* (NE-SW, WN-ES orientation), so it would mount on wrong axis, I didn't even try to take picture with it as I didn't like the look of it.
I also tried just about every 77mm hood there was in shop, old and new. No luck

[mikeSF]

Thanks Mike.
The full size image you linked me was one of the last straws
I do quite like it but the jury is still out on this one. The colours and contrast are great but I have to say that DA*55 outresolves it even at f1.4!

i really see it as a stopped down lens, not really a wide open lens because there are limited primes that whip it in the bokeh category for sure. From f/5.6 on up, the thing is just amazing, IMO. Someone mentioned landscapes beyond f/11 for max DOF and i never tried it but am sure it probably excels there. I plan to rent it again in the future. The power zoom is easy to get used to.

[axl]

I see what you are saying Mike. Problem is I very rarely (and I mean VERY) shoot below f4!
But I'll see. If not then it'll be on the market soon. If you want it just let me know I'll do you nice price

[mclarenman01]

I can see why toy might be having some doubts axl. The FA* is a strange and mythical beast

I have used the DA* 16-50 (so very disappointed) and Tammy and have owned the Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 EX DG OS HSM. I can honestly say that (IMO) if you want to go pixel peeping and if outright sharpness is your goal, the Sigma is probably the lens for you. Wide open it is very decent and stopped down it is INCREDIBLY sharp for a zoom. More can be read in Photozones review of this lens. I ended up selling my copy of the Sigma as I was unhappy with its auto focus performance on the K7.

I bought my copy of the FA* 28-70 about 6 months ago and have only really just decided to keep it now. I don't get emotional about lenses all that often but FA* glass is something special and there is something very, very nice about the look of the pictures that you get from it.

When I bought my copy and probably paid to much there was a lot of emotion that went into the purchase.

BUT....

- The rotating front element is a pain!
- It is impossible not to mark the silver finish.
- Wide open its not as sharp as the others (stopped down its still not as sharp as the Sigma).
- There are issues with CA and PF (most of which can easily be corrected in camera raw).
- Its HEAVY (I walked about 10km with it the other day and it did get a bit tedious).
- Auto focus is noisy.

Even with all of those issues though I still really enjoy owning this lens. Whilst the Sigma was a great lens it just took photos. If posted on line no one would ever pick which lens was used to shoot them. The FA* on the other hand seems to produces images with a unique fingerprint, very much like the way my FA* 24mm does.

- I love the colours and the contrast it produces.
- The softness wide open can be a big deal but I think it works very nicely for portraits (my girlfriend looks so much better at f2.8 ).
- The bokeh is the best I have experienced from any zoom I have used in this focal length.
- Stopped down for landscape stuff it is an excellent performer.
- Whilst noisy, the auto focus (at least on my copy) is blisteringly fast and now I have it dialled in with a little bit of micro adjustment is very accurate.
- I also love the confused looks I get from some Canikon users (a man toting a large beige lens at the zoo the other day couldn't stop peering out the corner of his eye trying to figure out exactly what I had in my hand )

The Pentaxian in me also enjoys owning a piece of pentax history.

I can see why this lens might not be for every body and I can see how some people might consider it over priced but for these reasons outlined above and the FA* 28-70 suits me just fine.



A quick happy snap from last weekend

K7 - FA*28-70 @28mm - f11 - 1/100 - ISO100

[axl]

I can see why toy might be having some doubts axl. The FA* is a strange and mythical beast

Agree on this one

I have used the DA* 16-50 (so very disappointed) and Tammy and have owned the Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 EX DG OS HSM. I can honestly say that (IMO) if you want to go pixel peeping and if outright sharpness is your goal, the Sigma is probably the lens for you. Wide open it is very decent and stopped down it is INCREDIBLY sharp for a zoom. More can be read in Photozones review of this lens. I ended up selling my copy of the Sigma as I was unhappy with its auto focus performance on the K7.

I like sharp but it's not the most important aspect in my judgement of lenses. Rendering, tone, colours, contrast and flare resistance outweigh pure sharpness. Besides I rarely print, and even more so large prints...

I bought my copy of the FA* 28-70 about 6 months ago and have only really just decided to keep it now. I don't get emotional about lenses all that often but FA* glass is something special and there is something very, very nice about the look of the pictures that you get from it.

I do get emotional about the lenses, but I agree on FA* assesment. From what I've tried (24, 300, 28-70) and seen (85, 80-200...not interested in longer) there is some very special quality to the way these lenses render...

BUT....

- The rotating front element is a pain!
- It is impossible not to mark the silver finish.
- Wide open its not as sharp as the others (stopped down its still not as sharp as the Sigma).
- There are issues with CA and PF (most of which can easily be corrected in camera raw).
- Its HEAVY (I walked about 10km with it the other day and it did get a bit tedious).
- Auto focus is noisy.

- rotating element doesn't bother me at all (I nearly never use filters of any sort)
- agree on that one, you need to papmer these lenses, otherwise they scuff easilly
- the sharpness overall isn't top notch but not much behind the FA*24 IMO, but easily spanked by DA*55. But as I said other opticall qualities otweigh this (for me at least and up to now, I still have a lot of thinking to do)
- haven't noticed much of CA and even less PF on my copy so far, colour bleeding wide open (especially at longer focal lengths) is much more of an issue for me (this, again, is very similar to FA*24 behaviour wide open) but it only happens in certain circumstances
- it is heavy indeed but if it's the only lens I take, the the difference between FA*28-70 and FA*24+DA*55 is not worth talking about and if I add FA100 to my prime kit then it's actually heavier than FA*28-70, and by some 500g!
- it is, but not more so than other F/FA lenses I've tried.

Even with all of those issues though I still really enjoy owning this lens. Whilst the Sigma was a great lens it just took photos. If posted on line no one would ever pick which lens was used to shoot them. The FA* on the other hand seems to produces images with a unique fingerprint, very much like the way my FA* 24mm does.

Totally agree. FA*24 has very similar look to the pictures to FA*28-70, and it's very pleasant look. Nice colours and good contrast. Very enjoyable to look at, even in downsized web versions.

The Pentaxian in me also enjoys owning a piece of pentax history.

Partially true for me, but as a working father the price tag is quite high....

Having said all that, I so far enjoy this lens. I still need to take it for some propper photo walk, and I need to see what the addition of the hood will do to it (contrast-,size-, and look wise).
And + to all then there is the part of me that falls under "I'm a prime guy" catagory, that keeps nagging me to sell this lens and get DA14 to have 14/2.8+24/2+55/1.4+100/2.8 as my kit (I don't count 31 as that one is practically exclusively used by my Mrs)...

Decisions, decisions....