[selar]

It appears that out of all the Pentax lenses tested by Klaus at www.photozone.de, the DA 70 LTD is the reigning champion as far as resolving power goes. The K5 is capable of resolving a maximum of 2750 LW/PH, the DA 70 acheives 2706 in the centre at f4. Is it possible it is the sharpest Pentax lens ever made? The FA77 is yet to be tested on K5, but it beats the FA 31 LTD roundly. Wish Klaus would hurry up and test FA77LTD, but is it likely to beat the DA 70?

[usmcxm35]

Whoever sent the lens in last time would need to send it in again...

[selar]

I see FA77 pushing against ceiling of K10D resolution already in last test at F4, should be an interesting re-test.

[JerryLime]

When MTF value reaches "Excellent", a higher value becomes nonsense.

[joe.penn]

When MTF value reaches "Excellent", a higher value becomes nonsense.

That depends on the photos intended use or presentation medium...

[lesmore49]

I just bought a silver edition of the 70 mm F 2.4 Limited. I've used it on my K-5, K10D and Km bodies and it's a wonderful lens. Very sharp and great bokeh.

[selar]

When MTF value reaches "Excellent", a higher value becomes nonsense.

The Excellent rating from Klaus is dependent on the max resolution acheivable on the sensor. Whats excellent on K10D may not be on K5.

[Michaelina2]

Help me understand...

Using a K-5 paired to a DA 35/2.5 AL, the Klaus score at f/4.0 was a stunning 2733/2750. His 70/2.4 at f/4.0 measured only 2706/2750... Looks to me like the Klaus 35 is the "sharpness queen," not the 70. Where am I wrong?

Just curious to learn why "sharpness" is an important measure to you...

[gtl]

The size, AF speed of the 70mm is a dream for street shooting. And it's definitely sharp enough. People don't believe it's 70mm cause it's so small.

[selar]

The DA 35/2.4 is a plastic kit lens, there would be too much sample variation, hard to take it seriously.

[joe.penn]

Well, the DA 35/2.4 is a pretty stellar performer despite being cheap and of cheap'er construction. When I had one, I was quite impressed with it's performance (high ISO low light shooting), even wide open it performed pretty strong. I would be pretty comfortable shooting that lens against any competitors 35mm focal...

[elho_cid]

From my experience the DFA 50/2.8 is slightly sharper than DA70.

[creampuff]

Everyone is assuming Photozone's testing methodology and results are beyond dispute. Just saying...

[MPrince]

I don't know if the DA 70 is Pentax's sharpest lens, but I do know that it is my sharpest lens.

[DonThomaso]

I find it difficult to compare lenses of various focal lengths, since I usually use them for different purposes. If I compare the DA40, F50/1.7 and DA70, all of which I own and could be used for portraits, I would say that they are very close. Wide open the DA40 would be sharpest I think, but then again it is the slowest in the group. The DA70 seems to benefit more from being stopped down, so I can fool myself thinking that it is unsharp at F2.4 since it will be even better at F3.5 or so I would say that my F50/1.7 is sharper at F2.4 then my DA70 at F2.4... then again, wide open vs stopped down.. difficult to compare like I said =)

I might suspect that my DA70 copy is just a tad soft though (compared to the praise it gets here on the forum), but I still love it