[talkskiwon]

Hi. I just recently purchased a used 60-250 and have a question to ask about it. When I turn the zoom ring on the lens from 60 to 250, the zoom range changes smoothly and proportionally until about 200mm but from 200mm to 250mm nothing much zoom in at all. Is this normal? Or do I have a bad copy? It was a near new condition from Adorama.

[Unregistered User 8]

but from 200mm to 250mm nothing much zoom in at all.

This happens to all of these beautiful lenses ( mine included.) It is called focus breathing, of which there are a few threads about this topic on the forums. For far subjects you will get the 250, for nearer subjects it is less. You have a good copy. Enjoy your lens. It is fine.

[talkskiwon]

This happens to all of these beautiful lenses ( mine included.) It is called focus breathing, of which there are a few threads about this topic on the forums. For far subjects you will get the 250, for nearer subjects it is less. You have a good copy. Enjoy your lens. It is fine.

Thank you. So, this happens only to close range shots?

[Unregistered User 8]

So, this happens only to close range shots?

That is correct. This is a wonderful lens you have. Other members will surely join in with advice too. Happy shooting with your 60-250 !!!

[Unregistered User 8]

One question about my used DA* 60-250

I did a YouTube search for you. Hope this explains what is happening to your 60-250.

You Tube

You Tube

[BigMackCam]

As others have said, this sounds like a focus breathing situation. But it's also worth bearing in mind that the difference in magnification between 200 and 250mm isn't all that much - a jump from 50 to 100mm is much more noticeable.

[talkskiwon]

As others have said, this sounds like a focus breathing situation. But it's also worth bearing in mind that the difference in magnification between 200 and 250mm isn't all that much - a jump from 50 to 100mm is much more noticeable.

Thanks all

[Giklab]

50 to 100mm is much more noticeable.

+1
It may not even be focus breathing, but just the way the zoom ring is labeled - notice that it is evenly labeled from 60 to 85 (~40%), 85-135 (~60%), 135-200 (~50%) and 200-250 (25%) - the last part of the zoom operation, while taking the same turn radius, makes for a far smaller change in FOV. Hope this helps

[eonb]

Same as my 60-250 does. It feels "short" at 250mm tbh, especially now I've got a 150-450!

[normhead]

Same as my 60-250 does. It feels "short" at 250mm tbh, especially now I've got a 150-450!

Are you going to keep both?

[BigMackCam]

Same as my 60-250 does. It feels "short" at 250mm tbh, especially now I've got a 150-450!

I hear good things about the 150-450 I went a different route and got the HD 1.4x rear converter to use with the 60-250. That gives 84-350mm at infinity focus (less at short range, of course) with a constant f/5.6 which is quite handy (though not quite so much reach as your 150-450), and I get to keep the short tele range at f/4 which is important to me in being able to pack a two-zoom kit...

[eonb]

I've no plans to get rid of the 60-250. The 150-450 is much faster focussing and much, much lighter. I've also got 1 1.4x (both the Pentax and a 1.5x kenko as well). Horses for courses depending on what I'm shooting.

[normhead]

I've no plans to get rid of the 60-250. The 150-450 is much faster focussing and much, much lighter. I've also got 1 1.4x (both the Pentax and a 1.5x kenko as well). Horses for courses depending on what I'm shooting.

I think you mean the 60-250 is lighter.... 1250 gms compared to 2000 for the 150-450, almost twice the weight.

[talkskiwon]

I just tested the 60-250 yesterday at a lake area and it didn't stretch far enough even when I was shooting an object very far away from me. I'm not sure if I did anything wrong, but does the focus breathing happen to far objects as well?

[Unregistered User 8]

I just tested the 60-250 yesterday at a lake area and it didn't stretch far enough even when I was shooting an object very far away from me. I'm not sure if I did anything wrong, but does the focus breathing happen to far objects as well?

Hi talkskiwon. I will try to explain what is happening with the focus breathing. When you have your 60-250 zoomed to 250mm focused on an object in the distance, and it is in focus when the focus ring is on infinity, your field of view with the lens is for a 250mm. As you bring the focus down closer to minimum focusing distance, the image will blur as it should, but what also happens is the image gets smaller. The field of view of the lens increases with focus. This is because with an internal focus lens, the elements are moving inside the barrel and the lens elements are at their longest point from each other at 250. If you watch the You Tube I posted, you will notice that the 200mm zoom at 200mm focused on the tree at infinity is quite large. As the focus ring is moved towards minimum focus, the image size of the tree gets smaller as the focus gets worse. The 200mm setting looks more like 180mm or 170mm. That is focus breathing. So anything at the 200mm setting at the minimum focusing distance looks like it was taken with a 170mm lens. I hope I have explained this properly to you. Watch the video a couple of times and see if that helps too. Post again if you need more help.

---------- Post added 14-08-16 at 05:18 PM ----------

Note - Disregard the blurring, and only look at the image size change from infinity focus to minimum focus on the distant tree image at the 200mm zoom setting on the video.