[Cannikin]

To be honest, all the long distance (infinity or near it) samples at 450mm I've seen so far look like they're out of focus to me, especially the ones with the construction crane. There is no way this lens looks that horrible at any aperture, far worse than my old 55-300, or my Panasonic 100-300 on m4/3 (both of which I recently sold to fund this lens).

I've shot plenty of long distance landscapes and targets, and I have plenty of examples of IQ problems including missed focus, atmospheric haze, motion blur, and simply an unsharp lens/aperture. These samples very much resemble the slightly out of focus long shots I've made with my Tamron 70-200 and 60-250. I find infinity focus to be far more critical and sensitive than elsewhere, being even slightly off can ruin an entire picture. "Hyperfocal distance" is no substitute for being dead on in focus, even with wide angle lenses.

Anyway, I have it on preorder and hopefully will get it next week so I can see for my own eyes how good or bad this lens really is. I have plenty of long distance landscapes to test on. The best test will be the moon, as it is an invariable target I have shot with all of my long lenses in the past. I'm fairly certain most of these problems can be isolated to bad focus, but if not and it really does look anything like these samples, then it is going right back and I'll be hoping for Sigma or Tamron to bring out one of their 150-600s to K-mount (or just get a Bigma 50-500).

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Last edited by Cannikin; 04-18-2015 at 10:14 PM.

[RGlasel]

they're out of focus to me, especially the ones with the construction crane. There is no way this lens looks that horrible at any aperture, far worse than my old 55-300

The 100% crop of the motor deck with the Takenaka sign looks to be in focus, the rigging higher up is also further away, so those crops will be slightly out of focus. At f8, all the crops look to be in focus. Pictures of round red pipes aren't going to provide sharp edges to gauge sharpness by, either. Wide open, the picture is slightly less bright than at f8, which will also affect our perception of sharpness. Personally, I think these photos could stand some sharpening in PP and the composition is way too cluttered to make the photos jump out at you, but I don't see how this is a sign of poor focus, unless we know for sure what the actual focus point was. I don't read Japanese, but I think the photographer was deliberately trying to make this lens fail. Unless someone has equally challenging photos taken with other lenses at these focal lengths, how do we know how good or bad this lens is?

[Cannikin]

The 100% crop of the motor deck with the Takenaka sign looks to be in focus, the rigging higher up is also further away, so those crops will be slightly out of focus.

The ones with the Takenaka logo are shot at 150mm. The ones I'm referring to are the set two below that one, showing the red rigging, labeled "400mm" (did they mean 450?). Those are most definitely out of focus.

[timautin]

Thanks for the link, but indeed still no picture that decided me to buy the lens or not :'( .

[timautin]

I forgot to ask, does somebody know what is the maximum aperture at 300mm ? 4.5, 5.0 or 5.6 ?

[OJGoreng]

I forgot to ask, does somebody know what is the maximum aperture at 300mm ? 4.5, 5.0 or 5.6 ?

I haven't seen it mentioned specifically, but in the range of test shots in which the reviewer tries the lens at several apertures (the red crane shots), the largest aperture tested with 300 and 400 mm is f/5.6, whereas @ 150 mm f/4.5 is the largest aperture tried. This suggests to me it's probably f/5.6, otherwise why omit shots at a wider aperture for a review.

[timautin]

I haven't seen it mentioned specifically, but in the range of test shots in which the reviewer tries the lens at several apertures (the red crane shots), the largest aperture tested with 300 and 400 mm is f/5.6, whereas @ 150 mm f/4.5 is the largest aperture tried. This suggests to me it's probably f/5.6, otherwise why omit shots at a wider aperture for a review.

Thanks. It would have been logical to have :
- 150 -> 4.5
- 300 -> 5.0
- 450 -> 5.6

Wait & see...

A new review :

Pentax HD PENTAX-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 ED DC AW Review

---------- Post added 04-21-15 at 01:13 PM ----------

Looking the pictures some seems really good, even though they have been taken at a slow speed (1/500 is the fastest they used -_- ) :

[vcollerp]

Thanks. It would have been logical to have :
- 150 -> 4.5
- 300 -> 5.0
- 450 -> 5.6

Wait & see...

A new review :

Pentax HD PENTAX-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 ED DC AW Review

---------- Post added 04-21-15 at 01:13 PM ----------

Looking the pictures some seems really good, even though they have been taken at a slow speed (1/500 is the fastest they used -_- ) :

Thanks for this, really looking good wide open at 450mm.

[Mistral75]

(...)

A new review :

Pentax HD PENTAX-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 ED DC AW Review[COLOR="Silver"]

(...)

...with a true gem:

"Another point of interest is the fact this lens sports an image circle large enough to cover a full frame sensor and provides a focal length roughly equivalent to a 107-307mm range when used with Pentax APS-C DSLRs"

[thibs]

...with a true gem:

"Another point of interest is the fact this lens sports an image circle large enough to cover a full frame sensor and provides a focal length roughly equivalent to a 107-307mm range when used with Pentax APS-C DSLRs"

Rotflmao

[Glorfindelrb]

This is the corner with a FF at 450mm wide open on a cloudy day (in body jpeg with the Leica). Edges are looking very good.

[Glorfindelrb]

And the center 450mm f5.6 probably in better conditions in the second review (100%)

[pete-tarmigan]

...with a true gem:

"Another point of interest is the fact this lens sports an image circle large enough to cover a full frame sensor and provides a focal length roughly equivalent to a 107-307mm range when used with Pentax APS-C DSLRs"

That sentence and others appear to have been cut and pasted from their review of the DFA 70-200mm f2.8.

[D1N0]

imho Ephotozine are not very good at reviewing lenses

[jpzk]

...with a true gem:

"Another point of interest is the fact this lens sports an image circle large enough to cover a full frame sensor and provides a focal length roughly equivalent to a 107-307mm range when used with Pentax APS-C DSLRs"

OMG ! I was seriously considering this lens to have more reach .... I'll have to forget about it !