[Wheatfield]

Which lens is this thread about again?

[MJKoski]

Yes, I am too difficult user. I demand basic hammer like instruments when hunting for K-1 lens collection. I'm afraid I have already taken the Irix/Samyang route only ending up with questionable QC with completely new lenses. Not going there again :/ I scored two decentered 15-30 lenses in row last october and stopped trying.

[mbukal]

Thanks for the good words! It's always nice to know people do read the reviews, and find them useful.

Bernard thank you very much for your thorough review, you answered all the questions I asked you - it doesn't seem to have been as difficult as you might have guessed,
Pentaxians (and those who want to be) with the help of your text can easily decide which telephoto lens can meet their needs, this comparison of DA * 60-250 / 4 and DFA70-210 / 4 is phenomenal, every honor on the writing and thank you very much

[Wheatfield]

This is kind of weird. Pentax cameras are solid choices for landscaping and other subject which need detailed captures. Still, new Pentax designs are all portrait oriented AF lenses, with full field spec (AW). Maybe Pentax could pay a bit more attention to lenses suitable for subjects where the system is one of best, if not best, in the whole industry. Wide angles and even tilt/shift lenses. There do not require AF, just best in class resolution, flare performance, robustness and smooth operation.

There is no doubt that Pentax is being slow to flesh out its lineup of primes, but right now they do have the very good 15-30 zoom (the one I used was not decentered). I’ve come to the conclusion that using Pentax means waiting for things. The choice then is to be patient or find a system that better suits your needs in the moment.

I did that a few years ago and bought some Fuji stuff. In the moment they had some stuff that better suited my needs.
An X-T1 and 5 of their premium primes now sit in a bag in the back of my closet.

---------- Post added Apr 21st, 2020 at 09:19 AM ----------

Yes, I am too difficult user. I demand basic hammer like instruments when hunting for K-1 lens collection. I'm afraid I have already taken the Irix/Samyang route only ending up with questionable QC with completely new lenses. Not going there again :/ I scored two decentered 15-30 lenses in row last october and stopped trying.

It strikes me you would be better served with a different brand. Why do you martyr yourself on the Pentax altar?

[Reed]

Yes, I am too difficult user. I demand basic hammer like instruments when hunting for K-1 lens collection. I'm afraid I have already taken the Irix/Samyang route only ending up with questionable QC with completely new lenses. Not going there again :/ I scored two decentered 15-30 lenses in row last october and stopped trying.

I get you on that, I did four attempts to buy a 24-70/2.8 in last two years. Only one of four was flawless, and it was listed used localy(after two rounds in Pentax Service center). Dude who listed it, changed his mind about selling, and kept it. Stopped trying to get one.

[normhead]

The best thing about this.... no more "Why doesn't Pentax have a 70-200 ƒ4 lens?" posts.

Interesting also that the DA*60-250 is still the best for my purposes even on FF. The amazing thing about the DA*60-250 was always it's edge resolution, making it a great compromise lens good for both wildlife and landscape. It hasn't lost it's place in the lens universe.

The new lens will appeal to those who want light weight, the ability to hand hold and fast AF for sports and action. It's clearly better than the DA*60-250 at those kinds of things, and therefore a great addition to the line up.

As much as I'd like a new UWA, this will sell a lot more copies than an UWA would.

[MJKoski]

I sacrificed myself on all current brand altars ages (years) ago when mirrorless was still a young colt. Pentax serves me very well, just have to cope with current lenses. I do wish some future AW wide angle would be at least Pentax design and a zoom! That is because if we get one lens in five years it would cover at least few common focals.

[LennyBloke]

Thanks for the review Bernard - very thorough, lots of detail and lots of little important tips - not just a measurement exercise as some other tend to be.

I sold my DA* 60-250/4.0 in anticipation of the new DFA 70-210 because although it has always been optically superb, the focus was slow and the vignetting on Full Frame could be corrected but the results never looked quite right at the corners on the few shots where it mattered (to me). I haven't used it extensively yet, but on the few outings I've taken it on I can honestly say it has impressed - it's super quick to focus, it doesn't hunt or struggle in lowish light - I don't see a weakness at maximum zoom (yet), and it's a reasonable weight (the main reason I didn't go for the DFA* 2.8 equivalent) .

My advice would be if your are happy with your 60-250 stick with it - it's a great lens. If you have full frame and are choosing between the 2 then I would tilt towards the 70-210.

But those are just my views - talking of views, here's a few taken fairly recently with it....

[mtngal]

For those interested, the complete review has been posted:

Pentax D FA 70-210mm Review Posted - Review Announcements | PentaxForums.com

Thanks for the review, and thanks for taking all those photos of charts etc.

One of the things I noticed, and it might be my imagination, but it seems to me that the comparison photos are a little darker with the 70-210 than they are with the 60-250. I wondered if you had noticed anything like that. The reason I wondered is that it seemed to me that the photos I took with both the K1 and KP were a little more underexposed than I was expecting, based on what I’m used to using with other lenses. I put it down to where I was shooting, or my particular camera(s), or because I wasn’t paying attention to settings or other user error, but now I wonder.

[bdery]

Small exposure discrepancies can occur, especially with longer focal lengths which I have to test outside (because of the required distance, I do not have a room with 25 meters of straight line-of-sight). I of course take all the possible precautions but obviously it's easier to control everything when inside the studio.

The camera can also cause some of those errors, but I did not observe any significant/major occurrences of underexposures with either lens.

[OoKU]

Fish Gut Sword DFA70-210/4 review
original：https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/HlsFf8wydH6dOyIykAjKmA

Google translate：

Google ??

[TwoUptons]

It’s dropped to under $1,000 on Amazon’s US site...

-Eric

[Mistral75]

Lightweight telephoto: Pentax-D 70-210mm F4 sample gallery | Digital Photography Review

[davidsladek]

Lightweight telephoto: Pentax-D 70-210mm F4 sample gallery | Digital Photography Review

some crazy high aperature numbers there...

[SSGGeezer]

some crazy high aperature numbers there...

I noticed that too! Still decent images in most cases but the settings were a bit confused if you are trying to show off the lens.