Some observations about the SMC Pentax 4/200 lens:
- The image quality of this lens, considering its vintage, is stunning. Again and again it treated me with razor-sharp images, excellent color, and lots of detail. I have a DA* 200/2.8, and so I know what good images look like at this focal length. The 4/200 didn't
quite match up with that excellent lens, but it was close enough to give me pause. The only flaws I noticed were some very controllable purple/green fringing in backlit settings, and a bit of resolution breakup at infinity focus with complex images (but this may have been operator error, not a fault of the lens). I was able to do heavy crops of songbirds with acceptable results. Would the DA* 200 have done better? Yes...but not by nearly as much as you would think.
- The lens' handling is a mixed bag. It is a long lens, with a minimum focusing distance of 200cm. This makes it pretty awkward in close quarters, but I suppose that's not what this lens is designed for anyway. It's solidly built and a bit heavy for its size. Focusing is smooth as butter, as you would expect from an early Pentax lens. Overall quite usable for its purpose - outdoor telephoto work.
- As a side note, while shooting this lens I figured out my preferred setup on the KP with manual lenses - which was huge for me. Following advice on this forum, I set up C2 user mode so that I could adjust ISO with the large third dial. This gave me control over all three elements of the exposure triangle - which was incredibly freeing. I also set up a three-shot bracket, 0.7 stops apart, and assigned the green button, as recommended, to adjust shutter speed. Focus, tap the green button to get a reading, and press the shutter button to get the three bracketed images. Choose the best of the three, process, and post. It's pretty much my go-to setup with the KP now.
Some of my favorite shots from the month: