Help Critic Lens Performance

kchamber4 · 10-15-2014, 09:55 AM

I have been considering selling my Access lens. They have the Ricoh P mode, but will only work in Manual on Pentax. (No issue with the Ricoh pin). So I took my 18-135 WR lens and the Access 70-210 lens outside and took a picture of the same rosebud.

Here are the pictures. I can't tell which one is nicer. Looking for input. Is the Access lens truly that great that I should keep it, or is the Pentax 18-135 WR lens, that poor.

Here is the picture from the Access Lens
Attachment 240954

Here is the picture from the Pentax lens

Attachment 240955

Last edited by kchamber4; 05-10-2016 at 08:18 PM.

**crewl1** · 10-15-2014, 10:10 AM

One picture the rose is in shade and the other in sun so hard to compare. They both look OK, but at least in this post they seem a bit soft.
It could be a function of where they were hosted or how uploaded.
The 18-135 has the advantage of going wider, is weather resistant and auto focus.
The Access may have charms that offset its manual requirement, such as nice out of focus areas.
I don't see a real difference in image quality in these photos.
A more controlled comparison might help.
FYI if you are looking to sell to make money, third party manual 70-200 zooms don't command a high price unless they are wide aperture type.

**Kerrowdown** · 10-15-2014, 10:47 AM

Welcome to the forum, any chance you also post the EXIF data too, so we can see a little more what's going on here.

kchamber4 · 10-15-2014, 10:48 AM

Originally posted by crewl1

One picture the rose is in shade and the other in sun so hard to compare. They both look OK, but at least in this post they seem a bit soft.
It could be a function of where they were hosted or how uploaded.
The 18-135 has the advantage of going wider, is weather resistant and auto focus.
The Access may have charms that offset its manual requirement, such as nice out of focus areas.
I don't see a real difference in image quality in these photos.
A more controlled comparison might help.
FYI if you are looking to sell to make money, third party manual 70-200 zooms don't command a high price unless they are wide aperture type.

Thanks for the input. Actually the Access 70-210 is a faster lens. 3.5 all the way through. Yes, they are soft, which surprised me on the Pentax as they were both shot around F8-F11 at ISO 100 for the Pentax and 200 for the Access lens. Perhaps because they were both hand held instead of getting out the tripod, that might have made them a little softer than normal. The shade verses the sun is strictly due to the time it took to take one lens off and put the other lens on.

---------- Post added 10-15-14 at 12:50 PM ----------

Originally posted by Kerrowdown

Welcome to the forum, any chance you also post the EXIF data too, so we can see a little more what's going on here.

How do I add the EXIF. These were shot in the RAW and then I used PaintPro Shop to convert to a jpeg and adjust the size down.

**marcusBMG** · 10-15-2014, 01:18 PM

Take a pic of eg a bank note, face on, close enough just to comfortably get a larger part of the image being of the bank note. On camera flash should be OK, or set up by a window/in a room with strong and consistent daylight/lighting. If you don't have a tripod then set it all up on eg a table. Use live view if your camera has it to check focus. Use 2 secs timer to avoid movement caused by pressing the shutter. Take pics wide open, at f5.6, f8 and f11 - this range will include best resolution f stop.
An outdoor alternative - a brick wall/similar works well.
Ideally take as RAW, use eg the silkypix bundled with your camera to export as a jpg (or Faststone, a competent free image editor). A test pic like this will mostly avoid camera shake and other hand holding errors, depth of field errors (being flat), colour poblems (pentaxes tend to oversaturate reds, your pics show this a bit) and provide a good point of comparison. "Pixel peep" at 100% to compare resolution. Faststone has a very useful side by side comparison function.

10-15-2014, 09:55 AM	#1
kchamber4 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Conroe, TX Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 154	Help Critic Lens Performance I have been considering selling my Access lens. They have the Ricoh P mode, but will only work in Manual on Pentax. (No issue with the Ricoh pin). So I took my 18-135 WR lens and the Access 70-210 lens outside and took a picture of the same rosebud. Here are the pictures. I can't tell which one is nicer. Looking for input. Is the Access lens truly that great that I should keep it, or is the Pentax 18-135 WR lens, that poor. Here is the picture from the Access Lens Attachment 240954 Here is the picture from the Pentax lens Attachment 240955 Last edited by kchamber4; 05-10-2016 at 08:18 PM.

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10-15-2014, 10:10 AM	#2
crewl1 Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Los Angeles, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 9,807	One picture the rose is in shade and the other in sun so hard to compare. They both look OK, but at least in this post they seem a bit soft. It could be a function of where they were hosted or how uploaded. The 18-135 has the advantage of going wider, is weather resistant and auto focus. The Access may have charms that offset its manual requirement, such as nice out of focus areas. I don't see a real difference in image quality in these photos. A more controlled comparison might help. FYI if you are looking to sell to make money, third party manual 70-200 zooms don't command a high price unless they are wide aperture type.

10-15-2014, 10:47 AM	#3
Kerrowdown PEG Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Highlands of Scotland... "Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand" - William Blake Photos: Gallery Posts: 57,819	Welcome to the forum, any chance you also post the EXIF data too, so we can see a little more what's going on here.

10-15-2014, 10:48 AM	#4
kchamber4 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Conroe, TX Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 154 Original Poster	Originally posted by crewl1 One picture the rose is in shade and the other in sun so hard to compare. They both look OK, but at least in this post they seem a bit soft. It could be a function of where they were hosted or how uploaded. The 18-135 has the advantage of going wider, is weather resistant and auto focus. The Access may have charms that offset its manual requirement, such as nice out of focus areas. I don't see a real difference in image quality in these photos. A more controlled comparison might help. FYI if you are looking to sell to make money, third party manual 70-200 zooms don't command a high price unless they are wide aperture type. Thanks for the input. Actually the Access 70-210 is a faster lens. 3.5 all the way through. Yes, they are soft, which surprised me on the Pentax as they were both shot around F8-F11 at ISO 100 for the Pentax and 200 for the Access lens. Perhaps because they were both hand held instead of getting out the tripod, that might have made them a little softer than normal. The shade verses the sun is strictly due to the time it took to take one lens off and put the other lens on. ---------- Post added 10-15-14 at 12:50 PM ---------- Originally posted by Kerrowdown Welcome to the forum, any chance you also post the EXIF data too, so we can see a little more what's going on here. How do I add the EXIF. These were shot in the RAW and then I used PaintPro Shop to convert to a jpeg and adjust the size down.

10-15-2014, 01:18 PM	#5
marcusBMG Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: North Wales Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,869	Take a pic of eg a bank note, face on, close enough just to comfortably get a larger part of the image being of the bank note. On camera flash should be OK, or set up by a window/in a room with strong and consistent daylight/lighting. If you don't have a tripod then set it all up on eg a table. Use live view if your camera has it to check focus. Use 2 secs timer to avoid movement caused by pressing the shutter. Take pics wide open, at f5.6, f8 and f11 - this range will include best resolution f stop. An outdoor alternative - a brick wall/similar works well. Ideally take as RAW, use eg the silkypix bundled with your camera to export as a jpg (or Faststone, a competent free image editor). A test pic like this will mostly avoid camera shake and other hand holding errors, depth of field errors (being flat), colour poblems (pentaxes tend to oversaturate reds, your pics show this a bit) and provide a good point of comparison. "Pixel peep" at 100% to compare resolution. Faststone has a very useful side by side comparison function.