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03-09-2020, 12:20 PM   #16
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Excellent choice ! This lens is underrated in the reviews, it is really excellent at f/11.

03-10-2020, 06:00 PM   #17
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QuoteOriginally posted by RICHARD L. Quote
Excellent choice ! This lens is underrated in the reviews, it is really excellent at f/11.
It's definitely at its best at f/11. It's quite usable at f/5.6, improves at f/8, and then seems to come alive at f/11. There's a huge jump in sharpness and contrast. It's still very good at f/16.


This behaviour suits me because I'm very commonly shooting at f/11 to f/16, and even f/19 if I'm willing to trade off a loss of fine details due to diffraction for an increase in the in-focus area of the frame.
03-11-2020, 04:54 AM   #18
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Stopped-down performance of the 645 FA 150-300 mm f/5.6 zoom.

This particular scene was taken @ f/22 and 150 mm FL and still exhibits great sharpness and image quality.

03-11-2020, 06:28 AM   #19
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I’ll take a touch of diffraction over inadequate depth of field any day.

Rick “fine effect vs. a gross effect” Denney

03-16-2020, 12:19 PM - 1 Like   #20
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Rob:
I'm glad you're happy with the lens. As you know, I wrote a very favorable review some time ago after comparing the zoom to primes at 150, 200 and 300. I wrote the review in part in response to a terrible, and not explainable, review of the lens left by a very disgruntled poster.
I own all the lenses mentioned in this thread and the concern over the coronavirus has resulted in a lot of free time. So I tested: the 150-300mm zoom at 200mm; the Pentax A 200mm; the Pentax FA 200mm; the Pentax 67 200mm and the Fuji G 100-200 at 200mm. All at f/11; lighting conditions varied and I did not adjust WB. All were processed in ACR with default sharpening. I did not adjust for any CA; however, the Fuji corrections for the G lens are baked into the file. The crop is of an isopropanol bottle that happened to be on a desk (not virus related but a certain irony). The text on the label gives a good illustration of sharpness and contrast. My overall conclusion: there is little to choose between these lenses. The A is the weakest and FA and Fuji the best, but the differences are so slight as to be almost meaningless for real applications. An interesting effect that I don't understand: the Fuji and FA files show some sort of chromatic aliasing or aberration in the text that is absent in the files from the other lenses. All the text should be black, but the two mentioned lenses render some of the text red or blue. Each image of the bottle is about 600 pixels (native) in width and so represents about 2 inches at 300ppi on a print of 28 inches if all 8300 pixels in the file were used. Fuji GFX 50r was used for all images, using EFSC. I put them in the album linked below.

Tom

Thomas's Album: 645 150-300mm vs. 200mm primes - PentaxForums.com

Last edited by Thomas; 03-16-2020 at 12:26 PM.
03-16-2020, 12:43 PM - 1 Like   #21
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The Pentax FA 150-300 mm can do more than just a straight 200 mm ... Picture taken handheld @ 300 mm FL and f/8. You can zoom in or out to compose your image the way you want and control the appearance of the background. I'm glad I had the audacity to acquire this zoom despite the poor reviews. It performs flawlessly once you have mastered the beast.


Last edited by RICHARD L.; 03-29-2020 at 06:18 AM.
03-16-2020, 08:09 PM - 1 Like   #22
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Thanks Tom.


I find these kinds of comparison helpful. I did something similar for the Fuji GF 63mm f/2.8 and the 63mm position on the SMC Pentax-A 45-85 f/4.5. I posted the results in the medium format of DPReview: Two 63s: Fuji GF 63mm f/2.8 and SMC Pentax-A 645 45-85mm f/4.5: Medium Format Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review In a nutshell, I concluded that it's simply not the case that the "old" film-era lens is unsuited to a modern digital sensor. It's actually a very strong performer. The two lenses serve very different purposes; in my setup they are complementary rather than competitive. The takeaway though is that one shouldn't assume that the Fuji lenses are leagues better than Pentax 645 lenses. Your test adds another data point. A third data point was added recently in another DPReview post where the person compared the SMC Pentax-D FA 35mm f/3.5 to the 35mm position on the Fuji GF 32-64 zoom. Based on the files the poster provided, I thought the Pentax was a stronger performer. Here's that link: Two 63s: Fuji GF 63mm f/2.8 and SMC Pentax-A 645 45-85mm f/4.5: Medium Format Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review


The bottom-line for me: the Pentax 150-300 was a great find. I'm glad I ignored the very disgruntled reviewer!


Regarding the strange pattern you're seeing, I believe it is in fact aliasing. It's a "feature" of the GFX 50R sensor. I see it all the time in urban settings where there are more regular patterns than I find in the woods.Unfortunately, it's worse with better lenses. The Fuji GF and the FA are the better lenses in your test, so I'm not surprised to see it there. In Lightroom, the Enhanced Details function can tidy it up sometimes. Here's a before and after example: Update your browser to use Google Drive - Google Drive Help


Rob


QuoteOriginally posted by Thomas Quote
Rob:
I'm glad you're happy with the lens. As you know, I wrote a very favorable review some time ago after comparing the zoom to primes at 150, 200 and 300. I wrote the review in part in response to a terrible, and not explainable, review of the lens left by a very disgruntled poster.
I own all the lenses mentioned in this thread and the concern over the coronavirus has resulted in a lot of free time. So I tested: the 150-300mm zoom at 200mm; the Pentax A 200mm; the Pentax FA 200mm; the Pentax 67 200mm and the Fuji G 100-200 at 200mm. All at f/11; lighting conditions varied and I did not adjust WB. All were processed in ACR with default sharpening. I did not adjust for any CA; however, the Fuji corrections for the G lens are baked into the file. The crop is of an isopropanol bottle that happened to be on a desk (not virus related but a certain irony). The text on the label gives a good illustration of sharpness and contrast. My overall conclusion: there is little to choose between these lenses. The A is the weakest and FA and Fuji the best, but the differences are so slight as to be almost meaningless for real applications. An interesting effect that I don't understand: the Fuji and FA files show some sort of chromatic aliasing or aberration in the text that is absent in the files from the other lenses. All the text should be black, but the two mentioned lenses render some of the text red or blue. Each image of the bottle is about 600 pixels (native) in width and so represents about 2 inches at 300ppi on a print of 28 inches if all 8300 pixels in the file were used. Fuji GFX 50r was used for all images, using EFSC. I put them in the album linked below.

Tom

Thomas's Album: 645 150-300mm vs. 200mm primes - PentaxForums.com


03-17-2020, 02:23 AM   #23
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Thanks for all comments, I've been watching this thread as I'm thinking about a 645 tele prime. In this range I've currently got the FA80-160, 67 165/2.8, late 67 200/4, 67 90-180 and 645 A*300/4. I have been considering an A or FA150 as a more compact option and this thread gives me some insight into other options - thanks.
03-17-2020, 11:16 AM   #24
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what we are dealing with here, is the personal experiences of our forum members. our ratings are based on our equipment and skill level. a valid review would rrquire testing at least 5 of each model in a professional laboratory.

my results have been good with both the a and fa editions.

Last edited by bull drinkwater; 03-17-2020 at 11:24 AM.
03-17-2020, 04:18 PM   #25
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Base Statistics says you need a random sample of 30 to make any valid assesment of a physical phenomenon. Quality control of various lenses seems lacking so we are not comparing really equivalent physical items (some may be poorly centered or suffer from insufficient baffling or have poor focusing electro-motors). A sample of 5 is better than a sample of 1 but statistically "insignificant", meaning your data base is insufficient to draw any worthwhile conclusions. In practical life, a photographer will have access to 2 or 3 different samples of a same lens if he does business with a really dedicated dealer ready to swap poor performing lenses. Most of us put our lenses to our habitual way of working and we make an opinion based on the particular sample we are using. Personally, I've been very lucky with most of my Pentax lenses, except for a couple of them that proved subpar in the long run.


Regards,
Richard L. (retired engineer).

Last edited by RICHARD L.; 04-01-2020 at 02:24 PM.
03-17-2020, 05:25 PM   #26
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QuoteOriginally posted by Thomas Quote
Rob:
I'm glad you're happy with the lens. As you know, I wrote a very favorable review some time ago after comparing the zoom to primes at 150, 200 and 300. I wrote the review in part in response to a terrible, and not explainable, review of the lens left by a very disgruntled poster.
I own all the lenses mentioned in this thread and the concern over the coronavirus has resulted in a lot of free time. So I tested: the 150-300mm zoom at 200mm; the Pentax A 200mm; the Pentax FA 200mm; the Pentax 67 200mm and the Fuji G 100-200 at 200mm. All at f/11; lighting conditions varied and I did not adjust WB. All were processed in ACR with default sharpening. I did not adjust for any CA; however, the Fuji corrections for the G lens are baked into the file. The crop is of an isopropanol bottle that happened to be on a desk (not virus related but a certain irony). The text on the label gives a good illustration of sharpness and contrast. My overall conclusion: there is little to choose between these lenses. The A is the weakest and FA and Fuji the best, but the differences are so slight as to be almost meaningless for real applications. An interesting effect that I don't understand: the Fuji and FA files show some sort of chromatic aliasing or aberration in the text that is absent in the files from the other lenses. All the text should be black, but the two mentioned lenses render some of the text red or blue. Each image of the bottle is about 600 pixels (native) in width and so represents about 2 inches at 300ppi on a print of 28 inches if all 8300 pixels in the file were used. Fuji GFX 50r was used for all images, using EFSC. I put them in the album linked below.

Tom

Thomas's Album: 645 150-300mm vs. 200mm primes - PentaxForums.com

Thanks for this! My blind eyeballing of those files suggests that the 67 lens renders the text best (assuming all lenses are focused identically)...
03-17-2020, 06:07 PM - 1 Like   #27
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Not only that, but we're dealing with what has happened to the lenses during their now long lives. Was the one I tested serviced? Was the technician who serviced it competent? Has it taken a fall that loosened something? And on and on...


Unless you're LensRentals, it's always going to be like this. Only rarely have I had multiple copies I could compare, and even then anyone reading my thoughts needs to take them with a grain of salt!

I use the personal experiences of people who have a track record of knowledge and experience, and who are using similar equipment, to get me in the zone. Then I roll the dice if the balance of experiences has been positive.

Cheers, Rob


QuoteOriginally posted by bull drinkwater Quote
what we are dealing with here, is the personal experiences of our forum members. our ratings are based on our equipment and skill level. a valid review would rrquire testing at least 5 of each model in a professional laboratory.

my results have been good with both the a and fa editions.
03-17-2020, 09:14 PM   #28
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QuoteOriginally posted by johnha Quote
I have been considering an A or FA150
I can vouch for the A 150 and even Ken Rockwell loved it in a review easily found on his site.
03-18-2020, 05:08 AM   #29
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BTW, I also have an A-series 150 mm f/3.5 and I can attest to its great imaging quality too.

03-18-2020, 05:34 AM   #30
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Has anybody compared the A150 with the 6x7 150/2.8 - as I have a 67 bring able to use it on both would be a benefit?
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