| Author: | | Forum Member Registered: December, 2007 Location: Bulgaria Posts: 94
11 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 13, 2011 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | bokeh, sharpness, autofocus, size and weight | | Cons: | aperture value.., f1.8 would be great... | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
New or Used: New
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Love the lens sharpness, bokeh and size.
I needed a little tme before get used to shoot at it's bigger aperture values, but now I love it.
sea whispers... by Svetlana Bekyarova / freesoul, on Flickr
still late... by Svetlana Bekyarova / freesoul, on Flickr
storm is coming... by Svetlana Bekyarova / freesoul, on Flickr
... by Svetlana Bekyarova / freesoul, on Flickr
spring in colours by Svetlana Bekyarova / freesoul, on Flickr
Untitled by Svetlana Bekyarova / freesoul, on Flickr
More samples here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/svemile/tags/7024/ | | | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: April, 2013 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 578
6 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 27, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $250.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp, great contrast, fast focus, small | | Cons: | | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-5II
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A great little lens. It follows the DA Limited line of lenses in that it is compact and light, but not that large of an aperture (f 2.4). I bought it as a budget portrait lens but ended up getting the FA 77 soon after and never used this much. As for nature photography, I usually ended up using one of my zoom lenses but I purposely pulled this out from time to time in order to get some use out of it. Overall it has great sharpness, contrast, and colors - as expected with the rest of the DA Limiteds. I like the rendering of the FA 77 more, but this is still an excellent lens.
Here's a few of my favorites that I've taken with it:
 Autumn at McConnells Mill
 Quakertown Falls
 Fall at Marshall Lake
 Late Summer Sunset Through the Woods at North Park by James Baron, on Flickr
 First Colors of Fall at North Park by James Baron, on Flickr
| | | | | New Member Registered: August, 2015 Location: Stockholm Posts: 15
5 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 25, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $600.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | sharp (!), small, IQ | | Cons: | Nothing | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: Pentax K-1
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If I had to only have one lens, this would be the one. Simply great for most use. Tack sharp in the center at 2.4, gets even better stopped down. It is small, have minimal distortion and works well on my K-1 even thought it's made for APS-C.
There is something about how it renders the image I love, can't really put my finger on it.. sharpness, colours, bokeh, micro contrast just makes it a great performer.
 | | | | | New Member Registered: December, 2010 Location: St. Paul, MN Posts: 7
5 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 11, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $550.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharpness!, bokeh!, build, size and weight, fast AF, contrast, color (basically fantastic IQ) | | Cons: | None (well, maybe if it were f/1.8 ...) | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 8
New or Used: New
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Sharpest lens I've ever owned (a strong candidate for the best lens I've ever owned). Shooting my son in a T-shirt from 10-12 feet away, you can clearly see the fuzzy stray fibers and the twist in the threads of the T-shirt fabric. Amazing. Very, very sharp wide-open and it only gets better from there.
This is a truly wonderful lens. The IQ would be hard to beat in any way. The corner-to-corner sharpness is amazing. The bokeh is lovely, creamy. The color rendition and contrast are excellent across the image. Very little distortion or CA (completely non-issues in practical terms.)
I've owned a long series of PENTAX primes over the last 30 years (50mm f/2, 50mm f/1.2, 28mm f/2.8, 40mm f/2.8, 85mm f/2, 135mm f/3.5, and others) not to mention some extremely sharp, recently produced zooms from other manufacturers. This is, by a fair margin, the sharpest lens I've owned. I've done direct tests against the PENTAX 50 f/1.2 and the PENTAX 85mm f/2, both of which I consider extremely sharp for film work (Kodachrome 64 and Tri-X-Pan, Plux-X, or Panatomic-X); and this lens blows them away in every aspect of IQ.
I wanted a fast, very sharp portrait lens. This lens fills the bill in spades. I also love how tiny it is: It takes up only a very small corner of my bag, and it's the second smallest lens I currently own (I also just acquired the DA 40mm f/2.8 Limited), so it is very unobtrusive and doesn't intimidate the subject. The 70mm focal length also gives it the reach to stay out of the subjects comfort zone. Wonderful for candids and portraits, which is what I bought it for.
I chose this lens over the 77mm f/1.8 DA for the following reasons:
1. Better corner sharpness wide open (generally better edge sharpness, though a bit less at center though still excellent)
2. Less purple fringing (~none as far as I can tell on the 70mm)
3. Size
4. Cost
5. I don't really need f/1.8, especially in digital and the DOF at 2.4 is plenty shallow
I have only one sort-of negative with this lens, and it's a minor quibble: The minimum focus distance is rather long (27.6 inches according to the PENTAX website) but my intent was not macro anyway, no issue for me. I intend to purchase the PENTAX-D FA 100mm f/2.8 WR Macro.
I was a little leery of the screw-in lens hood; but it works just fine. You can put filters under it or dispense with it altogether. I happen to really like it, both for flare and lens protection. The leather pouch is very nice. I keep coming back to the tiny size of this lens as well: A real plus in my opinion. And: built like a tank.
Here's a good test shot:
http://www.berettaconsulting.com/barbarossa/Camera_Gear/2010-10-31/Sunflower.JPG
And one showing the short DOF at f/2.8 and super resolution wide-open in the focal plane:
http://www.berettaconsulting.com/barbarossa/Camera_Gear/2010-10-31/Jamie_LEGOs_2.JPG
(check out the insignia on the LEGO "guy")
| | | | | | | amateur dirt farmer Registered: December, 2014 Location: probably out in a field somewhere... Posts: 41,797
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 4, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $228.99
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | size, autofocus, color rendition, bokeh | | Cons: | MFD | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 9
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-3 and K-50
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What A Lens!
I was hesitant to buy this, simply because I did not hold a lot of interest in the focal length - I have 55's, a 58, and a 90 - but nothing between and honestly did not think that the gap needed to be closed.... I figured, why not, so I bought a second-hand SMC (not HD) copy from eBay.
I was wrong, flat-out wrong. This is a great focal length and this lens will definitely be staying with me.
Let me get the one negative out of the way, so I can continue to wax poetically about this lens. The minimum focusing distance is a pain... really it is. Yes, I know it's not a macro lens, etcetera - but 27"? Really? Many shots had to be recomposed simply because I ran into the MFD.... regularly... Granted, once I was used to it, it was less of an issue (and more of just a grousing point)...
OK - done with that, back to the wax....
This lens is all about the smooooooth...the rendering, colors, bokeh, how the lens handles, all so smooth...
The technical parts are special - it's small size, like the rest of its Limited brethren, makes it a joy to use on your camera. The built-in hood works perfectly with the slip-on cap; I never felt the need to remove the hood/cap and use a generic set up on the DA70 (yes, I'm looking at you DA40 Ltd). The autofocus works as advertised, yes it is a screwdrive so not as quiet or exotic as DC or SDM, but works perfectly fine, is accurate, and quick.
But it's the colors and bokeh that make this lens a keeper for me. Throughout the month, I had to adjust colors minimally - the joy of using a Pentax lens, as they render colors closer to my true vision than any other manufacturer. Bokeh is another triumph here - almost buttery, it's so smooth - if you want bokeh balls, you got 'em; you want a DOF that just fades away, you got it.
and the pictures?
 golden bokeh by Pepperberry Farm, on Flickr
 Remy Jane by Pepperberry Farm, on Flickr
 Remy by Pepperberry Farm, on Flickr
 glass and light by Pepperberry Farm, on Flickr
and the rest of my album for the DA70 Limited:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pepperberryfarm/albums/72157676850138601/page1
my advice is similar to my other Limited lenses: buy one...
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: January, 2011 Location: Skåne, Sweden Posts: 482
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 5, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $385.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Size, build quality, AF-speed, bokeh, image quality | | Cons: | AF-accuracy, purple fringing | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-5, K-01
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This review is for a mint condition DA70 bought second-hand on the Pentaxforums marketplace, serial nr is in the 00023xx-range.
PROS- Very small size and low weight
- Build quality
- AF-speed
- Image quality
- Bokeh
- Conversation piece
CONS- AF-accuracy
- Purple Fringing
Build and parameters
The DA70 might be a bit larger than the DA40, but I would say that the size and weight of this lens is even more impressive. I'm not aware of any other short telephoto lens of this size, and it still has a respectable f/2.4 maximum aperture. Equivalent to a 105mm focal length in 35mm format, a typical portrait lens one might say. I've used it mainly to that, but it is so small and nimble that it has also covered pretty much all my telephoto needs (I'm not a bird shooter). Build quality is top notch, and the pull-out and removable hood works very well and is a nice touch. You are given the option to go super slim or with the hood as protection (against flares, but also for mechanical damage to the lens).
Image quality
The lens is sharp in center already wide open, and very suitable for portraits at f/2.4 and f/2.8. I use it for both headshots and full body. Stopping down to f/4 the corners will be very sharp as well and you can use it for events, motorsport and so on. Bokeh is smooth and never distracting, but one might say that it does not have any special character either. Personally I don't mind a bit of swirlyness in a portrait background, but technically you can't say anything bad about the DA70's bokeh. It has shown some purple fringing in high contrast situations, but it easy to correct in software, just as the vignetting and negligable distortion. Ghosting and flare is well controlled and the smart extendable hood does a good job here.
Use and handling
Typically for a DA Limited, the handling is great. The lens is very light weight and small size. Where a large lens like the DA* 50-135mm might get you tired after fifteen minutes, you can shoot all day with the DA70. Auto-focus is very fast, but the DoF is pretty thin and I miss some portrait shoots at f/2.4. I think this has to do more with the camera (K-5) then the lens though. Speaking of portraits, that is what I would say is the typical area of use for this lens, but like I said earlier I use it as a general telephoto. It is very sharp stopped down a little and will allow for a bit of cropping if needed. I liked the DA70 very much, and I ended up getting the FA77 which I would say is better for portraits, but the DA70 has advantages like lower CA, faster AF and smaller size and might be more all-round. The FA77 is probably the closest rival, regarless of system, but there are many other great portrait lenses. None of them will be as small as the DA70 though, and many will be manual focus only and softer wide open. With such a wide are of use and relatively low price, especially second-hand, I think that the DA70 offers great value.
Overall impression
The DA70 must be seen as a gem in the Pentax lineup. It offers a wide range of uses in a very small and high quality body, and at a reasonable price. I have compared it to the DA* 50-135mm and for me the DA70 does the same job at one fifth of the size and half the price. No other company will offer a lens with the same specifications either, a truly unique lens, with its greatest rival in the same stable (The FA77), both exceptional portrait lenses that will work as general telephoto as well.
My pictures on Flickr with this lens | | | | | New Member Registered: April, 2020 Posts: 2
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 1, 2022 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | small size, built quality, colours, bokeh, contrast, sharpness, 49 mm filter | | Cons: | no | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K1
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The travel pocket version of an 77mm or 85mm. Itīs working very well on full frame K1 and the wonderful thing is, nobody is expecting a tele lens, it seems so harmless and innocent.
I wanted to sell it after I bought the K1, but before I did, I tried it out on it and found this little sweet beast perfect for both, FF / crop and I fell in love with this small twitter lenses from PENTAX.
Superb bokeh with lights in the background, you donīt need to look for old M42 like Helios for producing light bubbles any more.
Fotos straight out of the cam, taken without lens hood, donīt know how to show them here sharper, K1 in FF modus, no skin modus, f2,4
  | | | | | Senior Member Registered: April, 2008 Location: Westbrook, ME, USA Posts: 288
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 21, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $250.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Very light, extremely small for a long lens, quite sharp, generally good AF | | Cons: | screw on hood? | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: KP
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The single best thing about this lens is the size. People do not register that I am shooting with a tele lens, pretty much ever. I use the lens to take candids of my kids and I find they are much less likely to be annoyed by Dad with his camera.
The lens is quite sharp but doesn't take it too far, so it's great for portraits. There's some debate regarding the bokeh vs the 77mm, but I think this lenses rendition of out of focus areas is quite nice. It's very neutral and unobtrusive.
I really don't have anything bad to say about the lens, so here's a picture of my cat.
 | | | | | Senior Member Registered: May, 2011 Location: Hanoi Posts: 213
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 27, 2015 | Not Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | sharpness, colorful, good build | | Cons: | the shade is loose | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: Pentax K200D
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The price is not worth with the quality, it's quite cheap but the image is absolutely gorgeous.
 Pink garden, on Flickr
 Pink garden, on Flickr
 Pink garden, on Flickr
 Pink garden, on Flickr
 Pink garden, on Flickr
 Pink garden, on Flickr
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: October, 2010 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 327
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 16, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $425.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | size, quick shift, sharpness, colours | | Cons: | bokeh can be harsh (especially in situation with trees in background), only f2.4 | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 8
New or Used: Used
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great lens in terms of build quality and IQ, extremely sharp and can handle backlit situations very well (unlike fa 77)
a few points ill add on:
- it's only f2.4, for this reason it has led me to want to get the fa 77, it's fast enough for most situations but i would prefer to have more speed for the specified use (portrait / subject isolation)
- bokeh is not great in some situations, i found when shooting against trees in the background it was too nervous and not creamy at all
- i would get this lens if you want a good budget prime, if you have the money i would rather the fa 77 due to speed and bokeh (although it has much more CA)
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: January, 2009 Location: East Bay Area, CA Posts: 6,622
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 14, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $500.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | super sharp! fast AF, good colors | | Cons: | min focus distance could be better | | New or Used: Used
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All I can say is I am so happy I picked this lens because the FL is just right and it must be the sharpest lens I own. I am also thrilled with the speed of the AF, it jumps and locks on target instantly, faster than any non-SDM lens I've used.
From the reviews, I was prepared to not like the wide open bokeh, but I am not disappointed in the least with this lens.
what an amazing lens.
[EDIT 5/18/11]
it is about 3 months later and I have shot many photos with the lens. I remain amazed at the IQ and rendering. I have also become quite attached to the quick shift feature which allows me to AF and then move in and then tweak focus within a subject. I wish my FA43 had this. Portraits on the 70 are looking great too.
very nice lens!
[EDIT 7/18/11]
Well, I SOLD the lens because I found my portraits needing shallower DOF. I never thought I would say goodbye to this lens but I upgraded to the FA77/1.8 and the wide open portraits with the 77 are just amazing. I do miss having quick shift, but am even more happy using the 77.
 | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: September, 2006 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 10,685
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 1, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | great IQ, amazingly small/light even with hood | | Cons: | n/a | |
I've had this lens a year, and while I was impressed with it right away, it's taken me a while to get into the focal length. Now that I have, it's become my second most-used lens (behind the DA15 and ahead of the M135/3.5). I should add there is no logical reason why I shouldn't have taken to the focal length sooner - as most will attest, it's arguably *perfect* for portraits, quite nice for isolating landscape features, and many other purposes. I was just used to somewhat longer telephotos (100 and 135) for my concert photography, which kind of dominates my thinking.
A few observations to address some common questions/concerns people often have with this lens:
- DOF at f/2.4 and 70mm is already pretty darned shallow. If you are obsessed with shallow DOF as an end in itself, by means, check out the FA77 or an 85/1.4, but if you're just looking to get great pictures with nice background separation and the ability to get usable shots in low light, you really need not be concerned.
- While minimum focus distance is not particularly short, it plays very well with the Raynox closeup lenses. A 150 will give about 1:2 magnification, an a 250 will give about 1:1 - and either one will run only $40. I find the 150 on my DA70 great for floral closeups.
- I have no trouble focusing this manually despite the relatively short focus throw and a focus ring that is less damped than a lens designed for MF.
- Sharpness, color, rendering, bokeh - no matter where you look, IQ is fantastic. The one knock some have is in the CA department wide open; all i can say is that I don't personally any more with this lens than with any of my other lenses. I think you'd have to be *incredibly* sensitive to CA to list this as an issue - and even then you'd be hard-pressed to find anything better for Pentax in this focal length range.
Some shots to show the various attributes of the lens:
Wide open for fun - great sharpness, DOF already plenty shallow, and what CA?
Wide open more by necessity for low light concert photography:
Focal length perfect for basic head&shoulder portraits (f/2.8):
Stopped down for "landscape feature":
With Raynox 150:
 | | | | | Loyal Site Supporter Registered: March, 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Posts: 27,668
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 23, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $425.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Small, excellent construction, very sharp wide open | | Cons: | lack of close focusing ability | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
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This is an excellent lens. Perfect for portraiture or, just for walk around candids. It is a little sharper than the 50-135, half a stop faster and much faster focusing. I am always afraid of losing lens caps (particularly metal ones) and so I got a 43mm squeeze cap and it fits on the end of the lens hood. This is not a macro lens, but in order to have closer focusing ability, it would have to be quite a bit larger. All in all, I would highly recommend this lens!
I would add a comment about choosing between this lens and the FA 77mm limited. To me, the decision came down to price. I was able to get the DA 70 for about 300 dollars less than the FA limited and for me, f2.4 is sharp enough. I think the FA is probably sharper, obviously has a wider aperture and has more interesting bokeh. Still, I am very satisfied with the DA 70 and of all the decisions between DA limiteds and FA limiteds with similar focal length, I think the choice between the DA 70 and FA 77 is the toughest.
 | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: May, 2015 Posts: 3,306
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 15, 2021 | Recommended
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | size, rendering, sharpness | | Cons: | loud focussing | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 8
Value: 6
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-3 II, K-1
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This is my favourite DA limited. The size and image quality is excellent. Whilst travelling it's small, convenient and takes excellent cropped landscapes and building details. The size and rendering also makes it excellent for candid portraits, no one takes notice and it has a perfect mix of sharpness and smoothness.
On FF
I also use the lens on my K-1. Some say it's perfectly FF compatible but I'd say that's not quite true. The corners are really quite smudgy which matters for some subjects. It doesn't matter for others and this is how it can become a speciality character lens on FF. My copy renders really quite unique colours on the K-1 (I don't understand why it differs from my K-3II) turning towarsd a pleasant deep purble/blue tonal range in some circumstances. Again it shines for people photography where the vignette and edge behaviour can emphasize the subject.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: December, 2018 Location: Rio de Janeiro Posts: 113
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 7, 2019 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Superb image quality | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K3-II
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I love this lens !
It's extremely sharp, very compact and probably the best on its class.
My three lens set is made by the 15mm, 40mm and the 70mm, all DA Limited.
The only thing I don't like is the in body AF motor, very noisy, but this is not caused by the lens.
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