| Author: | | Forum Member Registered: September, 2011 Location: sunpic.lt Posts: 82
13 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 9, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $100.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | price, size, weight, filter thread | | Cons: | Focus is a bit noisy, especially dramatic with AFC | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: K1
| |
I would save the words and let pictures speak for themselves. The only thing I could add is - this is very underestimated legacy lens, something similar to canon 70-200 F4 L.
 | | | | | | | Loyal Site Supporter Registered: October, 2018 Location: Quebec City, Quebec Posts: 6,565
7 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 11, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $60.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Very sharp, light, inexpensive 3X tele-zoom. | | Cons: | None | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K3, K5, K20, K10, K1
| |
Handheld K10 + F 70-210 mm
Handheld K3 + F 70-210 mm.
My copy is pristine as I am very choosy and I take my time when I buy on eBay. The F series was plasticky and focusing might be somewhat loud. Personally, I'm very satisfied with its image producing performance. Most of the time, I shoot landscapes on a tripod and I use the optimal aperture range (f/8 to f/16). On an APSc sensor, it is equivalent to a 100-300 mm lens and is VERY SHARP, with good contrast and beautiful colors. It even performs like a champ on the K1, proof of its excellent optical quality. You can't go wrong with this awesome, ridiculously inexpensive lens. If you cannot put it to good use, find another pastime ...
Tripod-mounted K20 + F 70-210 mm (3 images above)
Cruise ship moored in Quebec City, Tripod-mounted K1 + F 70-210 mm
Pittsburgh, PA, K10 + F 70-210 mm
 Road to infinity, K20  Pittsburgh, PA, K10.
 Old Quebec, K5
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: February, 2010 Location: Northern Michigan Posts: 6,168
7 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 13, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $115.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Superb color rendition, excellent contrast, good resolution | | Cons: | Loses resolution as focal length increases | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
| |
With telephoto zoom lenses, it is usually feast or famine: either the lenses are very good and very expensive, or they're cheap and mediocre. What is lacking in the telephoto zoom space is a mid-range offering, something that fills the same role among tele zooms as the DA 16-45 fills among normal range zooms.
In K-mount lenses, the closest I have found to a mid-range performer is this F series zoom, the first auto-focus telephoto zoom ever produced by Pentax. From about 70mm to 135mm, it can hold its own against just about any mid-range zoom lens you would wish to compare it to. After around 135mm, while the resolution remains better than most consumer grade tele zooms, it nonetheless begins to fall just a tad short of the mid-range standard. While at 70mm there would not be a huge difference between what this lens produces and what you could get out of a high end professional lens such as the DA 60-250, at 210mm the difference in resolution would be very difficult to ignore.
Where this lens really shines, however, is with color rendition: rich, deep, striking colors that jump of the print or screen. To be sure, the colors aren't always faithfully realistic, but they are very distincitive. The original F series lenses (those introduced in the late eighties) are my favorites among Pentax auto-focus glass, largely because of the way they render color.
The F 70-210 features very good resolution at 70mm, and then gradually loses resolution as you zoom toward 210mm. Modern Photography ran some tests on this lens and found it nearly as sharp as comparable M series primes.
Below are samples from the lens:
At 70mm, f10:
100% crop at 70mm:
At 125mm, f8:
100% crop at 125mm:
At 210mm, f6.3:
100% crop at 210mm:
 | | | | | New Member Registered: October, 2011 Posts: 5
6 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 26, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $84.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Outstanding value, quick AF, sharpness and color | | Cons: | Not the best for low-light | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: K2000
| |
A sleeper lens. I think it will compete with the best zooms out there despite the low max aperture.
The AF is fast and accurate, the colors are very nice and photos are very sharp even from a distance.
This is part of my AB camera combo, the first being a K5 with FA 43 and this lens with a K2000. Together, I can tackle any challenge on the field.
Surprisingly versatile for portrait work.
 | | | | | | | Junior Member Registered: February, 2012 Posts: 40
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 25, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $180.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Color, Contrast, No CA/PF, Bokeh, Fast AF, Size, SHARP! | | Cons: | Very Occasional/Rare squirly AF activity | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 8
Value: 10
| |
For Reference purposes, here is my current lens list. I have owned all these lenses, only keeping Pentax lenses. All 3rd party lenses at the time of this review have been sold or are being sold. As you will see, I LOVE classic Pentax Glass. If I had the bucks, I'd buy Canon L glass just to see how it fares with old Pentax glass, but why bother....if you like the results, go for it.
PENTAX LENSES: 
--------------------------
50mm-A f1.7 10 sharpness, 8 Color, 9 Contrast, 8 CA, 8 Bokeh, 10 vignetting
50mm-M f1.4 10 sharpness, 8 Color, 9 Contrast, 9 CA, 10 Bokeh, 10 vignetting
35-105-A f3.5 9 sharpness, 8 Color, 9 Contrast, 7 CA, 6 Bokeh, 10 vignetting
55-300 6 sharpness, 9 Color, 8 Contrast, 8 CA, 8 Bokeh, 8 vignetting
18-55 AL II 7 sharpness, 9 Color, 8 Contrast, 8 CA, 8 Bokeh, 7 vignetting
16-45 9 sharpness, 9 Color, 8 Contrast, 5 CA, 9 Bokeh, 8 vignetting
70-210A 10 sharpness, 8 Color, 9 Contrast, 7 CA, 10 Bokeh, 10 vignetting
70-210F 8 sharpness, 10 Color, 10 Contrast, 9 CA, 10 Bokeh, 10 vignetting
OTHER LENSES USED: 
----------------------------------
SIGMA 24-135 8 sharpness, 8 Color, 7 Contrast, 7 CA, 6 Bokeh, 10 vignetting EXCELLENT vacation glass
TAMRON 28-75 7 sharpness, 10 Color, 10 Contrast, 9 CA, 9 Bokeh, 10 vignetting, great portrait lens or creative photography at 2.8 stops to 3.5, f5.6 stops tack sharp. BUT, Tamron glass fails!!!! Total junk. I owned 3 copies and had all break, or elements move causing blurs. Tamron service overall is very good, they backed their product. However, per its very poor sharpness between 2.8 and 5.6 stops, I just don't understand their pricing. If it were 350 new, okay, but 500+ now....forget it. I will manually focus and use classic Pentax glass.
ABOUT THIS PENTAX F 70-210 LENS:
==========================================
This lens:
1- has the most clean over all images I have ever seen.
2- has the most beautiful color I have ever seen
3- has the richest contrast I have seen
Construction: I cannot say enough of this lens, and it shocks me, more people do not rate this lens higher. However, I am lucky for the lens I bought likely sat on a shelf. It is so new, the detent at the 70mm fully retracted position is still present and almost holds the lens locked too firmly into place. Also, the zoom ring is firm and smooth, and the glass is impeccable. The lens has a firm and tight feel and is very solid and mildly weighty. I think on its appearance, you will love it, or shy from it. I think it looks pretty kick-butt! Very attractive and aggressive look to it on my K5 .
Focus: Overall, outstanding. It does skip and hop some, but that is the K5 for you!!! The K5 is a little over active trying to find and lock focus with all my lenses, but the K5 does function best with my DA 1855 II and DA 1645. This F 70210 is the most hyper active, but dang, it gets there fast and perfect 99% of the time when center focus point is selected. It fidgets some focusing on trees using other than the center focus point, which I figure is more the K5 once again. Also, landscape and AF of any camera can be a challenge. When I have used this lens to shoot my cats in action, it is 'bing, bang, boom'...lightning fast to focus, lock, and shoot.
Color, Contrast: the best, I cannot say enough.
CA: probably about the best again. There is very little on wide open aperture settings, and almost nothing perceivable at f5.6 stops throughout. To give you an idea of how this lens further functions faster than the 55300, not only does it focus MUCH faster, but you do NOT need CA removal turned on in the camera, so images write to card faster.
BOKEH: This lens is NUMBER ONE out of any picture I have seen from any of my lenses and anyone's posted pictures from other lenses. I am not the type to try to go out and blur out any shot I take. In fact, I like the old 1950's Western movies that are in black and white where you see 3D like depth from those old lenses used, but not everything is blurred out. However, this 70-210 will tempt you to use this to the fullest.
MORE BOKEH: I am sure most of you know this already, but to reiterate, the focal length of a lens, its overall range, and number of aperture blades (and of course contrast and color) really emphasize what you get for bokeh. This lens just has that chemistry from start to finish. The 70-210 range is ideal, the color and contrast are the best, then throw on top the 9 blades. AWESOME bokeh.
SHARPNESS: I write this last for if all other issues fall into place, this almost matters the least. WHAT DOES MATTER to me is that edges and corners are NOT soft and there is no unexpected blur from the lens. THIS LENS IS PERFECTLY EVEN IN SHARPNESS FROM CORNER TO CORNER in all settings. It does not suffer that issue of "at this setting, center is sharp enough but the border....." What you get at center is what you get in the corners. Now, let me tell you that my copy at f4.5 stops from 70 to 150 is very sharp, and almost tack sharp in that focal range at 5.6, and at f8 the entire focal range from start to finish is very good, but not quite tack sharp.
OVERALL, this lens is my favorite lens along with the 50mm M f1.4. Both have little CA and perfect bokeh. It has its own chemistry. If you buy this lens, and you get a good copy, you will never regret it. | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: September, 2006 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 423
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 12, 2007 | Recommended | Price: $230.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | good oof rendering, good color | | Cons: | bad weight distribution, noisy autofocus | |
At one stage, I had A70-210/4, F70-210/4-5.6, and DA50-200/4-5.6 in my possession and here is what I think:
Performance-wise (image quality, color rendering, etc):
A70-210 > F70-210 >= DA50-200
Portability
DA50-200 > F70-210 > A70-210
Even though F70-210 is lighter than A70-210, the weight distribution of the F70-210 is front-element heavy making holding camera level a little tricky.
Another thing with F70-210 is that the autofocus is quite noisy and the lens "throttles" when it is hunting for focus.
I don't find any sharpness issue with this lens at all.
If you are deciding between the above 3 lenses, the F70-210 is actually a very good compromise if you prefer the images you get with old glass rather than the new DA lenses.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: December, 2015 Posts: 5,404
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 15, 2022 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Price/Value, Colours | | Cons: | Noise | | Camera Used: K-1
| |
I find ratings like this very hard to choose a value. For example, Autofocus. How do I rate this? Compared to a PLM? Compared to another screwdrive? Compared to modern MILC? And isn't AF also partly the cameras responsibility as well as the lens design?
So I will just leave a series of images on my Blog that are lightly retouched jpgs to help you get a better idea. Really for me, lens performance these days becomes less and less important. I think a good photographer should be able to make any lens perform much better than expected. If we're scrutinizing a lenses traits then it's probably for very specific case usage and you'll already know from reputation if that lens will do what you need of it. For me this is a cheap affordable lens with acceptable IQ.
https://www.eddysummers.com.au/blog/becs-garden-with-the-pentax-f70-2104-56 | | | | | New Member Registered: December, 2012 Posts: 24
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 22, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $109.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp, great contrast, exceptional bokeh, light for its reach | | Cons: | Not much, but the perfect lens does not exist | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-30 (Brand new!)
| |
I read previous reviews before I bought this thing off Sleazebay and it has more than lived up to my expectations. Yeah, the focus is loud and I could care less. I took it out Saturday and was very pleasantly surprised with the test shots I made. I have never owned a Pentax until my son gave me this K-30 for Christmas. I have "heard" about the amazing Pentax lenses, and now, I'm a solid believer. This lens is remarkable...just remarkable!
 | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: April, 2009 Location: Madrid, Spain Posts: 10,879
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 12, 2020 | Not Recommended | Price: $60.00
| Rating: 2 |
| Pros: | Not sure there are any | | Cons: | Heavy, very noisy AF, poor image quality, hit-&-miss AF, very ugly | |
I bought this lens in order to have a compact telephoto zoom that I could use on both film and digital, especially for travel. The first problem is that this lens is too heavy to travel with. The second is that image quality is poor, though I suspect that's largely because the autofocus is very hit-&-miss, with a considerable leaning towards "miss". That second problem would be enough to get rid of it even if every other aspect of the lens were perfect, but they're not. Aside from those two issues the lens has very noisy auto-focus, which from what I gather is quite common on F series lenses, and it has looks that only a mother could love.
I always post reviews of lenses with sample pictures but not this time - I don't have a single one that was good enough to merit uploading anywhere.
| | | | | New Member Registered: January, 2019 Posts: 1
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 16, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Cheap (mine is usd40), good contrast, acceptable sharp for a old zoom lens, good bokeh | | Cons: | The "ref ref" sound when auto focus, heavy | | Sharpness: 6
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 7
Value: 9
Camera Used: K1
| |
Try to find 1 if u got the k1. It can be used as portrait lens thanks to 9 apediture blade.
   | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: June, 2007 Location: Near Algonquin Park Posts: 40,448
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 20, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $30.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Compact, lightweight for it's range. acceptable performance | | Cons: | Noisey and clunky focus, aberrations | |
I was inspired to go out an snap a few more F 70-210 images using the K-1.
Not bad in the long end but not spectacular. As is typical of this type of lens, as the barrel goes longer the lens gets less sharp.
 2018-F-70-210-210mm-woodpile by Norm Head, on Flickr
Nothing wrong with it at 70mm
 2018-F-70-210-70mm-woodpile by Norm Head, on Flickr
 2018-F-70-210-cabin by Norm Head, on Flickr
The out of focus areas aren't the smoothest, but it is ƒ8.
 2018-F-70-210-chickadee-3 by Norm Head, on Flickr
 2018-F-70-210-chickadee-2 by Norm Head, on Flickr
This one near the closest focusing distance... really, not bad at all.
 2018-F-70-210-chickadee-1 by Norm Head, on Flickr
It is noisey and when it locks focus it will almost break your wrist with a loud "ka thunk", but if you're looking for a budget lens it's one of the best. I doubt you'll find a better FF telephoto for the price.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: March, 2010 Location: Vermont Posts: 941
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 28, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $100.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, sharp, sharp!!! | | Cons: | Rotating front element, somewhat heavy | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-30
| |
This lens is one of the sharpest lenses I have. It's a little heavy, but the IQ in my opinion trumps the inconvenience. Focusing is fast, and usually very precise. Overall, an excellent lens that I don't think I'll ever part with (unless I purchase the Tamron 70-200 2.8 someday). IQ id say is between the pentax SMC 55-300 and the Tamron 70-200 2.8.
Here is a shot, with a little post processing in light room.
 IMGP3340.jpg by dcarman75, on Flickr
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: July, 2012 Location: Perth, Australia Posts: 42
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 22, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $129.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | weight, size, reasonably sharp, fast focus | | Cons: | bit noisy | | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 7
Value: 8
Camera Used: K5IIs
| |
I do not give away 9's or 10's to old lenses that do not compete with modern high quality digital era lenses, so at a 8 this thing is fairly handy
I generally agree as per below. But it's surprisingly small in size to me, not a lightweight, it's quite a bit shorter than the DA55-300, whilst just a fraction heavier. I can't get over that this is Full frame, just a smaller aperture than the big f2.8's, so not such a tank !!!
Feels very nicely balanced and looks perfect on the front of a modern K5IIs or Kx. Very Sturdy construction.
I have tested it alongside the 55-300 and at 210, it's very similar in IQ. But at 70 and 135mm it seems to be in it's sweet spot, rather sharp and has have nice edge to edge sharpness at f5.6. reminiscent of my FA 28-105. Colours are very nice, rich and warm, so it seems to perform similar to or above a modern kit lens in terms of sharpness but shows those typical , F or FA traits of keeping more consistent in edge to edge performance compared to the DA 18-55 whilst on a crop sensor camera. These lenses seem to work really well on aps-c.
Auto Focus...... very quick and snappy, (almost violent -super torquey)
Having one of these, gives you something 'ready to rock' when the (now, more promising) FF arrives. It would be a pity putting an old lens on a great FF sensor, but it's a worthy starter.
It's not going to win any low light competitions, but as a cheap and cheerful sports, portrait and general use lens, it's pretty good value for money and worth having if you can find a decent one. It is what it is, a very decent FF film era lens, however, in the right hands I think it's capable of some very respectable results.
It just seems to fit like a glove and look like a weapon on the K5/3 style cameras and balances beautifully.
So, what are you getting ? A solidly built, noisy but very quick screw drive driven AF which hunts a little bit when subject lacking contrast. Has at least as good optical performance as similar digital specific aps-c lenses if not overall better, due to very good edge to edge performance. I'm not sure if perhaps centre sharpness may be less than a new lens but overall sharpness gives you that feel that its fairly special.
Looks and feels a little antiquated, but a real gem.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: April, 2011 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 386
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 26, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $75.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Very sharp, fast AF, nice bokeh | | Cons: | Heavy, loud AF, poor manual focus, not pretty | |
My curiosity got spiked when I came across some comments on the internet http://www.stans-photography.info/ The website has a lot of comments by Pentax photographers on older Pentax lenses up through FA. Some of the comments on the 70-210 was "It's by far the best optically among its peers ", and " . . one of the best lenses Pentax ever made . . "...
Picked one up on fleabay, and compared to my HD 55-300. At 70 and 135mm HD is slightly sharper in the center than the F. Stopped down one ore more stops, the F is better in the sides and corners, and the are the same in the center. At 210mm they are identical in the center, but the F is a good deal sharper in the corners. The HD has slightly more contrast.
With 9 blades it produces a very nice bokeh, though I have not done a controlled comparison.
The F is noticeable (1.5x or more?) faster at autofocusing than the 55-300. Mind you - it is much louder, but definitely much faster.
It is heavier than and almost as big as the 55-300, though the 49mm filter thread is nice. The manual focus ring is pathetic, but other than that the build is nice. It obviously misses the wider focal range of the 55-300, but then it is Full Frame - may come in handy one of these days  .
This lens is a GREAT alternative to the more expensive 55-300. I suspect that it optically will perform much better than the DA 50-200, but it is of course much bigger and heavier. If we ever get a full frame Pentax, I would guess the price of this lens will increase, since it might become the best lower cost FF tele zoom available
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: December, 2009 Location: Madison, WI Posts: 309
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 12, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $85.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Great sharpness & bokeh, really cheap | | Cons: | A bit heavy, loud & clunky AF | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 6
Handling: 7
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-r
| |
This lens is a steal! I got mine for $85 from KEH and it's awesome. Very sharp, and wonderfully smooth bokeh. Use a hood for best results. I got a $5 telescoping rubber hood from Amazon that works fine.
It's a little heavy but not terrible. It's not that big so mostly feels dense. The main downside is the AF. It's LOUD, and crashes and bangs when it stops. You can feel the torque of it twisting while holding the camera. Also, it has a rotating front element so a little annoying to use a circular polarizer. It does take 49mm filters though, like a lot of Pentax primes.
Even with the crazy loud AF, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. Great bang for your buck!
| | |
