| Author: | | New Member Registered: October, 2010 Location: texas Posts: 9 | | Review Date: July 7, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Solid construction, smooth focus ring | | Cons: | Tripod mount has only one position | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 6
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Camera Used: Pentax K5
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Saw this in a camera shop and bought it just for fun. Didn't expect much more than playing with a super tele. Heavy but you get used to it. It's a slow lens but hand held will work in bright daylight. A lot of CA wide open in high contrast areas, minimal at f8 and almost gone (easily correctable) at f11 or higher. IQ is not the best but better than I expected. Tripod mount is a single fixed location, no slide to move forward or back for balance.
This is a fun toy. More testing required to see just how useful it will be, but I'm glad I have it. Well worth the $200 for a play thing.
I shot the fireworks at f-5.6 because I wasn't worried about CA, it just makes the fireworks more colorful.
Shot the house/trees at f-11.
  | | | | | | | Senior Member Registered: November, 2012 Posts: 295 | | Review Date: January 4, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $150.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Metal Build, Smooth Focus, SMC Ver has F45 and coating blocks glare, Sharp at F11, Easy to Focus w Focus Peaking, Excellent for HD Video, Price | | Cons: | As most lenses, not sharp at wide open with some purple fringing | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-01 and K3
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Not as sharp as one would hope but good enough to see details. Colors are not as contrasty as other Taks but decent and not faded but true. SMC version helps with glare and colors. Handling is smooth. Build is metal and tank like. I think this is a great starter lens that can take very nice pics at F11+. Would still recommend for the price. Next step, lens with more sharpness and autofocus.
edit: last month in July 2014 I spent every day using this lens. I took some wonderful photos on many days and found this lens to be a keeper until I can afford an upgrade. I need to update that at F8, the lens is sharp I found. The chromatic aberration is something I didnt touch upon enough but there is quite a bit. I've kept the sharpness in the review an 8. I've lowered the aberrations to 7, I want to increase the bokeh to an 8.5 because F8 is plenty sharp with bokeh I didn't find before. I increased the handling to a 10 because it's smooth and as easy as it will get for a manual lens. I've also increased the value to a 10. There is nothing better IMO for the price. Here is the album. https://flic.kr/s/aHsjZhjLXQ | | | | | Senior Member Registered: April, 2010 Location: New Mexico Posts: 179 | | Review Date: June 6, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $210.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Nice Focus throw, built strong! | | Cons: | CA, | |
This is a great lens. Has CA wide open, But not very noticeable after f8, I'll try to post some photos up. Everyphoto I take is with takumars so check out my photography site.  | | | | | Senior Member Registered: November, 2009 Location: Slovenija Posts: 145 | | Review Date: August 30, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $210.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | sharp, can be used witout tripod, lens hood | | Cons: | min. fokus distance | |
Lens is despite 35-40 years of age very usefull. Very sharp at f8-11. CA is well controlled. It has usefull lens hood. For the price that I paid very good lens
| | | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: April, 2008 Location: Central Ohio (formerly SF Bay Area) Posts: 1,519 | | Review Date: February 12, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $175.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | build quality, reasonably sharp | | Cons: | heavy, colors a bit flat, not easy to focus | |
Mine is the Tele Takumar version (non-SMC).
This is a pretty nice lens, though as the others have said, heavy. It's reasonably sharp for an old lens, especially when stopped down.
It has the usual Takumar high build quality, and the controls are satisfying to operate. The aperture ring is fully manual -- no auto/manual switch as with the smaller Takumars, and no dual-ring preset mechanism. If you want to focus wide-open and snap stopped down, you'll need to count clicks on the ring.
You'll see some CA from time to time in high-contrast scenes, particularly at wide-open apertures (wide-open is relative with this thing, only reaching f/5.6). But it's not bad.
I find I need to punch-up the colors a little more with this lens than I do with others -- it's an easy problem to solve. It's not that the contrast is bad, it's just lacking saturation for whatever reason. The older non-SMC coating, perhaps?
For the extreme-tele-lens seeker on a budget, I'd say this is a very good choice.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: May, 2007 Location: Toronto Posts: 1,418 | | Review Date: January 15, 2009 | Recommended
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | cheap telephoto lens, sharp, well built, built-in lens hood | | Cons: | CA, min focus 8m, weight | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 7
Value: 7
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I got this lens in the winter time, so my first test for it is to go out to a park and hunt some birds. With the snow and long grass, CA shows in most of the pic. Not that they are hard to remove with PP tho.
As you should already know, it is a fully manual lens. Only M mode will let you set the shutter speed, and you do need to go in and change ISO from time to time depends on your situation. Or you can shoot with other mode, where camera choose the shutter speed and ISO while you turn the aperture ring on the lens which is quite handy.
see:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/post-your-photos/46715-early-morning-birds.html
I would recommend this lens if you are low in $ and want a telephoto lens for the range. | | | | | New Member Registered: May, 2007 Location: Waterloo, Ontario (Canada) Posts: 10 | | Review Date: December 27, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Sharp. | | Cons: | Heavy, f/5.6, min focus distance 8m. | |
If you are looking for an extreme telephoto lens, and don't mind a max aperture of 1/5.6, then this lens might be a good option for you.
Pros:
1. Sharp.
2. Built-in extendable lens hood.
3. Built-in tripod mount (you'll need it).
4. Doubles as a big stick, in case someone tries to take your Limited lenses.
Cons:
1. Heavy. It weighs more than a newborn infant, but doesn't cost as much.
2. Long focussing throw ring; not recommended for speedy action or tracking shots.
3. Max aperture of f/5.6. This beast needs a lot of light.
4. Closest focus distance is 8 meters!
Overall: For the money this is a great lens if you need something in the 400mm range. However, you might want to consider the Pentax-A version instead since its closest focussing distance is 5m closer.
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