| Latest Review Posted | SMC Pentax-A* 400mm F2.8 ED [IF]
No doubt the most solidly built lens I have ever touched. Has the feel of a high-end scientific instrument. Manual focusing is enjoyable, especially with a split-prism focus screen. The position of the mount lets the lens balance very well once a camera is attached, with or without grip and a flash. I have never had to process shots for CA even though I shoot white egrets almost daily. On dreary days I can still shoot at reasonably high shutter speeds due to the f2.8 aperture. Shots at 2.8 lack the tack sharpness of f4 and above though but its still very usable. I can add the Pentax 1.7x AF TC and get great sharpness and good shutter speeds with the 680mm/f4.5 combination, usually stopped down 1 full stop. I rarely miss AF but there are times when very close moving targets beg for AF with less than an inch DOF to work with. All in all, its a great lens to have inside pointed out a sliding glass door overlooking a wildlife habitat or feeders. The addition of TCs give 400, 560, 680AF and 800mm focal lengths although the 2xL does cut into the IQ where as the 1.4xL and 1.7x AF its usually not noticable. Stacking the 1.4xL and 1.7x AF cut the IQ to about that of an inexpensive 300mm zoom. But if you need 952mm/f6.8 it gets you there.
Drawbacks? Since the required rear filter is screwed into a drop-in holder, CPL is very difficult to use. Plan on just leaving a quality, clear filter in there (some kind of filter is required for the optics to focus properly). Lastly, go to the gy... |
