| Latest Review Posted | HD Pentax-D FA* 70-200mm F2.8 ED DC AW
Overall, this lens is optically excellent, but there is a bit of room for improvement.
Sharpness throughout the zoom range is excellent overall. Wide-open sharpness is very good, and stopping down to f/4 produces outstanding results corner to corner. There's very little in the way of chromatic aberration, vignetting, or distortion, and flare is very well controlled. Wide open at close distances at 200mm, spherical aberration does noticeably hurt sharpness, but stopping down a bit sharpens up the image.
Autofocus is fast, taking 0.55s to go from end to end on the focusing scale. Using the focus limiter can improve this further. Focusing action is very quiet and responsive. This lens excels in tracking fast-moving subjects, even in a dim basketball court, and I never felt held back by the speed of the AF motor. However, there is a bit of inconsistency when critical focus is required; you might want to use Live View and manually focus in such situations.
The D FA* 70-200mm is constructed almost entirely of metal; it's built like a tank and should withstand rough use. However, it is very heavy, more so than C&N 70-200mm lenses. It's also very large; when mounted on my K-3 II with grip, it barely fits in my main camera bag (Think Tank Photo Urban Disguise 60 v2.0). A good tripod or monopod is strongly recommended for extended use. You'll also want to look at alternative ways of carrying it on the field, such as a sling strap or holster. My SpiderPro holster has no trouble h... |
