| Latest Review Posted | SMC Pentax-FA* 600mm F4 ED [IF]
This elephant of a lens is the best option available from Pentax in the super-telephoto range. All 6.5 kg of it. Handheld work is not an option.
On my K10D the focus is a bit out, but with the K20D it's perfectly within adjustment range. Fine-tuning with the K20D is not a trivial task, however, because of the relatively low resolution power of this lens. You can see the difference between the maximum offsets in each direction, but finding the true optimum is not as easy. Anyway, the resolution power is greater than a 300mm shot cropped. :-)
The lock on the filter drawer unscrews itself sometimes, and pop goes the filter. I'm considering a hack as Pål Jensen describes in his review.
AF speed is pretty quick for a shaft-driven lens, but noisy. Wildlife will pause and think "That's not a Nikon". Sometimes this gives you some excellent poses. Other animals will refuse to have their pic taken and bugger off. -But what can one expect. Most of the animals today were busy climbing out of their nests or dens when Pentax put this lens out of production.
What this lens lacks in resolution it takes back in contrast. The images are tack sharp from f/5.6 to f/9, at least. I must confess I have never had the nerve to stop further down. I have always needed the shutter speed.
The bokeh of the FA*600/4 is somewhat mixed. Objects that are far out of focus have a butter-smooth bokeh (again, my expreience is only between f/4 and f/9). Details that are closer to the foc... |
