| Latest Review Posted | SMC Pentax-A 70-210mm F4
I used this lens for the Pentax Single of the Month, March 2016.
I really, really like this lens. Most importantly it has excellent image quality. The colours are nice and vivid, with the right amount of punch, even shot wide open. Sharpness is stellar, particularly for a zoom lens. Having mainly just shot with primes i was expecting to have to settle on sharpness, but this is not the case. While not quite as sharp as my DA 35mm f/2.4, it can produce some amazing results even without PP. However with a small amount of PP it can be deadly sharp from f/5 onwards. f/4 and f/4.5 are a little soft, but nothing I wouldn't ever use. This lens sweet spot is around f5/5.6, and is where i spent most of my time shooting. While this lens was sharp across the frame up to f/10, and a bit soft over, there really isn't any situation that this lens is no decent, and in most cases excellent. During the month i didn't notice any significant difference between the wide and tele ends, i suspect 70mm is sharper, but i haven't done any tests to compare, and I've got sharp results at both ends, and great results in between. The lens coatings are excellent, and i can easily shoot into the sun without any problem. The lens hood does improve the contrast, but it isn't needed, and for most of my shots I didn't use the lens hood. Focusing with this lens is very easy. Comparing to my Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7, when your in focus, things just 'snap', and i usually hit focus much easier with this lens than oth... |
