| Review of: SMC Pentax-FA 28-105mm F3.2-4.5 AL [IF] by BigMackCam on Sun June 17, 2018 | Rating: 7 | View more reviews | |
Views: 145620
Reviews: 29
|
I picked up my copy (in black) as part of a very inexpensive job lot from a local seller, and it came with the original hood.
It's compact, light and reasonably solid, although it doesn't feel as robust as the FA primes.
Optically, it's decent on APS-C. Colours and contrast are nice, and there's plenty of detail in the centre when stopped down just a little. Rendering is unusually decent given the class of lens. Out of focus highlights have a slight ring around them, which can often suggest bokeh will be rather "busy", but that's not the case here. At maximum aperture, out of focus highlights are circular, but become progressively more hexagonal as the diaphragm is closed down - yet they're never harsh or angular, suggesting that the blades are at least partially rounded.
Wide open, it's a little soft and displays "blooming" around bright edges. There's also some blue fringing in slightly out of focus bright edges, due to longitudinal chromatic aberration, and it's especially noticeable at longer focal lengths. Stopping down quickly reduces the extent of both effects, as you'd expect.
From 28 to approximately 70mm, the lens is actually usable in the centre wide open, but benefits significantly from being closed down one or two thirds of a stop to increase detail and reduce the effects of CA. Above 70mm, it really needs to be closed down by a minimum of one third of a stop for acceptable results, and two thirds of a stop for good results. Casual testing suggests it's at its sharpest in the centre around f/8 at all focal lengths, which is no surprise. For decent edge sharpness on APS-C at any focal length, expect to use f/8 and narrower.
The Achilles Heel of this lens is AF at longer focal lengths (especially the longest). On older bodies such as the K10D it will often fail to achieve focus, but even on my K-3 it requires a clear and contrasty target, especially in less than ideal light. As a result, one needs to consider the AF target a little more carefully than with some other lenses.
I can't speak for its performance on full-frame, but on APS-C it's a versatile and optically-pleasing lens if the focal length range works well for you. For a film-era zoom lens, it performs well, and I'm fond of the rendering - but I have no doubt whatsoever that the new D-FA28-105 will be far, far superior in resolution and CA correction, especially in the borders and corners. Which lens renders more pleasingly will depend on your personal preferences.
| |
| Review of: SMC Pentax-Q 02 Standard Zoom 5-15mm F2.8-4.5 by BigMackCam on Sat September 5, 2015 | Rating: 8 | View more reviews | |
Views: 53625
Reviews: 17
|
I've only had this lens a few days, so these are very much my early impressions.
I got this as part of a dual zoom lens Q7 kit. I bought the camera primarily for high magnification use with legacy K mount lenses, but decided to spring for the kit so I had a couple of normal Q-system lenses to play with for snapshots. In the few days I've been testing the Q7, I've played around with the 5-15mm zoom quite extensively. Within the context of the Q7 camera system, I'm very happy with it.
The lens is quite usable wide open - however, contrary to some reviewers, I've found my example to be sharpest when stopped down a couple of notches, where it's good throughout the entire zoom range (though never *razor* sharp). Any faster and there is a little softening of extreme detail, while diffraction starts to kick in after this. Whatever bokeh is achievable (given the depth of field) is rendered well - nice and smooth, not at all busy. I notice some minor fringing in high contrast areas - the majority of which can be removed using Lightroom 6 - but it's not objectionable. Build quality is very nice indeed - in fact, I wish the 06 tele zoom build quality was this good! Handling is also fine., with the zoom and focus rings both operating positively and smoothly.
Overall, I'm happier than expected with this little zoom - it's a nice lens that seems well matched to the Q7.
| |
