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Showing all 17 reviews by Richpax

Review of: S-M-C/Super/Auto Takumar 35mm F3.5 by Richpax on Sun May 8, 2022 | Rating: 10 View more reviews 
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Views: 395339
Reviews: 75
This is an amazing lens. I can only assume that not all copies are as good as mine, as the average review score isn't as good as I would expect. I can only speak for my experience with the SMC version. The build feels just gorgeous. It's absolutely tiny. Sharpness is absolutely top class. Colours are rich and authentic. Pretty flare resistant. A little bit of fringing, but not too bad. The only significant drawback is a slightly coarse bokeh effect in some circumstances. The real selling point for me is the 3D pop this lens produces. It's the reach into the picture effect I get from my Takumar lenses which is criminally absent from so many high priced over-corrected flat boring modern lenses. To be fair Pentax are often the exception here, but I think sometimes lens designers are fixating on getting that tiny bit of extra sharpness in the corners (which you rarely feel the benefit of in reality) and losing that lovely sense of depth. This one really is absolutely crackerjack in this regard. Forget that fancy new lens with umpteen special elements. Save your money! Get one of these!

Review of: SMC Pentax-FA 28-80mm F3.5-4.7 by Richpax on Thu March 17, 2022 | Rating: 6 View more reviews 
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Views: 92375
Reviews: 15
Ok, not the finest glass out there. Actually, if you play to it's strengths, there is some sharpness to be had: mid-range at f8 sharpness is fairly decent. Open her up however and the CA creeps in and it's a bit of a horror show. The handling is fine. I think I could deal with the sharpness if it had other qualities, but unfortunately it lacks contrast, and saturation, and produces generally fairly drab looking images.

Review of: SMC Pentax-FA 70-200mm F4-5.6 by Richpax on Thu March 17, 2022 | Rating: 10 View more reviews 
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Views: 95359
Reviews: 9
I aquired this lens bundled with some other gear so cost is not clear, but it cost me next to nothing. From previous experience with other FA zooms, and a quick glance at these reviews, I wasn't expecting much. However, I've been very pleasantly surprised. After a fair bit of pixel peeping on a 24mp K70 it stands up very well. The sharpness is easily good enough for 35mm film. It's weakness shows wide open at 200mm where it's slightly soft and smeary with CA, but that could be said of nearly all consumer zooms. However stop it down a bit, or zoom out a bit, and it sharpens up really nicely. Clarity, colour and contrast are also perfectly decent. Handling is fine. It's reasonably compact and not too heavy. The power zoom is quirky and offers some unusual functions on a z-1 or similar, such as auto zoom on moving subjects. Not really tried that out but the power zoom itself feels more positive than the one on my Fujifilm XC15-45mm. It does use more battery though, but it's easy to switch to manual zoom by clicking the grip back towards you. Definitely worth giving a try if you see one going cheap. I was intending to sell it but err.....maybe not. For the sheer value it's a 10.

Review of: HD Pentax-DA 16-85mm F3.5-5.6 ED DC WR by Richpax on Sat June 8, 2019 | Rating: 7 View more reviews 
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Views: 294629
Reviews: 43
The focal range is just fantastically convenient. If I need to go away with just one lens, I know it will work in most situations. I was using an 18-135mm, but I tended to not use it much past 100mm anyway, as the sharpness would drop off a bit. I also find the extra 2mm at the wide end useful. It's a workhorse lens. The sharpness is very reliable. I have sharper primes, but they are primes. The AF is not blindingly fast, but there is no hunting, it's accurate, and it's quiet. There is a fair bit of wonky distortion at the wide end, but that mostly disappears by 20mm or so. If I have a criticism, it's that it can lack a tiny little bit of....err....something. Don't get me wrong I have taken some lovely shots with it. It can give fantastic detailed landscapes with really convincing greens. The 18-135 is definitely softer, and you have to shoot over f8 between 25mm-100mm to get anything like the image quality. But I felt my 18-135 was sometimes a bit punchier, and my 20-40mm definitely has more prime-like 3D depth. If my composition and lighting are right, the images are great, but I feel like the magic comes from the vision rather than the lens. Maybe that's what you get with a well corrected, consistent, modern style zoom, and maybe it's a good thing...? Update; Having looked back through some shots, there is definitely a drab 2D look which is very obvious, and tends to happen at the wide end in flat light. I might experiment with using generally a slightly wider aperture at the wide end and see if this helps. Certainly mid to long focal lengths seem to have much more pop, and scenes with more beautiful light will work well throughout the range. Update 2; I have found that I can get a bit more of a sense of 3D by shooting at around 5.6 rather than 8-9, which still gives reasonable depth of field at the wide end. However, to be honest I'm struggling to love this lens. I do feel that many people prize sharpness above all else, but for me a classy lens controls highlights and shadows more subtly than this one does. It's a sharp lens but without good rendering it can give an ugly confusing mess, with overcooked contrast in bright fine details, or a flat 2D look in low contrast scenes. My old SMC A35-105mm is so much better at rendering subtle tone gradations, giving beautiful believable colours, reach into the picture 3D depth, and it's ridiculously sharp to boot (although to be honest I think my copy is a freak because it is as sharp as my FA limiteds!). Unfortunately, it's manual focus, weighs a ton, isn't weather sealed, and doesn't have the wide end! Such a shame that despite ticking so many boxes as a do it all solution, the 16-85 just doesn't cut the mustard.

Review of: HD Pentax-DA 20-40mm F2.8-4 Limited DC WR by Richpax on Sat June 8, 2019 | Rating: 9 View more reviews 
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Views: 282531
Reviews: 65
This zoom looks and feels great to use. I love having the Limited look and feel with added Weather Resistance, although it is quite a bit more chunky than a Limited prime. The AF on my k70 struggles to lock sometimes, oddly just like my 35mm Limited. Might be better on a different camera. The zoom range feels slightly short. I have been using the 16-85 which is a very convenient range, and before that an 18-135 which is suppose you'd call a super zoom, so maybe if you are coming from 18-50 it won't seem too bad. It actually encourages me to use my wonderful 55-300plm and some nice telephoto primes more often, although that means carrying extra gear. I do use it as a one lens walk about option, and honestly it's fine, but I do sometimes miss a bit of extra reach. If you tend towards shooting at the wide end you may well find it's perfect. It's good indoors, where the wider end offers a fairly fast aperture. The colours are typical Limited. The sharpness is very good. Sharpness is a weird thing, it sometimes doesn't look as crisp as some lenses, with quite a smooth buttery look. However, if you pixel peep, there is actually plenty of detail. It's a bit like some vintage lenses in that respect, but I think that HD coating gives slightly more modern looking saturated colours. By comparison the 16-85 is certainly quite crisp looking, with that fantastic super-handy focal range, and the AF is better. I can use a smaller bag for the 20-40, but where it really wins is with the sense of 3D depth. Some shots, even at f11, look like you can reach into the picture. It's classic Pentax through and through. It could simply be due to a relatively low number of elements? It's a bit like having a couple of Takumars in one, but with AF, weather sealing and all the other mod cons. It even looks like a Tak on steroids! I don't think it's just a coincidence, there is a retro vibe inside and out. The 16-85 is convenient, and very competent. The 20-40 just has a slight touch of magic.

Review of: SMC Pentax-DA 15mm F4 ED AL Limited by Richpax on Thu October 11, 2018 | Rating: 10 View more reviews 
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Views: 411838
Reviews: 103
This lens should come with instructions. All the positive aspects mentioned in previous reviews are absolutely correct. This is about the most fun lens I have ever used. I have a 16-85mm, but the images at 16mm look absolutely nothing like the da15. There is less distortion with the 15mm, and the way it handles contrast really opens your mind to the compositional possibilities in your viewfinder. It’s quite literally an eye opener. I feel like I’m finally learning to shoot wide angle with this lens. The rendering might not suit everything though. It is so punchy and contrasty that it can look a bit Disney. If you have read many of these reviews, you will know that there can be an issue with softness. Fundamentally, I will never get the resolution with this lens that I get easily with my DFA100 wr, or FA77. It’s sharpness is just not at that level. At least not my copy. However, although less easy to achieve, it probably IS as sharp as the excellent 16-85mm, and the amazing contrast and punchy colour emphasise the impression of sharpness. The overall image quality of this lens, is fantastic. I must admit that after my fist couple of outings with this lens, I was wondering whether to send it back. There are so many shots where the sides, not just edges or corners, were unacceptable. However after reading a bit about field curvature, and carefully pixel peeping quite a few different scenes, shot with different focus points, I think I am learning how to get decently sharp results. It’s counterintuitive and quite tricky. The important point is that the field curvature here is pretty extreme. I read people saying with frustration that even at f9 the edges are soft. But depth of field is not the problem. Even at f5.6 the depth of field is quite large with a 15mm. The plane of focus seems to me to be shaped like a fairly deep sided bowl. If you are shooting a scene with a tunnel-like composition, it’s quite easy to get it in focus. However, if you want to get a distant flat scene in focus edge to edge, you need to focus past (?) infinity. The auto focus naturally doesn’t want to do that, but I find that the infinity stop on this lens allows for manual adjustment beyond the AF infinity. It seems that this is not just on my copy, and may be an intended design quirk. Many landscape photographers will focus just beyond the foreground for maximum depth of field, but that will leave the far distance soft at the edges with this lens. An option if you want a stunning large print vista is focus stacking, if you can be bothered to do it. A good trick I read somewhere is to use live view and manually focus to the corners. Especially for things like group photos. To sum up, as long as you have an ok copy, you can get good sharpness with this lens, once you have learned where the sharpness is. For scenes where you need to shoot fast, maybe indoors or street photography, distant edges are less likely to be a problem anyway, and the results look so dynamic you won’t be concerned. I can shoot interiors at f4 sharp edge to edge if the scene matches the field, which it usually does. Like I said depth of field is not the problem. Anyway it’s great fun. I think I’m keeping it, and I suspect it will get a lot of use. Update: I bought another copy having misplaced my first one. I have now upgraded the sharpness by a point, and overall mark from 9 to 10. Although I felt I could live with the sharpness of the first one my 2nd copy is noticeably sharper, which makes it a really compelling option in my bag.

Review of: HD Pentax-DA 55-300mm F4.5-6.3 ED PLM WR RE by Richpax on Sat March 24, 2018 | Rating: 10 View more reviews 
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Views: 169432
Reviews: 46
I got this as an upgrade from the old non WR version. I bought an open box one for £280, and I couldn't be happier with it. It is most definitely sharper than my old one, and very consistent. Ok, there is still perhaps a little bit of softness towards 300mm, but overall edge sharpness is much improved, and most focal lengths are centre sharp from wide open. It's has nice accurate colour rendering, better contrast, much smoother bokeh, and produces really nice portraits. The MFD is considerably less than the old one, so it's a handy pseudo-macro to boot. Ok, it's not going to better my FA77 or DFA100, but still, if you are out and about and want to stick with weather resistant zooms, this is an absolute winner. Another IQ aspect which ìs hugely improved is the almost total lack of fringing, which for a cheap as chips tele zoom is impressive. I find the handling is good. The big advantage of the retractable design for me, is that you can put the camera on a sling and lock the zoom so it stays compact as it's swinging around. Unlocking it becomes second nature very easily. The focussing is super quiet, fairly quick, and pretty reliable too. I have even managed to capture some birds in flight, which was just impossible with the old one. I love the way the focus by wire kicks in automatically when you switch the camera on. It pairs well with my 16-85mm, which is also sharp from wide open throughout the range, and with the ISO performance I'm getting from my K70, the slowness of these lenses on paper doesn't really hold me back much in practice. Goes against the common wisdom, but that's Pentax for you. I don't think you can expect better value. If your camera is compatible, get one. I simply can't imagine there is a better affordable long zoom out there.

Review of: SMC Pentax-FA 77mm F1.8 Limited by Richpax on Thu December 21, 2017 | Rating: 10 View more reviews 
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Views: 439260
Reviews: 107
Bought this in anticipation of moving to FF soon. Just fired off a few test shots on my k30. FL feels long on APSC, but not as limiting as the my other recent pre FF purchase, the DFA100. I feel that both lenses will be more useful on the k1. Very punchy. The transition from in focus to out of focus is very unobtrusive, giving a fantastically natural sense of 3D depth. This might be the 'pixie dust' people talk of. What I immediately noticed was that you can see the plain of focus very clearly when shooting wide apertures, which means the wide aperture sharpness is awesome. If it's not sharp its more likely the focus than the optics! The bokeh is smooth but not bland. It has some texture to it but it seems sympathetic. The colours are quite warm. The weather has been very grey here recently. I haven't seen much CA yet, but conditions haven't been too challenging. Will prob do an update later. I love the way the thing looks like a light hoover, with it's large rear element. It's definitely good for low light shooting, as it positively encourages you to open it up. They say that equipment doesn't make you a better photographer, but even after a few shots with a lens like this, you start to think differently. The more you see those transitions, the more you want to really use and encourage that depth. I can't see how I could go back. If you look at the prices of Zeiss, or the Canikon 85mm portrait lenses etc which by all accounts can offer this level of creative palette, for the £476 I paid, so far it looks an absolute bargain. To compare it with the DFA100WR, I would say both are super sharp, especially the 100mm which seems to have incredible resolution. Both have 3D pop in abundance. The 100 has a smoother bokeh, although not necessarily more beautiful. I think the 100 has the clarity of a modern lens, but with really lovely rendering. The 77mm on the other hand is better in low light, has a touch of warm vintage character to it, and that extra sense of depth which when you nail your composition and focus, can look magical.

Review of: SMC Pentax-DA 40mm F2.8 Limited by Richpax on Tue July 11, 2017 | Rating: 10 View more reviews 
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Views: 575939
Reviews: 148
Its a belter. This is becoming my most used lens. The whole ethos of the Limited range is compact quality, and this one epitomises the idea. My first shots with it were unpromising. I'm not sure what it was, but I was shooting at wide-ish apertures on a dull day, but there were bright patches in the sky and I got some horrible fringing and really ugly images. It didn't look dirty but I gave it a clean anyway, and since then it's been giving really great results with a high keeper rate. Weird. Ok so you know it's small, well built etc. The sharpness is good to excellent. It's not as sharp as the 35mm macro, but that lens sometimes seems to have a brutal sharpness which is not always attractive in my opinion. Anyway, pixel peepers might notice a difference but it's easily as sharp as my 50mm 1.8 and there is plenty of detail. One thing I really prefer over the 35mm is the colour balance, which has a really lovely typical warm Pentax look. The 35mm colours are really explosive, which I guess is why many people love it, but I find them a bit cool overall. The micro contrast with the 40mm is excellent and you get nice separation of the subject. Neither are bokeh monsters, but again I think I slightly prefer the 40mm. It could just be the slight extra focal length, and it's certainly a better portrait lens. I find the focal length is great. I like the fact that it is slightly on the long side of normal. You find you can pick shots out of a scene, but it's not so long that a few steps back won't generally help fit things in. The only time it really feels too tight is indoors, but on apsc so does 35mm. Another area in which it beats the 35 hands down is AF, which is quick and accurate. Some people mention the fiddly lens cap. You certainly might struggle after a few drinks! However the metal hood offers great protection to the lens so if I want to be ready to shoot quickly, I just leave the cap in my pocket. I do wish Pentax would upgrade the Limiteds to Weather Resistant. With so many Pentax users having WR cameras It seems odd that the premium primes are not. Overall, the exceptional thing about this lens is that a really capable setup becomes something you can just about fit in a coat pocket! I paid £178 used. Marvellous.

Review of: SMC Pentax-DA 35mm F2.8 Limited Macro by Richpax on Thu January 12, 2017 | Rating: 8 View more reviews 
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Views: 492527
Reviews: 123
I was shooting with the 2.4 in Ireland, and found that the greens (of which there are plenty in Ireland) could sometimes look a bit garish. Despite the great clarity, and nice micro contrast, generally I wasn't convinced by the realism of the colours in some situations. So when I found the 35mm 2.8 macro limited going cheap, I snapped it up, thinking I would sell the 2.4. However, I found with the limited, that oddly blues seem to boom out quite a bit! Maybe my eyes are going funny! Or maybe it's the white balance on my k30, which somehow has never been as convincing as my old k100d.....? Pros: The Limited has fantastic sharpness, and a touch of extra 3d depth. Perhaps the thing which really strikes me is the deep contrast. It seems easier to balance the shadows and highlights convincingly in PP. I love the build and feel. The built in hood is nice, and manual focus is a pleasure, just like with the old lenses. Cons: The AF is really pretty bad. It does this weird micro hunting, as if you were in AF-C mode, and when it finally locks you are never quite convinced it's nailed it. I do find the colours a little cool for a Pentax lens. With a possible move to FF on the cards, I have a nice (ridiculously sharp!) A 35-105mm 3.5 which compares pretty well, giving more of a classic subtle colour balance. So with a preference also for a longer macro; the punchy, FF compatible, and quick AF 2.4 might actually be the keeper of the two. Thinking of trying the 40mm limited instead maybe. Quick, small, cheap, with by all accounts just as good IQ, tiny, and seemingly more useful on FF??? Update, 11/7/17: I did get the 40mm limited. I know this goes against the opinion of many here who think the 35macro is one of the best there is, but I think I do prefer it? The 35 is definitely sharper, but the AF is much better, the pocketability is great, and the rendering is warmer and more flattering, with slightly better bokeh. The 35 is great at some things, and is incredibly sharp. I find the cool colour rendition combined with the almost brutal sharpness can make some images unattractive. It often shows fantastic 'pop', mainly because the colours are so vivid, but the 40 has a different kind of 'pop' with great separation of the subject, never seems to LACK sharpness, and has that fantastic useabililty as a bonus. If I do get that FF, I think the 35macro might be on the sell list to pay for a 100macro. That said, I can't deny a faint sneaking suspicion I might yet learn to love it....?

Review of: SMC Pentax-DA 35mm F2.4 AL by Richpax on Thu January 12, 2017 | Rating: 9 View more reviews 
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Views: 767124
Reviews: 157
I am growing in my appreciation off this lens. I was shooting in Ireland, and found that the greens (of which there are plenty in Ireland) could sometimes look a bit garish. Generally I wasn't convinced by the realism of the colours. So when I found a 35mm 2.8 macro limited going cheap, I snapped it up, thinking I would sell the 2.4. However, I found with the limited, that oddly blues seem to boom out quite a bit! Maybe my eyes are going funny! Or maybe it's the white balance on my k30, which somehow has never been as convincing as my old k100d.....? Anyway, the 2.4 is always sharp. It gives great clarity, and I find that its transitions, micro contrast, or whatever you want to call it, are very natural looking. I love the fact that both 35's are almost distortion free, and are superb for pano-stitching. The limited is perhaps a fraction more '3D'. But with a possible move to FF on the cards, I have a nice (ridiculously sharp!) A 35-105mm 3.5 which compares pretty well, giving more of that "classic movie" colour balance that the previous reviewer referred to. So with a preference also for a longer macro, the punchy 2.4 might actually be the keeper of the two; allowing me to swap for a tiny 40mm limited to keep on the APSC as a put in your pocket point and shoot....maybe? Choices, choices. None of which break the bank! Don't let people tell you there are no Pentax lens options!

Review of: SMC Pentax-DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 ED AL [IF] DC WR by Richpax on Thu January 12, 2017 | Rating: 9 View more reviews 
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Views: 622698
Reviews: 140
The strengths of this lens are: its compactness, the best AF on any Pentax lens I've had by a country mile, and WR. But beyond that, it's weaknesses are also very manageable. My copy is properly sharp; unless your subject demands corner sharpness at the extremes of the focal range, especially at wider apertures. I find the colours bold but realistic, the contrast is excellent, and I can't remember having seen any flare. The bokeh isn't quite like a limited, but its perfectly fine. Distortion can get a bit wonky wide, closeup or tall buildings etc, but its a superzoom so it would be surprising if it did't. If you look at any of the individual aspects of this lens' performance, maybe apart from its handling, it isn't really mindblowingly good. But....it really is actually 'quite' good in so many ways, that when you put the whole lot together, you end up with something that is really mindblowingly useful. Some reviews have focused on the individual characteristics and come to a negative conclusion, but in practical use, most users seem to be very happy with it, myself included. When walking around, I tend to set it to f8, adjusting only for shots which need it, and I get really super sharp results across the frame, from about 20mm to 100mm. Consistently. At 18mm it is still very useable, especially at f10 but you just start to see the corners lose it a tiny bit. Haven't tried the 16-85, but its becoming easier to pick this lens up little a bit cheaper, and as a go anywhere do anything lens it becomes a must have I reckon. Edit: I eventually upgraded to the 16-85. In comparison I’d say it is more consistently sharp. The real sharpness advantage is at the wide end especially if you want to open the aperture, although it does have quite a bit of distortion still. At the long end it is also consistently sharp, but I found the 18-135 pretty good at least upto 85mm. In some ways I wonder if the 18-135 might produce images that are just slightly punchier! Ouch.

Review of: SMC Pentax-A 50mm F1.7 by Richpax on Fri November 21, 2014 | Rating: 10 View more reviews 
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Views: 567565
Reviews: 143
If you shoot with a Pentax and you don't have this lens, you need to have a word with yourself. If you want sharp, it really does sharp; if you want dreamy pixie land, it does dreamy pixie land; flare resistant; Pentax colours. ! Its small, it has all the exposure automation and data, and it's cheaper than going for a curry! Much cheaper. Oh, and also with a macro ring its the shizzle.

Review of: SMC Pentax-M 28mm F2.8 by Richpax on Fri November 21, 2014 | Rating: 6 View more reviews 
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Views: 498735
Reviews: 93
Mine came in a kit with an old Program A film camera, an A50mm f1.7 and some other stuff. In comparison to the 50mm it is really soft. It produces some nice colours but I wanted to use it for some landscapes and it wasn't up to it really, so it had to go.

Review of: SMC Pentax-DA 55-300mm F4-5.8 ED by Richpax on Fri November 21, 2014 | Rating: 8 View more reviews 
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Views: 526698
Reviews: 119
Great value lens. Pentax cameras generally have good ergonomics and this lens just feel great on the camera with its lightness and big grippy zoom ring. One small gripe is that the focus ring is a bit out of the way and with the hood in storage position you can't actually get to it at the wide end, making quick shift inaccessible for quick grab shots. I find the image quality is decent throughout the range good sharpness for a super zoom with nice rendition. The Autofocus does hunt a bit in low light. On the older DSLRs the slowness is a real problem but with the improving ISO performance, you can get good resolution at 800+, and actually the 5.8 becomes 5.6 from 270mm.

Review of: SMC Pentax-A 35-105mm F3.5 by Richpax on Fri November 21, 2014 | Rating: 10 View more reviews 
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Views: 343041
Reviews: 79
Some reviews have compared the sharpness of this lens to the 50mm 1.7 and I'd say mine is actually sharper, throughout the range. In theory its nice to have constant 3.5, but in practice it is sweeter stopped down (unlike the 50mm 1.7!) and that amazing sharpness seems to bring the colours to life. Its not that it's particularly soft at 3.5, just somehow flatter looking. I guess its more about sharpness than bokeh with this one. Yeah it would be nice if it were lighter, but I'm not so bothered by that. On the ASPC I do wish it went a touch wider. I use it a lot for landscape, where some extra width would be nice. But it is what it is, and its pretty great. My main issue with this lens is (oddly) not something that anyone else seems to have mentioned much. Flare. I keep getting whacking great red blobs in the middle of my shots at 35mm! I have a hood and a Hoya Pro UV filter on the front. Any thoughts would be welcome. Update: Hadn't used it for a while, but having recently taken it out for a spin again, I must underline the astonishing sharpness of this lens. I think its sharper than my 35mm 2.8 limited. I probably have a particularly good copy but really its smoking quite a few modern computer milled primes. Also, I have changed my mind about its usefulness wide open. Sure it won't give the dreaminess of a nifty fifty or a limited, but compared to a kit zoom, the extra speed has come in handy, and its still sharp opened up. Also the bokeh is actually not bad in some situations. Regarding the red blob flare, I tested it by taking the same shot at different apertures and the flare disappeared once opened up to 4.5. Although you have to balance that with more CA a wider apertures. Update 2; The colours this lens produces are really lovely. Kind of classic looking, and really realistic. Not overcooked, but with plenty of contrast. The other quality I have come to appreciate with this lens, is one which is missing from some well corrected modern zooms....depth. The 3D effect I get with this lens is simply outstanding. Since I wrote my initial review, I have acquired some nice lenses; FA77 DFA100, DA15, Super Tak 50 1.4. This one always impresses me, and for IQ I think it's hands down the best zoom I've ever used. Classy glass. Just wish I could afford that K1. The range will work so much better on FF, and the front heavy handling will balance better on a slight chunkier camera. Can't wait.

Review of: SMC Pentax-DA 50-200mm F4-5.6 ED by Richpax on Fri December 20, 2013 | Rating: 9 View more reviews 
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Views: 155732
Reviews: 58
I've taken some of my best pics with this lens. I know it's not a classic, but it is awesome value. If you get a good copy it's sharp enough, the bokeh can be nice and the colours render well with decent contrast in good light. When the circumstances come within its limitations, it ticks a lot of image quality boxes and you can get some very expensive looking results when you hit that sweet spot.



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