Author: | | Junior Member Registered: January, 2020 Location: Wrocław Posts: 33 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: March 13, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $290.00
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | size, image quality, sharpness, bokeh, weight | Cons: | AF speed | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 6
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: Pentax K20d
| | I love this lens. This lens is one of those Pentax glasses, that you know third-party manufacturers may do better, but in almost every single considerable way it is well-thought product, in better image quality and lot of advantages.
I have sold that lens, but 8-10 years ago I used to use it for portraits and macro.
In portrais it doesn't require stopped down. It makes nice, creamy bokeh. Sometimes it is to sharp, but I wouldn't consider that as a negative aspect.
In macro it depends how you do it, but I used to use it without AF and withone home-made lamp diffusor.
To be honest, I prefer this insted of FA/DFA 50 macro. Because of its weight and size and portrait capabilities. The only thing that spoils the overall score is slow AF, but I undertand that this product is not design for fast AF-actions. Agata at f/3.5 by Campanelli, on Flickr Aeshna cyanea female at f/9.0 by Campanelli, on Flickr
| | | | | Loyal Site Supporter Registered: October, 2018 Location: Quebec City, Quebec Posts: 6,493 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: March 4, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $300.00
| Rating: 10 |
Pros: | Extreme sharpness all across the frame. Makes high-resolution sensors shine. | Cons: | None. | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: Pentax K20, K3
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| | | | Veteran Member Registered: October, 2012 Location: Colorado Posts: 1,437 3 users found this helpful | Review Date: May 29, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $217.00
| Rating: 10 |
Pros: | Exceedingly sharp, aperture ring, quick AF, lights, compact, great focus-to-out-of-focus transition, gorgeously soft blurry areas | Cons: | Bizarre lens hood | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-1, K-3, MZ-S, K2DMD
| | This has quickly become one of my three go-to lenses for my K-1. Paired with the 31mm FA Limited and 77mm FA Limited, this is part of a trio that can accomplish basically any need.
The photos should speak volumes about the lens' sharpness, color transmission, clarity, and image quality. This is a fantastic lens that's light, compact, and a great performer. It has one really weird aspect which is the lens hood. It mounts onto the lens body but the focusing element protrudes. So the closer your focus, the less effect that the lens hood has. But the advantage of that is the the hood always protects the front element and it won't bump into whatever you're photographing because this lens has a LOT of movement.
Overall, one of my top three lenses for Pentax, probably one of the five best that I've ever used ever.
| | | | Site Supporter Registered: November, 2009 Location: Weyburn SK Posts: 35 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: December 27, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $500.00
| Rating: 8 |
Pros: | Very clear. | Cons: | Hunts auto focus sometimes | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 8
Value: 8
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K5ll
| | Should have waited for the newer version
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: January, 2013 Location: Texas Posts: 32 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: April 28, 2017 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | Sharpness!!! ; Light weight | Cons: | Built quality | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: Pentax K30
| | Ultra-sharp lens, Very Good from center to corners at full aperture, Excellent above!
Low distortion, low vignetting, low flare, very good colors.
It is also very light, good for my shoulders!
What I don't like is the built quality, especially the focusing: it is 'lose'.
| | | | New Member Registered: October, 2015 Posts: 1 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: October 21, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $460.00
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | sharp, bokeh | Cons: | autofocus | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 8
Value: 9
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: k5
| | great lens, love the minimum focusing distance (12") . solid, but light lens only real complaint is the auto focus. It is loud and can hunt when focusing in close, bu a great lens over all, absolutely recommend this for anyone who does macro.
| | | | New Member Registered: December, 2007 Location: Tallinn Posts: 22 | Review Date: February 21, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $220.00
| Rating: 10 |
Pros: | Light, good IQ. | Cons: | Closeup range focus hunting, slow focus. | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 5
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: Pentax K-3
| | I find it very good lens for the first 1:1 macro lens. Closeup AF is ridiculously hunting, but I use manual focus or set clamp on. 1:1 focus is best to be used on a macro rail to help focusing anyway, because even 1mm is notable distance.
Lens barrell extends beyond own lens hood in the 1:1 macro mode, so it is useless for a macro closeups.
With clamp on lens switches to MF with focus locked signal sent to the camera body (at least on my K-3), so that you decide whether you ready or not.
CA is obvious full open at F/2.8 but reduces as you stop down the lens even down from F/3.2. It is light and beautiful lens to use. Lack of the focus limiter is a shame but successor of this lens doesn't have clamp switch neither.
| | | | Marketplace Reseller Registered: March, 2010 Location: Queensland Posts: 104 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: June 8, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $350.00
| Rating: 8 |
Pros: | Sharp | Cons: | focus range | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 6
Handling: 8
Value: 8
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: Pentax K5
| | Great macro lens, worth having in the kit. The focusing is slow and the focus range wasn't as close as anticipated.
| | | | New Member Registered: June, 2011 Posts: 15 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: April 25, 2014 | Recommended
| Rating: 8 |
Pros: | sharpness,bokeh | Cons: | build quality, auto focus. | | For the price of this lens I did expect a bit better build quality it feels light and cheap and a bit wobbly and it just is not a one off as I have had 2 of these.When I mount a ring flash on this lens the focus barrel sometImes does not want to move which is probably down to the clutch on the quick shift and this is in manual focus mode which is what I used it in 90%of the time.
Autofocus is just noisy. On the plus side it can produce superb images with a little patience.I have since sold both of these and I am back to using my old Tamron 90mm f2.8 72b which gives just as good images and just feels better to use.
| | | | Pentaxian Registered: September, 2013 Location: Toronto Posts: 2,074 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: January 24, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $257.00
| Rating: 7 |
Pros: | | Cons: | Build quality, noisy AF, soft wide-open, purple fringing | Aberrations: 4
Autofocus: 6
Handling: 4
Value: 8
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-30
| | It's a good lens, and I certainly enjoy it. Light, nice focal length, true macro, quickshift.
That said, it's not 100% perfect: the lightness comes at expense of build quality -- it certainly feels less solid than other lenses in Pentax's lineup, and you'll want that hood in order to protect the front element when you're doing macro work. The AF is noisy, which seems to be a problem with many of Pentax's macro lenses, and has a habit of hunting when you're close to the subject. (It's quite quick at longer distances, however.)
Verdict? I like it, and get it if you can find it for a nice price. But I'd still gladly swap it for the older FA model in a heartbeat.
| | | | Forum Member Registered: August, 2010 Location: Edinburgh Posts: 91 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: December 19, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $425.00
| Rating: 8 |
Pros: | Sharpness, full frame, colours, manual focus | Cons: | Purple fringing, plastic feel, slow autofocus and lack of limiter | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 8
Value: 9
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: Pentax k-5, Canon 7D, Pentax K1000
| | Image quality
At f2.8 I think the image has a certain softness to it – which looks flattering for portrait shots but when you want absolute sharpness 2.8 is a bit lacking.
By f4 sharpness is great, and remains good up to f11, then I can see it tail off again.
The background is pleasantly rendered – though this lens has not got rounded aperture blades like its weather resistant successor the Pentax DFA f2.8 100mm Macro. This doesn’t bother me, as the background bokeh is still very nice and smooth otherwise, and I quite like bright spots appearing as straight edged octagons.
Lovely, vibrant and accurate colour rendition, a big improvement on the cool colours of the macro lens I used to use, the Pentax-A 100mm f4 Macro.
I feel that using this lens in the 1 metre + range isn’t quite as impressive in terms of sharpness, which is fair enough as it is a macro lens. Build
Fine, nothing special. The lens is plastic, and feels a little flimsy compared to the metal lenses I am used to. The focus has slight rubberyness to it that doesn’t feel quite as perfectly machined as my older macro lens.
Retaining a manual aperture ring is a great plus point for me, as I use it on older Pentax SLRs with an adapter on Canon cameras, and with extension tubes. You need an aperture ring for this. Important points
Chromatic aberrations (purple fringing) are very bad at f2.8, very noticeable in real life situations, very evident on highlight edges.
The lens does not have a focus limiter (a switch to tell the lens not to focus in a certain range if you only wish to focus for a close up, or only wish to focus far away) and combined with screw drive autofocus, this can be frustrating as it noisily whirs through the range, which takes several seconds. Quick shift (full time manual override of focus) goes some way to help with this as when the lens misses focus I can override it instantly, but it can still be annoying and has made me miss 'the moment' on several occasions.
The lens does have a focus clamp, which I am not impressed with. It adds a little friction to the focus ring, which is supposed to help with fine focusing. I don’t need it, and as the focus doesn’t creep when I point it down it serves no purpose. Most if the time I ignore the clamp.
It’s little and light and has a small 49mm filter thread, which is good.
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This lens is good value as it has been superseded by the Pentax D-FA 100mm WR Macro, so can be bought for a good price second hand. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinthebarbarian/11244442933/
ISO 1250, 1/8000s, f6.3 http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinthebarbarian/10687870664/
ISO 500, 1/125s, f4
| | | | New Member Registered: October, 2008 Posts: 1 | Review Date: February 8, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $360.00
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | Sharp, good contrast | Cons: | Build quality not as good as my other Pentax lenses | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 6
Handling: 7
Value: 8
New or Used: New
Camera Used: GX-20, K-30
| | A very sharp lens (from f4 up, 2.8 is certainnly softer on mine).
The focal length isn't one I turn to often but it can serve well in non-macro situations, particularly if you want to stand back from the family and observe more.
Contrast is good and very rarely needs increasing in post.
The clamp function is wasted on me, a focus range limiter would have been better (particularly when it decides to go the wrong way through the range, I should probably use MF more).
Also the focus ring will turn past the end 'stops', whether this is damaging I don't know but certainly is strange.
At the price I bought this it is a must have.
| | | | Site Supporter Registered: February, 2008 Location: Hawkesbury Posts: 1,897 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: March 12, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $550.00
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | Sharp in mid-aperture range, good handling | Cons: | Relatively poor wide open or stopped down | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 8
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K20d
| | When I first started using this lens I was disappointed by the look of images I was making. I was seeing lots of purple and green fringing and images just did not look that sharp. Then I discovered that keeping the lens at an aperture of around F5.6 to F11 made a big difference. Sharpness is fantastic in this range and the bokeh is good largely due to minimising chromatic aberrations.
The wide open performance for macro is very disappointing, particularly when compared with the Tamron 90mm which is very good right from the start and pushes back the envelope when stopped down also. Possibly this lens is sharper than the Tamron at around F8. However the handling of this lens was much better than the Tamron, despite the absence of a focus limiter. The lens feels solid enough and if you like to use your cameras built in flash, then you can do so with the confidence that the lens won't shade your subject.
| | | | Forum Member Registered: November, 2009 Location: Israel Posts: 55 | Review Date: February 16, 2012 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
Pros: | Very sharp. Can be used for portrets too. | Cons: | Purple fringing is a problem. | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 7
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K-X,K-5
| | Positive:
Very, very very sharp. Very good bokeh. Not heavy. Apperture can be set on body of the lens.
Can be used for portraits too.
Negative:
Build quality is so-so. On my lens i can turn focus ring even after it reached the real limit and when the lens is at minimum focus distance the lens wobbles - not a real problem but does not feel right. Focus is pretty slow.
Conclusion:
Excellent sharpness + 1:1 magnification + 100mm focal length = excellent macro lens. If it was built like new WR 100mm but still had the aperture controls this could be perfect macro lens.
| | | | Banned Registered: May, 2011 Location: Earth Posts: 10 2 users found this helpful | Review Date: October 8, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $325.00
| Rating: 10 |
Pros: | aperture ring, big rubber focusing ring, IQ no less than DFA WR, ready for FF | Cons: | plastic, don't buy for the AF capability... | New or Used: Used
| | I currently have three macro lens setups. The DFA 100mm, DFA 100mm WR, & a vivi 2x macro focusing ring with a 50 1.4 mounted to compare it to the DFA.
DFA and DFA WR. IQ is eqaul to my eye. Focusing is easier with the ring on the DFA.
The real big advantage of the DFA to some may be it has a aperture ring and the WR does not. For the used price I paid the DFA is way more bang for the buck. Since the only advantage of the WR is WR. Plastics on DFA could be a negative for some. Typical Macro AF could use a limiter. Only comment when comparing this lens to my vivi setup, save for a mid to high end macro prime if you want execlent results.
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