| Author: | | Forum Member Registered: February, 2016 Location: Moab, Utah Posts: 90 | | Review Date: February 18, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $375.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, color rendering | | Cons: | contrast a little low doesn't focus close | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Camera Used: Sony A7s, A7m2
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This is a very good lens for less money. The build quality is as good as it gets, and the optics are good enough to very good for a lens of this length. There are two areas where this lens does NOT excel; contrast and closest focusing distance. The built in hood is nice, and taking the lens apart to clean it is easy to do. I took mine apart and cleaned the elements and it made a huge difference. My copy is pretty worn looking on the outside but minty optics and smooth actions. 40 years old and still as solid as new.
For close focusing, I use 10-30mm of extension tubes and that gets me down to about 15' (4 or 5 meters) focusing distance, which is plenty for most small animals. I can also handhold this lens on my Sony a7ii, using the image stabilization and still get tack sharpness out of it at f8 and very good sharpness at 6.3. At 5.6, it's not great, but better than a Sigma 170-500 5.6-6.3 I had previously IMO.
| | | | | | | Junior Member Registered: December, 2012 Location: Cirebon Posts: 29 | | Review Date: February 16, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $329.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Build, Sharpness, Color | | Cons: | CA and MFD | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 7
Value: 10
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Pros :
- Sharpness at wide open good.
- Build quality
Cons :
- MFD 8 meters
- CA (but in digital era its no problem)
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: November, 2013 Posts: 127 | | Review Date: June 12, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $150.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | optical clarity, weight, build quality, easy to focus | | Cons: | CA when wide open | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: K5-IIs
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Just picked this up on Ebay. Had been looking for a 400mm lens for some time. I looked very hard at some vintage Vivitar, Tokina, and Sigma Lenses. I Didn't care about manual focus or Manual aperture. I wanted good build quality, and good optical quality with controllable CA. This lens fits the bill!
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: November, 2010 Location: California Posts: 2,223
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 20, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $435.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Pentax K glass, IQ, easiness to use, manual | | Cons: | A bit heavy and needs tripod - However, I shoot it handheld | |
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I purchased this lens after reading the reviews here. I have no complaints, it is a wonderful lens. For a long time I thought it was the Pentax M. However, someone pointed out that it was a Pentax K. The Pentax K is much better IQ than the Pentax M. I will post pics later.
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This lens is heavy and beautiful. Shooting with my Kx and this lens is easy, the metering is done manually. The focussing is done with the f-stop in the maximum aperture. Then just manually set the aperture ring to the desired f-stop, this is more normal and convenient than pushing the green button, because you have control of the aperture you want, and do not leave it to the camera to do it.
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Update after some time of using the lens and getting used to it. THe lens is heavy, but not as heavy as it should be for a long prime (400mm!!). Here are some pics that I took hand-held (If I can do it, any one can do it). Remember, I had to focus, stop down the lens and shoot. I got used to it doing my favorite pastime, bird watching and shooting.
(CLICK ON THE THUMBNAILS BELOW) Most of the photos below were shot at f5.6 (wide open). If you shoot wide open, thre is no need to stop down, you just shoot. That is the beauty of this lens, you do not need to stop it down to get sharp pictures, like the Pentax-M 400mm. You just set the fstop ring to f5.6. I do that for shooting flying birds.
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         | | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: January, 2009 Location: Vancouver Island, BC, Canada Posts: 3,294
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 28, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $450.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Light for it's focal length, build quality and performance | | Cons: | Minimum focusing distance, unbalanced tripod mount. | |
I picked up this lens after purchasing a "box of lenses" and knew little about it or how it might perform. I was pleasantly surprised after my first outing with the lens. I quite like the colour, sharpness and contrast it produces. It's build quality is typical for a K series lens, with it being very solid and smooth focusing.
This lens is also extremely light for it's focal length and age, making it suitable for a moderate hike or walk. You will also need to take a tripod, as you would with any 300+mm lens. It does take some care as the tripod mount is not balanced and it has a tendency to shake on the tripod, but if you use the 2 second delay or remote, don't mind manual focus, and are patient, chances are you'd be very happy with a copy of the lens.
As mentioned by gofour3, you need to be 27 feet / 8 meters away from your shooting subject. I have found this to be a limiting factor when using the lens.
I have much more expensive telephotos, but they all have their drawbacks and given a limited budget, the K400 would be one lens I would look for.
A shot taken with the K400......
 | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: October, 2008 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 8,090 | | Review Date: August 15, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $548.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Size, quality, built-on hood & tripod mount. | | Cons: | Manual diaphragm, minimum focusing distance. | | Camera Used: K Series film bodies (K1000, KM, KX, K2, K2DMD)
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The K400/5.6 is currently my third longest telephoto lens. I have used this lens for birding, distant cityscapes and close-ups of freighters in the harbour.
The K400/5.6 is fairly light for a 400mm lens, but it’s a bit too heavy for use without a tripod. The dedicated hard lens case makes it easy to carry around with the attached shoulder strap. (The 500mm and above Pentax telephoto lenses start to get VERY heavy)
The K400/5.6 also has a built-on lens hood & tripod mount and takes a 77mm filter. I recommend getting a good UV filter when shooting film. I have found no CA issues with this lens, but I’m not a pixel-peeper. The slide images I have taken look very sharp using a lupe & light table and slide projections are also very crisp.
The K400/5.6 has a manual diaphragm, so you will have to use stop-down metering with this lens. It’s not really a big deal unless you are trying to shoot a moving target, like a bird. (The later M version has a fully-automatic diaphragm.) The f5.6 maximum aperture is not bad for a telephoto lens of this length, though the minimum focusing distance of 27 feet or 8 meters, is rather long.
Overall a good quality telephoto lens that will not cost you a fortune to buy or break your back carrying it around.
Sample shots taken with the K400/5.6. Photos are medium resolution scans from original negatives or slides.
Camera: Super A Film: CiniStill Double X ISO: 250
Camera: KX Film: Fuji Velvia 100 ISO: 100
 | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: March, 2007 Location: Nove Zamky, Slovakia Posts: 7,183
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 4, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $215.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | length, optical performance*, built quality | | Cons: | minimal focusing distance, *CAs | |
I gave it 9. Why? I think it's a great lens. Opticaly good, even if bit big-ish and heavy-ish. Sharpness is good especialy when stopped down to f8. CAs and PF are well controlled but in certain conditions (strong backlit) the greens and purples fringe everything. Again stopping down helps, but best option is to avoid backlit setuation, which renders this lens useless for most of the birding phography. Built quality is great. And because of the manual diaphragm, this lens works nicely in Av mode. Only really bad point is it's closeset focus is at 8m. Which is bit far. If it had focus at around 3m and AF I'd give it 10/10 but then I'd have to pay for it several times more then I did (£150).
Overall very good lens, well worth the money.
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