| Author: | | Loyal Site Supporter Registered: December, 2009 Location: In the Florida swamps Posts: 761 | | Review Date: January 1, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Cheap, 400mm, solid | | Cons: | soft, general IQ | | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 8
Value: 8
Camera Used: KP
| |
This review is of the preset version with tripod mount.
For my taste it lacks contrast and color saturation, those are easily fixed in PP.
In some conditions it can actually deliver decent results.
Inside of 15 yards or so it is fairly sharp with decent contrast and colors, beyond that and it starts to loosen up. Again - mostly fixable in PP.
This lens is very susceptible to washing out so a proper lens hood is a must.
On the KP I typically use Live View and the long focus throw helps with with getting precise focus. The twin ring preset is simple and smooth.
For someone wanting a cheap way to try out a super telephoto lens this one is a good candidate. With some work you can get decent images. Nothing spectacular, but for under $25 it's a cheap way to play around with a longer lens.
 | | | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: May, 2015 Location: Hampshire Posts: 892 | | Review Date: November 30, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Cheap, T mount, tripod bush. | | Cons: | Fringing, weight. | | Value: 10
Camera Used: K-5
| |
Mine is the pre-set version, long and bulky but having an aperture of F5.6 rather than the F6.3 some cheaper lenses boast is much better for focussing.
I have only just started using it and do need to think about using a tripod or monopod as it is quite unwieldy and heavy to hand hold.
Having just mounted it on my camera I saw a squirrel a nd captured a couple of images.
Hope Rupert doesn't mind but I did think of him.
One image cropped, taken at between F6.3-8, note the fringing. | | | | | New Member Registered: February, 2012 Posts: 17
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 17, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Good colour, sharp, tripod mount, works well with teleconverters | | Cons: | None for the price | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 10
| |
I bought this for the PK TX mount that came with it. As the seller had promised, the lens had lots of fungus right in the middle of all the forward elements. Fortunately none was apparent on the rearward elements, and since the lens handled so well I resolved to clean it, and I am glad that I did.
The lens came with its original retail packaging, so I can confidently assert that the optic is 8 elements in 8 groups, not 5 in 5 as indicated above.
As mentioned below, the lens was made by Tokina, and it was succeeded by one that is more compact and lighter, without a tripod mount, and with a 72mm rather than a 77mm filter. The later lens is more convenient for hiking, and I think a little sharper wide open (it is hard to judge with manual focus, 400 mm and f5.6) but this lens has the edge for contrast and colour. I especially like shots when the target is within 30 m or so; excellent colour and contrast.
I use it mostly on slow-moving or stationary birds at as close to the minimum focus distance (6.1 m) as I can get, for which I would say it excels. It is also good for capturing details of landscapes or citiscapes. Candid shots from distance (if you can be candid with a foot of camera and lens sticking out in front of you!) haven't been as successful. I haven't tried to use it for sports.
I don't see any fringing around edges that are in focus, or when the target is less than about 20m away, even when the lens is wide open. Some fringing can be apparent along high contrast out-of-focus edges when the target is further away.
Bokeh is neutral; it just looks out of focus.
The lens works well with the Pentax 1.7x AF converter in bright sunlight, and indeed, with teleconverters generally.
A number of reviewers have mentioned fungus, to the extent that I wonder if this lens is especially prone to it. Only last night a copy of this lens was sold on e-Bay UK (for $25) that was similarly afflicted. However, it is very easy to remove fungus from the forward elements; just unscrew the nameplate and everything drops out.
Someone else mentioned the annoying way the original metal lens cap drops off; I concur.
The tripod bush spares the camera mount from the full weight of the lens; useful.
I like the 120 degree throw of the focus ring. It helps get the focus precise, if your target will oblige you by staying put.
I don't mind the weight of this lens, but it won't fit in my small camera bag. The 72 mm version does. However, if I am taking a back pack this lens goes.
Highly recommended.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: April, 2009 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 499 | | Review Date: August 27, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $135.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Price | | Cons: | PF, long focus throw | |
From an overall perspective, I use this lens quite a bit when I'm close to home - but don't spend a substantial time traveling with it. It is fairly heavy to pack around.
The pictures are pretty good, but I've noticed the items discussed in the previous reviews. I do think this is a sharp lens and well worth the money. I traded my Vivitar 100-500 for this lens and will never look back.
The other piece mentioned by another reviewer is this is a 'T' series lens (mine is TX). I found several versions of this same lens on e-bay with adapters for other cameras. I plan to keep this lens until I upgrade it to one of the top tier lenses (Sigma 500 4.5 or Pentax 250-600) because I don't think trading up will grant me that much of an improvement in quality.
| | | | | | | | | | Review Date: September 23, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $65.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | A fairly well built light-weight super telephoto lens that delivers surprisingly good results. | | Cons: | A wee bit of purple fringing in contrasty situations which stopping down helps somewhat. | |
Definitely not on par with my Nikkor super telephoto 400mm f3.5 on film,digitally though it does a bit better....a fun and easy to use lens that delivers surprising quality for it's age. The lens is also somewhat lighter then the Nikkor 400mm lens which makes it a little more user friendly for packing in to remote shoots.I wasn't expecting the decent results I got from this lens....and ended up buying a second Vivitar 400mm back in the day for backpacking and climbing....used this lens for years and got abused a bit by my kids & friends,but continued to take decent captures....the lens likes to be stopped down to f8 or better yet f11 for the sharpest image....finally sold the second abused copy after the kids grew up and left home....but still have the first copy of this lens in like new condition.
BTW...there are two versions of the TX lens...the first is a bit longer and has a tripod mount...the later version is shorter and doesn't have a tripod mount(at this focal length I would recommend the first version with the tripod mount.
Modern Photography review on the Viv 400/5.6 TX lens in "Photo Buying Guide 78". Some comments:
Optical bench:
-red spherical flare at 5.6 but gone by f8.
-considerable secondary color aberration
-overcorrected green spherical abberation and undercorrected red spherical abberation.
-this lens is better than average
-in filed tests image sharpness was acceptable bec of low contrast
-color fringing visible
Resolution(Contrast)..Center......Corner
5.6..............................37(53).......26 (42)
8.................................42(62).......29 (40)
11...............................47(64).......33 (36)
16...............................47(53).......37 (32)
22...............................47(46).......42( 28)
The contrast figures at f11 are outstanding and belie the narrative part of the test report. After all the stellar Viv S1 90/2.5 had 64% contrast at f5.6 and f8 in the center.
 | | | | | Loyal Site Supporter Registered: January, 2008 Location: Paris, TN Posts: 3,349 | | Review Date: March 30, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $120.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Solid construction, sharp, built in lens hood | | Cons: | relatively high PF at wide aperture | |
This review for the original preset t-mount version. This is a very capable 400mm lens for someone with a limited budget and who is accustomed to working with manual focus and exposure - or willing to learn.
PF is very noticeable in highlights and high contrast conditions but cleans up very well with minimal post processing. Color saturation is satisfactory and quite normal for this type of lens and coating from the '70s. Results are very similar to the Pentax Super-Takumar 300mm - f 4.0 and generally equivalent to the ubiquitous Tamron/Sigma 70-300 zooms at 200mm and up. P/K-M mount.
Long lenses of this type and age have reached a stable price point in the market and seem to trade in the $140-200 range so long as they're in good condition. Someone wanting to explore telephoto lenses beyond the -300mm zooms could do a lot worse than to learn/experiment with such a lens before committing to a lens in the $600-1200 range.
Sample photo from K200D at F8 - 1/350 with simple clean-up of PF and light sharpening at in SPix 3:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/index.php?n=10965
Added: Also note that this is a T-mount lens so you could easily play with other bodies/mounts.
H2
Picture of lens sent - should show up soon.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: January, 2007 Location: Toronto Posts: 17,887 | | Review Date: March 18, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $159.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | relitively fast, telephoto lens | | Cons: | 6.1 meter minim focusing distance | |
Note the price indicated $159 was the price paid in 1982 for an end of line close out of the komine made version. But that's ~ $400 in todays terms, using inflationcalculator.com !
Also note there appear to be various versions of this lens, with and without multi-coating. The version I own is Multi Coated, and it is clearly indicated on the front of the lens. There have been posts about poor image quality from some lenses, but these appear to be versions before multi coating.
The lens performs well and has a good built in lens hood, but the slip on metal front lens cap has a tendancy to fall off.
Focusing is very precise, with 330 degrees of rotation from minimum focus to infinity, however this makes focusing very slow, especially on moving subjects.
metering on DSLRs
- on the *istD metering is within +/- 1/4 stop over the entire range
- on the K10D metering is +1 stop over exposed at maximum apature drifting up to +1.5 stops by f16-22 and remaining there at F32
| | |
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
