Pentax fa 400mm f/5.6 IF ED opinion

Polacofede · May 26, 2017

Hi!

I just saw one of this lens on sell, to me looks at an affordable price and as is my country i don't have to pay duty fees. However I wanted to know your opinions of this lens. I currenlty own a Bigma and a Pentax DA* 60-250 f/4.

So do you think a worthy buy? Any thoughts?

Petroglyph · May 26, 2017

Polacofede said:
Hi!

I just saw one of this lens on sell, to me looks at an affordable price and as is my country i don't have to pay duty fees. However I wanted to know your opinions of this lens. I currenlty own a Bigma and a Pentax DA* 60-250 f/4.

So do you think a worthy buy? Any thoughts?

Polacofede · May 26, 2017

Petroglyph said:
Polacofede said:

Hi!

I just saw one of this lens on sell, to me looks at an affordable price and as is my country i don't have to pay duty fees. However I wanted to know your opinions of this lens. I currenlty own a Bigma and a Pentax DA* 60-250 f/4.

So do you think a worthy buy? Any thoughts?

--
thanks for all the fish!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/polacofede

Click to expand...

There is FA* 400mm f/5.6 and SMCP FA 645 400mm f/5.6 (It can be used with K-mount adapter if there is no 645, 645D or 645Z handy). Pentax Forum has a lot of lens reviews to look at.

This is the lens: Pentax FA SMC 1:5.6 400mm IF ED

a photo of the lens

I searched in pentaxforums but i just found a few reviews and not many sample shots.

What about AF speed? And what about aperture which is the sweet spot? For the bigma i need to take it up to F9-F10, on the other hand, the DA* 60-250 is very sharp at F5 or F5.6 waaay more sharper than the Bigma.

So I wonder how the FA* 400 F5.6 would compare against these other two.

--
thanks for all the fish!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/polacofede

Mark Ransom · May 26, 2017

I recently got the A 400, not sure how similar it is. I have yet to get a sharp picture from it, but that's probably due to deficiencies in my technique. This weekend I hope to use it with the K-01 and a tripod, if I can't get good results it's time to call it a lost cause.

Polacofede · May 26, 2017

Mark Ransom said:
I recently got the A 400, not sure how similar it is. I have yet to get a sharp picture from it, but that's probably due to deficiencies in my technique. This weekend I hope to use it with the K-01 and a tripod, if I can't get good results it's time to call it a lost cause.

honestly no idea about this lens, also seeing in my country a FA* 400mm f5.6 is pretty odd, I think you have more chances to see a unicorn.

My expectations about the FA 400mm is to be better than bigma and at least match DA* 60-250 performance in terms of AF and sharpness, colors etc.

If the FA 400mm at f5.6 is the same or less than the bigma, then there is no chance i would use it.

I would really appreciate opinions or experiences about them. Not that much around the web.

Good luck with your lens.

LightBug · May 26, 2017

Polacofede said:
Hi!

I just saw one of this lens on sell, to me looks at an affordable price and as is my country i don't have to pay duty fees. However I wanted to know your opinions of this lens. I currenlty own a Bigma and a Pentax DA* 60-250 f/4.

So do you think a worthy buy? Any thoughts?

Joseph Tainter · May 26, 2017

I have this lens and have found that it performs well on digital. AF speed is neither slow nor fast. The lens is sharp. One of its best characteristics is that it is almost as sharp wide open as it is closed down. This is important--when shooting it handheld, you might often want to set the aperture to wide open.

Here's a photo I took with this lens, handheld, a couple of summers ago, showing the conjunction of the moon and Venus.

The DA 150-450 is also a very good lens, but quite heavy.

Joe

chris gunn · May 26, 2017

Polacofede said:
Hi!

I just saw one of this lens on sell, to me looks at an affordable price and as is my country i don't have to pay duty fees. However I wanted to know your opinions of this lens. I currenlty own a Bigma and a Pentax DA* 60-250 f/4.

So do you think a worthy buy? Any thoughts?

I have one. Sharp wide open, and contrasty. No PF but does have contrasty LCA.

It has good macro, which means it has a long focus throw, which can be frustrating. For birds C.AF gives less grief than S.AF

--
cheers!
Gunn
-- Get a big lens and get closer™.

Jim Beverlin · May 27, 2017

chris gunn said:
Polacofede said:

Hi!

I just saw one of this lens on sell, to me looks at an affordable price and as is my country i don't have to pay duty fees. However I wanted to know your opinions of this lens. I currenlty own a Bigma and a Pentax DA* 60-250 f/4.

So do you think a worthy buy? Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

I have one. Sharp wide open, and contrasty. No PF but does have contrasty LCA.

It has good macro, which means it has a long focus throw, which can be frustrating. For birds C.AF gives less grief than S.AF

--
cheers!
Gunn
-- Get a big lens and get closer™.

Excellent shot Chris. Was that a wild tiger or one in a controlled environment like a zoo? OMG does have he have the fangs! Last sentence on AF is very interesting.

Every time I get ready to pull the trigger on a K3-II someone posts an beautiful shot like this taken with a K-5.

--
JRB

Polacofede · May 27, 2017

LightBug said:
Polacofede said:

Hi!

I just saw one of this lens on sell, to me looks at an affordable price and as is my country i don't have to pay duty fees. However I wanted to know your opinions of this lens. I currenlty own a Bigma and a Pentax DA* 60-250 f/4.

So do you think a worthy buy? Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

Polacofede · May 27, 2017

Joseph Tainter said:
I have this lens and have found that it performs well on digital. AF speed is neither slow nor fast. The lens is sharp. One of its best characteristics is that it is almost as sharp wide open as it is closed down. This is important--when shooting it handheld, you might often want to set the aperture to wide open.

yeah i read that at some review, thanks for the info!

Joseph Tainter said:
Here's a photo I took with this lens, handheld, a couple of summers ago, showing the conjunction of the moon and Venus.

The DA 150-450 is also a very good lens, but quite heavy.

I will be completely honest, I don't have the money to get a DA 150-450 nor i think will be able to have it in several years. I have seen the FA 400mm F5.6 for les than a 1/3 of the DA 150-450 cost and i don't have to pay duty fees. Price aside, I already own a Bigma and a DA* 60-250 so to put money on the FA 400mm i need to find a way to justify myself

Joseph Tainter said:
Joe

--
thanks for all the fish!

Federico Jakimowicz

Explore Federico Jakimowicz’s 2,468 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

Polacofede · May 27, 2017

chris gunn said:
Polacofede said:

Hi!

I just saw one of this lens on sell, to me looks at an affordable price and as is my country i don't have to pay duty fees. However I wanted to know your opinions of this lens. I currenlty own a Bigma and a Pentax DA* 60-250 f/4.

So do you think a worthy buy? Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

I have one. Sharp wide open, and contrasty. No PF but does have contrasty LCA.

It has good macro, which means it has a long focus throw, which can be frustrating. For birds C.AF gives less grief than S.AF

thanks Chris! I am using AF button + CAF all the time for everything. I found it more pleasing than AFS and found myself changing settings less.

Nice shot!

chris gunn said:
--
cheers!
Gunn
-- Get a big lens and get closer™.

--
thanks for all the fish!

Federico Jakimowicz

Explore Federico Jakimowicz’s 2,468 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

Polacofede · May 27, 2017

I have read carefully all the comments over and over, and looked at chris and lightbug galleries. Also searched in the web, not much info by the way...

However I can not make myself the idea or arrive to a conclusion if would be worth to buy it or not.

I mean, if i need to stop it down to F8 to avoid purple fringing in the K3 then what kind of advantage can this lens provide me vs the versatile Bigma? Will purple fringing and chromatic aberration always happen? As i said, the lens price is around 1/3 the values i have seen at ebay, however getting a lens just to leave it on the shelf is not the idea.

I'm not a pro by any means so, if someone could help me to understand how this FA*400 would be an improvement ( pros vs cons or something like that ) over the Bigma or the DA* 60-250 in my K3II. By the way I don't want the fa* 400 to replace the bigma or the 60-250 just to be a more specialized lens, and to do that needs to be better than them at something at 400mm.

What shall i do?

thanks a lot

LightBug · May 27, 2017

Polacofede said:
I have read carefully all the comments over and over, and looked at chris and lightbug galleries. Also searched in the web, not much info by the way...

However I can not make myself the idea or arrive to a conclusion if would be worth to buy it or not.

I mean, if i need to stop it down to F8 to avoid purple fringing in the K3 then what kind of advantage can this lens provide me vs the versatile Bigma? Will purple fringing and chromatic aberration always happen? As i said, the lens price is around 1/3 the values i have seen at ebay, however getting a lens just to leave it on the shelf is not the idea.

I'm not a pro by any means so, if someone could help me to understand how this FA*400 would be an improvement ( pros vs cons or something like that ) over the Bigma or the DA* 60-250 in my K3II. By the way I don't want the fa* 400 to replace the bigma or the 60-250 just to be a more specialized lens, and to do that needs to be better than them at something at 400mm.

What shall i do?

thanks a lot

chris gunn · May 27, 2017

Jim Beverlin said:
chris gunn said:

Polacofede said:

Hi!

I just saw one of this lens on sell, to me looks at an affordable price and as is my country i don't have to pay duty fees. However I wanted to know your opinions of this lens. I currenlty own a Bigma and a Pentax DA* 60-250 f/4.

So do you think a worthy buy? Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

I have one. Sharp wide open, and contrasty. No PF but does have contrasty LCA.

It has good macro, which means it has a long focus throw, which can be frustrating. For birds C.AF gives less grief than S.AF

Click to expand...

Excellent shot Chris. Was that a wild tiger or one in a controlled environment like a zoo?

A zoo, where you can view them without a fence in the way, thanks to a moat and electric barrier. Feels like cheating, but it's such an opportunity!

There's a few more sots in my gallery, some with the FA300. I tried out the 200 macro recently, but the tiger didn't come close enough.

Jim Beverlin said:
OMG does have he have the fangs! Last sentence on AF is very interesting.

There's a world of difference between CAF and SAF with this lens.

Jim Beverlin said:
Every time I get ready to pull the trigger on a K3-II someone posts an beautiful shot like this taken with a K-5.

I've been doing some Astro recently, and the K3II has the best support for that (it might need more stacking), so I've been a bit tempted. I'll probably get the K1 or successor.

--
cheers!
Gunn
-- Get a big lens and get closer™.

Polacofede · May 27, 2017

I finally order it.

I hope to have made the right choice, and if not i will sell it again...

thanks a lot!!!

chris gunn · May 27, 2017

Polacofede said:
I have read carefully all the comments over and over, and looked at chris and lightbug galleries. Also searched in the web, not much info by the way...

However I can not make myself the idea or arrive to a conclusion if would be worth to buy it or not.

I mean, if i need to stop it down to F8 to avoid purple fringing in the K3 then what kind of advantage can this lens provide me vs the versatile Bigma? Will purple fringing and chromatic aberration always happen? As i said, the lens price is around 1/3 the values i have seen at ebay, however getting a lens just to leave it on the shelf is not the idea.

Perhaps you didn't read my comment properly.

This lens has zero PF.

It has little CA.

However, it has LCA (Longitudinal CA), and the contrasty nature of the lens can make the green and purple LCA very apparent/fluorescent and disturbing.

I use RawTherapee, and it's "de-fringe" slider can remove both colour fringing well. I always shoot raw.

I have never felt the need to use a higher stop to avoid it's LCA.

--
cheers!
Gunn
-- Get a big lens and get closer™.

Polacofede · May 27, 2017

chris gunn said:
Polacofede said:

I have read carefully all the comments over and over, and looked at chris and lightbug galleries. Also searched in the web, not much info by the way...

However I can not make myself the idea or arrive to a conclusion if would be worth to buy it or not.

I mean, if i need to stop it down to F8 to avoid purple fringing in the K3 then what kind of advantage can this lens provide me vs the versatile Bigma? Will purple fringing and chromatic aberration always happen? As i said, the lens price is around 1/3 the values i have seen at ebay, however getting a lens just to leave it on the shelf is not the idea.

Click to expand...

Perhaps you didn't read my comment properly.

sorry Chris, I mixed Lightbug's comments and yours he said:

"With my K-S2, I need to stop it down to F8 to avoid purple fringing."

chris gunn said:
This lens has zero PF.

It has little CA.

However, it has LCA (Longitudinal CA), and the contrasty nature of the lens can make the green and purple LCA very apparent/fluorescent and disturbing.

I use RawTherapee, and it's "de-fringe" slider can remove both colour fringing well. I always shoot raw.

Thanks for the advice I will keep it in mind

chris gunn said:
I have never felt the need to use a higher stop to avoid it's LCA.

chris gunn · May 27, 2017

Polacofede said:
chris gunn said:

Polacofede said:

I have read carefully all the comments over and over, and looked at chris and lightbug galleries. Also searched in the web, not much info by the way...

However I can not make myself the idea or arrive to a conclusion if would be worth to buy it or not.

I mean, if i need to stop it down to F8 to avoid purple fringing in the K3 then what kind of advantage can this lens provide me vs the versatile Bigma? Will purple fringing and chromatic aberration always happen? As i said, the lens price is around 1/3 the values i have seen at ebay, however getting a lens just to leave it on the shelf is not the idea.

Click to expand...

Perhaps you didn't read my comment properly.

Click to expand...

sorry Chris, I mixed Lightbug's comments and yours he said:

"With my K-S2, I need to stop it down to F8 to avoid purple fringing."

I've been on a mission for years, trying to get people to distinguish between these 3 different problems.

My pet peeve!

Polacofede · May 27, 2017

chris gunn said:
Polacofede said:

chris gunn said:

Polacofede said:

I have read carefully all the comments over and over, and looked at chris and lightbug galleries. Also searched in the web, not much info by the way...

However I can not make myself the idea or arrive to a conclusion if would be worth to buy it or not.

I mean, if i need to stop it down to F8 to avoid purple fringing in the K3 then what kind of advantage can this lens provide me vs the versatile Bigma? Will purple fringing and chromatic aberration always happen? As i said, the lens price is around 1/3 the values i have seen at ebay, however getting a lens just to leave it on the shelf is not the idea.

Click to expand...

Perhaps you didn't read my comment properly.

Click to expand...

sorry Chris, I mixed Lightbug's comments and yours he said:

"With my K-S2, I need to stop it down to F8 to avoid purple fringing."

Click to expand...

I've been on a mission for years, trying to get people to distinguish between these 3 different problems.

My pet peeve!

I wasn't aware of this different kinds of chromatic aberrations.

I have been reading about them since saw your last post.

According to wikipedia:

"Axial CA occurs throughout the image and is specified by optical engineers, optometrists, and vision scientists in the unit of focus known widely as diopters, and is reduced by stopping down.

In digital sensors, axial(longitudinal) CA results in the red and blue planes being defocused (assuming that the green plane is in focus), which is relatively difficult to remedy in post-processing"

According to you:

"I have never felt the need to use a higher stop to avoid it's LCA."

So I guess that is not a big issue and the lens performs fine after all...

thanks

Pentax fa 400mm f/5.6 IF ED opinion

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