Pentax “A” 70-210 f4
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As I mentioned in a recent post, this is my tele lens. It’s quite sharp-in fact it can be very sharp under the right conditions. Where there are nice contrasts in the photograph, such as buildings in sidelighting, it’s good. On flatter scenes like those above, it struggles to inject any real punch into the shot.
Colour isn’t this lens’ strong point. In comparison with lenses designed for digital sensors, there’s a lack of vibrancy. Usually, a bit of work is needed in Photoshop to restore some snap to the photograph. It fairs better once you convert the image to monochrome.
I took the photographs above whilst on a brief drive in the Angus countryside today. They were both shot at the 210mm end of the zoom - equivalent to about 315mm - using the car roof as a support. As with most tele zooms, the long end tends to be slightly weaker than the short end. These photographs are reasonably sharp but they lack real bite.
I’ve been weighing up various lenses as potential replacements for the 70-210 but haven’t reached a decision yet. There are quite a few decent ones out there that wont break the bank including Pentax’s 50-200. Right now, I’d probably go for Tamron’s cheap but sharp 55-200 but for one thing - it doesn’t seem to come in the Pentax mount. That’s a real pity as it can be bought for under £60. It’s plasticky and has a plastic lens mount but it’s also very small and light. I’m sure it wouldn’t be any sharper than the 70-210 but it’s certain to be punchier. Oh well.
That’s why I’m holding out just now to see what sort of reviews the new Pentax 55-300 gets when it comes out in May. In the meantime, I’m quite happy doing a bit of post processing with the 70-210 to get the best from it.
Source: Pentax “A” 70-210 f4
