Garth, I own the A 400/5.6 and I think it's a great value and a fine lens. It appears that most of my use will be indoors, shooting school events from the back of the auditorium. I've developed just a few shots, outdoor shots taken at f/5.6 and f/8, and have been pleased with the sharpness, contrast, and color. It's delightfully light, almost made for a monopod. And you'll find the 13-foot close-focus distance useful for those unexpected crowd shots. No complaints about the tripod collar; it just works.
If you're unsure of the focal length you'll need, seriously consider instead getting a good 300/2.8 (Tokina, Pentax, Tamron, maybe Sigma) and a pair of telecoverters. Cars will snap in and out of focus more crisply at 300/2.8 and 440/4.7 than at 400/5.6. And you'll even have a usable 600/5.6. I can't imagine focusing quickly with a TC on the 400; I tried it with a Pentax 1.4 XL, and the view was OK on a bright day for static objects but nothing you'd want to use for shooting a race. Here are my collected comments on the A 400/5.6; I have URLs to several for sale, mostly in Europe, though KEH has had one for some time at less than $600: “As far as I can tell, these puppies are rarer than > hen's teeth, probably because of the price (you can > get one new from B&H for around $1400) and the fact > that it has been eclipsed by the AF models. I suspect > that it is one of those high quality but ill-timed > releases in the Pentax "A" line of lenses and sold > about as well as condoms at a conference of bishops. I have got one of these (SMC400A). IMHO it is a very good lens: sharp and contrasty even wide open. Before that I had the non APO AF Sigma 400/5.6. Compared to this, the Pentax is much much better optically and also much better mechanically. The only advantage of the Sigma was its smaller size (approx 20 cm length). I had to buy a new photobag to accommodate the Pentax.” Roger. “I bought it used a while back. Overall, I like it. It seems pretty sharp even wide open. I have only used it with slide film so far and have used it with the 1.4 xl converter. I have no complaints with it. It is a little lighter than it looks and has a tripod mounting collar on it. I have never had a different 400mm so I can't compare it. The build quality is good. I wish that I could tell you more about it. I find that I don't use that focal length that much. I tend to use my FA 200 f2.8 much more. You have to keep this one on a tripod always. Handheld doesn't work! If you are interested, I can email you a scan from one of the images.” Bruce Dayton “I guess you've never heard of a monopod huh? I have shot withh 400,500 and 1000 using just a monopod with good results. JCO” Bob Walkden: Hi, The primes I liked best were the SMC-K 28/2, SMC-M 35/2, the SMC A* 85/1.4 and the SMC-A 400/5.6. This does not necessarily mean that these provided the best optical or technical quality, but rather that I enjoyed using them, got a high percentage of good photos from them, and found their handling to be excellent.” Bob: Checking the background on this lens and its followers, it appears to > have migrated to the K mount without modification. It was relabelled for the > M series with the only change being able to focus down to 4 meters rather > than the original 8. The A series brought a major change and reformulation > for programme control. this added 2 elements in one group and brought the > aperture closer to the lens mount. Optically, it would be of interest for a > member to comment on this change. On close focus: Bob Walkden: “I have some very, very nice full-frame, full-face photos of a tiger taken with an A 400/5.6 from about 2m away. The sunlight catches its eye absolutely perfectly to bring out the colour and brightness. Couldn't have done it with a longer close-focus distance. The reasoning is the same for bird-watching binoculars, apparently..”“ >From http://home.att.net/~alnem/html/pentax_primes.html: The A lens (latest MF 400mm) is a very fine lens. A received a 3/4/5 C. d'I. mark. It is said to be one of the best non APO lenses, the results are very good at f8 and above. Wide open the resolution was less and there was a bit vignetting.” Photodo tests: >From Photozone Pentax forum: “Hi, Looked at a used FA* 400mm 5.6 for $700 yesterday that was just beautiful but has a small flaw on the lens, so I passed on it. However, it is reputed to be a fine lens and the A version your refer to is supposed to be even better.” [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ . - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
