Hin's Photo Corner

I get this 400mm old prime along with interesting tower flashes that I want to try out. I got a Sunpak Auto Thyristor 522 andd Metz 60 c-1 that are flash with a tower bracket. The lens are not what I am after. I thought it would be another lens that would weight over three pounds. This 400mm is the lightest in all the 300mm and 400mm lens that I have handled. Now that I think of it, it may be too light. Anyway, I tried it out in a lunch break. Handling is not too bad especially in the ease of focusing. Purple fringing can easily be seen unfortunately. My copy comes in a T-mount that is currently comes with an adapter to K mount


Initial Test Shots














Initial Impressions & Notes

• This 400mm is the lightest that I have handled. Though long in length, weight is not an issue for hand-holding.
• It comes with a adjustable tripod collar. I have not tried if I can remove the collar for hand-holding
• Bokeh is not too bad
• Easy to handle
• It has a preset ring with C <----> O with letter C for closing aperture down while O refers to opening of the aperture blades to wide open
• I find focusing achievable in f/8.0 in good lighting without the need to switch to 'C' in preset ring. With some previous encounter with M42 tele-lens, that is not the case as I always need to focus in wider apertures as in f/5.6 to f/2.8.
• Purple Fringing is easily seen in the test pictures.
• Lost of focus trap will take some time to get used to
• Stop down metering is required like other K-mount manual lens.
  

Related:

• Pentax 400mm f/5.6 choices
• Tokina SD 400mm f/5.6
• Pentax F-1.7x AF TC
• Pentax F* 300mm f/4.5
  
• Hin's Camera Gear
  

Out of my quest to find a Pentax 400mm manual focus lens, I got a used copy of Tokina SD 400mm f/5.6. Thank you so much to the previous owner of this manual focus lens. My recent purchase of Pentax F* 300mm f/4.5 causes all the delay in my test on this 400mm prime lens. I have a pretty good shooting with it today for the first time. I have not gotten used to the focusing ring yet. Pictures are found sharp when I stop down to f/7.1 and I shoot mostly in f/8.0, results are quite good for the lens and I don't see CA/PF easily which is a very comforting sign














Impressions & Notes

• Lens is very much hand-holdable
• This lens has internal focusing that does not extend and retract upon focusing
• I have not tried Pentax-F 1.7x AFA with the lens, I suspect it will work well together though I think I need extremely good lighting for AF to work
• Focusing ring is shorter than I expected, it is between 1/4 to 1/2 turn
• Focusing ring is well dampened but I would prefer a longer focus throw for precision
• Minimal focusing distance is 4 meters
• Filter Size is 72mm
• SD glass works better with PF/CA
• My copy comes with auto aperture which is great, this make it quicker with one less step for stop-down metering
• Test photos quite sharp in f/8.0 and f/7.1
• Will test wide open shots, I would imagine a touch soft
• I attempted BIF shots with the lens but I am too slow to put the birds in frame
• The tripod ring has a separate base, when mounted, it bothers hand-holding.
• This is a welcome addition to my tele-lens for birds
• This is a value lens to be considered

• Pentax K-x and Tokina SD 400mm On Bird
• Pentax F* 300mm f/4.5 Initial Test Shots
• Photosniper Tair-3 PhS 300mm f/4.5
• Pentax-F 1.7x AF TC
• Tamron Pz-AF 1.4x AF TC
• Pentax 300mm f/4.0
• Search of 400mm prime in Pentax
• Hin's Camera Gear

Though I like my current set up in using a fast 200mm combined with a TC, I am looking for a prime with longer reach as in 400mm f/5.6 so that I can depend less on the use of TC. My current combo is small and lightweight and if offers the best in ease of use and pretty much less than 2 lb and it is very portable and I can grab and shoot quickly.

And I prefer quicker reaction in Av metering without stop-down and the M42 lens or an 'A' lens will do that. The Av mode, allows me to concentrate on the framing and panning when needed. I hear the plane after the cooper hawk this morning. And I practice on panning distant plane flying. It gives me the instant thrill to follow the plane in action. My 400mm combo usually does poorly for infinity object, perhaps I have good lighting today and that really helps in the shooting as I can stop down to f/8 and still have reasonable shutter for the panning. I used my K mount 200mm f/3.5 on Komine before on similar shooting and after the stop-down, the plane may have already turned to a different direction.
I hope I can find a good prime or zoom in 400mm f/5.6 that is both hand-holdable and offer better IQ that I can depend less on the TC.

I plan to get the Pentax DA* 300mm f/4.0. But for now, I am looking for inexpensive manual focus choices. My rough criteria:

• I prefer lens that is hand-holdable, roughly less than 3 lb
• less CA in working with tree branches in high contrast
• good manual focus throw for precision and ease of focusing
• good IQ when used with Pentax F-1.7x AF TC
• lens with tripod collar when I need it
• Ideal focal length is 400mm f/5.6 to work with similar to my 200mm f/2.8 + 2x TC.
• Or a manual focus 300mm f/4.0 with good IQ.

As of now, I have these choices in manual focus:

• Sigma or Tokina 400mm f/5.6 in manual focus with 'A' setting -- not sure on weight?
• SuperTak 300mm f/4.0 in m42 -- about 985g
• Pentax 300mm f/4.0 in K mount -- about 1020g
• Pentax M*/A* 300mm f/4.0 in K mount -- lightest about 850g
• Pentax K 400mm f/5.6 (or the Takumar 400mm f/5.6 equivalent in m42) -- about 1285g in K version
• Tamron SP 500mm f/8.0 adaptall-2 mirror lens -- not sure it is suited for wildlife photography such as birds

Related:

• Tokina SD 400mm f/5.6
• Soligor MC 200mm f/2.8 M42 purchase
• Soligor MC 200mm f/2.8 M42 On Birds
• Soligor MC 200mm f/2.8 M42 On Nature Walk
• Kiron 2x doubler M42
• Genuine Pentax M42 to K adapter
• Vivitar 200mm f/3.5 from Komine
• Pentax 300mm f/4.0 in K
• Pentax F-1.7x AF TC
• Hin's Camera Gear