Hin's Photo Corner

I saw this bird facing backward from me and I had my Tokina SD 400mm f/5.6 at the time with Pentax K-x. I carried the gear with my mono-pod from Dolica left in my trunk. I set up for the shooting while struggling with an lighting problem. The morning light is to the left and most of the bird appearance was under the shadow in back-lit setting.

Upon focusing, the bird turned around facing towards me and seemed not bothered by my appearance. This was an odd encounter for me in the park as most birds would have disappeared into another tree and nowhere to be found in the viewfinder.


I thought it looked like an American Robin though I wasn't sure. I went to stay with AF.A and only use single shot with catch in focus enabled for my manual focus prime. I set f-aperture to be high in f/7.1 and f/8.0. My iso setting is perhaps a bit high in the 400 and 800 range. Shutter speed is in between 1/400 to 1/1000 sec. I was preparing for a flying moment but the bird stayed still for minutes and I was the luckiest photographer that morning.





Impressions & Notes

• I went too high on the ISO settings, I would have tried lower ISO as in 400 and 320.
  
• PF/CA is found on the branches at close examination, not too bad for the Tokina prime
• Sharpness is great in the setup with K-x. Lots of details of the bird under the shadow are retained. A kudos to K-x for shadow detail.
• 400mm at 15 to 30 feet shooting distance can still crop the bird in horizontal orientation and I do two things to avoid the cropping. I moved back a bit from the bird and I used vertical orientation.
  
• I wish I have the red focal point for a point of reference to the eyes of the bird as I try to nail focus on the eyes
• The K-x viewfinder is smaller and dimmer than my Pentax K20D. I can't see the hexagon in bright daylight. I can only count on the beep and catch-in focus in make the shutter release for the shot.
  
• Unlike moving objects, I prefer to use of AF-S as I can count on the catch-in focus. With AF-C, I lose the catch-in focus and I can't re-compose the shot after focus lock is obtained.
• The A setting in the Tokina SD 400mm f/5.6 is big plus as a stop-down operation will surely move the focal point causing slower reaction to the scene

Related:

• Pentax K-x White Arrived
• Pentax Long Lenses and TC
• Tamron SP 500mm f/8.0 adaptall-2 (55BB) mirror lens
  
• Tokina SD 400mm f/5.6
• Pentax F* 300mm f/4.5 on Terns
  
• Hin's Camera Gear
  

I bought this lens a while ago and my first impressions are so-so as I see quite soft images in wide open aperture in f/2.8 especially in the 200mm end. I wrote about my initial findings in Tokina AT-X 80-200mm SD f/2.8. When stopped down properly the lens is quite good.



I don't have a rating for this lens as I was initially disappointed with its sharpness in f/2.8 aperture. It is a MF lens with A aperture.

And then I put it to the test in two low light shootings: one in a Circus indoor and one in a baseball game at night. Both are challenging in lighting. I found the lens doing quite well at night. When I stopped down to f/4.0, I see little to no sharpness issues. I do test out the lens in f/2.8, it is not the sharpest by any means but reasonable to use along with high ISO to freeze motion when needed.

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