Hi,
I picked up one of these in the UK, I am very impressed....
It weighs nothing compared to a 400mm lens.
The f8/12 is no problem focussing in normal daylight.
(MZ-5n & LX with grid screen)
Very pleased with sharpness of pictures shot on Kodachrome 200 with and
without tripod, the handhelds were shot faster than 1/250th on a nice day.
The fixed DOF is most noticable at close focussing distances, ie. have to
be careful to isolate subject from background via composition not DOF.
The lens very very close focus (see K-mount page!!)
I did not shot any shots with donuts in but you can see the effect
without wasting film, it is something you should be aware of.
Late last year I enquired on the list if someone could scan some example
shots for display on the "Lens Gallery" page, but I did not get around to
sorting it out.
Regards
Rob
Below are comments I found on the old archives when I looked last year,
some may have been direct replies when I asked on PDML then.
-------------------------
I Purchaced one of these litle marvels last year, I have
found it to be a very sharp and handy lens
Mine came with a full set of filters but no case and hood the filters are
40.5 which is the size used on a lot of
old rangefinder cameras so yellow, red orange ect. are no prob ND,s should
be avaliable from pentax, I also use 67mm ND filters on the front of the
lens sometimes as changing filters is a bit slow. It is a rare lens, less
common than a 30mm or a 20mm wide, mine did'nt even make it to the shop
shelf, I have a wanted list with a number of shops where I live here in
sunny Adelaide Australia.
-------------------------
I have one and have discovered that, with some care, it is quite sharp,
and, as you know, remarkably compact for that focal length.
You will find a spotmeter very helpful, since angle of incidence at
400-600 is so small. If you didn't notice, there is provision for
a 40.5mm filter on the rear of the lens. You can use a front filter
(I use a "protector", made by Pentax for something or other - possible
protecting!). Be sure to use the hood (67mm), or if it wasn't provided,
get as long a 67mm hood as you can find. You can probably use a 67mm
filter on the front if you can't get the 40.5mm filters. Pentax did
make a kit with a variety of SMC coated 40.5mm filters, but I havn't
been able to find it. Minolt and Tiffen still make some 40.5mm filters.
You will find that flare manifests itself in an interesting way;
internal reflections become concentric rings. That is what you would
expect. I personally think multicoated filters, if you can find them,
are especially useful in this lens.
-------------------------
The Pentax 400-600/8.0-12 reflex was available as recently as two
months ago new from Camera World of Oregon for $1400. About four
months ago I heard of a used one that sold to a dealer for about
$650-700.
Apparently this is a lens with substantial value. I don't have a
clue why it has such a value - I have never actually seen or used
one. Perhaps it is rare. Perhaps the market for it is a group of
people similar to those of us who are "Looking for a 135/1.8 - Any
Condition, Any Price"
Perhaps there is a niche market for a lens with this range and
size. Looking at the lens specs from the Pentax faq I notice the
400-600 zoom is only a little larger than the FA 28-105/f-5.6.
An interesting lens. You can even put a 2x convertor on it
(800-1200/f16-32+?). Anyone have any hands-on experience?
-------------------------
I've got one of these, and I'm pleased with it. Three things to be aware of;
**very** limited depth of field, out of focus highlights turn into donuts,
and you'll have a really hard time focusing with it if you've got the
split-image focusing screen (instead of a plain ground glass or a Beattie
screen).
Considering the focal length, it's not difficult to work with. I've got a
shoulder brace that I use with it, and I haven't had any camera shake
problems ( 1/500 shutter speed helps!!).
-------------------------
It's 8-12/400-600. It has many positive comments in books, but I know
noone really owning it. Pentax offered extra bright tele screens for
the use of f=8 teles on LX and MX. With such a screen this lens will
work comfortable. Advantages are the small size, close-up focussing
capacity and good correction (reflex constructions behave like the
best apochromatic corrections). Drawbacks are the usual mirror lens
drawbacks: donut-like unsharpness patterns and fixed aperture. There
is the rumor, that f=8 or f=11 mirrors are easier to focus than
normal lenses of the same speed. Maybe someone else knows more here.
The reflex is a real alternative to the SMC-A 5.6/400, since the
correction is better and if you switch to an autofocus camera, you
will not have the feeling that you have missed to buy the lens in
an AF version. Can be seen as a counterpart for the 17-28mm fisheye
zoom.
-------------------------
All the Pentax reflex lenses are still available. Don't know the price
of the 400-600 lens, but it is not unreasonable. I would not recommend
the Pentax mirror lenses unless size is extremely important. The reason
is that a lens with a speed of F:12 is very hard to focus. For the LX i
recommend the FE-1 finder for use with the mirror lenses. This finder is
significantly brighter than the finders with a pentaprism.
------------------------------------------------------------
Original questioner replied with......
The reason for wanting a reflexzoom is because
I like using lots of film at airshows. This time I took my Tamron 350
F5.6 Reflex, and my 80-250 f3.8 Tamron, the best shot were on the 350
reflex, I used a X2 sp converter on some shots. It would be nice to
be able to light lens that could zoom to 600 I shot 100 ASA had to use a
ND filter to cut down the light for 400 ASA. Unless can get close to the
action as I have done at smaller airshows a large fast lens is to hard to
use when packed in with a crowd.I use a SA-26 screen with my LX for air
shows, and get very good results,with a FA-1 finder would a FB-1 with
FC-1 help.
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