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Pentax DA 40mm and 70mm Limited lens review, tested with Pentax K10D Gordon Laing, April 2007

Outdoor
/ Resolution / Corner sharpness / Fringe and macro / Geometry / Vignetting

Pentax DA 40 and 70mm lens purple fringing comparison, tested with Pentax K10D

  To measure and compare purple fringing on the Pentax lenses, we photographed a test chart with areas of very high contrast.

We tested each lens with its aperture wide open using a Pentax K10D in Aperture Priority mode; the DA 18-55mm was tested at both 18 and 55mm. The crops are taken from the upper left corner of the chart and presented here at 100%.

The corner crops below look good for both the 40 and 70mm lenses, but upon closer inspection, the 70mm result can exhibit fringing in high contrast areas across the entire frame, and even in the middle. You can see an example of this in our Gallery.

Pentax DA 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 AL
Pentax DA 40mm f2.8 Limited
Pentax DA 70mm f2.4 Limited
Pentax 18-55mm fringe at 18mm f3.5
Pentax 18-55mm fringe at 55mm f5.6
Pentax 18-40mm fringe at 40mm f2.8
Pentax 18-70mm fringe at 70mm f2.4
DA 18-55mm at 18mm f3.5
DA 18-55mm at 55mm f5.6
DA 40mm at f2.8
DA 70mm at f2.4




Pentax DA 40 and 70mm lens macro comparison, tested with Pentax K10D

To measure macro performance we photographed a chart using settings which delivered the maximum possible reproduction. The dark lines are 10mm apart. Each lens was tested with the Pentax K10D at f8 in Aperture Priority mode.

The DA 18-55mm kit lens easily delivers the best result here, zoomed-into its longest 55mm focal length. The two Limited edition fixed focal length lenses are clearly not designed for high reproductions at close range, at least not without additional equipment.

Pentax DA 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 AL at 55mm
Pentax DA 40mm f2.8 Limited
Pentax DA 70mm f2.4 Limited
Pentax 18-55mm macro test
Pentax 40mm macro test
Pentax 70mm macro test
DA 18-55mm at 55mm f8
Max area of 66x44mm
  DA 40mm at f8
Max area of 184x124mm
  DA 70mm at f8
Max area of 194x130mm

Pentax DA 40 and 70mm lens results continued...

Outdoor / Resolution / Corner sharpness / Fringe and macro / Geometry / Vignetting
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