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
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.
