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Pentax SMC DA 70mm f/2.4 Limited - Review / Lab Test |
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Lens Reviews -
Pentax
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Review by Klaus Schroiff, published May 2011
Special thanks to Richard Ducloux for providing this lens!
We already tested the lens a couple of years ago so most of the old review text has been reused.
Introduction
The Pentax SMC-DA 70mm f/2.4 Limited is one of the high quality but still affordable pancake lenses in the current Pentax lens lineup. Looking at its shape it is quite obvious why it is called a pancake lens - it just is as flat. Just like most current Pentax lenses it is a DA lenses with a reduced image circle dedicated to the APS-C format. Its field-of-view is equivalent to 105mm on full format cameras so combined with its relatively fast max. aperture it resides within the sweet spot of portrait photography.
The DA 70mm f/2.4 is a Limited lens - Pentax "limited" lenses are build to higher quality standards and the mechanical quality is indeed excellent thanks to a metal shell and tight tolerances. The tiny focus ring operates smoothly and slightly damped. As you can see below the lens extends slightly when focusing towards close focus distances. The screw-in metal hood (telescope-style) does almost double the size of the lens.
Typical for most Pentax lenses the DA 70mm f/2.4 has no internal AF motor and relies on a slotted drive screw operated by the camera. Consequently AF operations generate a moderate degree of noise. The AF speed is fast on the K5. Thanks to a "Quick-Shift Focus System" manual focusing is instantly possible once the AF has achieved focus - this works very well and noiselessly.
| Specifications |
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| Equiv. focal length | 105 mm (full format equivalent) |
| Equiv. aperture | f/3.6 (full format equivalent, in terms of depth-of-field) |
| Optical construction | 6 elements in 5 groups |
| Number of aperture blades | 9 |
| min. focus distance | 0.7 m (max. magnification ratio 1:8.3) |
| Dimensions | 63 x 26 mm |
| Weight | 130 g |
| Filter size | 49 mm (non-rotating) |
| Hood | screw-in type (supplied) | |
| Other features | - |
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