Digital SLR Reviews Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Samsung Digital’

Pentax DA 55 300mm f 4 5 8 ED Lens for Pentax and Samsung Digital SLR Cameras

The versatile Pentax DA 55-300mm zoom lens offers a focal length equivalent of 82.5 to 450mm in the 35mm format, making it ideal for moderate to long sports and wildlife shots. The lens is outfitted with multiple ED glass elements, which are designed to minimize chromatic aberration and makes images look crisper and sharper than ever before. The Pentax Super Protective coating, meanwhile, protects the exposed lens elements against dirt and contamination. Other features include a focusing ring that permits easy manual focusing, a 4.6-foot close focusing distance, and a 58mm filter diameter. Specially adapted for high-quality Pentax and Samsung digital SLR cameras, the lens carries a one-year warranty.

Specifications

• Focal length: 55-300mm
• Maximum aperture: f/4 to 5.8
• Minimum aperture: f/22 to 32
• Lens construction: 12 elements in 8 groups
• Angle of view: 29 to 5.4 degrees (when used with Pentax digital SLR camera body)
• Number of diaphragm blades: 6
• Minimum focusing distance: 4.6 feet
• Maximum magnification: 0.28x
• Filter diameter: 58mm
• Diaphragm control: Fully automatic
• Hood: PH-RBG 58mm
• Objective cap: O-LC58
• Case: S80-160
• Corresponding AF mounts: Pentax and Samsung
• Dimensions: 2.8 inches in diameter and 4.4 inches long
• Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Warranty: 1 year

User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars Bad copies, beware!
I received two bad copies of this lens ordering from Amazon. The first wouldn’t focus even in bright light/high contrast; it would sit there seeking forever and decide on a very blurry shot. This wouldn’t have been so bad, but the manual focus ring is pretty touchy, especially when at 300mm. Additionally, it appeared that the left half of the image was out of focus and the right half was in focus when taking faraway shots.

I returned the lens to Amazon for another copy – Amazon gets five stars for its awesome exchange policy! – and this new copy didn’t have the autofocus problems, but all my pictures were blurry regardless of the aperture. To make sure I wasn’t going insane or just being a poor photographer, I tested out a copy at a local photo store and found the images to be sharp and crisp like all the other reviewers here. So, buyer beware, it looks like there’s a bad batch out there somewhere.

4 Stars Great value zoom
This lens is a really great deal and unless you are going to pay waaay more, picking up this lens is a no brainer. The reason I only give it 4 stars is that while the IQ is excellent, it’s still not on par with the DA* lenses. It takes excellent pictures but they just lack that POP that the DA* and other top end lenses give you but it is a very sharp lens which makes post processing that much easier.

Ideally, I would like a DA* 50-135 and a DA* 300 to cover the similar range but that would run close to 2K. So all in all I am very happy with this little lens.

5 Stars Pentax Lens
This lens meets all my expectations, I have used it several times with complete satisfaction.

4 Stars a great performer
I have had this lens for about a month now. First the good things: This lens is surprisingly sharp from 55mm all the way through 300mm and there is not much difference in sharpness between widely open and close down aperture. The weight is just about right and focusing speed is ok for me. But, my lens has very strong chromatic abberation when it is widely open, all through the zoom range. The color (blue) fringe is pretty (excuse me for not being scientifically accurate) wide. In a test shot, the black characters (on a white background) became all blue at the short end of the lens at f4 and f5.6. I did not bother to return my lens for service or exchange, because it is so sharp and I can avoid most of the chromatic abberation by not shooting high contrast subjects. At about 350 dollars, this lens is not at all a bargain as somebody has suggested. But it performs much better than many other lens in this league.

5 Stars Pentax DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Lens
This is a fine zoom lens. I especially enjoy taking pictures of low flying planes with it.

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Pentax DA 18 250mm f 3 5 6 3 ED AL IF Lens for Pentax and Samsung Digital SLR Cameras

What a range! The smc PENTAX DA 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 ED AL [IF] interchangeable zoom lens, designed for exclusive use with PENTAX digital SLR cameras, will provide just about all the coverage you’ll need. With an approximate 14X zoom ratio covering from wide-angle to super-telephoto ranges, this versatile lens handles a great variety of applications from wide-angle landscapes to close-up sporting events and wildlife photography.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Good quality lens
It pretty close to what it is advertised to be. Not good for low light. under bright natural or artificial lights it works great.

5 Stars Terrific lens for the money
It seems that one has to find out which are the outstanding Pentax lenses by reading a lot, and by trial and error. Price is no guide, as with this lens which sells for about half the price of the equivalent Nikon lens. It is an outstanding lens, and even at 250mm (that’s 375mm in 24×36 lingo!), with Pentax’s superb anti-shake mechanism, it is very useful.

An extraordinarily impressive and useful lens. As always, the drawback of these zooms is their lack of speed. f/6.3 is the maximum aperture at 250mm, but if it were any faster, the lens would be enormous. I use two “prime” lenses for speed — 50mm f/1.4 (one of the GREAT buys out there) and my trusty old 85mm f/1.8. Those two, plus a 16-45mm Pentax zoom, and this zoom, cover just about everything. I just wish Pentax would stop improving the camera body about every twenty minutes.

5 Stars Fantastic Walk Around Lens
This Pentax version of the Tamron original does JUST what I wanted it for at a very reasonable price. When I go on trips or outings, I want to carry very little. This more than adequately replaces my previous down-sized kit of an 18-55 and a 50-200. Not only is one lens much lighter than two, it takes considerably less space and provides me fewer opportunities to introduce dust into the camera body while I change lenses. On top of that, it produces sharp pictures with minimal CA.

What it’s not:

Fast. Making this range of zoom fast would require lots more glass (bigger and heavier) and even more cash.

A real macro lens. It doesn’t compete with my FA 100 2.8. This too is a heavy lens and I don’t usually take it on trips.

A real telephoto lens. A 300 and up would be truly heavy and require mounting on a tripod (still more weight).

An ultra-wide ange lens. At its widest it’s the equivalent of a 28.

What it is is a lens I can rely on to capture the picture in almost any situation without having to resort to extensive post-processing work,

5 Stars The best option!
The best option for people like me, who wants to take good pictures but are a little lazy to carry a big bag of accessories every time you go out.

Good photos in all range, good build and love the “lock” key… perfect!

BTW, Pentax rules!

5 Stars Anateur/Enthusiast Photographer
Don’t let anyone tell you anything about the negative side of this DA 18-250mm zoom lens. It is a little darling gadget in exploring good photography. Amateur and enthusiast would just love to have one in his bag. Its focal length is tremendous. You can zoom back and fore with one touch. I was laboriously using two lenses (18-55mm and 50-200mm) in the past; now I just carry one with my camera inseparably. Best of all, it has a tiny lock switch on the barrel to prevent extending out when you carry your equipment up-side-down. Otherwise, you probably have to use a suspender to hold it back.

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Pentax AF 360 FGZ Flash for Pentax and Samsung Digital SLR Cameras w case

The PENTAX AF360FGZ auto flash unit features a large guide number of 30 (at ISO100/m), which allows for effective flash photography over a lengthy distance. This clip-on, bounce auto-zoom flash includes a variety of advanced flash features, such as P-TTL auto flash, high-speed synchronization and wireless P-TTL auto flash, when mounted on a PENTAX digital SLR camera. Zoom Head – 24-85mm (flash automatically senses focal length) Flash sync mode – Leading-shutter-curtain sync, Trailing-curtain-sync, Contrast-control-sync, High-speed-sync, modeling flash, Wireless flash Power Source – Four AA size batteries (alkaline, lithium, Ni-Cd, NiMh) Dimensions W x H x D – 2.8 x 4.3 x 4.5 inches (70 x 110 x 115.5mm) Weight – 9.6 oz. (270g)

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Excellent Product
Perfect addition to my K100D

It uses less battery life than the camera when in a pinch, I’ve been able to switch out the batteries to increase my camera’s life while still being able to use the flash.

2 Stars Mechanical Quality Stops At the Surface
If I could, I RATE THIS PRODUCT 2.5 Stars.

I agree with an earlier review in that this Pentax flash unit is mechanically very disappointing and certainly not worthy of the Pentax name. In no way does this product represent the Japanese Quality and Solid Designs of the 80’s that we have all become sentimental about. With this flash unit, Pentax has taken the low road to profit in place of working towards brand loyalty by producing a quality product, and making sure their dealers stand behind the product without sniveling.

The Pentax flash I received was assembled in the Philippines and judging from the rough mold quality of the battery door and surround plastics used to secure the battery door are reminiscent of parts that come from a place with little QA. With the flash unit I have, when all four AA batteries are out, the battery door is difficult to open. With all four batteries in place, the battery door is easily knocked ajar, leaving a 1.5-2 mm gap at the top of the battery door. From this slight open position, the battery door can and does with little force, pop open letting the batteries to spill out. I had the flash in my hands for just 3-4 minutes before that event happened and when I need my flash the last thing I want happening is for the batteries to fall out into my camera bag or on to the floor.

If you are right handed like myself, because of the natural area where a person tends to grab the flash, to release the flash head position lock button, by default causes the battery cover on my flash unit to pop partially open. Only once in 3 attempts was I able to till the flash head without disturbing the placement of the battery compartment cover and knocking the cover partially open. I have been using flashes of this similar design and nature since the old Vivatar 283 days of the late 70’s and never have I seen a case where the act of tilling a flash head could cause a battery compartment to open.

The second area of concern is the flash shoe. Like another review stated the shoe uses a small metal pin to help keep the locking mechanism align while the user moves the compression collar. The compression collar on my shoe is not well registered mechanically. I can see this device failing and perhaps cracking in the field.

Also the flash unit, with hot shoe locking collar released, fits much too tightly in the camera hot shoe. For this reason, the flash unit is difficult to remove from the K20D hot shoe and always requires close attention during the process as I need to use both hands, one placed near the flash hot shoe, and one placed near the camera hot shoe. Then I have to wiggle the flash unit back and forth till I unseat the flash.

If not, I get the impression that over torquing during this process could lead to serious mechanical damage to both the flash unit and camera body. I’m use to using just one hand to perform this task, of seating and unseating a flash unit atop a prism housing, and this is the most difficult flash unit I have ever mounted.

In fairness, I thought I should make sure that the mounting issue was with this Pentax flash, so I tried to see how a backup Vivatar 2000 flash unit would sit on the K20D camera hot shoe, and I was able to seat and unseat the Vivatar flash on the camera hot shoe with a single hand. Hence the fitting (mechanical tolerance) issue rest with the Pentax flash itself. From feel, I estimate the Pentax flash hot shoe pad to be about 0.005″ of an inch too think.

Today, all of my photo shooting is done for fun, but that does not preclude my desire to still use and operate equipment that is reliable and robust enough that I can operate in the field and not be overly concerned about the state of my equipment or if the equipment will even survive little more than casual use. From what I have seen of the Pentax 360 Flash, makes me wonder if an investment in other Pentax gear is such a wise move. If Pentax is incapable of doing the very basic mechanical functions well like keeping a simple battery cover closed tight, then how can they be trusted to be any better with the more complex tasks?

From this product if not already, Pentax needs to initiate a Technical Lessons Learned (TTL) database, so this sort of fiasco in elementary mechanical design does not surface in a future product.

This sight unseen purchase, should I return the item will costing me $35 dollars for a 180 dollar sale. Beach Camera wants to charge a 10% restocking fee to take what I see as an inherent design and manufacturing flaw plus cost to return ship. Maybe, Beach Camera should not sell what they are not willing to stand behind, or they would take a defective product return without conditions. Also, why would you need to restock a defective item? Because of their return policy towards Amazon customers and the fact that they are not open on Saturday, I give a neutral recommendation for Beach Camera.

Minus one star for battery door design, function & quality of parts used.

Minus half star for hot shoe design & material selection.

Minus half star for casual use & field reliability.

4 Stars Nice flash.
Easy to use. Fast enough recharge. Affordable. Able to go wireless.

2 things. While I haven’t used the 540, I’d probably buy it over this one due to the lack of swivel alone. If you don’t find yourself taking portrait oriented photos in low light, its not an issue at all though.

also, i find turning the autozoom off in most low light situations. set to around 50mm, and keep the pttl on, makes a huge difference.

5 Stars Great product
Perfect product to carry with you! Low weigh and very compact, ideal for parties and other uses that you don’t want to carry a big accessory bag!

Plus: Very economic for the batteries!

5 Stars It’s a Fair product for the price
It have done all was it have promise, is well built and perform very good also it have a reachable price. I recommended a lot for any Pentax camera it also give great results with my Lumix LX3 of camera flash, tough it took a wile to make it work.

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