Pentax smc FA 645 400mm f/5.6 ED IF Lens

What a cracking lens, so light and capable of producing very sharp shots. I love the fact that this combo doesn't weigh much different to the K1 with a grip and 300mm f4, also it is roughly a 300mm f4 in ff terms so is fast enough to use for nature in terms of light (with a 645 sensor) - bokeh is...

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  Light, sharp and with good all round qualities

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  Noisy AF, not fast not slow

An outstanding lens that is very sharp--and rugged. I was half way around the world doing two weeks of intense shooting when the lens fell front first four feet onto the floor of a bus. It smashed the UV filter and I thought it was done for.

I used this lens to shoot acrobats at night during practice. This is not my usual style of photography but I was impressed with how well I was able to acquire focus using this lens and a 645z at night, outside with a few LED lights. Image quality is good, very correctable chroma is visible.

I recently bought this lens from Forum member Snappy. I'd been watching for a 400mm to use as a hand-held birding lens on either my K-1 or KP. It works beautifully with both. See my recent K-1 thread post for image examples. Net, this lens is a perfect match for my needs and budget. I love it.

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  Very sharp, relatively compact & light

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  can exhibit CA in severe backlight

I'm a fan of the long lens. It's a craft of its own right so be prepared to study it's limits. Love the lens.

I knew about this lens for many years, but I never thought, that it could be one of my favorites!

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  Weight, sharpness, color rendering

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  CA's in some light conditions

I bought the lens two years ago from a friends in the blue forum. The intention was to get a similar view with the K1 as with the DA*300 at the K3 - without much more weight. I am absolutely not disappointed

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  Really sharp, even at F5.6, compact & light, fast AF, nice Bokeh

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  it is a Diva - like the FA77 (purple fringing, CAs)

I am not much of the type of photographer that would use this focal length very often, so this lens was picked up, played with, and past on fairly quickly for me. This was also my first high end lens, so maybe that skews my bias somewhat.

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  image quality, build quality

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  some CA, heavy, loud focusing

Had a deal on this lens from a Ricoh Imaging store and didn't hesitate buying for i was eager to use it for a trip in North Africa.

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  IQ, AF, Weight

The FA*400/5.6 was released in 1997, it was Pentax’s first and only auto-focus 400mm prime. The older manual-focus A400/5.6 was still available alongside the FA*400/5.6 up to 2004, when both were discontinued. They were Pentax’s last 400mm prime lenses.

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  Very sharp and great handling.

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  Looks a bit cheap and scratches easily.