Pentax K-1 with D FA 24-70mm Full-size Sample Photos

Taking the D FA 24-70mm zoom for a spin

By PF Staff in Hands-On Tests on May 25, 2016

In this article we will take a look at K-1 images shot with the HD Pentax-D FA 24-70mm ED SDM WR zoom lens. The D FA 24-70mm zoom one of the two walk around zoom lenses from Pentax, the other one being the D FA 28-105mm.

Click a thumbnail to enlarge and browse. Links to the original files are provided below the photos.

35mm, F9.5, ISO 100 (from RAW) - JPG | DNG 70mm, F8, ISO 200 (from RAW) - JPG | DNG 70mm, F11, ISO 100 (from RAW) - JPG | DNG 24mm, F8, ISO 800 (from JPG) - JPG | DNG 70mm, F9.5, ISO 100 (from JPG) - JPG | DNG 70mm, F4, ISO 200 (from JPG) - JPG | DNG 70mm, F9.5, ISO 100 (from JPG) - JPG | DNG 33mm, F5.6, ISO 100 (from JPG) - JPG | DNG

The first image shows that the distortion coorection in Adobe camera raw isn't quite perfect. The in-camera correction is better (you can verify this by downloading the original JPG).

The Color Red

The K-1 likes red and the JPG engine emphasizes this. The custom image setting was Bright with no customization (click a thumbnail to enlarge and browse):

The lens performed admirably also in rendering this image. It is also evident that the development from RAW holds much more detail and the colors are more natural than what the K-1's JPG engine produces in the bright custom image setting. It is worth to note that the red channel easily overexposes.

Depth of Field

An advantage of the D FA 24-70mm zoom is its relativerly large maximum aperture of F2.8 which allows for a narrower depth of field than can be obstaned with slower lenses (click a thumbnail to enlarge and browse):

70mm, F16 70mm, F2.8

Verdict

The HD Pentax-D FA 24-70mm F2.8 is a versatile "walk around" lens with an excellent image quality. Being used to APS-C where 70mm has more reach we would have wished the lens would have extended further, to 105mm, say, but that would of course have increased its size and weight and perhaps image quality would have suffered.