After years of inactivity, Photodo has lately done more lens tests and here are some recent tests with the "new" HD Limited lenses of 70/2.4, 35/2.8 and 15/4:
http://www.photodo.com/topic_1126.html?page_num=0
http://www.photodo.com/topic_1127.html?page_num=0
http://www.photodo.com/topic_1128.html?page_num=0
Some high resolution full samples are also posted per test, the body used was a K-5IIs.
Btw, the new colour scheme and look of the lenses are really ugly! All the marks and scales are now in white "colour" only and the markings and fonts look cheap indeed, reflecting completely bad taste of the Ricoh guys!
Besides, DPR have published their first sample gallery for photos taken with the K-3 and mostly with a much better looking DA18-135 of the ex-Pentax. Just go figure yourself if you like the samples or not. Of course, for the sake of measurbation, full samples are always available at DPR. :-)
http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/reviewsamples/albums/pentax-k-3-samples-gallery
If you are impressed, just go buy the green ring Pentax lenses as far as they are still available of which a red ring variant with all white printings will replace them sooner or later, nonetheless! >:-(
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Saturday, November 16, 2013
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Comments by IntenseDebate
Recent Pentax Tests with Full Samples (HD Limiteds and K-3)
2013-11-16T15:06:00+08:00
RiceHigh
History|Image Quality|Issues|K-3|K-5II/s|Lenses|Pentax|Reviews|Ricoh|Samples|
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Bukaj · 591 weeks ago
Simon · 590 weeks ago
UMC · 590 weeks ago
BTW, I just looked up: My first Pentax from 1981 doesn´t say "Pentax" on the rear, it says "Ashai Optical". So what´s the difference to nowadays, when the front says "Pentax" and on the rear you can see "Ricoh"?
Dan Johnson · 590 weeks ago
Thanks for posting the tests Rice, evan though thear's little differance in the tests it reaffirms that my Pentax 100mm WR Macro I better for me than the 35mm, don't know why the HD Macro ain't got no focus limiter or why no HD has the new silent focus but I really expect to get WR without it taking a bite out of my wallet. I' m also willing to buy the slightly larger prime they could make giving us a brighter ((85mm, (55,50,45,35) and 24mm)) as well as a bright WR Zoom to compete with Sigma's 24-70mm f/2.0 HSM.
A7R kills k-3 · 590 weeks ago
Jean · 590 weeks ago
The only true comparison I saw was by someone on Pentaxforum where the HD version performed worse than the SMC.Why Ricoh does not invest in reducing the sample variation in lenses? and produce an FF camera with good colors out of its jpeg engine?
I would rather prefer having a kind of FF K5, and not the improvement of resolution we saw with the II/IIs (at the expense of colors) and now the K3.
By the way, with some friends, we tested the K3 vs K5 AF in normal light. May be a small improvement? not sure. Then compared with the Sony A7r: K3 seemed better. Then compared to 70D and Nikon Df. K3 was obviously much slower.
Dan Johnson · 590 weeks ago
Madaboutpix · 590 weeks ago
Nice to see the links to the tests, but these are actually tests performed by ePHOTOzine.com, reprinted without source aknowledgement (?), as is quite obvious from the final verdict badges. It must have been kind of depressing for you that the tests showed these lenses to be pretty solid performers, huh? ;)
A7R kills k-3 · 590 weeks ago
Pentax is a brand that had made some great glass in the past but currently they are a second tier producer at best with nothing of note to sell, Again what do you think the future holds for pentax in this very competitive market. Just looking at it with my eyes open.
A7R kills k-3 · 590 weeks ago
On the positive side those who remain will be in a more exclusive group as time passes.
TooClose · 590 weeks ago
Roy. Huang · 590 weeks ago