Sample Images

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Make PENTAX Corporation Model PENTAX K10D ISO Speed 200 Focal Length 70.0mm Exposure Data: f/2.4 @ 1/1250s Size 3872x2592	Make PENTAX Corporation Model PENTAX K10D ISO Speed 200 Focal Length 70.0mm Exposure Data: f/2.4 @ 1/200s Size 2592x3872
Make PENTAX Corporation Model PENTAX K10D ISO Speed 200 Focal Length 70.0mm Exposure Data: f/2.4 @ 1/800s Size 3872x2592	Make PENTAX Corporation Model PENTAX K10D ISO Speed 200 Focal Length 70.0mm Exposure Data: f/2.4 @ 1/1000s Size 2304x3442
Make PENTAX Corporation Model PENTAX K10D ISO Speed 100 Focal Length 70.0mm Exposure Data: f/2.4 @ 1/1000s Size 3872x2592	Make PENTAX Corporation Model PENTAX K10D ISO Speed 100 Focal Length 70.0mm Exposure Data: f/8.0 @ 1/250s Size 2592x3872
Make PENTAX Corporation Model PENTAX K10D ISO Speed 100 Focal Length 70.0mm Exposure Data: f/2.4 @ 1/1000s Size 3872x2592

Verdict

The Pentax SMC DA 70mm f/2.4 Limited is an great lens with no really significant technical weakness. The resolution characteristic is generally excellent regardless of the (tested) aperture setting and the resolution distribution is much more harmonic compared to the SMC FA 77mm f/1.8 Limited although it sacrifices a tiny bit of peak performance. There's a bit of vignetting at f/2.4 but it's not extreme and negligible when stopping down a little. Neither distortions nor CAs are field-relevant. You may be able to spot some traces of purple fringing. An interesting aspect of a large aperture tele lens is quality of the bokeh (the out-of-focus blur). Similar to its alcoholic counterpart it is a matter of taste to some degree - I'd say it is very good but not excellent. Here and there some of the out-of-focus halos seem to be a bit hard edged. The degree of background/foreground blur is also a bit limited by the comparatively small max. aperture (for a moderate tele lens). Typical for all Pentax Limited lenses the build quality is excellent and it is a joy to use such a high quality lens in the field. The price (around 500€/US$) is quite fair in relation to what you get here. Now is it a "better" lens than the FA 77mm f/1.8 Limited ? I'd be hard pressed to provided a real guidance here. Technically the DA 70mm is a bit better (more even resolution, less purple fringing) whereas the FA 77mm has a slight edge regarding the bokeh due to its larger max. aperture. Fortunately the choice is yours and not mine ... :-) Optical Quality:     Mechanical Quality: Price/Performance: