Pentax 150-450mm f/4.55.6 ED DC AW HD

A powerful Pentax super-tele

Pentax designed this full-frame compatible lens when they only made APS-C format DSLRs. The decision has come good with the launch of Pentax’s full-frame DSLRs.

There are both auto and manual priority ‘Quick Shift’ modes, plus an AF preset facility and four customisable buttons. These can act as AF-on or AF-hold buttons, or select a previously stored focus distance.

Other attractions include a weathersealed construction, HD coatings and a ‘super protect’ coating on the front element. One SLD (Super Low Dispersion) element is fitted, along with three ED elements.

Performance

Based on a built-in DC motor, autofocus speed is a little pedestrian compared with other lenses on test. Sharpness drops off rather noticeably at the long end of the zoom range – a situation that isn’t helped by the lens’s reliance on in-camera stabilisation.