Recently I picked up an F* 300/4.5 lens (with the monster tripod bracket and the unusual dedicated soft case for the lens and bracket).
At first I was concerned about the lens hood behavior. Extending the hood required unscrewing the hood a bit before pulling it out (and I figured that out quickly enough), but then the hood sort of seemed a bit "floppy", and just sort of "drooped" a few degrees. I was concerned about this, since I once had a Tokina AT-X 150-500/5.6 zoom that had to go back to the factory repair station in California to have the hood's felt lining replaced to cure such a "drooping hood" problem, and I was afraid that the new F* 300/4.5 might have the same problem and would require a similar cure. However, I then found out that I was not doing all that was necessary to extend the hood: After unscrewing the hood from its retracted position and then pulling it out, one is supposed to "keep unscrewing", which locks the hood into its extended position quite securely. With most of the Pentax telephotos (and big Tokina zooms) that I have used (e.g., M* and A* 300/4, K 200/2.5, A* 200/2.8), the hood simply slides in and out, with no locking provided (or necessary) when retracted or extended (although the A* 600/5.6 does have a knurled set screw for locking). So, I sort of expected the F* 300/4.5 to do the same as the others. Since I don't have much experience with the newer AF lenses with hoods, my question is this: Is the hood action in the F* 300/4.5 similar to the action with ~other~ F and FA lenses (the ones that have built-in hoods)? Or, if not, how do the other AF lenses with built-in hoods behave? I am still looking forward to more fully comparing the performance of the F* 300/4.5 with that of the M* and A* 300/4 lenses. Also, as a (much-criticized) critic of the "whirring" manual focus feel in some of the AF lenses, I do have to say that the AF/MF clutch in the F* 300/4.5 (as in the FA* 85/1.4) does make for some pretty nice manual focusing. Interestingly, there is still a ~very~ small amount of that "whirring" feel in the F* 300/4.5 (while it is absent altogether in the FA* 85/1.4), but it barely perceptible (and ~only~ felt at all when turning the focus ring rapidly), but this is still ~much~ less than in some of the AF lenses I have tried that lack the AF/MF clutch mechanism. But, as some have suggested, I guess I'm maybe just too picky about MF focus feel. (Yeah, right...) Fred - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
