PentaxHD DA AF 1.4x AW - Adaptador para objetivo fotográfico (Black, smc PENTAX-DA 12-24mmF4ED AL[IF] smc PENTAX-DA 16-50mmF2.8ED AL[IF] SDM)

I was really curious (and a little doubtful) that the teleconverter would work with my Pentax 55-300 PLM and not slow down focus and not add distortion or undue optical degradation.I do a lot of very low light animal photography. I cleanup the pictures for noise, and had no preconceived notions of how well the converter would work.The converter is sturdy, works wonderfully with the Pentax K3 Mark 3, and the 55-300PLM. The lens focuses just as fast and surely as before. There is no vignetting detectable. (I add some vignetting in post just to highlight the subject). The photos above are all low-light shots under very difficult conditions. The squirrel with belly presented was the only one in "reasonable" conditions. I frequently shoot at full 300mm and around f9.0 which is almost wide open at ISO 6400 - 25600. You do lose an f stop, as discussed in the documentation.The mount is solid, sure, and has no play or sign of weakness.This is a very good piece of gear to have at your disposal when you need that extra reach. I recommend it.Shortly I will do some testing on the Pentax 70-200 f2.8 and 150-450 f4.5/5.6 lenses.Highly recommended!

It absolutely saddens me to have to rate Pentax lower than awesome but other photographers have to be aware so they don't miss a shot. The quality and durability of Pentax continues to keep up with me and my bird photography in rain, wind, sleet, snow, hot, cold, whatever. My arsenal includes the K-3 and two WR lenses which have never performed badly until I linked them up to this TC.The 1st (and absolute awesome) lens wont even focus all together (smc PENTAX-DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 ED AL [IF] DC WR). But since the original plan was to extend the performance of my 2nd lens and maintain the WR integrity (HD PENTAX-DA 55-300mm F4-5.8 ED WR) it crushed me to finally come to terms with the TC's inability to perform at max focus. I tested the 300+TC combo using a monopod, tripod, shooting landscape and wildlife. And I even thought about firmware updates and that was taken care of. Some people had a better outcome with the TC so perhaps you may want to try it and return it if it doesn't perform. I did exactly that. Still loyal to Pentax quality and durability. Not sure what happened with this TC.Raised the evaluation from two stars to four because Pentax is a great brand and they apparently had the information published prior to my purchase and I missed it: Compatible (AF-enabled) lenses for HD PENTAX-DA AF REAR CONVERTER 1.4× AW•HD PENTAX-DA 55-300mm F4-5.8 ED WR - 3*3* Could be out of focus with phase matching AFWent shooting today without the TC and I miss the reach but AF is nice to have for birds in flight. I hope a future update can fix the problem.

This long awaited tele converter from Pentax is probably one of the best on the market. The loss of sharpness normally associated with the use of a TC is just not there. It is so sharp, that when I use it with my SMC Pentax-DA* 300mm f4 lens I have to look at the EXIF data in order to discern whether or not I used the TC. It is extremely well made, and designed so that the effective focal length of the lens+TC combination is reported to the camera. This allows the shake reduction to perform perfectly. It is not an inexpensive piece of glass, but in my opinion it is well worth the price to have a TC that retains the sharpness of the lens with which it is used. This TC also works well with my Sigma APO DG 150-500mm F5-6.3 OS HSM lens, although Sigma has not made the updates to their lenses to report the correct focal length for the shake reduction. I normally use the the Sigma OS when using this lens and have not noticed any difference with or without the TC.Contrary to what was published by another reviewer, this TC has the mechanical linkage for Pentax screw drive auto focus, as well as electrical contacts for Pentax and third party HSM/USM drive motor AF. The only caveat to this is that some older Pentax camera bodies do not have the PZ contacts that are used for USM/HSM AF motors. In these cases it will try to revert to screw drive. If the lens is not capable of screw drive, it will not AF with with this TC.

I wasn't too impressed with this with my old Sigma 170-500 lens, but paired with good Pentax glass, it shines. I setup the bird feeder in the backyard to do some testing with a new to me DFA 150-450mm lens, could barely tell the difference between with and without the converter.

I was really looking forward to using this with my 55-300mm as an alternative to the heavy Sigma I've been using for birds. The zoom lens does not have the option of manual focus. It's auto only. With the converter attached it, it hunts a lot, and it seems to make the lens noisy. The birds are frightened away before I can get a decent shot. I have not tried it with any other lens yet, though I intend to try it with the 50-135 as a butterfly lens. I expect that it would be worth the money if the subject was larger than a distant bird or the lens was used with manual focus. I'm sorry I bought it but will try to make the best of it.UPDATE: I changed my score to 4 stars. I attached it to my Tamron 90mm and the teleconvertor allowed autoexposure and autofocus! It was extremely nice to get that little bit of extra distance and still get a good macro shot. The butterflies and bugs didn't seem to mind the noisy hunting it did. I wouldn't have paid the money just for that, but since I have it, I'll use it and be happy.

I use the lens permanently attached to an f4 300mm lens . This makes the f4 into a 420mm f5.6 lens. OK, you need one extra stop, say 800ISO to 1600ISO........question is does the extra magnification outweigh the grain verses magnification??......You can take a photo at 300mm and enlarge the image, [I almost always crop anyway]. but its my opinion that the extra grain at moderate ISO's is better than enlarging the 300mm image. I always shoot at the lowest possible ISO, to minimise grain.My target is birds and wildlife.The auto focus is unreliable through vegetation, so I use manual focus.There is no apparent loss of definition or any other degradation. So with the Pentax lens at £900 and the converter £350, for £1,250 you get a superb 420mm lens from Pentax.....good.

I take a lot of wildlife pictures especially birds and felt that this might be a useful addition to my 150-500mm lens. It has so far produced good results, the only drawback being that if you are lucky enough to be quite close to the subject then Minimum focus can be tricky to achieve. That apart though I've taken some great photos over the last few months and it's not been OFF the lens more than once.

This converter is designed for Pentax APS-C cameras but can be used with full-frame. It allows all automatic functions to be used. The attached photos were taken with a K1-II camera body fitted with an HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm F4.5-5.6 ED DC AW telephoto lens at full magnification. The fourth photograph clearly shows the vignetting that occurs when used with a full-frame camera, but that can be cropped out. There is no vignetting with an APS-C camera. For me, the colour and clarity are good and I am pleased with the purchase.

This is in my opinion is a must have accessory for any Pentax user who needs that extra reach with their glass, whether it be for sports, wildlife or macro. Build quality is excellent and incorporates both SDM (silent focus) and old fashioned screw drive and as an added bonus its weather sealed as well (With appropriate lens and body) and it works well as I've used it in the pouring rain without any problems whatsoever, I was the one that suffered but that's a different story The only downside is a loss of one stop of light and focusing issues with lenses slower than F4.All in all worth every penny.Matt.

Used for bird photography e.g. kingfisher. Doesn't work well in low light conditions. This is using a Pentax K70 Camera and a HD Pentax DA 55-300 ED PLM WR RE. Found that the image was not really sharp in a lot of cases. For the price, I don't think it is quite worth it. For the light at this time of year (December), I would suggest just using a 300 lens and bracketing the subject.