Pentax 06 Tele Zoom Lens For Q Series Cameras

Introduction

The Pentax 06 Tele Zoom lens covers focal lengths between 15mm-45mm, equivalent to around 83mm-249mm in 35mm format. This Pentax Q-system lens features a maximum aperture of f/2.8 throughout its entire zoom range.

15mm f/5.6

Pentax 06 Tele Zoom Lens Overview:

• Two ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass elements and one super-low dispersion element.
• Built-in mechanical shutter that offers flash synchronisation right up to its fastest shutter speed.
• A built-in ND filter, which comes in handy when shooting with open aperture in bright locations.
• Incorporates 2 Extra-low Dispersion glass elements and one super-low dispersion glass element
• Extremely compact and lightweight (90gr) by design.
• Quick-Shift Focus system allows for instant switching to manual focus.
• Super Protect (SP) coating is applied to the front surface of the optics.

Build and features

Pentax Q-S1 with tele zoom

• The Pentax 06 15mm-45mm f/2.8 is the smallest tele-zoom in the world.
• It is built from plastics on a metal mount, and like all Q-system lenses it feels a bit toy-like.
• It has a smooth zoom ring and a locking position to collapse the lens to a smaller size for transportation.
• The manual focus ring sits on the front of the lens and is surprisingly accurate during operation.
• AF with the Pentax Q-S1 is on the slow side at the far end, although this is to be expected with a tele-zoom

Image Quality

15mm f/4

• Although the build on the Pentax 02 zoom lens is better, the Pentax 06 tele zoom does win when it come to image quality.
• Little or no distortion, CA and vignetting.
• Capable of making beautiful images with the Pentax Q-S1.
• Keep the limits of a compact camera system in mind  (no heavy cropping, no large prints)
• The Q-S1 camera does have in-body image stabilisation, but it is still quite difficult to get a clear shot at the far-end unless your subject is reasonable big.

Sharpness and distortion

• Distortion is minimal throughout the range and is easily corrected in-body (as jpeg) or in Lightroom for RAW captures.
• All Q-lenses have surpassingly little CA and vignetting.

Sharpness at 15mm

• The image corners are a bit soft at f/2.8 here, but the center is sharp.
• All this is relative, of course, as you shouldn’t expect the same degree of sharpness as APS-C or FF cameras when zooming in.
• It is sharpest corner-to-corner at f/4.
• Remember that diffraction sets in quite early in these small lenses, affecting overall sharpness starting from f/5.6.

Sharpness at 23mm

Same story at 23mm, sharpest at f/4 with a tiny amount of barrel distortion.

Sharpness at 45mm

• Sharpest at f/4 at 45mm
• Overall It is no problem shooting at f/2.8 with a tele-zoom as the center is sharp.
• Notice that there is no barrel distortion at all here.
• It is quite difficult locking-on to small subjects at 45mm, although advanced auto-focus features like object tracking still works with the Pentax Q-S1.

Conclusion

32mm f/4

The Pentax 06 Tele Zoom lens is bundled with the 02 standard zoom in the Pentax Q-S1 kit. Both are very useful lenses and offer excellent value-for-money when purchased together.

The Q-system is all about having fun with photography, but you’ll often be surprised with how good your images look. The 06 Tele Zoom will never be a Pro tele-zoom lens, but it is extremely pocketable and offers quality beyond what you’d expect of a lens this size.