In the world of Pentax wildlife setups, there’s not a ton of options. Maybe that is putting it lightly. If you’re interested in long reach large aperture primes, the DA* 300mm lens is the only one less than thousands of dollars. Pairing it with the only modern teleconverter, the HD Pentax-DA 1.4x, makes it pretty much the defacto Pentax wildlife prime lens setup right now. And that’s exactly what I got.
Overview
The HD Pentax-DA 1.4x AW AF teleconverter is Pentax’s only currently produced teleconverter. However, if one looks to the past there are some previous AF teleconverters from Pentax and third-parties that work with some modern lenses. I am not as well versed into these converters, but they could be worth checking out if you’re on a tight budget. If you have the money, the HD DA 1.4x teleconverter is widely considered the best available anyway.
There’s not a lot to say about the build of the unit itself. It’s a teleconverter. Built well. Maybe a tad bit more compact than competing 1.4x converters. The AW in the name is for it’s all weather capabilities, maintaining the weather resistance of you Pentax WR lenses and bodies. I have not personally tested this, and don’t plan to, but if it’s anything like my Pentax K-3 and 18-135mm that I took out in the rain several times, it should hold up fine to moderate drizzle.
This is a DA lens, meaning it is designed for APS-C. I’ll cover a bit more down below about using it on a full-frame Pentax K-1 body, but just know it will work best on APS-C.
Optics
This is probably what most people care about. My first question when researching the HD Pentax-DA 1.4x teleconverter was how it would affect the image quality of my excellent DA* 300mm f4 lens. To summarize hours of reading threads and viewing sample pictures, there is almost no difference in optical quality when using the converter and it will give you an advantage over cropping. But how much an advantage? I’ll give you my personal opinion after using it for a few months now.
Autofocus
Autofocus with the DA* 300mm f4 and HD Pentax-DA 1.4x converter attached felt the same than without on the Pentax KP. It even feels snappier on far away subjects when there is enough light. Whenever the light dips or on closer subjects I get mixed results. Sometimes it was just the same, and often it lagged and jumped sporadically to the point that it was unreliable.
I can’t say for sure why this is the case. The decrease in aperture size could have something to do with inconsistencies in lower light. For subjects that are closer distance I am not sure about the cause of unreliable autofocus. In any case, my findings aren’t scientific. Overall I find it reliable for distance subjects in good light, and that’s the situation I bought the converter for.
Full-frame Compatibility
The HD Pentax-DA 1.4x converter is officially an APSC teleconverter. But it will work on the Pentax K-1 just fine in crop mode (16mp mode). It will also work in full-frame mode with some vignetting on the DA* 300mm f4. The vignetting is light enough that cropping it out will result in an image slightly larger than the 16mp crop mode. So, this could be a strategy a K-1 user could employ.
Side-by-side with and without converter examples
I was fortunate to have a very patient owl over the last few days to capture some side-by-side examples. These are with and without the teleconverter attached to the DA* 300mm F4 on the Pentax KP. Some are shot at very high ISO (12800) and haven’t received a full treatment of editing to alleviate that. ISO 12,800 is little beyond my usual comfort zone anyway. But these images still show the range difference and that similar quality can be had with or without.
Do you need this Teleconverter?
I wanted to take a second to share my experience in choosing to buy this converter, what I find it useful for, and what I do not. Perhaps this will help you if you are considering buying the Pentax-DA HD 1.4x converter.
With an APS-C body and the DA* 300mm f4 lens I sometimes felt I needed more reach. Cheaper than buying a 400mm+ prime lens was to simply buy this adapter and add it on. It works great for that, and I don’t regret it. But I do find I am using it less than I thought I would be. There are more times where it’s TOO much reach, and I think that’s important to think about. Here’s my use-cases so far (specific to me) and when I find the converter helpful.
Scenarios where the converter is handy:
- Small birds/animals. Think song birds, bunnies, etc.
- Open fields where birds may be seen from farther away.
Scenarios where the converter is too much:
- Larger birds/animals that you want to fit in the frame.
- If you want some more of the environment in the shot, especially with larger subjects.
- If shooting in dense forest where your line of sight is not very far to begin with.
- Shooting before/after sunrise. AF will suffer, and noise levels will go up.
Just sometime to think about. How often do you find yourself shooting small subjects and/or in open areas with a long line of sight? At least where I live, that’s the biggest issue for me. It’s flat and dense, so if you see a subject it’s almost always too close up for this converter unless it’s a small song bird.
Conclusion
The Pentax-DA HD 1.4x AW converter is excellent. On my DA* 300mm F4 lens it provides exceptional reach with no perceivable loss of image quality in regular testing. With the price becoming cheaper it is a great option (one of the few) to have a long reach prime wildlife lens on a Pentax body. I think the images speak for themselves. See those below.
Until next time, happy snappin’
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Sample Image Gallery
