Photography Gear News

Currently Pentax has as many as four lenses with a focal length near 50 mm on its offer. We tested smc FA 50 mm f/1.4, and smc DA* 55 mm f/1.4 SDM models long ago. Now the time has come for the Pentax smc DA 50 mm f/1.8. Enjoy our review!

"Although the Pentax company doesn’t offer a full frame digital reflex camera they evidently have a soft spot for classic fixed-focus lenses with a focal length near 50 mm, which can be considered as standard instruments only on full frame; on an APS-C/DX sensor they can qualify as rather a casual portrait lens. Currently Pentax has as many as four such lenses on its offer: the oldest, full frame Pentax smc FA 50 mm f/1.4, an equally old Pentax smc D FA 50 mm f/2.8 Macro, the Pentax smc DA* 55 mm f/1.4 SDM, launched in 2008, and the newest one, the Pentax smc DA 50 mm f/1.8..."

"The Pentax-02 Standard Zoom 5-15mm f/2.8-4.5 is the 2nd kit lens offered for the Pentax Q. Its focal lenght range is equivalent to a 27.5-83mm lens in full format terms. Just like in our previous Pentax Q lens review we need to point out that the max. aperture sounds attractive regarding the light gathering characteristic but if we apply the system's "crop factor" (5.5x) the limited depth-of-field potential gets rather obvious (equivalent to "f/15.4-24.7"). So unless you move very close to your subject you will basically have to live with an infinite depth-of-field even at max. aperture. For many applications such as landscape photography this is just fine though."

As we’ve already happened to mention before, Pentax is the only company on the market which enlarges very consistently its line-up of fixed-focal lenses designed for small sensors. We have especially in mind wide angle lenses which other systems simply lack; Pentax offers you such models as, for instance: the Pentax smc DA 14 mm f/2.8,the Pentax smc DA 15 mm f/4 ED AL Limited or the Pentax smc DA 21 mm f/3.2 AL Limited. That last instrument exactly will be the main character of our test – enjoy your reading!

The Pentax SMC-DA 21mm f/3.2 AL Limited is one of three so-called pancakes lenses in the current Pentax lens lineup. As you can observe below pancake lenses are pretty tiny beings - the DA 21mm has a length of merely 25mm. The species used to be fairly rare but we are currently experiencing a revival on the various micro-systems like Micro-Four-Thirds and Samsung NX - small is beautiful again. Pancakes have advantages and disadvantages. They're obviously as small and light-weight as it gets. Optically they're masters of back light due to the low number of lens elements (and therefore surfaces) and they tend to produce comparatively evenly sharp images. On the downside they only have a moderately fast max. aperture and the peak performance tends to be a little lower compared to conventional lenses - the theory tells that the degree of correction increases the more elements you add to the design ... assuming you do it right (there're limits to this specifically in terms of production quality). The DA 21mm f/3.2 is a dedicated APS-C lens so it can only be used on Pentax DSLRs. Its field-of-view is equivalent to about 32mm (full format) so it can be regarded as a perfect for street photography - a classic sweet spot of the Pentax system.

The Pentax Q is the smallest interchangeable lens camera on the market. And, just like the company's famously diminutive Auto 110 SLR from the late 70's, it achieves this by embracing a smaller format than its peers. Being built around a 1/2.3" sensor, the Q is a fraction of the size of even the smallest existing mirrorless cameras and is the first really pocketable model (though the protruding lens still means that'll have to be the pocket of your jacket, rather than your shirt or trousers).

To make clear what the rather opaque 1/2.3" figure actually means, it equates to a surface area of around 28mm2. This is around 1/8th the size of the sensor used in Micro Four Thirds cameras and 1/13th the size of the the APS-C format sensor in Sony's NEX. The advantage of this is that the lenses for the Q mount can be made a lot smaller than those for other systems, but the downside is that the image quality is more likely to resemble that of a compact camera than a DSLR.

You can glean a lot about Pentax's approach to the Q from the lenses it has announced: a 49mm equivalent F1.9 prime lens for the enthusiasts but accompanied with a healthy dose of fun in the form of two fixed focal length 'toy' lenses (a wide-angle and a telephoto version, both sub-$100). On the fun side of things there will also be a fisheye lens or, at the more serious end, a 28-83mm equivalent standard zoom with a built-in shutter, allowing flash sync at any shutter speed.

Coupled with the 49mm equiv. prime or the standard zoom the Q, with its sturdy magnesium-alloy build, appears to be offering an alternative take on the photographers' compacts such as the Canon G12, Olympus XZ-1 and even the Ricoh GRD. However, the fact that it can take different lenses means that in a matter of seconds it can be converted into a fun little camera that should still offer a more satisfying shooting experience than a mobile phone and image processing app.

And the Q is no toy camera, despite its modest sensor size it boasts a magnesium alloy body with rubber front coating, a 460,000 dot LCD on the rear and raw output in the DNG format. Interestingly, Pentax bucks the recent trend of trying to attract point-and-shoot users by removing those intimidating buttons with all those mysterious symbols on them, and includes plenty of external controls....

The Pentax SMC-DA 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 ED AL [IF] WR is one of the kit lens options sold with the Pentax K-5 but it's now also available as a separate option. By today's standards its 7.5x zoom ratio is longer extreme - the Tamron 18-270mm VC PZD has a whopping 15x factor for instance - but it certainly follows a "one-size-fits-all" approach. In full format terms its field-of-view is equivalent to "28-200mm" so it covers everything from moderate moderate wide-angles to fairly long tele settings - combined with a moderate max. aperture. In Europe it sells for just around 600EUR whereas you can pick it up for less than 500US$ in the US ... which makes you wonder about the global pricing policy somehow. In any case it's a comparatively expensive offer - even the now discontinued Pentax SMC-DA 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 was quite a bit cheaper. Consequently our expectation were quite high prior of this test.

"Pentax K-01 Mirrorless CSC Review - The Pentax K-01 is the only mirrorless camera to accept the same lenses as the Pentax K mount Digital SLR series. Joshua Waller finds out how it performs in our full review."

"Pentax offers two different species of lenses for the Q system - mainstream and "toy" lenses. The Pentax 03 3.2mm f/5.6 Fisheye is the third mainstream lens if this classification can be applied to a Fisheye lens anyway. That said it shares a couple of aspects with the "toy" Q lens group - it has a fixed max. aperture and doesn't offer AF. We reckon that the comparatively "fast" max. aperture lifted it into the mainstream class here. A focal length of just 3.2mm will sound odd for most readers but this relates, of course, to the small sensor size of the Q system. In full format terms it is equivalent to a 17.6mm fisheye lens which also explains the comparatively moderate field of view of "just" 160 degress (vs 180 degrees on most other fisheye lenses)."

"The Pentax company hasn’t decided yet to launch digital cameras with a full frame detector and it is quite consequential in offering bodies with APS-C/DX format sensors. What’s more, their policy is professional and well thought out. The bodies are rather small and solid, often offering such possibilities which are non-existent in rival cameras offered at the same price point. If we add a series of limited lenses – small but solidly build – we get a system which differs noticeably from others, currently available on the market.
If you have a system based on a detector smaller than full frame you can offer lenses which are not so big but remain fast and very good optically. It is perhaps not easy but certainly possible as it was proven by testing say, Olympus lenses. Pentax has chosen a different way, giving its users lenses which are small but not exactly fast. If you develop a system based on “primes” it would be difficult to run away constantly from the necessity of offering a good standard lens as well which, in the case of Pentax, should have a focal length in the range of 30-35 mm.
At first glance we are spoilt for choice. You can start the list by the Pentax smc DA 35 mm f/2.4 AL, the youngest device on the market but offered for a good price and providing good image quality as well. It would be difficult to call it solidly build and fast, though. The build quality of the Pentax smc DA 35 mm f/2.8 Macro Limited is much better but that lens is even slower and certainly not cheap. Even several years ago you could buy the full frame Pentax smc FA 35 mm f/2 AL and the price tag was quite reasonable. After the launch of the Pentax smc DA 35 mm f/2.4 AL, though, these lenses started to disappear from the shelves and the price of new and second-hand specimens of that model raised very sharply.
The fastest lens which can be considered a standard is the Pentax smc FA 31 MM F/1.8 AL. It is quite an elderly construction, designed during the era when analogue photography reigned supreme. Still that lens is considered one of the best among system devices, being respected for its very good optical properties and a splendid build quality. We decided to check out whether such an opinion is truly deserved and the lens – as good as its users claim."

When digital cameras with sensors smaller than full frame appeared on the market they forced some changes in the offer of lenses as well. Plenty of instruments, designed for small detectors, have been launched ever since but, what is interesting, the majority of them were mainly zooms. If any fixed focal lens was launched it usually has been a standard device or an instrument with longer focal lengths. For example the Canon company has managed to produce just one “prime” for smaller sensors during last ten years – the EF-S 60 mm F/2.8 USM Macro. Not much better situation can be seen for Nikon where we are given just the equivalent of a standard lens, so the Nikkor AF-S 35 mm f/1.8 DX, a telephoto macro lens, the Nikkor AF-S DX Micro 85 mm f/3.5G ED VR or the Nikkor AF-S DX Micro40 mm f/2.8G, presented not so long ago. Sony can boast a better array but their offer concerns mainly a bottom of the range segment, of low price and very low mechanical quality. The independent producers don’t spoil us either – there are simply no wide angle “primes” designed for smaller sensors in their offers.

A nice change from that clichéd pattern gives us Pentax, though. A whole series of Limited class lenses (and not only), designed for smaller detectors, has appeared recently on the market. In fact, it is the only company which offers lenses with a really wide angle of view, the Pentax smc DA 15 mm f/4 ED AL Limited among others, which on an APS-C/DX sensor gives you an angle of almost 87 degrees. Exactly this model will be the main character of our newest test – enjoy your reading!

I hardly know where to begin. But, since I've gotten pretty good over the years at anticipating typical web reactions to new products, I guess I'll start by saying this isn't "the Pentax mirrorless." No. Get that idea out of your brain. What it is is a premium point-and-shoot. A wee mini-digicam. You know, like the Olympus XZ-1, the Panasonic LX-5, and the Canon S95.

But it is different. It's the first mini system digicam. It has interchangeable lenses.

The Pentax SMC DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL WR is a fairly unusual "kit" lens. Upon skin-deep inspection of its specifications it just delivers the usual focal-length- and aperture-range like its various counterparts beyond the Pentax world. However, it has a major differentiator marked by the "WR" in the lens name - it is "weather resistant" thus sealed against dust and humidity. This is something usually found in pricey professional grade lenses. From a product perspective it makes sense, of course, because it is primarily sold with the Pentax K-5 which is a weather resistant DSLR. This is certainly smarter than Canon's (EOS 7D) or Nikon's (D7000) approach - they have no weather sealed consumer grade lenses despite weather-sealed APS-C DSLRs. The DA 18-55mm AL WR is also sold separately for about 200EUR/250US$ so it is quite a bit more expensive than "usual" for such a lens. There's also a non-WR version, the Pentax SMC DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL II, to supply the budget market.

Pentax prime lenses have a fabulous reputation but especially their "Limited" series is more on the pricey side of life. There was e.g. no entry level 50mm lens which serves often as an entry path to the world of primes for interested beginners. Obviously Pentax also recognized this 'missing link' by introducing the Pentax SMC-DA 35mm f/2.4 AL. The max. aperture of f/2.4 is a bit unusual but in terms of field of view it resembles a classic 52mm standard lens. This is a similar approach like Sony's 35mm f/1.8 SAM DT for instance....