Pentax SMCP-A 20mm f/2.8 35mm Primes
Pentax SMCP-A 20mm f/2.8 35mm Primes
USER REVIEWS
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[Mar 31, 2005]
stemked
Expert
Strength:
Very sharp even at f2.8. Fantastic manual feel.
Weakness:
Lens hood is rare and too expensive. 67mm filter a bit expensive. New lens is too expensive. A beautiful lens, much better than the 20mm M, I have personally never had flare or vigenetting issues with it, even with a polarizer. It is actually wider than the 20-35 f4. Lovely manual feel too. A jewel! Customer Service NR Similar Products Used: 20mm f4 M 20-35mm f4 FA |
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[Oct 28, 2003]
Jay Hart
Professional
Strength:
Build quality. Sharpness, color fidelity, on axis reasonable to focal length distortion. Images snappy. Easy to use and with information transfer to later Pentax bodies.
Weakness:
Some light fall-off wide open. Like all UWAs this is more apparent when using polarizers (not recommended by manufacturers for any UWAs, and not really often necessary in this range). You can pay too much for this length ($500 and up is too much, but less than the $7xx list). i have owned the Nikkor 20mm f4, and do own the Pentax M f4. This 20mm f2.8 A has to be used intelligently, on axis, and often while holding one's hand off and up from the lens to block being sunstruck. It is a very good lens, sharper than the Nikkor, and, at f 4 than the M series (same focal length). It is very good at f 2.8, certainly as good as the FA f2, which is an APO with great to the edges sharpness and distortion correction. As a 20mm then it excells, with good flare, distortion, and color correction. Sharpness improves at f 4, and is neck and neck with the others thereafter. If you can get it under $350 it is better than the 20-35mm fast zooms. Customer Service The Pentax national service center is second to none, and will give professional service priority if requested. This lens will probably last 60 years before needing relubrication and blade adjustment. Very high quality professional products in the Pentax line-up. Similar Products Used: Canon 20mm, Nikkor 20mm, Pentax M 20mm. |
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[Oct 14, 2003]
Casual
Strength:
Small and compact. Well built lens body which is made of metal, so a good combination with old bodies like LX. Distortion is good vs other similar lenses. Flare is in good control, but sometimes cannot be prevented for an ultra wide lens.
Weakness:
Most ultra wide angles have sharpness problem. This lens gives good image, but not crystal sharp image especially I have higher expectation on prime lens. Contrast is average. Vignetting is significant at F2.8, but once step down to F4, it become minimum. The overall building quality is much better than my friend's FA version. Even though both lenses have the same optical arrangement, but I found the colour saturation and flare control is better in FA version. Since it is rare to find A version nowadays, it is still worth keeping one. Customer Service No experience. Similar Products Used: Nikon Ais 20mm F2.8, AF 18mm F2.8. |
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[Oct 26, 2002]
adphoto
Intermediate
Strength:
flare control weight 67mm filter picture quality is awesome colour rendition especially at sunset or sunrise
Weakness:
contrast less than my tokina 17mm sharpness less than my tokina 17mm wow wow wow this is a great lens resistant to flare and distortion control is excellent pentax smc coatings are the best there is bar none ( nikon and canon cant beat them here) a little soft and lower in contrast but you can photoshop that. It is harder to remove flare Similar Products Used: tokina 19-35mm tokina 17mm |
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[Dec 20, 2001]
mierls
Expert
Strength:
Optics & build.
Weakness:
None. This is one of the sharpest lenses that I have ever used. It is a true jewel. Along with the 85mm 1.4 A*, it may be the best Pentax lens out there. In my opinion, superior to the Canon, and every bit as good as the Nikon offerings. Customer Service Not needed Similar Products Used: Canon, Nikon & Olympus 20mm''s |
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[Dec 05, 2001]
Mark Roberts
Expert
Strength:
Sharp, little distortion, flare-resistant, first-rate mechanical build.
Weakness:
Not cheap! Pentax still makes this manual focus lens even though they have an autofocus version (optically identical except for the number of blades in the diaphragm). The manual focus version is actually more expensive but the mechanical construction makes it worth it; just superb. I find I use manual focus most of the time with anything wider than 28mm anyway. This is a very sharp lens with beautiful color rendition. Just a joy to work with. Similar Products Used: Pentax 24mm f2.0 |
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[Aug 08, 2001]
Doug J. Stemke
Intermediate
Strength:
Well built, very sharp lenses even at f2.8. Compact. A lovely lens to manual focus
Weakness:
single focal length A real joy to own. I use it less however since I got the Pentax 20-35mm. Customer Service Never used on lens, but Pentax service is excellent Similar Products Used: Pentax 20-35mm |