Pentax SMCP-FA 85mm f/1.4 (IF) 35mm Primes
Pentax SMCP-FA 85mm f/1.4 (IF) 35mm Primes
USER REVIEWS
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[Aug 13, 2003]
wau
Professional
Strength:
- sharp and contrasty images with this lens at all apertures
Weakness:
Nothing I would truly call a weakness, but AF could be faster/quieter, and a metal aperture ring would have topped off the build quality. This is a top quality lens that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a fast portrait length lens. The Pentax *FA lenses represent Pentax's high-end line, and this lens has certainly lived up to its billing. Optical quality - Other than being slightly soft wide open (which is fine for me anyways, as I use it for portraiture), this lens when stopped down to 2.8 or smaller produces tack sharp and contrasty photos. Colour rendition is good and quite neutral. Flare is well controlled (lens coating is one of Pentax's strengths), and the big lens hood also helps in this regard. There is barely noticeable light fall off wide open, which disappears quickly as you stop down. Bokeh with this lens is very nice and smooth, and makes for great out of focus areas for portraits. The quality of glass in this lens is top notch. Focusing - Manual focusing is easy and smooth. Autofocus is reasonably fast, but a tad noisy and can hunt in low light or with low contrast objects (AF isn't one of Pentax's strengths). I really like the manual focus / autofocus clutch mechanism, which is quick and intuitive - you pull the focus ring back to switch to manual mode, and push it forward to engage autofocus. Minimum focus distance of 3.3 feet is okay, but I sometimes wish that I could get closer. Handling - The lens is fairly heavy, but it fits well in my hand and has a very nice feel to it. The focus ring is a good size, and rubberized for a good grip. Internal focusing is also nice, as focus ring and lens barrel do not rotate during autofocus. Attaching or rotating filters when using the big lens hood, however, can be difficult. The super fast 1.4 aperture sure makes the lens a joy to handle in low light situations. Build quality - The construction of this lens is solid and of high quality. Other than the aperture ring being made of plastic, this all metal lens instills confidence. All in all, this lens has been my best addition to the equipment bag so far. Reasonably priced for a pro lens in this length. Highly recommended. Customer Service Haven't had to use yet. Similar Products Used: Pentax and Sigma lenses. |
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[Dec 20, 2000]
Gianfranco Irlanda
Professional
Strength:
Excellent optical performance;
Weakness:
Weight This is probably the best lens I've ever used (and I used lots of lenses!). The sharpness is superb. It is quite sharp even wide open. I love the way it renders the out-of-focus areas. It has a built quality that makes you think it will last forever. I also like the easy way to switch from AF to MF and viceversa simply by pulling or pushing the focusing ring (common to all the Pentax FA* lenses). It has only a little fault: when the hood is on it is almost impossible to remove the lens cap (but when you remove the cap from the lens you will hardly put it back on...) Similar Products Used: Pentax KM 100/2.8 |
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[Apr 06, 2001]
Wilson Chow
Casual
Strength:
Excellent optics, solid structure.
Weakness:
No I used this lens for a long time and never makes me disappointed about its optics performance whatever flare control, sharpness, colour reproduction. Customer Service No experience Similar Products Used: Pentax FA135/2.8 |
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[Jul 12, 2001]
Joon uhm
Professional
Strength:
very good wide open, very consistence optics, most compact inits class. Every system has their jewel. this is the lens what pentax owner and 35mm format user proud of.
Weakness:
if this lens has one the other competitors have more Why the hell my dream lens came from pentax. Customer Service none Similar Products Used: this is lens ranking for standard portrait lens I tried,tested and confirmed by the many other review |