Pentax SMCP-FA 50mm f/1.4 Lens
by Pentax
List Price:
Our Price: $349.95
You Save: $100.00 (22%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $315.00 (click here)
Category: Digital Camera
See more product details
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: PentaxModel: B00005ABC5
Color: One Color
Product features:
- Only 1.5 inches and 7.8 ounces
- 47 degree angle of view
- Fixed 50mm focal length
- Fully automatic diaphragm
- Lens construction of 6 elements in 5 groups
- AmazonBasics Lens Pen Cleaning System
- AmazonBasics Universal Camera Case for Digital Cameras HF (Black)
- AmazonBasics Camcorder/Camera Bag with Shoulder Strap (Black)
- Corel Photo & Video Pro X3 Bundle [Old Version]
- Adorama 49mm Rubber Lens Hood
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Pentax SMCP-FA 50mm f/1.4 Lens
Customer Review: Even after price increases, worth the purchase
Summary: 4 Stars
**Updating of original entry, which praised the lenses performance, but dinged the wacky price fluctuations up to $600+!**
PRICING:
Pentax bumped up the prices of their lenses around February 2009, changing the purchase of this lens from being a 'no-brainer' to at least something to be mildly mitigated. This specific lens enjoyed a 37% price increase. It remains one of Pentax's fastest existing production lenses.
AMAZON PRICING:
So hence the wacky part. By virtue of temporary scarcity and some weird vendor shenanigans, the primary (anchor) price of the lens was being listed for three times higher the bargain price, and roughly twice as much as the new elevated price. Pricing has stabilized albeit at the newly designated elevated schedule.
PERFORMANCE:
This lens still shines compared to its contemporaries. While not a macro, it provides reasonable close focal range, Autofocus is on par with what we've come to expect with Pentax lenses, and the colors are reasonably good. This lens does a good job at adding that extra dimension of "oomph" of contrast that your eyes don't capture at the time, although the mind blowing vibrancy of the 77mm Limited or 85mm 1.4 isn't there.
The lens is fast and does what you expect to accomplish with ambient light. It's also great for hand held shots. It's not razor sharp wide open with low light, but lends itself really well to portraiture as it softens the skin tone. In bright daylight however, the lens is respectably sharp.
BUILD
The lens is plastic and may fool you if you haven't used some of Pentax's other quality FA based lenses. It takes a 49mm filter and does not come with a hood. It feels fairly well built, but I wouldn't go dropping it any time soon. The lens cap stays on pretty well, but only without a filter. The focal ring is pretty narrow, but placed in a way that you don't have to search for it too much when manual focusing. It does not have a declutching mechanism built-in like the DA* lenses have, so you'll need to hit the MF switch on your camera body to easily focus.
FA vs DA (& DA* LENSES)
If you don't need weather-proofing of the DA* 55mm, and you're really price conscious; I'd recommend going with this lens.
This is an FA-type lens so it also has the manually selectable aperture ring on the lens, something the DA* 55mm 1.4 is missing. If Pentax ever releases that full frame camera we've all been dreaming about, you should consider whether or not the DA line will support sensors bigger than APS-C. The FA will work like a charm and is fairly flawlessly downwardly compatible with other Pentax bodies. The DA's have limited downward (and possibly upward) compatibility, depending on the sensor/negative size.
BOTTOM LINE: I still think this lens is worth it, as its alternatives still cost too much, or lack the feature set that this lens possesses. As of today (1/7/2010) this price is still reasonable for this caliber of lens performance.
Description of Pentax SMCP-FA 50mm f/1.4 Lens
The Pentax smc P-FA 50mm F1.4 lens provides an angle of view and perspective similar to the human eye. Its natural perspective of subjects makes it ideally suited for everyday use including indoor photography, traveling, and hiking. Like every Pentax lens, the smc P-FA 50mm F1.4 lens features our acclaimed smc multi-layer coating to lower surface reflection, reduce ultraviolet rays, and deliver clear, high-contrast images.The Pentax SMCP-FA 50mm f1.4 lens has a fully automatic diaphragm. At 1.5 inches long and weighing just 7.8 ounces, you can take this 50mm fixed focal length lens with you everywhere. You can use this lens with all Pentax SLR cameras, but the AF system only works with Pentax AF cameras.
Lenses
Digital Cameras & Photo Categories
Bestsellers in Lenses
Sigma 180mm f/ 3.5 EX IF HSM Macro Lens for Canon SLR CamerasSIGMA; Digital Camera
Price in other shops:
Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO Macro Super Lens for Pentax-AF CameraSigma Corporation; Digital Camera
Best price: $239.00
Price in other shops:
Sigma 300mm F2.8 EX APO HSM Lens for Pentax-AF CameraSIGMA; Digital Camera
Price in other shops:
Tamron AF28-200 f/ 3.8-5.6 Super II Macro Minolta Mount Lens (Silver)Tamron; Digital Camera
Price in other shops:
Tiffen 72mm Wide Angle Rubber Lens ShadeTiffen; Digital Camera
Price in other shops:
Pentax SCMP-FA, 100-300mm Autofocus Zoom LensPentax; Digital Camera
Price in other shops:
Pentax SMCP-FA 35-80mm Autofocus Zoom LensPentax; Digital Camera
Vivitar 75-300mm Manual Focus Zoom Lens for Pentax/ Ricoh CameraVivitar; Digital Camera
Price in other shops:
Vivitar 28-210mm Manual Focus Zoom Lens for Nikon CameraVivitar; Digital Camera
Best price: $325.00
Price in other shops:
Minolta Maxxum 24mm-85mm f3.5-4.5 Zoom LensKonica Minolta; Digital Camera
Best price: $399.00
Price in other shops:
Similar Digital Cameras & Photo Products
Pentax SMC DA* Series 50-135mm f/ 2.8 ED IF SDM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Pentax and Digital SLR CamerasPentax; Release date: 2007-08-15; Digital Camera
Best price: $1,469.99
Price in other shops:
Pentax Remote Control F for Pentax Digital CamerasPentax; Release date: 2011-10-21; Digital Camera
Price in other shops:
Pentax DA 55-300mm f/ 4-5.8 ED Lens for Pentax and Samsung Digital SLR CamerasPentax; Release date: 2008-05-21; Digital Camera
Best price: $429.00
Price in other shops:
Pentax 21977 DA 18-135mm f/ 3.5-5.6 ED AL (IF) DC WR Lens for Pentax Digital SLR camerasPentax; Digital Camera
Price in other shops:
IR Wireless Remote Control for PENTAX Q, PENTAX DSLR (645D, K-m, K-r, K-x, K-01, K-5, K-7, K10D, K20D, K100D, K110D, K200D, K2000) *ist (D, DL, DL2, DS, DS2) + Premium Goja Microfiber Cleaning ClothGoja; Digital Camera
Pentax D-Li90 Lithium Ion replacement battery (Retail Packaging)Pentax; Digital Camera
Best price: $43.94
Price in other shops:
49MM metal lens hood for Pentax & Takumar 35mm 50MM standard lensLS; Digital Camera
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tiffen 49mm UV Protection FilterTiffen; Digital Camera
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops:
Pentax K-5 16.3 MP Digital SLR with 3-Inch LCD (Black Body Only)Pentax; Digital Camera
Price in other shops:
Pentax 21987 DA 35mm f/ 2.4 AL Lens for Pentax Digital SLR camerasPentax; Digital Camera
Price in other shops: