Customer Reviews

Pentax SMCP-FA 50mm f/1.4 Lens

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Despite the plastic outer skin, this is one excellent lens. Its f/1.4 maximum aperture combined with the clean high-ISO performance of Pentax digital SLR's allows you to get some amazing shots without the assistance of a flash, while stopped down a little you can get all the sharpness and detail you want. This lens also produces an amazingly smooth rendition of out-of-focus details (bokeh) which makes it a fabulous portrait lens. An alternative to this lens is the Pentax SMCP-FA 35mm f/2.0 which is closer to the normal perspective on a DSLR.

Honestly, this is the best lens you can get for the money. Sharp and clear with very smooth bokeh. Hands down it outperforms anything in this price range. Further, it is considered by many, including Photodo, to be superior to the equivalent lenses by Canon and Nikon.

In summary, if you have a Pentax, you need to own this lens.

Let me just say that theres a whole other pricepoint for pentax glass and gear than the big houses, just for reference, I'm coming from being a Nikon guy, my film kit got stolen, and so I'm getting into the digital scene fresh....I purchased a K10D, and have been sold ever since....now to the lens in question, the 50mm f/1.4 has been such an eye opening experience (pun?) I paid waaay under $200USD and got a ridiculously awesome prime lens, I had no idea that such quality could be had for such a low price.
Bokeh, I've seen the term used throughout various websites and reviews, and let say that I now know from experience what a creamy, smooth, out of focus backdrop, while your subject "pops" right off of the picture will do for your self esteem in photography. Absolutely lovely.....
Focus, is quick enough, yet I've found it hunts in low, or tricky light situtations....no biggie, if you need fast focusing, you're using another lens anyways.
I'm not going to get all technical on you, all I can say is that if you have been into Pentax for sometime, you already own this lens, if you're just geting into or are considering Pentax, please do, and make this prime a part of your kit.
Nuff' said.

For the price, this lens gives you amazing sharpness, super smooth bokeh, excellent colors, excellent contrast, and a really wide maximum aperture. It's definitely a lens that every Pentaxian should own.

Pros:
+ The obvious pro is the f/1.4 max aperture. This really comes in handy in low light situations.
+ One less obvious side effect of the f/1.4 aperture is a brighter viewfinder. A lot of newer photographers don't realize that the camera only closes down the iris when you take the photo. The rest of the time, the lens is wide open so faster lenses mean brighter viewfinders.
+ Amazingly sharp at smaller apertures.
+ Works on film and digital bodies.
+ Really smooth bokeh (out of focus area) once you stop down a little (about f/2.8 and up). This helps create photos where your subject really pops out because the background is blurred out so nicely. Some lenses can create harsh and distracting bokeh.
+ Very thin depth of field at f/1.4.
+ Excellent colors and contrast. I was surprised when I compared my kit lens photos to photos taken with the FA 50mm.

Cons:
- Pretty soft at f/1.4. This might be a desirable effect for portraits though.
- Autofocus is a bit slower than more modern Pentax lenses.
- The very thin depth of field and the general softness of the lens at f/1.4 can make it difficult to create pictures that look like they're in focus.


Compared to the DA 40mm f/2.8 pancake:
* The FA 50mm is bigger, but is still a pretty compact lens. The FA 50mm feels better because it gives you something to cradle when you're holding the camera.
* Both the DA 40mm and the FA 50mm produce excellent color contrast and sharpness, but I think I prefer the rendering of the FA 50mm.
* Both the DA 40mm and the FA 50mm work on film bodies. The DA 40mm doesn't have an aperture ring so it has to be used on a film body that can electronically set the aperture like on the digital bodies.
* The FA 50mm gives you a bit of extra room with f/1.4 vs. f/2.8.
* The DA 40mm auto-focuses a bit faster.

If you're deciding between the DA 40mm and the FA 50mm, I would suggest that you buy the FA 50mm. The DA 40mm is a fun lens to use, but the FA 50mm is a reliable workhorse.

I went to Egypt the first in May 2001 with my 35-80mm lens and I thought it would do well in the museums. How wrong I was. 98% of all the pictures I took in the museum were literally fuzzy - camera shake!! To add to my woes, I used low speed film. I went back this time armed with a Pentax standard 50mm F1.4 lens and iso800 films (flash not allowed). The result: everything, from the dimmest areas, was sharp with a good colour balance, except the effect of tungsten and flourescent light on pictures I developed back home - which can be completely eradicted when you develop your indoor pictures in Egypt since they know exactly how to develop such pictures). I was delighted with the lens. It even gave me good pictures in the tombs!

The only 'disadvantage', is that the lens is too sharp and therefore if you do not focus very carefully, u will get a lot of blur (not camera shake). Yet, a bit of practice will sort this out.

It is a rare lens and therefore a must have for people who need to take pictures indoors without FLAH! Unfortunately, I did not have the relevant indoor colour balance filters. They are necessary for indoor pictures to reduce that greenish and orange effect.

I recommend this lens!

You might think that having no zoom would be limiting - after having this lens, I think that having a maximum aperture of 3.5 is very possibly more limiting.

With that 1.4 aperture, you get about 4 times more light than you do with the kit lens - that means 4 times faster shutter speeds, and 4 proportionally sharper shots. Combine that with the image stabilization in the K100D and K10, and you have a really awesome low light shooter. You might want to get comfortable with manual focusing - any camera has difficulty focusing when there's not a lot of light, even if it has the ability to get a sharp picture.

The 1.4 aperture means a razor thin depth-of-field, which gives you the ability to very precisely choose what part of the picture is in focus. This is wonderful for portraits, which gives you a smooth, blurred, and distraction-free background, but you have to make sure you are aware of it if you are trying to get objects at varying distances to be in focus.

If it is an issue, though, just turn the dial on your camera over to Av(aperture priority) and you can turn the aperture up to 3.5 for a more normal shot, or down to 1.4 to get that artistically blurred background and super-fast shutter speeds.

This is the best lens to buy in addition to the kit lens, if you are looking to enhance your arsenal and photography skills. You will fall in love with photography, and insist on taking your camera everywhere with you. The fixed focal length will do a lot to hone your creative skills. Sometimes the perspective brings out awesome shots that would've been totally unremarkable at a wider view.

First, I must say this is a very high quality, prime lens. With all the virtues and the relative lack of flexibility you would expect from a fixed focal length. That is to say, extremely sharp, contrasty, very little chromatic aberration , negligible distortion and the most beautiful soft, buttery bokeh. It also exhibits a quite respectable build quality, so it should last at least for a while.

At 50mm, with a 1.5 crop factor, this lens becomes a 75mm equivalent in a full frame system which I consider just a little bit longer than a "normal" lens. In MY OWN personal taste, this would be a bit short for a portrait lens, as you would need to approach to close to your subject. At the same time, I consider it a bit long to be an effective "walk around" lens. For this same reason, it could be considered "versatile." As in most things in life, I feel "one size fits all" simply doesn't exist. I believe that's the reason why most professionals recommend to skip the "normal" lenses in favor of a wide and a tele.

With a prime lens, you need to actually move to compose. This, in my opinion, is a good thing as it further develops your photographic skills. Also people will think you are a pro, as you assume the most bizarre positions to capture that moment.

At the end of the day, this is a great first additions, specially if you are looking for a more "photographic" approach which made you look for something better than the safety of a kit lens. (And not murder your wallet at the same time). You also probably know by now that your gear is rarely the limitation to taking beautiful pictures. For all these reasons this is a highly recommended lens, proud deserver of five stars.

I couldn't be happier with my Pentax 50mm lens and the proof is in the photos. It's worth every cent.

For a very inexperienced photographer, this lens was a good purchase. I recommend getting a prime lens to force you to move when composing your shots. And this lens has such a great depth of field when wide open, you can get really creamy shots. I'm really happy with the performance as well. When shooting faces, everything was very sharp and looked really great. The construction knocks off 1 star. The aperture ring can shift a tiny bit so that the camera thinks it isn't on automatic. You have to twist the ring back over to get it to register. I only have to do this a couple of times, but it's worth noting. The autofocus can be finicky if you're trying to shoot in really low light.

**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.