| Author: | | Loyal Site Supporter Registered: February, 2015 Location: Szárliget Posts: 398
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 14, 2023 | Recommended | Price: $800.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Excellent bild quality, mechanical masterpiece | | Cons: | hard to find, a little CA | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-1, Sony A7RIII, film cameras
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I bought it a couple of years ago, just because of its legendary history. What I must realise immediately when I held it in my hand: it is not a plastic miracle, made of glass and metal, more than half kg. However, after more than 30 years everything (focus, blende adjustment) working as intended, like a new one.
Optically it has a very similar construction to the Pentax K 1.2/50. Both are redesigned double Gaussian type lens, so we can expect an excellent optical performance.
It has incredible performance at least for me. I am using it on Pentax K-1 and Sony 7RIII, and old Pentax film cameras (KX, LX). In the centre area it overperforms the 36MP sensor, even the Sony 42MP too (perhaps the Rollei RPX 25 film can catch this lens, at 260 line/mm). It is sharp enough when totally open (1.4) while the best it is stopped down in between 2.0-5.6. The sharpness can be adjusted easily (on my LX prism there is a dioptric correction), on digital the magnification option helps a lot.
My copy has a little coma error at the corners, but I cannot identify another issue during the tests using the USAF pattern. A little CA visible in extremely harsh circumstances.
During everyday practice it is perfect for portrait, architecture, landscape even technical photos also. I think originally it is designed for portrait and really it is shining in this subject.
Disadvantage: if it is attached to thecamera, painful to remove it 😊.
Some examples are attached below:
   | | | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: December, 2020 Location: Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago Posts: 40
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 12, 2023 | Recommended | Price: $700.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Bokeh, Handling, Build Quality, Character, sharpness. | | Cons: | Haven't really found any yet | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 8
Camera Used: K-1
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Well, this was on my wishlist for a few years. I finally decided a few weeks ago that I would roll the dice on the cheapest one on ebay once again. This tactic has done me well so far. (Cheapest with no fungus, haze, etc) I have read only good things about this lens and have only good things to say. It ended up being much smaller and lighter than I had anticipated for starters. When I received the package I had a moment of panic and thought to myself, there must be some mistake! No mistake. This lens is small for what it offers! I took it to town one night and played around with lights and store fronts wide open. WOW! This lens delivers the goods!
Now, for the photos!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lordawesome/albums/72177720309724622 | | | | | amateur dirt farmer Registered: December, 2014 Location: probably out in a field somewhere... Posts: 41,659
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 1, 2023 | Recommended | Price: $700.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | clarity, bokeh, color rendition, sharpness, build quality | | Cons: | MFD is a bit long... | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 9
Camera Used: K-3, Fuji X-T4
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what a stunner of a lens - I used this lens for my Single In Challenge in June and could possibly do several more months with this lens....
my copy is a bit of a beater - missing paint in spots, cleaning marks on the front element, slow-reacting aperture blades....
but the glass is clean and sooooo capable!
the MFD is a bit long, but I use a macro-focusing helicoid adapter to solve that...
beyond that small hurdle, everything else this legendary lens brings to the table is excellent - color, clarity, bokeh, and is it sharp?!?!
some shots:
 ladybug by Pepperberry Farm, on Flickr
 black-eyed susans by Pepperberry Farm, on Flickr
 crossing Main by Pepperberry Farm, on Flickr
 cherry tomatoes by Pepperberry Farm, on Flickr
 fog with doe by Pepperberry Farm, on Flickr
| | | | | New Member Registered: September, 2016 Posts: 2
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 12, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $900.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | legendary item | | Cons: | rare item | | Sharpness: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K-1
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What can I say about this legendary lens? I do not use it for shooting so much (despite its great performance), it is difficult to manual focus on large apertures, but I take it from the shelf from time to time and cuddle it :-)
| | | | | | | Forum Member Registered: February, 2016 Location: Moab, Utah Posts: 90
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 5, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $2,000.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, pop, build | | Cons: | It'$ Rare | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 9
Camera Used: Sony a7siii
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This might be the pinnacle of ALL prime lenses. It's my best lens, and I have most Takumars and Pentax optical designs. If you're looking at an 85mm f1.4 lens, then you already know why, so I'll keep this short and sweet with what isn't already mentioned in other reviews. but what the What makes this better than most 85mm's?
- Supremely sharp and poppy image quality
- Depth of field is mostly in front of sharpness plane, making for MAXIMUM bokeh behind in-focus subject.
- Minimal focus breathing
| | | | | New Member Registered: September, 2012 Location: Belo Horizonte Posts: 17
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 23, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $1,700.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, very sharp I already said sharp? | | Cons: | A little CA when opened but if it goes from f2 | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 5
Camera Used: Canon 6d
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Lens incredibly sharp, creamy bokeh,
Easy handling,
For those who do not have problems with manual lenses, it is a great request,
Ideal in canon systems use EMF chip to adjust the back focus or front focus,
The best lens I have ever used for portraits,
E has already used Zeiss Planar T 85mm 1.4 (C / Y), canon 85mm 1.2L,
It's another lens level, one of the best Pentax standards.
 | | | | | New Member Registered: September, 2016 Posts: 3
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 4, 2017 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Flawless optics | | Cons: | None | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-30
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I got hold of a pretty worn copy, previously owned by a professional photographer I was told, at a good price. Optics in perfect condition but a bit abused externally and some resistance when focusing. Usable but in need of service.
I had a preconception that people who paid through their nose for rare legacy lenses would have an inherent bias when reviewing the lens in question, giving way too good grades in order to justify their purchase. Hence I suspected the ratings of the *85 to be inflated.
Having made a bit of a steal I considered myself immune to this and went out shooting with an open mind, expecting to find flaws. Well, there aren't any. Blows every other lens I tested away by good margin. It's noticeable sharper than the M 50mm f1.7 and the K 35mm f3.5, which I didn't think was possible. The perfectly fine M 100mm f2.8 is a muddle in comparison. It's usable, very good indeed, at f1.4 but with a somewhat soft glow added to high contrast areas. From f1.8 and onwards it's immaculate.
Only possible drawback I can think of is that it's a bit on the heavy side when you're used to shooting M-series and limited lenses.
Images +100% crops.
 
    | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: October, 2008 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 8,090
9 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 26, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $899.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, fast and great handling & build. | | Cons: | The lens hood is a bit big. | | Camera Used: Pentax film bodies (K1000, KM, KX, K2, K2DMD, ME, MX, LX, Super A/Program, P50, SF1n, Z-1p)
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The A*85/1.4 was released in 1984 and remained in production until 1989. It was a direct replacement for the M85/2. The Auto-Focus FA*85/1.4 came a few years later in 1992, to carry on the Pentax line of 85mm lenses.
Optics:
Stellar optics! The A*85/1.4 is sharp at every aperture I have tested it on and one of the best I have ever used.
Focal Length:
85mm has always been the traditional FF portrait/short telephoto option in lens manufactures lineups and these 85mm lenses were always faster than the 100mm - 120mm options. 85mm is also wide and versatile enough to be used for many other things like landscape work.
Build:
Superb! Built like a tank and on par with any older Takumar/K/M series lens I own. The A*85/1.4’s build is so far ahead of the next generation FA* series lenses that it’s embarrassing how cheap looking and plasticky Pentax elite lenses became in a matter of a few years. The A*85/1.4 weighs 5 grams more than the FA*85/1.4 and that lens has an extra glass element as well as the auto focus parts!
Usage/Handling:
The A*85/1.4 is a nicely sized “meaty” lens that is well balanced and beautiful to handle & focus. It’s narrower near the bottom, so the aperture ring is easy to find when looking through the viewfinder. Overall a perfect handling well designed manual focus lens, which feels more like one of my 6x7 lenses than a lot of my other 35mm format ones.
The A*85/1.4 has a 67mm filter ring and uses the rather large all metal screw-in MH-RA67 lens hood. This hood takes up more room in your camera bag than the A*85/1.4 does, so again this is more in line with a 6x7 lens. The MH-RA67 hood absolutely dwarfs the lens hood for the K85/1.8. The A*85/1.4 came with the HG-115E hard lens case and will also fit in the S90-100 soft case. Both lens cases are too small to fit the lens hood.
Speed:
F/1.4 is very fast and this, along with the FA*85/1.4, are the fastest telephoto lenses Pentax made. Perfect for all lighting conditions.
The A*85/1.4 vs my other 85mm portrait/short telephoto primes:
I also own the K85/1.8 and both lenses are well built, handle well and have a nice bokeh. The A*85/1.4 is faster and has better optics, so I would give it the nod overall. Both 85mm lenses are Pentax Classics and deserve a perfect 10 rating, but the A*85/1.4 is at an even higher “Pentax Hall of Fame” level. (I also have the FA77/1.8 and that lens would come in third overall)
Summary:
I also considered the FA*85/1.4, but I don’t like the ugly finish or looks of that lens or any of the newer third-party 85/1.4’s out there. I don’t own an AF camera, so auto-focus is not a plus for me and is more of a negative, as these AF lenses are usually lousy at manual focusing. Handling & build are just as important to me as optics, so the A*85/1.4 is a dream lens for me and one of my favourites. I can hardly wait to try it out in a studio setting!
Price:
I bought my A*85/1.4 on eBay and it’s in excellent + condition and came with the MH-RA67 hood and S80-120 soft lens case.
Sample shots taken with the A*85/1.4. Photos are medium resolution scans from original slides and negatives. First shot was taken in Rapa Nui, second in Vancouver, Canada.
Camera: LX Film: Fuji Provia 100F ISO: 100
Camera: SF1n Film: Kosmo Foto Mono ISO: 100
 | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: April, 2015 Location: USA Posts: 2,874
8 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 16, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $1,000.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | The Zeiss Killer!!!!! | | Cons: | None that I could find | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K1
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I'm a Zeiss guy. I've used most of the Zeiss ZK and ZF lenses on either my Nikon cameras or on my Pentax K1.
This is the first and only Pentax lens I've ever tried that I like better then the Zeiss equivalent lens.
I've owned two copies of the Zeiss ZF 85mm f/1.4 lens. This Pentax 85/1.4 beats this Zeiss 85/1.4 hand down from an IQ staindpoint.
I own two copies of one the best of the Zeiss lenses - the legendary Zeiss 100/2 lens. I'd say that this Pentax 85/1.4 has an IQ that is about equal to the Zeiss 100/2. The Pentax is lighter, but the Zeiss focuses closer.
This is an expensive and hard to find manual lens. It is truly spectacular with no serious faults. Wide open performance is amazing.
This is one of the very few lenses that I will keep for ever. | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: September, 2006 Location: Ames, Iowa Posts: 774
6 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 13, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $700.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | speed, sharpness, detail, bokeh, easy manual focus | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-01, K20D, K-3 ii, K-1 ii
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I acquired my copy used (along with several other great lenses) from a pro photographer who was retiring, and have used it mostly for concert shooting.
Honestly it is hard to put into words what a joy this thing is to use. I don't miss autofocus at all: between the tiny DOF at open aperture, and the long arc of the focus ring, it's easy to dial it in for one shot after another. And the results come back crisp, not what I would call clinically so, but artfully clear with smooth falloff to the out of focus areas.
For concert situations, I find that the A☆85 sometimes makes the customary long zoom unnecessary: the detail is good enough that you can confidently crop after the fact, and so treat it like an 85-150 or thereabouts. It's smaller and easier to handle than a long zoom in these situations too. Paired with any of the modern era Pentax DSLRs (or K-01) with focus peaking turned on and a loupe viewfinder attachment, it's a formidable manual focus rig.
The lens is competent wide open, then hits its stride when stopped down a little, with no particular sweet spot. Most commonly I have it set around f/2.
Davina, of Davina and the Vagabonds - K20D, A*85, f/2.2, 1/60 second, ISO 500
Gordon Lightfoot in concert at Stephens Auditorium - K-3 ii, A*85, f/2.2, 1/200 second, ISO 400
Copyright (c) 2016 Iowa State Center; used by permission
Highly recommended if you can find a copy. I'll stand by giving it 10s across the board including for value. This is one of a handful of models you see frequently mentioned in "best lenses ever designed" discussions. The famous FA77 Limited autofocus lens, which came later, is said to have been based on this design; but the A*85 retains a little more speed and might be a better fit if you are willing to indulge in its very smooth manual focus experience.
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: March, 2014 Location: 48599 Gronau Posts: 26 | | Review Date: July 25, 2015 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | colour rendering and contrast | | Cons: | too expensiev | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 5
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This lens is rare and you have to pay a lot, if you got the chance to buy one. The optical quality of the lens is top of the line, but i wonder, if there are cheeper options whith the same image quality. Sharpness and colour rendering is very good, as it is whith the Samyang 80 1.4 . Handling is very good, it is a Asahi Pentax! It is a lens made to last for decades. In APSC 85 mm is no longer a portrait format. I use the pentax and the Samyang for low light stage and concert photography. Mechanical the pentax is the better lens, but the output of the Samyang and the Pentax is not so different to me.
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: March, 2015 Posts: 41
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 21, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $1,000.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Very sharp also @1.4 - Build quality - fast lens - | | Cons: | Price | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: k30
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This lens it THE lens! It is absolutely a 10! The best lens I have ever had! It is build like a tank! It is a masterpiece of engineering!
The quality of the image is superb! Very sharb with an incredible bokeh!
If you have the opportunity to buy this lens take the chance you will not be disappointed!
| | | | | New Member Registered: August, 2011 Location: Brisbane Posts: 3
13 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 27, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $800.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | f1.4, 85mm, handling, IQ and anything else you want to throw in | | Cons: | See below | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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When I said see below about cons - I lied. Here is what people might say:
1. Size, Weight
2. Cost
3. NO AF
My answers are:
1. The best lens in the world is not going to weigh nothing and fit up your nose.
2. It is not going to be free either.
3. If you can't use MF you shouldn't be buying something this good.
| | | | | New Member Registered: December, 2009 Posts: 10
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 18, 2009 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Good quality | | Cons: | "massive" lens hood | |
I bought this lens for my LX, now it serves with my K 7. Impressive picture quality and a nice piece of enginneering!
| | | | | New Member Registered: October, 2008 Location: Paris Posts: 1
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 1, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $1,200.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | very fast and very good sharpness and bokeh at f: 1,4 | | Cons: | Some CA in highlighted conditions at f: 1,4 | |
On K10D it front focuses (maximum sharpness before green focus led shines) as many great aperture lenses.
Knowing that, the combination of great sharpness and bokeh at f: 1,4 is amazing and gives great 3D effects.
Sharpness seems almost as good at f:1,4 than beyond, it is just DOF that increases or bokeh that decreases.
Its weight is less heavy than a 135mm or 200mm , so it can be used easily at 100 iso at f:1,4 in low light conditions
I like 85mm because This lens is great for portrait but can be used in many other situation where magnification is appreciated
Some Chromatic Abberations in some highlighted conditions at f: 1,4.
It can be reduced by increasing the speed at f:1,4 (underexposure)
Stopped down at f:2 CA disapears too.
Price is given for a lens in perfect conditions
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