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SMC Pentax-FA 50mm F2.8 Macro
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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Average Rating
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100% of reviewers
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$276.15
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9.5
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supersize
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Description:
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This macro lens features 1:1 magnification.
| Weight | Length | Filter Diameter | Min. Focus | Max. Magnification | | 385 g | 7 cm | 52 mm | 19 cm | 1.0x | | Diagonal FOV (APS-C) | Horizontal FOV (APS-C) | Max. Aperture | Min. Aperture | Optical Construction | | 32 degrees | 27 degrees | f/2.8 | f/32 | 8 elements, 7 groups, 8 blades | | Diagonal FOV (24x36) | Horizontal FOV (24x36) | | | | | 47 degrees | 40 degrees | | | |
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Author
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Adam
Administrator
Site Webmaster
Registered: September 2006
Location: New York
Posts: 5325
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Richard Day
Pentaxian
Registered: February 2007
Location: Gloucester UK
Posts: 440
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Review Date: Thu May 10, 2007
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Would you recommend the lens? Yes |
How much did it cost? (U.S. Dollars): $280.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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The sharpest lens, great IQ & zero distortion, Perfecto!
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Cons:
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Very close to objects at 1:1
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My favourite prime. Sharper and better overall IQ than a D-FA 50 f2.8 I've tested. Also excellent for portraits.
Very small objects at 1:1 macro means you are very close, a 100mm is better in this respect, but the 100 is not quite so sharp or distortion free. Ideally have both!
If I had to get rid of all my lenses, this would be the second to last to go, the last would be the DA 16-45 (as of May '07).
Bought s/h in 2004 for £155.
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jslifoaw
Pentaxian
Registered: April 2007
Location: Waterloo/Toronto/Victoria
Posts: 219
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Review Date: Thu August 2, 2007
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Would you recommend the lens? Yes |
How much did it cost? (U.S. Dollars): $300.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp, solid, life-size mag
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Cons:
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Somewhat heavy, flimsy clamp switch
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Technically probably the best lens I own. Not much more to say. Use it at F/2.8 or F/11 as desired. Use it at 1:1 or infinity as desired.
The clamp switch is quite unstable at the clamp setting, but OK when turned off.
It is also quite large compared to most normal lenses, but it better at all common apertures. It also focuses surprisingly quickly, even in low light perhaps due to the level of contrast wide open.
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kathyk
Pentaxian
Registered: February 2007
Location: Michigan/USA
Posts: 131
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Review Date: Mon September 17, 2007
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Would you recommend the lens? Yes |
How much did it cost? (U.S. Dollars): $300.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp, precise, smooth bokeh, sturdy/built well.
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Cons:
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No negs.
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This is such an excellent macro lens. Extremely sharp. Focus ring is a little 'blah' to use, but otherwise nothing negative I can say about the FA 50/2.8.
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YarPcola
Junior Member
Registered: January 2008
Location: Florida gulf coast
Posts: 42
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Review Date: Wed February 13, 2008
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Would you recommend the lens? Yes |
How much did it cost? (U.S. Dollars): None indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sturdy and sharp
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Cons:
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Heavy
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I have both this and the 50 1.4 FA. At f/2.8 the 1.4 is sharper than the macro, but that's to be expected since the macro is wide-open. At f/4.0 the macro passes the 1.4 very slightly, especially at the corners. Wide open the macro seems to have quite a bit of light fall-off, but it pretty well disappears by F/4.0.
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Pentaxke
Pentaxian
Registered: October 2006
Location: Belgium
Posts: 327
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Review Date: Mon February 18, 2008
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Would you recommend the lens? Yes |
How much did it cost? (U.S. Dollars): $125.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharpest lens I've ever had and probably Pentax' best ever...
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Cons:
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No manual override in AF
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I bought this in a second hand store, two years ago, when Pentax was a unpopular brand. The lens was in mint condition. As the price was rediculous, I didn't hesitate one moment, and bought it in seconds flat. The lens sat back in a drawer untill on one occasion I went for a hike with some friends. That day, I think I only used this one and was impressed by both the quality and versatility of it.
Overnight it became my second most used lens ever (the DA 16-45 standing firm first  ...)
First off, as a 50mm, this is not the most compact lens, nor is it a light weight, but it feels comfortable, and the extra weight makes it easy to shoot at lower shutter speed. The rubber grip of the focus ring is comfortable, if a little too short for manual focus, but once you get used of that, there's hardly any drawback in use...
I would have liked this lens to have a little better DOF indication, and while I'm at it, I would also have loved it to have a manual override in AF (but then again, that was introduced only years later with the first DA lens.)
If you think you cannot use this lens for insects, think again, it's only a matter of knowing how to approach an insect, and if you cannot approach an insect up to 20 cm (the closest focusing distance), will you be able to approach it up to 31 cm (closest distance of the 100 macro.) Anyway, I have made some nice insect photo's with this lens...
As for the optical performance: like I said, still have to encounter another lens which is as good (and I have had lots of them, including Zuiko's and Zeiss's and even two limiteds.)
So, for €89,- it was a bargain, but I would not hesitate one second to pay five times that price...
Here are some sample shots made with it:
Used with a bellows:
 Click on the image to view it in a larger size
Used in combination with the AF 1,7x adapter (excellent combination btw!)
 Click on the image to view it in a larger size
Used alone:
 Click on the image to view it in a larger size |
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johngios
New Member
Registered: February 2008
Location: sydney,australia
Posts: 4
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Review Date: Sat March 15, 2008
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Would you recommend the lens? Yes |
How much did it cost? (U.S. Dollars): $400.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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very sharp , beautifully smooth image of subject .
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Cons:
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occasional AF hunting .
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A wondrefully sharp lens at all distances . I use it also as a portrait lens on digitaland, seems to render skintones and faces superbly. Absolutely flat FOV when used for copying documents or artwork. Works beautifully on both film and digital
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JohnMcD
New Member
Registered: March 2008
Location: England
Posts: 7
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Review Date: Fri March 28, 2008
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Would you recommend the lens? Yes |
How much did it cost? (U.S. Dollars): $200.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sharpness, versattility, brilliant macro
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Cons:
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a bit chunky and slow to focus
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This lens and the FA50 F1.4 slug it out to sit on my DS. Very very sharp. I tried it on a K20 the other day and the resolution was amazing. Auto focus on DS is a bit slow but normally very accurate in macro mode, doesn't focus so well at distance on the DS. The only reason I didn't give it 10 was there might be something better some day but I wouldn't hold my breath.
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kelleri
New Member
Registered: April 2008
Location: France-Switzerland
Posts: 11
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Review Date: Wed May 21, 2008
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Would you recommend the lens? Yes |
How much did it cost? (U.S. Dollars): $300.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Image quality, build
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Cons:
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discontinued
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I have always being fond on all 50mm lenses, and having collected quite a few over the years, I can assure you this one is the very best one, for my use (landscape and macro on digital and film bodies), and image quality wise as well.
Very sharp right from f2.8 on, the micro contrast still increases at f4 and overall image quality is supreme at f5.6.
So there is no hype here, it's reputation is fully deserved.
What I like:
-Build quality, the best among the Pentax 50mm autofocus lenses.
-Size, not small for a 50mm, but right this accounts for excellent handling IMO, and the recessed front element is so nicely protected from damage and stray light
-Autofocus is precise with my K10D and MZ-S as well, fast as well (if it doesn't get lost and starts to scan the entire focus range - this is a macro..)
-The focus clamp allows to have a nice manual focus feel, even if it still doesn't feel as good as an old (or new, thanks to Voigtlander and Zeiss) manual focus lens.
-Image quality at all range, simply superlative and very even.
-Flat field
-the combination of all these qualities makes a very versatile lens.
What I don't like:
-focus clamp doesn't always stay securely in off position, better to check from time to time in order to avoid needless stress on the autofocus motor...
-a focus limiter would have been nice.
-second hand price is very high, roughly equal to a new DFA 50mm macro... however it is worth it in my opinion.
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jsherman999
Pentaxian
Registered: December 2007
Posts: 3719
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Review Date: Sat June 7, 2008
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Would you recommend the lens? Yes |
How much did it cost? (U.S. Dollars): None indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sharp, nice color, 1-1 macro
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Cons:
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none
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The 2nd sharpest lens I've ever used, after the Viv 105 macro.
Absolutely terrific lens.
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McKajVah
New Member
Registered: December 2008
Posts: 21
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Review Date: Wed May 13, 2009
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Would you recommend the lens? Yes |
How much did it cost? (U.S. Dollars): $260.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharpness, contrast and bokeh
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Cons:
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No focus limiter...
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As a macro lens it's fantastic with superb sharpness and contrast. It easily outresolves my k200d in every f-stop...
It's also great as a normal lens, only missing the focus limiter to make it fantastic.
Highly recommended.
I'll add some macro shots later...
shot at f/2.8
Cutout 1:1 pixels (100%)
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atiratha
Junior Member
Registered: March 2009
Posts: 26
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Review Date: Sun August 9, 2009
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Would you recommend the lens? Yes |
How much did it cost? (U.S. Dollars): $360.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Super sharp, excellent color rendition, wonderful bokeh
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Cons:
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None
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First of all, I also own the F50/1.4 but could never have decided whether I like it for portraits or not then I bought this Macro lens at a store for not such a bad price (since there are almost none of these on the second hand market) with a faulty focus clamp but that's not a thing I really need. Now, since I'm still planning on buying macro rails, I don't really use it for macro that much but once I tried just for the heck of it, pointing it at a friend (indoors, really low light, F 2.8) and the result amazed me.
I have since started to leave my F50/1.4 at home and bring this jewel along. Personally I find it sharper, with much better microcontrast, colors, bokeh and everything. I don't really miss the extra stop or two, this lens does everything I want from a 50 and more.
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bdery
Loyal Member
Registered: March 2008
Location: Quebec city, Canada
Posts: 780
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Review Date: Tue August 11, 2009
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Would you recommend the lens? Yes |
How much did it cost? (U.S. Dollars): $150.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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SHARP! Beautiful bokeh, 1:1 magnification, great build quality, great colours
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Cons:
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Flimsy focus clamp, no AF override
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Loving it, loving it!
Build
This lens is all-metal, rugged, well balanced, and extremely nice to use. The focus ring is thin, but has something like a 270 degrees throw, making MF a breeze. The focus throw also scales with distance: a half turn moves the focus distance by a few meters at the "far" end, but by a few milimeters at the short end, making it perfect for fine-tuning macro focus.
The focus clamp threw me off a bit at first, I thought it was supposed to lock the focus. In fact its only role is to add friction for MF, nothing more. It's actually nice.
It would have been nice to have AF override like DA lenses but what do you want? The distance window is nice and the whitish background makes the numbers easy to read.
AF
AF is not fast. It's a macro lens with an enormous throw, that's to be expected. It's quite reliable, however. It usually just goes to the expected point, slowly but surely. It can hunt, but usually this happens when:
1-I get too close to a subject (it CAN happen)
2-I forget to use a tripod, get really close, and move a little while the lens tries to focus
If you do not do either, you'll never have AF problems. The motor is noisy, but not too much.
EDIT : I need to mention that, for non-macro work, the lens focuses extremely fast, as fast as any F or FA I've used. Focus is accurate, too. The AF speed is proportionnal to the throw movement needed, which kinda makes sense. For instance, at portrait distance it's really fast, aout as fast as my F 50 f1,7. And so sharp it hurts.
IQ
What's there to say? Sharpest Pentax ever? I have not tested them all, but I have no trouble believing it. Colours are gorgeous, even on cloudy days the colours seem to pop and come alive! Bokeh is so smooth, it's hard to believe it. It's just the best you can expect, all around.
The lens is usable at all apertures, and seems equally sharp. However close focusing at f2,8 will give you a paper-thin DOF, remember that!
A note on focus distance : 100 mm macro lenses focus from a longer rated distance, but since the lenses are longer, you won't be really farther from your subjects. With the FA 100 mm macro, you gain something like 3 cm additionnal distance, not much more.
I'm so glad I got this lens!
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Skewed
New Member
Registered: February 2009
Location: San Mateo, CA
Posts: 9
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Review Date: Mon October 26, 2009
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Would you recommend the lens? Yes |
How much did it cost? (U.S. Dollars): $265.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Build quality, sharpness, color
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Cons:
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Thin depth of field
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Like a couple of other posters here, I really need my DA 16-45, while this macro is a worthy addition to my kit. Richness of color and in-focus sharpness are noticeably better than the 16-45, and I do appreciate the quality feel of this lens. But many, if not most, of my shots are of "busy" nature scenes where the entire scene is the subject. This lens works well for such shots only if they are vast landscapes which can be focused at infinity. But it works best where you want a sharp, clearly delineated subject and smooth bokeh. I still give it a 9 because it's excellent for its intended use, but it's not a versatile lens for me.
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A Modest Mouse
Member
Registered: April 2008
Location: Columbia, MO
Posts: 85
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Review Date: Sun February 7, 2010
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Would you recommend the lens? Yes |
How much did it cost? (U.S. Dollars): $300.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Metal build, focus clamp, speed, contrast/resolution
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Cons:
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Focus ring quality, lack of focus limiter - focus speed
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I'd rate this lens a strong 8 - good 'early' AF macro design coupled with a 'grenade'-like build.
As I said - the build quality is all metal [aside from focus ring] and fantastic; it is very similar to lenses like the FA100/2.8 Macro and the FA135/2.8. The only concern is the focus ring that it also shares with the aforementioned lenses; the FA50 Macro has a long throw though, and helps negate the somewhat 'scratchy' feel of the plastic focus ring.
The focus speed is the lens is fast, but it can often hunt to one end of its range to another - which is a lengthy hunt. Once you are in macro range (or another range), the lens has no problem achieving a quick focus. The lens can double as a portrait lens on DSLR's - and is speedy enough to shoot in low-light situations which is an added bonus. The versatility of a semi-fast, semi-wide macro is certainly appealing - both on film and digital. The FA50 Macro is still very enjoyable despite the lack of focus limiter. It does have a focus 'clamp' which causes the focusing mechanism to be slightly tighter - great for focusing very carefully at macro distances. It is enabled via the small dial on the side of the lens that you can see on the left side of the picture provided above.
Lastly, the IQ of the FA50 is very good at Macro and close distance and 'good' at portraits/walkarounds/street/landscapes. There are better lenses for each purpose (including macro if you find the shorter focal length to be disagreeable), but few lenses more versatile or fun. Resolution is apparent, even wide open, but contrast is very strong throughout the entire aperture range. It has been called "Pentax's sharpest lens!" - though lenses like the DA15 and FA43 would certainly take objection. Regardless, it produces stunning macros and provides the feeling one gets from well-built optically-sound full-frame glass.
FA50mm Macro @ f5.6
FA50mm Macro @ f5.6
FA50 Macro @ f8
FA50 Macro @ f2.8
-Mouse
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