Pentax DA 35mm F2.4 vs 40mm XS vs 40mm Limited

Conclusion: DA 35mm f/2.4

Though cheaply made and not very impressive to behold, the DA 35mm f/2.4 is really quite a good lens—and it should be, sharing as it does a common ancestry with the well-regarded FA 35mm f/2. It has a number of things going for it in this test: the lowest price point, a field of view closer to true "normal" than the 40mm lenses, and the fastest max aperture (though only by a third of a stop). It's also the biggest and bulkiest of the three, though no one could call it big or bulky in an objective sense.

The lens performs quite well in both day-to-day use and in our tests. Sharpness is good in the center from wide open and only gets better until diffraction kicks in. Border and corner sharpness could be stronger when shooting near the minimum focal distance, but in our minds this is a somewhat trivial concern—when you're shooting close-ups, you're less likely to care about corner and border performance, anyway. On the flipside of the coin, when shooting close to infinity the DA 35 was the class of the field with regard to border sharpness.

Chromatic aberrations can be an issue when shooting at or near the max aperture, but they've mostly disappeared by f/5.6 and are completely gone by f/8. Geometrical distortion is minimal and easily corrected. Vignetting is quite well-controlled, too—the DA 35 easily beat out the two 40s in this regard. As with the other two lenses, flare was not a field-relevant concern.

The DA 35mm f/2.4 doesn't come with a hood or a pouch, doesn't include a distance scale, doesn't feature quick-shift focusing, and has a plastic mount. In terms of features, it offers the bare minimum: optics, a body, and an autofocus mechanism (though some would argue that that's a luxury).

Value

We say that the lens is cheaply made and lacking some of the more advanced features that distinguish its Limited competition, but the DA 35mm f/2.4 is also the least expensive of these lenses by a large margin. It can currently be had for just $179.95 from B&H Photo, which is nearly $70 less than the DA 40mm f/2.8 XS. At this price, we feel many users will be able to comfortably overlook the lack of frills, and we think it's easily the best value of the bunch.

Pros

• Very sharp; equally suited to landscapes and portraits
• Compact and lightweight
• Great flare resistance
• Minimal distortion
• Nice bokeh for a slow-ish 35mm
• Good autofocus speed
• Inexpensive

Cons

• Cheap, all-plastic construction
• No frills whatsoever
• Some distracting chromatic aberrations
• Could still have a wider max aperture

Rating