E- condition, but...

Pentax SMCP-DA 40mm f/2.8 ED Limited Edition Pancake Lens for Digital SLR Cameras - Black

[pathdoc]

LBA is a beast.

If you want a somewhat normal-aspect lens with amazing compactness to especially suit a smaller APS-C body (or a film body that can drive it, e.g. Super Program* or one of the AF series) and you want that Limited optical cachet, this one can't be beat.


* Manual focus is of course not this lens's strong suit, but it's quickshift so it's quite tolerable and reasonably damped, and let's face it - if you want a truly pancake lens with A contacts and even near-FF coverage, this is your best bet. AFAIK they didn't carry the SMC-M 40/2.8 into the A, F or FA series, which is a shame IMO.

[logomancer]

Aaaaaaand it's gone. Dang it.

[DennisH]

If you want a somewhat normal-aspect lens with amazing compactness to especially suit a smaller APS-C body (or a film body that can drive it, e.g. Super Program* or one of the AF series) and you want that Limited optical cachet, this one can't be beat.

Actually, the 40mm Limited is the lens that got me into Pentax back in 2008 with my K200D. I have and love the 35mm macro Limited, as I find the field of view more pleasing, but I agree that the 40 is wonderful and unique.

[pathdoc]

I find the field of view more pleasing,

35mm is sort of a b*st*rd stepchild for me on APS-C for some odd reason, but the 35 macro combines wide FOV and ultra-close focus that I need in my work in the one lens, and I sing its praises because of that. I find it a little more pleasing on full-frame, which is why I have a 35mm Super Takumar (for my Spotmatics), but July is looking a lot like it'll be 35mm Macro for me in the single-in challenge, and we will see what I can make of it as a general purpose lens then.

the 40 is wonderful and unique.

From about 2010 to 2015 it was physically the smallest lens I owned (until I got an Industar 50/3.5), and it turns even my K-5 into a one-handed point-and-shoot camera when I want it to be that. I don't think there is any other AF lens of near-normal focal length equivalent that is so short (except for the XS, of course). The DA21 is very close, but I don't always want that wide FOV. It's a niche thing, but it performs brilliantly within that niche.

[Vmax911]

Not sure what the "but" is? But for that price I'll give it a shot too!

Congrats to the quickest gun, my order was cancelled. :sadface: