Loyal Site Supporter Registered: March, 2009 Location: Cotati, California USA Posts: 4,460 | | Review Date: June 8, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $60.00
| Rating: 6 |
| Pros: | small, cheap, lightweight | | Cons: | poor image quality, not really a 'toy' lens | | Sharpness: 6
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 5
Value: 5
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What a perplexing little lens! Having shot all March with the 03 - Fisheye lens, and all April with the 04 - Toy Wide angle, I just about was at the end of my wits with yet another manual focus lens on my Q system. To make matters worse, my Q7 had a break down early in the month and I had to resort to my original Q with this lens. Given my rough time focusing with 03 and 04 lenses I expected similar problems with the 05 lens. Surprisingly, I've found the 05 to actually be the easier of the 3 to use! Oh, it's a cheap lens and it's not perfect either but...when I've gotten it right, it's not too bad of a performer. I'm sure there's some optical reason for this and I don't really care either, but it's been a pleasant surprise that this toy lens actually works ok.  When I've shot the same subjects this month with my K5 + DA 50 f1.8, you can clearly see the differences in sensor size and image quality. Honestly, I'm feeling like the 05 actually deserves its 'Toy' name. The 04 lens deserves a 'Junk' name IMHO. 
The other part of this lens that's nice is that it's a very small and lightweight lens. It did better on the Q7 than the Q, but again that's not surprising either. If this lens had more creative lomo type behavior then I think it would be a must have. Given that it's only slightly longer than the standard 02 lens, it's not any real advantage. Is it worth it for the cheap price? Hmmmm....don't know. Glad I tested it though. It might actually get used again from time to time.  | |
Inactive Account Registered: April, 2011 Location: near Berlin Posts: 9 | | Review Date: July 5, 2012 | Recommended
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Sharp, close focus abilities, easy to focus, the only real tele for the Q, very tiny and light weighted, no CAs | | Cons: | constant apperture, no hood, none existant bokeh (because of the high DOF) | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 4
Handling: 8
Value: 8
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Well, the shop, where I bought my Pentax Q gave me the information, that there is a special offering supported by Pentax Germany, that you can choose this lens or the wide lens as a gift. I picked that lens because of the focal length and there is no doubt, this was a good decision. The lens has a fixed aperture (f/8) and so the DOF is huge which makes manual focussing very easy (no AF available). Contrast and sharpness are good but also nothing to rave of. The style of the photographs should be toy-cam-like, but it's just a slight tele with no bokeh, no vignetting and too much sharpness. But at least it is fun to use it although it is maybe some kind of useless  | |
