| Author: | | New Member Registered: April, 2015 Posts: 11 | | Review Date: August 31, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $190.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharpness and colours, close focusing | | Cons: | Soft at f/2.8; chromatic aberrations | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 4
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-30; NX500
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This is among the best 135mm lenses out there. Very good sharpness and close focusing is a big plus. However, at f/2.8, this lens is a bit soft. There are way too many chromatic aberrations until f/8. This lens performs terribly if the sun is in the frame, or anywhere in front or above even when its not in the frame. A big hood is recomended like this:
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/63045403?image=0
For a detailed comparison, see here | | | | | | | New Member Registered: November, 2017 Location: Lake Worth, Florida USA Posts: 3 | | Review Date: December 9, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $149.99
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, lightweight, color rendition, price, | | Cons: | I haven't found any as of yet | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K1
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What's not to like about this lens? It's lightweight and sharp. The bokeh is dreamy. It's perfect for portraits wide open and after taking multiple pictures at 2.8 with a variety of subjects I was surprised just how sharp this lens is. Stop it down slightly and it only improves.
This is the kind of lens that is so inexpensive that I am tempted for find another as a backup.
   | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: January, 2015 Location: Maryland Posts: 1,677 | | Review Date: January 19, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $130.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Color rendering, Sharp, Compact, Contrast, Bokeh | | Cons: | MF, CA at 2.8, Minimum focus distance | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-30
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Spectacular!
My first Pentax-A lens. I am amazed by the build quality and better yet, image quality of this lens!
Extremely sharp, amazing color rendering, very nice bokeh...
I wish the minimum focus distance was a bit shorter, but I don't complain.
Extremely compact; I was expecting a lens at least 30% larger. This is a pro, not a con!
Incredible handling, smooth focus throw, extremely sharp (right, I already said that.)
I am told this is a great portrait lens, I have yet to try that out... I'm still finding my niche in photography, but I really like just wandering the outskirts of town and shooting wildlife and old buildings.
I actually think this focal length is awkwardly perfect. If I need wider or narrower I will zoom with my feet when the situation allows. If not, I'll try to use the perspective to my advantage.
Here's a shot using this lens the day it arrived:
 | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: April, 2011 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 386
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 7, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $120.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Very sharp, fast, light, small | | Cons: | Chromatic Abberation wide open | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K-3
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I purchased this together with a M135/3.5 to see how a manual focus tele lens would do on my K-3. I had expected to like the M135 better as there appears to have been some mixed reviews of this A135.
I was very positively surprised. I did some extensive testing, and found this lens to be very sharp. Wide open at f2.8 it is same as or better than my 55-300mm at f5.6 (good copy). Stopped down to f4, it is slightly better in the center and much better in the corners than the 55-300 at f8.
Compared to the M135, the two are about the same from f5.6 and higher. The A is much better at f2.8 than the M at f3.5.
The lens definitely generates some chromatic aberration especially wide open.
The lens handles very well, with the A setting being a definite plus. The manual focus is a pleasure to use, and I can't really deduct anything for it being a manual focus lens (doh).
Highly recommended!
| | | | | | | Senior Member Registered: January, 2014 Posts: 143
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 23, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $180.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, Focus range is long and very smooth, Bokeh, Lets in a lot of light for focusing, reletively small and light weight | | Cons: | Minimum focus distance | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-30
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Awesome lens! This is my first lens I bought other than my kit 18-55 so I don't have expirience with too many lenses. Focusing is very smooth and easy to control. Feels good. Shoots good. Fast lens. Great buy!
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: September, 2013 Posts: 62
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 26, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $120.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | metal construction, high speed, built-in-hood, high IQ | | Cons: | not detected | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: LX, K-30
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excellent portrait lens at FF, allow You do not put the lens into the face, than shooting face-portrait.
fast (F/2.8) and built-in hood just pleasure to work with.
use-full from wide open (f/2.8) and from f/4 are best.
at K-30 fully compatible (at "A" position of the aperture dial ring), nice for portrait too, but more longer, than at FF.
nice to, possible to stay far from model, than shooting only eyes.
I still like it a lot.
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: March, 2012 Location: Berkeley,CA Posts: 32
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 4, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Easy to use with a DSLR, Built in Hood, f 2.8, Really Sharp when stopped down, Nice color rendering, SMC | | Cons: | f 2.8, not sharp wide open | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 9
Camera Used: Pentax K-3
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I've been using this lens for the last week and I absolutely love it. Compared to my Jupiter 37a it's much easier to use and I can achieve much faster shutter speeds with it thanks to it's bigger max aperture (f 2.8 vs f 3.5). Plus I can let the camera decide the shutter speed in Av mode (or was it Tv? I mix the two up a lot) so that saves a lot of fiddling. This lens also has a much better resistance to flaring even without using the built in hood.
Leave it at f 4.5 pull out the lens hood and shoot away!
Overall I'd highly recommend the lens!
Some pics I took with this lens, after editing:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/slappyfin3/7714661104/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/slappyfin3/7714177344/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/slappyfin3/7714142650/in/photostream | | | | | New Member Registered: February, 2012 Posts: 13 | | Review Date: April 19, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $130.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | small, light auto aperture, super sharp | | Cons: | purple fringing is bad without a hood | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K01
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This is a small gem of a lens, seriously. its much lighter than i expected, having 4 elements instead of the 6 in the K135. it is sharp, almost as sharp as normal digitally optimised lenses surprisingly (compared to tamron 1750 @ f4), on film it is even better. details are very good, though contrast wide open is a little less than i like, though tt can be solved by processing or stopping down. same thing for purple fringing too. f4 is excellent for most portraits, but 2.8 is jus fine too. bokeh is smooth and round thanks to the 8 aperture blades, and i love the rendering of this lens. plus u save on a lens hood cos its built in i believe its worth at least a 9, so i'm putting a 10 for this to balance it out | | | | | Forum Member Registered: December, 2011 Posts: 95
6 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 22, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $95.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, great colors, build | | Cons: | manuial focus | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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great prime lens, real fun to shoot, really sharp
see some test photos and crops:
100% crop:
Bridge:
three 100% crops from Bridge:
Phone boot and people:
100% crop:
 | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: April, 2010 Location: Adelaide, South Australia Posts: 813
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 22, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $189.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Size, IQ, colour, contrast, easy focus, fast speed, bokeh | | Cons: | Not AF | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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I managed to get a MINT copy of this lens for a very good price, and it is just a dream to use.
IQ is better than my K135/2.5, and also better than my DA* 50-135 at the 135mm FL.
Colour is warm like most other A series lenses, it is sharp from edge to edge at F2.8, CA and PF are undetectable. Razor sharp from F4.
Bokeh is very very good thanks to the 8 blade aperture.
I give this lens a 10, because my copy is in mint condition.
Perhaps others have given lower ratings because their copies are not so good.
Cheers from Jack.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: September, 2010 Location: Northeast Philadelphia Posts: 1,137
8 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 17, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $135.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Color, contrast, sharpness, brightness | | Cons: | A little bit of PF in high contrast situations | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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I want to give this lens a little bump in rating because I'm fairly sure that a lot of forum users' first impression of any lens review is based on the average rating they see in the list view in each lens section.
There has been a good amount of talk comparing this lens to the Takumar (Bayonet) 1:2.5 135, suggesting that they are the same optically. While they do look alike, my initial impressions of the A 135 f/2.8 don't agree with this assumption. Since I currently own the Takumar, the M 135 f/3.5, and the A 135 f/2.8, I thought I would run a little comparison in high-contrast situations and see what shakes out.
Here are two series of three photos each. I tried to keep the settings the same across all three lenses.
Series 1:
Takumar (Bayonet) 1:2.5 135mm
SMC Pentax-M 1:3.5 135mm
SMC Pentax-A 1:2.8 135mm
Series 2:
Takumar (Bayonet) 1:2.5 135mm
SMC Pentax-M 1:3.5 135mm
SMC Pentax-A 1:2.8 135mm
As you can see, the Takumar is less contrasty than the other two. This is consistent with its non-SMC components. The A has warmer colors, which is comparable to the only other A series lens I own — the 28mm f/2.8. The M has cooler colors, which is consistent with my other M — the 50mm f/1.4. The A has good contrast, at least equal to the M, maybe better. And the A is sharper wide open than the M, in my experience.
I think that the SMC Pentax-A 135 1:2.8 is a highly underrated lens, and I'm not sure why. Maybe the reviewer who gave the lens a 6 got a bad copy. But I need to give this lens a 10 to offset that review.
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: October, 2018 Posts: 60 | | Review Date: January 10, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $62.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp, auto aperture, build quality | | Cons: | Fringing | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 9
Camera Used: KP K70
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This has quickly become my most used manual focus lens. The details and resolution it captures in landscape shots always surprises me. I have the M 135 3.5 too and the poor thing doesn't get a look in. The A is marginally bigger and bulkier than the M, but the step up in image quality and the added ease of operation more than makes up for this. The ability to control the aperture on the A lens in camera removes the need for the green button required on the M. Build quality is excellent, better than most of my other A lenses (no plastic aperture ring) and the manual focus is a joy to use.
There can be moderate purple/magenta fringing in direct light situations and maybe the built in hood is not deep enough to deal with this, but this can always be cleaned up in post processing very easily. If you see one...buy it!
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: November, 2019 Posts: 250 | | Review Date: January 30, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $180.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharpness | | Cons: | purple fringing | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 9
Camera Used: Kp
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Very Nice lens for the money.
| | | | | New Member Registered: April, 2017 Posts: 12
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 11, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $90.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | sharp once stopped down a bit, handful, colours, IQ | | Cons: | for the price you pay, none! | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Camera Used: Pentax K50, Fujifilm XT-20
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The Pentax-A 135mm f/2.8 is a nice glass, though a bit a delusion af f/2.8: the Auto-Chinon 135mm f/2.8 does better at full aperture, but being a (rare?) M42 lens, I would still recommend the Pentax-A.
From f/4 it is quite a lovely lens and better than the Pentax-M 135mm f/3,5.
Here, I posted a comparison of the three lenses here (sorry for the crop images do not tell the whole story beacuse thay are automatically generated):
http://www.rustichelli.net/Hobbies/Photography/LensTests/legacy-135mm-on-24M...enses-test.php | | | | | New Member Registered: January, 2018 Location: London Posts: 2
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 24, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $180.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp, bright, light, built-in hood | | Cons: | 1.2m minimum focusing distance, some chromatic aberration | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-1
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This is a really excellent lens.
- Sharp from f4, and extremely sharp at around f8
- Great handling due to small size, light weight and all-metal construction
- Nice bokeh
- Virtually no distortion (geometric aberration)
- Built-in hood (not very big, but much better than nothing).
Downsides?
- The sharpness isn't great at f2.8
- Moderate amounts of green/purple fringing towards the edges of the lens at all apertures
- I wish it would focus closer than 1.2m, but that's probably asking too much of such a compact lens.
Overall, this lens is a joy to use, gives great results, and is very good value!
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