| Author: | | Inactive Account Registered: September, 2006 Location: Spokane,WA Posts: 25 | | Review Date: May 26, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Small,Sharp,Wonderful Color | | Cons: | Hood is a little weird, but whatever... | |
A very cool little lens with a field of view that is great in a lot of situations, kinda has 3D look to the images | | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: February, 2007 Location: Phoenix Posts: 1,056 | | Review Date: March 28, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $380.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | small and sharp | | Cons: | not compatible with film cameras :( | |
Very sharp for a lens this wide, even wide open. A tiny little thing that weighs almost nothing and is gorgeously constructed entirely of metal. I just wish I could use it on film!
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: January, 2007 Location: UK/Canada/wherever work takes me Posts: 95
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 23, 2007 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | lightweight, beautifully built, sharp | | Cons: | lens hood turns a bit too easily | |
This lens is amazing. It is really small and complements my DS perfectly. The close focus distance makes it surprisingly good for close-ups.
I have used it on my DS wide open, in dark situations and I never have a problem with autofocus (although I don't have many autofocus lenses so maybe I have different expectations). Meters perfectly too, as you'd expect from a DA lens.
The only cons are
a) the lens hood. I don't normally use hoods but this one is so small and cute it stays on my lens the whole time. Only problem is it turns too easily and I have taken the odd shot where it has been knocked out of place taking the lens cap off. I've also twisted it off by accident when I was trying to manually focus on a tripod in the dark. I was being a prat but can attest the hood is well made; it fell about 6 foot onto the pavement and there is not even a dent. I'm not sure the actual lens would stand that but it is _very_ well made. Better made than even my old M series lenses. Such build quality is rare these days.
b) the ridiculous cost in the UK. This isn't the lenses fault. To be fair, all lenses are expensive in the UK, but the pricing seems a bit random compared with UK and Europe. Some lenses are very well priced compared with elsewhere and some lenses can be double the price.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: November, 2006 Location: Copenhagen Posts: 924
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 19, 2007 | Recommended | Price: $475.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Size, build, sharpness, rendering and general IQ | | Cons: | None. | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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This lens is an absolute gem and perhaps the finest rendering landscape lens out there.
Tiny, beautifully crafted and capable of producing amazing pictures.
I adore the "feel of this lens.
It almost instantly took the place as my on camera lens.
I have found no issues what so ever with this lens and would not be without it. In fact I often wonder how I did without it before.
| | | | | | | Senior Member Registered: September, 2006 Posts: 181
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 7, 2007 | Recommended | Price: $470.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Excellent build and optical quality, Small and Light. | | Cons: | Lens hood can fall off. | | New or Used: New
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I have found no faults with this lens. It is sharp wide open, and very sharp from f/4.5. Color reproduction is great and I have seen no signs of CA, or the focusing problems that some have seen. Even if it was not as good optically as it is, the small size and light weight, build quality, and quick shift focusing make it a must have. This, along with the other DA limiteds, are quickly becoming my favorite lenses. I highly recommend this lens to anyone wanting a high quality wide angle.
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| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: February, 2007 Location: South Florida, USA Posts: 437 | | Review Date: February 5, 2007 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | well built, compact | | Cons: | wish it was faster | |
Really no complaints, everything advertised and more. A must when traveling.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: September, 2006 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 1,308
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 8, 2007 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | very small, very light, very sharp. | | Cons: | slight distortion | |
This is a little gem, very small and very light. no excuse to leave this at home, as its just so small...
Optics are top notch, it does have a little distortion as the FA20 had too, but it is very sharp even wide open and isn't prone to CA/PF or Flare/Ghosting..
Very good metal build quality and great hood that is just tiny.. Quick shift focusing is nice to have too..
I haven't actually had any AF issues with this lens on my K10d, though it did play up on my K100d, or maybe the k100d played up with this lens attached.. But still rarely affected real life pics..
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: September, 2021 Posts: 62
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 10, 2024 | Recommended | Price: $120.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Size, built quality, lens hood, focal length | | Cons: | Sharpness outside of the center, sharpness in general | |
Like many users said before, the size is just awesome and the lens hood is something I like a lot.
The focal length is perfect for a lot of purposes.
But one thing to notice is, that this lens does produce horrible images if it has not been stopped down to at least F8 !!
Purple areas are simply dramatic of not stopped down, as well as a significant lack of sharpness in the corners.
If there is enough light, or you are using a tripod so that stopping down is possible, it produces really nice pictures.
Just don't buy this lens if shooting wide open is something you need :-)
| | | | | New Member Registered: April, 2019 Posts: 7
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 28, 2023 | Recommended | Price: $260.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Colour & contrast | | Cons: | Bit soft at the edges.. but not by much | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 9
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K3
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This is my most used lens for walking about. Love the images it produces, great colour and contrast. Lightweight and compact. Sharp and focus is good.
Anyway not much of a lens reviewer... here's some images taken on a recent walkabout.
You can make your own mind up - all SOOC jpegs.
     | | | | | New Member Registered: November, 2019 Posts: 1 | | Review Date: March 19, 2023 | Recommended | Price: $280.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp | | Cons: | None | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 8
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: Pentax K-3
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My 'walkabout' lens for my K-3, on which it represents the full-frame equivalent of approx. 31.5mm.
Very sharp with nice colour rendition.
Personally I'm uncertain of the merits of its unique lens hood - mine has been replaced with a NOS Pentax 49mm standard 50mm 1.4/1.7/2.0 round plastic hood that gets covered with an Optech/USA mini Hood Hat in lieu of a lens cap.
Occasionally pressed into action on my K-1, it works rather well at it's 21mm focal length with my preferred 1x1 crop option.
| | | | | New Member Registered: September, 2016 Posts: 8
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 2, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $470.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | my standard–go to lens since 2007 | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K-10 through K-1
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I bought this lens for my first digital K-10 Pentax in 2007 and it has been my primary go-to lens through a succession of Pentax bodies, through the K-20d, K-5, K-3, K-1, and K-70 and, although I have added other limited primes since then, it is still my favorite.
FWIW, I almost always default to an f/8 aperture priority. Had to have it repaired locally for loose screws, but been great since. Given the opportunity, I might someday update to the newer version (red band, versus the green band). And waiting to see what the 21mm full-frame will be (and cost).
For many examples, see: https://originalrefrigeratorart.blogspot.com and https://ora2.blogspot.com | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: November, 2014 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 1,749 | | Review Date: January 9, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $270.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Size; Image Quality; Fast Aperture; | | Cons: | A little wobbly construction? | | New or Used: New
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My first limited! I got this for a trip abroad where I was attracted to the relative speed (3.2 is basically 2.8) for the small profile, with a wide-normal field of view for general scenes including landscapes and people. At first I thought, I might buy it and then sell it after the trip, but it fit its purpose so well that I kept it and got more limiteds! Shoot.
I've noticed CA but nothing major, it's a good sharp lens. I like placing my subjects on the edges of the frame, and sometimes if they're farther away and i'm shooting wide open the softness is not great and it looks like they're out of focus. So not great for that particular purpose. But for landscapes, general travel photography, grabbing shots with great color and sharpness, it's a killer lens! Unfortunately, it did not really help too much with avoiding attention. It's better than a big 24-70 lens of course, but attached to a K-3 and up to my face it's still obvious what's up. (I've found it's easier to not be noticed with a smaller point and shoot like the GR) A more concrete benefit to the slim profile is the ease of taking it anywhere and packing it. Other notes: I got a 43mm filter and screwed it into the flat lens hood, also the focus ring wobbles a bit, which isn't too worrying but a little unfortunate.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: June, 2018 Posts: 131
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 5, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $220.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Small, lovely colours | | Cons: | Could be faster, but I wouldn't want it any heavier | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 9
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K50, K3ii
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As others have said, an excellent walk-around focal length. Colours (especially blues) are beautiful. Centre sharpness is very good from f4. Floaty light, lovely to use. Out of focus areas look very natural. Would replace immediately if I lost it.
 | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: September, 2018 Location: Poland Posts: 1,800
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 23, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | build quality, IQ | | Cons: | nothing | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 9
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-50
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This little lens has a lovely color rendition. Its focal length makes it a perfect walk-around prime for APS-C sensor. Very good build quality and a clever lens hood. Sharpness is ok when wide open and gets very good stopped down.
F/3.2:
F/4
F/5.6
 | | | | | Forum Member Registered: December, 2011 Location: Somewhere in Northern NJ, USA Posts: 74
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 2, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | great viewing angle, fast focus in low light esp. with K-70, compact design | | Cons: | | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 9
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-70
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I primarily bought this as a lens to take with me for low light street shooting. Will try it soon with a bounce flash, and daylight stuff.
I'm pleased with the results thus far. Definitely worth the money to add to one's Pentax lens collection. | | |
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