Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 
Log in or register to remove ads.

Pentax Lens Review Database » Digital Era Pentax K-Mount Lenses » D FA Prime Lenses
SMC Pentax-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro Review RSS Feed

SMC Pentax-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro

Sharpness 
 9.6
Aberrations 
 8.5
Bokeh 
 9.4
Autofocus 
 7.1
Handling 
 8.2
Value 
 9.2
Reviews Views Date of last review
40 171,161 Fri March 13, 2020
spacer
Recommended By Average Price Average User Rating
100% of reviewers $416.14 9.00
SMC Pentax-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro

SMC Pentax-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro
supersize
SMC Pentax-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro
supersize

Description:
This lens features a clamp and 1:1 macro magnification. Optically it is the same as the predecessor, the smc Pentax-FA 100mm F2.8 Macro, and optically also the same as the Weather Resistant successor.

SMC Pentax-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro
© www.pentaxforums.com, sharable with attribution
Image Format
Full-frame / 35mm film
Lens Mount
Pentax K
Aperture Ring
Yes (A setting)
Diaphragm
Automatic, 8 blades
Optics
9 elements, 8 groups
Mount Variant
KAF
Check camera compatibility
Max. Aperture
F2.8
Min. Aperture
F32
Focusing
AF (screwdrive)
Quick-shift
Yes
Min. Focus
30 cm
Max. Magnification
1x
Filter Size
49 mm
Internal Focus
No
Field of View (Diag. / Horiz.)

APS-C: 16 ° / 14 °
Full frame: 24 ° / 20 °
Hood
PH-RBB 49mm
Case
S80-120
Lens Cap
Lens Cap F 49mm
Coating
SMC
Weather Sealing
No
Other Features
Focus Clamp
Diam x Length
67.5 x 80.5 mm (2.7 x 3.2 in.)
Weight
345 g (12.2 oz.)
w/ Hood: +38g
Production Years
2004 to 2009
Launch Price
$565 USD
Engraved Name
smc PENTAX-D FA 1:2.8 100mm -MACRO-
Reviews
User reviews
Features:
Screwdrive AutofocusQuick ShiftAperture RingAutomatic ApertureFull-Frame SupportDiscontinued
Purchase: Buy the SMC Pentax-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro
Sample Photos: View Sample Photos
Price History:



Add Review of SMC Pentax-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro Buy the SMC Pentax-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro
Author:
Sort Reviews by: Date | Author | Rating | Recommendation | Likes (Descending) Showing Reviews 1-15 of 40
Veteran Member

Registered: October, 2012
Location: Colorado
Posts: 1,437

3 users found this helpful
Review Date: May 29, 2018 Recommended | Price: $217.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Exceedingly sharp, aperture ring, quick AF, lights, compact, great focus-to-out-of-focus transition, gorgeously soft blurry areas
Cons: Bizarre lens hood
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 10    Bokeh: 10    Autofocus: 8    Handling: 8    Value: 10    New or Used: Used    Camera Used: K-1, K-3, MZ-S, K2DMD   

This has quickly become one of my three go-to lenses for my K-1. Paired with the 31mm FA Limited and 77mm FA Limited, this is part of a trio that can accomplish basically any need.















The photos should speak volumes about the lens' sharpness, color transmission, clarity, and image quality. This is a fantastic lens that's light, compact, and a great performer. It has one really weird aspect which is the lens hood. It mounts onto the lens body but the focusing element protrudes. So the closer your focus, the less effect that the lens hood has. But the advantage of that is the the hood always protects the front element and it won't bump into whatever you're photographing because this lens has a LOT of movement.

Overall, one of my top three lenses for Pentax, probably one of the five best that I've ever used ever.
   
Banned

Registered: May, 2011
Location: Earth
Posts: 10

2 users found this helpful
Review Date: October 8, 2011 Recommended | Price: $325.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: aperture ring, big rubber focusing ring, IQ no less than DFA WR, ready for FF
Cons: plastic, don't buy for the AF capability...
New or Used: Used   

I currently have three macro lens setups. The DFA 100mm, DFA 100mm WR, & a vivi 2x macro focusing ring with a 50 1.4 mounted to compare it to the DFA.

DFA and DFA WR. IQ is eqaul to my eye. Focusing is easier with the ring on the DFA.
The real big advantage of the DFA to some may be it has a aperture ring and the WR does not. For the used price I paid the DFA is way more bang for the buck. Since the only advantage of the WR is WR. Plastics on DFA could be a negative for some. Typical Macro AF could use a limiter. Only comment when comparing this lens to my vivi setup, save for a mid to high end macro prime if you want execlent results.
   
Veteran Member

Registered: December, 2010
Location: Ontario
Posts: 3,332

2 users found this helpful
Review Date: December 19, 2010 Recommended | Price: $500.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Terrific optics in compact lens
Cons: Build not the nicest
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 10    Autofocus: 8    Handling: 9    Value: 10    New or Used: New    Camera Used: k100d, k5iis   

I find this macro still pretty sharp at f/2.8, and into the scary sharp range from f/4.0 and on. Diffraction does take hold at f/16 and beyond. I'll only use f/32 out of dire need of deeper DOF but it's good to have the option available.

The colour rendition and contrast are wonderful, the bokeh is smooth when focused at macro and normal working distances. At f/2.8 there are green/magenta edges on the high contrast edges in the out of focus areas, but nothing too offensive. I've fallen so in love with its performance that I use it for everything possible. Macro (of course), portraits, landscapes, low-light mid-telephoto work, and a general walk around lens. If I can fit it into 100mm, I will. And I've never been disappointed.

The supplied lens hood is nice and protective, but given how deeply recessed the from element is you can safely go hoodless in many circumstances. Even with the hood, it is very small and compact and feels right at home on my k100d. Having a small, non-threatening telephoto is a great plus for candid portraits. I find the length just perfect for kids indoors.

Autofocus on my k100d in dimly lit areas can be a disaster if it misses and has to go hunting through the full range. Fortunately it is very easy to manual focus with the large focus ring, even with the very short throw over the 3' to infinity focus range (about 45 degrees). A focus limiter would be nice, more useful than the focus clamp which I rarely find a need for. A plus- the focus ring doesn't turn when auto focusing, a nice plus that makes holding it easy.

UPDATE (July 2015) - Autofocus with the much newer k5iis is much more reliable and very rarely ends up hunting when used at 'normal' shooting distances, and it's actually pretty quick. I still prefer manual focus for close-ups (from about a quarter life size to 1:1).

The plastic construction is solid for a modern plastic lens, but leaves something to be desired compared to even cheapish old super takumars. This doesn't affect the image quality, so I can live with it, but this keeps my rating to a 9, partly because the new sturdier version was announced about a month after I purchased mine and I'm slightly bitter (the weather resistance would be nice too!).

At macro working distances, there is some light loss, about 1.5-2 stops at 1:1. Automatic exposure modes will automatically compensate for it, but you have to manually take it into account if you are using manual external flashes. It's not a big deal to compensate for this, but it's not something I was not aware of (this is my first macro lens)

I've never used a lens with the "Limited" or "DA*" labels, but if one can perform noticeably better optically than a DFA 100mm, I'd probably try to marry it.

Some samples from the DFA100mm paired with a k100d and a k5iis:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bprobin/tags/dfa100mm
   
Site Supporter

Registered: December, 2007
Location: Montreal
Posts: 1,249

2 users found this helpful
Review Date: June 9, 2010 Recommended | Price: $500.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Light, great optics, covers FF, Quick shift
Cons: 8 blades only, OK build, no focus limiter, cyan/magenta fringing
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 10    Bokeh: 9    Handling: 8    Value: 10   

Optically it's very sharp and contrasty with no distortions, something you kind of expect from a macro lens. It's also one of the lightest macro out there. One of the best feature is the quick shift as you don't have to switch to MF like for example the Tamron 90mm macro.

Negatives:
- No focus limiter although the general focus speed is very good.
- 8 blades, the Tokina version offers 9, the new WR only 8 but rounded, so sometimes octogonal highlights will appear
- Build is not bad but not great either, it feels a bit plasticy, something corrected in the new WR version
- MF is good (better than Tamron 90mm) but not as good as the silky smooth new WR version
- Cyan/Magenta fringing appearing on white OOF transitions

I will probably upgrade mine (it's currently in the marketplace) to the newer WR version because I love the optics, the build and new WR will be great to have.

Pictures taken with this lens
   
Junior Member

Registered: January, 2020
Location: Wrocław
Posts: 33

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: March 13, 2020 Recommended | Price: $290.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: size, image quality, sharpness, bokeh, weight
Cons: AF speed
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 10    Bokeh: 10    Autofocus: 6    Handling: 10    Value: 10    New or Used: New    Camera Used: Pentax K20d   

I love this lens. This lens is one of those Pentax glasses, that you know third-party manufacturers may do better, but in almost every single considerable way it is well-thought product, in better image quality and lot of advantages.
I have sold that lens, but 8-10 years ago I used to use it for portraits and macro.
In portrais it doesn't require stopped down. It makes nice, creamy bokeh. Sometimes it is to sharp, but I wouldn't consider that as a negative aspect.
In macro it depends how you do it, but I used to use it without AF and withone home-made lamp diffusor.
To be honest, I prefer this insted of FA/DFA 50 macro. Because of its weight and size and portrait capabilities. The only thing that spoils the overall score is slow AF, but I undertand that this product is not design for fast AF-actions.
Agata at f/3.5 by Campanelli, on Flickr

Aeshna cyanea female at f/9.0 by Campanelli, on Flickr
   
Loyal Site Supporter

Registered: October, 2018
Location: Quebec City, Quebec
Posts: 6,493

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: March 4, 2019 Recommended | Price: $300.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Extreme sharpness all across the frame. Makes high-resolution sensors shine.
Cons: None.
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 10    Bokeh: 10    Autofocus: 10    Handling: 10    Value: 10    New or Used: New    Camera Used: Pentax K20, K3   






   
Site Supporter

Registered: November, 2009
Location: Weyburn SK
Posts: 35

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: December 27, 2017 Recommended | Price: $500.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Very clear.
Cons: Hunts auto focus sometimes
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 10    Autofocus: 7    Handling: 8    Value: 8    New or Used: New    Camera Used: K5ll   

Should have waited for the newer version
   
Junior Member

Registered: January, 2013
Location: Texas
Posts: 32

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: April 28, 2017 Recommended | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Sharpness!!! ; Light weight
Cons: Built quality
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 10    Bokeh: 9    Autofocus: 9    Handling: 9    Value: 10    New or Used: New    Camera Used: Pentax K30   

Ultra-sharp lens, Very Good from center to corners at full aperture, Excellent above!
Low distortion, low vignetting, low flare, very good colors.
It is also very light, good for my shoulders!
What I don't like is the built quality, especially the focusing: it is 'lose'.
   
New Member

Registered: October, 2015
Posts: 1

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: October 21, 2015 Recommended | Price: $460.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: sharp, bokeh
Cons: autofocus
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 10    Bokeh: 10    Autofocus: 7    Handling: 8    Value: 9    New or Used: Used    Camera Used: k5   

great lens, love the minimum focusing distance (12") . solid, but light lens only real complaint is the auto focus. It is loud and can hunt when focusing in close, bu a great lens over all, absolutely recommend this for anyone who does macro.
   
Marketplace Reseller

Registered: March, 2010
Location: Queensland
Posts: 104

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: June 8, 2014 Recommended | Price: $350.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Sharp
Cons: focus range
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 7    Bokeh: 8    Autofocus: 6    Handling: 8    Value: 8    New or Used: Used    Camera Used: Pentax K5   

Great macro lens, worth having in the kit. The focusing is slow and the focus range wasn't as close as anticipated.
   
New Member

Registered: June, 2011
Posts: 15

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: April 25, 2014 Recommended | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: sharpness,bokeh
Cons: build quality, auto focus.

For the price of this lens I did expect a bit better build quality it feels light and cheap and a bit wobbly and it just is not a one off as I have had 2 of these.When I mount a ring flash on this lens the focus barrel sometImes does not want to move which is probably down to the clutch on the quick shift and this is in manual focus mode which is what I used it in 90%of the time.
Autofocus is just noisy. On the plus side it can produce superb images with a little patience.I have since sold both of these and I am back to using my old Tamron 90mm f2.8 72b which gives just as good images and just feels better to use.
   
Pentaxian

Registered: September, 2013
Location: Toronto
Posts: 2,074

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: January 24, 2014 Recommended | Price: $257.00 | Rating: 7 

 
Pros:
Cons: Build quality, noisy AF, soft wide-open, purple fringing
Aberrations: 4    Autofocus: 6    Handling: 4    Value: 8    New or Used: Used    Camera Used: K-30   

It's a good lens, and I certainly enjoy it. Light, nice focal length, true macro, quickshift.

That said, it's not 100% perfect: the lightness comes at expense of build quality -- it certainly feels less solid than other lenses in Pentax's lineup, and you'll want that hood in order to protect the front element when you're doing macro work. The AF is noisy, which seems to be a problem with many of Pentax's macro lenses, and has a habit of hunting when you're close to the subject. (It's quite quick at longer distances, however.)

Verdict? I like it, and get it if you can find it for a nice price. But I'd still gladly swap it for the older FA model in a heartbeat.
   
Forum Member

Registered: August, 2010
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 91

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: December 19, 2013 Recommended | Price: $425.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Sharpness, full frame, colours, manual focus
Cons: Purple fringing, plastic feel, slow autofocus and lack of limiter
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 9    Autofocus: 7    Handling: 8    Value: 9    New or Used: Used    Camera Used: Pentax k-5, Canon 7D, Pentax K1000   

Image quality

At f2.8 I think the image has a certain softness to it – which looks flattering for portrait shots but when you want absolute sharpness 2.8 is a bit lacking.


By f4 sharpness is great, and remains good up to f11, then I can see it tail off again.


The background is pleasantly rendered – though this lens has not got rounded aperture blades like its weather resistant successor the Pentax DFA f2.8 100mm Macro. This doesn’t bother me, as the background bokeh is still very nice and smooth otherwise, and I quite like bright spots appearing as straight edged octagons.



Lovely, vibrant and accurate colour rendition, a big improvement on the cool colours of the macro lens I used to use, the Pentax-A 100mm f4 Macro.



I feel that using this lens in the 1 metre + range isn’t quite as impressive in terms of sharpness, which is fair enough as it is a macro lens.

Build

Fine, nothing special. The lens is plastic, and feels a little flimsy compared to the metal lenses I am used to. The focus has slight rubberyness to it that doesn’t feel quite as perfectly machined as my older macro lens.


Retaining a manual aperture ring is a great plus point for me, as I use it on older Pentax SLRs with an adapter on Canon cameras, and with extension tubes. You need an aperture ring for this.

Important points

Chromatic aberrations (purple fringing) are very bad at f2.8, very noticeable in real life situations, very evident on highlight edges.
The lens does not have a focus limiter (a switch to tell the lens not to focus in a certain range if you only wish to focus for a close up, or only wish to focus far away) and combined with screw drive autofocus, this can be frustrating as it noisily whirs through the range, which takes several seconds. Quick shift (full time manual override of focus) goes some way to help with this as when the lens misses focus I can override it instantly, but it can still be annoying and has made me miss 'the moment' on several occasions.


The lens does have a focus clamp, which I am not impressed with. It adds a little friction to the focus ring, which is supposed to help with fine focusing. I don’t need it, and as the focus doesn’t creep when I point it down it serves no purpose. Most if the time I ignore the clamp.


It’s little and light and has a small 49mm filter thread, which is good.

-

This lens is good value as it has been superseded by the Pentax D-FA 100mm WR Macro, so can be bought for a good price second hand.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinthebarbarian/11244442933/
ISO 1250, 1/8000s, f6.3

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinthebarbarian/10687870664/
ISO 500, 1/125s, f4
   
Site Supporter

Registered: February, 2008
Location: Hawkesbury
Posts: 1,897

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: March 12, 2012 Recommended | Price: $550.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Sharp in mid-aperture range, good handling
Cons: Relatively poor wide open or stopped down
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 7    Bokeh: 8    Autofocus: 9    Handling: 9    Value: 8    New or Used: New    Camera Used: K20d   

When I first started using this lens I was disappointed by the look of images I was making. I was seeing lots of purple and green fringing and images just did not look that sharp. Then I discovered that keeping the lens at an aperture of around F5.6 to F11 made a big difference. Sharpness is fantastic in this range and the bokeh is good largely due to minimising chromatic aberrations.
The wide open performance for macro is very disappointing, particularly when compared with the Tamron 90mm which is very good right from the start and pushes back the envelope when stopped down also. Possibly this lens is sharper than the Tamron at around F8. However the handling of this lens was much better than the Tamron, despite the absence of a focus limiter. The lens feels solid enough and if you like to use your cameras built in flash, then you can do so with the confidence that the lens won't shade your subject.
   
New Member

Registered: August, 2009
Location: 3city
Posts: 10

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: October 17, 2010 Recommended | Price: $330.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: bokeh, weight, paid price
Cons: no focus limiter

I bought this lens as used.

Rates:

Sharpness: 10
Bokeh: 10
Colour rendition: 10
Handling: 9
Build quality: 8 (DFA)

If this lens would have focus limiter it would be my best macro lens.

Used as telephoto, rarely macro lens.
Add Review of SMC Pentax-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro Buy the SMC Pentax-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 05:13 PM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top