| Author: | | Junior Member Registered: August, 2019 Posts: 25
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 17, 2020 | Recommended
| Rating: N/A |
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K01
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 | | | | | | | New Member Registered: April, 2009 Location: Boston Posts: 2 | | Review Date: April 18, 2009 | Recommended
| Rating: N/A |
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Picked this up for short money on ebay, along wih the 50mm 1.7 and several other F-series Lenses. These are probably the best of all the pre-digital auto series as based on over 10k images taken with them on a GX-10. Pity Pentax won't be doing a F.F. as these lenses would be supurb.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: September, 2006 Location: Edmonton, Alberta Posts: 273 | | Review Date: June 19, 2007 | Recommended | Price: $240.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Small, good image quality from f/4 and up | | Cons: | Not the nicest looking lens (none of the F-series are), poor manual focus ring, plastic construction | |
It's ugly, as are most of the Pentax F-series lenses. Small (almost non-existent!) manual focus ring with little feel to it. Not as nice as the later FA 28/2.8 AL.
Same optical design as the A-series 28/2.8, which, again, isn't as nice as the FA 28/2.8 AL. Soft at 2.8, but sharpens up within a stop at f/4. Fast auto focus.
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: November, 2012 Location: Newark, Delaware Posts: 1,035
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 9, 2013 | Recommended
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | compact, good build, sharp | | Cons: | plastic focus ring | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Camera Used: K5 and K10D
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I have had this lens since 1989 when I bought it for my SF10 film SLR. After 24 years this lens is still going strong and was the main reason for buying Pentax K10D instead of Nikon or Canon when I went digital. The build of this lens was much better than the Canon & Nikon lenses in my budget at the time I bought my K10D, The F28 has a better build than most consumer lenses with a plastic outer barrel but metal inner barrel and lens mount. It fits very nicely in between my DA 15 mm Limited and 40 mm Limited. Optically it is almost, but not quite as sharp as those lenses. This is a great lens as a semi wide normal lens when I do not want to carry around all of my other lenses as a street lens and an indoor lens. I rate as an 8 since it does not quite have the impressive build of the limiteds or the sharpness of my 2 limiteds and does not have quick shift focus. Still, its an old favorite that I like it very much.
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: May, 2012 Posts: 14 | | Review Date: November 29, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | very good contrast an colour rendition | | Cons: | not fast enought, a little soft at 2.8 | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 8
Camera Used: K-20
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This is a very nice lens, reasonably sharp with a good contrast and colour rendition. The AF is fast and it's small and light to carry it with you all the time.
Now if I give it an 9 is because I don't think this lens should have the same rate as a 77mm or 31mm limited lenses.
Besides, the current price for this lens is too high. My advice, if you really need a 28mm AF get this lens, you won't be disappointed. If you are in a budget, get the A 28mm, is the same optical formula and it's 4 times cheaper. You just loose the AF.  | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: August, 2011 Location: Melbourne Posts: 4,843 | | Review Date: September 4, 2023 | Recommended | Price: $100.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Fast and accurate AF, small size, wide open bokeh | | Cons: | Weak corners, AF in Live View, not WR, no hood, no quick shift | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K1
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This is a delightful small lens, sharp enough, especially at centre. Focus is fast and accurate, except in Liveview where it hunts but gets there in the end. The extreme corners are a bit weak, but that's to be expected of a 28mm lens of late 1980's vintage.
However, the real party trick of the F 28mm is its beautiful etherial bokeh up close and wide open. It's worth the price for that alone.
Due to its compact size, this will be in my bag more often than not.
  | | | | | New Member Registered: July, 2023 Location: Leicestershire Posts: 4 | | Review Date: July 19, 2023 | Recommended | Price: $100.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, colour rendition, size/weight | | Cons: | Focus ring, aesthetics (subjectively) | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 5
Handling: 10
Value: 7
Camera Used: K5-iis
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I'm a big fan of the F series lenses, despite their divisive looks. Some of the zooms can be hit and miss, but the primes I've found to be beautifully sharp, and all photos taken with them have a gorgeous colour rendition that screams Pentax.
The perfect standard focal length for APS-C, the 28mm f/2.8 makes for an excellent walkaround lens, for street, landscape or woodland photography. Sharp wide open, with only slight purple fringing, the sharpness gets even better of course when stopping down. The small size and weight is also appealing.
The only downsides really are true of all of the F series lenses. The focusing ring is tiny, and doesn't have a very nice feel to it. Its quite clackity, and not at all damped like older manual focus film era lenses. The grey body may also be off-putting to those that care about the aesthetics of a lens.
Those are however very small issues, that people seem to mention a lot here and then forget about when realising what great lenses these are. The price can be high on some copies, due to the relative scarcity of this version. The 50mm variants of the F series seem to be far more common, and therefore cheaper. Luckily, I managed to win my copy on an eBay auction for around £80 ($100), whereas most I'd seen for sale before seemed to be around the £120 mark.
Overall, super happy with this lens, and it rarely comes off my camera unless a telephoto option is needed for wildlife.
  | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: February, 2017 Posts: 2,032
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 23, 2018 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | focal length on APSc, Overall general performance | | Cons: | rarity | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Camera Used: K3
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I snagged this lens whilst looking for something else in a local camera shop. I had always wanted one but given up looking due to its rarity, which I think is the biggest con with this lens - trying to find one for sale! So that is the only real downside of this lens I will mention in of this review.
I love the focal length 28-30mm on APSc. It is a much more natural perspective than the more common 35mm. I have tried the following on my K3:-
Pentax M 28mm f2.8, Pentax A 28mm f2.8, Sigma EX DG 28mm f1.8 Macro and Sigma Ex DG 30mm f1.4.
Despite supposedly being the same optical formula as the 2 Pentax MF models, the F lens is considerably sharper wide open. Compared to the Sigma models the 28 f1.8 is the sharpest wide open (but not by much), the 30mm is at least as sharp by f2.8. When stopped down the F beats the M and A lenses but the Sigmas are slightly sharper. So why choose the F over either of the 2 Sigmas? Well, the EX DG 28mm f1.8 is a huge beast of a lens which I personally do not want to carry around all day and the 30mm is still quite hefty and is pretty useless in low light as it does not focus very accurately in those conditions, whereas the F is small, compact and even wide open the sharpness is more than acceptable and it still nails focus. Other reviews here say how wonderfully sharp this lens is. I do not believe this to be the case when compared to my Ltd optics, but it is still more than sharp enough.
When compared to some other lenses (the Ltd ones, again and my K 55 f1.8) it does require a little more processing to get optimal results in terms of colour and contrast, but not much.
Wide open you can get a degree of CA's but these can be adjusted in post.
For me the biggest virtues of this lens are:-
Consistency of output across the aperture range
Light and compact
Very useful focal length
I paid £160 for my copy and I am very happy with it. If you can track one down or one just happens to cross your path I would snap one up. Highly recommended.
UPDATE APRIL 2021
A few more Pentax 28 ish mm lenses have come my way - K 28mm f3.5, M 28mm f3.5 and K 30 f2.8. I have spent some time testing and assessing all of them alongside the F and revisited the A f2.8. The K f3.5 is the most sublime, but lacks AF and autoexposure convenience, to say nothing of the additional size and weight. The optical difference between all of them on APSC is marginal, though the M f3.5 does exhibit more CA's even when stopped down, but not enough really notice unless looking for them, and makes up for this with more interesting B&W images. Apparent softness I mentioned in my original review of the A f2.8, I am now convinced is due to greater susceptibility to flare and manual focusing errors by me. A hood and microprism collar focusing screen has sorted that problem out and I recommend one acquires a MF screen if you are into MF lenses of f3.5 or faster. With this in mind I would still recommend the F as the most practical and most rounded package of all the 28ish lenses I own, but there is something special about the K f3.5, and as I am a masochist and enjoy MF, I think personally I would choose the A model if I had to select just one.
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: January, 2015 Posts: 71
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 17, 2015 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, size, weight | | Cons: | Autofocus hunts at infinity sometimes | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Camera Used: K-50
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Small, lightweight and gives sharp images with good colors. Somewhat soft wide open but sharp from f/4 onward and really good from f/5.6 to f/11. It might just be my copy but the autofocus sometimes hunts for no apparent reason when I am pointed at infinity, but it does eventually lock in.
100% crop from the extreme left edge of the above image. Note the excellent sharpness of the post but a dropoff in sharpness at infinity. There is also a tiny bit of CA at high contrast areas.
 | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: May, 2012 Posts: 2,962
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 25, 2013 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Focal Length | | Cons: | not as fast as a 31mm? | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: K5
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I have gone through a complete evolution as a photographer. Before I started I only wanted the long glass. But when I first started out I shot only with zooms... then I switched over to primes and now I shoot only primes.
With this lens...after a couple of months using it...it is by FAR my most used lens. It is a perfect lens for 'walking around'...'street shots' etc etc. If I had to leave the house with only one lens, this would be it. (I own the complete line of DA Limited lenses and this one is not 'as sharp' as those in relative terms, but the difference is negligible. Sharpness wise it would be somewhere in between the regular DA lenses and your average limited lens. I would be first in line if they released a modern version of this focal length in limited format.
I have found the more I shoot, the more I like this lens. It fills an important gap (while still being affordable) in the Pentax lens line up. The lens leaves little to complain about as far as I am concerned. After owning this lens for a while it's making want a 31mm because the focal length is close and I would like the increased speed. All that said, in absence of a 31mm, this is a must have lens as far as I am concerned.
Suggestions would be to use a good standard lens hood with this lens. I use a standard screw in metal hood because if you shoot with sunlight directly hitting the glass you will see reflections.
Overall the pros are the focal length is by far the most useful in my bag, the lens is sharper than most of the modern Pentax lenses (not necessarily the limited lenses though), also the AF works quite well with this lens.
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: October, 2011 Location: British Columbia Posts: 377
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 10, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $250.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, crazy quick AF | | Cons: | None that I've come across | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 8
Value: 10
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What more can be said that hasn't already?
Superb sharpness, lightning fast AF, lightweight, and portable; this lens has it all.
f2.8 has good sharpness (by my subjective measure) But around f4-f8, it's sticky-sharp.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: September, 2008 Location: Quezon City, Philippines Posts: 168 | | Review Date: November 21, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $250.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | very light, quick focus, sharp. of all my lenses, i like its lens cap best of all. | | Cons: | none | |
pretty much has been said by the previous reviewers.
i am NOT selling mine. EVER!!
Update posted on Jan 8, 2011
After using this for a while, I can say it has pleased me a lot using it on occasions with external flash, great color saturation, sharpness. Also took it on a trip to Cambodia and some photos of the temples there.
BUT I regret not having a hood for it as photos facing the sun flare too much.
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Site Supporter Registered: June, 2008 Location: Florida Hill Country Posts: 17,377 | | Review Date: November 13, 2010 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | relatively compact | | Cons: | If there is one, its the f2.8 but that is typical for a 28mm | | Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 8
Value: 10
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I give this lens a 10 because I believe it to be the best 28mm lens Asahi Optical/Pentax ever made (excluding the K20/f2). All prior lenses were building up to this one. The FA 28 would be a 9 compared to this one but is also a nice lens. The F and FA have different optical formulae. The argument cab be made for the f2 lenses due to speed relative to IQ.
Edit: This lens gets rag on a lot around the internet. However, this is a good comparison of the F and FA 28 along with a diagram of other 28, 30 and 31mm lenses.
(Non working link deleted)
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: March, 2010 Posts: 72 | | Review Date: October 5, 2010 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Excellent IQ, lightweight, robust, very useful length on digital | | Cons: | None | |
Like most members of the F-series, the F28/2.8 is a less known and less appreciated lens - erroneously so. It achieves an image quality that is on a par with the best of manual 28mm's, it's lightweight and inobtrusive, and while it contains a bit more plastic than traditional K-series lenses or the FA limiteds, it's solidly built with a metal frame you can trust. It is not a lens that will stun you like an FA43/1.9 or a K30/2.8 might, but with its autofocus capability, it will serve very well as a basic, everyday normal prime on cropped sensors.
To bring out its qualities in a more objective way, I have compared the F28/2.8 to the K28/3.5, which is widely recognized as one of the best manual 28mm's in the Pentax repertoire. A side-by-side comparison (which was repeated for various apertures) shows that the differences between the two lenses, in terms of center performance, are negligeable. An inspection of the out-of-focus area however reveals that K28/3.5 consistently delivers slightly more out-of-focus resolution and less noise than F28/2.8.
All in all, the slightly higher out-of-focus image quality of K28/3.5 in contrast to F28/2.8 is easily counterbalanced by the practical advantages of F28/2.8, which is considerably lighter, and which has autofocus. If you don't care for autofocus in this focal length, the K28/3.5 (or a lighter member of the 28mm-range, such as K30/2.8) would be an obvious preference.
But if you don't want to forgo the benefits of autofocus, F28/2.8 is seriously recommended. In a line-up with DA primes, for instance, F28/2.8 will fit very well between DA15 on the one hand, and DA40 plus DA70 on the other hand.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: September, 2007 Location: Dayton, Ohio Posts: 2,978
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 21, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Excellent lens with no weakness | | Cons: | None really, if you like the focal length | |
This is one of the rare lenses I regret selling. It had created some amazing indoor images which just pop out of the background. Each time I see those prints I regret selling it. It just didn't get much use. Since then I've bought the FA 31 and the FA*28/70, so I am ok now.
Highly recommended. It should be a hell of a lot more expensive than what it fetches  | | |
