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SMC Pentax-FA 135mm F2.8 [IF] | | | | Sharpness | | | Aberrations | | | Bokeh | | | Autofocus | | | Handling | | | Value | |
| | Reviews | Views | Date of last review | | 35 | 133,304 | Sun January 16, 2022 | |  | | Recommended By | Average Price | Average User Rating | | 100% of reviewers | $329.78 | 9.09 | | | | ![SMC Pentax-FA 135mm F2.8 [IF]](https://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/data/30/SMC_Pentax_FA_135mm.jpg)
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| Author: | | New Member Registered: March, 2008 Location: England Posts: 7 | | Review Date: March 28, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $250.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Small, very sharp, fast focus, internal focusing | | Cons: | Prone to purple fringing sometimes | |
Very sharp lens very handy for indoors available light shooting light concerts or plays.
Very fast to focus.
Unfortunately they don't make it any more because it really is a must have quality piece of kit.
Small size means it will fit a jacket pocket and very solid construction give it a quality feel.
Good for candids and head only portraits. Equivalent of 200mm F2.8 on digital, can't be bad.
Good close focus which is just as well I mistook it for my FA50 macro one day and was stuck with this instead to take pictures of small model tanks, it coped admirably however.
| | | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: April, 2007 Location: Toronto/Victoria Posts: 460 | | Review Date: August 3, 2007 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp (most of the time), compact | | Cons: | Purple fringing, somewhat flaky focusing | |
This was a replacement for part of the range of a telezoom.
As an available light shooter it is very good at f/2.8 which is important for me. It also has great colour performance quite a bit better than the Sigma it's replacing.
Purple fringing appears at times, but only in dark-on-white settings which don't happen a lot for me. In AF mode, it sometimes gets stuck making precise adjustments and is slightly off. It's not very common and with my old focusing screen I can tell right away so I just get it to refocus which takes a fraction of a second.
Overall, very nice and more inconspicuous than an F/2.8 zoom in the same range.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: October, 2006 Location: Masachusetts Posts: 243 | | Review Date: March 1, 2007 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Very sharp, even wide open. Focuses fast. | | Cons: | Like all the FA's except the Limiteds, the manual focus ring is a bit loose., | |
This lens is surprisingly sharp and contrasty; it focuses fast and accurately. It's an internal focusing lens, which means the front element doesn't rotate (and the lens doesn't extend out as you focus).
It's probably one of the better 135's around. On the digital cameras it sort of takes the place of the 200mm focal length.
Manual focusing is typical of an AF lens, but it's firm enough to use when you need to. If you want fast AF and tight manual focus, buy a Limited. If you can afford it!
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: September, 2006 Posts: 259 | | Review Date: February 10, 2007 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Very sharp and contrasty, very well built | | Cons: | Heavier than other FA primes or other Pentax 135mm:s | |
Very sharp, very well built lens. Heavy block of glass. My copy do not exhibit visible CA or I only cant find it :-)
I cant find manual focusing more sloppy than it is in my other FA primes (28, 35, 50), so it could be described adequate. Not excellent, not bad, not sloppy, not tight.
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: November, 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 593 | | Review Date: January 8, 2007 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | A very sharp lens | | Cons: | A little CA on digital. Manual focus sloppy. | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 9
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This lens has excellent sharpness and good colour rendition and bokeh.
Only drawbacks are a little CA on the wider apertures and the manual focus is sloppy, but the sloppy manual focus does not affect the ability to focus.
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