| Author: | | Site Supporter Registered: November, 2010 Location: California Posts: 2,223
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 22, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $699.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Great focus, fast, exceptional color, contrast, and mystic | | Cons: | Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, especially wide open, but it does not matter. It is the most fullfining lens. The photos have character, well, if they are well taken!! | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K-3
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My grade is 9.5, but I give the benefit of the doubt, just because the special quality that the photos taken with this lens have. It is a mix of color, contrast, that creates an effect that you have to have in a good photo. On a K3 or K5, it provides an equivalent 35mm lens view, perfect for many uses. If I want sharpness wide open across the frame, I will use my Pentax K 28/2. But this one will also give me the chance to use it with flash on group of peoples.
Update Nov. 8/2014:
 24mmf2-SacramentoRiver13-1 by Palenquero, on Flickr
 24mmf2-Oroville6-1 by Palenquero, on Flickr
 24mmf2-SacramentoRiver3-1 by Palenquero, on Flickr
 24mmf2-SacramentoBridge4-1 by Palenquero, on Flickr
 24mmf2-SacramentoBridge1-1 by Palenquero, on Flickr
Update: Sept 1, 2014
I upgraded this lens to 10. It is a true FA*, I never use a wide-angle lens wide open, but this one I use it for portraits and close up, and it works. I am happy with every single shot I have taken. I forgot to tell about the Manual Focus, it is wonderful.
corinthianBC-1 by Palenquero, on Flickr
corinthianBC3-1 by Palenquero, on Flickr
corinthianBC4-1 by Palenquero, on Flickr
 PentaxFA*24mmf2-TrainStation5-1 by Palenquero, on Flickr
 PentaxFA*24mmf2-Neighborhood1-1 by Palenquero, on Flickr
Comparing the Pentax FA 24mm f2 on a Pentax K-3 for a result of about 36mm shot equivalente in FF with the Zeiss 35mm f2 on a FF Leica M9 for a result of 35 mm. Let's see it:
 PentaxFA24mmf2-DonH1 by Palenquero, on Flickr
 LeicaM9-Zeiss35mmf2-DonH3-1 by Palenquero, on Flickr
One More:
 PentaxFA24mmf2-Fuente-1 by Palenquero, on Flickr
 LeicaM9-Zeiss35mmf2-Fuente-1 by Palenquero, on Flickr
| | | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: February, 2012 Location: Southeastern Connecticut Posts: 816
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 1, 2014 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Lyrical | | Cons: | Not sure | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 8
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-5
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I decided to buy this lens when I was looking at its reviews and saw the photos that Cambo posted, especially the boat image. Many of the reviewers seemed wonder-struck and I can see why.
I haven't really give a great deal of attention yet to things like autofocus, aberrations and handling. I've only had it a little while.
There are many sharper lenses that render highly realistic, very prosaic images. The images from this lens, though, are lyrical and somewhat poetic.
I've seen some reviews talk about certain lenses having "pixie dust." I'm not quite sure what that looks like, but I suspect it might apply to the evocative quality of the images that come from this lens.
   | | | | | Senior Member Registered: July, 2012 Location: Wiesbaden Posts: 283
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 20, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $730.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, plastic, color, contrast! Gorgeous bokeh! Fast autofocus! | | Cons: | No cons! | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-3 K-5 K-01
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Incredible, amazing and beautiful!
On K-3 Silver looks like a bomb!
Must have! | | | | | Forum Member Registered: March, 2011 Location: Ontario Posts: 89
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 13, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $495.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Almost everythihg..... | | Cons: | Not really any | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: Many
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I am surprised at some of the reviews, especially WRT aberrations. I've not really found any myself that would be out of the normal for a lens of this FL, aperture and build. It would have informative if those that rated it at 5 or 6 could have given some explanation of what they meant. My guess is that they likely do not know what an aberrations is.
Others dinged for being large and heavy. Well, it's a pro class lens. They are usually well constructed with all metal components and large pieces of glass. Being a user of "C" and "N" pro equipment over my life, I can assure you that their pro class lenses are right in there with the Pentax stuff as far as weight and size goes. It's just not possible to do the job right any other way.
If 10 means it's as good as the best, then it should be rated as such, not against some non-existent ideal. If you want something smaller and lighter and cheaper, buy a cheap plastic lens.
In that light then, this lens rates an overall 9.5+. No doubt about it.
| | | | | | | Senior Member Registered: November, 2012 Location: London Posts: 157
5 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 16, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $650.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp, quick af, fast, bokeh | | Cons: | Not cheap (in UK) | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K5iis
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Note : This lens cost £450 ($675) because I live in the UK. In the US it seems to sell for around $450
Sharpness : Sharp in the centers at f2. Corners are good at f3.5. Great overall sharpness till f8.
Abberations : Nothing you wouldn't expect from a WA prime. No significant faults.
Bokeh : Smooth at f2-2.8, good till f4
AF : VERY quick. Reliable screwdrive.
Handling : Quite small, smaller than it looks. MF has a shorter throw than I would have liked.
Value : Could be cheaper, but offers nice sharpness for a reasonable price
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: February, 2011 Posts: 118
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 20, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | center sharpness, contrast | | Cons: | soft wide open | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 7
New or Used: Used
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Very interesting lens, you either love it or hate it.
A bit soft wide open , but softness goes away quickly after F4.
The interesting aspect is that this lens produces very Sharp center portion but softens very quickly away from image center. This is true for almost all aperture I tried. In this regard, this characteristic is also experienced in sigma 30 1.4 DC, an apsc lens.
On apsc this less of a problem, some may concur. Only given an 8 due to this issue.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: June, 2010 Posts: 753 | | Review Date: October 17, 2011 | Recommended
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Nice focal lenght, bokeh, colour rendition, contrast | | Cons: | Size, big filter thread, autofocus, flare | | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 8
Value: 7
New or Used: Used
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I had this lens from a friend only for week or so to play with, so please take it into account.
First of all 24mm is very nice focal lenght for me for dslr - covers landscape, street photography, reportage etc. I did some photos at f5.6 - f11, but most of the time i ended up shooting at f2 - f4 because i fell for FA*24's bokeh - which reminded me of FA43 limited in a way. The lens has apparently a very high contrast and beautiful colour rendition. Resolution is weaker, unless you stop down to f5.6 and higher, but thanks to high contrast images look sharp enough.
Mechanically lens is nicely build, solid metal body, nice feel to focusing ring, clutch AF/MF mechanism which is very handy for quick shifting to MF when needed (although not as convenient as quickshift feature of DA lenses).
Overall I don't find my experience with this lens as tragic as some reviews might make you expect, but I find it a decent wide angle for Pentax.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: April, 2011 Location: Melbourne Posts: 109 | | Review Date: October 9, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $560.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Build, auto focus, colour, bokeh | | Cons: | Price | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 7
New or Used: Used
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This is my favourite lens by a long margin! The 24mm focal length (equal to 36mm on my K7) makes it a great walk around lens for everything from hiking to parties.
There is not a lot more I can say bout it. It does everything it should and then some. Its sharp, contrasty and has excellent bokeh and is built like a tank.
If I had to pick something to gripe about it would probably be that it is quite prone to flair so a hood is a must and you had better be prepared to stop down a little if you are shooting towards bright light.
Also the manual focus feel is pretty average,, short throw and not all that smooth on my sample.
 | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: December, 2007 Location: Prague Posts: 1,199 | | Review Date: August 12, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $250.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | small for what it is, great IQ | | Cons: | not DA, hard to obtain perfect part after all the years... | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
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I used to have a FA*24 I didn't like, it was soft, inaccurate in focus and with distracting bokeh. I was told that the damage is beyond repair.
So I tried again, and bought another. And this one is near-perfect!
Great lens, saved me from buying the dreadful X100. I love it and hope Pentax will reintroduce a DA* version of this lens for others to enjoy it as well.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: December, 2007 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 1,016
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 8, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $650.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Too numerous to list... | | Cons: | CA, purple fringing, weight, but these are minor | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 5
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 8
Value: 9
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The images speak for themselves:
I rest my case. Fabulous thing...colour rendition second to none.
Cheers,
Cameron
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: January, 2009 Location: Austria Posts: 255
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 11, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | color rendition, contrast, fast autofocus, f/2.0, build quality | | Cons: | resolution (but this is only minor con, it's not that bad, but not excellent) | |
It took some time for me to go with either the FA* 24mm or the DA 21mm ltd. However, I went with the FA* since I love to play with shallow DOF.
Although I have the lens now (only) for 6 weeks, I am conviced that I have made the right decision with going for the FA*. I am really satisfied.
Contrast and color rendition is really really excellent, so if you inspect the pictures the weakness of this lens - the lower resolution compared to other FA* or FA ltd lens at wide apertures - you will not really recognize this weakness.
As mentioned, contrast and color rendition, I cannot say more than "excellent". Period.
And you might be interested about the weakness, the resolution, here is what I think (having a K5): It's actually not that field-relevant, I think. From f/2.0 to f/2.8 the center resolution is good (better than I expected), border resolution is poor, but from about f/4, center resolution is of very good, border resolution becoming good. The excellent contrast and color however trick the human's eye thus resulting in sharp and crisp pictures.
I would rate this lens 9.5
Build: 10
AF: 9 (could be a tad faster and silent - but not SDM :-P)
Manual focusing: 9 (only my A-lenses get 10)
Resolution: 8
Contrast: 10
Color rendition: 10
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: March, 2007 Location: Nove Zamky, Slovakia Posts: 7,183
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 24, 2010 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | IQ, speed, build quality | | Cons: | not much | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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I love this lens, it's one terrific lens which lives up to it's expectations as FA*.
There are few niggles with it but nothing major.
My scores would be:
Build 10/10
Operation/Handling 9/10
IQ 9/10
Value for money 10/10.
Final score 9.5/10, unfortunately I can't select 9.5 so I went for 10.
In depth summary of my experiences is here:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/123790-about-fa*24-al-if.html
If you have one in your area and are looking for lens in this range, go for it. I doubt you'll be disappointed.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: March, 2009 Location: Salt Lake City, UT Posts: 509
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 2, 2010 | Recommended
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | built, flare resistance, color rendering, contrasty | | Cons: | IMQ at f2, large filter size | |
This is tested on Pentax digital cameras only (not on full frame cameras).
Have to say that I am a bit disappointed. The lens is very well built. It feels solid in hand. It focuses fast and relatively quite due to FREE and IF. Manual focus is a pleasure. I do not find it odd to use the push and pull manual focus ring. In fact, it allows focusing trap on my K-x. Color rendition is simply spectacular. Contrast is extremely dynamic even at f2 (perhaps the best I have seen). So what is the fuss?
Well. This lens is NOT for pixel-peepers. I use this lens for its f2. Resolution is not very high at f2. The resolution problem is often disguised by extremely good contrast and wonderful color rendition, since contrast and resolution often go hand in hand. This lens is an exception. Without magnifying, I feel the resolution is very high. In fact, it is not.
IF not for f2, I would have used my K24 f2.8 which is not only smaller and lighter, but also using 52mm filter. At f2, the image quality is far from perfect. It is, at best, slightly better than my 50mm at f1.2. Without using f2, I am not sure the purpose of this lens. It is sad that I have to give a 8 for a fixed focal Pentax lens. If you have K24 f2.8, should you upgrade it to this one? In my opinion, NO. IF you have Kiron 24mm f2 (which I have), should you upgrade? Perhaps. Kiron is only worse in color rendition and higher in CA. But the Kiron is lighter and only 1/7 of the cost of this lens. Certainly, the Kiron has its own great limitations.
This may show how hard it is to make large aperture for this focal length. Only Canon 24mm f1.4L is significantly better. However, the Canon costs 4 times more at least.
BTW, it is very good for video.
Built: 10
AF: 10
Manual focusing: 9.5
Resolution: 7
Contrast: 10
Color rendition: 10
Video: 10
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: March, 2009 Location: suisse Posts: 10
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 31, 2010 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | sharp, bright,small,pretty | | Cons: | no weather sealing like DA star | |
beside the points above, I found that the control of ghosting and flaring is super. IF focusing is precise and fast enough on k10D. and i like the metal barrel.
let's talking about the controversial part, full open. In the center, resolution and contrast are both very good. but at the corner , resolution is lost a bit when i shot in infinite focus,eg landscape shots.
It's not bothering me since i use f2 not for landscape but for people a couple of meters off. at this distance, the border resolution of FA24 is enough for me. Actually for indoor activities, I almost fix at f2 without flash.
For landscape, FA24 is perfect. then I use f5.6, f8 ,f11, the corner resolution is very good.
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: March, 2009 Location: Trier Posts: 80
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 8, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $470.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, sharp, sharp... and the colours | | Cons: | The hood | |
I bought my first 24mm lens last years.
And what en experience. I have many good and excellent lenses. But I have none, that can keep up with the true-colour rendering of this lens.
It is a true companion and , as I use it for full-circular-panos, is a great joy and help .
Once set, the sharpness is, especially if stepped down to 4,5 or 5,6 , incredible.
I even have the luxury og having bought a second one ( a real bargain, could not resist  ), so I have a back-up lens.
If you can get hold on one of these, grap it at once....
Greetings
Georg
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