| Author: | | Senior Member Registered: October, 2022 Location: Glyfada, a southern suburb of Athens Posts: 208 | | Review Date: December 16, 2022 | Recommended | Price: $750.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | 99.999 % flawless in every aspect | | Cons: | If I had to fine one it has some 1/3 stop vingetting at F1.4. F1.4! And yes it's heavy. | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: KP
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"Kaiser"... this is how I named my copy of this spectacular glass since it came to me in Athens from Germany.
There are no words to describe its quality and you just can't pixel peep with this glass. It delivers perfection.
The photo below was what Kaiser gave me within 3 minutes of use; without having the chance to get into knowing him. I can only imagine what this lens can deliver after we get accustomed to each other.
It's heavy because you are holding a brick of gold.
[photo: ISO4000, f/2, 1/50s]
 | | | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: February, 2010 Location: Eerbeek Posts: 1,857
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 11, 2022 | Recommended | Price: $740.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | sharpness, bokeh, speed | | Cons: | size | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-3 III
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Excellent image quality, in terms of sharpness and character. Beautiful OOF, good colours.
The AF is fast and almost silent (something you get used to...)
It was an open-box item for a great discount so I had to try it. On my K-3 III it functions like a 77mm equivalent, I use it in tandem with the FA 31mm (=48mm) and the 15/21mm Limiteds.
I do not regret it, despite also having the 43mm.
It is heavy, but its qualities convince me to bring it along time and again.
Moreover, if there's ever a K-1 III in my bag, this one is ready for it.
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: January, 2022 Posts: 30
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 2, 2022 | Recommended | Price: $650.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Well-rounded shooter in tight build quality. | | Cons: | Hefty and larger than competition 50mms. | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K1ii
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Sick images. This is one of those instances whereby if you can make your budget accommodate such a purchase - there is a clear case to make for price to performance and in my book it equals if not bests Sony's Zeiss 50mm f1.4 and G Master 50mm f1.2 which I have had much experience with (especially when I paid for a brand new copy at much less than half the price of either of the Sony options new).
If you had to start from scratch to build up a full frame system like myself recently - this is a no brainer as the first and one lens to rule the world with initially before you consider other options.
Not going to markdown AF score for the lens despite the minimum focusing distance is still too long for my liking but typical ballpark of most 50mm formulas.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: June, 2016 Location: Paris Posts: 124 | | Review Date: December 6, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $1,299.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | built, af, quality, bokeh | | Cons: | it ain't pink ? | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K1ii K1 KP
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This lens is perfect in all manners.
Flawless operations, fast, solid built and sealed.
Bought it since it became available in Europe, and used it since.
quality is at least the same level as top notch canon L or zeiss. with the extra Pentax stuff coming with.
this lens is very very well priced for what it can deliver.
| | | | | | | Forum Member Registered: December, 2012 Location: Czech Republic Posts: 66
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 3, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $980.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | sharp wide open, nice bokeh, well built lens, AW | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
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Similar to my 85 mm, I have bought a silver one as well. I have it for a few weeks now, so no processed pictures, yet. The lens is MUCH smaller and lighter than 85, but is possessing similar optical virtues - its sharp even wide open with no noticeable softness or chromatic aberrations. Bokeh is creamy and nice to look at. Lens is bult very well and feels good in hands. Handling is perfect. AW is great to have! Did not use it for astrophotography yet, though.
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: May, 2013 Location: Vilnius Posts: 1,020
16 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 2, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $1,200.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Very sharp at f1.4. Bokeh very nice, creamy, the iris keeps the round shape up to f2.8. Very good contrast, color rendition. Probably the speed of focus is second in the line after Pentax 55-300 PLM version. | | Cons: | For many who likes smaller lenses, this lens will be heavy (910 g). The price is relatively high. | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K-1
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For me this lens is perfectly suited to the Pentax K-1 - a good balance, stability and less hand-shake. Regardless of the weight of camera and lens in combo, the Pentax K-1 is perfectly treatable with 2-3 fingers.
On older Pentax cameras as Pentax K5ii and earlier, autofocus works, but due to the electromagnetic iris control incompatibility with the software of the camera, it takes pictures only wide open. Nevertheless, the lens is absolutely usable at f1.4 and pictures taken with Pentax K-30, K200D I use more now proves this (links/pictures included below).
I shoot portraits with this lens mostly 2 years in studio, on locations as well as nature. DFA* 50/1.4 is really very good lens.
I like infrared portraits too and I shoot them with infrared modified K-30/K-5. The new HD Pentax-D FA* 50/1.4 SDM AW is capable of focusing correctly through the viewfinder on my modified Pentax K-5 with 640 nm filter. This is a terrible surprise. Another thing that's even more impressive - the lens is sharp at f1.4! Unbelievable!
 IMGP1601-Edit-2-Edit-Edit-3 by MG Mindaugas, on Flickr
 IMGP5450-Edit-Edit by MG Mindaugas, on Flickr
 IMGP5443-Edit by MG Mindaugas, on Flickr
 K1MG1263-Edit-2-Edit-Edit by MG Mindaugas, on Flickr
 IMGP5232-Edit-Edit-2 by MG Mindaugas, on Flickr
 IMGP1659-Edit-4 by MG Mindaugas, on Flickr
 K1MG2483-Edit by MG Mindaugas, on Flickr
 IMGP1837-Edit-Edit-2-2 by MG Mindaugas, on Flickr
 _IGP0009210519-Edit-Edit-Edit-2 by MG Mindaugas, on Flickr
 _IGP0595210526-Edit1-Edit-2 by MG Mindaugas, on Flickr
 _IGP82260315-Edit by MG Mindaugas, on Flickr
 _IMG0710-Edit by MG Mindaugas, on Flickr
 IMGP9671-Edit-Edit-2 by MG Mindaugas, on Flickr
| | | | | New Member Registered: November, 2017 Posts: 1 | | | | | New Member Registered: December, 2017 Posts: 20
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 8, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $1,000.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Its a big fat Summilux at a Pentax price | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: Pentax K1
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This lens is ridiculous.
Here is one pic, JPEG straight out of the camera, with really no thought put into the shot. Point and shoot basically.
Yes, its a big lens, but paired with a K1, its pretty well balanced. Paired with a K1, its a versatile combo for sure, and that includes fast action sports shots.
For handheld stills work with depth, this combo is right up there with a Leica + Summilux. Its pretty good !
Here is a couple more - JPG straight out of the camera, no processing yet
(zoom in to see possible abberations on the leaves)
(zoom in close on this to see the "action shot" of the pair of flies doing a dance to the right of the pony)
Fast Action Sports Shot, Wide Open - Pentax Style !
 | | | | | | | | Review Date: August 19, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $1,096.95
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Everything! | | Cons: | | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: Pentax K-1
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I committed to the Pentax K-1 as my main camera based on the release of this lens, it is an excellent performer in every regard. The new K-mount D FA* lenses by Pentax are incredible pieces of equipment and I eagerly await a wider lens in the series to compliment this and the HD Pentax-D FA* 85mm F1.4 ED SDM AW I recently purchased.
| | | | | Moderator Registered: July, 2011 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,759
5 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 31, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $1,200.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Amazing quality picture making ability | | Cons: | price, but it is worth it | |
The DFA 50mm 1.4 is a fantastic lens, more than capable of making my most uninspiring shots even have some pixie dust. The photos with shallow depth of field have the most lovely bokeh. The resolving power means this lens can easily act as a telephoto just by cropping down as the quality is there. Yes, it is a heavy lump of glass but when using it on the K1 it never felt heavy, certainly when I picked up the camera bag I felt the weight , however it is well balanced in the hand. The odd filter size of 72mm means I will most likely just use the 77mm filters with a step down ring. The hood works well and reverses nicely for storage. Every time I took a photo and examined it with this lens, the result was better than I expected , there is something magical about it. The only other lens I have that does that is the F*300mm 4.5. Sometimes a lens just works right and this 50mm is one of those. Is it value for money? I think so and it is staying in the bag full time from now on.
 green dog by Gary Wakeling, on Flickr
 saw painter crop by Gary Wakeling, on Flickr
 sunset stitch by Gary Wakeling, on Flickr
 dahlia by Gary Wakeling, on Flickr
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: December, 2007 Location: Prague Posts: 1,199
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 4, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $1,200.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | simply amazing | | Cons: | only available for K-mount | |
I thought I do not need this lens.
I had FA*85, FA35 and DFA50/2,8 as fast primes and adding another 50mm was not in my plan.
I used to have FA50/1,4 which I sold, because it was quite disappointing.
I tried A*50/1,2 and DA*55 borrowed from my friends and while these were a lot better, I did not think I needed those.
Then another friend borrowed me this lens and I was immediately fascinated by it.
Before, I thought he was crazy for buying it, because 50mm so expensive and heavy made no sense to me. But then I understood and ordered my own.
On K-1 body this lens seems adequate is size and for me being used to DFA24-70 it does not feel too heavy.
The AF works like nothing else I tried in the Pentax realm, precise and fast. Even at f1.4 I can use AF expecting to have about 2/3 of photos usable and about 1/4 in perfect focus. That is not possible with FA*85. This lens does miracles shooting little children, which I do most of the time lately.
Stopped down it's as sharp as the other DFA50, which I regarded as my sharpest lens.
It's not an APO, but the fringing is pretty limited compared to for example the FA*85. Even in the bokeh.
Quite simply a brilliant lens. I only regret it does not come in EF mount, my wife would appreciate lens like this for her Canon.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: April, 2013 Posts: 298
15 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 9, 2019 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Everything apart from the Negative Aspects | | Cons: | Weight and Size | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: APSC KP
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There have been some reviews lately about this lens (here and at dpreview). I find these review mostly not capturing what such a lens is about. Very technical and generic discussions.
If you need a wide aperture normal lens, this is a great option. The lens is a beautiful lens. The handling makes you like to handle it. None of the older lenses compares to it. The bokeh is magical.
A few images, mostly wide open.
 | | | | | Senior Member Registered: March, 2019 Location: Elyria, Ohio Posts: 118 | | Review Date: April 8, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $996.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Incredibly Sharp | | Cons: | Don't know yet | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: Pentax K-1
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https://flic.kr/p/2e4T9ya | | | | | New Member Registered: August, 2018 Posts: 5
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 3, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $1,000.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Almost everything | | Cons: | big and heavy, a small amount of chromatic ab green/red/purple at wide apertures and high contrast transitions | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 7
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K1
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Unbelievable lens - the best lens I've ever shot (and I've shot a *lot* of lenses from the 1950's era to current). This is a quick shot of my cat (overcast day even). F1.6, quick autofocus. I'm going to have to sell my 1950 Zeiss 58mm Biotar and my 50mm f1.4 8 element Takumar. Pentax + Tokina really did an amazing job building a cost-is-no-object world class lens - Happy 100th birthday Pentax! Check out the sharpness and out of focus and completely natural color. Slight foreground chromatic aberration in the metal grid in front of the cat's paws:
Overall after comparing results, this new 50mm is better than the 1950 Zeiss 58mm f2 Biotar, the 1964 50mm f1.4 8 element Tak and the 1970s era 50mm f4 Macro Tak which I also currently own. Sharpness is great on all when stopped down but the improvement is most obvious at the tougher wider apertures f2.8 and below, chromatic aberrations are good in all (sometimes very slightly worse in the newest one) but contrast is always best on the new 50 by varying margins depending on how close to the sun you shoot. While flare can be used for creative artistic shots and be superior in those cases, in general I avoid it and of course it can be added in post but not easily taken away. Autofocus, weather sealing and the coatings are the biggest areas of improvement when comparing to these similar focal length lenses from the past 70 years. Size and weight have gotten steadily worse so if you are backpacking, take the 1950 Zeiss 58mm f2 which is a tiny jewel of a lens with great results if not shooting into the sun. The flare difference in images (all shot at f4 with sun just outside upper right frame with a lens hood):
2019 Pentax 50mm f1.4 HD AW 
1950 Zeiss 58mm f2
1964 Takumar 50mm f1.4 8 element
1970's Takumar 50mm f4 Macro 1:2 (Tessar)
The above is a stress test to show the biggest optical differences as the lens options have gotten better (flare), but as I mentioned, the size and weight of equivalent focal length lenses has grown enormously. The 1950 Zeiss 58mm is an early tiny M42 mount jewel that you can hide in your fist and is great for low weight and has gorgeous results when not shooting so close into the sun and when stopping down. Check out the natural color and fantastic sharpness in this sample shot with the oldie (based on the serial number, I think this lens was made in the East German area after the war just as the Cold War was beginning and was built using parts eventually rescued by the Russians from the Dresden factory after the war. The Allies had bombed it in the infamous Dresden bombing. Interestingly, I bought this lens from a guy in Russia - via Ebay): 1950 58mm Biotar f2
crop of bird in photo above (sharper Raw, this is a JPEG): 1950 58mm Biotar f2
Update: I kept the 1950 f2 Biotar 58mm for its portability to complement the 50mm 1.4 FA D. I also kept my 300mm f4 which is a very very nice Pentax lens that I've sent in and had repaired when the autofocus failed. I sold all my other lenses on Ebay.
Another update: over time I've noticed that manual focus has a slight design issue. It is too stiff. I noticed that the initial release of the lens was delayed and in the interview with the lead of product engineering he mentioned the work they did to get the tension for the focus just right. A trick you can use is to avoid "gripping" the focus ring tightly. If you do that, it is very hard to turn. I find if I put my hand lightly under the focus ring and ensure I don't "grip" it much at all, it is more manageable. Note that the new 85mm doesn't have any issue with stiff manual focus.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: June, 2018 Posts: 220
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 21, 2019 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, Outstanding Compression, Beautiful Bokeh, Smooth Focusing | | Cons: | Heavy | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K-1II
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With the exception of size and weight (which is entirely subjective), this is a FANTASTIC lens that has exceeded all my expectations. The center sharpness of this lens at f/1.4 is incredible. Beautiful compression and the Bokeh is perfectly round (no hexagons, cats eyes, etc.) and creamy. Lovely colors and contrast.
In certain settings in bright light, some slight CA at f/1.4. Nothing egregious and easily addressed in Lightroom.
Focusing is smooth and quiet. It's not going to win any races, but it won't leave you frustrated and annoyed. Calibration was needed with my lens/body combination.
f/1.4
f/2.2
f/4
f/5.6
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