| Author: | | New Member Registered: August, 2015 Location: NC Posts: 14
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 2, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $498.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | build quality, size for purpose, excellent optics, weather sealed | | Cons: | none, not wider or longer? | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K3, K-x
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Odd focal range, variable from 2.8 to 4.0, DC motor, and weather sealed at a big price premium. Not your typical Pentax Limited lens. It's been awhile now and the prices of this lens has dropped in half for a new one. I took the plunge and now it's my walk around for what I shoot along with my Limited FA77 in my pocket. I can say that this is a great lens IF you need or want this focal range as it's not for everyone. I'm mainly a prime shooter. Never have really cared much for zooms simply because it makes me a lazy photographer. Only zoom in my kit is the 18-55 kit lens which doesn't ever get usage if at all.
Bokeh for this type of lens is great. I never expected my FA77 limited bokeh as you shouldn't either. Very sharp lens and perfect compliment on my K3 and my K-x. Right at the same size length as the 18-55 DAL kit lens, but just a little thicker. Actually about half an inch shorter than the 18-55 DAL if you use a hood lens on the 18-55. If you've been wanting this lens...get one. I got it for under $500 from Amazon, but it has now since gone up some. It's still a great deal for what you get. You won't regret it. I had a Limited 21 but sold it for this and have zero regrets.
Only real con is the focal length. You should already know if it's gonna work for you. Otherwise you won't be happy with it. I love this lens.
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: February, 2013 Posts: 14
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 7, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $1,300.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | IQ, bokeh, build quality, WR | | Cons: | Not constant 2.8, not internal focusing | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K-5
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Before this lens, my main lenses was DA*16-50 and DA*50-135, but usually I left the 16-50 at home. It was too big and I felt the pictures it produced varied too much in quality.
I bought this as soon as it came out and fell totally in love with it. It's been constantly on my camera ever since and I have no desire to remove it.
The "weired" zoom range, wich I was a bit afraid would turn me off, really doesnt bother me anymore.
I tend to threat it as a 30mm prime with "adjustment possibilities".
I've used it alot with extensiontubes, and it produces great macro results with the tubes. The transition between the sharp and the blurred, I find to be just lovely.
The only trouble I have is that I cannot access the menu on my K-5 with the extensiontubes and it refuses to go beyond f. 3.5. Wich is weired because all my other lenses communicate perfect with my camera through the extensiontubes. It might be the DC, it might be a software issues with the firmware. I don't know.
All in all I find this to be a great lens. It has reignited my interest in photography and cured my LBA. So now it's all about the pictures, instead of the gear, for me.
It might not be everyones cup of tea, but for me this is the gem I've been looking for (with a few minor flaws).
(Sorry for the bad grammar. English is not my mother tongue.)
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: June, 2011 Location: Gulf Coast Posts: 45
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 2, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $896.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Size, classic 35mm focal lengths | | Cons: | None. | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 6
Handling: 9
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K5 ll
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My FA31mm has not been used since it's arrival ! Using in a disciplined manner, not just zooming, I now have classic focal length reportage lenses on my camera. I have found this to be very sharp (maybe to sharp) in the center at all focal lengths even wide open ( f5.6 at 40mm) which is not really my style anyway, f5.6 f8 is what I use for the most part. 
Now I have had this for a while I now can give a more realistic review update. I find the auto focus is not very good at all. When it focuses on a subject, very slow by the way, gets a fix on it and will not focus on a new area just a few feet away. It needs to be encouraged to refocus by manually putting it out of focus first. This procedure makes for a very slow lens handling and therefore consider the auto focus very poor. Hope they can fix this with some sort of update.  | | | | | New Member Registered: April, 2024 Posts: 3
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 10, 2024 | Recommended | Price: $496.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Small, Lite, Metal, Weather-Resistant, Sharp | | Cons: | | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K3-III Monochrome
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This is my new favorite lens--and the one that will remain on my camera for the vast majority of the time. (Most of the pictures that I take fall within this range--which is effectively about 30-60mm on the K3.)
My copy has no softness anywhere: it is sharp from corner to corner across the focal and aperture range, without post-sharpening. Most other reviewers here have had the same experience.
There is slight distortion across the focal range, but lens corrections fix this without introducing any artifacts that I've noticed.
Autofocus performance has been fantastic, for the most part. I’ve ran into a few instances where a miss at close distances at 20mm results in panning, which is nothing a bit of wiggling won't fix.
The lens looks nice--a niche in the lens market, IMHO. It is built extremely well, though is quite lite. I have never used a lens that I would rather hike with.
For that matter, it is also quite small. In fact, it is absolutely dwarfed by my other general-purpose lens. However, it performs just as well, though it is a bit restrictive in its range--an effective 30-60mm versus 24-70mm of my other lens--and it lacks constant aperture. That last part is absolutely the cost of “small” and “lite.” I prefer the "small" and "lite," especially while traveling.
Speaking of costs, this lens is also $2K cheaper than my other general-purpose lens, which makes me question where my loyalties have been . I paid about $500 for this lens from BH Photo. It’s easily--easily--worth twice that.
Its bokeh has a uniquely-structured look, which is quite pleasant versus the Gaussian-blur-like bokeh common to other lenses.
Aside to all else, the most positive thing that I believe can be said about a lens is that “it has character.” (Meaning good things, of course.) This lens most definitely fits the bill. The micro-geometric rendition that it offers is different from anything I’ve experienced before within this range. But I can’t exactly put my finger on what the differences are. Other reviewers have alluded to the same, referring to the effect as “3D pop”, “pixie dust”, etcetera. Perhaps the difference is due to subtle aberrative effects--or other errors--introduced by the “small” and “lite” crunch. In any case, I really like it.
| | | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: January, 2012 Location: Tokyo Posts: 2,821
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 16, 2023 | Recommended | Price: $500.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Rendering, bokeh, design, size, cost performance, WR | | Cons: | Aberrations wide open, focusing not the fastest | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 10
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K-5 IIs, K-01, K-3 III
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At first I didn't see the point of a zoom lens with so little range, but after a while I started to think of it differently. Pentax doesn't make a prime around 24mm and I started to think of this as a 30mm, with room for adjustment. So I went ahead and bought it from Ricoh's own outlet store. I'm really glad I did, because this has become by far my most used lens.
I like using primes for their size and image quality, and have quite a few of the SMC Limited series. Even so, the lens changes become frustrating when traveling. This lens provides prime-like quality, along with some of the convenience of a zoom in a very light package. Recently my favored travel kit is this lens for 70-80% of shots, the 15mm Limited for the wide end and the 77mm for telephoto.
The size of this lens is just right on an APS-C camera. The detailing on the metal barrel feels really nice and sets it apart from the rubber feeling of other lenses. The hood doesn't seem to provide much protection, but it has the advantage that the lens is ready to shoot as soon as you pull the cap off - very quick to start shooting.
This lens produces really nice image quality. The colour is good and the bokeh is pleasant, even though a lens with these specs is never going to be the choice for extreme subject isolation. This lens duplicates the range of my DA 21 Limited FA 35mm and DA 40 Limited. It seems to be up to the level of the 21mm, but I do feel the 35mm and 40mm lenses give greater sharpness at their respective focal lengths.
The weakness of this lens is fringing at wide aperture with strong contrasts. It is especially noticeable in nighttime city scenes. I'm not sure how obvious it will be at this resolution, but in this image below (30mm, f4 with a K-5 IIs), there is quite a lot of color fringing around the street lamps and office windows.
Overall, this lens is highly recommended, and importantly can be used to fill a gap in Pentax's prime line-up. Here are some more images taken with this lens and a K-3 III.
 | | | | | New Member Registered: January, 2023 Posts: 1
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 28, 2023 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | | | Cons: | | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: KP K10D
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Very good lens for me, its small and very good contrast, sharpness is very good. Lens is product off metall and glass no plastic it is amaizing for this these days. And it is very small !
 IMGP3623 by Łukasz Karzełek, on Flickr
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: June, 2012 Posts: 583
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 23, 2022 | Recommended
| Rating: N/A |
| Pros: | | | Cons: | | | New or Used: New
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Hard to consider this a "good" lens when the reviewer lists the following opinions:
Poor corner sharpness, especially at 40mm
Low contrast wide-open at 40mm
Sub-par center sharpness at 40mm
Moderate vignetting if left uncorrected
Small hood makes it prone to flare
No filter threads on hood, unusual 55mm diameter
Expensive ($999)
Read more at: https://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/hd-pentax-da-20-40mm-limited/conclusion.html#ixzz7iVRdG7T9 | | | | | Senior Member Registered: June, 2021 Posts: 124
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 2, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $497.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, Build, Motor is silent, Weather resistance | | Cons: | not fast enough after 22mm | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: KP
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A perfect walkaround lens on KP. The sharpness is impressive, even better than DA21 on the wide end. An all-in-one alternative to DA21 DA35 DA40 plus weather resistance and silent DC motor.
| | | | | New Member Registered: May, 2016 Posts: 23
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 6, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $350.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Full Frame coverage better than expected, Center sharpness equals best primes | | Cons: | None | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 9
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-1
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Just purchased this lens used, expecting to use it as an APS-C travel walk around and to replace primes on long hikes. The very first thing I did after unboxing was mount it on my K-1 to check full-frame coverage. Wow, was I ever surprised! Even at 20mm, there is a usable image (corners are black), and by 24mm, the corners are filled in with only mild vignetting! At 20mm, it's possible to crop a 2.5:1 panorama. The lens is very sharp, as sharp in the center as my FA 35mm f/2 AL, which is one of my sharpest lenses.
Given that the full frame coverage of this lens isn't often discussed, I thought I'd share a couple of sample photos (shot a few minutes after unboxing!). These are three exposure HDR images shot at f/8 (-2/0/+2) processed with Photomatix Pro - basically using the same process I would use for architectural photos (to assess how the lens would actually perform in my intended use). I think the full frame coverage is truly impressive, and is an important aspect for anyone who owns a K-1:
Full-frame image at 20mm - obviously vignetted, but also usable for cropped panorama
Full-frame image at 25mm, small amount of vignetting, correctable in post processing (Note that this amount of vignetting is less than many Sony 'Full Frame' lenses!):
Overall, I'm very impressed with the lens - basically flawless on APS-C, but maybe more importantly it also offers 'unadvertised' excellent performance on full frame.
Edit: It turns out that vignetting comes back at around 35mm when zooming, so the useful range on full frame with minimal vignetting is around 23mm-33mm. Still, once above 30mm, you're back to using the lens as intended, i.e. 20mm in APS-C crop mode. So on the K1, I will use as an APS-C crop 20-40mm lens (30-60mm effective), but switch to full frame to extend the usable wide angle range to between 23-30mm, and even down to 20mm for cropped panorama shots.
| | | | | New Member Registered: April, 2008 Location: Chandler, AZ Posts: 2
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 14, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $500.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | everything - size, color, contrast, sharpness, focusing | | Cons: | none. | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K-01
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I am in love with this lens!! I used to think lenses cannot make much differences in pictures taken with F/8.0+ on a sunny day (only the photographer does). Now I realize this lens actually makes differences. Pictures are so sharp and contrasty with this lens, I can almost recognize pictures taken with this lens without looking at the meta data. Too bad there is no DFA limited 30-60 for my K-1. My K-1 is in crop mode most of the time now.. and my K-01 is busy again. Whats the point of swapping lenses if a zoom is this good....
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: March, 2010 Location: Manila, Philippines Posts: 1,421
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 21, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $600.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | WR, metal build, retro design, surprisingly light | | Cons: | slow to focus, so-so sharpness, expensive | |
Let me begin by saying that I have tried all the DA limited lenses before I got this lens. My most favorite is the DA 21, followed by the DA 70 and the HD35 if you want super sharp images.
I bought this lens simply because of its the WR claim plus the rendering of a limited lens and the focal length is very ideal for my use as I really want a WR travel camera set up. Truly that the lens is light and a joy to hold because of the retro design and it is very light. The AF is silent but not that fast (maybe more on the slow side for me). The images that it produces are good but not that great as the 21 / 35 / 70. At 20 mm the HD 20-40 is sharp wide open but the 40mm f4 it is not. The color rendering, micro contrast is very nice and really punches as well as the micro contrast.
I think the lens should only cost about $500 brand new
If you plan get this lens and think that you can replace your existing 21/35 limited lenses, you might get frustrated as the primes produce better IQ overall. But if you want a small lens that is WR, silent, sexy and passable IQ during travel, this can do the job. | | | | | Senior Member Registered: October, 2017 Location: Hannover Posts: 163
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 19, 2018 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Rendering and colours, bokeh, low aberrations and flare, beautiful design and build. | | Cons: | Not terribly sharp nor fast, some distortion at 20mm | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 8
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-S2
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Yes, is not that sharp until stopped down.
Yes, is f2.8 only between 20 and 25mm.
Yes, there is some distortion at 20mm.
But I couldn't care less, even if it's a bit expensive. It renders beautifully, reproduce gorgeous colours and has that limited's pixie dust magic....plus really nice bokeh, specially for a not so fast zoom.
It is lightweight, compact, weather sealed, silent focusing, has fantastic build quality, handling and tactile feedback from the focusing and zoom ring.
And oh my, it's a beautiful, BEAUTIFUL lens...a Pentax limited with Takumar breed, without superfluous switches or rubber rings.
A must buy if you have other limiteds (I've 15 and 35 macro) IMHO, and a worthy addition to your lens lineup, if you don't.
    | | | | | Forum Member Registered: March, 2010 Location: Norfolk Posts: 85
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 16, 2018 | Not Recommended
| Rating: 6 |
| Pros: | Superb build, nice handling, good balance on hefty K-3 | | Cons: | IQ at wide end (20~30) frankly poor. Weird hood probably not much use. | | Sharpness: 5
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 3
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-3
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Found an 'as new' copy from a highy reputable dealer but returned it. Using my K-3 this lens was very soft at 20mm and 30mm zoom settings unless stopped down to at least f5.6, so I did some careful indoor comparison shots against the 18~55 version II kit lens and an old 18~35 FA-J from the film era. These two budget lenses easily out-performed the 20~40 'Limited' at the wide end. That's not how it is supposed to be.
A big price for mediocre performance and not worthy of the 'Limited' tag, in my opinion. Possibly unlucky to be landed with a rogue copy, but that's enough to put me off searching for another one. A real pity, as it's beautifully engineered and great to handle. Judging by this experience and some other comments Ricoh maybe have a quality control issue here.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: July, 2007 Location: Brampton, Ontario Posts: 3,996
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 21, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $600.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | very sharp, pleasing color rendition, light weight and WR | | Cons: | mild distortion at wide-end but easily corrected | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-1 and K-3
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I bought this lens in Japan, it was in 'best' used condition category. I used this lens exclusively on the k-3 until I bought the k-1 last year. I consider this lens a perfect walk-around lens for street photography because of the focal lengths that suits my shooting style. I also find this to be suitable for 'event' photography especially when I can get close to the subject (performer). I am really happy with the pleasing tonal range and lively characteristic images I get from this lens. Although this lens is designed for the cropped sensor, it is completely usable on the k-1 FF camera with some vignetting to be expected at the wide-end. I wish there is DFA version of this lens with similar specs so I can fully utilize it on my k-1 without worrying about vignetting. Here is an example of the image I got from a recent event (shot at 1/200 f4 iso1000)
 | | | | | Forum Member Registered: June, 2016 Location: Gislev Posts: 87
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 15, 2016 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Image Quality, Build, Handling, Zoom range, Size and Weight | | Cons: | None | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: Pentax K-3 II
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This is an extraordinarily good lens of perfect build quality.
Optically it's among the best on the market (I've tested mine against some renowned lenses - and it more than holds its own):
IQ is gorgeous being razor sharp at practical working apertures (I do not venture farther than f/11 on any lens, if I can help it). More over CA's, fringing (if any at all) and distortion are negligible. Flare and reflexes are next to non-existent (Sigma Art's are a pain in this department), and it does an unbelievable job of retaining information and details in highlights and shadows (something that distinguishes excellent lenses from the rest - ask Leica-aficionados).
The zoom range is perfect for street photography and the likes, and the size and weight of the lens - though larger than the rest of the DA-Limited lenses - are non obstructive. The Sigma Art's are way to large and heavy in comparison (I do, in fact, own a couple of them). On top of that, I do prefer lenses from the camera producers, as they do have their brand much more at stake - also in the mechanical build department - as compared to third party producers.
Did I forget to mention the Bokeh? Smooth, lovely and unbelievably buttery for a zoom - then again, this seems to be a prime lens with a variable focal length-type of lens.
IMHO this piece of Pentax-glass is worth every last penny - and if you still don't believe it, please read this review:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/sigma-18-35mm-f18-dc-hsm-art/introduction.ht...
Clearly a FIVE STAR Lens. And Pentax does make a lot of them ...
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