| Latest Review Posted | SMC Pentax-DA 35mm F2.4 AL
My girlfriend has this lens and as such I use it from time to time and have seen plenty of photos taken by this lens. Bottomline - if you're looking for a prime and you're on a budget, this is the one to buy.
I'll start with the not so great things about this lens. Which is pretty much everything mechanically. There's no lens hood, no quick-shift, no metal and no distance scale, all of which is a pity. The front element sticks out rather weirdly from the body of the lens, and with the omission of a lens hood this always looks rather scary to me. However, this lens does cost a lot less than it's limited sisters, and in light of that I would say these omissions are not too much of an issue. Though a lens hood would definitely be a requirement for me, there are 3rd party hoods available to alleviate this problem.
Now, optics. This lens takes awesome photos. f2.4 might sound slow but the DoF you can create is still plenty thin (someone suggested this lens is actually faster, the cover-up could be a move by Pentax to not threathen the sales of their more expensive prime lenses). The bokeh is smooth and the lens is sharp at every aperture. There's not much in the way of any abberations.
As long as you're not too upset by the plastic housing this lens comes in, this is a great little lens. Light, too. |
