Pentax SMCP-FA 77mm f/1.8 Limited Lens with Case and Hood

Not sure what I think about this lens, maybe best as a portrait lens. Maybe not so good for a street photographer, too much Boka...I havnt tried this lens out of automatic mode where I can shoot with a smaller aperture opening...

This is really an amazing lens with "retro" design. It comes with a nice leather bag. The lens feels great in hands, operation is smooth. I liked also the built-in retracting hood. The original cap is metal (as seen in some old lenses) and it sits on the hood itself (not on the front part of the lens, as usually). But there is absolutely no problem in using filters with this lens. Even if you put a screw-in filter of a standard thickness, the cap is long enougth to attach safely to the hood.The large maximum aperture allows you shooting indoors with available light.The bokeh of this lens is absolutely gorgeous. You have to see it! An excellent lens for head portraits. And it is good for 35 mm format too.I did not give 5 stars to this product mainly because the lens I have received had (and still has) a "bug". The aperture shape is visibly far from ideal at f/22 and this imperfection can still be seen at f/16. Ok, I know that this is not really affecting the image quality, and I will hardly ever shoot at f/22 or even at f/16. But I was disappointed to see such problem in the prime product. Well, the price tag certainly sets yout expectations high.What I do not know for sure, if this was a manufacturing defect, or something went wrong during shipping. But in either case it is not good.I prefer to buy lenses in stores for this reason, at least it is possible to see/check before buying. But I had no choice in this case.Another observation (much less important to me) is purple fringing in high contract situations when shooting at large apertures. It is only visible from wide open till f/3.5 in most cases. I can live easily with this.The lens focuses rather slowly (but acurately) with both my K10D and *istDs.My opinion (whatever other people may say) is that the lens is quite overpriced.And the last comment... Could be good if Pentax include a sort of "certificate of authenticity " with their Limited lenses. Not just the standard S/N card. The same goes to the manual, which shows the FA 50 mm lens on the cover page. It is a small thing, but when selling prime products the company should pay attention to such small things.Thanks for reading!UPD: Purple fringing may be more pronounced in some situations. I have noticed a significant amount of it when shooting even at f/5.6. In most cases those are reflections from flash.

I have a  Pentax K-5 16.3 MP Digital SLR with 3-Inch LCD (Black Body Only)  with  Pentax SMC DA* Series 16-50mm f/2.8 ED AL IF SDM Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Pentax Digital SLR Cameras and  Pentax SMC DA* Series 50-135mm f/2.8 ED IF SDM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Pentax and Digital SLR Cameras  lenses. I think this is a great set, as I get a huge range out of two quality lenses. I have been using the wide angle most of the time, probably 85-90%, as I find that it is a good general purpose lens and great for landscapes and most other situations unless a long lens is needed.However, I had one problem: If I was at a party or social gathering and wanted to take some extemporaneous portraits, the 16-50mm was not working well for me. For one, it is pretty heavy and bulky to lug around at a party. Secondly, it is a pretty big piece of glass to point at someone, and it can freak people out a little bit (the lens diameter is 77mm, and if you zoom to 35mm or beyond it telescopes out pretty far, giving the impression that you are getting in really close even when you are not). A lot of my subjects had a "deer in the headlights" look to them. Not to mention, it is a $1000 lens with "steal me" written all over it!That is why I picked up this great little lens. It is small and unassuming, but wow does it take breathtaking photos. I have been completely blown away by it. Don't let the images on Amazon fool you -- it looks plasticky and frankly a little junky on the images they show here, but in person it looks and feels very solid, although indeed there is a fair bit of plastic casing. With this lens you can sneak up on your friends and get great shots without their even noticing. The 50mm focal length I find is quite suited to this. And perhaps most importantly, the f1.4 aperture allows you to take photos in unusually low-light situations without a flash, not to mention remarkable bokeh effects. In situations where previously I would have left the DSLR at home, I have found myself snapping on this great little lens and bringing it along, and getting some really memorable shots as a result.Some reviewers here have described this as a good "walk around" lens. I'm not sure I would go that far, as the focal length is a bit long for my tastes on a DSLR for a lot of situations. But this is of course depends on your personal style whether you would prefer to use something wider. For portraits, this is now my go-to lens without question.

Phantasmagorical. How did I ever manage to take photos with any other lens? I have also bought a telephoto lens, but haven't used it yet.

Obiettivo pazzesco. Acquistato a prezzo estremamente basso, sono rimasto stupito dalla resa di questa leggera e compatta ottica. Da molti giudicato addirittura migliore del suo attuale sostituto il DFA 35mm che di fatto non offre alcun miglioramento effettivo, bensì risulta essere solamente un rinnovo estetico made in vietnam.Di recensioni online se ne trovano a palate, per cui scriverò solamente alcune considerazioni.Pregi:- Nitidezza davvero sorprendente, resa centro bordi molto buona e omogeneità anche sia nell'utilizzo ad infinito che nei close ups. A F2 contrasto già ottimo, aberrazioni quasi inesistenti, nitidezza al centro eccellente.- Nitidezza pazzesca anche ai bordi su FF K1 già a F4!- Sfocato, stacco, effetto 3D molto buono- Leggerezza e peso ridottissimi- Paraluce ben fatto con finestra per filtri polarizzatori! Filtro da soli 49mm- Af velocissimo e pure molto preciso. MFD 30cm- Pazzesco in controluce- Utilizzabile anche su pellicola con ghiera di messa a fuoco molto buona.Difetti- Diaframma a sole 6 lamelle e non arrotondate- Desidero di maggior luminosità massima per possibilità creative.Attenzione prodotto ricevuto non FOWA.Obiettivo davvero CONSIGLIATISSIMO

Acquistato per uso su APS-C in attesa di passare a FF con Pentax K-S1Sono molto soddisfatto dell'acquisto, ha un ottimo bokeh ed è molto luminosoUn po' morbido a TA ma già da f/2 è spettacolareAF preciso e abbastanza veloce, soffre un po' in situazioni di contro luce ma basta un po' di pratica ed il problema, se così si vuol definire, passa in secondo pianoIl mio modello non soffre di front/back è una delle lenti che uso maggiormenteIl rapporto qualità prezzo è ottimo anche se come modello è datato ha poco da inviadiare nei confronti di rivali

What I like about this lens:============- Has a manual aperture in addition to automatic, and it can be used with old film bodies- Fast 1.4 aperture for low light (not always usable, see below)- Size: it's small and light!- Auto-focus is pretty good, depending on which body you use and what your expectations are- When stopped down to 2.8 it's as sharp as anythingWhat I don't like about it:============- My copy had a severe front-focus issue, which I was able to compensate by configuring in-body correction to -10 (K-5 IIs)- At aperture F/1.4 it's reasonably sharp only in dead center. Edges and corners are very soft (not a problem for classic portrait)- It's plastic, so it doesn't inspire confidence. Have to be extra careful not to damage it- Chromatic aberrations are very pronounced. Sometimes it's very hard to fix them in post productionWith all that said, I decided to keep the lens since most of the photos come out looking very special and pretty.If you spend your time looking at individual pixels and measuring/comparing using test images, this is probably not the lens for you. I got a good deal on this one, probably because of the front-focus issue, so I'm pretty happy with it.With Amazon return policy, you should not be afraid to test it and see if it works for you.Hope this helps

Absolutely brilliant. Yes, it's not absolutely tack-sharp when wide open, but with my K10D's shake reduction turned on, you can pretty much shoot under candlelight if you have steady enough hands or a monopod. It also has lovely bokeh: an astonishing number of the shots I've taken that make people go "ooh" are with this lens. Best money I've ever spent on anything to do with my camera. Magic.