Pentax SMCP-FA 31mm f/1.8 AL Limited

Review Date
June 17, 2005

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
2.00 of 5, 2 votes

Reviewed by
ido , Intermediate

Price Paid
$890.00 at B&H

Photography Experience
21+ years , Outdoor

Summary
amamzing lens. the best i ever had. very sharp and the bokeh is creamy & smooth. flare control great. best even in open aperture.

Strengths
all aspects but the winer in sharpness

Weaknesses
none

Review Date
May 25, 2005

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2 votes

Reviewed by
Lance B , Intermediate

Price Paid
$800.00

Photography Experience
21+ years , Outdoor

Summary
This lens is amazing. Super sharp eve wide open, with excellent creamy bokeh and beautiful vivid contrasty colours. I think the best way to describe the image quality is that it is creamy smooth with a 3D look.

Strengths
Super Sharp even wide open.
Creamy bokeh
Vivid contrasty colours
3D appearance of the image.
It's like a "standard" lens on the *ist D/DS.
Superb build quality.

Weaknesses
I little large for this type of lens.
Price

Similar Products Used
Pentax FA 77mm limited

Review Date
January 11, 2004

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 2 votes

Reviewed by
Alan Chan , Intermediate

Price Paid
$0.00

Photography Experience
11-20 years , Outdoor

Summary
Optically, this lens is close to perfect. Sharpness is unbelievably good wide open. Flare control is excellent. Almost round shape aperture is a plus.

Strengths
Metal construction.
Excellent sharpness.
Excellent flare control.
Almost round shape aperture.

Weaknesses
Fixed hood.
Bulky and expensive as a wide angle prime. The FA35/2 could be a better buy.

Customer Service
I have checked 4 samples and only 1 had nice and smooth focus ring. The other 3 felt a little rough and loose, but that was just the feel, nothing to do with the actual operation.

Review Date
October 14, 2003

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 4 votes

Reviewed by
, Casual , from Hong Kong

Price Paid
$0.00

Photography Experience
6-10 years , Outdoor

Summary
I pointed the lens directly to the sun at 4pm, no flare was found on slide. Excellent flare control. Almost no distortion which may be due to 31mm, not too wide. Vignetting is very very little at wide open. Sharpness is also very good. Very well built lens body. 31mm range is suitable for many topics and become my first chosen lens in my camera bag.

Strengths
Excellent in all aspects!!!!

Weaknesses
Price, paid HK$5900. But I want to keep a whole set of limited lenses, OK then.

Similar Products Used
35mm of different brands.

Customer Service
No experience.