Pentax 35mm Limited Lens Review
I recently decided that I would upgrade my lens collection and purchase only Pentax's Limited lenses. I've used numerous zoom lenses on various SLR camera but have never found one that truly excels in all areas. Admittedly, I wasn't purchasing the absolute top of the range zooms, but I did have the Canon 17-40L on a 50D which was supposedly the pinnacle of my collection.
It was then I found a new Pentax 35mm Limited lens for £369 and decided to go ahead and purchase it. I've always been excited when buying a new lens. Going out for an initial test shoot and then uploading the images on to the PC. In almost every occasion I have done this I've felt let down by the image quality, the only exception being from my Fuji X100 camera.
I uploaded the first images and fired up Photoshop. First impression was 'Wow'. The images I'd taken were absolutely pin sharp, edge to edge, with a clarity of colour and depth that I was blown away by. It is the first lens I have ever bought for the digital age that I was over the moon with in nearly 10 years. It was then I knew I'd bought a cracking lens and that Pentax's Limited lenses are the way forward for me; no more mediocre zoom lenses or plastic barreled primes.
The 35mm Limited lens is a tiny jewel. It has an air of pure quality which is rare in the plastic digital age. It put to shame anything I had bought before and only the Canon L glass I'd owned came close. It has a crop factor of 1.5x so on the K5 has an angle of view of 53mm. It is a macro lens, the only one in a Limited lens, with a 1:1 magnification which means you have to get in close.
The barrel is milled from aluminium and has a cold, heavy feeling in the hand. The focusing ring is smooth and damped and wobble is not present at all. It exudes quality and harks back to the days before digital when I was used to using Zuiko lenses on my Olympus film camera.
There is a handy built in hood and a very nice felt lined metal lens cap. The lens will take a 49mm filter and the barrel does not rotate during focusing so you can use a polariser without problem. The hood does extend quite far so it isn't really practical when using the macro setting.
F2.8 is moderately fast and can produce nice bokeh when shot at that aperture. This focal length and maximum aperture should appeal to photographers used to older 50mm lenses on film cameras.
Focusing is auto and controlled by the screw drive from the Pentax body. This means it may not be as fast or noise free as those with a built in ultra sonic motor but the lens travel is very short so makes little impact. Noise isn't a problem as it's quick to focus. Manual focusing is a joy as it uses the quick shift mechanism meaning you don't have to switch from AF to MF, just turn the barrel (like we used to do).
Sharpness is first class. Edges at 2.8 are a tad softer than the centre but stop down to F4 and everything is tack sharp edge to edge. There is little distortion and flare is almost non existent. Chromatic aberrations are well controlled with no colour fringing in high contrast areas.
I can't recommend this lens highly enough. It's awesome and for me puts Pentax ahead of Canon and Nikon. When out and about, I always takes note of people shooting Pentax, I always feel they are photographers and not just picture takers. Canon and Nikon grab the highest share of the market but anyone contemplating getting an SLR will do worse that purchasing a K5, K5ii or K3 and this little beauty.
Pros
Build Quality
Smooth Bokeh
Macro
Colour rendition
Dynamic Range
Cons
Hood at macro setting
Limited focal range
