HD PENTAX-FA35mmF2 Versatile Wide-Angle Lens Latest HD Coating minimizes Flare and Ghost SP Coating to Repel Stains New Exterior Design Hybrid aspherical Lens for Extra-Clear, high-Contrast Images

I have a large collection of Pentax and Takumar lenses. Pentax cameras and lenses have gotten very heavy lately which discourages me from taking the camera with me, thus I have ended up using my iPhone to get chance shots more often than I'd prefer. I like to use manual focus and the newer lenses have very stiff focus which is also geared for fast autofocus rather than accurate and pleasing manual focus use. This lens is a great antidote to these modern Pentax design issues. The size and weight is fantastic, it's sharp, it doesn't vignette much and it has great contrast with the modern coatings. I am carrying my camera more often and getting great images. I also really like the old classic 35mm f3.5 Takumar but I feel this is a modern version of that lens in terms of usage and quality. Highly recommended. Now if Pentax would just update the K1 with a plastic body to reduce the weight...

This lens fits both my K-1 ii and K-5 ii cameras and is very compact but providing excellent picture quality for an affordable price. Great for those landscapes and family shots. Also the f2 is fast and gives some creativity with the f stop choice.It arrived quickly very well packed but a little dusty on outside however this was easily blow cleaned.

HD FA 35mm Lens Review:======================WOW. This lens REALLY holds onto that traditional Pentax appeal. Really reminiscent of the old FA line of lenses, particularly looking like the FA 35mm f2 from years past, only very updated.Great feel in the hands, great look on the cams, solid in the hand and on the camera, very very fast focus in Live View on both the K3 and K1. Very sharp center at f2.2 on the K1, not certain of the K3, K5 - f 2.5 f2.8 suits them better ... does not have so much a bight in the center at f2.2.Bokeh CA, or bokeh fringing, is almost horrid. I have black dogs and their fur is magenta/cyan beaded so heavily their black fur is pinkish in photos. In the shade when shooting outdoors and the White Balance can go awry with heavy shadow hues at the 6500k mark while the camera is struggling to keep a warmer 4500k balance, again my dogs are pink. Frustrating.However, I can fix this in RAW somewhat as it seems most any photo I really like I end up editing in RAW anyway. But it does take extra work... a lot. The bokeh CA / fringing is really that bad.What else to say.... vignetting. Well, it is quite exactly where you would expect it at f2-2.8 being heavy, some present f2.8 to f4, gone thereafter f4 on up .... even on Full Frame it seems gone at f4 - f6.BIGGEST ISSUE - Bokeh transitions can be busy / dizzy at f2 - f2.5 when shooting the right distances or lengths of transitions are in that "funny zone" that challenges the lens. This lens can have the appearance of being a standard zoom instead of a fine prime when bokeh / oof transitions are challenged. I will say, the FA 24-70 does much better and MUCH cleaner when it comes to bokeh. In fact, however, the FA 24-70 is the best dang Center Subject lens I have ever seen - for stills and portrait (absolutely NOT for landscape as borders suffer 30mm - 40mm on that lens).This HD FA35mm is killer sharp corner to corner at f7.1 already, not needing to stop to f9-f12 to get perfect even sharpness like you need to for landscape shots using other lenses.BIGGEST NOTE - this is a screw driven lens, and that does not bug me one bit given this allows to have such a tiny lens instead of another annoying BEAST attached. This is a nice break really, and personally, being a landscape shooter and stills shooter, the screw drive can help me feel assured I am locked onto the subject.A NOT SO HUMBLE RANT:=====================I would like to say - THANK YOU, Pentax !!!I was ticked when you re-released the entire FA lens collection throwing a red ring on the lenses and improving nothing when Ricoh first took over IN 2014/15. We needed REAL lenses to update our line up at the time and you failed us on this issue, especially throwing a useless and slow f2.8 / f4 20-40mm with soft corners at a staggering 1200 bucks at us. But, 3 years later, Pentax had, in my opinion, come from having only SOME good glass in the way of small and well made primes, but OUTDATED, to updating an entire line of lenses. I own a slew of the old and now new lenses and I am SO DAMN PLEASED with the new lenses. Nikon and Canon are shaking in their shoes these days, thanks to Pentax and Sony shaking up the APSC / Full Frame sector and Panasonic in the MFT. (Oh, look out for Fujifilm - check out what they are doing!!! Mind blowing that Fujifilm was nothing in 2014 and now have a bomb shell Full Frame already that took Pentax a full decade to achieve. Fufifilm is making the best lenses on the market today, bar none, especially their primes). But, as it stands in 2019, overall, Pentax really is the cream of the crop now without paying 5 grand for a camera body. Lenses like this HD FA 35mm for a measely 400 bucks, the FA 15-30, FA 24-70, FA 50mm, the 3 amigos FA primes, and even the OUTSTANDING walk around lens, the FA 28-105 (that makes for an incredible Professional Landscape Lens) really makes great photography possible for shooters and Penax really owns the mid range / upper mid range market thanks to this more recent updated line of lenses like these listed. I mean, really, look what Pentax has done in 5 years. WOW again.Pentax has gone from being behind Nikon and Canon on modern lenses, to having a just a few modern Pentax lenses that are in the perfect focal length ranges and OUTPERFORMING the Nikon and Canon equivalents. IF, and it is a big IF, Pentax had the fast AF subject tracking that Nikon has and Canon nearly has, Pentax really would take over the market.As it is, Nikon, Canon, Sony, Fuji, Panasonic, and Pentax all have their places in the APSC and Full Frame Market. To date, Pentax is still thee most over all recommended Landscape / Architectural cameras to use in those fields, and for GREAT still photography, I would choose no other. And, it is VERY apparent, that Pentax knows this and continues to aim to make the most elegant, yet rugged, sharp shooting cameras aimed at performing in the challenging outdoor environment while maintaining crisp, high dynamic range photos composed by dead accurate, albeit slow focusing, auto focus systems. KUDOS. That is a VERY targeted market goal that yields GREAT results.BACK TO THE HD FA 35mm: IN SUMMARY==================================I bought this HD-FA 35mm on a whim. Not certain I needed it, but this lens REALLY makes some nice Full Frame snaps. Crazy depth and bizarre perspectives can be captured using this 35mm. Sharp enough to get good results, feels great doing it thanks to this elegant construction and quick, decisive Autofocus. For the most part, contrasty images, good color, good over all photographs, but watch for the bokeh fringing. Otherwise a spectacular 400 dollar purchase.

As a Pentaxian (is that a word?) I am a huge fan of Pentax lenses. They seldom disappoint. This one is for full frame cameras like the K1 series, but could be used with the K3 or other APS-C types with a 1.5 focal length multiplier. Wide open it is sharp, stopped down it's good for landscapes or broad city scenes. Recommended.

This lens has excellent image quality & works well in low light situations.

Love this lens. Very sharp with high contrast. It is now on my camera more than any other lens.

Good lens value, but lacks weather resistance of the WR versions. Autofocus works well and overall I am happy with the lens performance.

...which is my favorite everyday gear on my K-70!I am very happy with it!

Es un lente muy versátil y de gran calidad, compacto que se puede utilizar desde macro hasta paisaje sin perder un detalle.

35mm Objektive setze ich schon viele Jahre an APS-C Pentax DSLRs ein, genauer gesagt das 35er Limited. Mit dem Umstieg auf die K1 II brauchte ich ein Vollformat taugliches 35er, da ich hoffe mit dieser Brennweite auch an Vollformat viel anfangen zu können. Vor allem für Landschaftsfotos und auf Wanderungen als leichtes Weitwinkel und Standardlinse.Das Objektiv selbst ist sehr klein und super leicht, weshalb es sich zum Beispiel als gutes Objektiv auf Wanderungen eignet. Dazu kommt noch eine relativ große Offenblende von f2, die sehr gute nutzbar ist. An APS-C ist die Offenblende uneingeschränkt nutzbar, an Vollformat hab ich eine leichte Vignetierung festgestellt, die bei 2.8 aber schon nicht mehr sichtbar ist. Zumal man diese mit einem guten RAW Entwicklertool auch schnell korrigieren kann. Der Fokus sitzt bei meinem Exemplar auf dem Punkt und das recht schnell. Die Schärfe ist meiner Meinung nach exzellent schon ab Offenblende und lässt für mich keine Wünsche offen.Ich kann das 35er f2 sehr empfehlen

Possesseur de l'excellent modèle SMC sorti en 1999 , la version HD de ce 35mm f/2.0 affiche encore un meilleur contraste sur mon K-1 bien que globalement le piqué soit similaire sur les 2 exemplaires. De par sa nouvelle finition cosmétique, la bague de mise au point est plus agréable au toucher. Enfin, l'agréable surprise est venue du temps de réponse de l'autofocus qui s'avère vraiment, vraiment plus rapide bien que sa technologie soit encore de type "screw-drive".

A nice fast lens for the Pentax K1, not too wide, not too long. A true walkaround lens. Works out about a 52mm lens on APS-C bodies so not as impressive. Image quality is top notch too.

Very soft on one side so decentered. Also soft wide open. Expected more for the price.