Lens review

Pentax smc FA 35 mm f/2 AL

11. Summary

Pros:

• small dimensions in relatively solid barrel,
• excellent image quality in the frame centre, including the maximum relative aperture,
• good image quality at the frame edge,
• acceptable chromatic aberration,
• slight distortion,
• well-controlled astigmatism,
• very good work against bright light,
• the lowest vignetting in its class.

Cons:

• lack of a fully fledged manual focus ring,
• unreliable autofocus.

If you look closely at the accomplishments of the tested lens’s optics, you can find that it is the best 2/35 class instrument tested by us. The differences between competitors aren’t big, though, and a Zeiss 2/35 test, which has been waiting in the drawer, can (but doesn’t have to) still show us the highest achievements possible for such parameters.

The Pentax 2/35 gets some negative points in areas where its rivals fared very well – we lack the opportunity of comfortable manual focusing and the autofocus is far from accurate.

Despite these two flaws the lens can certainly be recommended and I am sure it will have a considerable group of happy users.

Sample shots:

Camera: Pentax K20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/5.0, exp. 1/180 s, ISO 100 File: JPG, 4672x3104 pix, 7.7 MB	Camera: Pentax K20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/5.0, exp. 1/180 s, ISO 100 File: JPG, 4672x3104 pix, 7.5 MB	Camera: Pentax K20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/9.0, exp. 1/180 s, ISO 100 File: JPG, 4672x3104 pix, 9.0 MB
Camera: Pentax K20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/2.0, exp. 1/250 s, ISO 400 File: JPG, 4672x3104 pix, 9.7 MB	Camera: Pentax K20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/4000 s, ISO 200 File: JPG, 4672x3104 pix, 10.0 MB	Camera: Pentax K20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/2500 s, ISO 200 File: JPG, 4672x3104 pix, 9.8 MB
Camera: Pentax K20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/2.0, exp. 1/400 s, ISO 200 File: JPG, 4672x3104 pix, 8.4 MB	Camera: Pentax K20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/2.0, exp. 1/250 s, ISO 200 File: JPG, 4672x3104 pix, 9.4 MB	Camera: Pentax K20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/160 s, ISO 200 File: JPG, 4672x3104 pix, 9.4 MB
Camera: Pentax K20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/250 s, ISO 200 File: JPG, 4672x3104 pix, 8.9 MB	Camera: Pentax K20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/6.3, exp. 1/800 s, ISO 200 File: JPG, 4672x3104 pix, 11.1 MB	Camera: Pentax K20D Parameters: 35 mm, f/2.0, exp. 1/1250 s, ISO 200 File: JPG, 4672x3104 pix, 9.0 MB