Pentax smc FA 43 mm f/1.9 Limited review - Summary

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Pentax smc FA 43 mm f/1.9 Limited

8 May 2011

Arkadiusz Olech

11. Summary

Pros:

solid, metal casing and high build quality,
sensational image quality in the frame centre,
moderate distortion,
slight astigmatism,
low vignetting,
good work against bright light,
high transmission,
fast and accurate autofocus.

Cons:

weak image quality on the edge of the frame,
huge chromatic aberration,
monstrous coma,
noisy autofocus,
price/quality ratio could have been better.

Perhaps the most immediate rival of the tested Pentax 1.9/43 is the Voigtlander Ultron 40 mm f/2 SL II Aspherical. The build quality, dimensions and parameters of both instruments are very similar. Both our tests showed clearly that the significantly cheaper Voigtlander fares better. One serious asset of the Pentax (although not equally important for everyone) is the fact that it features an autofocus. The overall impression after the test of the Pentax ? Compared to optical properties it can offer the price of the lens is definitely too high.

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Sample shots


Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/1.9, exp. 1/1000 s, ISO 200 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 8.11 MB	Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/1.9, exp. 1/640 s, ISO 200 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 7.86 MB	Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/1.9, exp. 1/500 s, ISO 200 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 8.53 MB

Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/1.9, exp. 1/3200 s, ISO 200 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 8.21 MB	Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/1.9, exp. 1/8000 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 8.22 MB	Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/1.9, exp. 1/180 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 7.61 MB

Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/2.2, exp. 1/1000 s, ISO 200 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 9.25 MB	Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/2.5, exp. 1/800 s, ISO 200 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 9.19 MB	Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/180 s, ISO 125 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 7.15 MB

Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/180 s, ISO 125 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 6.87 MB	Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/3200 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 8.28 MB	Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/640 s, ISO 200 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 8.11 MB

Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/180 s, ISO 200 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 6.98 MB	Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/180 s, ISO 200 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 7.95 MB	Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/400 s, ISO 200 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 11.42 MB

Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/160 s, ISO 200 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 10.84 MB	Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/800 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 8.96 MB	Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/180 s, ISO 500 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 8.22 MB

Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/180 s, ISO 500 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 6.32 MB	Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/8.0, exp. 1/400 s, ISO 400 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 6 MB	Camera: Pentax K-5 Parameters: 43 mm, f/8.0, exp. 1/180 s, ISO 1000 File: JPEG, 4928 x 3264 pix, 8.86 MB