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- Fast F2.4 maximum aperture for handheld photography in low lighting and depth of field flexibility.
- PENTAX Super Protect (SP) coating helps repel dust, water, and grease, making the lens easier to clean.
- Equivalent to 53.5mm in the 35mm format.
- Highly lightweight design for improved comfort and portability.
- An aspherical lens element helps to compensate for spherical aberration to maximize image quality.
- Developed specifically for PENTAX digital SLR cameras.
More Information SKU 103774 Price$239.95 Brand Pentax Product Salable Type Special Order EAN 0027075114623 Manufacturer Part Number (MPN) 21987 Fixed Focal Length 35mm Maximum Aperture f2.4 Minimum Focus 0.30 m Filter Diameter 49 mm Minimum Aperture f22 Dimensions 63.0 mm x 45.0 mm Image Stabilisation No Lens Mount Pentax Lens Type Standard Box Contents 49mm lens cap, rear cap Warranty 1 YEAR
- 49mm lens cap
- rear cap
Priced at around $199.00-$229.00 USD (I landed mine for $140.00 USD), indeed this lens is one of Pentax's most affordable lenses. It lacks some of Pentax's standard features such as a distance scale, weather sealing, and quick shift focusing, but as you'll see soon, the price and performance will likely make you forget about those specifications.
Special Features- Lets face it, it's a prime lens at a budget price. Not many features to relay here. But I will note that Pentax offers their Super SMC coating to the front element which should not be understated or taken for granted. If you clean your lens elements even half as much as I do, you'll appreciate this coating and how easily dust, oils, and water are wiped away.
Other than that, the front element does not rotate during focusing which makes for the use of circular polarizers. Pentax adorns the body of the lens with its notched grooves near the lens mount to make dismounting and mounting the 35mm f/2.4 an easier task by allowing you to keep a good grip on it.
Performance Overall the Pentax 35mm f/2.4 is a very good to excellent performer-especially for its price. Optically there is really nothing to complain about no matter how you dissect it, no matter what the cost. As you'll see below, the images back up my opinion of this lens's performance characteristics.
Focus Speed and Accuracy Primes like this tend to usually be quick and accurate- but with the use of the camera's focus motor I find it to be quicker than other micro motor models. Focus is fast albeit with the cost of additional noise. I found no issues with accuracy at any f-stop when mounted to the K5, K20D, or K200D.
Sharpness- From center outward this lens is sharp, starting right from its max aperture. Corners are only a tad soft at f/2.4, and really nothing to be concerned with. It reaches terminal velocity (rather, its best sharpness from corner to corner average) at about f/4, and only slightly decreases in overall resolution as you approach f/11. A very mild taper in sharpness in comparison to most lenses- rather impressive actually.
Pentax 21987 DA 35mm f/2.4 AL Lens for Pentax Digital SLR cameras
Personally I think the 50mm "standard" focal length (in this case equivalent after you factor in the 1.5x crop factor) is one of the most versatile focal lengths you can use when you decided to buy a prime lens.
Aberrations
Color fringing shows wide open but is quite mild and easily gone by f/4, not an issue here either. Again an excellent performance.The examples below show the mild color fringing on a high contrast target at f/2.4 and gone at f/4.
Flare is tame overall despite the lack of a lens hood of any kind. I'm very impressed with the performance here overall but its good to keep in mind that lenses of this focal length tend to do pretty good here in general.
Bokeh looks pretty darn good for a lens with an average magnification performance and a 6 blade aperture design. Likely this is due to the curved aperture blades creating more pleasing backgrounds in the larger aperture settings as shown by the samples below.
Pentax 21987 DA 35mm f/2.4 AL Lens for Pentax Digital SLR cameras
Maximum Magnification looks just slightly above average for lenses of this focal length unless you include the most very recent budget primes from other manufacturers that just hit the market- at this point its just an average performance. I'd have liked to see a better performance in this regard, perhaps at least matching the 18-55mm WR kit lens's 1:3 magnification ratio. As is though a pretty small area can be captured, then cropped if that is your desire. The high sharpness performance of this lens is certainly agreeable to this decision if you so choose to make it.
FINAL Conclusion
Pentax 21987 DA 35mm f/2.4 AL Lens for Pentax Digital SLR cameras
If you are comparing DSLR systems and looking at budget primes from all manufacturers, the Pentax may seem a bit high priced for the total package you get, but optically it may be the best of all the manufactures. Your emphasis for value is important to keep in mind, but if you are just looking for a lightweight excellent performing optic that stands up against optical tests very well, the Pentax 35mm DA f/2.4 is a good no brainer choice.
I liked this lens so much I decided not to return it to the retailer and use it almost daily on one of my own personal K5's. I do miss some of the features that Pentax is typically known for (weather sealing, quick shift focus) but not enough for me to return the lens. I can forgive it's plastic lens mount, and don't think a lens this light needs a metal one. I do enjoy it's low weight, nice sized focus ring, and its sharp as a tack, low distortion rendering much more than I miss some features.
What is a Pentax DA 35mm F2.4 al?
Manufacturer description: Standard, but versatile, the smc PENTAX DA 35mm F2.4 AL may be used to capture a wide range of subjects for high-resolution images with edge-to-edge sharpness. A perfect choice for digital SLR beginners to familiarize themselves with the basics of using interchangeable lenses. Image stab.
What is a 35mm f/2.4 AL lens?
The SMC Pentax-DA 35mm f/2.4 AL Lens is reviewed by John Riley. Traditionally, the standard lens for 35mm film cameras was the 50mm. With the advent of the APS-C sensor, the same field of view is now obtained with a lens of 35mm or thereabouts, and here we have such a lens from Pentax.
Is the Canon 35mm f/2 a good lens?
This said, the Canon 35mm f/2 IS is among the sharpest wide lenses I've tested, just like the 35mm f/1.4 L (1998-) and original 35mm f/2 (1990-).
Does the da 35mm have SP coating?
This lens features SP coating. For a limited period of time, the DA 35mm was available in 12 different colors to match different camera bodies. Despite being labeled as a DA lens (as opposed to DA L), it does NOT feature quick-shift focusing, and has a plastic bayonet and no distance scale on the focusing ring.
What is a 35mm f2 lens good for?
The f2 aperture it's sufficient for low light and for portraits. Overall it's a more go to lens for every situation, and it will excel in ever situation. The 35mm f1. 4 it's not weather sealed, it's a little bulkier and has a different focusing mechanism.
Is Canon 35mm f2 good?
You can even obtain good background blur for portraits. At a price of about $250, the Canon 35mm f/2 lens is a winner. In a few words, here's why. In blur tests, it's a standoff with the Canon 35 mm f/1.4 ($1150) and measurably better than the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX ($420).