HD Pentax-FA 35mm F/2 Lens Review

Pentax seems to have firmly committed to the future of the DSLR, swimming against the mirrorless tide but still seemingly being successful. That tide may or may not turn more fully in their favour, but, in the meantime, the camera range has been expanded and the lens range continues to be developed and tidied up. Part of this tidying-up process has been the upgrading of some classic film era lenses, first the two “new” 50mm primes, with the choice of either SMC or the new HD coatings, and now the 35mm f/2, complete with modernisation of the shell and upgrade to the HD coating. Can a lens that has basically survived as an optical design from the film era still be up to the demands of the 36MP full-frame K-1 DSLR? Let’s find out.

HD Pentax-FA 35mm F/2 Handling and Features

The lens belongs to a time when in general lenses were much more compact than they are now, and with much simpler optical designs. The first obvious sign of the upgrade is the bayonet fit petal lenshood, something that we now expect on lenses and definitely better than clip-on or screw-fit hoods. This, as expected, bayonets cleanly into place. Within the bayonet mount for the hood is a standard 49mm filter thread, a much more compact size than most current hoods, even on compact lenses.

That the lens is compact there is no doubt, weighing in at just 193g, or 213g with the hood. The dimensions are a svelte 64mm x 44.5mm. Just behind the hood is the slim focusing ring, and here the film-era credentials become apparent as there is no QuickShift clutch mechanism to allow full-time manual focus. MF has to be engaged on the camera to operate the ring. The focusing ring does rotate during AF operation though, so fingers need to be kept out of the way.

AF is fast and accurate but relies on a screw drive from a motor in the camera body, so silent it is not. The focusing scale is found beneath a plastic window, and close focusing is down to 0.3m, or 0.98 feet. This too is traditional. There is a depth of field scale provided, a nice touch but of limited accuracy. The closest focus point gives a maximum magnification of 0.17x.

An aperture ring is provided, with a button to lock the ring on “A” if required. For the purposes of DSLRs, this is the required setting to control apertures with the camera body. Unusually for current lenses, we are given a KAF mount, with all the electronic connections for modern cameras but also the mechanical linkages for film cameras. Some Pentax users have been asking for this feature to be reinstated for some time.

Optical construction is a traditional 6 elements in 5 groups, coating is the new HD (High Definition) and the front element has the Super Protect coating to repel dust, grease and moisture. The lens is not, however, weather-sealed, presumably because it has retained a traditional construction that precludes adding seals. It is freezeproof though, down to -10C. The diaphragm comprises 6 blades.

Whilst a full frame optic, it can also be used on any crop sensor APS-C format Pentax DSLR, where the field of view will be approximately 53.5mm in “35mm format” terms. This makes the lens a very useful wide standard on full frame and standard on APS-C.

In terms of handling, it is an absolute doddle to use, the only possible hazard being remembering to keep the fingers away from the rotating focusing ring when using AF. Other than that, it is light, compact and a pleasure to use. Let’s find out if it can also keep up with current DSLR requirements, given that the performance of traditional film lenses can be a mixed bag.  

HD Pentax-FA 35mm F/2 Performance

Looking at the sharpness results, this reminds us that older designs of lens do not necessarily shine in terms of MTF graphs. However, the results here are pretty good, especially centrally.

Central sharpness starts off as good at f/2, rising to very good from f/2.8 right through to f/16 and then dropping to good at f/22. The edges are fair at f/2, good from f/2.8 to f/5.6, very good at f/8 and f/11 and good at f/16 and f/22. An interesting result, not too surprising, and something to discuss later.

Pentax HD Pentax-FA 35mm F/2 MTF Charts

CA (Chromatic Aberration) is centrally very well controlled, the edges less so, but in practice colour fringing is not particularly obvious on most subject matter. If required, there are software solutions.

Pentax HD Pentax-FA 35mm F/2 Chromatic Aberration Charts

Distortion measures just -0.05% Barrel, which is very close to rectilinear.

Bokeh is the smoothness of the out-of-focus areas in an image, and despite the diaphragm only having 6 blades, the results are actually rather pleasant. This is an interesting trade-off with sharpness as very high-resolution lenses sometimes have quite harsh bokeh, the lower resolution here clearly pays off in other ways.

The new HD coating also pays off, and flare is virtually banished, even in the most demanding situations. This will be aided by the relatively small number of elements, and hence fewer internal reflective surfaces, as well as the coating and internal baffling of the lens.

Vignetting is fairly obvious at open aperture but soon settles to a more reasonable level as we stop down.

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Pentax HD Pentax-FA 35mm F/2 Sample Photos

Pentax HD Pentax-FA 35mm F/2 Aperture range

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Value For Money

The [AMUK]HD Pentax-FA 35mm f/2|Pentax+35mm[/AMUK] is priced at £359.

Alternatives for Pentax cameras include:

• [AMUK]SMC Pentax-DA 35mm f/2.4, APS-C|Pentax+35mm[/AMUK], £159
• [AMUK]HD Pentax-DA 35mm f/2.8 Macro Limited|Pentax+35mm[/AMUK], APS-C, £599
• [AMUK]HD Pentax-FA 31mm f/1.8 Limited, FF|Pentax+35mm[/AMUK], £999
• [AMUK]HD Pentax-FA 43mm f/1.9 Limited, FF|Pentax+35mm[/AMUK], £629

For full-frame users, there is no choice, but in any event, the Value for money seems sound.

HD Pentax-FA 35mm F/2 Verdict