DA 50mm f1.8 lens for Pentax DSLR Cameras

I want to use this review to address a few questions other relative newcomers with conservative budgets might have. I own a K-30 that I bought with the 18-135mm zoom lens, which I like a lot. I'm not a camera or lens expert and I don't have a lot of discretionary camera money, so my questions when I started considering the purchase of a prime lens were 1) is it worth it, and 2) if so, which one should I get? I couldn't try any prime lenses out because there aren't any Pentax dealers in Hawai'i and I don't know anyone I can borrow from, so I pretty much had to do things backward: get a lens and see if it was worth it. I started a few months ago with the similarly-priced DA 35mm f2.4 AL, choosing it over the 50mm f1.8 for reasons that I can't remember now, and lo, it was in fact worth it. That lens has some issues but at its best, the sharpness and clarity compared to the 18-135mm -- which is a really nice lens -- astonished me. It's a different animal, most noticeably at 100% resolution a few stops down. The 35mm hooked me on prime lenses but it didn't make me any more financially sound, so this lens was the obvious next step. I'm very glad I took it. Like the 35mm, it's quite light but nicely constructed. When I ordered it I also ordered a hood and a UV filter, as I did for the 35mm, because if I'm going to break any glass I would prefer it to be something that doesn't run into three digits to replace. This lens takes a 52mm filter, while the 35 takes a 49mm one. I got B+W filters for both, and collapsible rubber hoods. I recommend this for the peace of mind if nothing else. A good filter won't affect the image and it will protect the lens. The reason I say that this lens isn't perfect is that it isn't weather-resistant, and the enjoyable weightlessness derives from the plastic construction. You're just not going to get a weather-resistant, all-metal lens for under $200. Beyond that, I have no complaints. If you're contemplating buying your first prime lens and you're choosing between this one and the 35mm, get this one. I wanted a relatively fast lens both for shooting in low light and for controlling the depth of field. Both the 35mm at f2.4 and the 50mm at f1.8 are relatively fast, but the 35mm loses some of its speed because it's pretty soft at maximum aperture: you just don't get a crisp image from edge to edge when it's wide open, so you can't use it wide open if you need that kind of sharpness. There are situations in which one doesn't need that, but if you do you're out of luck with the 35mm. Effectively, that makes the 50mm considerably faster than the 35mm because it looks quite sharp at the maximum aperture. You might have to shoot at f3.5 to get the same sharpness from the 35mm that you get from the 50mm at f1.8. (Don't take that for gospel; I haven't done a direct comparison, but that's around the point at which the 35mm starts to look much sharper across the frame than it does wide open.) Like most lenses the 50mm also gets sharper as the aperture gets smaller, but it looks really good at the maximum aperture as well. Basically, pictures in low light or with the narrowest depth of field are going to look better with the 50mm than they do with the 35mm. Both lenses tend to hunt some in low light, the 35mm a bit more than the 50mm, and they'll do the same trying to focus on clouds or misty landscapes. In good light with well-defined targets, they're both pretty quick and there's nothing much to recommend one over the other. I've had some purple fringing issues with the 35mm in high contrast images that haven't turned up in the 50mm to this point. I'm still happy I got the 35mm because the wider field of view is handy in tight quarters, but if I had to get one or the other I would choose the 50mm without hesitation. In addition to what I think is the clearly superior performance of the 50mm, for whatever reason I also find it a lot easier to compose shots with the 50mm than with the 35mm. I have no idea why that is and I'm sure it wouldn't be true for everybody, but I'm pretty sure that everybody would agree about the physical advantages of the 50mm over the 35mm. Because I shoot outdoors most of the time, and because outdoors in Hawai'i often means wind or blowing sand/dust or rain or all of the above simultaneously, the lack of weather resistance is a genuine issue with both of these low-cost primes. But I have the weather-resistant zoom if I really feel compelled to shoot 35mm or 50mm pictures in the rain, so I can hold off on the additional $500 or more that it would cost to get weather-resistant prime lenses at these focal lengths. Both lenses are really good deals for what they are. The advantage of the 35mm is that it's wider, obviously, but I say go ahead and get the 50mm and take a few steps back if you have to. It's just a wonderful lens and if you've confined yourself to one of the kit zooms so far, you'll be amazed by the image quality.

It's great to know that Pentax users don't need to spend a lot to get great quality optics. While the plastic no-frills build of this product may seem deceptively cheap, the end product is a lens that will complement any photographer's kit, whether beginner, hobbyist or professional. First, this lens is very light. The all-plastic construction means no extra weight, so carrying this lens around adds no noticeable bulk. It's also relatively compact for a 50mm lens, especially one that goes as wide as F1.8. Second, despite the plastic construction, the build tolerances of this lens are very tight. There's no slop anywhere, it just feels well-made. If the Pentax Limited lenses were made of plastic, they'd feel like this. And finally (or rather, most importantly), the optics in this lens are outstanding. This is a similar lens formula that Pentax has used in previous very successful products, but updated with more advanced coatings to excel on a digital camera. Items in focus are tack sharp, and the bokeh is dreamy both in front of and behind the in-focus subject. Colors are beautifully retained, and scenes are given a pleasantly warm tone. The F1.8 max aperture means this lens is great for low-light photography. It's not all roses though. There are a few drawbacks to the budget build. This lens does not have any focus scale anywhere. And Pentax's "quick shift" feature that allows you to adjust focus manually after auto-focus is not present on this product. There's no lens hood or case included, either. This is about as no-frills as you can get. But considering the price and the quality of the optics, I guess some sacrifices had to be made. Also, auto-focus speed can be disappointing. This product uses a screw-drive mechanism driven by the camera rather than a built-in motor, so auto-focusing is noisy. And the mechanism has a LOT of travel to it (for high accuracy), which means there's a lot of turning to do to get from close-focus to infinity. It still takes less than half a second to make the whole trip, but it seems somewhat slower than most of my other screw-drive lenses. On the upside, close-focus distance is remarkably short which makes for great close-up capability, especially for a non-macro lens. I acquired this lens to complement a lightweight "hobbyist" kit alongside the DA 35mm F2.4 for my Pentax K-x camera, and it's succeeded brilliantly for that purpose. However my husband has been borrowing it frequently for his more advanced kit (a Pentax K-5 with a full range of Limited lenses) which he uses for formal occasions and organized shoots. So this lens is seeing a lot of use since we got it, and we couldn't be happier with the results.

I was very hesitant to purchase this lens because of the plastic mount. I'm so grad I looked beyond that because this lens is excellent. It might be made of plastic but it is a gem. I own the FA 50mm f1.4 and have used it for over 5 years now. After using this lens I gave the FA 50mm f1.4 to my son. Sure, the FA 50mm f1.4 is faster but to get decent center sharpness I have to close to f2.0, the Pentax DA 50mm f1.8 already gives me that wide open with better edge performance. The lens has great sharpness, but most important, the sharpness is far more consistent across the full size of the frame. At f1.8 it is good, by f2.8 it is GREAT. Focus is nothing special, it is a mechanical driven AF system like most Pentax lenses. I have a K-3 so I have a powerful motor to back it up. AF accuracy has been really good. Any missed photos have been user error. I do recommend you get a hood. I got myself a rubber hood that has worked out really well. Manual focusing is fine but it would have been nice if it had Pentax quick shift system. For the price I can't complain. This lens is a newer design, worthy of the new Pentax sensors, a great addition to my lens collection.

This is my 5th lens in this 50mm range. I was wondering how this lens compares to the FA f/1.4 and SMC-M f/1.7. The other one is a 55mm f/1.8, which is somewhat of a different class for a different application. Finally, I have a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 which is my work horse for general use. This DA 50mm is a really fine lens. AF is fast and accurate, there is no need to make any AF adjustment on a K-5IIs or K-S2. The light weight is great; the plastic mount does not border me at all. Mechanically, it is solid. If you don't have another 50mm, get it. The price is right and performance is good. Wide open aperture is usable. Stopping down to f/2.2 improves sharpness quite a bit. It is quite easy to achieve the magic 3D look with good subject / background isolation, especially if you have the right composition and lighting condition. This is my main reason for getting a fast 50 mm to complement the Tamron zoom. I ultimately decided to return the lens because the performance is very similar to the f/1.4. For reason unknown to me, at same aperture of f/1.8 , the FA has a slightly narrower DOF than this DA. This is especially obvious at close distance. The SMC-M f/1.7 performs very similar to the FA f/1.4. If I did not need AF, I would be just happy to use the M f/1.7. I must emphasize that this is kind of splitting hair since I have multiple lenses in this range.

Good build quality, good optics (at least as good as my four other Pentax lenses). I'm not expecting it to match its cousin in the FA range or the new DA* alternative by any means. But it does have to compete with my DA 18-250, DA 55-300, and DA* 16-55 and it holds its own with all of them. I have no other lens that goes to f/1.8, wish this was to 1.4 but that's life and affordability. It's my first lens of single focal length and is gradually teaching me to look for subjects that are not a full capture of the entire scene but a composition within it. I've always tried to work that way with my zoom lenses, but I've noticed my habit has often been to pull back more and crop later. Committing to a 50 (and I hope someday a 35 or 24 at times) really does get you seeing differently, and having some nice "oh wow" moments when you get back to your workstation and see some of the previously unseen background sights that you didn't notice at the time of shooting. Or on the other hand the nice bokeh. Chromatic Aberration has not been too bad, but I've been following recommendations and not shooting wide open when the subject was backlit so I wouldn't expect too much of it either. I have no doubt it will show the typical Pentax purple fringe if I push it to wide open in backlit situations or with particularly bright specular highlights, water reflections, etc. But so far so good. Overall sharpness, resolution, and color rendering look good, but I'm still a little early in lens addiction to judge those full well, probably won't have as much to say until it's been more lenses for more years.

If you own a Pentax SLR or DSLR, then you should have this lens in your camera case even if it is the only fixed focal length lens that you own. It is both fast and sharp, and it is not expensive. Zoom lenses are what nearly everyone gets with their cameras and they are very nice lenses. They cover a wide range of a focal lengths. But the down side to zoom lenses are that they are slow and require a lot of light, comparatively. Fixed focal length lenses are usually faster and sharper. (Usually!) You can get better photos in less light, or with fast moving people or objects with a fixed focal lens. This lens happens to be a very good lens, and it is also a reasonably fast lens at f1.8. And I have always considered the Pentax lenses to be as sharp as any other camera makers' lenses. Additional comment October 8, 2014 If you plan on doing any really close-up or macro photography with the Pentax bellows or an extension tube set, possibly with a reversing ring mount, then you will need a fixed focus or prime lens. Zoom lenses sometimes have close focus settings, but they don't compete with a prime lens. This one fits the bill nicely.

So after wanting a fast prime lens for a while, I finally plunged on this from Amazon's WarehouseDeals when I needed to start taking better photos for my eBay store. I use this with my K-S2 and it works fantastic. I was a little hesitant as I wanted to keep all of my lenses weather-sealed, but I decided to settle. I was not disappointed at all. Build-quality is about what I was expecting, a plastic housing, but with solid feel. As with many AF-capable Pentax lenses, the focusing is a bit loud - but not a deal breaker. Using this lens at it's extremes is certainly not for everything due to such a narrow focus-point and a common side-effect of vertical chromatic aberration, but moving it up a couple of stops is fantastic. I frequently take photos when out hiking and I used this lens for the first time for that over the past weekend. I took my other lenses too, but I found that I enjoyed shooting with this so much that I didn't even consider swapping it out. Both indoors for my product photos and outdoors, I'm able to capture fantastic and predictable shots, unlike with other lenses. Also, using a prime lens really forces you to be more creative with your shots. So far I've taken some of my favorite shots with this with f2.8 - f3.5. The only downside is that now I'm considering picking up some other similar lenses because I'm enjoying this so much. I have attached a few of my photos (which are basically straight out of the camera, no processing).

Amazing lens and super fast shipping.