Pentax Lenses
Encyclopedia
Pentax DA and DA* lenses are the current lens line for Pentax digital SLR cameras
. They use the Pentax KAF Mount. All of these lenses have an autofocus
feature, either operated from the camera body or from an internal SDM motor. Pentax compatible lenses are also made by third-party companies.
. Pentax began supplying lenses under the Pentax name in the early 1970s, using a bayonet (K) mount. In addition to the 35mm line, Pentax added professional 645 and 67 format cameras to its lineup. Pentax has designed its digital SLR cameras to be compatible with any Pentax K mount and M42 screwmount (with a Pentax adapter) ever made, and thus providing, countless lens possibilities. 35mm and 645 lenses optimized for digital cameras are currently in production.
Another feature that sets Pentax lenses apart from other manufacturers is that many of their top line lenses, like their camera bodies, are weather proof, allowing for their continued use in poor weather and wet locations. Pentax currently provides weather sealed premium lenses up 300mm, and by special order, the FA*600mm. The largest lens produced by Pentax was the Reflex 2000mm, with non-mirrored lenses available up to the A* 1200mm. With all major manufacturers, super telephotos of this range are no longer in production. Pentax provided premium focal lengths well beyond 1200mm, such as their 3800mm through the Pentax telescope division. Tamron and Sigma also produce a significant number of "third-party" lenses for Pentax cameras.
.
digital sensor. As the APS-C sensor has a smaller surface area than 35mm film, these lenses are not generally considered to be compatible with older cameras. They also lack an aperture ring, limiting their use on cameras that do not support automatic aperture settings.
The Pentax-developed SDM (Silent Drive Motor) is used in upper level or professional lenses like DA 17-70mm and all the DA* series. These lenses are operated by an internal micro ultrasonic motor, which allows the lens to refrain from using the camera's focusing motor. Unlike other manufacturer, most of the Pentax-developed SDM lenses are backward compatible with in-camera screw-driven AF except DA 17-70mm and DA* 55mm 1.4 which are SDM-only. The SDM mechanism is claimed to provide smoother and quieter focusing. Pentax utilized the same power contacts for SDM with power zoom power contacts, but with different voltage. The first Pentax cameras to support SDM lens were the K10D (firmware 1.30 or later) and K100D Super. These and subsequent Pentax DSLR bodies support both SDM and in-camera screw-driven AF.
Digital single-lens reflex camera
Most digital single-lens reflex cameras are digital cameras that use a mechanical mirror system and pentaprism to direct light from the lens to an optical viewfinder on the back of the camera....
. They use the Pentax KAF Mount. All of these lenses have an autofocus
Autofocus
An autofocus optical system uses a sensor, a control system and a motor to focus fully automatic or on a manually selected point or area. An electronic rangefinder has a display instead of the motor; the adjustment of the optical system has to be done manually until indication...
feature, either operated from the camera body or from an internal SDM motor. Pentax compatible lenses are also made by third-party companies.
History
Takumar lenses were primarily supplied with Pentax cameras through the 1950s and 1960s using the M42 (Pentax) ScrewmountM42 lens mount
The M42 lens mount is a screw thread mounting standard for attaching lenses to 35 mm cameras, primarily single-lens reflex models. It is more accurately known as the M42 × 1 mm standard, which means that it is a metric screw thread of 42 mm diameter and 1 mm thread pitch...
. Pentax began supplying lenses under the Pentax name in the early 1970s, using a bayonet (K) mount. In addition to the 35mm line, Pentax added professional 645 and 67 format cameras to its lineup. Pentax has designed its digital SLR cameras to be compatible with any Pentax K mount and M42 screwmount (with a Pentax adapter) ever made, and thus providing, countless lens possibilities. 35mm and 645 lenses optimized for digital cameras are currently in production.
Controls and features
Unlike many manufacturers, Pentax provides "shake reduction" (SR) functionality within the camera, instead of inside each lens to be purchased. This is advantageous as any lens can be used with full SR functionality, and the lenses are cheaper to manufacture as they do not require any shake reduction equipment inside.Another feature that sets Pentax lenses apart from other manufacturers is that many of their top line lenses, like their camera bodies, are weather proof, allowing for their continued use in poor weather and wet locations. Pentax currently provides weather sealed premium lenses up 300mm, and by special order, the FA*600mm. The largest lens produced by Pentax was the Reflex 2000mm, with non-mirrored lenses available up to the A* 1200mm. With all major manufacturers, super telephotos of this range are no longer in production. Pentax provided premium focal lengths well beyond 1200mm, such as their 3800mm through the Pentax telescope division. Tamron and Sigma also produce a significant number of "third-party" lenses for Pentax cameras.
SMC lenses
The first generation of Pentax K-mount lenses with the SMC coating, these were exclusively manual focus lenses with no automatic features.M lenses
The M series of lenses followed on from the earlier SMC lenses. As with the earlier lenses, these were manual K-mount lenses without any automatic features. Some later Pentax digital cameras have had difficulty using the SMC and M lenses due to the lack of an automatic aperture setting.A lenses
Another K-mount lens, the A series of lenses saw the introduction of "automatic" aperture settings. The lenses had an aperture ring (unlike the later DA series), and thus the aperture could be set manually, but they also had an "A" mode, which allowed the camera to control the aperture automatically.F lenses
The F series were autofocus lenses. They featured an aperture ring, which allowed the aperture to be controlled manually. Thus F lenses are able to be used on older cameras which do not support automatic setting of the aperture, such as the Pentax K1000Pentax K1000
The Pentax K1000 is an interchangeable lens, 35 mm film, single-lens reflex camera, manufactured by Asahi Optical Co., Ltd. from 1976 to 1997, originally in Japan. It uses a horizontal travel, rubberized silk cloth focal plane shutter with a speed range of 1/1000 second to 1 second, along with...
.
FA lenses
These lenses are designed with use for full-frame film SLR cameras. As with the F series, they feature an aperture ring providing compatibility with older camera bodies.FA-J lenses
These were largely identical to the FA series of lenses, but lacked the aperture ring. As a result they are not compatible with some older manual focus cameras, as there was no method of setting the aperture other than through the camera body.D FA lenses
These lenses are coated with glazes that make the lenses more suitable for digital cameras. However, they also support older 35mm camera formats, as they provide "full frame" coverage.DA lenses
The DA lenses were designed specifically for the Pentax digital cameras incorporating a APS-CAPS-C
Advanced Photo System type-C is an image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the Advanced Photo System "classic" size negatives...
digital sensor. As the APS-C sensor has a smaller surface area than 35mm film, these lenses are not generally considered to be compatible with older cameras. They also lack an aperture ring, limiting their use on cameras that do not support automatic aperture settings.
DA-L lenses
Similar to the DA series, these are smaller and lighter lenses than the DA models, but have a plastic (as opposed to steel) mount and lack the quick-shift focusing system of their heavier siblings.DA* lenses
The DA* lenses are designed for use with Pentax digital SLR cameras. DA* lenses have higher quality optics than the DA series and are typically have the distinction of being weather sealed to match the weather sealed capabilities of the Pentax K10D, K200D, K20D, K7 an K5 DSLR camera bodies. The DA* lenses are more expensive and generally feature improved light transmission and larger aperture openings for better low light performance. Some DA* lenses also feature both body driven screw drive focusing and the Pentax SDM (Sonic Drive Motor) lens based focus mechanismDA Limited lenses
These are high quality prime lenses with the lens housing made of nicely crafted metal. Also, they usually have a bigger aperture compared to zooms but smaller as compared to other prime lenses. This is a compromise as DA Limiteds are usually made to be much more compact than other primes lenses.Silent Drive Motor (SDM)
[This section contains many erroneous facts. It needs cleaning up!]The Pentax-developed SDM (Silent Drive Motor) is used in upper level or professional lenses like DA 17-70mm and all the DA* series. These lenses are operated by an internal micro ultrasonic motor, which allows the lens to refrain from using the camera's focusing motor. Unlike other manufacturer, most of the Pentax-developed SDM lenses are backward compatible with in-camera screw-driven AF except DA 17-70mm and DA* 55mm 1.4 which are SDM-only. The SDM mechanism is claimed to provide smoother and quieter focusing. Pentax utilized the same power contacts for SDM with power zoom power contacts, but with different voltage. The first Pentax cameras to support SDM lens were the K10D (firmware 1.30 or later) and K100D Super. These and subsequent Pentax DSLR bodies support both SDM and in-camera screw-driven AF.
Camera compatibility
Pentax claims that all their auto-focus cameras are backward compatible with K-mount lenses dating back as far as 1975 without need for an adaptor. However, some limitation apply to K and M series lenses. All Pentax and Samsung D-Xenogon lenses are interchangeable since Samsung adopted K-mount on their camera bodies. The Samsung GX-10 and GX-20 are the only two models compatible with SDM lenses.List of some later generation Pentax lenses
| Lens | Aperture | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 10-17mm Fish Eye | F3.5-4.5 | DA |
| 12-24mm | F4.0 | DA |
| 16-45mm | F4.0 | DA |
| 17-70mm | F4 | DA |
| 18-55mm Pentax DA 18-55mm lens The SMC Pentax-DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL lens is a standard zoom lens for the Pentax K mount. It is often sold as a kit lens with Pentax digital SLR cameras and has a 35mm equivalent focal length of 27-82.5mm... |
F3.5-5.6 | DA |
| 18-55mm II Pentax DA 18-55mm lens The SMC Pentax-DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL lens is a standard zoom lens for the Pentax K mount. It is often sold as a kit lens with Pentax digital SLR cameras and has a 35mm equivalent focal length of 27-82.5mm... |
F3.5-5.6 | DA |
| 18-55mm Pentax DA 18-55mm lens The SMC Pentax-DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL lens is a standard zoom lens for the Pentax K mount. It is often sold as a kit lens with Pentax digital SLR cameras and has a 35mm equivalent focal length of 27-82.5mm... |
F3.5-5.6 | DA L |
| 18-135mm | F3.5-5.6 | DA |
| 18-250mm | F3.5-6.3 | DA |
| 20-35mm | F4 | FA |
| 28-80mm | F3.5-5.6 | FA J |
| 28-105mm | F3.2-4.5 | FA |
| 50-200mm | F4-5.6 | DA |
| 50-200mm | F4-5.6 | DA L |
| 55-300mm | F4-5.8 | DA |
| 55-300mm | F4-5.8 | DA L |
| 75-300mm | F4.5-5.8 | FA J |
| 14mm | F2.8 | DA |
| 15mm | F4 | DA Limited |
| 21mm | F3.2 | DA Limited |
| 35mm | F2.8 | DA Limited |
| 35mm | F2 | FA |
| 40mm Pentax DA 40mm Limited lens The SMC Pentax-DA 40mm f/2.8 Limited lens is a pancake lens for the Pentax K mount. At only 0.6 in long, it is the smallest lens currently made by Pentax. The lens has a 35mm equivalent focal length of 60mm; it is part of the Limited series of high-performance compact prime lenses.- External... |
F2.8 | DA Limited |
| 70mm | F2.4 | DA Limited |
| 50mm Pentax D FA 50mm lens The SMC Pentax-D FA 50mm f/2.8 Macro lens is a normal macro lens for the Pentax K mount. While optimized for digital use, it offers full frame 135 film coverage. The lens is capable of reaching 1:1 magnification.- External links :**... |
F2.8 | D FA |
| 50mm | F1.4 | FA |
| 31mm | F1.8 | FA Limited |
| 43mm | F1.9 | FA Limited |
| 77mm | F1.8 | FA Limited |
| 16-50mm | F2.8 | DA* |
| 55mm | F1.4 | DA* |
| 50-135mm | F2.8 | DA* |
| 100mm | F2.8 | D FA |
| 200mm | F2.8 | DA* |
| 60-250mm | F4 | DA* |
| 300mm | F4 | DA* |
| 600mm | F4 | FA* |
Resources
- http://www.pentaximaging.com/camera-lenses/
- http://www.sigmaphoto.com/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Camro7/Digital_single-lens_reflex_camera
- http://www.pentax.jp/english/news/2008/200821.html
- http://www.dpreview.com/news/0812/08121603pentaxk2000white.asp
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentax_cameras
- http://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/
- Pentax Camera Lenses at one place, with Text And Video Reviews
- The largest database of M42 mount lenses and Pentax K compatible (more than 5000 models) PhotoPentax.com