Pentax SMCP-FA 50mm f/1.4 Lens by Pentax
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Digital camera reviews of Pentax SMCP-FA 50mm f/1.4 Lens
Digital camera Review: This should be your kit lens.
Summary: 5 Stars
This lens is one of the three I bought with my k10d.
I use it 85% of the time.
I know that I had reservations about getting a prime lens. However, with a little movement, this lens gets out of your way. If a picture doesn't turn out, it's because I screwed up the settings on camera.
The reviews that say this lens should be in every Pentax owner's satchel are absolutely correct.
This lens absolutely deserves its five stars.
Update:
Several months later, I still agree with this assessment. I've started looking into wider angle prime lenses, but this is my go-to lens. 85% is a low estimate.
Digital camera Review: If you need an ultra fast portrait lens, Buy This! Pentax SMCP-FA 50mm f/1.4 Lens
Summary: 5 Stars
This lens is just way under priced.
It has very good coatings and optics. The color looks natural when the camera settings are Natural and it is a little more vivid with more contrast when the camera is set to Brite. It is ultra fast, and sharp as a tack through the middle of it's range and it is plenty sharp enough opened up to sharply render the hairs on my dog portraits beautifully while creating that soft and appealing background that comes from the shallow depth of focus that a F1.4 lens can deliver. This is a great mild telephoto for DSLRs at a price that is a gift from Pentax to all of us.
Digital camera Review: Just great glass. Taking great pictures, your responsibility.
Summary: 5 Stars
First, I must say this is a very high quality, prime lens. With all the virtues and the relative lack of flexibility you would expect from a fixed focal length. That is to say, extremely sharp, contrasty, very little chromatic aberration , negligible distortion and the most beautiful soft, buttery bokeh. It also exhibits a quite respectable build quality, so it should last at least for a while.
At 50mm, with a 1.5 crop factor, this lens becomes a 75mm equivalent in a full frame system which I consider just a little bit longer than a "normal" lens. In MY OWN personal taste, this would be a bit short for a portrait lens, as you would need to approach to close to your subject. At the same time, I consider it a bit long to be an effective "walk around" lens. For this same reason, it could be considered "versatile." As in most things in life, I feel "one size fits all" simply doesn't exist. I believe that's the reason why most professionals recommend to skip the "normal" lenses in favor of a wide and a tele.
With a prime lens, you need to actually move to compose. This, in my opinion, is a good thing as it further develops your photographic skills. Also people will think you are a pro, as you assume the most bizarre positions to capture that moment.
At the end of the day, this is a great first additions, specially if you are looking for a more "photographic" approach which made you look for something better than the safety of a kit lens. (And not murder your wallet at the same time). You also probably know by now that your gear is rarely the limitation to taking beautiful pictures. For all these reasons this is a highly recommended lens, proud deserver of five stars.
Digital camera Review: Great lens, great value!
Summary: 5 Stars
Grab one while they're around. Buttery-smooth bokeh, decent performance even wide open, good image rendering.Digital camera Review: Wonderful Lens
Summary: 5 Stars
This lens is amazing! I just recently bought the Pentax K10D, my first dSLR, because I wanted to take better pictures indoors. I purchased the camera without the kit lens and bought the FA 50mm f/1.4 instead. The difference between my new camera/lens and my "Advanced Compact Super-zoom" (Canon S2 IS) is night and day. I used to take hundreds of shots in continuous mode to get a few sharp ones -- which were still rather noisy. With this lens I get sharp pictures indoors without using a flash.
This is a great lens for head shots indoors. It is a moderate telephoto on a dSLR (due to the smaller sensor), so it is sometimes difficult/impossible to move back enough to get a full body shot in a smaller room. Depending on your needs you may prefer the "normal" view that the 35mm f/2 would provide -- but that lens costs about 50% more.
I am loving this lens. I find myself using it at about f/2.8 most of the time, thus far (to keep the subject's entire head in focus).