Playing With Lenses: Where smoke is, is: SMC Pentax-FA 1:3.5-5.6 28-80mm

Monday 20 August 2018

Where smoke is, is: SMC Pentax-FA 1:3.5-5.6 28-80mm

Cost: 21$ (average market price $49.07)

This is a lens of an era when lens makers started making plastic-only lenses, with much experimenting with colors and materials. This lens is available in two colors. An ugly dark green, or an even uglier cheap silver (light metal) color. In other words, this lens will not win any beauty contests.

Yes, it feels like plastic. Very light, but also very flimsy. Although it does have a metal mount, the feeling of cheap is always there. Focus and zoom is light as a feather, but lacks the "Pentax" smoothness of earlier generation lenses. I have not tested the auto focus feature, as it isn't compatible with my Sony, but other review describe it as faster then normal for Pentax FA lenses.

Image quality is also not spectacular, nice Pentax SMC colors, but not very sharp and some amount of color aberration.

In total view, not a bad lens but not to good ether. If you have one, I'm sure it can be put to good use, but I would not go looking for one. There is better on the market, especially as you can find a couple of prime lenses for not much more... especially when going off-brand. Unless you do have a Pentax camera, where auto-focus has some value.

Samples below are a bit hazy, thanks to the heavy smoke these few weeks in Vancouver.

To combat partial reflection, Pentax developed chemical coatings for the lens surfaces with minimum light loss. SMC is "a remarkable seven-layer lens coating process that cuts the reflection ratio down to just 0.2% per lens surface. The result is a dramatic improvement in both color fidelity and brightness and the elimination of flare and ghost images."

SMC was patented and first applied in 1971, when Pentax was still making screw mount equipment. The multi-coated lens lines changed from Takumar and Super-Takumar to Super-Multi-Coated Takumar and later on to SMC Takumar. SMC Pentax was used for the newly introduced K-mount lenses. Pentax's SMC is still today considered as one of the best lens coatings on the market.

Lens Specification:

Focal Length: 28-80mm
Maximum Aperture: F3.5-5.6
Minimum Aperture: F22
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: PK
Optics: 8 elements, 8 groups
Blades: 6
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 50cm
Filter Size: 58mm
Weight: 278g
Length: 78mm
Production: 1998 to 2001
Serial Number: 5693215
Made in: Vietnam

More information on Pentax

Samples:
Pictures shot with Lens Turbo II adapter