DA* 55mm f1.4

Having read Mike-P's thread on the the decision to buy this lens I would like to congratulate him on the decision, but urge him to check it out very carefully.

I too bought one of these at a decent price some months ago and took a few test shots of the garden and the family, I was more than pleased with the results (crisp, sharp, detailed, excellent colours, etc). A couple of months later I started taking some low light shots and discovered that the performance was fairly average at wide apertures. Initially I though perhaps I was expecting a bit much from the lens but as I started reading other users comments and reviews I realised that my lens experince did not match theirs.

I returned the lens to the shop and they forwarded it to the Pentax service dept (I believe it is JP now) - they returned it saying they checked and adjusted it. I tried it out but It was still the same, so I produced some test shots against an A50 1.7 and a DA*16-50 at maximmum aperture - both of these produced better shots. The 55mm was soft, lacking in contrast, and had a blueish/purpleish tint in black subjects. The shop returned the lens again and it was returned with "no fault found". The shop manager then arranged for a replacement lens which was given to me to test. The new lens is absolutely stunning at wide apertures - contrast is excellent, colours are superb, and sharpness is breathtaking.

I have owned several Pentax "Portait" lenses (including the legendary A* 85 1.4) and this is the best I have ever experienced.

Unfortunately the saga does not end there. I put my camera + 55mm down on the table facing me the other night and noticed that the aperture was slightly closed down. After a bit of experimenting with stopping down and swapping cameras I can reproduce this problem. So this week I will be back to the Camera shop

I will let you know the final outcome.

Thanks for the heads up.

When you say the aperture was slightly closed down, just check it isn't a design feature. Many zoom lenses of contant aperture achieve this by slightly closing down at the wider settings to compensate mechanically for the change if f number as you zoom.

It's just possible that the 55mm f1.4 might in a similar way stop down slightly at furthest disrances and then open up as you focus closer, thus compensating for light fall off and keeping the effective aperture constant.

Thanks John - I will look at his tonight!

Just to finish this one off....

....The lens went back to Pentax (Germany I believe) and returned with a very bland "adjusted & tested" docket. Since then the lens has shown no problems at all and is stunning. It is so good that I am now considering selling my 85mm A* f1.4.

Cheers
LB

I dont have many occasions to use mine but it is a fantasic lens.