SMC Pentax-DA 35mm F2.4 AL

I have two of these lenses, obtained used, bundled with camera bodies.

Both examples produce quality images. Tend to use as general 'walkabout' lenses.

I'd recommend as a general purpose 'standard' for a K-5 or K-3 APS-C body

Greetings all – Alberta-based “old guy” Canadian list member here.

Just before I left the house on my daily hike to the top of "Eyebrow Ridge" overlooking the valley below, a FedEx delivery truck pulled up. The truck contained yet another lens from eBay for my two current Pentax cameras. The delivery was from Osaka, Japan, and it occurred at ultra high speed, almost unbelievable. Two days door-to-door including a brief stopover in Memphis!

This delivery stuff is all nice to know, of course – but the reason I’m writing has to do with what the SMC Pentax-DA 35mm F2.4 AF AL lens is all about. As you probably already know, it’s a 35mm fixed focus AF lens that is almost entirely made of plastic, except for the actual glass and essential electronic bits. It is still in production.

I'd read the large number of positive reviews with comments about great edge-to-edge sharpness and excellent contrast and colour rendition taking top spots.

But I took a bit of a chance in getting this copy because the vendor said it had a "problem". Turned out (as I suspected) it was not a problem at all – a Skylight 1A filter had been screwed in just a bit too tight – nothing that my handy lens wrench couldn't take care of in about one-half second. But I left the filter installed, as I wanted one anyway, and no damage had been done in the first place. That was it. And I'd prepped by buying a 49mm circular steel lens hood with clip-on cap. So, overall, a great setup – perfect.

Plus, I couldn’t say no to the asking price: $39 US. Used prices on eBay and elsewhere are trending quite a bit higher than that. So, a good deal was in the making, and now the deal is done.

After one day of use – and as I continue to hike with this new acquisition for all my usual wildlife subject and scenery excursions – I’m discovering that this copy is in perfect condition and functions 100%. Test images so far are astoundingly sharp and clear.

Landscapes are rich and detailed, depth of field (automatically selected) for faces and action shots is excellent, and extreme closeups (obviously not macro) are extremely sharp with wonderful colour rendition – all impressively “natural” – in fact, strikingly so.

Thus far, I am 100% happy with every aspect of what this light, compact lens does so well, which is "everything" – and BTW, personally I don’t find the extremely accurate AF to be noisy – it sounds normal to me, and is very fast with no hunting.

Here’s some background so you can get a sense of my bases of comparison: for my daily outdoor excursions, I usually select one or two of my “standard carry around” lenses. All of these are very good zooms (Tamron 18-250; Tamron 28-300; Pentax 28-105; Pentax 16-45; and let’s not forget my Sigma 17-70 [a dearly loved "piece of kit"] which recently went out of service after mysteriously chewing up it's own internal AF zoom gear – yet to be repaired).

From time to time – a few times each year – I will also experiment with a fixed focus 24mm Sigma "A" Macro, or one of my copies of 50mm Pentax 1.7 "A" and fully manual lenses. I have regularly used all of the aforementioned lenses (and quite a few others, such as an exceptionally clear Pentax 40mm "pancake", all of which are more “classic”) for decades.

But with this “new” 35mm "plastic fantastic" Pentax acquisition, an interesting thing happened that I certainly wasn’t expecting: as I began to use this beautiful lens – relaxedly capturing images of this, that, and the other, all the while thinking experimentally, of course – I had the powerful visceral experience of realizing how using this lens (which provides a field of view with APS-C that is almost exactly as you see it with the unaided eye) was causing me to look at – to “see” – the entire world differently than how I've become so accustomed to seeing things with the aforementioned (mainly zoom) lenses.

Using this light, simple and very sharp 35mm lens has hit me over the head with very strong memories of starting my photography journey back in 1967 – yes, way back in the good ol’ days. I told you I was an old guy. After saving my pennies, I had bought a totally manual, very basic Spotmatic with a 55mm “standard lens“ (f/2 I think it was). Of course, as a beginner, and like all of us have done, I had to learn to see what the lens saw, and what the “kit” could do to capture something of what I thought my eyes provided to me.

Through the interviewing years, I've expanded all this and used many different cameras (all Pentax) with a very wide range of different kinds of lenses. Wonderful stuff. Keeping, maintaining and using all the k-mounts has been one of the great pleasures of this “work in progress”!

But the point of this review story really and truly is: while climbing the hill to the top, I have been very powerfully reminded, and I’ve been returned to the "mind set", of how to look at – and especially, how to "see" – things far less “technically” and far more “normally”! Maybe it's just me, but I feel as if my brain is back in gear. IMHO that's pretty special.

Having experienced this powerful recognition has given me a profound sense of appreciation and aesthetic pleasure! It’s as if I can suddenly hear parts of the orchestra that I haven’t heard from in a long, long time – how good is that? I can’t think of any other way to describe it.

OK, I’m getting too long-winded here on “Eyebrow Ridge” up at the top bench, and so I will leave off for now. I’m heading back home with a light rain falling and a cool wind blowing. No forest fire smoke today! It’s very, very pleasant out here!

Finally – about this SMC Pentax-DA 35mm F2.4 AF AL? GET ONE! Whether you’re a newbie just getting started, or an old fart like me with many miles of experience, I can’t imagine you’ll ever be sorry you did. Oh, and BTW, about the plastic mount? It’s more than fine. Don’t abuse it – just use it.

Onwards / cheers / BlueLeezard

A small and cheap lens, the clarity is very good when there is sufficient light, but the premise of everything is accurate focus. The maximum aperture image is soft, and will become sharper after F5.6.I recommend this lens, but I have modified it many times without success.

It is still my only lens with autofocus. It is perfect for everyday use. Lightweight and economical.Paid 100 Euro

I don't know exactly why I didn't do this earlier.
Picked this up on an Amazon Prime deal for $87. I wanted small and light.
There is not much to be said that hasnt been said previously by other reviewers.
It is sharp , small , and inexpensive.
I could live out the rest of my life a contented man if it was the only lens I had.
( Thankfully it isnt)
Mine does everything well. From quick portraits , to landscapes.
I have zero complaints even if it cost triple what it did for me.
Definitively has lived up to its name and reputation as the " Plastic Fantastic" !
My overall rating is 8.5 considering everything.

Great lens, sharp, compact. Only drawbacks are lack of aperture ring, no hood supplied, and a plastic mount. Optically very good, superb when cost is factored in.

It is a "correct" focal length. 35mm is sufficient for all normal photos. Half-length portraits with a slight blur or sharp landscapes. As they say, it is the 4x4 of the fixed lens.

Pros
-Is light,
-it takes up little space,
-it is cheap,
-compatible with 35mm format
-focus fast

Cons
-Makes noise (little)
-no marks on the lens
-no quick-shift
-no wr

I personally love these low cost lenses

This little plastic fantastic was my first lens with autofocus, and I can say I was not only surprised by how useful it is, but also by the quality of the images I can get from such a cheap lens. I do love some sharp images, and with the K5 iis, this lens delivers in that respect. Strictly speaking of image quality, it won't disappoint. My only gripe is how the lens handles. It's not too bad, but the lack of weather sealing and on-the-go focus adjustments and a decent focus ring are minor annoyances. All in all, I can't complain for the price. Us Pentax users are lucky to have access to this much quality at this price!

This is the first DA prime lens I bought for my K3, back in 2016. It is the best value prime lens along with its sister, the DA 50mm f1.8, that you could wish to buy. So, if you are looking for your first prime, look not further than this (or the 50mm).

I also now own the HD DA Ltd. 35mm f2.8 Macro, and since the acquisition of that lens, the DA f2.4 sees rare use. Let me explain why.

Overall I prefer the handling and build quality of the Ltd. - as to be expected considering the price difference. Also, the close focus abilities of the Ltd. suit my shooting better, and despite the DA being marginally sharper at f2.8 than the Ltd. I prefer the "look" that the latter's images produce. However, this is all subjective, and if not for the ownership of the Ltd., I would never feel I would be lacking anything when using the DA.

From f2.8 the DA is plenty sharp enough for any ones needs. Its images are crisp and punchy. There are some handling limitations - no quick shift MF and it does not focus as close as I would like - but for the money you will not find better IQ. In fact you will not find better IQ unless you spend considerably more than several more times its price. The low cost is of course the result of the plastic construction and plastic mount and lack of weather resistance, but due to its size this does make the lens fragile. The plus side of this construction is that it is very light and easy to pack around with you. The AF is relatively noisy, being screw drive, but no worse than other screw drive lenses. I do not find it distracting

In short, if you are wondering whether or not to dip your toe into the waters of prime ownership, there is no better place to start. Small financial outlay means minimal risk should you decide that primes are not for you, and you will not be disappointed with the IQ. The only question you should be asking is "this or the DA 50mm f1.8?"

This is my primary lens since long time. Very useful angle, light and sharp even wide open. With this price is best 35mm for amateur (also advanced). Great also with diorama photo

I made a full review in video format at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q54QKPKp3bE but to summarise this lens is outstanding value for money and was excellent on my K-S2 but I didn't feel it was so sharp on the much higher pixel density sensor of the K-3 but was actually better on the K-1 than the K-3 I can only surmise due to the lower pixel density of the sensor.

Decent lens for the price, ok value for the money.

I initially had a 2nd hand version of this lens, which appeared to have infinity focussing problems (perhaps my calibration technique at the time was a little suspect). This was returned and I bought a new lens, which is excellent. I bought it for stills and video use in low light conditions. Initially, autofocus calibration of +7 was required, after which very sharp from f 2.4, when shooting in RAW and sharpening appropriately. Excellent colour rendition, with fast and accurate autofocus. Very resistant to flare, even without a hood, and generally very low CA. A little noise from the screw autofocus, but I have number of screw autofocus lenses, where the noise does not bother me (and they generally focus quickly on the K-3). If the autofocus speed is good, I am more concerned about the optical performance and handling.
I do have a 50mm SMC Pentax-A 1:1.7 lens, but focusing using the viewfinder focus light is not always spot-on, hence the attraction of the SMC Pentax-DA 35mm F2.4 AL, which also gives a greater depth of field.
Overall, optically, the SMC Pentax-DA 35mm F2.4 AL is excellent and amazing value for money.

Probably the best value lens in Pentax world. Much better than DA 50mm f/1.8 with respect to AF speed, AF sound, and CA. For good results for portaits use it at f/3.2. Make sure you micro-adjust the AF. For optimum sharpness, use it at f/5.6. Good warm pleasing colour tones for portraits.

Much better than it looks, I took my baby photos with this and began my photography journey in the process. I don't like the bokeh or the focus ring or the lack of a lens hood, but everything else is good. I don't use it much now I have better lenses but I wouldn't part with it.

Click to view photo