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Review by Andreas Busse, 1998
Despite having a plastic shell this lens feels quite solid, possibly because of it's compact dimensions of 37 x 65mm. The main advantage of plastic construction is light weight, and this lens weighs a mere 0.17kg. The inner focusing tube doesn't rattle but it does have some play when fully extended, which is the price to pay for auto-focus operation. 49mm filters can be used, and the lens is supplied without a hood or case.
This lens is constructed of 6 elements in 5 groups. Despite not having a lens hood for it, flare has not been a problem to date, so the lens seems quite resistant to it. Even wide open at F1.7 results are sharp and contrasty, but stopping down to F2.8 or more improves this slightly. Photographs taken with this lens seem a bit cooler than those taken using my FA 100mm F2.8 macro. No distortion or vignetting is visable at any aperture, and close focusing of 0.45m gives a maximum magnification of 0.15.
Mounting such a small lens on a compact 35mm SLR, such as my Pentax MZ5 almost puts the combination in the P&S category! With a fast F1.7 maximum aperture you get fast AF even in low light conditions, and with low guide number built in flashes you get a useful range increase over slow zooms.
Manual focus feel is good for an AF lens with a decent amount of friction, although the manual focus ring is very small (5mm) and doesn't have any structure to aid feeling. Despite not being an internal focus construction the filter mount does not rotate during focusing - helpful if graduate or polarising filters are in use.
As you would expect I have not had any compatibility problemson the only body I've use it on so far a Pentax MZ5/ZX5
I paid about DM300 (ca. $160) in May 98, but from a photo.net recommended retailer it should cost around 140 USD (August 1998).
This is the cheapest way to get a fast lens and as a bonus you also get excellent optical quality - this type of lens should be in everyones bag.
The SMC-FA 50 is stocked by Adorama, a retailer that pays photo.net a referral fee for each customer, which helps keep this site in operation. For additional retailer information, see our recommended retailers page and the user recommendations section.
copyright 1998 Andreas Busse
The picture at the top was taken on the Coburg at Coburg while a motorcycle trip through "Thüringer Wald" an eastern part of Germany. I used my MZ5/ZX5 in aperture priority with the lens at F1.7 on FUJI Sensia II 100. Add/View Comments
Article created 1998
