The Pentax 40mm f/2.8 is an ultra compact offering, which is great for Pentax shooters.One of the key benefits of prime lenses over their zoom counterparts is their physical size – while they feature fast optics, they’re often smaller and lighter as well. Taking this to the extreme is the Pentax DA 40 f/2.8 SMC and to say it’s compact is an understatement – it’s just 15mm thick and only protrudes slightly further from the body of the camera than the body cap would normally do.
On a Pentax D-SLR, it offers a focal length equivalent of 60mm thanks to the 1.5x crop factor. Build quality is excellent, with the majority of construction being metal and it’s finished to an extremely high standard, including a very nicely machined lens cap and hood.
There’s no built-in AF motor so it can be a little noisy in operation, but it focuses quickly and rarely hunts, while the manual focus ring is beautifully balanced and makes it rewarding to use. A great piece of glass delivering sharp results through the aperture range, showing only minor vignetting wide open. Great for Pentax shooters.
AT A GLANCEStreet price: £349
Lens Mount: Pentax KAF2
Construction: 5 Elements in 4 groups
Max aperture: f/2.8 Min aperture: f/22
Aperture blades: 9 AF motor: No
Minimum focus distance: 40cm
Filter size: 49mm
Dimensions: 63x15mm Weight: 90g
www.pentax.co.uk