Exceptional image quality

Pentax has designed this lens to produce extra-clear, high-contrast images with edge-to-edge sharpness whilst keeping various aberrations to a minimum and greatly enhancing resolving power.

The lens provides exceptionally high imaging performance and a beautiful bokeh effect thanks to its impressive F1.4 maximum aperture which is useful for portraiture with a beautifully defocused background, handheld shooting of indoor scenes and landscape photography.

State-of-the-art optical technology

This lens incorporates three Super ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass optical elements to effectively minimize chromatic aberration, and a glass-moulded aspherical optical element to effectively compensate for spherical and chromatic aberrations and field curvature to deliver extra-clear, high-contrast images with edge-to-edge sharpness, even when the aperture is wide open. It also reduces distortion to nearly zero at a focusing distance of four meters to deliver well-defined, distortion-free images over the entire focusing range, from the minimum focusing distance to infinity. This lens is also treated with high-grade, multi-layer HD* Coating, which reduces average reflectance in the visible ray spectrum to less than 50% of conventional multi-layer coatings, effectively reducing flare and ghost images to a minimum even in demanding lighting conditions such as backlighting.

Newly designed, large SDM ring

In order to deliver the highest image quality possible over the entire focusing range — from the minimum focusing distance to infinity — this lens features a newly designed, large SDM ring to efficiently drive the focusing mechanism, which consists of a higher number of optical elements than ordinary lenses, and is required to shift heavy rear-optical-element groups in unison. Generating a torque approximately 1.3 times that of the unit installed in the HD PENTAX-D FA★50mm f1.4 SDM AW, this new SDM assures flawless, high-speed autofocus operation.

Dustproof, weather-resistant construction

Developed as an AW (All Weather) model, this lens features a dependable dustproof, weather-resistant construction with eight special seals to prevent the intrusion of water into the lens barrel. When paired with a dustproof, weather-resistant PENTAX digital SLR camera body, it assures a durable, reliable digital imaging system that performs superbly in demanding shooting settings — even in rain or mist, or at locations prone to water splashes or spray.