Pepe and my 135mm

In my search for a fast, compact short telephoto lens, I recently managed to snag a Pentax A 135mm f/2.8 in excellent condition from an internet acquaintance. Of the different versions of the Pentax 135mm lenses, the A version of the 135mm has languished in the light of less than favourable comments on its performance. In spite of this, I decided to give buy it when this lens appeared for sale as it doesn't show up too often on the used market.



On the face of it, there is a lot of things to like about this lens. The lens is pretty compact at just under 80mm and extends about another 15mm at the closest focusing distance. Another plus is that the front part of the lens doesn't rotate when focused which makes use of a polariser easier. A sliding lens hood is built in but due to the crop factor one can use a deeper hood. Filter size is 52mm.



Although a manual focus lens, the focusing ring is grippy and wide with a well damped throw of about 210 degrees from infinity to the minimum focusing distance of 1.2 metres. This lens has just 4 elements in 4 groups but feels hefty at 340g. Like many of the Pentax A series lenses, the build quality is solid and personally speaking I find the design of the A series very appealing. With the crop factor this lens becomes the equivalent of about a 200mm f/2.8 on traditional 35mm film.



The proof of a lens remains in it's optical quality and with a less than stellar endorsement by some on the internet I decided to take some quick snaps with the lens. Not having a beautiful model with beautiful hair, I decided to try it out on my pet chihuahua figuring that fur might have to do! From the images, the lens is a just tad soft wide open but image quality better stopped down. Distortion isn't an issue. Like images from many lenses, only a touch of sharpening is needed for this lens. The colour rendition is good.



To me this lens is pretty good and compared to the earlier M 135mm f/3.5, the A setting on the aperture ring is a big plus as it allows for full exposure automation and full capture of exif info. Will post more images taken with this lens but so far I like this lens a lot.