HD PENTAX-DA 15mm f/4 ED AL Limited Lens Review

Pentax HD PENTAX-DA 15mm f/4 ED AL Limited Handling and Features

As is the case with other lenses in the Pentax Limited range, build quality is excellent, although this isn't a heavy lens, weighing only 212g. It's compact too, only protruding by four centimeters from the lens mount. The lens makes an ideal travel companion with the Pentax K-5 IIs body used for testing, and it will feel right at home on more compact Pentax camera bodies also.

Focusing isn't performed internally, with the lens barrel extending by around four millimeters at the closest marked focusing distance. Even so, the filter ring does not rotate, which makes it perfect for use with polarising and graduated filters. A slide out petal shaped hood is built into the lens, which does a decent job of shielding the lens from extraneous light that may cause issues with flare. The 49mm filter thread size is standard for Pentax.



The manual focusing ring rotates during auto-focus, so some care may need to be taken to avoid accidentally catching your fingers during operation. Manual focusing action is smooth and well damped, which makes applying manual adjustments a pleasure. A useful hyperfocal scale is marked on the lens barrel, which is handy. The Pentax 'Quick Shift' focusing system has been implemented on this lens, which means manual adjustments can be applied once the lens has focused automatically.

Auto focus is screw-driven, even so it locks onto subjects very quickly. The older screw-driven system does generate more noise than newer silent focusing lenses do.

The minimum focus distance of 18cm is great for shooting in claustrophobic situations or for exploiting distortion of perspective as you get close in with a wide angle lens. A maximum magnification of 0.15x is possible, which may not be best suited for frame filling close ups images of small subjects.

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