PENTAX Limited Lens SPECIAL SITE

Indeed, the 21mm focal length was the best choice for this trip. When I mounted this lens on the PENTAX K-1 Mark III camera body and observed the neighborhood through the camera’s bright optical viewfinder, every scene started to appear more dramatic. I felt very lucky.

I walked around, imagining that I was looking down at myself holding a camera from slightly above. I aimlessly rambled through alleys and around harbors, islands, temples and shrines, embankments and piers. When I came across an interesting scene, I looked into the camera’s optical viewfinder. At that moment, an image was formed in the viewfinder exactly the way I had observed it with the naked eye. When I released the shutter, this particular scene was recorded on the memory card. That’s the way in which I enjoyed this shooting trip.

21mm is a rather wide focal length. It moves back the horizon of the sea, and makes a narrow alley wide enough for just one person to walk through appear to be a street wide enough for a car to pass. This is because this focal length emphasizes width, depth and height. Although this focal length gave me some concerns about distortion, I never sensed it with the HD PENTAX-D FA 21mm F2.4ED Limited DC WR. The straight line appeared as straight as it could be, and every image was captured as a natural scene, as viewed by the human eye. It was truly a fascinating experience!

At the F2.4 open aperture, the image’s brightness level at edges dropped beautifully. This is another characteristic of this lens which I greatly appreciate. If you prefer to bring brightness at the edges to the level similar to that in the middle of an image field, you can always close the aperture down by a stop or two. This will improve the image’s sharpness and produce a more contemporary image rendition.

The brightness level smoothly drops toward the four corners of the picture frame, while the middle area of the image field appears to be gently spotlighted. That is what the HD PENTAX-D FA 21mm F2.4ED Limited DC WR expresses in captured images — an image expression so impressive that you will fall in love with once you’ve experienced it. I believe it to be the charm, or even the magical power, of this lens.

This lens also has an excellent physical appearance. Its high-grade finish and attractive design are typical features of the PENTAX Limited series. When I held this lens in my hands, however, I felt a kind of softness and warmth to it, even though its body is made metallic material. Its gracefully curved hood; a distance index meticulously designed for impeccable ease of operation; and a beautiful Shippoyaki (cloisonné)-finished mount pointer: these are other prominent features that help drove my creative inspiration. I believe that the HD PENTAX-D FA 21mm F2.4ED Limited DC WR is a special Limited-series lens that harmonizes the pleasure of owning it with the joy of shooting at the highest level.