Review by Klaus Schroiff, published June 2015

Introduction

Introduced back in 2004, the D-FA 50mm f/2.8 macro follows a different design language compared to contemporary Pentax lenses but the styling alone is probably a lesser aspect to worry about for most. While it has a metal mount, most of the body is made of plastics and, unfortunately, the used materials feel a little cheap here. The situation gets even worse when focusing towards the macro distances. The lens uses duo cams, thus two inner lens tubes, that can extend quite a bit. That alone is no problem per se. However, the whole mechanism is wobbly. Manual focusing feels reasonably smooth. If you prefer a tighter focus action you can use a focus clamp to increase the friction.

The D FA 50mm f/2.8 macro has no internal AF motor and relies on a slotted drive screw operated by the camera. While this is no real issue for most conventional lenses, this generic approach is not the best solution for a macro lens with its potentially long focus path. Consequently it takes quite a while to auto-focus from infinity towards 1:1 magnification. In other words - the AF is a slow, prone to hunting and also fairly noisy. A focus limiter could have helped but it was omitted. On the plus side, the lens features a Quick-Shift mechanism for manual focusing in AF mode. Typical for 50mm macro lenses, there is also a bit of a practical limitation - at max. magnification (1:1) it has a working distance (front element to object distance) of less than 5cm. If you are into nervous critters, you will run into issues here at times.