Good review. I have the lens and yes, Pentax also made the 14mm 2.8 DA lens. It is a far bigger lens, is also optically rectangular and has amazing color out of the box.. I personally have no issues with the 15mm flaws, including the cap. Most of my photos are crap anyway, so when I have a good one, the flaws are the least of my concern :)
The center softness you're seeing past F8 is due to the diffraction limit of the APS-C sized KP sensor. The sensor on the KP has a 3.88 micron pixel. We can approximate how much detail the lens can resolve at F11 with the following formula: p = 1.22 * Wavelength * Aperture / 2 With the average wavelength of light (all colours) being of 0.5 micron. So if we plug into the formula: p = 1.22 * 0.5 * 11 = 3.35 micron, which is already close to the theoretical limit of the sensor with 3.88 micron pixel. So, the sensor can't resolve more detail, even if the lens were better than that. The performance should be better with Sensor Shift though, as this feature can side-step the diffraction limit by simulating 4x more pixel density.
Stunningly wonderful lens. Small, light, wonderful contrast, beautiful saturated color rendition, sharp as hell from F4 on, when I am out shooting with it I just put it on F8, I put it on manual focus hyperfocal length, everything is sharp from a foot to infinity you don’t even have to think about it. Just shoot. One of the most wonderful lenses ever built by anybody. But I sure wish it had weatherproofing just like you. Thanks for joining our small club love people who have loved Pentax cameras since the film days like me. But I must say my favourite lens by far is the 21. I could shoot for two weeks with that thing and never get tired; you should have a look at it. I went travelling with my limited lens kit, and that thing was on my camera 95% of the time. From wide angle two macro shots, it focusses down to 6 inches; absolutely wonderful lens. Actually, all the Ltd‘s are. I love the 40 as well.
Thanks for dropping by the channel! Much appreciated! I keep hearing about this 21 Lens. I will take a look at it. One of my favorite shooters is using that lens for his city shots. Looks amazing! The 15 is also an excellent piece of glass. Limited series just feels like classic cars. I just wish the limited came with WR and now we are in business. Overall I understand why limited lenses still exist today. User experience + glass quality. Bam! top notch.
Thank you for including a quick m4/3 comparison! I used to shoot Olympus, and at the time, I couldn't justify the expense of the Oly 12mm (never mind the 7-14mm), so I ended up with the Samyang MF 12mm as a landscape lens. It produced nice enough images, and the manual focus wasn't really a problem for landscapes (plus, focus-peaking in EVF), but putting a lens that was designed for full-frame on a m43 body completely negates the size/weight advantage. The 15mm Ltd is half the size of that Samyang, has a wider equiv focal length, plus autofocus. Perfect for taking on hikes. It may not be as fast, but it's better to carry and I'm even happier with the images it produces.
I have been looking for the vintage SMC 15mm f3.5 for my sony a7riii the only reason I got the sony over the Pentax K1 is video its just More flexible on sony but I do love pentax colour and image processing
I walk with this lens in the Wicklow mountains all day long. Lashing rain and no problem with weather seal, lens mount is quite tight and don't need seal for the rain. I tested it a good few times and never don't have any issues. But I do not recommend it 😉, I doing this for my personal risk.
@@theCameraVille don't worries, I take a risk for my shoulder and do not recommend it anyway 😀 fact is I walked around the mountain in have rain and nothing happens.
How about this DA 15mm on full frame (e.g. K1)? How about that combination with 1:1 crop? In square format, some edge/corner softness and/or vignetting *can* be a good thing.
Hey I've been watchHeying your videos since few days, and they are very helpful. What are your thoughts on Nikon z50 vs Pentax kp vs Fuji xt30 or a7 ii Pentax seems to have amazing image clarity. 4k is not necessary. In terms image quality and dr. I do landscape and architecture photography. Your help would be much appreciated. 🙏🙏🙏
Mainly if you area travel photographer, and you are going to places. rural or industrial etc, I would go with the Pentax with the WR. Images are accurate and simple menu sets. Nikon is also not a bad choice either but I worry for the WR since its a mirrorless, there isn't a real good WR and also the dynamic range and iso is just a hair worse than the KP. Sony A7ii is a full frame, you can do any work with that. The down side with the sony is, the colors are going to be wonky. No one will notice but people like me who had been doing side by side reviews, I can honestly say, there is a huge color shift difference and if you know your colors, then you should be fine. Sony also has a major dust on the sensor issue. I clean my out all the time. So get ready to have fun cleaning your sensor and dropping it off for repairs because little did I know, not everything on my sensor was dust, I had dirt particles that needed to be washed out. I gave it to camera tech people to clean my sensor. Get ready for some fun because it isn't cheap! I wouldn't use Fuji for landscape and architecture unless you are doing creative work. You don't mind the colors, you don't mind the glass quality. I did a landscape with the 35mm 1.4 on the Fuji vs a sigma 35 mm 1.4 and it was a huge difference. Compact lenses are losing a lot of detail. Just keep that in mind. They look cool marketing but reality, you are compromising. In the end , it depends on the shooter you want to be.
Oh wow this is an old school video hehe. Gosh, my early days. Yea, the cap can be pro or con. Depends on the person. Still a lovely lens hehe. Cant please everyone I know.
Hi. Record please video where the camera k-1 works with the tablet through Wi-Fi and a cable. Inteersuyet manual focusing. There is no such video not where. pleasepleasepleaseplease
Even at the time of release, when this lens was tested on 10mp cameras, independent reviewers were not delighted. There are always aberrations, no aperture has good edge-to-edge sharpness, it is expensive for its aperture, and goes against the Pentax trend of moisture protection. All this lens has is a nice metal body. It was quickly discovered that this lens was at least no better than most copies of the Sigma 10-20 4-5.6 at 15mm. Very mediocre optics, but loyal Pentax fans like everything as long as the metal of the lens cools their fingers.
@@theCameraVille The truth will be useful to Pentax, because now there are almost no independent reviews of Pentax lenses, reviews are mostly done by fanboys and they simply praise any lens no matter what. And this is harmful, people from the outside either notice this fanboyism immediately, or get disappointed when they try the overpraised lens in practice. One way or another, this scares people away from the system. I mean, if the lens is from 2006 or 1997, or if aesthetics were a priority over optics - we need to talk about it, we should not attribute magical properties to outdated or mediocre lenses. Pentax has good lenses, but we must honestly admit that there are bad ones too.
@@dima1353 Man I really want to hug you now my friend. That is exactly what I was doing but sadly , I get attack too frequent when I throw out unbias reviews. This is why I stopped doing Pentax reviews because I notice those that are left, majority are Pentax fanboy soldiers.
@@theCameraVille Oh my 👀... I thought you were pretty soft and complimentary on Pentax lenses. Which lenses did you criticize? I probably missed these videos.
This lens is rather large though, the 18-50 f/4.0-5.6 would be size id prefer but I am concerned about its image quality. Id prefer about a 28mm prime that is WR and compact. The 20-40 is probably my best compromise.
It is nice and small but no weather seal for this much money it is a bitter pill to swallow. If it was weather sealed you could really use it out side. If it was larger aperture you can use it for indoors in low light. This lens is made to be use on a sunny day out side. Because it is a bit to slow to be used in low light and it is not weather sealed. It is defiantly limited for its usefulness.
Pentax needs to start making more lenses like this, but for full frame. Just like the old M series, all metal, small and compact. The new 50 is a giant and is getting away from the old Pentax legacy.
Boom! I just like the exterior and the look of it. Yea the CA can be something on these limited series lenses. I always get a knock when I say something negative on these limited series ;\.
@@theCameraVille yes they have a lovely look and feel. The 43mm performed better for me, but then compared to the voigtlander Ultron ii 40mm, the voigt won my regard. Beautiful optic
Yea, If someone ask me, which limited should they purchase out of the entire line up. If they had no choice, they must buy one no matter what, I would say the 43mm just because its compact. That would be my recommendation. Either than that, I am sure there are better optics out there. I just seem to get scold at when I say these things haha. Its the bread and butter for Pentax .
Screw drive is old school but is less prone to failure !
Good review. I have the lens and yes, Pentax also made the 14mm 2.8 DA lens. It is a far bigger lens, is also optically rectangular and has amazing color out of the box.. I personally have no issues with the 15mm flaws, including the cap. Most of my photos are crap anyway, so when I have a good one, the flaws are the least of my concern :)
damn! this is old school review. maybe I have to redo this one! gosh I looked so young
so good to see reviews on Pentax gear!!!!
The center softness you're seeing past F8 is due to the diffraction limit of the APS-C sized KP sensor.
The sensor on the KP has a 3.88 micron pixel. We can approximate how much detail the lens can resolve at F11 with the following formula:
p = 1.22 * Wavelength * Aperture / 2
With the average wavelength of light (all colours) being of 0.5 micron. So if we plug into the formula:
p = 1.22 * 0.5 * 11 = 3.35 micron, which is already close to the theoretical limit of the sensor with 3.88 micron pixel.
So, the sensor can't resolve more detail, even if the lens were better than that.
The performance should be better with Sensor Shift though, as this feature can side-step the diffraction limit by simulating 4x more pixel density.
Stunningly wonderful lens. Small, light, wonderful contrast, beautiful saturated color rendition, sharp as hell from F4 on, when I am out shooting with it I just put it on F8, I put it on manual focus hyperfocal length, everything is sharp from a foot to infinity you don’t even have to think about it. Just shoot. One of the most wonderful lenses ever built by anybody. But I sure wish it had weatherproofing just like you. Thanks for joining our small club love people who have loved Pentax cameras since the film days like me. But I must say my favourite lens by far is the 21. I could shoot for two weeks with that thing and never get tired; you should have a look at it. I went travelling with my limited lens kit, and that thing was on my camera 95% of the time. From wide angle two macro shots, it focusses down to 6 inches; absolutely wonderful lens. Actually, all the Ltd‘s are. I love the 40 as well.
Thanks for dropping by the channel! Much appreciated! I keep hearing about this 21 Lens. I will take a look at it. One of my favorite shooters is using that lens for his city shots. Looks amazing! The 15 is also an excellent piece of glass. Limited series just feels like classic cars. I just wish the limited came with WR and now we are in business. Overall I understand why limited lenses still exist today. User experience + glass quality. Bam! top notch.
Thank you for including a quick m4/3 comparison! I used to shoot Olympus, and at the time, I couldn't justify the expense of the Oly 12mm (never mind the 7-14mm), so I ended up with the Samyang MF 12mm as a landscape lens. It produced nice enough images, and the manual focus wasn't really a problem for landscapes (plus, focus-peaking in EVF), but putting a lens that was designed for full-frame on a m43 body completely negates the size/weight advantage.
The 15mm Ltd is half the size of that Samyang, has a wider equiv focal length, plus autofocus. Perfect for taking on hikes. It may not be as fast, but it's better to carry and I'm even happier with the images it produces.
You are welcome! I am glad you enjoyed the video mate~!
I appreciate all your Pentax videos!
Good job! I am looking forward for your next limited lenses reviews!
Hey man! There are new pentax lenses coming out, the 11-18 f 2.8* and a new FF 35mm f 2, anche chance You could coming back to review them? :)
I have been looking for the vintage SMC 15mm f3.5 for my sony a7riii the only reason I got the sony over the Pentax K1 is video its just More flexible on sony but I do love pentax colour and image processing
I walk with this lens in the Wicklow mountains all day long. Lashing rain and no problem with weather seal, lens mount is quite tight and don't need seal for the rain. I tested it a good few times and never don't have any issues. But I do not recommend it 😉, I doing this for my personal risk.
Ireneusz Ciejka I wouldnt recommend it if Pentax dont slap a WR label on it!
@@theCameraVille don't worries, I take a risk for my shoulder and do not recommend it anyway 😀
fact is I walked around the mountain in have rain and nothing happens.
The Pentax 15mm is a pancake type lens so refraction happens very quickly. The DA limited lenses are excellent regardless of the refraction problem.
Very compact and user friendly lens. Stylish. I like it.
Overall great lens, lens cap annoys me if you put circular polizer
I use plastic clip on lens cap from $10 FA35-80 lens. It fits perfectly. I use FA35-80 for storage the original screw lens cap now :)
oh ! I should look into that!This was a fun lens actually. Love the design and also how compact it was.
How about a comparison between the Pentax wide angles, the irix wide angles, rokinon and lowa? Would be nice to see which one performs better.
Sunny Ghosh If they were only compact AF lenses. I do plan to compare with the other wide AF Pentax lenses like 14 mm 2.8 and Pentax 21mm.
you could try 20-40 limited WR or 16-85 mm
Pentax SMCP-DA* 200mm f/2.8 ...I wanted to know how well it works on the K-1 (no in crop mode)...thanks
deltadave44 That lens is actually on the list to review. Not with K1 though but I can probably do an episode with DA lens on FF and Crop body.
saw a video that says the 200 & 300 work on the K-1 just fine but there were not any image samples
Where is CameraVille?
What happened to your channel, nothing new in over three months.
Robert! Just saw this message! haha time flies! Memory lane here.
I learned something. Thanks for the video.
really like the HD 15mm, but the star burst has kicked me back to SMC DA 15mm :D
nice!!
Whatsgoingonyoutube!
How about this DA 15mm on full frame (e.g. K1)? How about that combination with 1:1 crop? In square format, some edge/corner softness and/or vignetting *can* be a good thing.
You are correct! Will have some vignetting but always can crop. Still will have that dynamic range.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I think you can manual focus without switching it to manual?
Yes. Quick shift system!
why do some of the limited lenses have a red strip and some have a green stripe? I noticed that when looking at the 15mm
If I remember correctly, The red is the new version and the Green is the old version .
My favorite Pentax lens
Its velvet cloth, not suede (leather)
Apologies, you are right. I fell asleep in fashion and design 101 class. I swear they were the same thing!
Hey
I've been watchHeying your videos since few days, and they are very helpful.
What are your thoughts on Nikon z50 vs Pentax kp vs Fuji xt30 or a7 ii
Pentax seems to have amazing image clarity. 4k is not necessary.
In terms image quality and dr. I do landscape and architecture photography.
Your help would be much appreciated.
🙏🙏🙏
Mainly if you area travel photographer, and you are going to places. rural or industrial etc, I would go with the Pentax with the WR. Images are accurate and simple menu sets.
Nikon is also not a bad choice either but I worry for the WR since its a mirrorless, there isn't a real good WR and also the dynamic range and iso is just a hair worse than the KP.
Sony A7ii is a full frame, you can do any work with that. The down side with the sony is, the colors are going to be wonky. No one will notice but people like me who had been doing side by side reviews, I can honestly say, there is a huge color shift difference and if you know your colors, then you should be fine. Sony also has a major dust on the sensor issue. I clean my out all the time. So get ready to have fun cleaning your sensor and dropping it off for repairs because little did I know, not everything on my sensor was dust, I had dirt particles that needed to be washed out. I gave it to camera tech people to clean my sensor. Get ready for some fun because it isn't cheap!
I wouldn't use Fuji for landscape and architecture unless you are doing creative work. You don't mind the colors, you don't mind the glass quality. I did a landscape with the 35mm 1.4 on the Fuji vs a sigma 35 mm 1.4 and it was a huge difference. Compact lenses are losing a lot of detail. Just keep that in mind. They look cool marketing but reality, you are compromising.
In the end , it depends on the shooter you want to be.
The DA 15mm f/4 Limited is literally one of the best lenses ever!
Come on ...:) Lens cup ? Is easy use any 49mm Pentax cup , looks , works great ;)
Oh wow this is an old school video hehe. Gosh, my early days. Yea, the cap can be pro or con. Depends on the person. Still a lovely lens hehe. Cant please everyone I know.
Hi. Record please video where the camera k-1 works with the tablet through Wi-Fi and a cable. Inteersuyet manual focusing. There is no such video not where. pleasepleasepleaseplease
The overall answer might be adding polariser.
I am still waiting for more Pentax reviews, your absence for a while now is letting me down.
Do a comparison of the k1 and thr kp screw drive AF noise. :)
You done with videos???
Even at the time of release, when this lens was tested on 10mp cameras, independent reviewers were not delighted. There are always aberrations, no aperture has good edge-to-edge sharpness, it is expensive for its aperture, and goes against the Pentax trend of moisture protection. All this lens has is a nice metal body. It was quickly discovered that this lens was at least no better than most copies of the Sigma 10-20 4-5.6 at 15mm. Very mediocre optics, but loyal Pentax fans like everything as long as the metal of the lens cools their fingers.
man you speaking truth here!
@@theCameraVille The truth will be useful to Pentax, because now there are almost no independent reviews of Pentax lenses, reviews are mostly done by fanboys and they simply praise any lens no matter what. And this is harmful, people from the outside either notice this fanboyism immediately, or get disappointed when they try the overpraised lens in practice. One way or another, this scares people away from the system. I mean, if the lens is from 2006 or 1997, or if aesthetics were a priority over optics - we need to talk about it, we should not attribute magical properties to outdated or mediocre lenses. Pentax has good lenses, but we must honestly admit that there are bad ones too.
@@dima1353 Man I really want to hug you now my friend. That is exactly what I was doing but sadly , I get attack too frequent when I throw out unbias reviews. This is why I stopped doing Pentax reviews because I notice those that are left, majority are Pentax fanboy soldiers.
@@theCameraVille Oh my 👀... I thought you were pretty soft and complimentary on Pentax lenses. Which lenses did you criticize? I probably missed these videos.
Please please review sigma 18-35 with Pentax KP. Please
Does anyone know if this da lens will work on a Pentax film camera? Mz-s?
Wooo… that's a hard one.
Good review. Pentax 14 mm f2.8 exists though.
Dey Photography Yes, but it isnt compact. 14 mm2.8 is a bigger lens which is kind of why I said one of widest lens.
A turn is 360 degrees, not 180 degrees. So, it's really 3 turns. And, nobody would be able to figure out how to screw it on if you hadn't shown us.
lol!! Its a lot of turns. I swear.
Are there any weather sealed wide angle primes?
Christopher Whitson 15-30 2.8 wr.
This lens is rather large though, the 18-50 f/4.0-5.6 would be size id prefer but I am concerned about its image quality. Id prefer about a 28mm prime that is WR and compact. The 20-40 is probably my best compromise.
does the rokinon have better IQ?
It is nice and small but no weather seal for this much money it is a bitter pill to swallow. If it was weather sealed you could really use it out side. If it was larger aperture you can use it for indoors in low light. This lens is made to be use on a sunny day out side. Because it is a bit to slow to be used in low light and it is not weather sealed.
It is defiantly limited for its usefulness.
Pentax needs to start making more lenses like this, but for full frame. Just like the old M series, all metal, small and compact. The new 50 is a giant and is getting away from the old Pentax legacy.
MCBC est. 2017 I really like the compact lenses and wish they also continue their Limited line up.
Much more better?
Why not F8 or F13?
Georgijus Pavlovas No one ever requested that:(.
@@theCameraVille No one ever requested F4 also. We would like 15mm F2
Georgijus Pavlovas Actually F4 is a staple in lens testing. No one needs to request it.
Had it, not terribly impressed. Bad CA. Sold it.
Boom! I just like the exterior and the look of it. Yea the CA can be something on these limited series lenses. I always get a knock when I say something negative on these limited series ;\.
@@theCameraVille yes they have a lovely look and feel. The 43mm performed better for me, but then compared to the voigtlander Ultron ii 40mm, the voigt won my regard. Beautiful optic
Yea, If someone ask me, which limited should they purchase out of the entire line up. If they had no choice, they must buy one no matter what, I would say the 43mm just because its compact. That would be my recommendation. Either than that, I am sure there are better optics out there. I just seem to get scold at when I say these things haha. Its the bread and butter for Pentax .
He is definitely at Sony! And we wait here like the idiots!
Are you European? We say "built in", bruh!
tabl10s French fries, potato stripes, freedom fries. same same. If you got the idea then I did my job bro!( what is bruh ? ) lol
@@theCameraVille,
Potato Stripes?! That's new to me. Some love the older version because of the starbursts.