u/Analogus-Maximus

The DA* 55mm/f1.4 shoots more 35mm film here ... still firing the PZ-1p, and packing Dubblefilm Cinema 800. A fun film and lens; they both bring character to the end result.

The Pentax DA* 55mm/f1.4 is a vastly underappreciated lens in the world of Pentax. It can do much more than portraits on 35mm (it is a bit more limited on APS-C), and makes for a great street detail lens. The color, clarity, and especially beautiful contrast create great images on almost every body able to control the aperture on an A-series lens. This includes the good old 90's AF film cameras from Pentax - the Pentax PZ-1p in this case.

The lens loves the comforting in-focus beep of the film-era camera, and it isn't hard to get there with the smooth (and big) focus ring. It isn't a small lens, but it isn't huge either ... it feels chunky, well designed, and capable. That being said, the lens body is feeling a bit dated ... it is 17 years old after all. The body material feels like a polymer from that era, and it has the look of that original DA* series. It isn't 2026 pretty at this point - it is utilitarian. At <$300 (for a mint copy on eBay), it is a steal compared to the average 50mm.

Ok, let's talk images ... here is a series of the DA*55mm/f1.4 creeping up on all of those Pentaxians who don't know about it yet. The film is Wolfen NC400 - balanced towards cool blues/greens, high contrast, with grain in the shadows and a muted saturation. I worked on doing some longer crops, for your entertainment.

The K20D was a pretty amazing camera for 2009 ... it has IBIS, a good chunky feel, features a cool CMOS Samsung sensor, is weather sealed, has live view, and a fully capable K-mount for using all of that old glass that was just hitting stride again ~2010. I took some of my very best shots with it nearly 20 years ago, and I think it was nearly the perfect camera for the time period ... APS-C or not. These shots are from 2009 (with quickie 2026 processing); the first two taken with the FA31/f1.8 and the last two taken with the FA43/f1.9.

Ah, my old love with the CMOS sensor, in-body SR, and the old-school weather sealing. I can still feel her green button!

What more can be said that hasn't been said about the K20D (and the K10D released a year earlier)? In 2008, the K20D was a wonderful release when Pentax was struggling and needed the win. It is well built, ergonomic, fun to use, compatible with all of your favorite K-mount glass, and the results were great (and still are today!). Some of my very best photos were taken in the late 2000s with a K20D ... and quite often an FA 43mm/f1.9 for a great portrait setup. These shots are from 2009 - excuse the 'enthusiastic' 2009-era processing.

Who else loved the K20D?