Since starting out in photography, long or fast telephoto lenses have been a perpetual attraction. My interest has always been borne out of curiosity rather than a requirement, as I have never been dedicated to specific genres that require their use on a regular basis.

Not being one to waste any time once my 2025 camera gear budget was available, I started scouring the sales for one of the smallest short telephoto lenses in existence. I had become intrigued by this 70mm lens some months ago after reading much positive information from many sources. SRS Microsystems in Watford had a deal on the lens that I could not pass up, so barely a day into the new year I was playing with my new toy.

As part of building my second camera system to tinker with, I drew up a list of lenses that I intended to add in the future. For me, a good 50mm lens is an essential core component as I find I gravitate towards this and the 35mm focal length often.

Pentax have produced a slew of 50mm lenses over the years, so there were rich pickings from which to make a selection. At the time of purchase I had only the APSC Pentax K3 mkiii, but it had always been my intention to add a larger 36x24mm sensor Pentax camera at a future point. It is how I built my Leica system; to have both APSC and 36x24mm formats allows two different focal lengths for the price of one to be exploited (assuming those lenses are designed for the larger format). It was with this in mind that I started researching the market to see what what out there.

Santa was exceptionally kind in 2024 as a silver edition of Pentax’s K1 mkii was waiting under the Christmas Tree for me! To be honest it was not a surprise as the family had purchased and squirrelled it away during the summer after I found one brand new in the box. As I had spent my 2024 camera allowance by the time I found it, a generous combined family Christmas and Birthday present was the only way I could secure it.

Introduction and Background

In today’s age of mirrorless cameras, DSLR’s have become something of a dying breed and defined on the whole by mature examples provided by Nikon, Canon and Pentax. It appears to be the latter of these three brands who have taken on the task of creating a niche for themselves by shunning mirrorless technology in favour of the DSLR. While Nikon and Canon maintain a foothold in the space, they do so with products that are several years old. Pentax, however, have reiterated that they remain committed to DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) style cameras and continue to push the boundaries on very mature products.

Nine years have passed since Ethan first wrote his thoughts down about Pentax’s Limited 20-40mm zoom lens here on PhotoArk. And while he parted company with it several years ago in pursuit of other fine lenses from the Limited series, its loss to our collection left a somewhat unquantifiable hole. It wasn’t that we did not have the focal length covered; we had primes and zooms that plugged the gap. It wasn’t that the 20-40 was the sharpest tool in the box; most of our primes could best it in edge performance at most apertures. It wasn’t a speed demon either; the variable 2.8-4 aperture could be considered a little sedentary, and it didn’t have a very large zoom range, which is something it has been criticised for over the years.