SMC Pentax-FA 28-70mm F4 AL Reviews - FA Zoom Lenses (2025)

Mine's the Vietnam version. It's plasticky, soft wide open, and the manual focus sucks--as one would expect with a lens this cheap. But its IQ is pretty decent, even on a K-1. Nothing special, but also not terrible. Actually, the colors are pretty realistic on a K-1, unlike other F and FA zooms I've tried on full-frame.

But what's really nice about this lens is it's size and versatility. If it's a gloomy day and I want to shoot HP5+, and I want a compact kit, this lens performs very well. It has nice contrast and I can get plenty of sharpness from f5.6-f8. In that sense, it makes for a great travel/documentary style lens, especially on my MZ-3's. My Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 is undoubtedly a much better lens in nearly every way, but it's also significantly bigger. So the FA 28-70mm is a good compact alternative.

To me, it's definitely a keeper. There's really no reason to use it on my K-1, unless I just had it in my bag and needed it in a pinch. In that case I'd be happy enough with the results. But this lens makes a lot of sense to have for my autofocus film cameras. The AF is fine, the IQ is good enough, it's easily replaced, and it's small and light.

It's a very hand and pragmatic lens. It's unlikely to ever cost very much, so you really can't go wrong with it.

I will say straight up that this is one of the cheapest feeling lenses I have used - including some kit lenses from Sigma, Tamron etc...Pentax definitely don't want you to manual focus this lens, but given it is designed to be AF I shouldnt be too harsh. On the MZ-3 the AF works as it should. The Zoom and aperture work reasonably well, if very cheap feeling.

Given how cheap it feels the image quality is actually not THAT bad. I was expecting much worse. There is nothing to really stand out about it - as expected it is a soft wide open, but adorations are Ok. Its going to be fine on a film camera where you are only going to be making 4x6 prints, which is probably what Pentax where going for with this lens.

+ Mines was sharp -

O/- but had a problem with strong CAs, unfortunately !

So it was a disappointment for me. I'd sold it immediately.

But some test photos here are really beautifull and without CAs. Why for ??? Were there different manufacturers of it ???

I was wrong. I've tried a few 28-80ish film era kit zooms and in terms of image quality this is worse than all of them. All those kit zooms are at least capable of sharp results when stopped down to f/8 but this isn't. It starts off very poor at f/4 and improves to moderately poor at f/8. An absolutely useless lens, incapable of taking a sharp photo at any focal length or aperture setting.

It was my first autofocus camera and first autofocus lens. I have nothing but good things to say about the lens with some caveats.

I had two versions. The first was made in Japan and it took a photo in Norway that got printed in the UK's Amateur Photographer magazine in the 1990's. The second - bought because I thought it would be a good idea to have a back up - was made in Vietnam. It was different. It's colour rendition was cooler and it also exhibited vignetting. I sent it back.

So, my first piece of advice is to get the Japanese version. I got the 28-70mm because Dr Stewart Bell of Amateur Photographer magazine tested it and expounded on its remarkable centre sharpness wide open and its relative consistency when stopped down and through the focal range. I used it for landscape and environmental photography.

If you worked around where performance was best, used it within its limitations - you were rewarded with decent, sharp and nicely coloured pictures (one of the best films for this lens was Fuji NPS 160 - the detail rendered as well as colour still takes my breath away today). Slides were rendered just as well, with more contrast.

This was a perfect enthusiasts lens. Just the sort of thing Pentax was good at - getting you off to a good start with your photography hobby. OK - the distortion was self evident but not that bad and at mid focal lengths (35mm - 50mm) you could make it just about disappear. You had to stop down a bit to use the tele end. Yes, the front of the lens wobbled a lot - it was not built as well as say the FA 35mm f2 AL.

But goodness me, it was bargain and a bit of triumph design and cost wise.

I've no idea how these have stood the test of time. I've no idea how they might behave on digital but until I graduated up to the primes and then the formidable 20-35mm zoom, this lens kept me going through the late 90's, early 2000s.

If you get a good one, not too badly used, made in Japan and you're on a budget then check it out.

I tried it on the K-S1 first and almost threw it in the garbage – not a single sharp photo! However, when I mounted it on my KP and did some AF adjustment, it was a different story. On the KP, this lens performs similarly to the 18-55mm kit zoom. It's very soft on the edges at the wide end but decent in the 40-70mm range if stopped down to F8 or higher. Not good for landscapes but OK for indoor shooting.

The focal range on APSC is inconvenient, neither wide nor tele. This lens is definitely not good enough for the K-1. I can recommend it only for those who shoot film and scan no larger than 6 megapixels.

Cat portrait at F4

45mm at F10 – sharp corner to corner

Impressionistic shot wide open

Just a quick one about that lens; It so happens that I almost contemporaneously got hold of 2 of them.
My tests might explain the discrepancy I noted between lovers and 'haters' of that lens. One is made in Japan and the other reads Vietnam.
I hold no prejudice against Vietnam, quite the contrary and I hope I'll be able to visit this fine country sooner or later.
Anyhow the one made in Vietnam is not usable at 70 whereas the other is. Might be pure chance though but I hope it provides guidance to those wishing to acquire that particular piece of glass. In the meanwhile, I'll continue using my SMC FA 28-70 2.8 AL On the K-1 at least.

This lens is much underrated. It looks flimsy but has proven to be quite durable over the years

I have shot video, landscapes and some portraits with this lens and this is very much acceptable in all this. For video, you can still control DOF and f/4 does not make it too narrow either. (Of course there are limitation with K-1 autofocus and an old lens like this, so f/4 allows for some target movement). The portraits i.e. close focusing distance at large apertures, are good without any major issues. Again, this is not a $1000 pro lens. For landscape shots, stopped down to f/8, I cannot really see the lack of detail some earlier reviewers are seeing in their lenses.

The only actual drawback is that it is sometimes a bit challenging to make the AF lock in low-light situations (especially when focusing close). For daylight use, there is no issue.

Summarizing, this lens is a good budget walk-around lens when you do not want to attract a lot of attention (like you do with a DFA 24-70).

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5WUq4W7q3AqyJy6c7

Is it bad? Reality is no. It is - okay.

CA is surprisingly good, as is contrast. It is just that light transmission from the optics that could be better.
Also, the zoom ring is very slick, lacking some sort of smooth friction that we love.

On the upside, it was VERY cheap, at £20. so I can't really complain. But the potential of a similar F4 28-70 is certainly there brand new, weather sealed and silent motor. If Pentax can make such a tiny F4 lens (my mates Canon 24-70 F4 is at least twice the size if not more), then we may be in luck.

If you find one, never pay top dollar, get it for the price of a few beers, and have fun with it. The size and F4 is worth giving it a go just for the fun or it.

As a kit zoom from the film FA era, expectations should be relatively low. Optically, a good copy's sharpness isn't considerably different than the 18-55 - probably this lens is sharper in the corners, but not quite as sharp at center (as would be expected given the image circle difference). If you like the saturated lower contrast film look, this lens has it. Colors are very pleasing. Screw drive AF works fine, and isn't as noisy as some others. The lens is pretty soft at the long end, probably not reaching "good" until f/8. The rest of the range is OK from f/5.6. I had a similar style Sigma that was optically inferior in every way.

It will work fine as a casual portrait lens, and for street photography where normal to portrait length is desired. Keep in mind that this lens is smaller and lighter than a Ltd. 20-40 which is pretty amazing for a constant aperture lens at 2.5:1 zoom ratio designed for FF film.

I've used the following overlapping zooms on my K-30 and optically I'd rank them in the following order:

Pentax-A 35-105mm F3.5
Pentax-DA 16-45mm F4
Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC Macro
>
>
>
Pentax-FA 28-70 F4

Avoid unless you get it for free. Sold it very soon after getting it. Disclaimer: might've gotten a bad copy since some reviewers seem to be fond of it.