pentax sfx - Vishal K Bharadwaj

dubai karama metro station taken with a pentax sfx pentax-f smc 50mm F1.4 autofocus lens with cokinlight 49mm uv filter on a pentax k200d digital slr camera
I recently acquired a new old lens, a Pentax SFX-era F1.4 50mm autofocus from the 1980s. While it is a lens ideally suited for night photography, I recently had the chance to give it a whirl while out and about. Here are a few of the good photos I got.

index tower and burj khalifa shot with a pentax sfx pentax-f smc 50mm F1.4 autofocus lens with cokinlight 49mm uv filter on a pentax k200d digital slr camera
The Index is one of my favourite buildings to look at in Dubai, and not only because a friend of mine lives there. This Foster & Partners building is perfect for the Dubai landscape, with its pleasingly retro angles and box grater shape, its use of textured materials. And yet it’s completely different to the chrome and glass towers that make up most of the city’s skyscrapers. Chief among them is the Burj Khalifa, tallest building in the world, of-late Tom Cruise’s personal dangling venue of choice. I’m fairly indifferent to its design, though I guess it could have been a lot worse.

ras al khaimah emirates road shot with a pentax sfx pentax-f smc 50mm F1.4 autofocus lens with cokinlight 49mm uv filter on a pentax k200d digital slr camera
Despite the modern image of the Emirates being a glass & chrome metropolis, drive a little out of the city and you’ll end up on a road that looks very much like this, no matter where you go…

national paints roundabout traffic jam shot with a pentax sfx pentax-f smc 50mm F1.4 autofocus lens with cokinlight 49mm uv filter on a pentax k200d digital slr camera
…and once you get bored and decide to return to the cities, chances are you’ll end up in a traffic jam that looks very much like this, no matter where you go!

acrobatic jets with smoke trail shot with a pentax sfx pentax-f smc 50mm F1.4 autofocus lens with cokinlight 49mm uv filter on a pentax k200d digital slr camera
It’s a small concession that once every couple of years, when you do get stuck in a traffic jam you at least get to see some aerobatics. (Also, I really, really need to clean all the dust spots from my camera sensor.)

business bay bridge, culture village tower and burj khalifa shot with a pentax sfx pentax-f smc 50mm F1.4 autofocus lens with cokinlight 49mm uv filter on a pentax k200d digital slr camera
The lens, by the way, performs admirably, even shooting straight into the setting sun. You can’t see it at this size and treatment, but I can read the number plates on most of the traffic in this shot.

pentax sfx pentax-f smc 50mm F1.4 autofocus lens with cokinlight 49mm uv filter on a pentax k200d digital slr camera
These last two shots further demonstrate how marvelous this lens has turned out to be. Both of them are shot through a very dirty window, with harsh corridor lights behind and above me casting all manner of reflections on the glass. The second one, in fact, was taken at a sharp glancing angle to the glass. It’s a wonder I managed to get anything at all!

pentax sfx pentax-f smc 50mm F1.4 autofocus lens with cokinlight 49mm uv filter on a pentax k200d digital slr camera

Needless to say, I’m only scratching the surface of what this lens can do, and future experiments will follow.

pentax sfx pentax-f smc 50mm F1.4 autofocus lens with cokinlight 49mm uv filter on a pentax k200d digital slr camera
I’ve been searching for old, strange lenses for my Pentax K200D digital SLR ever since I bought it over two years ago, since I quickly realised that I could effectively use any number of great lenses stretching back over Pentax’s long and colourful history. Last year I acquired an adapter for the M42 mount, which allowed me to use a forty-something-year-old Zenit Helios 58mm f2 lens after some modifications to the apeture pin. I’ve been using the all-manual lens through much of the last year, getting back my skills at manual focussing — no small feat in a lens with such a fine and shallow depth-of-field. It has performed admirably and produces pictures of distinct character.

Out of the blue, the other day, I stumbled upon a camera store in a small mall in Dubai that I have often frequented for coffee and a sandwich, but never explored. They had dozens of old cameras and lenses, including several Pentax models, of which I immediately spotted a Pentax SFX, and more specifically its 50mm F1.4 SMC autofocus lens. I acquired it for a bargain (around $70) and even got a UV filter thrown in for free! Due to some other chores that needed to be done, I didn’t get a chance to properly test it, but heading back to the car I fired off a quick shot of my brother in the back seat.

portrait of samir bharadwaj taken with a pentax k200d digital slr camera with a pentax sfx pentax-f smc 50mm F1.4 autofocus lens with cokinlight 49mm uv filter in indirect streetlight

Note that this was taken with me awkwardly turned around in the front passenger seat, with the only illumination being a single street-light and a shop window across the two lane road. The results are more than adequate, and quite the step-up from the F2 zenit lens. The autofocus helps immensely in poor light, and I can’t wait to give this lens a good workout. It’s a good deal younger than the Zenit — the SFX was released in 1987. Like the Zenit, I imagine it will sit on my camera most of the time.