The Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited is the latest in a line of very special lenses that Pentaxians adore. Find out if it lives up to the hype in our full review.
Pros
- Incredible build quality
- Weather sealing
- Stunningly sharp
- Fast focusing
- Overall image quality
Cons
- A little costly
- Vignetting at f2.4
Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited — Technical specifications
All technical specifications for the Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited are from the product page on B&H Photo:
- K-Mount lens/full-frame format
- Aperture range: f/2.4 to f/22
- Minimum focusing distance: 7.1″
- High-Grade Multi-Layer HD coating
- 11 elements in 8 groups
- Four extra-low dispersion elements
- Super extra-low dispersion element
- Rounded 8-blade diaphragm
- Weather-resistant construction
- Front filter thread: 67mm
Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited — Ergonomics and build quality
The first thing that will strike you about the Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited is just how stunningly gorgeous it is. The semi-glossy, satin black finish looks lovely. The etching and markings on the lens are beautifully applied and are easy to read. The distance scale looks stunning too. The lens looks like it has been lifted from the vintage era. The Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited wouldn’t look out of place on a Leica. It looks that great.
Aside from the markings listed above, there’s not much going on with this lens. There’s a generously sized manual focus ring that is silky smooth. There are no switches on the lens. If you want to switch to manual focus, you have to use the camera body. There is a built-in petal hood on the lens. The lens cap is made from solid metal and is lined with soft felt.
Being a Pentax Limited lens, you also get the beautiful leather carry pouch (not pictured) as well. Amazingly, Pentax managed to keep the weight of this lens down to 0.917lbs/416g, which isn’t bad at all for such an exquisitely made lens. However, this is roughly double the weight of the Pentax 77mm f/1.8 Limited, and it’s heavier than the 31mm Limited. Still, it balances beautifully on the Pentax K-1 II.
Make no mistake about it, Pentax knocked it out of the park with the 21mm f/2.4 Limited when it comes to ergonomics.
Build quality
From a build quality standpoint, there’s nothing to hate and everything to love. The lens feels like a premium offering. The body is all metal, the lens hood is metal and the manual focus ring is buttery smooth. This lens is a WR variant, which means it has weather resistance, which is a feature that’s sorely lacking on many other Pentax Limited lenses. This may be the most robust Limited lens Pentax has created yet.
Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited — In the field
The Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited is a beautiful lens to use out in the field. Just keep in mind that this lens, when paired with the Pentax K-1 / K-1 II, will weigh 3.14lbs. This is not an insignificant amount of weight to lug around. You will struggle to use this combo one-handed. However, the extra effort required to use this lens is worth it. There is no lens stabilization here; however, most Pentax DSLRs feature shake reduction, which works just fine.
This Limited lens is as close to plug and play as you can get. The wide viewing angle might be a little challenging to those who have little experience with wide-angle lenses, but in terms of attaching it to your camera and starting to create fantastic images, there’s nothing to this lens.
Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited — Autofocus performance
The autofocus motors used in this lens are extraordinary. It’s a shame that this lens is held back by the antiquated autofocus system found in the Pentax K-1 and K-1 II. I imagine that if you used this lens on the new Pentax K-3 III (read our review here), which features the new SAFOX 13 autofocus system, this lens would zip and zoom from near to far instantly.
However, I can only review what was in front of me at the time. So on the K-1 II, the lens, in excellent light, was zippy. The lens found focus quickly and accurately. However, when things started getting a little dark, the lens did slow down and would hunt. Again, though, this is more of a camera limitation rather than a lens issue. Still, I had no problems overall. The lens was able to track subjects relatively easily, and in single point, the lens was buttery smooth.
Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited — Image quality
The images you’ll create with the Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited will leave a huge smile on your face. The colors are to die for. In addition, the lens is ridiculously sharp; even bokeh is very pleasant, which is rare for a wide-angle lens. Let’s break things down further below.
Distortion control and vignetting
I have to say; I was expecting there to be some distortion with the Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited. This is a common trait with wide-angle lenses. However, Pentax has worked some magic here. You can see in the image of Oklahoma University’s Memorial Stadium that distortion is very well controlled. There’s a slight hint of barrel distortion in the very center of the frame. However, look how straight the roof of the stadium is. This is a very impressive performance.
When it comes vignetting, when shooting wide open at f/2.4, the corners are quite dark. This doesn’t bother me as I like some vignetting. However, everyone has different tastes. By the time you reach f/5.6, the vignetting is all but gone.
Ghosting, flaring and chromatic aberrations
The Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited is the most impressive lens I have used from Pentax when it comes to controlling ghosting, flaring and chromatic aberrations. Limited lenses have been plagued with pretty extreme purple fringing in the past, especially one of my fave lenses of all time, the 77mm f/1.8 Limited. However, the 21mm f/2.4 Limited has hardly a hint of fringing. Even in extreme scenarios, the coatings on this lens perform like a champ.
Ghosting is present, as you can see in the images above. As you can tell, though, I was shooting directly into the sun in the scene with the bridge. This scene would be challenging for any lens. However, in the scene shooting through the tree, ghosting is controlled better. You can also see that this lens creates gorgeous sun stars with pin-sharp tines.
Again, Pentax has done a lovely job with the 21mm f/2.4 Limited. Even though this is the most clinical Limited lens I have ever used, it still manages to retain some of the Limited lens character that is well loved.
Sharpness
To say the Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited is sharp would be an understatement. When I was chimping images on the K-1 II, I was impressed. However, when I got the photos home and looked at them on my monitor, whoa, momma! This lens is sharp enough to cut. The images look fantastic, and the details captured pop off the screen. If you like sharp lenses, the Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited will please you.
Bokeh
You don’t buy wide-angle lenses for bokeh. That’s just a fact. However, this doesn’t mean that wide-angle lenses can’t produce it. On the contrary, they can; it’s just that bokeh rendered by wider lenses is usually less than desirable.
Still, thanks to the close focusing distance of the Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited (7.1-inches, 18cm), you can create some smooth bokeh with charming specular highlights. So buy this lens for the sharpness, color rendition and well-controlled distortion; take the pleasing bokeh from this wide lens as a bonus.
Color rendition
The colors that the Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited produces are fantastic. I used the Pentax K-1 II with auto white balance and in the natural profile, and as you can see, the colors are sublime. Color tones are natural, with a hint of over-saturation, but overall, the colors are great.
As we all know, everybody has their own feelings when it comes to color rendition. Therefore, all of the images in this review have not had any alterations made to the colors. So, have a look at them and decide if you like them or not.
Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited — Katen image profile
Shortly before we received the loan copy of the Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited, Ricoh dropped the news about their new seasonal image profiles (which you can read about here). Basically, there will be image profiles for Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter that will bring out, or highlight, the colors associated with that season.
The kicker is that these image profiles will only work with specific cameras and specific lenses. The first of the profiles is Katen, which works with the K-1 / K-1 II and the Pentax 21mm f/2.4 Limited. I updated the K-1 II to the latest firmware and chose the Katen profile for the JPEGs that the camera generates.
All of the images above are straight out of the camera. As you can see, the Katen profile has been tweaked to deepen blues, brighten greens and makes whites pop. To me, the profile aims for the look of a polarizer. Whether or not it pulls it off, well, I’ll leave that up to you to decide.
