This high-speed, normal prime ($199, street) has been around for a decade. Why test it now? No other lens in the current Pentax catalog can throw backgrounds into creamy defocus like this. Even better, on a Pentax K10D, K100D, or K100D Super DSLR, it scales up to a medium-tele 75mm, a fine choice for portraits. Better still? The low price.

HANDS ON
A half-inch shorter and several ounces lighter than comparable Canon and Nikon 50mm f/1.4s, this full-framer predates digital. The small, rubber-clad, manual-focus ring’s turning action is a bit rough. Distance scales are large and easily legible; ditto for the depth-of-field scale (remember those?). The AF action on our test camera, the Pentax *ist DL, was rapid and quiet.

Source: www.popphoto.com