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.

Writing a recent review of the Pentax 31mm Limited lens did something strange to me that I would never have imagined happening, as I opened my laptop to begin writing down my thoughts. It becomes stranger when I factor in that the lens is by no means a recent acquisition, having been in use by us for more than a decade. The 31 along with a 15mm Limited and 100mm macro have been Ethan’s staple equipment for his Pentax K3 Prestige for all of this time, so I was used to seeing and using his system. Before this, he also had the 20-40mm Limited and 16-50mm zooms, which were sold to help finance what he uses now.

This article has been many years in the writing. Of the three Pentax lenses Ethan owns, the 31mm is the one we have never commented or written about. Ironically, it is the one lens that sees regular use when out shooting with Pentax DSLR’s. It is also the most favoured of the three and has been quietly doing its job for more than a decade. We were recently carrying out an evaluation of the PhotoArk site and from this it became glaringly apparent that writing anything about it had slipped our attention. The reason for this is that when we onboard a new piece of kit, we do not ‘rush and gush’ our thoughts, preferring to let time and experience temper enthusiasm. By doing this we believe that it provides a more balanced opinion which can only be garnered long after the honeymoon period ends. And so it was that our favourite Pentax lens was completely overlooked. This article redresses this and after such a long time in use it gives this beautiful piece of engineering its moment in the sun from a PhotoArk perspective.