The SMC Pentax-A 35-70mm 1:4, launched by Pentax in 1983, is a manual focus zoom for Series-A and Series-P Pentax K-mount 35mm SLR cameras. The lens is notable for being the only zoom lens within Pentax's inventory of K-mount lenses with a fixed aperture. Series-A lenses were also the first with 'A (automatic)' aperture setting on the aperture ring which allows the lens aperture to be set manually, or controlled automatically by the camera when set to the 'A' setting.
The twin-ring zoom is solid and well-built, with 7 elements in 7 groups and 6 aperture blades. It has a minimum focusing distance of 0.25 meters, measures 80mm long with a diameter of 65mm, weighs 330 grams, and takes 58mm filters. Though reviews are split between accolades and brickbats, the lens enjoys a Sharpness rating of 8.3, Aberrations at 7.9, Bokeh at 8.1, Handling at 8.5, and Value at 8.9, on PentaxForums.
On an APS-C digital SLR camera, in this case, a Pentad K-m (K2000 in the US), the lens is equivalent to a 50-105mm short tele on a 35mm full-frame camera. A snug fit on the K-m it was tested on, the lens was comfortable to work with and functioned flawlessly with the aperture setting set to 'A' with the camera in Program mode.
While the equivalent zoom range of the lens makes it a good choice for a walk-about lens, with a good focal range for snapshots, portraiture, travel, and street photography, the lens was used here for close-ups with the images cropped further on the desktop editor. As posted, images are par excellence.
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