[UPDATED] Firstly an apology.  You’ve just read a cheap and possibly misleading post title but at least I’ve got your attention.  Quite possibly the Incomplete Gamer has also been flagged by the Federal authorities, been noticed by the Gun Owners of America, and been listed on the Guns and Ammo links page.  What can I say.  We need the traffic.

Nor should this post technically be listed as a Fed-Ex Alert.  Not unless we get in our time machine and travel back to 1997; November to be precise, for the launch of the Pentax SMCP-FA 50mm f/1.4 AF. The lens is in-coming, however, in the sense that we’ve ordered a new copy of the said lens and with a bit of luck the parcel might even arrive tomorrow.

Why are we buying a lens originally launched 11 years ago, and perhaps more importantly why are we blogging about it?

We’re a big fan of Pentax, and not just because that’s  the DSLR system we’ve invested in, although if we were honest (and we are) we’d readily admit (and we hereby do) that generally speaking the more one buys and invests in a product the more one is likely to sing it’s praises.  It’s simple really.  It must be really good – why else the continued financial commitment.  Either that or I’m a dummy.

We also love the commitment Pentax made to supporting its legacy glass.  I won’t bore you with the details; you can read about it here; suffice to say, no other camera maker comes close to supporting its range of lenses across it’s new range of Digital SLR’s.  We live in a world of built in obsolescence.  In all industry, not just photography, such commitment is the  exception, not the norm and should be applauded. Plus, the Incomplete Gamer boasts a proud Scottish heritage.   All those great quality 70’s manual lenses on Ebay just can’t be ignored.

Back to the Pentax SMCP-FA 50mm f/1.4 AF. This is the fast prime lens every Pentax owner should have in their camera bag, and more usefully, attached to their camera.

It’s not really universally loved and acclaimed, but that’s only because Pentax are yet to step up their inter planetary marketing campaigns.   Amazon can give you a fair idea of just how popular the lens is, while the respected folks at Digital Photography Review, who reviewed the lens in November last year, can give you the technical low-down.

For the price and performance, for the bang for your buck, no other lens in the Pentax range comes close, and that’s not just our Scottish heritage speaking.

Speaking of price, the lens will set you back A$450 at your local camera store but shopbot should be able to help you shave one hundred dollars off that price .  We’ll let you know where we ordered our lens once we confirm its safe arrival.

[UPDATE] The Pentax SMCP-FA 50mm f/1.4 AF arrived at Pyxis HQ this morning.  A big shout out to the crew at DigiDirect.  Not just the cheapest price we could find from an Australian distributor, but lightening fast delivery as well.  We don’t make a habit of openly endorsing companies or products, but today we’ll make our first exception. In the past we’ve fed our lens buying addiction with purchases from the US Camera Retailer, B&H Photo, but with the Australian dollar taking a dive, it no longer makes any sense, unless you are buying a number of items.  Thanks to DigiDirect, we can still avoid the price gouging and ordering delays that we face from the Australian bricks and mortar camera stores.