I have finally manage to get myself a unit of smc P-FA 50mm F1.4, with a reasonable price. The lens was assembled in Vietnam, so it definitely is a brand new unit. I guess that there is no good reason for Pentax to stop making this high in demand piece of nice baby.
The lens's design is somewhat dated, and can be traced back to the film-era; it's introduced in 1991. Well in truth, most of other manufacturers' 50mm in the same class were released during the same era. Canon's EF 50mm F1.4 USM was introduced in June 1992, while Nikon's AF-Nikkor 50mm 1:1.4D was released on 1995. The Sony 50mm F1.4, which is essentially a reworking of Minolta's AF 50mm 1:1.4 RS, which was in market since 1990. dpreview.com has a very interesting comparison and review on these antics, along with the newly designed Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM.
BTW, Pentax does have a brand new smc P-DA* 55mm F1.4 SDM, but the price is way out of my budget. I can easily get myself a good unit of flash gun with the price differences.
I guess I am never a good customer for that. :)
Left: smc P-FA 50mm F1.4; Right: smc P-A 50mm F2.0.
