Pentax SMC Pentax 67 200mm f/4

Stopped down to f/8 this Pentax 200mm resolves with a crispness that fools people into thinking the 6x7 negative is sharper than it has any right to be. The draw is clean and medium-telephoto, sharp early and even across the whole frame, never buttery or soft. On the Pentax 67 a 200mm sits roughly where a 100mm lives on 35mm full frame, so this is the short-tele portrait length of the system. It gives you working distance and a flattering perspective without the foreshortening you get from longer glass.

SMC stands for Super Multi Coating, and on this generation it is why flare almost never becomes a problem. Shoot into a low sun and you get controlled veiling at worst, not the rainbow ghosting that plagues older single-coated medium-format teles. Contrast holds up backlit. Color is neutral and slightly cool, which sits well under Portra and behaves on slide film where a warm cast you did not ask for can wreck a frame.

Wide open at f/4 it is good rather than spectacular, with a hint of softness in the corners and a gentle glow that actually flatters skin. By f/5.6 the center is firm, and at f/8 the entire 6x7 frame is resolving hard. Out-of-focus rendering is smooth and rounded, no swirl, no nervous edges, helped by the large format pulling subjects clear of the background at portrait distances. No optical party trick, just an honest rendering that lets the negative size carry the drama.

Portrait and landscape shooters on the 67 reach for it when they want length without the bulk and price of the 300mm or 400mm. The honest weakness is weight and handling, not optics. This is a hefty hunk of metal hanging off an already enormous SLR, the 77mm front element is a real chunk of glass, and at f/4 you have no faster option when the room goes dark. There is no leaf shutter here, so flash sync runs through the body's focal-plane curtain at its modest top sync speed.

Today it trades used for a fraction of what the wide-aperture 67 portrait lenses fetch. People cross-shop it against the 165mm f/2.8, which is faster and the more famous portrait choice. The 200mm wins on reach and on price, loses on speed and on that f/2.8 separation. If you meter selectively wide open in low light, point Zone Light Meter's spot at the skin you care about and place it deliberately, because at f/4 your margin for a blown highlight on a face is thin and the 6x7 frame shows every bit of it.