Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

SMC Pentax-A 645 150mm f/3.5

Pentax · Pentax 645 · 1984

Also known as: SMC Pentax-A 645 150mm f/3.5 · smc PENTAX-A 645 150mm F3.5 · Pentax 645 150mm f/3.5 · Pentax 645 150/3.5 · Pentax-A 645 150mm · ペンタックス 645 150mm F3.5 · smc PENTAX-A 645 150mmF3.5

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
SMC Pentax-A 645 150mm f/3.5 (manual focus, 1984) Pentax 645 1984 — —
  1. Figures from the PentaxForums lens database and camera-wiki (citing Popular Photography, June 1984). Jake Horn's review gives 448 g, presumably his own scale; the maker-derived 435 g is entered.
  2. There is no FA 150mm f/3.5. The FA 645 150mm F2.8 [IF] of the autofocus line is a different design at a different aperture and has its own page if the wave reaches it; it is excluded from this family's listings.
  3. No launch price in yen or dollars was found.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Built-in sliding hood with a rubber rim and a 58 mm front: the FA 150mm f/2.8 has a 67 mm front, a detachable hood and an AF coupler
  • Four elements in four groups; the front extends when focusing

SMC Pentax-A 645 150mm f/3.5 (manual focus, 1984):

  • Engraved smc PENTAX-A 645 1:3.5 150mm; metal barrel with a built-in sliding hood tipped with a rubber (polycarbonate-rimmed, per one owner) bumper
  • 58 mm filter thread; the front does not rotate, so a polariser stays set (PentaxForums; Jake Horn)
  • 435 g and 74 × 71.5 mm; minimum aperture f/32 (PentaxForums; camera-wiki, citing Popular Photography, June 1984)

Specifications

Construction
4 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range
f/3.5–f/32
Diaphragm blades
8
Min. focus
1.4 m
Dimensions
74 × 71.5 mm
Weight
435 g
Filter
58 mm
Years manufactured
1984
Country
Japan
Coating
SMC (Super Multi Coating)

What reviewers say

History

The 150mm f/3.5 was the short telephoto of the Pentax 645 outfit from the camera’s 1984 launch, a portrait length equivalent to about 90mm on 35mm film. It is the simplest lens in the line: four elements in four groups, f/3.5 to f/32, 1.4 m closest focus, eight blades, a 58 mm filter thread, 74 × 71.5 mm and 435 g, with a metal hood that slides out of the barrel and a rubber rim on its lip (PentaxForums lens database; camera-wiki’s table, citing Popular Photography, June 1984; Japanese Wikipedia). The front does not rotate, so a polariser stays set, but the barrel extends when focusing.

There is no autofocus version at this aperture. When Pentax rebuilt the line for the 645N in 1997 the 150 was replaced by the smc PENTAX-FA 645 150mm F2.8 [IF], which Ricoh Imaging’s page describes as seven elements in seven groups with low-dispersion glass, internal focusing, a 67 mm filter, 1.2 m closest focus and 500 g. That is a different lens, a stop faster and a different page; it is excluded from this family’s listings. The A 150 works on every 645 body, film and digital, in manual focus. Jake Horn reports that it does not accept the 1.4× rear converter.

Reviewers like it more than its four elements suggest. The PentaxForums database has ten reviews at a 9.20 average, with sharpness from wide open or by f/4, smooth bokeh, a dense build and a buttery focus ring recurring in nearly all of them, at an average paid price of $131; Richard L. bought his for $110 after reading that the FA 150 f/2.8 was plastic, expensive and weak wide open, and Jake Horn, who prints its files at 20 × 30 inches, says to stick with the f/3.5 A unless autofocus is essential. The dissent is Jonathan Mac, who finds it competent but lacking the medium-format look of the 55 and 75, and everyone wishes it focused closer than 1.4 m. Todd Reed on Emulsive added it to a 45/75 kit for Bryce Canyon and Yosemite and shows the results without a verdict.

Buying: check that the sliding hood moves freely and its rubber rim is intact, that the focus is smooth and the extending front has no play, and that the four air-spaced elements are clear of haze; the A 645 barrels are reported as easy to open for cleaning. An extension tube, not a converter, is the answer to the long minimum focus. No launch price in yen or dollars was found.

Expand Collapse

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

Sample photo taken with the SMC Pentax-A 645 150mm f/3.5
SMC Pentax-A 645 150mm on Ilford HP5 (Debbie Long) — Debbie Long, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Sample photo wanted — shot with a SMC Pentax-A 645 150mm f/3.5? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $160 across 47 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-19 (middle half $140–$180). First day tracked.

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Show 112 more listings

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

Listings updated 2026-09-19. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: SMC Pentax-A / FA 645 35mm f/3.5 · SMC Pentax-A / FA 645 45mm f/2.8 · SMC Pentax-A / FA 645 75mm f/2.8

Sources (7)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.