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

SMC Pentax 6×7 / 67 55mm f/4

Pentax · Pentax 67 · 1979

single source, unconfirmed

Also known as: SMC Pentax 67 55mm f/4 · SMC PENTAX 67 55mm F4 · smc PENTAX-6x7 1:4 55mm · SMC Pentax 6x7 55mm f/4 · Pentax 67 55mm f4 · Pentax 6x7 55mm F4 · ペンタックス67 55mm F4 · ペンタックス 6x7 55mm · SMCペンタックス67 55mmF4

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
SMC Pentax-6×7 55mm f/4 (1979, 9-element) · 9 elements in 8 groups (PentaxForums lens database) — a new design replacing the 8/7 Takumar 55mm f/3.5 Pentax 67 1979–1986 — —
SMC Pentax 67 55mm f/4 (1986, 8-element) · 8 elements in 7 groups, closest focus 0.35 m (Pentax 67 lens brochure; Pentax 67II catalogue) Pentax 67 1986 — —
  1. The 55mm f/3.5 is a different lens and not part of this family: the Super-Takumar/6×7 1:3.5/55 of 1969 and the Super-Multi-Coated Takumar/6×7 of 1971 are an 8-element, 7-group design with a 100 mm filter thread, 0.45 m closest focus, 103 × 82 mm and 920 g (PentaxForums; Japanese Wikipedia from the September 1970 and January 1975 Asahi Pentax catalogues). PentaxForums says the f/4 of 1979 'superseded' it 'with a different optical formula'. Collectors number the three 55s as versions I (f/3.5), II (6×7 f/4) and III (67 f/4).
  2. Figures for the 1986 lens are from Pentax's own documents (the SMC Pentax 67 lens brochure and the 67II catalogue). Figures for the 1979 lens come from the PentaxForums lens database only and are carried as single-source.
  3. Version years (1979, 1986) are PentaxForums'. No Pentax document consulted dates either lens, and no end date is published for the 1986 lens; the 67II body was discontinued in 2009.
  4. Blade counts (8) are from PentaxForums only.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Engraving is the sort: smc PENTAX-6x7 is the 9-element lens of 1979; smc PENTAX 67 is the 8-element lens of 1986. Weigh it if the ring is worn: 615 g against 725 g
  • Closest focus on the scale: 0.4 m on the 6×7 lens, 0.35 m on the 67 lens
  • Both take 77 mm screw-in filters; the 67 lens does not take the Pentax 67 bayonet filters
  • Neither is the 100 mm-filter Takumar 55mm f/3.5, which is a different, heavier lens

SMC Pentax-6×7 55mm f/4 (1979, 9-element):

  • Engraved smc PENTAX-6x7 1:4 55mm (PentaxForums lens database)
  • Closest focus 40 cm (0.2×), 77 mm filter thread with bayonet-filter lugs, 91.5 × 75.5 mm, 615 g — lighter and a little shorter than the 725 g lens that replaced it
  • Sellers and PentaxForums reviewers call it the 'version II' 55, after the f/3.5 Takumar and before the 1986 lens

SMC Pentax 67 55mm f/4 (1986, 8-element):

  • Engraved smc PENTAX 67 1:4 55mm; 67-style barrel, and the largest of the four common wides at 92.5 × 78.5 mm and 725 g
  • Closest focus 0.35 m (0.24×); 77 mm screw-in filters only — the brochure lists the 55mm f/4 among the lenses that do not take the 67 bayonet filters, and warns that the thick circular polariser and the 77 mm gelatin holder can vignette on it
  • Hood PH-SA77 sold separately; supplied with case S90-140 (Ricoh Imaging 67II list)
  • The Quick Focusing Ring cannot be fitted (Pentax 67 lens brochure)

Specifications

Formula
Retrofocus wide-angle; two computations — 9 elements in 8 groups (SMC Pentax-6×7, 1979) and 8 elements in 7 groups (SMC Pentax 67, 1986; Pentax 67 lens brochure and 67II catalogue)
Construction
8 elements / 7 groups
Aperture range
f/4–f/22
Diaphragm blades
8
Min. focus
0.35 m
Dimensions
92.5 × 78.5 mm
Weight
725 g
Filter
77 mm
Years manufactured
1979
Country
Japan
Coating
SMC (Pentax Super Multi Coating) on both versions
Original price
¥125,000 excluding tax for the SMC Pentax 67 55mm f/4 on Ricoh Imaging's archived 67II lens list (undated; 67II era, 1998–2009). No 1979 or 1986 launch price found.

What reviewers say

History

Pentax made three 55mm lenses for the 6×7, and this page covers the two f/4s. The first 55 was the Super-Takumar/6×7 1:3.5/55 of 1969, an 8-element, 7-group lens with a 100 mm filter thread and 920 g on the scale, multicoated from 1971; it is a different design and a different aperture, and it is described here only in the table note. In 1979 (PentaxForums’ date) Pentax replaced it with the SMC Pentax-6×7 55mm f/4: 9 elements in 8 groups, 77 mm filters, 0.4 m closest focus, 615 g. In 1986 the lens was recomputed again as the SMC Pentax 67 55mm f/4, 8 elements in 7 groups, focusing to 0.35 m, at 92.5 × 78.5 mm and 725 g, which is what the SMC Pentax 67 brochure and the Pentax 67II catalogue tabulate. Collectors number them versions I, II and III.

The 1986 lens is the one Pentax’s own documents describe, and its numbers are consistent across the English brochure, the 67II catalogue and Japanese Wikipedia’s transcription of the August 1990 catalogue: 78° diagonal, f/22 minimum, 0.35 m, φ77. The brochure adds three cautions: the 55mm f/4 is one of four lenses that do not take the 67 bayonet filters, the thick circular polariser and the 77 mm gelatin holder can vignette its corners, and the Quick Focusing Ring will not fit. Ricoh Imaging’s archived 67II list carries it at ¥125,000 excluding tax with the S90-140 case; the PH-SA77 hood was extra. The 1979 lens’s figures are PentaxForums’ alone, so they are flagged single-source. No document consulted dates either lens, gives a launch price for either, or names a designer.

Reviewers rate the 67 version as the system’s best wide. The PentaxForums entry averages 9.73 over eleven reviews and the database itself calls it the best of the three 55s; Steven Rasmussen on 35mmc calls it “a classic because it is so well corrected for aberrations,” and Peter Stout at Shoot It With Film groups it with the 45 as an excellent, affordable wide. The dissent is small and specific: one PentaxForums reviewer shooting six rolls found it “not quite at the level” of the 90, 105 and 200, with soft extreme corners at f/4 and softening at f/16 and f/22, while the same lens on a GFX 100S looked as sharp as its reputation. Owners of the 1979 lens are equally happy and say the difference to the newer version is slight; the 45mm’s most critical reviewer, by contrast, measures the 45 against “the latest version of the 55mm F4” and finds the 45 wanting.

Buying: read the engraving and the focus scale. The 6×7 lens reads smc PENTAX-6x7 and stops at 0.4 m; the 67 lens reads smc PENTAX 67 and reaches 0.35 m, and it is 110 g heavier. Check that the automatic diaphragm stops down crisply and returns, that the 77 mm thread is not dented (there is no bayonet-filter option on the 67 lens to fall back on), and expect the PH-SA77 hood to be missing. On a 67II neither has an A setting, which is normal for the system. If the seller offers a “55mm” with a 100 mm front thread, it is the f/3.5 Takumar, not this lens.

Open questions: the months of introduction; whether the 1979 lens was sold in a 67-engraved barrel before the 1986 recomputation; the end of production of the 1986 lens; and whether any Pentax document gives the 1979 lens’s construction independently of PentaxForums.

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 6×7 / 67 55mm f/4
First United Methodist Church, Willows, California — Pentax 67 with the SMC Pentax 67 55mm f/4 on Kodak Portra 160 (Frank Schulenburg) — Frank Schulenburg, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sample photo wanted — shot with a SMC Pentax 6×7 / 67 55mm f/4? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $350 across 34 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-19 (middle half $300–$430). First day tracked.

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

Show 41 more listings

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

Related: Takumar / SMC Pentax 67 105mm f/2.4 · SMC Pentax 67 165mm f/2.8 · Takumar / SMC Pentax 67 200mm f/4 · SMC Pentax 6×7 / 67 45mm f/4 · Takumar / SMC Pentax 67 75mm f/4.5 · SMC Takumar LS / SMC Pentax 6×7 / 67 90mm f/2.8

Sources (8)

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.