Overview

The Montgomery Ward 135mm f/2.8 Auto is a vintage manual-focus prime lens with all-metal construction but feels poorly made. Its optical quality is mediocre: color and contrast are decent in controlled lighting, but flare resistance is very poor, especially wide open at f/2.8, causing washed-out images; stopping down to f/8 improves usability. The lens is large and heavy, with a short focus throw and a built-in but useless hood. It suits budget-conscious Pentax shooters willing to work around flare and manual operation, and can yield sharp results with post-processing.