I love these three and in particular the 35mm. The 35mm was not a big seller and a such is not too easy to find these days but not what I would call rare. Well worth hunting out if you need this focal length. Of course a 35mm lens on a 1.5x crop sensor gives you 52.5mm which is ideal for use a normal lens.
The 40mm is the pancake lens that many lust after although it's not particularly rare but it does command a price just for being what it is. It's not particularly fast either and is prone to flare. The small focusing and aperture rings make it a little fiddly to use as well. I like it though and it goes well my K1000.
The 28mm lens is more maligned. Although not really with any reason. Sure it's a little slow but overall it's a useful lens and is about as wide as you can go without splashing out lots of money for 24mm and wider.
I do have some others to go with them too. My full lineup of M's to date are ........
My particular favourites are the 35/2.8, 50/1.4, 85/2.0, 135/3.5 and the 200/4.0
But overall the complete line of M's are pretty good lenses and always impress me with their performance.
Now you've done it, Jay. You've really p*ssed me off. That favourite M42 lens of mine was an 85mm f/1.9. I loved that lens, especially on 35mm, but as I said, trying to focus and meter stopped down manually was taxing me, like using an old pre-set diaphragm on 35mm. I've got zooms to take me from 12 to 200mm when convenience is a priority, but your 85mm shots just remind me of the hole between 50mm and 135mm in my primes. I may seek out an 85 somewhere, but I'm not expecting any bargains.
Everyone today seems so obsessed with covering entire ranges of focal lengths, though. I read people worrying about having holes in their coverage, but I can remember back in the day, when zooms weren't as widespread, that the general consensus was to work in multiples of 2. If you started with a 50mm normal, you would look for a 24 or 28mm wide angle, a 100mm and 200mm telephoto and that was seen as covering your range. Or perhaps a 35mm, 80mm, 150mm and 300mm. I'm not lecturing, chastising or admonishing, just noting with interest.
Now you've done it, Jay. You've really p*ssed me off. That favourite M42 lens of mine was an 85mm f/1.9. I loved that lens, especially on 35mm, but as I said, trying to focus and meter stopped down manually was taxing me, like using an old pre-set diaphragm on 35mm. I've got zooms to take me from 12 to 200mm when convenience is a priority, but your 85mm shots just remind me of the hole between 50mm and 135mm in my primes. I may seek out an 85 somewhere, but I'm not expecting any bargains.
It's OK G_Money ... I'll take very good care of that 85mm f/1.9 that Jay just sold ... it will go to a very good home ... trust me. I will be in safe hands.
__________________ Cheers Simon : http://mechan1k.zenfolio.com/ Pentax K10D x2 : DA 18-55mm : FA50 f/1.4 : FA J 75-300mm : Genuine M42 adaptor x2 Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 Di macro : x1.4 AF Teleconverter : Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8 EX : EF 530 DG Super : Zenitar 16mm f/2,8 F/E M42 Super Taks 28/3.5 : 35/3.5 : 55/1.8 : 85/1.9 : 105/2.8 : 135/3.5 : 200/4
It's OK G_Money ... I'll take very good care of that 85mm f/1.9 that Jay just sold ... it will go to a very good home ... trust me. I will be in safe hands.
That Super tak 85 f1.9 gets very similar results to my M 85 f/2 - bokeh's a little
different, but I think the Tak may be sharper, at least up to f4. You're going to love
it. (If it's your only 85, never let it go.)
.
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K20D + K100D Super
DA* 50-135 f2.8 | DA 12-24 f4, 35ltd f2.8 Macro | FA 77ltd 1.8, 43 ltd 1.9 | F 50 1.7 | K 55 1.8, 35 3.5 | M 200 4, 135 3.5, 100 2.8, 85 2, 50 1.4, 28 2.8, 20 4 | Super Takumar 200 f4, 135 f3.5, 55 1.8, 50 1.4, 35 3.5 | Vivitar 28 2.8 Close Focus ("K2") | Tamron 28-75 2.8 XR LD Di , 70-200 2.8 LD Di Macro | Sigma 70 f/2.8 EX DG Macro
I have nothing so far in the 85mm length (although my Tamron 90mm Macro is close).
Trust me ... I don't think I'd get rid of any of these lenses ... knowing me ... I'd probably hoard them all (I doubt i could part with any lenses).
__________________ Cheers Simon : http://mechan1k.zenfolio.com/ Pentax K10D x2 : DA 18-55mm : FA50 f/1.4 : FA J 75-300mm : Genuine M42 adaptor x2 Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 Di macro : x1.4 AF Teleconverter : Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8 EX : EF 530 DG Super : Zenitar 16mm f/2,8 F/E M42 Super Taks 28/3.5 : 35/3.5 : 55/1.8 : 85/1.9 : 105/2.8 : 135/3.5 : 200/4
You are right G_Money. I'm old enough to remember your sage advice about buying lenses in multiples of 2. It is still good advice. I actually followed it for a while. Started out with the M 50 1.4, got a M 28 2.8, M 100 2.8, M 150 3.5, and M200 4. Remember when the best zoom was your two feet? It seems a number of people I have met through photography are also collectors. I admit I fall into this category myself. I guess I was still sort of working im multiples of 2 when I added the K 24 2.8, M 35 2, K 135 3.5, K 200 2.5 and K 300 4. Multiples in that I seemed to be buying these lenses two at a time. Things really got out of hand when I added the M 50 4 macro and A 100 2.8 macro. An A series lens! How did that get in there? I don't even want to think about the M 75~150 4 zoom and the M 80~200 4.5 zoom. Even I couldn't justify this overlap in coverage. I'm getting better though. I'm thinking about entering a multi step program for compulsive behavior. Perhaps after I get that M 85 f2! Don't you think it would look good somewhere in the middle of the rest of my M family?
for the LONGEST time all i shot with was a K1000 and a m 1.7 50
just to let people know so they do not get confused i have used more cameras then my Pentax stuff so not all the photos are shot with one. but a LOT of the older photos where.