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New Member Registered: January, 2012 Posts: 4
4 users found this helpful
| | Lens Review Date: February 3, 2012 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $50.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | best use for me -- with 1.7x adapter | | Cons: | ? | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: k5
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I have little to add to the chorus of praise for the lens at 50mm. But I would like to add a high testimonial to its value as a portrait lens used with the 1.7X Pentax adapter, thus converting the lens to 85mm. I have never used a better 85mm lens! The adapter does not always lock the autofucus. Never mind. With manual focusing the results are superlative, ingratiating, warm The portrait results are much better than with my 77mm ltd. I've just finished some comparisons, and have decided not to use the 77mm for portraits anymore. One distinction between the two lenses is that the 50mm plus adapter besides its above-mentioned warmth and attractiveness shows much more detail in the shadows. Highly recommended, if you can get hold of the adapater.
edh
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Site Supporter Registered: April, 2011 Location: Derry, Ireland Posts: 51
1 user found this helpful
| | Lens Review Date: February 14, 2012 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $30.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | sharp, clear and cheap | | Cons: | cant find any so far | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax Kx
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Bought this lens on ebay uk for £19 still many about in excellent condition considering the age. what can I say, I love this lens.
have taken a few portaits but mostly its my walking around lens.
Manual takes a bit to get used but it feels like i'm taking the photo and not the camera. Highly recommend this lens
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Junior Member Registered: December, 2011 Posts: 47
1 user found this helpful
| | Lens Review Date: December 15, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: N/A
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Perfection | | Cons: | it is what it is... | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
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I've used this lens for 35 years and it's beyond reasonable criticism.
One point most have missed is that that the viewfinder on the K5 is dazzlingly bright with such a big aperture - how anyone can have any problems focusing with it is beyond me. I've 3 now - just came with old Pentax I picked up for show but one will last a lifetime. Add an M28/2.8 for a lovely pairing.
The other thing is metering. People bemoan the lack of true auto metering, but a simply press on the green button sets exposure instantly. It becomes intuitive very quickly, and once set (this is in manual) you can stop-count shutter speeds etc - it helps you learn about the camera, but it really isn't a problem for anything except real-high speed photography like sports, where you'd probably be using a zoom anyway. All Pentax users should have one - at the price there is no excuse not to. Then once you've got used to it go get some more fixed primes for pence - the 28, a 135 etc.
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Junior Member Registered: November, 2009 Location: Bloomington, IN Posts: 26
1 user found this helpful
| | Lens Review Date: December 11, 2010 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $60.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Build Quality, Very Sharp IQ, Pleasant Bokeh | | Cons: | None | |
This was my first lens purchase after the kit lens (18-55). I wanted a fast fifty but couldn't justify spending hundreds of dollars on a new auto focus lens. After doing extensive research on various M and A Pentax lenses (thanks to this forum!), I purchased my copy of the M 50mm f/1.7 from the Marketplace. I paid $60 USD for my lens, which was in near-new condition. After six months of use, I’ve fallen in love with this fantastic piece of Pentax glass. Since June, I can count on one hand the number of times it’s been off my K20D.
Image quality is excellent and the lens is built like a tank. Honestly, the build quality is second to none! It's very compact and a perfect travel companion in my kit bag. I've been very pleased with the sharpness, even when wide open. At f/1.7 the depth of field is razor thin and the bokeh is soft and dreamy. My only issue thus far (and it’s really just “newbie error”) is that when shooting wide open, you need to be very careful not to accidentally bump the focus ring. Even the slightest nudge can throw your intended focus point out of focus, giving the impression of a soft image. That being said, when stopped down to f/2.8 or more, image sharpness is unreal.
I've used this lens both outdoors and indoors with superb results. I shot an indoor concert recently with difficult lighting and this little lens performed flawlessly.
All in all it's been the perfect lens for me to improve my MF skills. I'll certainly buy modern glass in the future but I'll always keep a spot in my bag for vintage Pentax glass like the M 50mm f/1.7. I recommend it to anyone looking for a reasonably priced low-light lens. A solid “10.”
Taken at f/2.8 ISO 400 K20D
Taken at f/1.7 ISO 200 K20D
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New Member Registered: September, 2009
1 user found this helpful
| | Lens Review Date: September 25, 2009 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $45.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Compact, fast, good pictures | | Cons: | Depth of fiel is very very short wide open | |
This is the first manual lens I bought.
The pictures I get from this lens are good. Colors seem very natural, pictures are sharp.
At f1.7 and f2 however, the pictures are softer. It is convenient for portraits.
The only con I see for this lens is that I bought it in order to make portraits indoors when light conditions require a fast lens. In these conditions, you need to use it wide open and the depth of field is so short that you have to be very precise if you don't want to have only one eye in focus  | |
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Senior Member Registered: August, 2007 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 151
1 user found this helpful
| | Lens Review Date: January 20, 2008 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $40.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Super Sharp, Even wide open! Great value for the money. | | Cons: | None | |
I have a whole collection of 50mm's:
M1.4, M1.7, M2.0 and the FA1.4.
The are fun to play with in the evenings when the light isn't so great. Recently I've taken to testing them on a tripod against different targets.
The M1.4 and FA1.4 perform almost identically. I checked the lens element diagram and the element/groupings are almost the same so no surprise there.
The real surprise was when the M1.7 was significantly sharper wide open from f1.7 to f2.0. It took till f2.8 for the f1.4's to catch up.
This is an incredible lens. I only wish they still made an autofocus version.
If you had to choose a manual focus 50mm. This is the one. I have the M1.4 as well and this one is better.  | |
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New Member Registered: May, 2012 Posts: 17 | | Lens Review Date: May 19, 2012 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $69.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Small, inexpensive, sharp | | Cons: | none yet | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-5
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I just bought this lens on ebay - it's my first prime manual lens, and I LOVE IT!!! I took photos outside and inside all day today and got so many sharp gourgeous images. I love the manual focus instead of auto focus and love the fact that I can use these OLD lenses on my new camera!!  | |
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New Member Registered: February, 2012 Posts: 6 | | Lens Review Date: March 20, 2012 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: N/A
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | cheap, sharp, clean bokeh | | Cons: | discontinued... (sad) | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: pentax kx
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enjoying this lens so much. this is one of my favorite prime lens. take crisp pictures and will make you feel good at every click of your shutter. gives life to your picture also.
a must have lens! don't leave home without it!
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New Member Registered: February, 2012 Posts: 11 | | Lens Review Date: February 26, 2012 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: N/A
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | cheap; metal body; | | Cons: | difficult to find a hood | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K-7
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Beautiful small lens for daily use. In fact lots lenses in and out, but this one is fixed.
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New Member Registered: January, 2012 Posts: 1 | |
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New Member Registered: December, 2011 Posts: 6 | | Lens Review Date: January 3, 2012 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $46.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | great bokeh, short, grippy focus ring, durable | | Cons: | hard to get the focus right, more of a viewfinder problem though | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
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Great lens! Yes, you lose out on some automatic features, but for the price and amazing fstop range you can't beat it for $46.
Here is a sample image,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54182034@N02/6626238135/ | |
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Site Supporter Registered: January, 2010 Location: Southern Utah Posts: 462 | | Lens Review Date: December 11, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $28.55
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, nice bokeh, price. | | Cons: | None at this price point!! | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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I am late to using this lens. What has not been said? The fact that this was the low end standard lens in it's day, and how it holds up now says allot about the quality of Pentax.
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New Member Registered: November, 2011 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 3 | | Lens Review Date: November 29, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $20.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | contrast, size, feel | | Cons: | sharpness if you're no good at focusing like me | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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I only shoot film on a Pentax ME Super. I like this lens a lot. I don't like the bokeh as much as my Super Tak 50/1.4.
Actually I just looked at a bunch of pics I took with this lens, and the bokeh is actually pretty magical sometimes. But i think color and contrast are the things I come to this lens for.
It seems to me that all normal lenses are sharp stopped down to f/8, and I really like this lens stopped down. I like it a lot wide open too, though.
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Site Supporter Registered: April, 2011 Location: St. John's, NL Posts: 142 | | Lens Review Date: October 26, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $40.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Image Quality | | Cons: | For what it is? None | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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A singlularly fantastic lens. I have used this lens now for 4 months and it rarely disappoints.
The focus feel is excellent and with a little practice getting the focus to "pop" in the viewfinder is pretty easy. Catch in focus works equally well. The aperture ring has a nice clean snap to it. The lens is also great mounted on top of a set of extension tubes and makes a nice macro shooter.
The images are sharp with plenty of contrast and a slightly warm colour cast thats well suited to portraits. I use this lens extensively to take pictures of my family and its great for indoor flashless photography. At f1.7 and ISO 1600 my k-x pratically sees in the dark with this lens.
Flare and PF are pretty difficult to induce.
Just one more in the chorus singing the praise of this lens!
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New Member Registered: October, 2009 Location: Montrouge, France Posts: 13 | | Lens Review Date: October 26, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $80.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Bokeh, aperture, build quality, price | | Cons: | None | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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This is my best Pentax lens. Better than the A 50 f:1,4 or K 50 f:1,2 I own and far most cheaper (and better than the A 50 f:1,7 too). One of the 1st old Pentax lenses I started to purchase for my K20D a few years ago but never equaled yet (and I own a large range of old Pentax lenses). A lens universally recognized by Pentax amateurs. A very beautiful bokeh when I compare it to my Leica M lenses. And, of course, far better than the kit lenses. With an APSC DLSR, it becomes a 75 mm, a perfect lens for portrait. So you don't need to use the green button on A setting: you just use it at 1,7 to obtain a beautiful Bokeh.
I won't bore you with sharpness or pixel count: what is important in a lens is the feeling you have with its special rendering. One can recognize a leica shot from others. I won't say the same for this one but you certainly can feel its quality among all your Pentax lenses (particularly vs. FA, DA, ... lenses).
So, that's why I put a 10. I should not because no lens really deserve a 10 (some Leica lenses I own are obviously better) if 10 is considered as perfection. But it deserve a rate close to 10 in the Pentax range. So, let's say that I rate this lens using the practices of this forum.
I'll put a few photos made with this lens during the night. No flash, no photo editing, sometimes weird adjustments (6400 ISO, B & W selected, red filter, ...).
Night impressionist portrait
Palm trees in the night of Barcelona
Jamon Bellota
Siesta
A church in Prague winter
Enjoy
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