The Greatest Pentax Lens Of All Time

Vote for the best glass ever: then win it

By cjfeola in Pentax Lens Tournament on Oct 8, 2014

What’s the greatest Pentax lens of all time? Do you favor the latest Limiteds? The 70mm F2.4 or the 35 mm F2.8? Maybe you think the Greatest Of All Time was one of the classics, like the A* 85 mm F1.4 or the A* 135 mm F1.8. Perhaps you favor the really big glass, like the Pentax-FA 645 120 mm F4 Macro or the Pentax 67 55mm F4. Or possibly you favor the odd and obscure like the Pentax Auto 110 70 mm F2.8, which, legend has it, inspired the Limited line of lenses.

The semi-legendary Pentax Auto 110 70mm

It's time to decide, once and for all, the Greatest Pentax Lens Of All Time. And what better way than to put it to a vote here at Pentax Forums? Announcing the Pentax Lens Tournament. There will be two winners: One Pentax lens will be named the Greatest Of All Time, and one participating Pentaxian will be able to win that lens through a future giveaway!

Eligibility

All genuine K, Q, 645, 6x7, M42, and 110 mount lenses that bear the "Pentax" or "Takumar" name are eligible, given that they've seen serial production.  All eligible lenses are listed in our lens database. 

All Pentax forums members are eligible to nominate lenses.  Please create a free account if you don't have one already.

How the Tournament Will Work

We'll hold nominations in four categories:

1. Wide-angle (<=29mm)
2. Normal (30-55mm)
3. Short Telephoto (56-100mm)
4. Telephoto (>101mm)

For Q-mount and medium format lenses, 35mm equivalent focal lengths will be used, i.e. a FA 645 75mm would qualify as a normal lens, as would the 01 standard prime.

Zoom lenses will be placed in categories based on their longest focal length; e.g. the DA 20-40 will be in the Normal category. To nominate a lens, submit a comment below with a first line that says exactly this:

NOMINATE: LENS NAME

One nomination per comment, and one nomination per lens per household, please. But feel free to nominate as many distinct lenses as you'd like, in as many categories. And after that first line…have at it! Make your case why your nomination is the very best. Together with your nomination, feel free to anything else that will persuade others to your cause. The very best nominations will be needed for a lens to win the contest.

Make your nominations in the comments section below; we'll take care of categorization for you, so don't worry about it!

Round One Leaderboard

There can only be one best lens!

By cjfeola in Pentax Lens Tournament on Oct 9, 2014

Day 1:

Pentaxians made 339 nominations in the first 24 hours of the Greatest Pentax Lens Tournament, and some results are already apparent:

• Pentaxians really, really, REALLY like prime lenses
• Especially the DA 15 Limited, which gained the most votes and is running away with the Wide Angle Category
• One vote behind is the FA 31 Limited, which is dominating a crowded Normal field
• Lots of old glass still has admirers
• Oh, and Pentaxians are passionate about their glass.

Here's Pentaxian netrex on the SMC K 135:

"Even though this lens is as old as I am, it's as sharp as anything released today. It has a beautiful buttery smooth bokeh as well. It is built as a tank and the focus ring is perfectly dampened for a smooth focus experience. This is by far my favorite lens, and I'll use it as long as I will be photographing."

Day 2:

Pentaxians have placed 429 nominations for 85 candidates in the first two days of The Greatest Pentax Lens of All Time. And with two days in the books, one thing is overwhelmingly clear: Pentaxians are just a wee bit passionate about their glass.

See if you can discern from these subtle hints how Pentaxian monochrome feels about the K35/3.5:

"For something like 15 years this lens has been attached to my KX in my camera bag (unless it was attached to my K10D or K-3). It is extremely sharp - perhaps the sharpest 35 ever made by Pentax - buttery smooth to operate even today nearly 40 years after it was released - and given the right background capable of a pleasing 3D effect. What sets it apart from any other Pentax lens I own though is the rendering of colors. They are alive and vibrant, especially on film (sublime on Kodachrome 64 - alas), bright, real and the best reds of any Pentax lens I've ever seen. There are just a few lenses I'll leave for my children to fight over - three. They've agreed to draw straws for picking order. This one is the first pick."

Ummm....may that be a distant, distant day! In the meantime, here are some highlights:

• The DA 15 Limited continues with the overall lead with 44 votes while crushing the Wide-Angle category
• In second overall is the FA 31 Limited, which is still dominating the Normals
• The FA 43 Limited, which several people had predicted would win in a walkover, is instead in a dogfight for a distant second with the DA 35 Macro Limited, the Super Takuram 50/1.4, the FA 50/1.7, and the M 50/1.7
• We've had our first Q System nomination-the 08 telephoto zoom

Without further ado, here are your leaderboards. Remember, the first eight in each category move on to the knock out rounds; it's back to the bag for the rest.

Lens Tournament Knockout Stage

Knockout Round One-Greatest Pentax Lens of All Time Tournament

By cjfeola in Pentax Lens Tournament on Oct 18, 2014

It's time for the knockout stage of our Pentax Lens Tournament!

As a refresher, here's the drill. In each category, as per the nomination stage, the first seed faces the eighth, two goes up against seven, and so forth. The bracket at the bottom of this post will be updated after each match. Voting for each match will be open for 24 hours and announced in advance. The winning lens in each match goes to the next round; the loser goes home. The champions of each bracket will face off in the Final Four: Best Wide-Angle vs. best Telephoto, and best Normal vs. best Short Telephoto. The winners of those two contests will then face off to be named the Greatest Of All Time.

Once our champion lens has been crowned by the residents of PF, we'll move to the giveaway, which will start in November.  More details on that will be posted once our lens tournament wraps up.

Check this post often, as the list of matchups will be updated daily from now until the end of the tournament!  The actual matchups will be held on the forum.

Current Matchups

The tournament has ended, and the FA 77mm Limited is our winner!

Past Matchups

The results for each lens pair can be viewed below:

• Tie-breaker: M 85/2 vs M 100/2.8 vs FA 645 120/4 Macro vs FA* 28-70/2.8
• FA 31/1.8 Limited vs DA* 55/1.4
• DA 15/4 Limited vs DA 14/2.8
• DA* 300/4 vs A* 200/4 Macro
• FA 77/1.8 Limited vs M 85/2
• DA* 60-250/4 vs FA* 200/4 Macro
• DA 21/3.2 Limited vs K 28/3.5
• FA 43/1.9 Limited vs A 50/1.2
• D FA 100/2.8 Macro vs 67 165/4 LS
• DA 12-24/4 vs 10-17 Fisheye
• FA* 24/2 vs FA 20/2.8
• DA 35/2.8 Limited Macro vs M 50/1.7
• Super Takumar 50/1.4 vs A 50/1.7
• FA* 85/1.4 vs A* 85/1.4
• DA 70/2.4 Limited vs K 85/1.8
• DA* 50-135/2.8 Limited vs K 135/2.5
• FA* 300/4.5 vs DA 18-135/3.5-5.6
• DA 15/4 Limited vs DA 21/3.2 Limited
• FA 31/1.8 Limited vs FA 43/1.9 Limited
• FA 77/1.8 Limited vs D FA 100/2.8 Macro WR
• DA* 300/4 vs FA* 200/4 Macro
• FA* 24/2 vs DA 12-24/4
• DA 35/2.8 Macro vs Super Takumar 50/1.4
• DA 70/2.4 vs FA* 85/1.4
• DA* 50-135/2.8 vs FA* 300/4.5
• DA 15/4 vs FA* 24/2
• FA 31/1.8 Limited vs DA 35/2.8 Limited Macro
• FA 77/1.8 Limited vs FA* 85/1.4
• DA* 300/4 vs DA* 50-135/2.8
• DA 15/4 vs FA 31/1.8
• FA 77/1.8 vs DA* 300/4

There can only be one, so good luck! May the best lens win.

Round One Finalists

There can only be one! On to the knockout rounds!

By cjfeola in Pentax Lens Tournament on Oct 17, 2014

Voting is complete in the nomination round of our Greatest Pentax Lens Tournament. With 661 votes placed for 95 different lenses, the FA 31 Limited finished first overall with 69 votes, almost tripling the second place in the Normal category held down by the FA 43 Limited.

Second overall was the FA 77 Limited with 59 votes to lead the Short Telephotos, followed closely by the DA 15 Limited with 52 votes, which did more than triple the 15 votes of the DA 21 Limited in the wides. The DA 300 ruled the telephotos with 40 votes.

With the nominations over, we move to the knockout rounds. First up: The top seeds each face off against the eighth seed in their category. So the DA 15 faces the DA 14/2.8 in the first Wide battle; the FA 31 is challenged by the DA 55/1.4 in the Normal category; and the DA 300 and A* 200/4 Macro throw down to see who advances to the next round. In the Short Teles, meanwhile, top seed FA 77 awaits the results of a play-in round among four tied for eighth: M 85/2, M 100/2.8, FA 28-70 and the 645 FA 120/4 Macro. 

Several Pentaxians asked if zooms weren't at a disadvantage in the nomination round. Probably, but that may well be reversed in the knockout rounds. Sure, you might think the DA 300 is the epitome of telephotos. But if you could only have one, would you go for the performance of the DA 300 or the versatility of the DA 60-250?

Some of the most interesting battles will be in the middle of the field, where fourth and fifth seeds face off. The DA 12-24 goes against the DA 10-17 among the wides, and the Super Takumar 50/1.4 and A 50/1.7 split 31 votes 16/15 among the normals. Perhaps the most interesting contest will be in the Short Teles: fourth seed FA 85/1.4 pulled in 13 nominations to 11 for the A* 85/1.4.

What makes for the greatest lens of all time? For some, it's not the rare glass. Listen to Pentaxian bradshea on the M 50mm F2.

"The lens that launched a thousand photographers. Cheap yet sharp and well built, this entry level optic made every K1000 sold capable of killer shots. Without lenses like these there would be no photographic hobby."

The FA 77mm Limited is the Greatest Pentax Lens

PF Lens Tournament Winner

By cjfeola in Pentax Lens Tournament on Nov 5, 2014

In the end, it wasn't even close: The FA 31mm Limited fell in the final match, just like every other challenger before it, leaving the SMC Pentax-FA 77mm F1.8 the undisputed Greatest Pentax Lens of All Time.

While the final vote was a comfortable 144-121 victory for the 77mm Limited, the voters were anything but comfortable. In fact, many found the choice anguishing...

"Can there be a "both" button? Please?" asked pentaxian Outis.

Of course, pentaxians are always ready to help a fellow in distress. "Owners of the losing lens, please toss them in my direction, whereupon they will be condemned to the flames of Hell an eternity mounted on my cameras," suggested luftfluss.

There were suggestions that violated the rules... "Get both," said pentaxian hoanpham. "But if I have to pick one.. oh my head hurts.."