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.

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!