Originally posted by Pentaxor I think another reason to consider is that one lens is rarely sold in the market while the other one is commonly sold.
You mean you see the 50/1.4 more than the 50 mac? Maybe that's because Pentax *made* a zillion more of the former. I see lots more Helios-44's than Helios-40's on the bay too. Funny 'bout that. Oh yeah, if you want a great affordable 50mm macro lens, get an Industar-50/3.5, a set of cheap M42 macro tubes, and a cheap wide-flanged M42-PK adapter. Those might cost all of US$40. Or less, in Europe.