Hi all,
The first prime I bought for my K200D was an SMC PENTAX K55mm F1.8 (bayonet) off eBay.
I had read great things about it and enjoyed shooting with it for a while, before becoming distracted by other lenses such as the M35mm F2 and the K200mm F4. Recently, I went back to using the 55mm and found I enjoy that focal length on APS-C, because it makes the image the right size in the viewfinder such that I can open the other eye and shoot at the same time as seeing stereoscopically. Additionally, taking photographs at 55mm seems to aid my composition - I like the way I choose to shoot with this lens and the look it gives my pictures.
That is until I decide to zoom in or crop. I've noticed when looking (too) closely at my pictures (including extensive home test shots) that this lens seems to lack contrast and sharpness around the finer details of the picture. There is a soft halo-ish fringe kind of effect over contrasted edges.
I acknowledge that these lenses are a challenge to manally focus, and I expect to miss the focus sometimes - but even under test conditions on a tripod, I seem to get the same effect. It happens at almost the whole range of F stops, but is more obvious when the lens is towards the wide end.
The same fuzziness does not present when shooting with the Takumar, A series or M series 50mm lenses that I have tried.
My question for current or previous owners of the K55 F1.8
is this how the lens is supposed to be? ( or have I got a lemon? )
Cheers,