[djpattiecake]

Everyone here is so helpful! Thanks, and good catch on my blunder, that makinon is definately not a pk mount now that I look closer... time to send a message...

[stevebrot]

Tamron Adaptall-2 are very good and are often available for fairly modest prices.

Tamron Adaptall-2 24mm F/2.5 Model 01B

Tamron Adaptall-2 28mm F/2.5 Model 02B

I own the 28/2.5 (02B) and can attest that it is better built and somewhat better optically than my Vivitar 28/2.8 (K02).


Steve

[bhairavp]

I got lucky.. got a K28/3.5 for 3300 rupees, which is ~55USD. Excellent condition.

[Lowell Goudge]

If I look at my 24-28mm collection I have the tamron adaptal II 24/2.5 and 28/2.5, plus kiron 24/2 and 28/2 lenses, plus 2 different vivitar 28/2.5 lenses, one in M42 mount and one in K mount. Plus a sigma mini wide II 28/2.8 in KA mount plus an M28/2.8

I paid less than $30 each for all of them, and less than $10 each for half of them

My take is that except for the sigma which I got specifically because it was a KA mount, they are all pretty good performers. The sigma suffers badly from lateral CA , but this can be corrected in anyprogram which rescales the color layers for CA correction to yeild sharp edge to edge performance.

The kirons were both $5 specials because they had stuck aptare blades (kiron lenses from the early 1980's are prone to this)

The vivitar s are quite capable lenses, with the KMount being newer and better coated so it has more contrast.

The M28/2.8 is the most compact and a good performer, overall. It is pretty hard to get a bad 28

[djpattiecake]

EIther I've gone blind, or the pictures of the Makinon show a breechblock mount - probably a Canon FD, not a Pentax. You should contact the seller right away.

That Industar (which is a fun little lens, BTW) is really an M42 lens bundled with a "flanged" M42-PK adapter, which means it won't focus to infinity (it's like putting a 1mm macro extension tube on the lens). You'll need the flush-type adapter if you want infinity focus. You can find plenty of discussion of M42 adapters here on the forums.

Believe it or not, I've heard Ozunon was Montgomery Ward's house brand, although the camera wiki says it was a manufacturer, Ozone Optical. I've got one of their shorty-zooms. Small & decent, not spectacular.

is the OEM pentax m42 adapter the best way to go? or are there decent offbrand ones?

[prime.partisan]

In my experience owning a dozen of cheap 28mm's, cheapest with very decent performance is the Cosmicar 28mm f2.8. It's said to be a Pentax-A without SMC. You can get 1 on KEH now for $27 + shipping.
If you can use M42, Super-Multi-Coated or the later SMC Takumar 28mm f3.5's are great. Very nice color and sharpness. They just can't focus as close as say a Vivitar or Sigma.
Tokina EL is good, but not great. Sharp, but I think a bit lack of contrast. Though it's very small and well built. Tokina SL with PK-A mount is sharp, contrasty and colorful, but has a bit more distortion than others.
Komine Vivitars are sharp but lack contrast. The SMS Close Focus copy I got isn't very good wide open. Stopped down it's sharp, but not much more than any other stopped down.
Cosina Vivitars are not as sharp but have nicer contrast.
And then there is TOU/Five Star 28mm f2.8. It's a great overall lens. Surprisingly good color, contrast, and sharpness. There's a version with the "A(P)" setting, which doesn't work on my K-01 due to completely off metering when stopped down. I can use it as a full manual lens though. I've seen a Gemini with A(P) that looks identical.
I haven't come across a bad 28mm, as Lowell said. But they gotta be out there somewhere, it's just a matter of LBA and when My Sigma Miniwide came with some odd condensation that requires a disassembling and cleaning. And I've read somewhere other people had the same problem. It's great after a good clean up. It focuses closest among my 28mm's.
Lightroom goes a long way of making lensmonade out of many off brand no name lensmons Super Albinon, Zykkor, Rokinon, etc., just run them through PP and enjoy.
Overall I like my S-M-C Takumar the best. Even more than King K XXVIII, aka Pentax K 28/3.5 The Tak is small and extremely well built. When it comes to close focusing need, Sigma Mini Wide is called upon.

[kiwi_jono]

I got lucky.. got a K28/3.5 for 3300 rupees, which is ~55USD. Excellent condition.

Awesome lens! I have one and was also very lucky to get it for about the same price.

Will have to have a look at the Adaptall 24mm, sound quite good.

[dms]

Agree w/ 28mm f3.5 super takumar. If you have M42 adapter it is in your price range. I use w/ zone focusing--and AV. Very fast, great images, and nothing beats Takumars for build quality.

[dms]

BTW I have the Adaptall-2 24mm f/2.5. It is the earlier version and I find it rather soft. Maybe later version is better, or maybe mine had rough use (it looks clean). All the SP adaptall2 lenses I have (2 zooms and 1 mirror) are quite good.

[rbefly]

Another good choice, but a bit over your price cap, is the Miranda 24mm f/2.8 MC Macro. Sharp, great colors, good contrast and rendering. Mine was $90 USD a couple of years ago. Finding a copy in Pentax mount can be difficult but not impossible. Mine's a PK-A, which is handy for Av shooting. There are photos in the lens sample section, I also own a Sigma 24mm super-wide and like the Miranda better. YMMV.
Ron

[Dartmoor Dave]

The Pentax M 24-35mm/3.5 is well worth considering. It's probably your best bet to get down to 24mm on a budget, and even on APS-C the zoom range is actually more useful than it might seem at first glance. I've got the K24mm/2.8 as well, and the difference in sharpness is negligible when it comes to taking actual real-world photographs. In fact, I personally prefer the colour rendering from the 24-35mm, so in most cases I'll use the zoom instead of the much more expensive prime.

[Kozlok]

is the OEM pentax m42 adapter the best way to go? or are there decent offbrand ones?

What I do is buy the cheap fotodiox one ($5 on Amazon), remove the clip that is supposed to lock it in the camera, and jam it onto my lens. Then the lens becomes a de facto k mount. These have a notch which causes a light leak, I fill that with epoxy.

They don't lock into the camera, but they stay on quite tightly.

[Sandy Hancock]

A while back I sold a Sigma Superwide 24mm f/2.8 and a Kiron 28mm f/2.0.
Now I have a K-01 I wish I had kept them. The Kiron was a particularly fine lens.

[ignmar]

Pentax M 28mm F3.5 i got it for 60 buck.
RAYNOX 28mm F/2.8 also 60 buck my friend just brought one.

this 2 lenses is pretty sharp tho.