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10-16-2015, 08:33 PM   #1
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Best of the manual focus lenses

I am an a7 shooter and long time lurker on the forum. I was curious what lenses for Pentax the community would recommend. I'd be looking at adapting older manual focus lenses most likely, but am open to various options.

10-16-2015, 08:49 PM   #2
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I have as back up older Minolta 5
I keep convert able rings and several my older Russian lenses
as aHelious Jupiter
Work with rings very well
It's almost earliest generation ndigital minolra but
Work great
10-16-2015, 09:06 PM   #3
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Is there a style of photography, or lens field of view that you want info for? The lens database here is pretty excessive and there are lens club threads galore.
10-16-2015, 09:15 PM   #4
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I am quite fond of the Zeiss Pancolar 50/1.8. Not as sharp as my FA43, but still quite sharp. It has a unique look to the images. M42, so adaptable to about anything.

10-16-2015, 09:23 PM   #5
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I would look for a Takumar 135mm F/3.5 a stellar performer
another would be the nikkor 105 2.5 can be had for under $150 bucks for a very good copy
there is something about the 2 lenses give very good IQ on FF
10-17-2015, 12:12 AM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by str8talk83 Quote
I was curious what lenses for Pentax the community would recommend. I'd be looking at adapting older manual focus lenses most likely, but am open to various options.
There are literally thousands of options that are desirable for one reason or the other in Pentax-compatible mounts. I shoot mostly with manual focus glass on my K-3 and exclusively manual focus on my 35mm film cameras. I can recommend any of the Pentax and Asahi fast 50s (f/1.2, f/1.4, f/1.7, f/1.8) without reservation. The same would be true for any of the FA Limiteds as well as any non-DA lens with a "*" in the name. Outside of the Pentax realm the choices stretch to the horizon and include multiple options from Japanese, German, Russian, and Former Soviet sources. As noted above, the various lens clubs provide a frame of reference as well as a ready source of addiction.


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10-17-2015, 01:27 AM - 1 Like   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by str8talk83 Quote
adapting older manual focus lenses
Answering that we would need to quote probably half of the lenses from the review's database. However there are some lenses that really stands out quality-wise :

SMC Pentax-M 20mm F4.0 - BEST super angle 20mm lens I ever had. It is sharper than the earlier SMC-K version, on top of that its lighter and much smaller.
Super Multi Coated / Super Takumar 24mm F3.5 or SMC Pentax-K 24mm f2.8 -all are superb lenses, very sharp and great colours.
Super Multi Coated 35mm f3.5 - cheap and fantastic lens
Zeiss Flektogon 35mm F2.4 - classic, great rendering, super close focusing
Auto Takumar 35mm F2.3 - amazing bokeh and unique rendering - not focusing as close
Super Takumar 50m F1.4 8 element (1st version) - top 50mm lens in M42 mount period. Sharp from wide open to all else. Great bokeh
Zeiss Pancolar 50mm f1.8 - another great lens, lovely bokeh and rendering. I like my zebra style older version with 8 aperture blades the most.
SMC Pentax-A 50mm F2.8 - best macro lens with 1:2 magnification on the market. period - it is a really stunner and an eye opener to what a good lens can do!
SMC Pentax-K 85mm F1.8 - classic best portrait , hard to get cheaply
SMC Pentax-M 85mm f2.0 - still great, sharp but less expensive . Advantage is the size and weight, almost like a fast 50 !
Super Multi coated 105mm f2,8 portrait - very sharp and great rendering and bokeh
SMC Pentax-A 100mm F2,8 even better than the S-M-C, sharper and better
S-M-C/Takumar/ SMC Pentax-M 135mm f3.5 , small and sharp telephoto - rather inexpensive but punches way above its weight
Zeiss Sonnar 135mm F3.5 - stunner of a lens, best 135 f3.5 ever made. Period. Very sharp, best is black MC version
SMC Pentax-K 135mm F2.5 - probably best 135mm F2.5 ever made, really sharp, harder to get but the images I saw from this are worth the hunt
SMC Pentax 200mm f4 - any version is really a stunner
SMC Pentax 300mm F4 - superb sharp lens, hand holdable, some CA's might be problematic in some scenarios, still one of the best manual options out there.

... ok , that will do for now


Last edited by manntax; 10-17-2015 at 02:50 AM.
10-17-2015, 02:42 AM   #8
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Hi Str8talk83,

I have fun on the A7 with the K 28mm f3.5, D FA 50mm f2.8 Macro, K 55mm f1.8 and FA 77mm f1.8.

Others recommend the pricey and glorious A 50mm f1.2, K 85mm f1.8 and Zeiss designed K 24mm f2.

Last edited by clackers; 10-17-2015 at 02:47 AM.
10-17-2015, 06:54 AM   #9
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Thanks for the suggestions. I have been looking through the lens database and was a little bit confused on which mounts were which. Are all the lenses k mount except for the old takumars?

---------- Post added 10-17-2015 at 07:56 AM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by Ian Stuart Forsyth Quote
I would look for a Takumar 135mm F/3.5 a stellar performer
another would be the nikkor 105 2.5 can be had for under $150 bucks for a very good copy
there is something about the 2 lenses give very good IQ on FF

I already have (and love) the Nikon 105. The 135 sounds like a nice lens and is probably smaller sized due to the aperture. I'll check that one out.

---------- Post added 10-17-2015 at 07:58 AM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by UncleVanya Quote
Is there a style of photography, or lens field of view that you want info for? The lens database here is pretty excessive and there are lens club threads galore.
I'm getting more into landscape and street photography, which I really like the a7 for.
10-17-2015, 07:34 AM   #10
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K mount include "k", "m", "a", "f", "FA", "DA", "D FA"
10-17-2015, 07:51 AM   #11
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It's really hard to say what you may like, or what do you want from old lenses. Here are two threads which may help you:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/76-non-pentax-cameras-canon-nikon-etc/243...es-thread.html
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/122-lens-clubs/247282-pentax-lenses-ff-club.html
10-17-2015, 08:56 AM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by str8talk83 Quote
I am an a7 shooter and long time lurker on the forum. I was curious what lenses for Pentax the community would recommend. I'd be looking at adapting older manual focus lenses most likely, but am open to various options.
"Canon nFD 24mm f/2.8, nFD 50mm f/1.4, Nikon 105mm f/2.5, Tamron 180mm f/3.5 Macro, Sony 70-400mm f/4-5.6G"

you already have a killer lineup of glass there, but you could fill some holes, say, between 24mm to 50mm.

pentax has some old k-mount 28mm primes that work great for shooting landscapes, they are clean to the corners on ff after being stopped down... same with some of the legacy k-mount 35mm primes.
10-17-2015, 08:58 AM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by str8talk83 Quote
Thanks for the suggestions. I have been looking through the lens database and was a little bit confused on which mounts were which. Are all the lenses k mount except for the old takumars?
Correct, so with a K-mount (bayonet) and an M42 (screw) adapter you can use anything.

There are examples of the latter on eBay that don't focus to infinity so choose wisely - a genuine Pentax one will be fine.
10-17-2015, 09:56 AM - 2 Likes   #14
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None of them. They're all terrible. Stop stealing our lenses.
10-17-2015, 03:39 PM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by manntax Quote
Answering that we would need to quote probably half of the lenses from the review's database. However there are some lenses that really stands out quality-wise :

SMC Pentax-M 20mm F4.0 - BEST super angle 20mm lens I ever had. It is sharper than the earlier SMC-K version, on top of that its lighter and much smaller.
Super Multi Coated / Super Takumar 24mm F3.5 or SMC Pentax-K 24mm f2.8 -all are superb lenses, very sharp and great colours.
Super Multi Coated 35mm f3.5 - cheap and fantastic lens
Zeiss Flektogon 35mm F2.4 - classic, great rendering, super close focusing
Auto Takumar 35mm F2.3 - amazing bokeh and unique rendering - not focusing as close
Super Takumar 50m F1.4 8 element (1st version) - top 50mm lens in M42 mount period. Sharp from wide open to all else. Great bokeh
Zeiss Pancolar 50mm f1.8 - another great lens, lovely bokeh and rendering. I like my zebra style older version with 8 aperture blades the most.
SMC Pentax-A 50mm F2.8 - best macro lens with 1:2 magnification on the market. period - it is a really stunner and an eye opener to what a good lens can do!
SMC Pentax-K 85mm F1.8 - classic best portrait , hard to get cheaply
SMC Pentax-M 85mm f2.0 - still great, sharp but less expensive . Advantage is the size and weight, almost like a fast 50 !
Super Multi coated 105mm f2,8 portrait - very sharp and great rendering and bokeh
SMC Pentax-A 100mm F2,8 even better than the S-M-C, sharper and better
S-M-C/Takumar/ SMC Pentax-M 135mm f3.5 , small and sharp telephoto - rather inexpensive but punches way above its weight
Zeiss Sonnar 135mm F3.5 - stunner of a lens, best 135 f3.5 ever made. Period. Very sharp, best is black MC version
SMC Pentax-K 135mm F2.5 - probably best 135mm F2.5 ever made, really sharp, harder to get but the images I saw from this are worth the hunt
SMC Pentax 200mm f4 - any version is really a stunner
SMC Pentax 300mm F4 - superb sharp lens, hand holdable, some CA's might be problematic in some scenarios, still one of the best manual options out there.

... ok , that will do for now
Thank you for the post. I too have been thinking about a wide angle manual lens for nighttime photography, and manual because they usually have a longer focus ring movement for finer adjustment.
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