[Fat Albert]

they only have A50/1.2, K50/1.2, A50/1.4, FA50/1.4 and FA50/2.8 macro in store.

they only have A50/1.2, K50/1.2, A50/1.4, FA50/1.4 and FA50/2.8 macro in store.

they only have A50/1.2, K50/1.2, A50/1.4, FA50/1.4 and FA50/2.8 macro in store.

they only have A50/1.2, K50/1.2, A50/1.4, FA50/1.4 and FA50/2.8 macro in store.

That's IT? Pfft, what a dump! /s

PS multiple quotes for emphasis

[Baard-Einar]

Thank you all for the ideas and recommendation. many interesting lenses suggested up there.

I went to the store yesterday, and they only have A50/1.2, K50/1.2, A50/1.4, FA50/1.4 and FA50/2.8 macro in store.

Ah the photo of Shinjuku made remember how much I miss Tokyo!

What store did you visit? Yodobashi?

[pres589]

I was scrolling through this thread thinking "what's this guy doing, talking about shooting a 50mm on APS-C for landscapes". And then I reached your city-scape picture; nice work. Changed my mind.

[irek83]

I can recommend FA 43mm for landscape shots, works pretty well,
I believe D-FA 50mm f2.8 macro it's a good choice as well
Pentax K-5IIs + smc PENTAX-FA 43mm F1.9 Limited
iso 80, f/5.6

[eyrr]

I was scrolling through this thread thinking "what's this guy doing, talking about shooting a 50mm on APS-C for landscapes". And then I reached your city-scape picture; nice work. Changed my mind.

Not as odd as you'd think. I'm very tempted by the 14mm and 15mm lenses. I have the 18-135mm wr lens. I've realized that I almost never use it at 18mm for landscapes, or end up cropping when I do. In Toronto, we have lovely ravines and cityscapes right next to urban detritus I don't want in the shot.

Congratulations to Pakinjapan on the FA 50mm f2.8 macro. Gorgeous light in your cityscape. Although I already had the DA 50mm f1.8, I fell in love with the images from this lens and got one myself and use it frequently. Your picture has inspired me to use it for my World Pentax Day shot, if I get the chance.

[pakinjapan]

@Fat Albert,
ha ha, yeah, they should have at less a complete list of 50mm family!

@pres589 thanks

@irek83, very nice photo, thanks for sharing.
43 and 40 limited were 2 of the first I intended to buy, but I stump upon a not so good review of it on K1 here. I am still using K5 but will upgrade to K1 sometime next year. I remember test it with a K1 in a camera store. image preview on the back LCD looks totally ok to me but I play it safe for now with a 50mm.

@stevebrot @Baard-Einar
here you go, follow this link.
the store is on the first floor where you see store name in white on large green panels right in front of the intersection. they are all written in Japanese.
and this map show walking direction from JR Shinjuku station.
they have a lot of used Pentax lenses for a small store. most of them are older lens. I mean pre-digital age lense. if you look for a newer lens, better go for Map Camera on another side of Shinjuku station.

---------- Post added 09-05-16 at 07:48 AM ----------

Not as odd as you'd think. I'm very tempted by the 14mm and 15mm lenses. I have the 18-135mm wr lens. I've realized that I almost never use it at 18mm for landscapes, or end up cropping when I do. In Toronto, we have lovely ravines and cityscapes right next to urban detritus I don't want in the shot.

Congratulations to Pakinjapan on the FA 50mm f2.8 macro. Gorgeous light in your cityscape. Although I already had the DA 50mm f1.8, I fell in love with the images from this lens and got one myself and use it frequently. Your picture has inspired me to use it for my World Pentax Day shot, if I get the chance.

thanks

[stevebrot]

@stevebrot @Baard-Einar
here you go, follow this link.
the store is on the first floor where you see store name in white on large green panels right in front of the intersection. they are all written in Japanese.
and this map show walking direction from JR Shinjuku station.
they have a lot of used Pentax lenses for a small store. most of them are older lens. I mean pre-digital age lense. if you look for a newer lens, better go for Map Camera on another side of Shinjuku station.

I will have my man in Tokyo get right on it.


Steve

[goatsNdonkey]

Like some others, I, too, was thinking 50mm could be too long on an ASP-C camera for landscape and street shooting, if you can't back up far enough to cover the subject you want. Of course, when looking at Pakinjapan's amazingly golden cityscape, one realizes that from that vantage point a 200mm lens could have been used for a landscape shot!

On the issue of how fast of a lens to use, doesn't that depend on how often one wants to shoot landscapes in very low-light conditions? If one did a lot of that f1.2 or 1.4 might have it's advantages. If that were rarely a concern, then f2.8 or even f4 could be sufficient.

[eyrr]

Like some others, I, too, was thinking 50mm could be too long on an ASP-C camera for landscape and street shooting, if you can't back up far enough to cover the subject you want. Of course, when looking at Pakinjapan's amazingly golden cityscape, one realizes that from that vantage point a 200mm lens could have been used for a landscape shot!

On the issue of how fast of a lens to use, doesn't that depend on how often one wants to shoot landscapes in very low-light conditions? If one did a lot of that f1.2 or 1.4 might have it's advantages. If that were rarely a concern, then f2.8 or even f4 could be sufficient.

The 15mm LTD starts at f4. People do seem to be getting landscape shots with it. (Maybe I'm just saying that because it's controlling my mind... )

The latest contest winning shot of Sheikh Zayed mosque was taken with a 50mm f1.7. It achieves a wonderful feeling of expansiveness from its composition.

[DSLRnovice]

Ricoh Rikenon XR 50mm 1.7 , Ricoh Rikenon 50mm 2.0 , SMCK Pentax 55mm 1.8................Those are my top 3.

This is interesting. I have the Sears version of both these lenses, from my early Sears film cameras. At the time I did not think they were too useful for landscape until I started using MF film and found the normal lens with the equivalent FOV was right for many things. When I purchased the K20d when it first came out, I noticed how sharp the 1.7 lens was compared to the DA16-45 in the corners.

Now I am wondering how well it compares to Pentax 50mm lenses. How would you rate it against the SMCK 55mm?

Dan

[okta]

If you're looking at strictly APS-C and you have a higher budget get the Sigma 18-35ART. Autofocus is meh (the DOF is so shallow it's not surprising) but this lens literally shocked me as to how sharp it is even wide open.

Everything else I have looks soft next to it.

[Dlanor Sekao]

This is interesting. I have the Sears version of both these lenses, from my early Sears film cameras. At the time I did not think they were too useful for landscape until I started using MF film and found the normal lens with the equivalent FOV was right for many things. When I purchased the K20d when it first came out, I noticed how sharp the 1.7 lens was compared to the DA16-45 in the corners.

Now I am wondering how well it compares to Pentax 50mm lenses. How would you rate it against the SMCK 55mm?

Dan

Depending on individual copy I would say almost as sharp stopped down a bit , but slightly cooler on the colors. The problem I'm finding on some of the Sears and Ricoh lenses (many Manual Lenses actually) is the infinity OO stop is a hair "off" on the hard stop before true infinity is reached.
When you get a good copy either is very acceptable for my personal taste. Most Ricoh Rikenon Lenses are no Slouch in the sharpness department from the 28mm , 35mm , and 50mm Primes Ive tested.
I consider them the "Best Bang For The Buck" lenses out there.

[DSLRnovice]

Depending on individual copy I would say almost as sharp stopped down a bit , but slightly cooler on the colors. The problem I'm finding on some of the Sears and Ricoh lenses (many Manual Lenses actually) is the infinity OO stop is a hair "off" on the hard stop before true infinity is reached.
When you get a good copy either is very acceptable for my personal taste. Most Ricoh Rikenon Lenses are no Slouch in the sharpness department from the 28mm , 35mm , and 50mm Primes Ive tested.
I consider them the "Best Bang For The Buck" lenses out there.

With film, I noticed the cool colors, but in digital, it is less noticeable. I set the camera to natural, hoping to get a better idea of what is happening.

[Na Horuk]

Looks like the original question was already resolved I was about to start writing about my experiences with Industar 50-2 and Helios 44-2 until I read the rest of the thread!
For landscapes you will almost always use f5.6+, usually around f8-f12, to get wide DoF. And at that aperture, pretty much all Pentax 50mm lenses will perform well! Older lenses might need a lens hood, because they have coatings that were not yet optimized with modern technologies. The f1.4 and f1.2 lenses are specialized towards low light and shallow DoF photos, which is not really what you need in landscapes. So buying the f2.8 super sharp, well-corrected 50mm macro was a great choice.
Regarding colour differences, this is not a big issue on digital, because AWB and PP usually neutralize this anyway.
That said, I used an old M 50mm f1.7 with a knock-off square lens hood, and despite shooting in a mountain desert, it still gave sharp, clear images. With a bit of PP, I got this: Mount Teide volcanic peak by Stolpulus II - Photo 147079749 - 500px
The 50mm f2.8 will give better results than the decades old M 50mm, so I doubt anyone could complain about it. I have seen your photos before, OP, and I hope to see more in the future, as they are very good and interesting!

[eyrr]

Cross posted. My World Pentax Day picture, taken with the FA 50mm f2.8 macro