[Fenwoodian]

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I love to adapt lenses to the Pentax K mount. About 90% of my lenses are adapted and not native K mounts.

The last few days I've been testing 135mm lenses on my Pentax K-1 camera. I've learned much about them in the process.

1. The Samyang 135mm f/2 is incredibly sharp with no colored fringing, but I find its' color and bokeh only average.

2. The Leica R 135mm f/2.8 is not as sharp, has horrible colored fringing, but has those beautiful Leica colors and an amazing artistic/creamy look to it's bokeh.

3. Just today I adapted a Nikkor 135mm f/2.8 Ai lens. This is the lens that the "Angry Photographer" said is the best/must-have lens for under $1,000 (see video below). Well, he was right! This lens is just about as sharp as the Samyang, and has beautiful bokeh/color/3D-like image like the Leica. It has some colored fringing, but much less than the Leica. It's lightweight (about 1/2 weight and size of Leica and Samyang), and costs only about $150 on Ebay. Below are a couple of photos I took with it wide open. Note, to adapt this lens you'll need a $100 Leitax adapter; the technique is much like how you Leitax adapt Zeiss ZF lenses.

4. I've owned most of the Pentax 135mm f/2.5, 2.8 and 3.5 lenses and, in my opinion, they are simply not as good as any of the above three lenses. I have not yet tried the Pentax 135mm f/1.8 lens so no opinion on that one.

5. Then there's of course the ultimate 135mm lens, the Zeiss ZF 135mm f/2 lens. Thanks to fellow member Les, I was able to briefly test this adapted lens on my K-1 camera . It's simply the best overall 135mm lens I've ever used. But if you want a really good, lightweight, quality built 135mm lens and you can't afford the $2,000 for the Zeiss, my choice would be the Angry Photographer's favorite, the Nikkor 135/2.8 Ai lens.

You Tube

You Tube

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[IMG][/IMG]

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Last edited by Fenwoodian; 08-21-2018 at 07:52 PM.

[pres589]

That does look quite nice. Thanks for sharing.

[twilhelm]

Interesting comparison and well done. I’ve thought many times about adapting the Leica lens, but the Samyang gets high praise.

[Qman]

I'm curious which Pentax 135mm 2.8 you tried. I have the F 135mm and it is extremely sharp with excellent bokeh, but some color fringing. A direct comparison between the F and these lenses would be interesting.

[Fenwoodian]

I'm curious which Pentax 135mm 2.8 you tried. I have the F 135mm and it is extremely sharp with excellent bokeh, but some color fringing. A direct comparison between the F and these lenses would be interesting.

I don't know exact models of the Pentax 135mm 2.8's because I keep no inventory of the many hundreds of lenses I've owned/tested (over fifty 50mm lenses alone). But I have a good memory and recall many of the lenses that I've shot, especially the top performers. None of the Pentax 135mm lenses impressed me enough to be worthy of remembering.

You say your Pentax 135/2.8 is extremely sharp. Compared to what? Please tell me what other 135mm lenses you have personally shot to compare it to.

[Wild Mark]

The F135/2.8 is in a league of its own. None of the other Pentax 135mm lenses I have come close (Takumar, K, M or FA). The optically identical FA is not as good - something is different though - coatings, glass types, both?

IMHO the colours on the F135/2.8 are nicer than the Nikon

---------- Post added 22-08-18 at 06:34 PM ----------

https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/images/61234/1_Merewether_Baths_dome_reduced.jpg

[PJ1]

It certainly is sharp, with 3-D "pop".

[dsmithhfx]

"The Angry Photographer" may know stuff about gear, but http://www.chuckjines.com/the-angry-photographer-busted-claiming-other-peoples-work/

[Ronald Oakes]

I'm curious which Pentax 135mm 2.8 you tried. I have the F 135mm and it is extremely sharp with excellent bokeh, but some color fringing. A direct comparison between the F and these lenses would be interesting.

Same here ! The F is simply the best 135mm lens Ive ever used.

---------- Post added 08-22-18 at 08:56 ----------

The F135/2.8 is in a league of its own. None of the other Pentax 135mm lenses I have come close (Takumar, K, M or FA). The optically identical FA is not as good - something is different though - coatings, glass types, both?

IMHO the colours on the F135/2.8 are nicer than the Nikon

---------- Post added 22-08-18 at 06:34 PM ----------

https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/images/61234/1_Merewether_Baths_dome_reduced.jpg

The FA is good , but for some reason my F beat it hands down. I thought they were the same , but there IS something different. That was a $300 lesson quickly learned.

[Fenwoodian]

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All of you guys in love with the Pentax F 135 f/2.8 have you ever shot a: Leica 135, Nikkor 135, Samyang 135, or even the hallowed Zeiss 135/2? I suspect much of your glowing comments about the Pentax F 135 2.8 are in comparison to only other Pentax 135's.

I don't claim to be the "lens tester for the masses". I'm not a fanboy of any brand, and am probably one of the more impartial and unbiased photographers on this forum.

I'm on a seemingly never ending quest to find the best lenses for my style of photography. The lenses that I find work the best for my style of photography certainly may not be the lenses that work best for your style of photography (for example, I only shoot fast manual focus primes).

[Ronald Oakes]

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All of you guys in love with the Pentax F 135 f/2.8 have you ever shot a: Leica 135, Nikkor 135, Samyang 135, or even the hallowed Zeiss 135/2? I suspect much of your glowing comments about the Pentax F 135 2.8 are in comparison to other Pentax 135's.

Perfection for me might not be as high as your standards ? When I find something that is much more than acceptable amongst the lowly Pentax Models , why keep looking for the "Holy Grail" of all 135 lenses ? It wont make me a better photographer , and I will just have smaller pockets in the end.
I have shot the Samyang 135mm and although quite sharp , it was also lusterless and didn't impress me too much as it just seemed to be lacking " character " .
As far as the others , haven't been inclined to try a single one. My F has me quite contented amongst about 10 of the 135's Ive tried.

[dsmithhfx]

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All of you guys in love with the Pentax F 135 f/2.8 have you ever shot a: Leica 135, Nikkor 135, Samyang 135, or even the hallowed Zeiss 135/2? I suspect much of your glowing comments about the Pentax F 135 2.8 are in comparison to only other Pentax 135's.

I don't claim to be the "lens tester for the masses". I have the resources to try just about whatever lens I want. I'm not a fanboy of any brand, and am probably one of the more impartial and unbiased photographers on this forum.

I'm on a seemingly never ending quest to find the best lenses for my unique style of photography. The lenses that I find work the best for my style of photography certainly may not be the lenses that work best for your style of photography (for example, I only shoot manual focus primes).

No offense, I'm genuinely curious: why do you feel your style of photography is "unique" ?

[Fenwoodian]

IMHO the colours on the F135/2.8 are nicer than the Nikon

---------- Post added 22-08-18 at 06:34 PM ----------

https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/images/61234/1_Merewether_Baths_dome_reduced.jpg

Comparing two lenses shot on two different cameras is certainly challenging.

I shot Nikon for 30 years. I owned more than one copy of the Nikkor 135mm f/2.8 Ai lens, and I wasn't that impressed with it on my Nikon cameras. However, I find that I do like how this old Nikkor renders on my K-1. Maybe it's my K-1's settings? Maybe it's the K-1's sensor and processor? Don't know and don't care, it just looks better on my K-1 than it did on my Nikon cameras (film and digital).

Wild Mark, just wondering if you've ever tried the Nikkor 135/2.8 on your Pentax digital camera. If you did, maybe you'd like it's colors better than the colors you got with it on your old Nikon cameras?

[Fenwoodian]

No offense, I'm genuinely curious: why do you feel your style of photography is "unique" ?

.

I only shoot fast primes wide open (or ever so slightly stopped down). My world is subject isolation, 3D pop, and bokeh. Sharpness is NOT a huge concern of mine.

For example, my current favorite K mount lens is my adapted Leica 80mm f/1.4 Summilux. The 80 Lux is maybe the most un-sharp lens that I own at wide apertures - but I find its' rendering to be incredably painterly and pleasing.

[dsmithhfx]

I only shoot fast primes wide open

And nobody else does?