[clackers]

Love your methodology descriptions, Tokyoscape!

Wonder how the K 28mm f2 'Hollywood' would go ... we need to all crowdfund you a copy.

[richard0170]

Well my A 28mm f2.0 arrived today. I have spent some time comparing it to my various 28mm's and the K 30mm f2.8. Here are my conclusions about my stable:-
M 28mm f3.5 - The weakest optically of all my 28/30mm lenses. A decent enough performer, but nothing special. Exhibits slight softness when zoomed in to 100% at any aperture.
However it shows greater contrast in B&W images when compared to other lenses,good colour rendition and only cost me £49.
A 28mm f2.8 - Capable with decent all round sharpness IF you nail focus. Something I struggle to do with this lens when compared to the others. My copy cost me only £50,but that was
used well over 15 years ago. They typically go for around £90 nowadays so not bad value. It is nice light and compact and benefits from the A setting. Colour rendition is
typical Pentax, but nothing outstanding.
A 28mm f2.0 - A good lens for indoors, low light and moderate distances. Only slight softness wide open in these conditions and sharp by f2.8. Good colour rendition. However exhibits
slight softness at any apertures when zoomed in to 100% or more at infinity,so my copy at least is not a great landscape lens. Its not bad.Just not great. You could say it
does exactly what it was designed for, but mine cost £250, and I am not sure that it worth it to me. I tend to shoot outside a lot more with this type of lens than inside. I
may well end up selling it to someone who can make better use of it.
K 28mm f3.5 - Optically the best IMO. This comes at a price though. It is slower,bigger and heavier than all the others,and when stopped down to say f 5.6, it is matched by the F 28mm
and K 30mm. I use mine for still life and landscape, where its extra bulk does not matter. They still go for around £130 to £150 so represent very good value for money.
F28mm f2.8 - Optically very good indeed with only slight softness wide open, which soon disappears stopped down. The most distinctive colour rendition of all my lenses in this
group,which I really like. Bonus is of course the AF, which is fast and generally accurate,and this makes it easily the most convenient to use as a walk about lens.Only
issue is trying to find one, though I am sure the FA would be just as good optically, but with not such a good build quality.
K 30mm f2.8 - Optically very good indeed. Only slight softness wide open. Sharp from f4 on. Slightly cooler colour rendition than I would expect from a Pentax, but it is easy to warm
things up to my taste and others may prefer it as is anyway. Small, light and compact there is not much to not like about this lens except the price and its rarity.A truly
great walk about lens IMO.
I have flirted with other 28 and 30mm lenses - Vivitar Series 1 f1.9, Sigma Ex Dg 28mm f1.8 and Ex Dg 30mm f1.4. The 30mm Sigma and Vivitar are just not worth it unless you really do need the extra speed. They are not very sharp until f2.8 and you pay a premium in cost and weight for the privilege. The 28mm Sigma is optically very good from wide open, but it is a massive lens, which I for one could not be bothered to carry around all day! This is also the reason I have no interest in the K f 2.0 or Zeiss f2.0.
In summation, for landscapes and other exacting work the K 3.5 is king for me and represents the best value for money. The F f2.8 is easily the most convenient general purpose lens, but the K 30mm has a certain charm which I find compelling. The A f2.0 is I feel a specialist lens, and unfortunately for my bank account one that does not really suit me.The A f2.8 and M f3.5 are good budget choices,but ultimately I think one would always want something "better". If I had to choose just one, my head says it should be the F f2.8, but my heart would choose the K 30mm.
I have been on a similar journey with 35mm lenses, perhaps there is a thread for them!

[tokyoscape]

...The A f2.0 is I feel a specialist lens, and unfortunately for my bank account one that does not really suit me.The A f2.8 and M f3.5 are good budget choices,but ultimately I think one would always want something "better". If I had to choose just one, my head says it should be the F f2.8, but my heart would choose the K 30mm.

Hope you can resell it at no less than the purchasing price.
It will be very hard to find a 28 to beat the F28 f2.8. I used to have one and yes, it is really that good.
You have a lot of 28 / 30 mm, It would be interesting to test shoot them for comparison purpose.
Well, Only if you want and if you have time to shoot. I can help put the images together for comparison (the way I did).

[richard0170]

Hope you can resell it at no less than the purchasing price.
It will be very hard to find a 28 to beat the F28 f2.8. I used to have one and yes, it is really that good.
You have a lot of 28 / 30 mm, It would be interesting to test shoot them for comparison purpose.
Well, Only if you want and if you have time to shoot. I can help put the images together for comparison (the way I did).

I will sit on the f2 for a while. I should at least get my money back and maybe a bit more. They are very rare in the UK.

I will get round to doing a few test shots soon. They will be very boring though! So watch this space.

[richard0170]

So, here is a quick visual comparison of my various 28/30mm Pentax lenses in order F 28mm f2.8, A 28mm f2.0, A 28mm f2.8, M 28mm f3.5, K28mm f3.5 and K 30mm f2.8. Can you tell which is best? All shots taken at full resolution on my K3,at f5.6, tripod mounted, self timer,manually focused via LV and manually exposed. Exposure differences will be down to the very variable light conditions this morning, otherwise all image settings the same for each photo. I have to zoom into well over 100% to see any significant variation in image quality. Yes, I can tell the weakest is the M f3.5, but only when zoomed in on the screen well past 100% and yes I can tell the K 3.5 and K 30mm are marginally the sharpest but only at 200% enlargement! All of these lenses are quite capable of producing very good images at normal print sizes and for web use IMO. It then boils down to how easy it is to use each lens to its full potential, how much you want to pay for a lens and how available they are. The F 28mm is clearly the most user friendly, and personally I find the K 3.5 and 30mm the easiest to manual focus through the viewfinder. I notice doing this test that my A f 2.0 slightly focuses beyond infinity. I might get this adjusted as I am sure it will make using it easier.

[tokyoscape]

They look the same
a bit of differences in light and contrast here and there, but all of them look very good.
My initial though without going back to read the lens order is my eyes seem to like the 2nd image from top (7509.jpg) the most for some unknown reason. Maybe by 0.001 point ahead of the rest!
The second from last (7505.jpg) also have a similar shade of green. Both seem to have a little less yellow in the green than the others.
But it doesn't tell which one is better. It really needs a serious pixel peeping to tell which one is cleaner, sharper!
Thanks for sharing.

[richard0170]

They look the same
a bit of differences in light and contrast here and there, but all of them look very good.
My initial though without going back to read the lens order is my eyes seem to like the 2nd image from top (7509.jpg) the most for some unknown reason. Maybe by 0.001 point ahead of the rest!
The second from last (7505.jpg) also have a similar shade of green. Both seem to have a little less yellow in the green than the others.
But it doesn't tell which one is better. It really needs a serious pixel peeping to tell which one is cleaner, sharper!
Thanks for sharing.

There will be some differences in colour rendition between the lenses, but the light was so changeable this morning, that would have had a much larger effect than anything to do with the optics and coatings. It just goes to show what a waste of time pixel peeping is though for choosing one's optimal lens. Unless one needs a faster aperture, the only reason to choose between them for real world use is how much one enjoys the user experience of any of the given lenses.

[Wasp]

I am mulling the purchase of a K 35/3.5 myself and this thread is not helping. I do have a Takumar 35/2.3 to cover the focal length but the screw mount adapter is a bit of a hassle. I am not gluing it on, the Tak is getting too valuable to do that. That brings me to the other reason for getting the K35, the Tak is just too irreplaceable to take out into the wild.

[tokyoscape]

I am mulling the purchase of a K 35/3.5 myself and this thread is not helping. ...

I just sport a beautiful copy on eBay with original Japanese language manual! I am wondering if we are looking at the same copy on eBay?

[richard0170]

I am mulling the purchase of a K 35/3.5 myself and this thread is not helping. I do have a Takumar 35/2.3 to cover the focal length but the screw mount adapter is a bit of a hassle. I am not gluing it on, the Tak is getting too valuable to do that. That brings me to the other reason for getting the K35, the Tak is just too irreplaceable to take out into the wild.

Just go for it. They are beautiful little lenses and reasonably priced. I spent ages prevaricating over the eventual purchase of mine and have not regretted it one bit. It is definitely a keeper. The only reason mine does not get much use is all the other lovely 35mm's out there!

[richard0170]

A quick update on my A 28mm f2.0. I noticed the infinity focus was a bit off so I sent it fro a re-calibration. It has come back, and I believe that the repair man must also have done something else to it as images are now a bit sharper. I will be keeping it and it will be my standard lens for my K3.

[Jonathan Mac]

If I didn't know the lenses' age, I would think they are images from modern lenses.

There are a few old lenses that I would say the same for - the M 35/2, the A 28/2.8 and the K 28/2 come to mind.

The M 28/2 seems to be extremely rare. I believe Nick Clark on the forum also has one. Personally I don't think I've ever even seen one for sale. I'd like to get my hands on one one day, if only to compare it to the other good 28mm lenses I have, especially the K 28/2.

I also have the K 28/3.5 and it's a superb lens but I don't use it much as I have a lot of other similar options which are mostly at least a little faster and, with the exception of the K 28/2, probably all smaller and lighter too.

[richard0170]

I also have the K 28/3.5 and it's a superb lens but I don't use it much as I have a lot of other similar options which are mostly at least a little faster and, with the exception of the K 28/2, probably all smaller and lighter too.

I tend to keep mine for tripod use - still life and landscapes. I really like it as I know that there will never be anything wrong with a picture from it that is due to the lens rather than myself! Unlike the problems I have with the A 28mm f2.8. I find the A 28mm f2.0, much easier to use on both my K3 and KP than the f2.8 and is still much more compact than the K f3.5.