[Alvin]

Well ok, not really a true head to head. But just a look at the lenses as I shot myself in the mirror. All shot wide open.

1st - Sears
2nd - Sears with Sky filter
3rd - Pentax

I'm really beginning to like my Pentax glass.

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[egordon99]

I love the 135mm focal length. I have a Sears 135mm f/2.8 (with the 'A' on the aperture ring). Cost me $12 plus shipping on eBay! It's gotten alot of nice shots. Looks like your Pentax came out on top in your examples!

Same shutter speed for both? I wonder if the Sears shots had some camera shake (=motion blur if you're doing a mirror shot :-) )

I wish the FA 135mm f/2.8 was more readily available.

Here's my favorite 135mm shot -

[FotoPete]

The just not long after I bought my GX-1L, I tried on the M 135 and realized the potential as the sensor crop created something more like 202mm/3.5 when I got my first real 'close up' bird shot ever.



(I had the bad habit of forgetting to make a backup before resize to 1000x665 and name stamping)

Here is a recent one taken with an RICOH XR Rikenon 135mm/2.8.

[Alvin]

What surprises me about the lenses is how clear the Pentax glass is (and sharp!) Of course, the barrel is shorter than the Sears, but look at the reflection!

For 10 bucks though, the Sears was a steal for an F2.8. I had forgotten to mention that.

Max aperture.
Sears is F2.8
Pentax is F3.5

I couldn't take them at the same shutter speed because of the aperture change, but maybe I'll stop down the Sears to 3.5 and see what happens.

EDIT - EGordon and Pete - nice shots, BTW.

[FotoPete]

Thanks Alvin!

The SMC 135 has noticeably more contrast too! I haven't really done any real testing but the SMC coating really lives up to its name. You can see even in your mirror photos, the colours are richer in the M135 shot than the Sears. I was surprised how well the sparrow shot came out. The Ricoh 135 (squirrel photo) doesn't see to be as punchy on a regular basis with colour but is still considerably sharp.

[tipentax38]

hi Alvin
you are right!!!!
i send to you with pm my adress : so you cand send to me your sears
right?

[Alvin]

Well here is a shot at F3.5 (I think), the second at F4. Shutter speed at F4 was similar to the Pentax at f3.5. 1/8 of a second.

At what I think was 3.5 on the Sears lens. The shutter was brought up to 1/13 of a second.

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[Alvin]

Oooh...big difference between Pentax Photo Lab and Picasa...too. Just realized it with these pics posted above. That kills this.

I gotta re-process the pictures I originally posted. I'll see if I can get them up tomorrow night.

[FotoPete]

Wait...what happened with PhotoLab and Picasa?

Either focus was a little off or stopping down to 3.5 is wayyy better haha.

[Alvin]

WB, and sharpness, contrast. EEK! Lemme see if I get better results off photolab. As much as I hate pixel peeping, here I am doing it

[wjwncpro]

One of my favorite M135/3.5 shots

[Alvin]

Looking at these "self-portraits" again. Arghh! I need a haircut