[dbphotography]

Hey everyone. Very new to the entire Pentax system and am starting to notice one thing. There is no plastic fantastic! No cheepo (but wonderful in every way) 50mm AF 1.8 lens. I've always had one with my Nikon (and Fuji) and Canon kits, but seem to no be coming across one for the Pentax. Just checking to see if I'm missing something. If there's something like that out there for Pentax, please show me the way! Thanks!

Scott

[netuser]

Welcome
You will be amazed.

Check pentax lenses here
Pentax Lens Review Database - Main Index

Again, feel welcome to this great community

[Ari]

No cheapo 50mm lenses (new, at least). The pentax 50mm can usually be had for about $250 bucks. (and it's faster than it's canon/nikon counterparts). I have bought the canon 50 1.8 for my girlfriend and it is a wonderful lens, but not super constructed. Look around for a used one - I sold mine for about $150.00 last year (and that seemed to be about the going rate for mint used ones). Check out the marketplace here in the forums. After having bought and sold quite a few items there, I can tell you Pentaxians take mighty good care of their equipment

[MrApollinax]

For AF the only available primes *new* are the FA 50 1.4 ~250USD, D-FA 50 2.8 Macro ~450ish or the DA*55 1.4 SDM ~700USD

In the Used market you have a few more options the older F primes 1.4, 1.7 as well as 2.8 macro. Where the REAL bang for your buck stuff is with the Manual primes. You could find a few fast 50s less than or equal to 100USD. I was able to get a manual focus 50mm f/2 lens for 30 bucks. So there are plenty of options for you to consider And if that isn't enough for you here is a test a user did of several of those options:

the Normal Lens Shootout Photo Gallery by Sean Carpenter at pbase.com

I picked up a FA 50 1.7 for 110 bucks used... (spanks the FA 1.4 by the way)

I picked up a manual S-M-C tak 50 1.4 for only 40 bucks at a camera swap meet... (spanks the FA 1.4 by the way)

I picked up my favorite 50ish lens the Helios 44M for 25 bucks...

But you are right we do not have a plastic fantastic cheap 50...

[seacapt]

plastic /fantastic my butt! High tech CPS material is junk. I went through the whats up with Pentax lens thing myself while trying to outfit both myself and my wife. Now I'm not a 50mm shooter for the most part but I do love and recomend the A 50 /1.7 . It's a manual focus with super IQ and can be had for @ $50.00 used.
My wifes favorite 50ish lens is the F 35-70 which when you can find one used is usually under $50.00( got hers for $20 clean as a pin) . Although it's not a prime and not extremely fast it does a VERY nice job for general outdoor or flash indoor work. By the way this is a plastic but relatively well built plastic lens.

[redpigeons]

well in Pentax world we have the 40mm LTD and the 43mm LTD
for AF normal lenses..
and the magic of LTD lenses is that they make you forget about other brands

the Pentax A 50mm 1.2 is a lens in its own class I never owned one but every sample that I see is just amazing... its a MF thou


edit:
sorry did not see you are talking about price

the the 40mm is relatively cheep around $200 and for what it is its amazing

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Last edited by redpigeons; 05-29-2009 at 08:11 AM.

[dbphotography]

Welcome
You will be amazed.

Check pentax lenses here
Pentax Lens Review Database - Main Index

Again, feel welcome to this great community

Thanks for the kind welcome!


Scott

[dbphotography]

No cheapo 50mm lenses (new, at least). The pentax 50mm can usually be had for about $250 bucks. (and it's faster than it's canon/nikon counterparts). I have bought the canon 50 1.8 for my girlfriend and it is a wonderful lens, but not super constructed. Look around for a used one - I sold mine for about $150.00 last year (and that seemed to be about the going rate for mint used ones). Check out the marketplace here in the forums. After having bought and sold quite a few items there, I can tell you Pentaxians take mighty good care of their equipment

Yeah, that appears to be the one I'll be gunning for. Have to see if I can track down one of those nice $150.00 used copies. I can already tell that 'pentaxians' are a proud bunch. I can appreciate that. I hope to be one of those too!

Thanks!

Scott

[kthung]

I highly agree with most of the recommendations already given. The 50mm f/1.7 are excellent values with image quality rivaling (and at times besting) the f/1.4 counter parts for less than half the price. I have owned the A50 f/1.7 but i sold it because I picked up a F50 1.7 and it seemed redundant. The A50 is in my eyes has one of the best IQ-to-price ratios of any lens for any system. Although it is manual focus, the long focus throw is silky smooth. I got mine for $46 in excellent condition. All 50mm 1.7s are discontinued but you can usually find them for good prices on the used marketplace.

[dbphotography]

For AF the only available primes *new* are the FA 50 1.4 ~250USD, D-FA 50 2.8 Macro ~450ish or the DA*55 1.4 SDM ~700USD

In the Used market you have a few more options the older F primes 1.4, 1.7 as well as 2.8 macro. Where the REAL bang for your buck stuff is with the Manual primes. You could find a few fast 50s less than or equal to 100USD. I was able to get a manual focus 50mm f/2 lens for 30 bucks. So there are plenty of options for you to consider And if that isn't enough for you here is a test a user did of several of those options:

the Normal Lens Shootout Photo Gallery by Sean Carpenter at pbase.com

Yeah, I've noticed that about the MF stuff. There's a LOT of it. And sometimes I can't tell what's what. There are a LOT of older Pentax lenses. Way more than I've ever seen with Nikon or Canon. Problem is, I suck badly with MF. Especially when it's a paid shoot, no room for messing up there. I might try a MF though because they're such a steal! I'll check the link. Thanks for the info!

Scott

[dbphotography]

I picked up a FA 50 1.7 for 110 bucks used... (spanks the FA 1.4 by the way)

I picked up a manual S-M-C tak 50 1.4 for only 40 bucks at a camera swap meet... (spanks the FA 1.4 by the way)

I picked up my favorite 50ish lens the Helios 44M for 25 bucks...

But you are right we do not have a plastic fantastic cheap 50...

Thanks for the reply!

Scott

[dbphotography]

plastic /fantastic my butt! High tech CPS material is junk. I went through the whats up with Pentax lens thing myself while trying to outfit both myself and my wife. Now I'm not a 50mm shooter for the most part but I do love and recomend the A 50 /1.7 . It's a manual focus with super IQ and can be had for @ $50.00 used.
My wifes favorite 50ish lens is the F 35-70 which when you can find one used is usually under $50.00( got hers for $20 clean as a pin) . Although it's not a prime and not extremely fast it does a VERY nice job for general outdoor or flash indoor work. By the way this is a plastic but relatively well built plastic lens.

Thanks for the info!


Scott

[dbphotography]

well in Pentax world we have the 40mm LTD and the 43mm LTD
for AF normal lenses..
and the magic of LTD lenses is that they make you forget about other brands

the Pentax A 50mm 1.2 is a lens in its own class I never owned one but every sample that I see is just amazing... its a MF thou


edit:
sorry did not see you are talking about price

the the 40mm is relatively cheep around $200 and for what it is its amazing

Yeah, now I've been already looking at that pancake 40mm lens. Not too shabby. Looks like a killer lens. If I could find one used, would probably snap it up!


Scott

[dbphotography]

You guys are awesome! Thanks for the kind replies.

Scott