[grey goat]

PentaxForums.com Marketplace Listing

Item for Sale
Pentax K SMC 17mm f/4

Asking Price
290.00 USD

Item Location
Spring Green (United States)

Item Description
Pentax K SMC 17mm f/4 rectilinear fisheye, earlier variant. Front and rear caps included.

SMC Pentax 17mm F4 Fish-Eye Reviews - K Prime Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database

First, because of a tiny (approx. 0.2 mm) chip in the front element, this lens should be listed as "very good," though that's not a choice. I went with "excellent" because it's closer to that than it is to simply "good."

Aside from the tiny chip, which is visible on the left side of the frame in the closeup photo below, the glass is excellent. Focus is smooth, aperture blades clean and snappy. Minimal dust. Very few signs of wear.

The chip, I should add, doesn't affect image quality; it really is tiny. (It was hard to measure, and I think it's probably under the diameter amount stated above.)

This is the first lens I bought when I switched from Nikon to Pentax. In fact, I bought it before I bought my K-7 in 2010! You can read my review of the lens at the bottom of page 1 at the link posted above.

Since I bought a DA 21/3.2 Limited a few years ago, and more recently, a DA 14/2.8, I don't use this lens as much as I could. If I shot film more than I do, or if I were using a full-frame DSLR, I'd probably regret selling it--or I simply wouldn't sell it. It's a very special lens, which you can see from the many samples in the reviews.

Are you the original owner of the item being sold?
Yes

Are you selling or trading this item?
Selling

Item Condition (Key)
Used
Excellent

Shipping Destinations
Continental U.S. Only

Shipping Charge
US $17 (contiguous US only)

Shipping Services
USPS

Accepted Payment Types
PayPal

Return Policy & Additional Details
Buyer may return item, insured, within 3 days of receipt if not in condition described and pictured within. Buyer is responsible for return shipping and insurance.

It's possible I may consider shipping the lens beyond the continental US, though the buyer would be responsible for all shipping and insurance costs.

Please send me a private message if interested in the item!

Attached Images

View Picture EXIF

File Date

 

View Picture EXIF

File Date

 

View Picture EXIF

File Date

 

View Picture EXIF

File Date

 

---

Last edited by grey goat; 02-06-2022 at 11:17 AM. Reason: chip details, caps

[mxis#1]

very nice lens! I have one too and use it frequently.

[grey goat]

I can't remember who made the photo that's still in my head, the one I saw that prompted me to buy this lens. I'd had a 20mm Nikkor, and I knew this wouldn't be as wide as that on a K-7, but . . . the colors! Wow. (It took me a while to find the photo in my various folders, but I did, and it really is nice. If it were mine, I'd post it, but it's not.)

And used a certain way, it's nigh impossible to tell it's a fisheye.

Who knows? It may be no one wants this lens and I wind up keeping it. That's not a bad outcome, is it?

[grey goat]

bump. . . .

[janosh]

IS this an "A" type of lens?

[Sandy Hancock]

IS this an "A" type of lens?

It's the original SMC Pentax "K" series. Fully manual. I have a copy myself and can confirm it is a lovely lens

[luftfluss]

Item Description
Pentax K SMC 17mm f/4 rectilinear fisheye, earlier variant. Front and rear caps included.

How is a fisheye lens rectilinear? I thought the point of a fisheye is for it to be curvilinear?

[Mbaez]

IS this an "A" type of lens?

Nope, it's not. You have to use the aperture ring and the green button for metering.

[grey goat]

IS this an "A" type of lens?

It's the original SMC Pentax "K" series. Fully manual. I have a copy myself and can confirm it is a lovely lens

Nope, it's not. You have to use the aperture ring and the green button for metering.

Sandy and Mbaez are right: this is not an A lens. It was part of the first K-mount series of lenses; neither the M or A lens series includes a 17mm f/4. There was an m42 version of the lens that predates this one.

Manual lenses such as this one are easy to use: you set the aperture, then push the green button and the camera sets the shutter speed. You can adjust the exposure from there if you have to or want to.

If you're not sure you'd like doing that, I'd suggest finding an inexpensive M-series lens, maybe a 50mm f/2.0, and trying it out before investing in a lens like this one. I mean, it's not crazy expensive like the K-series 28mm f/2.0, but it's about 10x what you'd pay for a 50/2.0.

[grey goat]

How is a fisheye lens rectilinear? I thought the point of a fisheye is for it to be curvilinear?

Good question! Most fisheyes have a circular image area. But even on a FF or film camera, the 17/4 fills up the whole frame, corner too corner. If the film were larger, or the sensor, I suppose it may very well wind up as a circular image, but I don't know how larger a sensor that would have to be. I used my K-5 for this photo, so the photo doesn't show the full effect of this lens.

But if there are straight lines in the image area, you'll definitely be able to see them curving. Unless, that is, you frame the image so that any straight lines are in the center of both axes.

Below is a photo I made back on 9-18-2013 when David Olney (on the right) and Sergio Webb (with the Telecaster, on the left) played the "Scatty" Barn in Spring Green. You can see the curvature in the post on the left and the garage door frame on the right, and imagine where they may coverge if the image area were circular and let them. But many of the elements in the photo don't show any sign of curvature since they either don't have straight lines or aren't near the edges. I'm pretty sure this is full frame, so you can also see that it's rectilinear. (I'm sure someone can provide a better explanation than that. But I will say that it's pretty easy to avoid the curving lines at the edges if you frame the image differently: another photo made with this lens just before this one does just that, but I figured this one would help explain things better.)

[JoelA]

PM sent with question. thx!

[grey goat]

PM sent with question. thx!

PM reply sent.

Right now the sale of the 17/4 is pending; a local (well, if 35-40 miles away is local) buyer is going to meet me Friday evening to test the lens on his Sony A7iii. He'll have cash, and the lens probably won't come home with me, tagging along with my for-sale M 135/3.5 instead.

If that doesn't happen, Joel's got first dibs on the lens. But I'll let folks know what happens.

Thanks for looking at this listing!

Take care,
Nath / grey goat