| Author: | | New Member Registered: July, 2008 Location: Warsaw, Poland Posts: 7 | | Review Date: July 13, 2008 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | sharp, well built, great bokeh | | Cons: | with dslr it's more like a short tele | |
Great bokeh, very sharp - even on f1.7.
With "A" on the ring it's quite easy to use it with k10d.
This lens is excellent to use with low light situations - for example indoors, when we don't want to (or are not allowed to) use flashlight.
Usin this lens gives me a lot of fun - and I found that I don't really like to take this lens out of my camera!
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: July, 2007 Location: Florida Gulfer Posts: 3,054 | | Review Date: July 11, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $65.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Build, "A" Lens, IQ | | Cons: | none yet | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 10
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I think this is my best manual focus lens, and it's just as good IQ as my DA-40 Limited. If you can get one for under a 100.00 grab it. I know you will love this lens as I do.
| | | | | | | | Review Date: April 6, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $100.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | very well made, great image quality, fairly compact, | | Cons: | | |
This is a fantastic little lens and it has good clarity even open wide at f1.7. Like most other Pentax K/M/A lenses, the build quality is excellent and the focus ring glides around nicely.
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: March, 2008 Location: College Park, MD Posts: 86 | | Review Date: March 28, 2008 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | sharp, fast, small, looks cool | | Cons: | manual focus | |
For $50 on Craigslist, I got this lens, a Cosmicar 70-200 f/4, a Program Plus body, and a random Olympus lens (eBayed for $90). So basically I paid nothing for this =)
It's a great lens. It's sharp even wide open. The body is well-built, all-metal and compact. The focus ring is very smooth.
When I want to take low-light photos without a flash, at restaurants or bars, this lens delivers for me!!
Of course, I wish it had autofocus. Not so much for me, but so I can hand it to a friend and have them use it easily. Okay, and for me too :-) And I wish it were 35-40mm instead of 50mm, given the 1.5X crop of a DSLR. Lastly, I want a pony.
So, basically, this lens is awesome.
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: January, 2008 Location: Florida Posts: 514 | | Review Date: March 25, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $60.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp! Sturdy feel, flair control | | Cons: | | |
My sample came used from Ebay & was supposed to be in excellent shape. Unfortunately, the aperture ring has something wrong with it and the blades are not very responsive.
I finally managed to wiggle the ring over to A and started shooting. Fantastic results! I haven't had it off the camera except to take a picture of the moon with a tele-zoom. Absolutely a joy!
Sadly, the earlier problems kept cropping up. The aperture ring moved off the Auto setting as I was putting the lens back onto my camera & I had to start the whole process over again. There is definately something wrong with this particular lens, so I'm returning it.
EDIT:
Return didn't happen, so I bought a $15 Auto F2 version and scavenged parts. Life is good again! I removed the build issues as a negative because mine was obviously abused. Been using it for a while & have raised the rating to a 10 because it IS and EXCELLENT lens!
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: August, 2007 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 233 | | Review Date: March 12, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $75.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Good Wide Open. "A" setting. Light and Small | | Cons: | Doesn't feel as nice as the K and M series. | |
If you go through all the other 50mm reviews, you will see I have tried a LOT of them.
From the M1.4,M1.7,FA1.4,FA1.7,DFA2.8, Super Tak 50's, 55's and other non pentax branded 50's.
In my opinion, the 50mm1.7's are the sharpest (by a good margin) wide open up to around f2.8. After that things even out.
If you want the sharpest lens shooting wide open in low light and you don't like running around with a hood, this lens is for you.
The "A" version of course allows easy use of the flash and on camera control, but otherwise the M version is much better built and very comfortable to use (also much cheaper).
The FA version is my preferred version, but they are hard to find. I have not tested the F version, but I understand it is just as good. (Probably the only one other than the f1.2's that I have yet to test).
This lens gets a 9 because its build quality just isn't as nice as the previous generations. Otherwise it is perfectly usable and optically just as competent.
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: August, 2007 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 20 | | Review Date: January 19, 2008 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Everything | | Cons: | Nothing | |
This is the one lens I own that really performs in an APS-C world. The resolution is fantastic and the build quality leaves me wanting for the "good old days". Take into account, though, that I've never experienced the f1.4 or any of the other highly touted "legends", and I'm young enough that the "good old days" for me are late '70's to late '80s ". I can only attest to the fact that this lens blows my other FA and DA primes away for detail, especially when I do 20x30" or larger.
| | | | | | | | Review Date: January 14, 2008 | Recommended
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Great Build, Sturdy, Beautiful Bokeh, Smooth Focus | | Cons: | No Autofocus, more like a short tele than a normal on Digital | |
This is a beautiful lens! Focus throw is smooth, UV filters can be hard to find, no lens hood, Great performance at f1.7, easily as good as the new f1.4s. No autofocus can be a problem, and the focal length is less than ideal to me. This lens more than any other I own has a unique look to it. Very classic and cool.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: December, 2007 Posts: 8,237 | | Review Date: January 3, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $30.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Fast, sharp, fun | | Cons: | none | |
Picked this up for $30. I don't think it's possible to get better bang for the buck. This lens would be on my camera all the time if I didn't own the FA 50 f/1.4.
Fast, fun and great in low light, or stopped down during the day, crystal clear shots you just can't quite match with a consumer zoom.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: October, 2007 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 273 | | Review Date: December 20, 2007 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | VERY sharp and light, almost no flare | | Cons: | Sticky aperture ring | |
I'm not gonna bore you with a long discussion:
I LOVE THIS LENS!!!
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: March, 2007 Location: Ankara, Turkey Posts: 401 | | Review Date: June 22, 2007 | Recommended | Price: $75.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Image quality, ease of use, lightness | | Cons: | Nothing serious | |
I agree with most of the other reviewers that
- This is a decent 50mm lens;
- More convenient but not optically&mechanically better than the M50/1.7,
- The aperture ring is "delicate" but this should not be a problem for DSLRs.
For those who can live without the "A" setting (which is very handy, indeed) I suggest instead a Takumar 50mm f/1.4 in good shape. I have both and I cannot decide on leaving any one of them!
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: June, 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 96 | | Review Date: June 21, 2007 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, low light performance, size. | | Cons: | none | |
fantastic little lens, always in my camera bag. This is definitly one of my favourites.
When asked for the "cons", I was thinking about saying the build quality wasn't as good as the M series, but I couldn't because I've never had a problem with it.
The lens is solid compact and focuses smooth, nothing wrong with the build quality.
Very sharp, even wide open, and lets a lot of light in.
This one always goes with me when I go out of the house. I can always find a purpose for it. Very versatile.
Only "negative" thing I could say about it is that the FOV is a little narrow on a DSLR, but that's something you can expect. If you want a wider standard lens, get a 35mm...
Excellent value for the money.
Tom
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: June, 2007 Location: Edinburgh, UK Posts: 39 | | Review Date: June 19, 2007 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Very sharp, usable at all apertures | | Cons: | Build not quite as nice as M series | |
This is a very nice lens that can be had for very good prices if you look around. Being an A lens, it is much more practical to use on a DSLR than the Ms, as metering functions normally and without limitations.
Wide open it produces slightly soft but very pleasing images and stopped down a little it is very sharp. The bokeh is smooth and never distracting.
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: May, 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 42 | | Review Date: June 18, 2007 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharpness | | Cons: | Construction, aperature ring not smooth | |
I can't give this lens a 10 because the construction is slightly lacking. My guess would be that corners were cut a bit because it was probably used as the kit lens for the Super Program. On the other hand, I bought mine in the 1980s with a used Super Program and it has been used constantly since then without failing. The aperature ring lacks smoothness, but that matters very little when used with my K10D since the aperature is left on "A".
The image quality more than makes up for its construction faults and I'd give it a 9.5 if it were possible. To list as a negative that it is manual focus lens seems a little silly--much like criticizing it for not being a zoom :-) If you like the focal length, it makes a great landscape prime. I don't know the current price, but it is most likely a good buy.
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: April, 2007 Location: Toronto/Victoria Posts: 460 | | Review Date: April 21, 2007 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Compact, smooth focusing, fast | | Cons: | A manual focus lens :) | |
This is a decent 50mm lens. For a MF lens it is fairly average. I got it as a more convenient lens to use over the M50/1.4. Compared to that lens, the A50/1.7 has the following:
1) A narrower, less smooth focusing ring
2) A delicate aperture ring (not really a problem for DSLRs where it stays at A, but but on older film SLRs it feels like it could wear out or fall apart)
3) Performance no better at any equivalent apertures. Slightly better at 1.7 than the M at 1.4, but not by much and at the next available aperture F/2, the M lens is better.
Still, for $40, it was worth it! For a DSLR at least. For old film SLRs, they deserve small M42, K, or M lenses, and maybe FA Limiteds!
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