| Author: | | New Member Registered: May, 2014 Posts: 7
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 19, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp, great colors rendering, superb reversed for macro | | Cons: | Fringing | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Camera Used: K1
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I bought it several years ago, unfortunately comes with severe fungus issue.
I dismantled it and cleaned deeply with oxigenated water 50% in every parts.
Today, I'm proud to use it. It's the best lens I have. I love it.
this is reversed in macro, natural light f/16 1/500sec ISO 200 free handled:
 Bee on orange flower by Salvo Signorello, su Flickr
| | | | | | | Senior Member Registered: May, 2011 Location: Malmö, Sweden Posts: 128
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 29, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $80.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, bokeh, value | | Cons: | | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-5, K-x
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Really good lens and extraordinary value for money. Very sharp, little softer wide open of course but that's to be expected and good for portraits. Haven't noticed much aberrations except some slight barrel distortion. No vignetting om APS-C that i can notice. A little weak in backlit conditions but that's rather common in older lenses. For the price it's absolutely excellent!
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: July, 2014 Location: Nagoya Posts: 577 | | Review Date: January 27, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Image quality, build quality | | Cons: | Fringing | |
There's little that remains to be said about this lens. Sharp (my copy is even sharp wide open as long as you nail focus), very pleasant rendering, great bokeh, lovely M series handling and great value.
On the negative side, you have to contend with a fair amount of colour fringing especially at wider apertures, and this is true of all Pentax 50/1.4s up to and including the FA. It's also a little heavier than its f1.7 and f2 counterparts.
It's a very capable lens, although in my opinion the manual focus 50 to have remains the A50/1.7 - easier metering, lighter, startlingly sharp and very little fringing.
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: April, 2009 Location: Madrid, Spain Posts: 10,911
5 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 26, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $120.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Build quality, image quality stopped down, compact | | Cons: | Soft wide open, expensive | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 8
Camera Used: K200D, K3, various film SLRs
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This lens is my go-to 50/1.4 due to it's build quality, compactness and optics. I use it on digital and also on film, where I find the feel of this lens is really ideal with a 35mm SLR.
I have owned the M, K and (seven element) SMC Tak 50/1.4s and they all perform very similarly. In terms of sharpness they are all soft wide open (not really usable in my opinion), acceptable by f/2.0 or f/2.4 and great at f/2.8 and beyond. In other optical qualities, colour and contrast from the M 50mm are really good, though contrast is unsurprisingly lacking at f/1.4 and maybe f/2. Bokeh is generally smooth and I've never had any problems with flare. I find this lens gives a rendering very similar to much more modern lenses rather than the less contrasty, less saturated "vintage" look that many old lenses give.
Build quality is great as with all the M series lenses and handling is superb - this lens is a pleasure to use. Focus is very smooth and the aperture ring clicks nicely.
Recently I've acquired an Auto Revuenon 50mm f/1.4 and discovered that it's optically slightly better than the M series lens, being slightly sharper wide open. It's just as compact and well built, has the same 49mm filter ring, it was also half the price. That lens could conceivably one day push me to sell the M series one, or at least to replace it as my go-to 50/1.4.
As all Pentax 50mm f/1.4 lenses are soft wide open, in terms of sharpness it's really impossible to justify having one instead of (or in addition to) a 50/1.7, which is smaller, lighter, just as well built, much cheaper, just as sharp at f/2.8 and considerably sharper wide open. The f/1.4 has eight aperture rings rather than six, so bokeh is smoother, but beyond that there really isn't much difference optically. In the end, if you really want an f/1.4 lens (as many people, myself included, do) then nothing else will do, but the sheer speed adds a lot of weight and cost without adding anything optically. The only real advantage in the optics are the extra aperture leaves for smoother bokeh. I find with all the 50mm lenses that I very rarely use them at less than f/2.8, where the combination of sharpness and ability to isolate a subject are ideal.
I'm not about to get rid of my copy of this as it's very good optically, though recently the Auto Revuenon has been getting more use, but it's mainly because I'm far too much of a gear freak to not have at least one really good f/1.4 lens.
Overall, this is a really nice lens and I rate it highly, though it's not good value for the reasons stated above.
Some sample images on digital.
Wide open at f/1.4:
DSCF0100a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr
At f/2.8:
IMGP3919a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr
IMGP3916a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr
Unknown aperture:
IMGP1275a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr
IMGP9181a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr
| | | | | | | Forum Member Registered: December, 2015 Location: Charleroi (Belgium) Posts: 60
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 24, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $30.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Contrast, sharp, usable wide open | | Cons: | Soft in the corners | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K-50
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Great 50mm lens, with 1.4 you can make wonderful pictures. However, to film, it's barely usable : at 1.4, you have no less than 2 centimeters of focus (the bokeh gets astonishing, but the slightest movement if you film someone will make it go blur)
Naturally, the contrast is great, and the colors are just right.
On the down sides, there are the corners : some vignetting appears wide open, and it is little soft while in the middle it's razor sharp.
I also set 8 to the handling, not knowing what it can do when perfect, as my copy has somewhat of a "hard" focusing ring, I suspect it was dropped or bent or something.
I would recommend this for photography (I used it only on K50, so digital), it's a little heavier than the 50mm F1.7 or F2.0, but it is as sharp and it's bokehlicious. Anyway, it remains a "dreamy" lens, even if you focus right, because at 1.4, a face on the side can't be in focus all the way.
| | | | | New Member Registered: July, 2016 Posts: 4
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 7, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $80.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | bokeh, contrast, colours, size, weight, cenral sharpness from f2 | | Cons: | soft wide open, corners soft until f4 | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Camera Used: Sony A7s, Sony a6000
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Good lens overall, excepts maybe for corner sharpness.
Great bokeh, contrast and colours. Good flare resistance. Handles well on small morrorless cameras even with an adapter.
For image samples check out my review of this lens at
http://www.theweekendlens.com/pentax-m-50mm-f14-smc.html | | | | | Senior Member Registered: April, 2015 Location: Lower Saxony Posts: 181
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 18, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | very sharp once stopped down, view finder brightness, color rendering | | Cons: | | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Camera Used: K-5 IIs; K-1
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uncared for a year i rediscovered this gem the last dark days...
down scaled offhanded out of camera jpgs, K-5 IIs, f/2.0:
(click into this second to enlarge original out of camera jpg)
crop reveals (golden) pearl necklaces also with K-5 IIs
down scaled out of camera jpg, K-1, f/2.0
crop
p.s. @ wtigga: yours is the also great and with a radioactive Thorium glass rear element built SMC PENTAX K predecessor, ~ 1975-1977...
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: December, 2015 Posts: 1
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 2, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $55.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | image rendering on film / 3d pop / wide open iq | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax LX
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Best 50mm i ever used - and i've used quite a lot of them. Had several Nikon 50s from old Ais version to the good old 50/1.4D or the pancake E-series 50 and also some late 50/1.8 and they all had there flaws optically AND none of them had the same great haptics and handling feel like this Pentax M 50/1.4! it's close to the high price rivals from the big brands with Z or L, but bigger of course.
beside the handling also the optical qualities stand out. maybe only slightly but still in a relevant manner. it's maybe not the most sharp or most contrasty 50 in scientific tests but the render of details, tones and the transition from sharp to bokeh are delicious. the images have this special something. the wide open look is a tad soft but it's great for 1.4 and there is still plenty of details (with a bit less microcontrast).
the benefit of this lens compared to other 50s is only nuances for sure but enough for me to deeply fall in love with this lens.
| | | | | New Member Registered: August, 2015 Posts: 1
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 17, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $89.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Small & compact, sharp, easy to handle | | Cons: | None I could find | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: Canon 70D
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I'm new to vintage lenses, and this is the first one I bought - and am very happy with it. Light weight, great bokeh at 1.4, very easy to handle.
Only con I can think of has nothing to do with the particular lens - I learned the hard way that the depth of field is so narrow at 1.4, sometimes just a few inches, that one has to be very precise at focusing (used a chipped PK-EOS adapter with a single focus point, which was very helpful, because camera beeps when focus is reached). The main challenge is when shooting more than one person - must remember to close shutter a bit, to get a deeper depth of field.
| | | | | New Member Registered: March, 2015 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 16 | | Review Date: May 13, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $35.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | solid construction, image quality | | Cons: | very soft wide, color fringing outside of focus plane | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 8
Camera Used: K-500
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Good lens at f4 and smaller. I am disappointed at wider apertures. Even though that gaping light catcher looks impressive, it is too soft for anything but "bokeh art". I seldom shoot for subjects with arty blur. I like the 3D look of subjects in focus against the soft background. So for me this lens has no real advantage over the M 50mm f2 or the smc Tak 55mm f1.8. But I got it on eBay along with a dandy K1000, Vivitar 283 flash, bag, antique 35mm film, and a no name 70-200mm zoom, all for $65. I figure I paid about $35 for this M 50mm f1.4.
 | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: December, 2010 Location: SoCal Posts: 518
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 15, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $75.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Price, snooth focus ring, sharpness, rugged, size, weight | | Cons: | Not the best for moving subjects/lighting due to M lack of auto metering | |
It would only be better for me if it was an 'A' lens for auto metering and aperture control in the body as an option.
Very sharp, very smooth, long focus ring.
Bokeh is very nice for most images. Slight CA in outdoor (lighting is harsh in SoCal).
https://flic.kr/p/qFX4hE
https://flic.kr/p/rjCf6T | | | | | Junior Member Registered: February, 2013 Location: China Posts: 31
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 12, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $45.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sturdy, Cheap, Nice Bokeh, Pentax | | Cons: | Purple fringes on 1.4 | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 4
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K-7
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Very nice lens for it's price. Nice to think that this piece of art was produced almost 30 years ago, and still fully functional.
Got one in Seoul for less then 50 bucks.
    
More picks of this lens on my blog.
| | | | | New Member Registered: November, 2013 Location: Baku Posts: 24
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 15, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $110.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp!!! | | Cons: | can be some CA | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-30
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I got my dSLR about a year ago with a DA 50mm f1.8. I was very happy - then I bought this lens and I was
ecstatic!!! It's just beautiful - this lens is so sharp.
I got the DA 50mm f1.8 very cheap as a deal when I bought the K-30 but- I very rarely use it now because I love this lens so much!!
It's manual - for me this is a massive plus because I started to understand what my camera can do.
It's prone to CA - but honeslty even the CA tends to be good looking!
For me it's a massive step up from the DA 1.8 in terms of picture quality and also as my first manual lens it's taught me so many things about DOF etc.
 Coil by istanbulnorthend, on Flickr
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: April, 2014 Posts: 136
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 30, 2014 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, bokeh, build quality, sharp, very compact, good close focus limit and yes, it's sharp! | | Cons: | Chromatic aberration is a pig in some shots. | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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I've been using this lens on and off since shortly after I got my first film SLR, a Pentax K-1000. The fast fifty was my first lens purchase to replace the 50mm F2 that came with the camera. I never regretted it and shot a lot of portraits with it, usually on Black and White film. I got the lens specifically to avoid using flash on babies as I used to do a lot of newborns, and I soon discovered that some of them are upset by flashguns. I got some lovely shots, pin sharp even wide open, though focusing is tricky because the depth of field is so tiny at f1.4. Plenty of missed focus shots at first, but later I got better at that.
The handling is excellent, focusing is so smooth it makes you wonder what happened when more recent lenses were designed. Quite a long throw to make focusing as easy as possible, though still it requires some practice to nail it more than a tenth of the time. Practice regularly and you can raise that to most of the time, so don't worry!
I've just recently pulled the 1.4 out to try it with my K-r. I wish I'd done it sooner, it's really fine with the focus assist and I hope to shoot more than test shots with it very soon. Handles like a dream, and even though stop-down preview is needed for metering it's really fine if you're familiar with the manual mode of your camera. A classic, a gem, a marvel of optical design.
People who say this lens isn't sharp wide open either just can't focus it or they have a dud copy, it is sharp in the centre even wide open at f1.4. I use a lens hood as well and that reduces the bloom effect slightly and improves contrast, well of course if you want that dreamy bloom it's easy enough to use the lens without the hood.
EDIT to add: Here is one image linked from my gallery here; it's from the first portrait shoot I did with my Pentax K-r using this lens and I love the bokeh on the lights. It took several attempts to get this lined up right so the lights were where we wanted them but it was worth the effort. The only PhotoShop is the glow on her hands and the darkening of the background as some parts didn't turn out completely black the way I wanted them. Of course the lights were really quite a way behind her hands but I wanted to create a nice illusion using the smooth bokeh this lens gives you. I know this is scaled down but the eyelashes are pin sharp even on the full images when pixel-peeping and this shot was taken at f1.4.
 | | | | | New Member Registered: December, 2014 Posts: 18
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 10, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Super sharp wide open, great build quality, smooth focus ring, outstanding bokeh, cheap | | Cons: | Not auto focus.... Then again I save $750 by not buying the 55mm 1.4 | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-3
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This lens blew me away when I first got it. Being able to shoot outdoors at night on ISO 1600 is outstanding. It is a perfect match with the Pentax k-3 especially because of its SR. I don't know why people would give this anything short of a 10 for sharpness, because on my 24mp pentax k-3, it is sharp up to 100% crop. The lens does have some aberrations, but this is easily fixable in Lightroom. Bokeh is outstanding, although the lens is very hard to focus without a split prism focusing screen. Then again it's f1.4 so that's kinda what you get. I would highly recommend this lens to anyone, although someday I may upgrade to the 50mm a 1.2. I actually bought this lens with a Pentax k-2 for a total of $100, which explaines the tiny price tag.
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