| Author: | | Junior Member Registered: October, 2009 Location: Montrouge, France Posts: 31
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 26, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $80.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Bokeh, aperture, build quality, price | | Cons: | None | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
| |
This is my best Pentax lens. Better than the A 50 f:1,4 or K 50 f:1,2 I own and far most cheaper (and better than the A 50 f:1,7 too). One of the 1st old Pentax lenses I started to purchase for my K20D a few years ago but never equaled yet (and I own a large range of old Pentax lenses). A lens universally recognized by Pentax amateurs. A very beautiful bokeh when I compare it to my Leica M lenses. And, of course, far better than the kit lenses. With an APSC DLSR, it becomes a 75 mm, a perfect lens for portrait. So you don't need to use the green button on A setting: you just use it at 1,7 to obtain a beautiful Bokeh.
I won't bore you with sharpness or pixel count: what is important in a lens is the feeling you have with its special rendering. One can recognize a leica shot from others. I won't say the same for this one but you certainly can feel its quality among all your Pentax lenses (particularly vs. FA, DA, ... lenses).
So, that's why I put a 10. I should not because no lens really deserve a 10 (some Leica lenses I own are obviously better) if 10 is considered as perfection. But it deserve a rate close to 10 in the Pentax range. So, let's say that I rate this lens using the practices of this forum.
I'll put a few photos made with this lens during the night. No flash, no photo editing, sometimes weird adjustments (6400 ISO, B & W selected, red filter, ...).
Night impressionist portrait
(Non working link removed)
Palm trees in the night of Barcelona
(Non working link removed)
Jamon Bellota
(Non working link removed)
(Non working link removed)
Siesta
(Non working link removed)
A church in Prague winter
Enjoy
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: July, 2011 Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Posts: 647
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 24, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $35.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | SHARP, sharp, great colors, BUILT LIKE A TANK!!, FAST!, great DOF, did i mention sharp? | | Cons: | Manual focus may be a problem for some (it can be very fun too, not that fun when you miss the focus), not super sharp wide open, but very usable | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 10
| |
GREAT LENS!
I bought it only 15 days after i got the camera (actually i bought the camera 24 days ago, so im pretty new with it :P), but this lens left my camera at MAX 4 times after that. It's very good to use. You manual focus it, so you really feel like you are actually DOING something. Of course, i use the camera on Manual, so im actually doing something everytime, but when manual focusing its great.
Also, put this lens at 5.6 and you'll be amazed. SUPER SUPER sharp. But using it at f1.7 is great, it defocus everything so nicely.
Some pics below :
Hope that'll help someone.
PS : More than a year after buying it, and already with my K-30, i just updated my review.
Bokeh can get pretty nervous with this lens, but i'm a tad bit crazy, sometimes i think its really nice to have that kind of background defocus.
Manual focus can make you mad a lot of times, and you can't use this lens in really low light...kind of kills the 1.7 point
Overall a great lens for the price
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: May, 2010 Location: Bangalore Posts: 176
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 20, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, color, contrast, fast, light, bokeh | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 7
Value: 10
| |
This was the first lens I bought even before I bought my first DSLR K-x. Strange but true. Once I made up my mind to go with Pentax, I was searching for lenses and unknowingly I bought this lens over ebay. When I got my DSLR, at first I was not comfortable with all manual and stopped down metering.
Over time I started liking it and now I love it as one of the most valuable things in my bag 
This is an amazing piece of glass that delivers excellent images, but you should be good at manual focusing. And I have seen people producing amazing videos with this lens (check on You Tube)
At 50$ it delivers superb images with sharpness, color and contrast and excellent bokeh.
If you find one, grab it.
Cheers
Guna
| | | | |
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 12, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $1.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | very light, cheap, very bright | | Cons: | nope. | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
| |
I bough it only $1 at ebay^^ It's good for beginners who want to learn MF. LIke MF more than AF^^
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: July, 2011 Posts: 8
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 6, 2011 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Size, weight, sharpness, 1.7 | | Cons: | MF, bokeh | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
| |
Brilliant little lens. It really can live up with my 100DFA WR macro and 70 limited, it's that good for a fraction of the price. OK, the colors are not as sparkling as with the newer, digital era lenses. An f/1.7 gives you a shallow DOF if you need (portraits), but the bokeh is not as nice round as the other lenses I mentioned. However, because of its sharpness I often prefer this lens over the 1.4 50 FA.
It's compact and light, feels tough. Great.
The price: I paid 50 euros (75 USD nowadays...) for the 28 2.8, 50 1.7 and 135 3.5 M's combined.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: June, 2010 Location: Östergötland, Sweden Posts: 217
1 user found this helpful
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: April, 2011 Location: Gwynedd Posts: 93
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 11, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $30.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Overall a nice lens | | Cons: | softness wide open | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 9
| |
We all know this is a good lens, it's not the best 50mm out there but it is a good one certainly.
A bot on the soft side wide open but useable, purple fringing is quite pronounced too. From F2 onwards its fantastic.
The Bokeh is pretty decent, and at large apertures it almost manages to pull off the 3D effect.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: June, 2011 Location: Israel Posts: 177
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 10, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Super sharp, nice bokeh, and you can't beat the price for this type of quality! | | Cons: | Manual focus | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 9
Camera Used: Pentax K-r
| |
I bought this lens from another member here on the Pentax Forums... and I must say, it was a great use of $50! The lens is small, but heavier than it looks, this thing is solid! And it takes really sharp photos.
I must say this would be a perfect lens, if only it was auto focus. But if you get used to using the manual focus, this is a definite a great lens to use!
If you can find one for a good price I would definitely recommend picking it up! You won't regret it. | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: May, 2010 Location: Hong Kong / Irvine, CA Posts: 636
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 24, 2011 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | sharp, small, nice focus ring, cheap | | Cons: | the blades are not round @ f2 | |
My only complain is the OOF circle are not round, and it's some weird shape.
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: June, 2011 Location: Budapest Posts: 33 | | | | | New Member Registered: July, 2011 Posts: 1
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 15, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $41.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | price, sharpness, availability, soft and nice bokeh when wide open | | Cons: | maybe reflections in the direct light (but that's an extreme) | |
An excellent lens for a excellent price... It's my first prime lens and the difference in sharpness between the kit lens on my K-x and this 50mm is giant. After a lot of years of production it is still a brilliant choise not only for begginers.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: June, 2011 Location: New York City Posts: 5,638
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 28, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $59.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Sharp, accurate color depiction, fast | | Cons: | Manual focus under low light is damn hard | |
Nifty fifty to the tee, this lens is very sharp (especially when stopped down a little), very good color, and is quite the dream to use with the manual focus and manual aperture. I enjoy using it for day to day shooting in daylight and well lit conditions. Under dimmer conditions, it's hard for me to get perfect focus, so I usually have to take a few shots while tweaking the focus ring. The focus ring itself is pretty easy to manipulate. The aperture ring is a bit thin, but has a nice feel (especially the click).
For a 40+ year old lens, this thing is amazing.
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: January, 2011 Location: Czech Republic Posts: 80
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 13, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | sharpness, build quality, great focusing ring, colours, size, IQ, price | | Cons: | manual focus, bokeh at f2.0 and f2.8 | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
| |
This lens is incredibly sharp, the build quality is amazing like with all the old lenses. The focusing ring is accurate and easy to operate. It has lovely colours and the IQ quality is superb. Only flaw I found is the bokeh at f2.0 and f2.8 which looks a bit like cog-wheel.
Anyway, it is an amazing lens and everybody should have one. The difference between this and the kit lens is so huge!
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: December, 2010 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 90
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 15, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, Value, MF Feel, color rendition | | Cons: | MF with modern viewfinders | |
This lens really is beautiful. Metal, glass... it exudes quality. The focus ring is well damped, and a joy to use. My only complaints with this lens, and the only reason I don't use it more, have more to do with quirks of digital cameras than anything wrong with this lens.
As a digital shooter, this is longer than I was looking for when I bought it. It's not a normal lens - it's a short telephoto. If you shoot indoors, think carefully about how wide you need. Entry level viewfinders are also a bit difficult to focus with, so know that it will take a while for you to get used to it, and you may need a focusing screen.
Nitpicking aside, I absolutely love the optics in this lens. Sharp, fast, beautiful colors... Nothing to complain about.
 | | | | | Forum Member Registered: February, 2011 Posts: 84
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 30, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $60.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Price, sharpness, color, build quality, size, bang for buck | | Cons: | At this price? None. Zero. Zip. | |
If you ever buy just one cheap prime lens, let it be this. Don't have any delusions about the age or cheap price - they might laugh at your small, old lens, but when you compare the results I guarantee you won't be the embarrassed one. When it comes to 50mm primes, they literally don't make them like they used to.
The fact that it's full manual is only good for you, as it forces you to concentrate on what you're trying to accomplish instead of firing away with full auto. Trust me, it's good for you to get to know the technical side of taking a shot, and you find the information help you with your other lenses too. You learn new tricks and will try new ways, and as a result will gain experience and skill.
Perhaps the most striking thing about this lens is the unparalleled bang for the buck. Image quality-wise it's so close the very sharpest drawing lenses out there that you wouldn't see the difference without gushing out close to 4-digit amount of cash, and depending on your skill not necessarily even then.
The super smooth operation of focus is out of the league of cheap plastic lenses. It's buttery pleasant, effortless and you just want to keep using it even if you're sure you've already nailed the shot.
This lens is superb right from the widest 1.7 which is a small miracle. It enables you to really pop the subject out of space, and your shots will never look the same again.
The only concievable downside is that it might lead you to the false assumption that throwing in a 1.5-, 2- or 3-fold amount of $$$ would yet increase image quality, when in fact it won't. To top this small miracle lens will take a lot more cash than that.
Okay I admit that after getting used to this image quality you have to shove a lot more cash on lenses than you used to.
Quick sample below. This is the kind of shit that pours out of my camera after getting the Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7.
Shot at f/1.7, ISO 100, 1/1000 sec, with K20D (3rd party focusing screen, settings: Av with +0.7 EV, center spot metering)
 | | |
;)
;)
