| Author: | | Pentaxian Registered: December, 2007 Location: In the most populated state... state of denial Posts: 1,854
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 8, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Quaity, sharpness, built, bokeh | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: Film Cameras (KX, MES, ME, Program, MZ) DSLRS K100, KX, K5ii
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Sharp as a knife, built like a tank
need to say more?
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1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 21, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $55.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Solid, Sharp, CHEAP | | Cons: | | |
I got a copy off eBay for $70AUD. My first 'fast 50'. And let me say it's awesome!!!
at 1.7 it's sharp and definately useable, and from f4 up it's razor sharp. This copy of the lens was nearly mint, the only thing missing was the gold "QC Passed" label on the aperture ring. 
I love the optical quality and image quality and colours and tones this lens produces...
For $50 US it doesn't come much better than this, and if you can get used to Manual lenses, it's definately a wise alternative to an FA 50.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: August, 2009 Location: Edmonton, AB Posts: 2,519
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 6, 2009 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | fantastic image quality, warm and brilliant colors, fantastic in low light | | Cons: | finding one for a fantastic price is getting harder | |
When I first got into photography my mom gave me her old SLR kit, a Pentax MX, and among the lenses was this lil jem... the only lens I'm still using with my K20D...is this lil 50mm.
I love this lens, I use it whenever and wherever I can. It works great in low light (the majority of my shooting environments) but also excels in natural light too.
I used it as my walk around lens in my last two trips to Florida and just loved how the colors seemed so much warmer and richer than with my DA 18-55mm kit lens.
I've purchased the DA primes and returned them because this 50mm is the best lens I've shot with! I ordered it's 28mm cousin off a internet reseller as soon as possible..
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: August, 2009 Location: Valencia Posts: 3
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 24, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $55.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | build, performance, optics, nice bokeh | | Cons: | none...(MF I guess...) | |
Great value for money...
Great performance...
Solid...
Nice bokeh...
Looks so cool on my K-m!!! | | | | | | | New Member Registered: June, 2008 Location: Pireaus, Greece Posts: 18
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 23, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $49.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp from 1.7 and Extreme sharp at smaller apertures | | Cons: | NONE | |
Fisrt of all I would like to thank all the reviews that I had read. They convinced me to purchase the lens, and I don’t regret it.
I was looking for a lens, for low light conditions, with very good performance, sharp and not expensive. So I bid on eBay the M50 f1.7 (in EXCELLENT condition).
The lens is tip-top in all perspectives (especially considering the price).
Excellent build quality. Very good out of focus blur(!), colors(!!), contrast(!).
If you don’t have a low light 50 lens, don’t mind the manual adjustments and don’t want to pay extraaaa for some other lens (that, probably, will produce similar results) then don’t hesitate, Buy it.
Plus, I have the feeling, that stopping from 2.8 and upward, you can't miss a shot!
In the streets of Athens (f/1.7 - ISO 100 - 1/25)
Aristofanis "Thesmophoriazuses" theater (f/2.8 - ISO 200 - 1/100)
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2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 25, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $45.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Compact, fast, good pictures | | Cons: | Depth of fiel is very very short wide open | |
This is the first manual lens I bought.
The pictures I get from this lens are good. Colors seem very natural, pictures are sharp.
At f1.7 and f2 however, the pictures are softer. It is convenient for portraits.
The only con I see for this lens is that I bought it in order to make portraits indoors when light conditions require a fast lens. In these conditions, you need to use it wide open and the depth of field is so short that you have to be very precise if you don't want to have only one eye in focus  | | | | | New Member Registered: January, 2009 Location: paris Posts: 13
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 30, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $10.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | so much light | | Cons: | none | |
There is nothing more to add that hasn't been said.
What I would say is that its a grat lens that also forces you to use the camera in manual mode ie you need to understand everything but as its so versatile you can then do nearly anything with it.
Typically you can find it very cheaply so just get one.
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: April, 2008 Location: Italy Posts: 19
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 19, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $18.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, build quality, and NO C.A.! | | Cons: | None so far | |
I found this one in a shop two days ago... the label said "Cosina 50mm F2" but there where 2 lenses. I asked to evaluate them and found that one of the two was this Pentax.... lens were clean, aperture ring and focus really as new, just few scratches on the body. And yes... I paid 15€ for it!
So far only did some tests, and beside sharpness, DOF and the bokeh (very good), I have been amazed by the almost absence of chromatic aberration! I also own the wonderfull Vivitar 100 F2.8 (my sharpest lens), but it has *heavy* CA in strong contrasty exposures. With the M 50 I shot the reflections of light on a leaf wide open... none, no purple anywhere, just like a film shot!
Overall it seems a great lens, I definitely think this will follow me every where I go with my K10D!
Update after 5 weeks from the birth of my son: it's great! I tend to shot wide open to leverage automatic exposure in aperture priority mode, and for my baby portraits it's faboulous. If you stop it down (and accept the need for preview to meter the light) it gets really sharp! For any portrait work, this will be THE lens for me for a LONG time!
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: September, 2007 Location: Santa Fe, NM Posts: 7,451
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 30, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Very sharp from wide open, lovely bokeh, lightweight, excellent build, cheap | | Cons: | None come to mind | |
Everyone should have one of these in their bag.
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1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 10, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Solid, Fast, Cheap! | | Cons: | a little hard to focus | |
This is my first manual lens and I'm getting use to it very quickly. The OOF areas are just great and I love the colours and contrast. Having a split prism would make focusing a little easier because its so touchy wide open to get the best crisp shots. The hexagon on my GX-10 VF seems to get the right spot but even a breath against the focus ring either way and its gone and the shot goes a bit soft. Ive done some fantastic stack shots though to get a greater DOF. I use it with a UV filter and I am yet to notice any unwanted colours. I am so glad I bought this lens to learn more about using full manual settings and it was my cheapest way into a prime lens for sure. I still might save for a FA 50mm F1.4-1.7 but ill keep it as a spare and one day it may be a collectors item.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: November, 2006 Location: former Arsenal football stadium Posts: 431
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 15, 2009 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | small, light, excellent performance, relatively cheap | | Cons: | can't think of any particularly if you can live with MF | |
Assuming you can live without the convenience of AF and auto exposure, I can't think of a better way of introducing yourself to the experience of using a fast, manual lens.
I've nothing to add to comments above re image quality which is excellent, although my impression is that edge sharpness is slightly slightly inferior to the M1.4 I have and the FA1.4 I have just sold (not enough to worry about though). Sharpness wide open may be slightly better than the 1.4, but I think my previous belief in this theory owes more to focusing error with the 1.4 and a narrow DOF than anything scientific. I'm not saying it's not true - I'm just more doubtful than before.
The main plus to me is the aesthetic appeal of working with a well crafted piece of engineering - manual focusing is a positive pleasure with a lens like this. And I find that the focus confirmation beep on the K7 is accurate enough to render a Katzeye screen redundant - of course if you're shooting a flower you need visual confirmation of where the focus is, but the K7 screen plus magnifier is good enough.
This lens comes in the 'get it at a reasonable price, nothing to lose, everything to gain' category.
Warning: there's one very real danger, familiar to many Pentax owners. It will set you off down the never-ending path of buying obsolete manual lenses for the pleasure they give you, rather than the fact you actually need them. Be aware of that. But buy it anyway.
| | | | | New Member Registered: November, 2009 Posts: 1
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 20, 2009 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | great sharpness, outstanding contrast and color rendition, superb mechanical construction | | Cons: | absolutely none whatsoever | |
This little thing is my favourite-ever lens. The mechanical construction is beyond criticism. So old and still working precisely and focusing smoothly, as if it was new.
Very sharp and contrasty, indeed. Color saturation also is very high. Bokeh is fine. All in all in terms of IQ it outperforms my DA35/2.8 macro at times, which also is a great lens. The DA is more versatile, of course because of AF, shorter focal lengh and macro capabilities. But still an interesting finding, given the relative pricing of the two lenses.
Manual focussing can be sort of a hassle, of course, but if you get everything right, the results are just great. One remark: combined with an achromatic close-up lens this lens makes up a very nice "poor man's macro setup" with great IQ.
Bottom line: I seriously think everyone owning a Pentax body should get this lens. Especially given its low price tag.
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: November, 2009 Location: United States Posts: 30
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 30, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $22.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Phenomenal IQ, sharp, inexpensive, fantastic all around | | Cons: | purple fringing in high contrast shots | |
I absolutely love this lens. Each day I spend more and more time using it over any other. I personally like the feel of the manual focus. Mine is very smooth and precise. I have noticed some purple fringing at 1.7 and 2.0 in high contrast or around bright lights, but if I stop it down to 2.8 the fringing is completely gone. Overall, I would highly recommend this lens. If you can find one for under $50 it's a steal, don't hesitate, buy it!
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: January, 2010 Location: Leiria - Portugal Posts: 65
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 16, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $17.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Fantastic IQ, great in low light, very pleasant bokeh, very smooth focusing | | Cons: | regarding its price, none | |
I bought this lens for 12 euro and I must say it feels wonderful to photograph with this tiny metal beauty. I tested it under various low light conditions and it outperformed my 18-55 kit lens by miles in image quality and reality depicting.
Here's a sample of this beauty's low light capabilities:
Pentax K-x | 1/10 | F1.7 | Iso400
It's a widely available lens at an unbelievable price vs performance rating, so it's absolutely mandatory that you own this lens. :ugh:
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1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 5, 2010 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, colours | | Cons: | | |
Here is one from my M 50mm 1.8 on my K-X
Just a wonderful lens to use and hold.
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