| Author: | | New Member Registered: May, 2012 Posts: 14
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 17, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $180.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | compact, sharpness | | Cons: | lacks of contrast at full aperture | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-5
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I was searching for the perfect portrait lens. I bought a Samyang 85mm wich gave me full satisfaction but was a bit bulky. One day I bumped into this lens. Small, lightweight and sharp! I sold the Samyang and kept this one.
Very sharp, this lens is perfect for portrait. I can just complain about the lack of contrast at f2 (something that you can fix in PS) and that it could be faster. Otherwise, this is the perfect lens to take with you when travelling. It doesn't match my FA 77mm or the almighty A 85mm 1.4 but for the price is really a steal.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cvicente1932/9717129987/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cvicente1932/10696821676/ | | | | | | | Junior Member Registered: December, 2007 Location: central kansas Posts: 27 | | Review Date: March 15, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $202.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Small, Fast, Sharp | | Cons: | Manual focus and no A setting | |
Just purchased this lens. I love it! I use it on my K-01 and it works great. Focusing is smooth and typical of a M lens. I have no problems using focus peaking with this lens. I just wish it had the 'A' setting, but then I couldn't afford to buy a lens like this.  | | | | | New Member Registered: February, 2013 Posts: 1 | | Review Date: February 24, 2013 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | sharpness | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K5
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This is the sharpest lens I ever use!
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: January, 2013 Location: Texas Posts: 32
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 5, 2013 | Recommended
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Light, sharp at f2.8 and above | | Cons: | Bad at full aperture, no hood | | Sharpness: 6
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 8
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This lens lacks contrast and sharpness at full aperture, the full aperture is not usable.
The I.Q. improves a lot, though, at F2.8 and above.
I like the light weight, but a telescopic hood would have been useful.
Very light and well built lens.
To buy only if you consider it like a 85mm f2.8, providing a brighter image in the viewfinder.
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: July, 2009 Location: West Midlands Posts: 2,066 | | Review Date: November 17, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, EASILY sharp enough for great portraits wide-open | | Cons: | A small amount of PF wide open | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Camera Used: Sony NEX
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I bought the lens to shoot wide at f2 or f2.8 for portraits. I like the Samyang 85mm but wanted something more compact - and this lens is much more compact! In STARK CONTRAST to the reviewer below me, I can see very crisp details in a 100% view - pimples, pores, eyelashes etc, all seem very sharply rendered. You would possibly want to reduce the sharpness if your subject has a rough complexion!  I can only guess that the guy below me had a damaged lens (perhaps hence the low price?) or couldn't get to grips with MF.
Wide open at ISO1600:
100% crop
I haven't bothered to check edge sharpness because why would you shoot a portrait lens wide open and expect/need edge sharpness?
There is a smidge of PF when shooting wide open, but not enough to be troublesome and only on high contrast edges, highlights etc.
Contrast is good, OOF backgrounds are rendered nicely, and the small size, and 49mm filter thread, make this a really handy lens as well as a very good one. It's pricey for an M lens, but well worth the cost.
| | | | | New Member Registered: October, 2012 Posts: 18 | | Review Date: November 17, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Just about everything | | Cons: | Getting expensive, f1.8 would be better, but bigger | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 9
Camera Used: Pentax K-5
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I accidentally review this originally as a 1/10, thinking I was reviewing a different lens, then a whole bunch of people alerted me by PM.
I got myself a copy of this because of the amount of passion there was for this. Being a manual focus, manual aperture lens, I was surprised by the price that I could find on trademe.co.nz or ebay... but like I said, so much passion for such an old lens I thought it must be worth it.
It is, that's all I can say.
If it were a big lens, then I'd be impressed but not THOROUGHLY impressed... but it borders on being a pancake, and for an 85 f2 that is impressive, given its performance.
I'm as in love as the people who messaged me... thank you 85mm f2. | | | | | New Member Registered: August, 2010 Location: Turin Posts: 23 | | Review Date: October 18, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Cheap, great image quality, compact | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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This is an outstanding piece of glass. Dreamy Wide open, Sharp at 5.6, cheap, what else are you looking for?
this is a portrait machine Wide open, good for anythig else once stopped down. grab one!
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: August, 2009 Location: Southeast USA Posts: 390 | | Review Date: September 10, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $290.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Small, sharp, good IQ | | Cons: | rare | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 9
Camera Used: K200D
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This is a great lens that I probably paid too much for. But it was either that or get the Samyang/Rokinon/Bower/Vivitar 85/1.4. The 85/1.4 would have been a nice lens for me, but something in me told me that I'd always be wondering what my photography would've been like if I'd gotten the Pentax 85/2. In the end, I obviously chose the Pentax so I wouldn't be second guessing myself.
I've only had the lens for about a week. It is a great lens for what I shoot, which is mostly everyday life kind of stuff with my family. It's got a nice big aperture so I can get faster shutter speeds, and it makes SHARP images. The sharpness is on par with my M 50/1.7.
There is some fringing wide open but I've found it easy to fix in PP. So far I have shot mostly in f/2.8 and haven't been bothered too much by aberrations.
The lens is light and compact, almost as small as the M 50/1.7.
| | | | | New Member Registered: May, 2011 Location: Toronto, ON Posts: 15
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 25, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $250.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | size, image quality, price | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K1000, MX, K100D Super
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An absolutely wonderful lens. I picked this up as a 'cheap' alternative to the other legendary Pentax 85s, and to be honest, I'm very happy that I ended up picking up this lens instead of one of the others. I'm a big fan of the build quality of the M lenses, and along with the others that I own (28/2.8,50/1.4,80-200/4.5) I can't imagine having access to a better set of glass for this kind of value.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: February, 2011 Posts: 118
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 15, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $325.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | center sharpness, color rendering, great portrait lens | | Cons: | not the sharpest lens wide open | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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I love how it render skin tones.
It really reminds me of my FA 43 1.9, both not being the sharpest lens wide-open, but they produce images with the type of rendering that make portraits feel good.
On APS-C, this focal length for me is just right to get a flattering look without being too far away. Its compact size also makes it a wonderful lens to work with, handheld.
Having that said, stopped down 2 clicks its every bit as sharp as the rest of the 85's !
IMHO, Lens hood is a must with this lens.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: August, 2007 Location: Baguio City, Philippines Posts: 350
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 4, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $81.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp, Small, Fast | | Cons: | prone to Blue Fringing at wide open in high contrast | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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When I saw this lens at first, I thought it was only a 50mm lens, but when I took a look at it closer, I'm surprised that it's a 85mm lens. Maybe if it's a f/1.4 or f/1.8 lens, it would be huge. Anyway, when I bought this 2nd hand lens, it was dirty, and was previously opened and cleaned but not properly because there are a lot of smears on all the lenses inside. So, I have to disassemble the lens and clean it properly. It's a good thing that the previous owner didn't scratched the lenses inside and out.
Anyway, back to the lens review, it's amazingly sharp at its widest aperture which is f/2. I find the sharpest aperture of this lens is at f/4.
This lens is small as those 50mms and has small filter diameter which is 49mm, so you don't need to spend a lot of cash for large diameter UV or MC UV filters and polarizers.
The only cons I see from this wonderful lens is a prone to Blue Fringing at wide open. I don't have problems with fringing when using it for news photos, but when I use it on weddings and portraits with high contrast, it would be a bit of problem, but fortunately we have Photoshop to eliminate those fringing.
Here's a look of the SMC Pentax M 85mm 1:2 on a Pentax K-7 with (third party) grip:
Here's a side by side with the SMC Pentax M 50mm 1:1.4:
Here's a sample portrait at f/2 (no editing done, just re-sizing):
*200% crop:
And here's a sample using the 85mm for landscape, using its sharpest aperture which is f/4:
* 200% crop:
***These two sample photographs were taken using Pentax K-7. | | | | | Inactive Account Registered: September, 2011 Posts: 6 | | Review Date: October 29, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $300.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | sharp, bokeh, great portrait lens | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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It's everything that's been said to be.
It has everything that a good portrait lens needs. Fast, silky smooth bokeh, compact, and produces contrasty images as many have already posted above. Focal length is long enough for portraits but not too long. I love the handling of this lens!
Like a fast 50, everybody needs a fast 85. It's a shame they aren't as commonly available.
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: June, 2010 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 44
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 10, 2011 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Great handling; compact size; sharp | | Cons: | Relatively rare, so I paid too much | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 4
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Like many other people, I've had a lot of fun using a fast 50 with my DSLR. I like the Field of View and how it works for portraiture. So, I wanted a fast lens with a similar field of view (as 50mm on a DSLR) for my Pentax MX and K1000.
Let me just get this out of the way first: I got impatient after waiting over a year for one of these to just land in my lap for a bargain; it just wasn't going to happen. So I placed an order for it at one of the popular online used gear sites, paid too much, but at least finally got one.
That said, I'm glad I got it!
Having read other reviewers claims that this lens isn't sharp, one of the first things I did when it arrived was throw it on my DSLR and pixel peep the heck out of it at various distances and apertures. All I can say is, those that are saying it's not sharp either have bad copies, are using it wrong, or have some really unrealistic expectations. Is it as sharp as my 100 Macro lens (for another SLR system)? Not quite. But it's plenty sharp, certainly comparable to my 50mm SMC primes. More than good enough for my purposes. I pledge never to pixel-peep the thing again, as it's fine.
Image quality is very good. Contrast is good; like most lenses it gets better as you stop down. Bokeh is nice and smooth. It doesn't obliterate backgrounds the way a f/1.4 85mm lens would, but remember f/2 still has shallower DOF than a 50mm lens does at 1.4. I can't complain about aberrations. I haven't aimed it at the sun or anything, but flare hasn't been a problem.
I love how the lens handles. Pentax was definitely onto something with the SMC-M series: this lens is barely any bigger than my SMC-M 50mm f/1.4. (A little longer, definitely heavier, but still very compact.) What a great pairing with the MX. Sometimes I wish it was just a bit faster (even just f/1.8) but then with a bigger front lens element, there's no way they'd have been able to have kept the 49mm filter threads common with the rest of the M system. As it is, the front element is just about as big as you could cram inside of the 49mm thread! It's an acceptable trade-off for my usage.
Build quality is typical of SMC-M lenses. Smooth, perfectly damped manual focusing. Feels like it was precision-milled out of a single chunk of metal.
This lens, plus a 24mm lens, are my go-to pair for wandering around the city with my MX.
If you like the FOV that 85mm offers and you're willing to pay the price these go for, I think it's worth it. If you see one for cheap, grab it!
| | | | | Giveaway winner! Registered: December, 2007 Location: beantown Posts: 944 | | Review Date: August 29, 2011 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp | | Cons: | not a 1.4 | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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This is a great lens and has shown to be very sharp so far... no I'm not sentimental about M-series lenses... This lens works. I've not given it a try in low light, wide-open yet, but can see from others that it is going to be great.
The sharpness and contrast at F4 was superb... no surprise.
Great lens, but make sure you get a hood for it since the front element is so close to the outside world and the excellent SMC is not glare proof.
UPDATE: Wide Open test in progress. Four lighting conditions: Day front/back light and Indoors front/back light.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: January, 2011 Posts: 258
11 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 19, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $285.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | very sharp from 2.0, very small and light, fantastic build quality, great contrast and colors, from 2.8 it is amazing | | Cons: | the biggest problem is the blue(yes blue, not purple) fryings at 2.0, I would like it a little lighter 1.8 for example, the bokeh is too hard and not touching and it is an M(no auto metering), only 6 blades | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 8
Camera Used: K200D
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F4.0 with tripod and bracketing, then HDR combining
F2.0
F2.0
100% crops on F2.0
comparison between Jupiter 9, Helios 40 and M 85 wide opened
as you can see it is not a perfect lens but it has some good qualities.
The bad thing is that if a pentaxian wants 70-85mm lens he must pay more then the others and pay for M lens. Other companies have 85s with AF for about 400$ with 1.8 apertures.
As a conclusion I can say that the lens is very nice for the money and I like it more then other old lenses for this kind of money.
EDIT
Well after a long time using this lens, I'm starting to like it more!
About sharpness .
It is the sharpest lens I have ever tested in it's sweet spot (F2.8-11).
If you know it's strong sides it can be quite great!
2.0
2.0
2.8
2.8
2.8
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