Senior Member Registered: February, 2007 Posts: 151 | | Review Date: April 1, 2007 | Recommended | Price: $150.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Small, well built, great for portraits, considerably cheaper than the other Pentax 85mm lenses | | Cons: | Soft wide open | |
The M 85/2 is a difficult lens to judge. On one hand it is just average as a general purpose lens. It is kind of soft wide open (not total mush, but soft none-the-less) but sharpens up nicely as you close it down. Because of this fact I prefer the 77 ltd or the K 85/1.8 for an all-purpose medium telephoto (both are pretty sharp at wide apertures). On the other hand the 85/2 is a marvelous portrait lens. The wide open softness really shines here creating very flattering photos without any of the obnoxious over-the-top blur that specialized soft filters create – overall a very subtle and effective look. As mentioned above I have both the 77 ltd and the K85/1.8, but when I am taking portraits I grab the 85/2 every single time (it is one of the best portrait lenses I have ever used). Overall I can strongly recommend this lens if you have portraiture in mind.
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Senior Member Registered: October, 2006 Location: Masachusetts Posts: 243 | | Review Date: March 1, 2007 | Not Recommended
| Rating: 5 |
| Pros: | small and light | | Cons: | Cheap plastic hood, not as sharp as other Pentax lenses. | |
This is another small, light fast lens. It does not live up to the other M series lenses, but it's still a nice lens. The corners are soft wide open, and to get real sharpness you have to stop it down a bit.
For portraits, it was a great lens since you want a bit of softness. If you come across one really cheap, it might be worth getting. But as a mechanical lens with no electrical contacts, it's probably not worth going through an effort to find.
Having said that, if you have one you will find it to be a nice portrait lens.
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