| Latest Review Posted | SMC Pentax-M 100mm F2.8
This is a fantastic lens. It's got that great feel of the M series lenses, and it's pretty fast. Gives a nice shallow dof for portraits, and the bokeh looks good- not distracting at all. Also, it's got that legendary SMC sharpness and contrast, especially when stopped down a little bit.
Many say that the 100/4 is better for portraits, and that might be true from a technical standpoint. However, the usefulness of this lens makes it worth it to me. In addition to taking great portraits, it's fast enough that I can take it into a bar at night and take decent shots of the band playing. I've also used this lens for urban cityscapes, and landscape photography.
I think the 100mm length is about perfect for portraits anyway. It's short enough to give you an intimate portrait (and a more intimate portrait making session), yet it's long enough to give a good head and shoulders portrait without being right in someone's face. Like someone else said in their review- 135mm now feels "too far away."
The only con this lens has, IMO, is that the "wow factor" of sharpness and contrast is a bit less wide open. This should be expected with just about any lens, and I don't feel that it detracts from the quality or the value of the lens.
If anyone is thinking, "Man, I really need a decent portrait lens, but would like to use it for other things," Give the M100/2.8 a shot. |
