| Latest Review Posted | SMC Pentax-M 28mm F2
Bought in 'Demo' condition from Adorama, sight unseen. After shooting some colour and B&W with it, I'm pretty happy; the f/2 makes focusing on the matte screen easier, and it's decently sharp wide open at relevant working distances. As this lens seems to be pretty rare, there's not as much info, but one Italian site documents the 'minimizing' of the K-series 28mm f/2 formula that was bases on a Ziess lens. The M series is very capable, sharp, and has good rendering and bokeh for a wide angle. My only bugbear is some occasionally noticeable barrel distortion, but compared to previous 28mm's and zooms I've used in the past, it doesn't matter. I'm definitely happy.
On the subject of flare, I took a test shot where I deliberately had the sun in the top corner of the image, producing visible flare in the viewfinder. The negative, when scanned, showed some loss in saturation, but none ghosting or red 'wings' that were visible through the LX's finder. Pretty impressive.
Here are some samples to give you a feel.
Pretty sharp at f/5.6. HP5+ scan.
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Good close range rendering, handling of high key bokeh & distortion. Uncorrected Provia 100F scan.
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Here's one probably wide open, focused on left edge of yellow graffiti. Handheld @ 1/30th and minimal PP sharpening, but shows rendering of distant out of focus backgrounds and highlights. Uncorrected Kodak Portra 400VC scan.
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