| Showing all 8 reviews by TDN | |
| Review of: SMC Pentax-F 50mm F1.4 by TDN on Sun September 7, 2008 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 134635
Reviews: 17
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Excellent lens.
Every photographer should have a 50mm in his/her camera bag, and this one's a real gem!
Optically it's identical to the much more common FA 50mm, so in that field it is excellent.
Of course at 1.4 it won't be super sharp (show me such a fast lens that is...) but for portraits this is perfect.
From 2.0 and onwards it becomes razor sharp.
The bokeh is incredible. Creamy and soft.
The color redition is excellent aswell.
Build quality-wise it looks and feels a bit cheaper than the newer FA 50mm, but since they're optically identical, i could not care less.
Tom
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| Review of: SMC Pentax 17mm F4 Fish-Eye by TDN on Thu July 24, 2008 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 99689
Reviews: 21
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Got this one as a bargain from a retiring photographer.
It perfoms well, also on a digital crop sensor.
The fish-eye effect isn't so obvious when there are no straight lines close to the camera, which makes it a useful wide-angle.
I would definitly recommend it, if only because these are hard to find.
Tom
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| Review of: SMC Pentax-A 35-135mm F3.5-4.5 by TDN on Sun September 9, 2007 | Rating: 7 | View more reviews | |
Views: 31741
Reviews: 3
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You don't see this one that often. I got a hold of it together with a camera.
Pretty interesting lens.
Wide open it's a little soft, but it from f5.6 on it becomes sharper. At f8 it's actually very nice and sharp. It has some light CA wide open.
This lens is light and compact for its range. Definitely an alternative if you don't want to get noticed too much, and still want some tele-reach.
At f3.5 at 135mm you get kind of a dreamy effect, which could be used for portraits. This effect decreases when you stop down to f4.
I would say this lens is definitely usable for street and portrait photography, and is a good alternative for more expensive zooms in the range.
Like almost all push-pull zooms, my copy has some zoom creep (the focus/zoom ring moving when you face the lens up or down and let go of it) but this presents no problems when using it, as you must have your hand on the lens barrel for focusing anyway.
Tom
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| Review of: SMC Pentax-M 50mm F1.4 by TDN on Sun September 9, 2007 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 659349
Reviews: 113
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This one is also one of the legendary fast Pentax 50mm primes, and for the money, it's probably the best solution for a 1.4 lens you can buy under 100$ (the fast A 1.4 and 1.7 versions usually go over 100$ on ebay now)
As mentioned, it is extremely fast. Excellent for indoor photography.
DOF at 1.4 is razor thin, but the part in focus is very acceptable in terms of sharpness. Stop down to f2 and it's even better.
Starting from f4 this lens becomes razor sharp. really.
As mentioned before this one does a decent job for macros too, especially with an extention tube attached.
Very nice lens, and apart from the ease of use of the A, F or FA versions, it's as good or better than the more recent primes.
Tom
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| Review of: SMC Pentax-DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL by TDN on Thu June 21, 2007 | Rating: 8 | View more reviews | |
Views: 170040
Reviews: 97
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Very decent for a kit lens, I think one of the best kitlenses out there.
very usable for the wide end on a DSLR.
Sharpness is actually ok, this is not very common for a kitlens.
What's kinda annoying is that the zoom ring rotates easily while in the bag, a zoom lock would have been nice.
Overall a good performer, and a shame to pass up on when buying a Pentax camera.
Tom
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| Review of: Takumar 135mm F2.5 Bayonet by TDN on Thu June 21, 2007 | Rating: 5 | View more reviews | |
Views: 270207
Reviews: 70
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Mixed feelings about this one, on one side it's very bad wide open: soft images with CA problems and lack of contrast.
On the other hand, once you stop it down to f8 and have some sunlight available, it's a pretty decent portrait lens. It still lacks some contrast then, but that's easily fixed in post porcessing, and most of the CA is gone at f8
I'd rather recommend to get the SMC version or the 3.5 Pentax-M...better value for money it think.
Nonetheless, build quality is very good, and it is a nice focal length to have.
Tom
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| Review of: SMC Pentax-M 50mm F2 by TDN on Thu June 21, 2007 | Rating: 7 | View more reviews | |
Views: 367066
Reviews: 101
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A nice little lens, if you can get it for a decent price and don't have a 50mm yet, go for it.
Wide open it isn't quite as good as its more expensive 1.7 and 1.4 siblings, but it's definitly acceptable.
Stopped down this lens really shines. At f8 it's razor sharp.
Very compact, nice if you don't want to get too much attention to yourself.
Very good value for the money, just like most Pentax SMC primes.
Tom
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| Review of: SMC Pentax-A 50mm F1.7 by TDN on Thu June 21, 2007 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 567375
Reviews: 143
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fantastic little lens, always in my camera bag. This is definitly one of my favourites.
When asked for the "cons", I was thinking about saying the build quality wasn't as good as the M series, but I couldn't because I've never had a problem with it.
The lens is solid compact and focuses smooth, nothing wrong with the build quality.
Very sharp, even wide open, and lets a lot of light in.
This one always goes with me when I go out of the house. I can always find a purpose for it. Very versatile.
Only "negative" thing I could say about it is that the FOV is a little narrow on a DSLR, but that's something you can expect. If you want a wider standard lens, get a 35mm...
Excellent value for the money.
Tom
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