Review of: SMC Pentax-M 50mm F1.4 by Sagitta on Sun March 31, 2013 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 656986
Reviews: 113 |
I pretty much stole this lens in an auction for under $15 bundled with a bunch of clunky budget lenses and a battered old ME.
I used the lens in a single in challenge to get to know it, and have come to love the thing for what it is - an old manual focus short telephoto (on a cropped sensor) with a blazing fast minimum aperture.
I suspect this lens will be directly responsible for me seeking out the other 1.4's available out there, and as such was a dangerous thing to acquire when one suffers from LBA.
I do have a number of other fast to not so fast 50's, and I can easily say its better than any of the rest of the 50's in my kit.
With careful use of focus peaking on the K-30 you can get some incredibly sharp shots with some incredib narrow depths of field.
Stopped down even slightly and the lens just gets sharper.
If I still had my K-x I'm sure that I would have not had nearly as much fun - that sliver of sharpness at 1.4 is incredibly tiny and my failure rate would have been a lot higher than with the newer camera.
I can't complain about the price - I could easily have paid 10x as much and still been happy.
I'd say that for anyone into old manual lenses (and even not so old) then this should probably be one of the 'must adds' to your kit simply because of how well it is made and the sheer fun of using this lens.
SI - March 22, 2013; Andrew by Jody Roberts, on Flickr
SI - March 26, 2013; Sunset Skyline; Waterville, Maine by Jody Roberts, on Flickr
SI - March 17, 2013; Call Out by Jody Roberts, on Flickr
SI - March 8; Rocket Blower, WB150F and Cheap-o Remote by Jody Roberts, on Flickr
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Review of: SMC Pentax-FA 28-90mm F3.5-5.6 by Sagitta on Sat April 23, 2011 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 92939
Reviews: 18 |
I've seen a lot of people trashing on this lens, but for the cost I can live with plastic.
Its replaced my DA 18-55 as my 'kit' lens due to its longer reach. At 90mm its equivalent to an old-school 135mm on my K-x, which is a nice length to have available.
The lens is pretty basic, but it definitely gets the job done. If I actually paid any kind of money for it, it would rate a lot lower but for $29, I can't complain.
Giving it a 9 since its obviously not top tier, but for the cost is leaps and bounds above most of what else is out there.
Here is a shot that has been properly post processed to show how the colors can really pop from this under appreciated lens.
Main Street Under Clouds; Waterville, Maine by Jody Roberts, on Flickr
Here are some sample shots, taken on a gloomy gray day and unprocessed.
IMGP4356 by Jody Roberts, on Flickr
IMGP4321 by Jody Roberts, on Flickr
IMGP4299 by Jody Roberts, on Flickr
And one with some level and curve tweaks.
Freedom Sunset; Freedom, Maine by Jody Roberts, on Flickr
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