| Review of: SMC Pentax 85mm F1.8 by bradsarno on Tue October 18, 2016 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 167658
Reviews: 23
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I feel very lucky to have stumbled across this lens at a local camera shop in the used cabinet. It's just fantastic, everything people say it is. Beautifully sharp and in a warm, realistic way, not too clinical or edgy-sharp. The color and contrast factor is top-notch Pentax. The feel and focus throw is wonderful, they really tapered the focus range so that you can easily focus manually and fine tune with great precision. It's nice and compact, very fast. It's a real gem, one of the best. Wide open with high-contrast edges it can get a little purple fringing, but that's not a real issue. It resolves subtle shades of foliage wonderfully. It's very clean and coma-free across the image. What a beauty!
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| Review of: SMC Pentax-DA 40mm F2.8 XS by bradsarno on Wed November 18, 2015 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 205088
Reviews: 49
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I've had this 40mm XS ever since I got my K-01 kit a couple years ago. I have a slew of lenses to play with and only recently did I pull this pancake out to put it to work again.
The only issue I have with it is some purple fringing on high contrast points or edges at wider apertures. But this is very easily fixable in post. I gave it a high aberrations rating because purple fringing is so minor and fixable. The kind of aberrations that really bug me are the smeary, coma types where the optical quality is truly visible and un-fixable. This lens does not suffer from those issues.
Lately I've been shooting a freind's Leica M3 and M6 with some classic Leica glass. There's something to those lenses that makes the in-focus subject really pop with a 3D realism. It's more than bokeh or shallow DOF. There is a contrast and sharpness factor that really brings out this dimensionality. I think that's what stands out to me as a Leica "look". So I've been playing with my collection of Pentax and Takumar M42 glass to see what I have here that does a nice job of that strong 3D rendering. Fortunately, lots of Pentax/Takumar lenses are pretty good at that thing. But what really struck me recently is this 40mm pancake. It really does do THAT thing I was after. It's really quite special honestly. This is a fantastic and absurdly affordable lens, but this 3D realism it brings is just very much a big standout for me. I'm sure the Limited does it just as well too.
So I kind of see my little K-01 kit with this 40mm XS pancake as my digital Leica at a fixed 60mm equivalent. And the XS is really fun on a DSLR too.
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| Review of: SMC Pentax 28mm F3.5 by bradsarno on Sun November 8, 2015 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 294295
Reviews: 63
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This lens is plenty sharp. Even wide open shots have excellent sharpness especially in the center. It does get very, very sharp above f5.6. Looking at shots of a radio antenna in the far distance, focused at infinity, I'm finding f9.5 to be the sharpest. 8 is real good, 11 is real good, but above 11 it begins to lose sharpness. Below f6.7 it also begins to soften a bit. I'd give it a sharpness rating of 9.3, but since I have to pick I gave it a 9. It's just not razor sharp but absolutely plenty sharp for any needs. It's just that there are slightly sharper lenses out that that deserve the 10 rating.
What stands out for me is the colors and contrast. The contrast is just right for so many things, but really shines on foliage, vegetation, complex textures with micro shadows. Tremendous detail is enhanced in flattering ways and in a very balanced way. But these colors, wow. I find myself being very light-handed with my color and saturation adjustments. The raw images are almost there. There's a color tonality, a richness, something distinct with this lens, unusual. It has a signature. Reds are vibrant, blues are deep and saturated, greens are organic, yellows are natural and balanced. It's a VERY colorful lens.
Known as a landscape lens, this lens instantly tells you why. But I've absolutely enjoyed using it for close-ups and bokeh. The bokeh is unique, has an "underwater" quality to it, quite unique. I don't find it too busy or "nervous", but instead just artful and blurry in a way that really brings out the in-focus subject, has a strong 3D kind of pop. While I wouldn't liken this len's rendering or "look" to Leica or Zeiss, it does indeed compare in how the subject seems to leap out of the image with great realism, with stark 3-dimensionality. But that's only if you go for that kind of shot.
The build quality of this K28 is just astounding. It has the smoothest focus action, wonderful aperture ring action, perfect machining and build quality, hefty, robust, sexy. It's a true gem in every regard.
It controls flare amazingly well, but I do use a hood to help contrast and saturation. At apertures below 5.6 you can get tiny amount of purple fringing on specular highlights or extremely contrasty edges, but it's very small and NOT a problem whatsoever.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/attachments/122-lens-clubs/287699d1446871005-k-club-k28-sunset-colors-13.jpg https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/attachments/122-lens-clubs/287700d1446871023-k-club-k28-sunset-colors-1.jpg https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/attachments/122-lens-clubs/287701d1446871023-k-club-k28-sunset-colors-2.jpg https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/attachments/122-lens-clubs/287702d1446871046-k-club-k28-sunset-colors-5.jpg https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/attachments/122-lens-clubs/287704d1446871066-k-club-k28-sunset-colors-8.jpg https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/attachments/122-lens-clubs/287750d1446919024-k-club-spurbridge-2.jpg https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/attachments/122-lens-clubs/287492d1446692249-k-club-k28-3.5-1.jpg https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/attachments/122-lens-clubs/287677d1446859375-k-club-k28samples-1.jpg And here's a crop of the previous photo to show it's great sharpness and ability to grab such huge amounts of well resolved and rendered detail in the shadows. I don't think I really nailed the focus, but it's still quite resolved and sharp. https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/attachments/122-lens-clubs/287678d1446859375-k-club-k28samples-2.jpg | |
| Review of: SMC Pentax-M 28mm F3.5 by bradsarno on Tue May 19, 2015 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 248311
Reviews: 56
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I give it an overall 10 even in spite of the meh bokeh. I guess I'd give it a 9.5, but that's not an option. I don't expect this type of lens to be a bokeh monster, so with that in mind, this lens is really quite stellar when used appropriately.
The color is gorgeous. The sharpness is as good as one could want from a lens. The feel and build quality of these M's is legendary. The coatings are wonderful. It's not a fast one at f3.5, but I'm not using this as a fast, low-light lens. On my K-01 with focus peaking, it's quite easy to nail focus.
So with speed and bokeh aside, excellent sharpness clearly proven, what really makes this an exciting lens for me is the look of it, this x-factor. It just does something special, something vibrant and lifelike, an indescribable dimensionality that's very appealing to me.
Perhaps the best $59 I ever spent on a lens.
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| Review of: SMC Pentax-A 35mm F2.8 by bradsarno on Thu December 19, 2013 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 120686
Reviews: 14
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I'd rate it overall a 9.5 if I could.
It's just about, almost, the perfect "normal" lens. Not super fast at f2.8. Focuses well. The sharpness is more than anyone could ask for. The color and contrast are beautiful and exemplary of what makes Pentax lenses so good in these respects. It focuses reasonably well for a 2.8. Bokeh is quite decent. I don't expect magical bokeh from a 35mm compared to a fast 50mm. Rare lens.
For me, this may just be the perfect and ideal walk-around, normal lens on a Pentax DSLR. Equivalent focal length of about 53mm, close enough to 50 to feel like a 50. I also really like 28, but it's a wider-normal where this is a normal-normal, at least to me who grew up only using a Takumar 50mm on film.
Samples:
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| Review of: SMC Pentax-A 50mm F2.8 Macro by bradsarno on Fri August 30, 2013 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 184551
Reviews: 37
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This is an absolutely stunning lens, just astounding. Being a macro, the bulk of the focus range is centered around the near range, and from 5' to infinity is a very short rotation of the barrel. So while it handles like a macro in that respect, I find this lens to be just fantastic for any range. For a walk-around 50mm, it's ideal. Maybe too sharp for general portraiture though in that it would show too much skin detail. The color is Pentax-perfect. The contrast is strong and natural and realistic. Needs no hood because of the deeply recessed elements, macro-style. Handling is silky smooth and responsive, compact, light. Aberrations are virtually nonexistent to my eyes. F2.8 is generally fast enough. It's very sharp at f2.8 too, but above f4, it'll slice your eyeballs. What a sleeper, or maybe it's just very rare and I got very lucky in finding it. Incredible lens. Oh, and the bokeh is beautiful. If you like detail, sharpness, gorgeous color and contrast, smooth and warm bokeh, and the ability to do good macro... Wow...
B
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| Review of: SMC Pentax-F 80-200mm F4.7-5.6 by bradsarno on Mon August 19, 2013 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 124497
Reviews: 27
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I found this used locally for $70. Pretty shocked at the sharpness and general lack of major aberration issues. It's light, compact, easy to handle, focuses nicely. I find the colors are GREAT too. A real stunner of a lens at this price.
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| Review of: Takumar-A 28mm F2.8 by bradsarno on Sun June 16, 2013 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 94643
Reviews: 7
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I found this on ebay the other day. Mine has the Cosmicar branding. Works great in auto mode, just like any Pentax-A should. I used a round, metal hood the whole time. It's just a killer lens, nice and sharp, very honest colors. What's not to like? Here are some shots from the past couple days with it. Using a K-01 body. All these shots are RAW and untouched. All shot in Auto "P" mode or Aperture Priority mode.
It's somewhat soft with hints of abberation at 2.8, but by f4 on up, it's really good in most all respects. A real score of a lens.
28mm is really an ideal all-around focal length on crop sensor in my opinion. I guess that's a 42mm equivalent, much like some of my favorite old rangefinders, 40mm, 45mm, etc. A nice click wider than 50mm, but not "wide", just good "normal".
B
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| Review of: SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4 by bradsarno on Fri May 24, 2013 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 935520
Reviews: 111
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I grew up with this lens on my dad's old ESII. I recently got my first nice digital camera, a K-01, and then just the other day got an M42 adapter ring with no flange so it'll infinity focus. It's truly an amazing lens, not just technically with regards to low distortion, aberration, contrast, bokeh, color, contrast, speed, etc., but this lens, as many have reported, has something magical to it. Something vibrant and lifelike and 3D. Images come alive. It was a hint yellow, but after parking it right up against a fluorescent black-light for a week and a half, it turned clear again. It's just a truly magical and amazing piece of glass. I'm having to get used to the crop factor because now it behaves like a 75mm, but even still, it's just astounding. Hands down the most beautiful looking lens I own.
Here's an old garage door that I found yesterday. I'm including a crop because when I zoomed in, I was amazed at the detail and sharpness. I was probably at f4 or so.
I realize now how spoiled I was all my life shooting film with this lens and it being my only lens all those years.
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