| Review of: SMC Pentax-DA 15mm F4 ED AL Limited by stillshot2 on Thu March 5, 2020 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 411890
Reviews: 103
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This is a nice small lens that can go wider than the 18-55mm kit I had. I bought it for a trip to Japan and it was able to fit a lot in the viewfinder. I also took it to Yellowstone and it didn't disappoint there either. Lots of contrast and plenty sharp stopped down. You do have to be careful how you focus at wider apertures or it can appear soft on the edges if they are out of focus. I also wanted this lens for the starbursts, and you can shoot right into the sun with this one. I've also had a limited lens before and like the build quality of them. I also like how the built in metal pedal hood retracts easily. Mine came with a plastic Pentax pinch cap so I've never used it with the original metal one so can't comment on that. I have no issues with focusing it, but when taking close photos at max aperture the bokeh can appear a little "busy" as they say, but you can get decent subject isolation if you are close. This is a lens that will teach you a lot about composition. Just changing where you stand by a few steps can change what you see in the photo dramatically, and a poorly composed shot can appear quite boring, so keep your shots creative! Below is a link to an album of some high resolution samples I've gotten with this lens:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/joshhphotography/albums/72157713363148671 | |
| Review of: SMC Pentax 35mm F2 by stillshot2 on Fri March 15, 2019 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 122346
Reviews: 16
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This is a nice lens, as I was able to get excellent photos with it. It's major flaw was a short focus throw, which made it hard to get photos consistently in focus. I am usually pretty good with getting the job done with manual focus lenses, as I've owned many. But I decided to go to its FA sibling with autofocus after some family pictures where not too many were in focus to my taste. Yes, I like hair popping sharpness, which this lens can give, just not with faster moving subjects. Another con was I noticed it started to yellow again after the previous owner sold it to me after he "de-yellowed" it by putting it under UV light. This leads me to believe it is has a radioactive element, which doesn't bother me, only the fact that I don't like to have to periodically de-yellow my lenses, but expect them to be ready when I need them. Otherwise it is a very well built, dense object that is smooth focusing and is fun to shoot with. Get closer to your subject and you get nice bokeh too. Stop down a little and it's soooo sharp. A little chromatic aberrations and/or lack of contrast can be seen wide open but never too harsh in my opinion and adds character. I'd recommend giving this lens a try. It definitely holds it value well and is a sought after lens. Here are some samples:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/45479152402/in/dateposted/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/45479187432/in/dateposted/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/44804361004/in/dateposted/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/44616152625/in/dateposted/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/31657482778/in/dateposted/ | |
| Review of: SMC Pentax-FA 50mm F1.4 by stillshot2 on Tue March 5, 2019 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 531036
Reviews: 160
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Had a Super Takumar 50mm f1.4 and it was an excellent lens, but wanted more automation. Not sure if this FA 50mm f1.4 lens is based on similar optical qualities but it is basically the modern version of this lens I was looking for. Yes, it is not built as well as the old Takumar, but good enough and still quite a dense little piece of glass that doesn't turn yellow like the radioactive Takumar would. It is a very sharp lens, and those that are saying it is not are probably confusing softness with lack of contrast when wide open. All that is usually needed is a little boost of contast in photoshop. And some purple fringing can appear at large apertures but it is actually much less worse than my 77mm limited was.
The bokeh is excellent and dreamy wide open. I do notice slight saw-blade shaped bokeh around f1.7-f4, which my Takumar and its 6 bladed aperture didn't do, so you have to be careful at thee apertures with out of focus highlights. At f4 and on, out of focus highlights become octagons since it is an 8 bladed aperture. Mine is a made in Japan version and I like the way it looks on my K-3.
Autofocus is pretty darn good, it rarely misses, and is very fast due to a short focus throw. It's just a little bit noisy which I expected it to be. Focuses much more quickly and consistently than my DA 50mm f1.8 I used to have. Switching to manual focus is fine too, I mean the thin focus ring requires careful movements and will never be as good as the Takumar in this regard, but it does turn smoothly and is perfectly adequate for me, so the handling of this lens is as good as it needs to be. It is also a small lens and easy to carry around with you. Compared to the prices of competing lens, this lens is still an excellent value and I recommend it. If it was updated with quick shift or a more modern autofocus system and/or more modern lens coatings it would be even better, but more modern coatings could take away from the wonderful way it renders images so I will keep and enjoy mine just the way it is. Might I add I have played around with the new DFA 50mm f1.4 on a K-1 in a store and can attest that it is indeed a much superior lens but at a much larger price tag and size.
Here are some samples from my lens:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/joshhphotography/46273960235/in/dateposted-public/ (Notice slight purple fringing around her head and around her camera. Barely distracting unless you are looking for it).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/joshhphotography/46464558144/in/dateposted-public/ (It was a hazy day, pay attention to the sharpness of the foreground. f8.)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/joshhphotography/40223481793/in/dateposted-public/ (Dreamy/glowy wide open but still very sharp).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/joshhphotography/47136173742/in/dateposted-public/ (Shot directly into the sun and at minimum focus distance).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/joshhphotography/47136181792/in/dateposted-public/ (Also shot into the sun at f1.4, focus point about 10 feet away. You can get very thin depth of field at f1.4)!
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| Review of: Takumar/Tele-Takumar 200mm F5.6 by stillshot2 on Fri November 3, 2017 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 77531
Reviews: 16
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Like others have said, it doesn't matter too much that this lens isn't super bright because modern cameras handle higher iso much better, plus this really is an outdoor lens that would benefit from a tripod as any lens would if shooting in the dark. Having a brighter maximum aperture does however give you a brighter viewfinder to help you focus, which I noticed quite a difference when switching back and forth from my Pentax M 200mm f4. For this reason alone I think I prefer my M series lens, even if photos taken at the f4 aperture stop on that lens aren't too sharp. The reason I went for this Takumar was because of the 10 bladed aperture and creamy bokeh, which it delivers. The Takumar 200mm f5.6 is usable right from f5.6, and compares so closely to the M 200mm f4 in image quality that is is almost a wash. The Takumar does seem to handle purple fringing and chromatic aberration better though! My Takumar came from Japan in immaculate condition and came with caps, case, and hood, but did have slight fungus only on the outer front element that did not etch into the lens and I was able to remove just by rubbing with a microfiber cloth. The lens has great build quality, and a little bit of heft to it. It is about as long in length as other comparable 200mm vintage prime lenses, but surprisingly very narrow, such that when mounted the camera body's lens contacts will be exposed. I really paid almost nothing for this lens, and it performs so well for the price that I am realizing it really does deserve a 10 rating, even if it is a little slow to use being full manual and with the preset aperture rings. It has a little on the long side focus throw but does focus smoothly and to infinity without problems. If your tight on cash and willing to compromise a little on speed and ease of use then this lens will please you. Just don't expect it to be a low light professional sports lens and it will treat you well.  | |
| Review of: Super-Multi-Coated Takumar/Super-Takumar 85mm F1.9 by stillshot2 on Sat April 29, 2017 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 162038
Reviews: 23
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This lens is an all around good low light portrait lens for the money, as long as you have enough time to focus manually with its relatively long focus throw (when compared to 2 other Takumars I own). It is built very well and my copy had clean glass and showed very few signs of wear. This lens is sharp enough wide open as long as you nail focus correctly, and gets better as you stop down. Strangely though it doesn't get infinity in focus until you stop down a bit, so I am not sure if this is the case for my lens in particular or just a limit in the design. Usually you want to stop down when shooting at infinity anyways to get enough of the foreground in focus, so this wasn't a real problem for me. I should also mention I was using an adapter that allows infinity focus too.
The lens is a rather heavy chunk of metal and glass, but still very manageable to carry and fit in a camera bag. Direct light can cause flare and/or a decrease in contrast, but that is to be expected for such an old design without modern coatings and can easily be remedied adding contrast in post processing and perhaps adding a lens hood or shielding the lens from the sun with your hand. I don't remember ever seeing anything too offensive in terms of bokeh or aberrations, and I got a few keepers from it. Not a bad lens by any means, but it never inspired me as much as my 77 limited so I ended up letting it go. I hoped it could replace the 77 so I could use all screw mount lenses and not worry about changing the m42 adapter out all the time but this lens was just a bit too hard to keep up with people moving around and I just preferred the limited. If the 77mm limited is out of your budget this lens could be a good alternative for you.
Here's a couple of samples:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/30357695561/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/29811738443/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/30146728590/in/dateposted-public/ | |
| Review of: Auto Takumar 35mm F2.3 by stillshot2 on Sat April 29, 2017 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 118622
Reviews: 13
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My reviews factor in the price I paid, and I do compare lenses to other lenses I have used in determining its ratings and value. That being said, this lens is amazing. What led me to seek one out was its design, having 10 aperture blades gives you smooth bokeh at all apertures, plus having a maximum aperture of f2.3 still makes this lens reasonably fast, especially considering how old it is! It is a little bit hard to find this lens, and one in like new condition can become really pricey, but I'd have to say would still be worth the money. My copy has a very tiny bit of oil on the blades, which I hear is common for this model, and shows a bit of wear all over, but none of this seems to affect the image quality.
The focus is smooth and just the right amount of throw to allow you to be precise yet not take many turns to get from minimum focus to infinity. Lenses don't get much better than this. I use it on my K30 in aperture priority and let the camera choose the shutter speed as I adjust the aperture from the lens and iso from the front wheel, sometimes using exposure comp to dial in the exposure I want. The lens is plenty sharp wide open in the middle of the frame, but not so sharp as you move away from the center probably because you get this really neat bokeh effect when you focus up close. I like it and it was another reason I chose this lens. It renders photos so nicely I don't know how to describe it. At further distances subjects are isolated so delicately almost in a Pentax Limited-like manner. As you stop down this lens gets even sharper and still has the nice bokeh thanks to its many aperture blades. I read somewhere that this lens stopped down is like a Pentax K 35mm f3.5 in terms of sharpness, and from my experience and photos from others I may have to agree. It gets scary sharp! Almost like a birding lens if you have enough megapixels to crop heavily haha!
Also, this lens controls aberrations amazingly, even wide open! Even shiny metal is no match for this lens! Flare and a decrease in contrast can be show up in bad lighting, but even then presents itself in a pleasing way. I find I am trying to process images less with this lens because the photo just comes out the way I wanted it to, and the only other lens I've noticed this with is the 77mm f1.8 limited. Sometimes the lower contrast can fool you into thinking this lens isn't sharp wide open, but if you pixel peep at 100% and look right where the focus was nailed you will see the tiny hairs on flowers and such. A quick slide of the contrast slider in photoshop always improves this too. The quality of its sharpness I would say is also very similar to the 77mm limited.
I have both a 77mm f1.8 Limited and a Super Takumar 50mm f1.4 that I use regularly, and are two of the best lenses I have ever used in terms of overall image quality and rendering, each having a certain charm to them (aka pixie dust, I suppose?) The Takumar 35mm f2.3 is up to the standard of the previous two lenses mentioned. I have to give it all 10's across the board, because it deserves them for its price. The only other lens I gave all 10's was my Super Tak 50mm f1.4, also an excellent lens, but the 77mm Limited couldn't be scored this high because it purple fringes until stopped down a whole stop and is way more expensive. I have been carrying this trio in my camera bag along with my K30 and the photographic experience has been phenomenal. All 3 are all great lenses in their own ways.
Here's some samples, most of them were shot with the aperture wide open, a few are stopped down: https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/albums/72157679964261384 | |
| Review of: SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4 by stillshot2 on Fri August 14, 2015 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 936118
Reviews: 111
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This is my first m42 lens, and also the first lens I have ever given a 10/10 rating. Mine shows signs of use, but I expect that from a lens made in the 60's. It functions flawlessly, is super smooth focusing, and is actually easy to focus at f1.4 because everything just snaps into focus! I have the radioactive version of this this, which contains a thorium element. It was very yellow when I first bought it, but putting it under an LED light for a couple of days cleared most of it up. Now it just gives a warmer look to photos which can be nice, but also easy to edit in photoshop if I don't want that look in certain photos. I have heard many complaints in many reviews about multiple variants of Pentax 50mm f1.4 lenses being soft, which made me hesitant to ever try one since apparently all of these later lenses use the same optical formula of this Takumar 50mm f1.4. But, I think the reason people are thinking this is because the depth of field is so thin that any mistakes in focusing will give a "soft", slightly out of focus photo. A few non scientific tests I did showed that this lens at f1.4 is sharper than my K 55mm f1.8 and DA 50mm f1.8 when both used at f1.8. If I stop this Takumar down one click to the white dot which is f2, then it is sharper than the other two lenses ever get at any aperture, and even rivals my FA 77mm limited's sharpness at f4. That is saying something. The aperture ring also allows you to set it between clicks, so you can get approximately f1.6 or f1.8 if you want. I use aperture priority mode, and set the front dial on my K30 to change iso, so all I have to do is focus and shoot and keep an eye on the shutter speed; changing the iso or exposure compensation once in a while. I find no trouble manual focusing this lens when already stopped down to f4, which is the most I ever find I need to stop it down. I do use a focus magnifying eye piece, however. The bokeh wide open is circular and fantastic, and as you stop it down background lights turn into hexagonal shapes, which I personally like. This lens shows no purple fringing at f2; at f1.4 there is some but still seemingly less than my FA 77mm limited wide open. At f1.4 the contrast of the Takumar can be low and photos may have a "dreamy" look to it in bright light. This again, is easy to fix in photoshop so I like having this versatility in this lens, although some people may not like this look. Indoors I do not find this problem, and I find I can consistently pull off photos in very dark places. The dreamy look is completely gone at f2, and lessens as you set the aperture between the f1.4 and f2 click stop. Below are some links to sample images. They were taken at f1.4 except for the barbed wire fence photo, spider web photo, and the Saguaro Lake photo which were was stopped down but I can't remember how much. This lens is a low light monster! I can take photos in near darkness, and this lens just gets sharper and sharper as you stop down. It's a great lens to own.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/38463644630 https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/25335119896/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/28399670783/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/22155414749/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/22620717774/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/20554069598/in/dateposted-public/ | |
| Review of: SMC Pentax-FA 77mm F1.8 Limited by stillshot2 on Sun June 14, 2015 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 439351
Reviews: 107
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I've always wanted this lens but have either never had the money to buy it or couldn't justify the price. When traveling, I found a store that allowed me to try it out on my K30 I had with me. I first took a photo of my wife with a DA 70mm 2.4, and thought it looked great. Then I mounted this FA 77mm 1.8 and took the same picture and from the very first click I could see the "pixie dust" that everyone refers to. I ended up buying it right there on the spot, and somehow got the wife's somewhat approval to do so :)
There is just something to this lens that makes photos look so pleasant. It is as if the lens is super sharp, yet never in a harsh way. The colors are beautiful and accurate. It is perfect for portraits, and was obviously was designed this way. It is also perfect for flowers and nature, and is so sharp that if you have a high megapixel camera you can easily crop for macro shots. The bokeh is good, and the way the subject is isolated from the background is unique and what gives this lens its personality. In some instances the bokeh can appear a bit busy however.
Where this lens really shows its age in design (circa 1999) is in high contrast situations since it was designed for a film camera and not for digital. Purple fringing will show up at large apertures, and does often. I can correct it somewhat with photoshop but there are times where a photo is nearly ruined. I find I cannot depend on this lens for important occasions in bright light unless stopped down to at least f2.8, which is a shame since the reason for spending this much money is to use the f1.8 aperture. The autofocus isn't faster than the competition, but when comparing it to other wide aperture primes around the same focal length it isn't any worse either. My lens will focus accurately on my K30, and any out of focus shots can usually be contributed to me not holding still enough to nail the razor thin depth of field. If the lens had quick shift focus override (it doesn't), I still don't think I could be much better than my camera is in terms of accuracy. A lot of torque is exerted when focusing such that some people said the lens can even loosen itself up over time. Mine has not had this problem.
The build quality of this lens would make you think you were using vintage glass. Even the cap is finely machined aluminum and I find the built in hood a welcome addition. The most surprising thing about this lens is how small it is; it is only a little bigger than my DA 50mm 1.8. Yes, it is pricey, and it does have a few limitations but if you compare it to Leica and Zeiss pricing it is a better bargain. If Pentax ever does update this lens with modern coatings to reduce the purple fringing, it would be perfect as long as it didn't change the character of the lens.
Here's a bunch of samples:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/34287650146/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/18625803189/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/16999808477/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/17207363771/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/17000514087/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/17317637930/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/16587750743/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/17206660691/in/dateposted-public/ | |
| Review of: SMC Pentax-M 200mm F4 by stillshot2 on Tue May 12, 2015 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 303228
Reviews: 66
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I have tested this lens on my K30 in bright as well as cloudy conditions, and conclude that it is usable at f4 but really starts to sharpen up and gain significant contrast one click over to f5.6. For this reason I am not sure it has much of an advantage over a typical autofocus zoom that starts at f5.6 at its 200mm end. Based on my testing against my Pentax F 80-200 f 4.7-5.6, they were very close in image quality at comparable f stops at both near and far distances and with 100% crop viewing. The M 200mm may have a slight advantage in sharpness and appears that it may be resolving the full 16 mp at the click between the f5.6 and f8 marker on the aperture ring. At f8 both lenses will resolve all of my K30's megapixels. Advantages this M 200mm may have? Of course the extra stop of light is there if needed, but remember that manual focus lenses have the benefit of hard stop focus at infinity, whereas most autofocus zooms can pass infinity in manual focus mode (thus making manual focusing in the dark much more difficult than a manual focus lens). It is still a rather small lens at nearly the same size as the 80-200 I have (but both are bigger than a Pentax 50-200mm zoom). The 200mm f4 is built like a tank, focuses very smoothly, has a built in hood, and if you are willing to take the little extra time to manually focus it and deal with stop down metering with the green button, it can impress you. But remember that using proper technique is paramount in order to use this lens to its fullest, and a viewfinder magnifier helps. The colors it renders are great, and as another reviewer mentioned the blues are very deep and vibrant. The bokeh is good, and purple fringing is surprisingly very minimal! My lens shows a little sign of wear on the body, and has a little scratch nearing the border of the front element, but other than that it is very clean and I don't mind keeping a spot in the camera bag for it (considering it cost $38, including shipping).
Below are links to some heavily cropped samples showing what I am able to squeeze out of this lens. I do post process my images, and the lens was stopped down near or at f8 in these photos, but I didn't keep track of which were which:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/38463039961/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/20091608882/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/20105003621/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/19912848469/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/17478894406/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/17988730908/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/18108190741/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/16884975213/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/17318956279/in/dateposted-public/ | |
| Review of: SMC Pentax-F 100-300mm F4.5-5.6 by stillshot2 on Thu March 5, 2015 | Rating: 6 | View more reviews | |
Views: 124105
Reviews: 20
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This lens is rather large and heavy. The good news is that it zooms internally so it never gets longer. The bad news is that it's not very sharp until stopped down to f10-f13, and is never sharp when focused at infinity no matter what f stop you select (as another reviewer mentioned). It lacks contrast, has plenty of chromatic aberrations (CA) with aperture wide open. The CA lessens when you stop down but never seems to go away entirely even with a hood. It is made in Japan, yet it doesn't feel like a quality made lens. It focuses very noisily and will hunt for focus a lot in poor light, but at least they gave it a wide manual focus ring (as if they expected you to need to use it). I bought it for wildlife, but it all came down to the fact that I have a smaller, lighter, 200mm lens that delivers better results at 200mm with cropping than this lens can do at 300mm, so it had to go. I bought it for cheap and pretty much gave it away for cheap, because it just isn't really anything special. Since it is so average I will be generous and give it an overall rating of 6, because if you try really hard, you can still get decent photos after some heavy post processing in photoshop and if you are shooting at subjects near you. It could be ok if you just needed a cheap outdoor portrait lens to use every now and then and if you can get it for as cheap as I did, but overall, this is a lens I would skip. (Using this lens will definitely teach you to become a better photographer and photo editer though!)
Here is the best I could do with it, and I had to get real close to these vultures and hummingbirds for them to be sharp enough. I removed a lot of CA in photoshop and had to boost contrast and saturation quite a bit:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/16084480865/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/15898715047/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/16083773172/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/15897055578/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/15897202680/ | |
| Review of: SMC Pentax-DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL WR by stillshot2 on Sat January 31, 2015 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 335494
Reviews: 97
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I also don't understand why this lens is being torn apart in other reviews? I previously used a white Pentax 18-55mm DAL and decided to pick this lens up to have weather resistance. It was a good performer, especially for the price, and so far my WR version seems to be equal or better optically. Although the focus and zoom rings on both of these lenses have a very small bit of play in them, the build quality is still very good. I love how this one has quick shift manual focus because I no longer have to flip a switch to manual focus. The distance scale is nice to have since a lot of lenses these days do not have this. I like the metal mount, and the petal hood that came with it is a nice bonus. Although I haven't introduced it to heavy rain, it has done fine in light rain and is nice to know that rain or moisture will no longer stop me from getting a shot. It is small enough to come along in the bottom of my camera bag when weather gets sour or I need wide angle. The SP coating Pentax puts on some of their lenses should not be overlooked because it makes cleaning front lens glass a breeze. Any fingerprints or dust comes off easily without any smearing, and is useful for me because I don't use UV filters (It's my preference because I feel that they degrade image quality unless you buy premium filters). The front element never rotates when zooming or focusing which is good for polarizing filters. It also has a super close focus distance which can be used for pseudo macro shots with its decent magnification capabilities and some cropping. This lens performs well at all focal lengths (even wide open), and gets even better stopped down. It is very resistant to flare and chromatic aberrations, has good contrast, and purple fringing will show up in only the worst of scenarios. The only cons I can think of is it the auto-focus does make noise, but not as loud or annoying as other screw driven auto-focus lenses I've used. It shows some distortion at wide angle, but that can be corrected with software. It's bokeh isn't jaw dropping, but you have to realize this is primarily a wide angle lens! This lens is very convenient for travel. I do not regret having this lens on my trip to Europe, and when I travel overseas again you can bet it will be one of the lenses in my camera bag.
Here's some samples at varying focal lengths, with exif data found below the photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/16606756113/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/17205590202/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/17031126578/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/17021082189/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/17201026326/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/17005024037/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/17005033827/
These photos both have 2 shots stitched together to form a panorama:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/17218885435/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/17030404090/
Here's a close up shot at 28mm:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/16412160175/in/photostream/
I hope these photos help you decide if this is the right lens for you. I definitely recommend it if you can get it for a good price or bundled with a camera body.
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| Review of: SMC Pentax 55mm F1.8 by stillshot2 on Sat December 13, 2014 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 312902
Reviews: 77
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This lens is sharp enough and very usable wide open as long as you nail the focus. This was a critical attribute this lens needed to have in order to stay in my camera bag. I bought mine as a bargain lens from KEH and with shipping came out to about $52. It has some dust in it but it doesn't affect the picture quality, and it has a little finish loss in some places that gives it some character. As far as value goes for the condition mine is in and the quality of the photos it produces, I would rate it a 9/10. The focusing is very smooth and I am able to focus it quickly enough to still get great results. I do use a viewfinder magnifier. I took this photo today with this lens, shot wide open, with some post processing done in photoshop:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/15987737986/in/photostream/
I was able to focus it quickly and accurately enough to get more in focus shots than I thought I would. Might I add it is not easy to get a close up of a chicken at f1.8 when they only want to run around and dig for worms!
Here is another one wide open at f1.8: https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/15772880500/in/photostream/
And a shot with the sun near the edge of the frame, also wide open and no post processing at all: https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/15960149475/in/photostream/
I slightly missed focus on the gate handle, the focus point is actually to the left on the fence.
These were all taken around f4, and shows how sharp this lens gets when stopped down:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/15917463590/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/15956568940/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/15934377176/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/15521528564/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/16141966391/in/photostream/
The biggest con for me is not being able to use auto iso with this lens, due to having to push the green button and perform stop down metering. Another con is that when stopped down 1-4 clicks from wide open, the bokeh becomes a circular saw shaped pattern instead of perfectly rounded circles when having out of focus lights in the background at night. For this reason I had to drop the lens' bokeh rating. Wide open, though, this isn't a problem and I think the bokeh is great. I bought this lens to use wide open anyways, and it can be focused very accurately with my K30's "catch in focus" mode activated. All in all it's a nice sharp manual focus lens that has a lot of character, and is worth picking up if you are willing to work with its limitations.
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| Review of: SMC Pentax-A 135mm F2.8 by stillshot2 on Sat December 13, 2014 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 216880
Reviews: 39
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The lens I have looks like it has been used about two times, and only has one or two specks of dust in it from old age. The focusing is super smooth and predictable, but manual focus does make the lens harder to handle than an auto-focus lens so I reluctantly deducted a point for the handling category (even though as far as manual focus lenses go this is as good as it gets). The lens lets in a lot of light and the subject just snaps right into focus. Since it is an A lens it is really easy to meter, and the build quality is great and nearly on par with my K 55mm 1.8 lens. There is a hood built into the lens, which is convenient. It is sharp wide open at f2.8 as long as you nail the focus, it gets even better if you stop down just a little to f3.2, and at f3.5 it already seems to be at top performance. Chromatic aberrations do show up in high contrast situations at f2.8, but will go away once you start stopping down a bit. This lens isn't the most "contrasty" lens I own, but it very accurate in terms of color rendition. A little photoshop/ lightroom can easily add contrast and help fix some chromatic aberrations but you are mostly better off using this lens as an f3.5 lens. It is a little disappointing though that a manual focus Nikon 135mm f2.8 lens I've used from the same era did not have any chromatic aberration at any aperture, so I have to deduct points for that.
Here is a sample at f2.8 focused on an open sign that is brightly backlit by a window (an example of chromatic aberration from this lens):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/15942930446/in/photostream/
And a portrait of a model who is usually impatient. She surprisingly wasn't during this shoot and didn't even notice I was manual focusing the whole time with this lens when I asked afterwards. So this shows that this lens can be manually focused quickly and accurately:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/15346418644/in/photostream/
I could also focus quick enough to get a puppy in focus consistently:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/16761356108/
You will have to stand rather far back to fit a whole person in the shot, so for full body portraits expect to go outdoors:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/15888827650/
Shooting into the sun without the hood can easily give you that flare look:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/15888824410/in/photostream/
A Landscape at night: https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/16742817405/
A flower shot: https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/16326657974/
This lens can be so sharp that you could even crop and use it for wildlife if you want to.
All shots were on my K30, but I would really like to see what this lens can do on the 24mp K3!
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| Review of: SMC Pentax-F 35-80mm F4-5.6 by stillshot2 on Fri June 27, 2014 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 188007
Reviews: 49
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My ratings are based upon the price I paid. I already owned the Pentax f 80-200 so I had the urge to get its shorter buddy. I feel the f 80-200 may be slightly better optically, but they are really close. The f 35-80 is really handy at 35mm and still 1/3 stop faster than the 18-55 dal kit lens at this focal length. When comparing it to the 18-55 dal kit lens, the 35-80 can be hair popping sharp when the aperture is stopped down a little. I do not see much improvement when the 18-55 gets stopped down. I think I prefer the rendering of the 35-80 so far despite that it can't give an 18mm field of view like the 18-55 dal can. I can always stitch multiple landscape photos together with the f 35-80 and still get an 18mm field of view if needed, though. Overall I would say this lens can be sharp at wide open apertures at both ends of the focal range, but sometimes appears less sharp in bright light because there is a lack of contrast. This is because this lens coatings really weren't designed for modern digital SLRs, but the raw images can still be tweaked nicely in photoshop for superb results. The sharpness and control of aberrations improve as you stop down the lens' aperture too. I felt that in sunny light a hood helped a little, but still can use a contrast boost in photoshop afterwards. The lens focuses incredibly quick and accurately on my K30, so I feel no need to ever use manual focus, but the autofocus is a little clunky sounding. Since it has already lasted more than 2 decades I will not fault its lightweight, plasticky build quality. Don't forget it does have a metal bayonet, distance scale, aperture ring, and 35mm coverage (few new lenses these days actually have these things anymore). Aberrations can be present at times but are not atrocious and can be easily fixed in Photoshop or Lightroom. At night, out of focus light sources in the background are suprisingly round at most apertures which surprised me since I wasn't expecting much from its bokeh, but it's not bad at all! I like buying super low cost equipment that can be capable in the right hands, and in this regard this lens doesn't disappoint despite the negative reviews on the internet. I bought it based on viewing some nice sample images from other users.
Here are some samples showing what I am able to accomplish with this lens:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/14336383858/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/14336310200/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/14617944821/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/14562571302/in/pool-pentax-f_35-80mm/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/16535561267/in/pool-pentax-f_35-80mm https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/15383961657/ | |
| Review of: SMC Pentax-F 80-200mm F4.7-5.6 by stillshot2 on Sat April 19, 2014 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 124583
Reviews: 27
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My copy of this lens produces excellent images, especially for the price (I paid $23 USD plus $10 shipping). If I stop it down a little it can outperform lenses that cost much more. I was shocked at the sharpness of some images I took on a sunny day at 200mm, f8 aperture, and there wasn't even any purple fringing or chromatic aberrations. It also performs pretty well wide open too at all focal lengths, and makes a great outdoor wildlife or portrait lens. Since it doesn't have a super fast aperture you get a compact size instead, but when mounted on my K30 I can always up the iso and still get very usable results. This lens is small enough that it won't draw attention to you. It can autofocus very quick and accurately, and it is very light in weight which makes carrying it around a breeze. It It has a metal mount and is built well enough for my needs. It has an aperture ring which isn't really needed for a dslr, but could be used on a Pentax 35mm film camera too if you have one. And it also has a distance scale, which, believe it or not, does not come on many new modern Pentax lenses these days. I like how the lens barrel doesn't telescope outward when you zoom, but the barrel does rotate when you focus which makes using polarizing filters a bad idea. The manual focus ring is small and sensitive, but is still usable if you muster up some skill. Having a smaller diameter lens barrel (with 49mm front filter size) means the lens barrel can fit between the links on a chain link fence which is highly desired if you ever have to shoot through one. Some people think this lens looks ugly but if so that's good because then nobody will ever try and steal my camera! I personally like the 90's vibe this lens gives off! This lens has great colors and quite a bit of character. The bokeh is not bad at all. It all comes down to the fact that I love using ultra low cost equipment that gives awesome results and for this purpose this lens is a winner.
All of these samples have been significantly cropped. See links below:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/15904090887/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/14192710512/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/13917280436/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/13917281866/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/14084909614/in/photostream/ | |
| Review of: SMC Pentax-DA 50mm F1.8 by stillshot2 on Fri November 1, 2013 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 429837
Reviews: 74
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The only other 50mm prime lens I have owned that I can compare this to is the well-rated Sony 50mm 1.8 which I used for 2 years on a Sony a55. I just got this Pentax DA 50mm 1.8 for $181 with free shipping off bhphotovideo's site, to use with my new K30 camera body. The Sony sells for $168, so they are both currently reasonably close in price. From the few hundred photos I have taken, I will give you my impressions. First off, I noticed the Pentax does not have something rattling inside like the Sony is known to have, and it is even smaller and lighter since it doesn't have a SAM motor inside it like the Sony did. The Pentax is screw driven and is rather noisy but I knew that before I bought it. It focuses almost as quick as the Pentax 18-55 kit lenses do. Pentax put an SP coating on this lens which keeps dust from sticking to the the front lens element and makes it very easy to clean with a blower or microfiber cloth. I once got a fingerprint on my Sony and getting it off was quite a pain, not so with the Pentax!
The Sony's plastic mount never gave me a problem, so I don't expect the Pentax to either. Though they are both nearly all plastic in construction, the Pentax has a much higher quality feel to it. They are both small lenses, the Pentax being smaller of the two and one of the smallest lenses I've owned that isn't classified as a "pancake lens." When shot at a wide open aperture, both lenses give slight chromatic aberrations in very high contrast shots, but are easily correctable in photoshop. At f2.0, the Pentax may still have very minimal aberrations, but only in super high contrast situations. By f2.5 they appear to be entirely gone. I don't notice a hood to help too much since the front lens element is already recessed quite a bit. The Pentax gives me plenty of sharpness at f1.8 as long as the K30's autofocus system nails the shallow depth of field correctly (My K30 can slightly miss once in a while). As you approach f4 aperture it gets very sharp! With this lens on my K30 I am still able to get off perfectly usable shots in very dim conditions, and this combo is great for available light shooting. The bokeh (or out of focus background blur) this lens produces is superb, which is a large reason why I chose it.
There is some confusion about if this lens has "quick shift" manual focus, and I am pretty sure it doesn't since it is resistant to turn and doesn't say anything about it in the operating manual. This means in order to be able to turn the manual focus ring you must turn the camera body's switch to manual focus to unlock it, and it will not automatically override like some lenses can. After you flip the switch, though, this lens can be sufficiently manually focused. It is firm, smooth, and you get a little over a half turn (190 degrees) from minimum focus distance to infinity. I also like how the manual focus ring does not have rubber on it, which would collect dust and eventually wear out like the Sony 50mm f1.8 did. For the price of the Pentax, though, it should at least have a distance scale printed on it (which is doesn't have) and really should have included "quick shift" focus to improve handling. It would have also been nice if this lens had weather sealing, but sadly it doesn't. Neither the Pentax or Sony 50mm lenses have a bayonet mount for a lens hood, but since the front element is recessed a bit on both I never saw a need for a hood with either lens, or you can use a screw on lens hood.
I would say this lens is overall on par if not slightly better than the Sony 50mm f1.8 in some regards, so I recommend this lens if you have a Pentax DSLR and you want a brand new low light lens with autofocus. I was very tempted to buy an older manual focus lens for much less money but there are times when autofocus is a necessity. Since there aren't many other brand new Pentax autofocus lenses at this price, I think the price I paid is fair enough to have a decent autofocus prime lens for my K30. If you can find one for less it's a no brainer to buy one.
Here are some samples taken with this lens:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/15858925571/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/10190970006/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/14266037587/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/11429102403/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/15236953889/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/10190972906/
And the ultimate ambient low light test:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/sets/72157637072298904/ | |
| Review of: SMC Pentax-DA L 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL by stillshot2 on Wed September 18, 2013 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 218797
Reviews: 76
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I picked one of these up used for only $23. It's one of the white colored ones, and is in brand new condition. My copy is sufficiently sharp for my wide angle needs, and is strangely equally as sharp wide open as it is stopped down. Either I got really lucky, or people are criticizing it a little too harshly for being a kit lens? Comparing this 18-55mm to the Sony 18-55 I used to own and use on the same Sony 16mp sensor as my K30... I conclude that Pentax makes a slightly better kit lens, and Sony's kit lens is already rated pretty well. The similarly priced Minolta 35-70 f4 I used to use on a Sony DSLR was a little sharper than this Pentax kit lens, but not by much, and it had much less of a wide angle field of view. I like that the Pentax has a non rotating front element, and the plastic mount is fine for such a light and low cost lens as this one is. My copy has decent bokeh and not too much CA in bright light, and though the autofocus is noisy it doesn't bother me because it is very quick and snappy. Manual focus is a little difficult, though, and I would have appreciated distance scales printed on the lens. Either way this little guy is a great value and has its place in my camera bag.
Samples:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/9796255424/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/14145732507/ | |
| Review of: SMC Pentax-DA L 55-300mm F4-5.8 ED by stillshot2 on Wed September 18, 2013 | Rating: 8 | View more reviews | |
Views: 217996
Reviews: 44
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This Pentax 55-300 DA-L lens can deliver reasonably sharp photos at 300mm and with the aperture wide open. It also has good contrast and minimal chromatic aberrations or purple fringing. Stopping down the aperture a little bit will improve sharpness more, which is already pretty good to begin with. I think the bokeh this lens produces can be rather good, and the SP coating used on the front lens element really makes it easy to clean if it gets dusty. My copy has no zoom creep and is all solid when mounted on my K30. In comparison to other long zoom screw drive autofocus lenses I've used, the autofocus is rather slow and noisy but still performs adequately in most situations. The Pentax 18-55 kit lens focuses noticeably quicker in comparison though. One worry I have is that this lens is a little bit big and heavy to be using a plastic mount, but you can supposedly order a replacement mount for a low price. It may be better for the plastic mount to break off than a metal mount to damage the camera mount in the event of a catastrophic camera fall. After a few lens changes I did start to notice a bit of wear on my plastic lens mount, however.
It's a little annoying that there is no distance scale printing on the lens, but the manual focus ring is definitely usable. Something that is more annoying is the fact that "Quick Shift" is not included on this lens, which would basically allow you to turn the focus ring at any given time to manual focus without having to flip the switch on the camera body to manual focus. Since this lens can have trouble getting in focus, such a feature should be standard. The DA 55-300 (non L) version of this lens has a metal mount, Quick Shift, a distance scale, comes with a lens hood, and only costs around $30 more on the used market. For these reasons, I would recommend buying it instead. The optical formula of the DA-L 55-300 is said to be the same as the DA 55-300 version, so if you can't afford the DA version, the DA-L is still not a bad choice if you are willing to live with it's shortcomings because both are pretty good performers. If you want weather resistance, you will have to pay quite a bit more and get the HD 55-300 WR version of this lens, which is the most modern of the bunch.
Ok, now I will let the DA-L 55-300 speak for itself. Here's some samples:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/9902833244/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/13490912965/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/11262333766/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/10769078414/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/13748576654/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/13490928845/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adudenamedjosh/9740990177/ | |
