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Pentax Lens Review Database » Film Era Pentax K-Mount Lenses » F Prime Lenses
SMC Pentax-F 50mm F1.7 Review RSS Feed

SMC Pentax-F 50mm F1.7

Sharpness 
 9.6
Aberrations 
 8.6
Bokeh 
 9.0
Autofocus 
 8.6
Handling 
 8.9
Value 
 9.7
Reviews Views Date of last review
99 359,823 Tue August 22, 2023
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Recommended By Average Price Average User Rating
100% of reviewers $130.44 9.18
SMC Pentax-F 50mm F1.7

SMC Pentax-F 50mm F1.7
supersize
SMC Pentax-F 50mm F1.7
supersize

Description:
This is a fast and compact standard autofocus lens. Optically the lens is the same as its A-series predecessor.



SMC Pentax-F 50mm F1.7
© www.pentaxforums.com, sharable with attribution
Image Format
Full-frame / 35mm film
Lens Mount
Pentax K
Aperture Ring
Yes (A setting)
Diaphragm
Automatic, 6 blades
Optics
6 elements, 5 groups
Mount Variant
KAF
Check camera compatibility
Max. Aperture
F1.7
Min. Aperture
F22
Focusing
AF (screwdrive)
Quick-shift
No
Min. Focus
45 cm
Max. Magnification
0.15x
Filter Size
49 mm
Internal Focus
No
Field of View (Diag. / Horiz.)

APS-C: 32 ° / 27 °
Full frame: 47 ° / 40 °
Hood
Various types
Case
S70-70
Lens Cap
Coating
SMC
Weather Sealing
No
Other Features
Diam x Length
65 x 31 mm (2.6 x 1.2 in.)
Weight
205 g (7.2 oz.)
Production Years
1987 to 1991
Engraved Name
smc PENTAX-F 1:1.7 50
Product Code
20837
Reviews
User reviews
Notes
Sold without hood. Several hoods will fit like PH-S49 (50mm) and screw-in type metal and folding rubber hoods
Features:
Screwdrive AutofocusAperture RingAutomatic ApertureFull-Frame SupportDiscontinued
Sample Photos: View Sample Photos
Price History:



Add Review of SMC Pentax-F 50mm F1.7
Author:
Sort Reviews by: Date | Author | Rating | Recommendation | Likes (Descending) Showing Reviews 1-15 of 99
New Member

Registered: August, 2017
Location: Ronneburg
Posts: 1
Review Date: August 22, 2023 Recommended | Price: $85.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: very sharp also at full open, smc colours, FF , excellent optics, fast and accurate AF
Cons: plastic housing, little CA's at digital
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 9    Autofocus: 10    Handling: 9    Value: 10    Camera Used: K-3,K-7,Z-1   

This is a well, compact lens. I'd have no problem making very good images with it.


Pros:
Very good value for Money, available today at an affordable price
Image quality on film is excellent also on digital
Manual focusing action is average the focus ring is to small
Auto focus is screw-driven but it doesn't matter because it's a very fast lens.

Cons:

Plastic housing
manual focusing but the lens is not intended for that, so it doesn't bother me
   
Pentaxian

Registered: February, 2010
Location: Blunsdon,Wiltshire, UK
Posts: 1,500
Review Date: August 21, 2023 Recommended | Price: $102.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Sharp
Cons: None
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 10    Bokeh: 10    Autofocus: 10    Handling: 10    Value: 10    Camera Used: K3ii   

Cell aerial repair by Gary Chalker, on Flickr

Cell aerial repair by Gary Chalker, on Flickr

Fox by Gary Chalker, on Flickr

Fox by Gary Chalker, on Flickr

Fox by Gary Chalker, on Flickr

"Grey Nurse", two seater Spitfire by Gary Chalker, on Flickr

Boeing B-52H Stratofortress by Gary Chalker, on Flickr
   
Site Supporter

Registered: February, 2022
Posts: 14
Review Date: September 16, 2022 Recommended | Price: $25.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Sharp, small, snappy and accurate AF, distinct colours
Cons: Bokeh so-so, CA, loud AF, distinct colours
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 6    Bokeh: 7    Autofocus: 8    Handling: 8    Value: 9    Camera Used: Pentax K-1 mk ii, K10D, PZ-1P   

An odd situation where I recognise that this is a great lens but it's not really for me. It's sharp, small, and snappy, but I don't especially like the images this lens throws out when attached to the K-1. This may be because it's outresolved fairly substantially by the K-1's 36mp sensor, but I think it also has to do with colour - this lens seems to simplify and intensify/oversaturate colour in a way that I don't really enjoy. Of course, I could always wrestle with colour grading in post, but c'mon now. This leads to my conclusion that this is, for me anyway, a lens to either use with film cameras (where you have a choice of colour profile based on the film you choose) or on the K10D, whose lovely 10mp CCD sensor seems perfectly positioned to counteract the lens's shortcomings. It of course goes without saying that colour is a very subjective thing - I dislike this lens's colour output but other reviewers here love it. Go figure. In short, if you need autofocus, this is a solid buy. Otherwise go for a manual-focus A/M/K 50mm. Otherwise, flaws include the standard film-era susceptibility to CA (though it's better than the FA limited series in this regard!), merely OK bokeh (especially compared to the M series 50s), and the standard loud screwdrive AF typical of this era.
   
New Member

Registered: July, 2013
Location: Essen / North Rhine-Westphalia
Posts: 8

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: October 12, 2021 Recommended | Price: $115.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: size, weight, build, color rendering, sharpness
Cons: AF noise
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 8    Autofocus: 8    Handling: 9    Value: 10    Camera Used: K-1, K-3. K-3 II   

Very nice Lens on a K-1.
I owne the M50/1.7 too. Sharpness, color rendering, bokeh...all fine. But it has no AF...The solution was this Lens or a DA50/1.8. But the F has a fantastic vintage design...the DA doesn't.
   
Site Supporter

Registered: October, 2008
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Posts: 8,085

4 users found this helpful
Review Date: May 14, 2021 Recommended | Price: $47.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Excellent optics, “A’ setting & good build.
Cons: Small focusing ring and lousy distance scale. A bit too small for my taste.
Camera Used: Pentax Manual and Auto focus film bodies.   

The F50/1.7 was released in 1987 and remained in production until 1991, when it was replaced with the FA version. This was Pentax’s first auto focus 50mm lens. The similar manual focus A50/1.7 was available alongside the F50/1.7 till 1989.

Optics:
Excellent optics and decent bokeh, for a budget prime lens.

Focal Range:
On full frame this is a normal/standard lens and your go to prime focal length. On APS-C you get the FOV of a short telephoto, interesting but less useful.

Build:
Good build for a budget auto focus lens and the F50/1.7 is the heaviest of Pentax’s 50/1.7 lenses. So it feel pretty solid for a small lens.

Usage/Handling:
The F50/1.7 is on the small size for me and has a very tiny manual focusing ring. The aperture ring is smooth enough and kudos to Pentax for not using a plastic aperture ring like they did on the A Series version. I don’t do auto focusing, so no comment on the F50/1.7’s auto focusing.

The distance scale is behind a plastic window and is too compressed for my liking, overall pretty bad compared to the distance scale on a manual focus lens.

There were four lens hoods that were available for the F50/1.7, 49mm square plastic, round plastic, round metal and round rubber. These hoods will also work on the other M, A, F & FA normal/standard 49mm filter thread primes. The hood I use the most is the round rubber "RH-RC 49mm", which collapses and is easily stored in your camera bag.

The F50/1.7 uses the soft S70-70 lens case.

Speed:
Pentax had four 50mm lenses available in the A Series (f1.2, f1.4, f1.7 & f2.0), in the auto focus F Series you only had the f1/4 & f1.7 as options. Normally f/1.7 would be considered a fast maximum aperture, but as the slowest of the two it was the budget 50mm AF option. The manual focus A Series f1.2 & f2.0 lenses were still available alongside the F Series lenses. Pentax never made an AF f1.2 or f2.0 50mm lens.

The F50/1.7 vs my other 50mm f1.7 normal/standard primes:
I also own the M50/1.7 & A50/1.7 and all three lenses have the same optical formula, minimum focusing distance and are around the same size. The only difference really is the construction, focusing and the “A” setting.

M50/1.7: This is the best built of the three, good manual focusing and has no “A” setting.
A50/1.7: Terrible plastic aperture ring assembly, does have the “A” setting. Manual focusing is also good.
F50/1.7: Decent build, auto focus and has the “A” setting. Focusing ring is too small and the distance scale is lousy.

There is not much to differentiate between these three 50/1.7 prime lenses as they are so similar, so it comes down to personal taste and how you interact with a 50mm lens. I rated the M50/1.7 a 9, the A50/1.7 a 6 and will rate the F50/1.7 a 8.5, rounded down to an 8.

Summary:
The F50/1.7 is a good budget 50/1.7 lens, but it and all the other 50/1.7 lenses are a bit too small for my liking. If you want a better handling/built normal/standard budget prime, then the K55/1.8 beats all the Pentax 50/1.7's hands down. I gave the K55/1.8 a perfect 10 and it’s the only budget 50-55mm Pentax lens that deserves it.

Price:
I bought my F50/1.7 lens at a local camera shop’s used section. I was in Excellent + condition and cost $60.00CDN.

Sample shots taken with the F50/1.7. Photos are medium resolution scans from original slides and negatives. All shots were taken in Vancouver, Canada.


Camera: *ist Film: Kodak Pro Image 100 ISO: 100



Camera: MZ-S Film: Kodak Ektachrome 100 ISO: 100



Camera: SF1n Film: Ilford FP4 Plus 125 ISO: 125
   
Pentaxian

Registered: February, 2011
Location: Southern Finland
Posts: 681
Review Date: April 18, 2021 Recommended | Price: $25.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Sharp, lightweight, nice rendering and bokeh, suits both FF and APS-C
Cons: Noisy AF, some film era aberrations
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 7    Bokeh: 9    Autofocus: 8    Handling: 8    Value: 10    Camera Used: K-7, K-5, K-3, K-1   

Years ago I got my copy of SMC-F 1,7/50 at a very low price, so I was lucky. It sure wasn't in mint condition, but optically all right. Though I did not use it very much with my APS-C bodies (K-7 / K-5 / K-3), I saved the lens in hope for getting a full frame Pentax someday. Finally, a year ago, I got my K-1, so now I have gained some experience with this lens in both APS-C and FF format shooting.

For both formats, I am very pleased with the sharpness and rendering of colors. Wide open feasible, from F2,2 very sharp in deed. It seems though that these film era lenses produce a different overall color reproduction than DA of DFA lenses.

AF makes noise, typical to F-lenses, but is usually fast and accurate enough for my purposes. I very seldom use manual focus.

I like the bokeh when using large apertures, but CA, which is typical for film era lenses, can be harmful sometimes.

For APS-C, the focal length is rather good for portraits. For FF, it's more of a general purpose lens - and very good for that. With apertures 1,7 - 2,8 even the famous pop effect can be achieved, and that's what I like most when shooting full frame with this.

I also have SMC-M 1,7/50 and SMC 1,8/55, that are optically about as good, but I prefer using the more plastic F-lens because of auto focus and auto exposure.
   
Senior Member

Registered: October, 2018
Location: Paris
Posts: 215
Review Date: November 2, 2020 Recommended | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: compacity, sharpness at full aperture
Cons: classic ugly pentax F look
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 8    Autofocus: 8    Handling: 10    Value: 10    Camera Used: Pentax K1, MZ5N, ME Super   

Probably my shortest review ever.

I liked my FA 50mm F/1.4, for APS-C portraitures, but it was far too soft on a K-1 for the typical use of a 50mm.
So I sold it and took the big heavy D FA 1.4, and these one for sure is my best 50mm, but compatible only with new cameras.

So this Pentax F 50mm f/1.7 is my favorite on film cameras, but alos when i want to shoot light with the K-1, and it gives excellent results, better than the 43mm limited in some point (chromatic aberrations in particular), even if it lacks the special rendering of the limited.

So for the price you can't go wrong, even if it is not your first "around 50mm" lens.
   
Junior Member

Registered: August, 2019
Posts: 25

5 users found this helpful
Review Date: April 16, 2020 Recommended | Rating: N/A 

 
Pros:
Cons:

K10D

1.







2.
   
Senior Member

Registered: June, 2016
Location: Paris
Posts: 124

2 users found this helpful
Review Date: December 11, 2019 Recommended | Price: $100.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: fast AF on k-1, small, good mf grip, 49mm filter, personality
Cons: zero
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 10    Bokeh: 10    Autofocus: 10    Handling: 10    Value: 10    Camera Used: k-3, k-1   

having tested all pentax discontinued 50mm in m, f, af from 1.2 to 1.7, this is the best one without a doubt, on full frame K-1.
   
New Member

Registered: October, 2019
Posts: 3

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: November 26, 2019 Recommended | Price: $150.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Super sklo,ve všech aspektech,ostrý jak břitva.
Cons: Nic.
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 9    Autofocus: 9    Handling: 10    Value: 10    Camera Used: K-5IIs   

Super,super,super. Nejlepší 50mm,co jsem kdy měl. Vřele doporučuji !!! . Skvělé sklo. Kdo se chcete podívat na první zkoušku... https://www.zonerama.com/Jindras/Album/5035609
   
Junior Member

Registered: January, 2018
Posts: 47

2 users found this helpful
Review Date: November 23, 2019 Recommended | Price: $100.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: sharpness wide open, price
Cons: no wr
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 8    Autofocus: 8    Handling: 8    Value: 10    Camera Used: K-1   

Rather old Pentax-F lens with a good reputation. It has been a bit too long for my shooting preferences and I have only used it occasionally. When is use, the results have always been good.

Today, I decided to take a test series and only shot with this lens wide open. There is quite a lot of vignetting at f/1.7 but nothing which would make a typical night scene unusable.

Remarkably, the lens is sharp even at wide open. It is quite convenient to use and it focuses very well even in low light.

I think this is a remarkably good lens to be had for quite little money on eBay.

About the example image: 1/20s f/1.7 ISO 800 handheld, focusing into the fence. This is the image quality that you get without much effort in very low light with this lens.
   
Pentaxian

Registered: April, 2011
Location: Lost in translation ...
Posts: 18,076

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: November 6, 2019 Recommended | Price: $30.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Bokeh, sharpness
Cons: None really for f/1.7

Excellent value ... great on film & digital. I lucked out and picked up my copy of this lens cheap at a photo swap meet. A minuscule small patch of front coating flaked off, but zero impact on image quality IMHO.

Here are some first test of a SF1n that I purchased on the PF Marketplace using a F 50/1.7. The film is Fomapan 100 home developed in Rodinal (1+50 for 9 min.) ... x-post from B&W Film thread










   
New Member

Registered: October, 2019
Posts: 2
Review Date: November 5, 2019 Recommended | Price: $38.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Good bokeh
Cons:

Just got it, and I haven't done much with this lens yet.

- Pentax-F 50mm F1.7
- Pentax K-50 DSLR (16.3mp)
- mounted on tripod
- aperture priority
- ISO 100
- white balance set to AWB
- focus peaking enabled on camera
- using manual focus assist
- 2-second timer

Right-click the following image and click "Open Image in New Tab", then zoom in.

All jpegs right from the my Pentax K-50.

F1.7, 1/6000 second exposure:

Here is a shot with nice bokeh, I think I could have focused a little sharper:

   
Site Supporter

Registered: May, 2011
Location: Arlington, VA USA
Posts: 1,060
Review Date: October 9, 2019 Recommended | Price: $65.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Color, rendering, sharp
Cons: None
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 9    Autofocus: 8    Handling: 8    Value: 10    Camera Used: K-1   

I picked up a used copy from a neighbor for $65.00 US. Having the the FA 50 and DA*55mm, this lens is on par if not better than those in my opinion. I have used it for studio portraits and just on the streets and it has not disappointed! Very sharp, compact and love the colors. Definitely has that Pentax magic!
   
New Member

Registered: August, 2016
Posts: 8
Review Date: May 18, 2019 Recommended | Price: $100.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Sharp , colors, contrast
Cons:
Sharpness: 8    Aberrations: 6    Bokeh: 8    Autofocus: 8    Handling: 7    Value: 9    Camera Used: k-5iis   




Very glad about this lens, very sharp at 7.1 and over, use it for several portrait shots, love this lens.
But I have a front focus issue with it, drop it, guess came from that drop.
Add Review of SMC Pentax-F 50mm F1.7



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