An assortment Pentax manual lenses

Evening.
A friend of mine who is a professional photographer has leant me his old Pentax manual lenses that he used to use with his Pentax ME Super before he went digital (Canon 20D).

I have in front of me:
SMC-M 28mm F2.8
SMC 55mm F1.8
SMC-A 35-70mm F3.5-4.5
SMC-M 75-150mm F4

My friend was surprised when I told him that some of these might fetch £50 - £80. I wouldn't mind grabbing the first three. The 35-70 is very appealing as it has the A setting on the aperture ring and might make for a nice, light-weight portrait lens (my Vivitar 75-205 weighs a ton).

I'd like to hear any of your comments and experiences with these lenses.
cheers,
Matt

I have the SMC A 28mm 2.8, which I suspect is optically the same as the one you have in front of you - I like it, and the focal length is almost perfect as a standard lens on APS-C (the equivalent of the 43mm!).

I've read good things about the 75-150 too, which I think is supposed to be one of the best of the earlier zooms that Pentax made. It might be worth picking that one up as part of your set, and see whether it'll make a good replacement for the Vivitar.

I have the 35-70 macro for sale just now maybe I should revise my price as it is a great lens, I also have M28 but I'm selling it with my Pentax ME super at a later date.
Jack.

I have 3 of those lenses.

The 28mm M is a classic. Get a hood for it and get shooting !

The 55 1.8 is also a classic (and the oldest of the bunch). Martin (Malo) has had success in the PPG with his version, need I say more.

The M 75-150 is a nice well built lens and is sharp enough, but probably not as useful as the rest (longer focal length/manual everything means more work to do).

Thanks for the info. How do these lenses fare on a digital sensor. I've read that "film" lenses wider than 50mm can cause bad aberations due them not being telecentric.

SMC-M 28mm F2.8: There were two versions of this lens. One was optically the same as the A version (which I know is very good), the other was different.

SMC-M 75-150mm F4: This is OK, but the lack of A setting makes it less convenient to use on a modern camera than the A 70-210mm F4 - which has a similar monetry value.

I have three of the one listed - SMC-M 28mm F2.8 - SMC 55mm F1.8
SMC-M 75-150mm F4

They usually go for between 25 - 45 each at the moment. I use the 55 f1.8 the most but they are all good sharp lenses

The 35-70 is rubbish. I use mine to park on a camera body. I remember it being fine on a film camera, but no luck on my digital pentax's. The 55mm F1.8 is excellent.
bb2