Info needed regarding Pentax A smc 55mm 1.2 lens

Hi can anybody tell me if this is a good lens (Pentax A smc 50mm 1.2 lens) and can it be used ok with the K10D.

What should I expect to pay ??

Is the Pentax A smc 55mm 1.7 or Pentax A smc 55mm 1.4 lens beter ????

Thanks Pete

Neither of these lenses exists. Remember what I said about wrong information = bad information?

You do the work this time and supply accurate information.

Maybe I have given wrong info but this looks like one ??

Is this lens a good lens to use (obviously in good condition)

Pete

Pete,

That looks like a 50mm F2.0 to me. If it were a F1.4, it would say 1:1.4 on the front.

A good place to check up on the existence of Pentax lenses is Bojidar Dimitrov's website http://kmp.bdimitrov.de/ who lists just about every lens ever made for the Pentax K mount system.

also check out Stan Halpin here http://stans-photography.info/

has user comments on most Pentax lenses.

What you have there is an SMC-A 50mm F2.

It is the cheapest and least superb of the 50mm Pentax offerings. It is an unsung hero and actually a pretty good lens, especially for the price. Still the 1.7, 1.4 and 1.2 are all better if you can get them.

The number of people on ebay who manage to confuse the F2 with an F1.2 is most irritating. I'm still waiting for the day someone does it the other way round so I can bag me a bargain.

Actually for sharpness most regard the 1:1.2 as slightly less sharp than the other offerings (including the 2.0). However it would make a fab portrait lens on the K10D - think of that narrow depth of field and the slightly softer look and equivalent fov of a 75mm lens (35mm equivalent).

The two 1:1.2 lenses are certainly pretty soft wide open, but this makes for lovely portraits.

Stopped down they're pretty sharp; it's misleading to suggest they are soft at normal apertures.

I wouldn't change my K version for the world. As I mainly use it wide-open (there's little point in having it otherwise), there would not be much benefit in getting the A version. However, if it's going to be your only 50mm, the A version would obviously be a better bet.

But this is a bit off-topic as Pete was referring to the 1:2.

G

Pete

You have a PM.

Completely wrong in almost every respect. It's neither a 55mm or a f1.2 lens. It's a 50mm f2 lens.

Pete, you don't seem to have taken any of my advice seriously. I'm done. I'll leave your education to others.

Cheers,

The SMC Pentax 50mm f1.2 lens has been tested by various magazines. The major test I recall concluded that the lens was designed for people who probably didn't use it photographically at f1.2 very much but whi would nonetheless expect it to perform superbly when stopped down.

As such, it gives a very bright viewfinder image, very good control of point light sources (useful for night shots) and performs as well or better than any of the 50mm designs from f8 downwards. Of course it is also big and heavy and will not be the best option for bellows use or using reversed.

The best overall performers, and the ones that can be abused the most, will be the f1.8 and f1.7 designs.

f1.8? I'll assume that's a typo and should read "will be the f1.4 and f1.7 designs."

For Pete's (and others) education, 1:1.4 and 1:1.7 will appear on the lens.

No, I meant f1.8, thus covering the early 55mm f1.8 designs in the statement.

The f1.4 lenses do not have flat field performance at close distances and do not respond well to close up and reversed use.

The f1.4 lenses are better suited to reportage, having higher contrast albeit it at the expense of the finest resolution.

Pete, that lens would be an excellent choice.
As it's A series (with electronic contacts), it will enable full program exposure and multi-pattern metering. The only thing you lose is AF because it's a manual focus lens.

As stated above, this was the cheapest of the 50mm lenses because it had the smallest maximum aperture but is still a very good performer.
I picked one up for £10 a few years ago but because genuine Pentax lenses have grown in popularity recently, you probably wont find one that cheap. I certainly wouldn't pay too much more though because you might strike it lucky elsewhere and bag yourself an F1.7 (F1.4 versions tend to be rather costly these days - often in excess of £60).
The F1.7 is the one to go for as it does perform slightly better than the F2, as well as being 'faster'.

Consider the price carefully because the F2 should be less than £20, the F1.7 less than £50 and the F or FA series (auto-focus) F1.7 between £50-£75.

Those are the figures I'd be looking for, although they can go for really silly prices!

Incidentally, it's very easy to be confused because 1:2 or 1:2.0 means F2 as opposed to 1:1.2 which means F1.2
The 1.4 lens states "SMC PENTAX-A 1:1.4 50mm" and obviously Pentax didn't feel it necessary to include the decimal point on the F2.0 model.

Hope that clarifies things

Sorry, I misunderstood. I thought we were talking about 50mm variants.

We were, but I was trying to make a "catch all" statement, because really the 55mm and 50mm are pretty close and are both standard lenses.

Of course it could get very out of hand if we started including 40mm and 43mm lenses as well.