Pentax-A 50mm f2 advice please.

Hi, I'm just after a small piece of advice, to cut a long story short I sold my Pentax-A 50mm f1.7 when my K10D broke and I thought I was going to change to another brand. Problem is now I am back with Pentax I miss that lens but I am on a very, very tight budget and have seen some Pentax-A 50mm f2's going for almost half the price of the f1.7. Can somebody please tell me if the image quality is much different between the two?

Thanks for your time.

Lee

The f2 version is the budget lens. It's actually an excellent design and capable of first class results, but individual samples may vary. I've had good ones and poor ones. Of course what has happened to them over the years has a major effect as well.

Stopped down to f8 you should see little difference.

I spent a couple of weeks with the M version of the same lens earlier this year (while investigating what results you can get with a £10 MV1/50mm f2 combination), nothing wrong with it. I also have the A version after seeing it stupidly cheap and bagging it to complete my P30T, that will be tried in the near future.

If film ever makes a big comeback Matt, you'll be rolling in it

Ricoh 50mm's are as sharp as Pentax lenses and if money's tight they are usually cheaper.

Thanks for the info, would I be right in thinking the Ricoh Lens would be completely manual unlike the Pentax-A lens?

Lee

I'm not sure. I know some Ricoh lenses have an extra pin which is prone to jamming in the AF screwdrive of Pentax cameras.

Personally I'd keep my eyes open for the genuine Pentax lens. My A 50/2 cost £15 and is pretty minty, they are out there if you look carefully. I've picked up M 50/2s with slight fungus problems for £5 before now which took about two minutes to clean out.

Most of the Ricoh lenses will be just manual iris with no A setting, it's actually a P on the Ricoh. The pin Matt refers to probably only appeared on the last ones made. It's unlikely that you will come accross one of these. Search for Ricoh on this page it also has notes on other K Mount lenses.

If the Ricoh pin is rounded it's unlikely to be a problem. It's very easy to remove or grind down with a Dremel.

Before I started this thread yesterday I put in a "low" offer on a Pentax-A 50mm f1.7, same as I had before, to my surprise this morning my wife text me to tell me the offer was accepted so soon I should hopefully once again own my favourite lens!

Lee

That's great news. The f/1.7 is much better than the f/2

The lens arrived today, it was described as used condition, but must have been well looked as after a quick clean up it looks pretty mint to me. Not bad for £35 plus postage from ebay. Thats why I chose a Pentax DSLR over the other brands and also why I returned to Pentax.


Lee

That's good to hear