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SMC M Glass a love affair of 35 years

Posted 30/05/2015 - 09:41 Link
The M 50mm 1.7 never fails to impress.

A fabulous piece of glass
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geordie01
Posted 30/05/2015 - 09:46 Link
In a moment of madness I sold my M28/f2 to fund another lens which turned out to be not as good as the hype.But on the whole I find the K series better.35/f3.5/28/f3.5.55/1.8/2.50/f1.4 are superb
Edited by geordie01: 30/05/2015 - 09:48
johnriley
Posted 30/05/2015 - 10:14 Link
What was the lens not as good as the hype?
Best regards, John
geordie01
Posted 30/05/2015 - 11:15 Link
Pentax FA 50 1.4 I had 2 copies of this and was dissapointed with both which is strange as my A 50 1.4 is great.
Algernon
Posted 30/05/2015 - 13:20 Link
geordie01 wrote:
Pentax FA 50 1.4 I had 2 copies of this and was dissapointed with both which is strange as my A 50 1.4 is great.

Exactly the same as my findings. The A 50 1.4 is as sharp as the excellent A 50 1.7 and I've seen some really good shots from it on Sony FF.

I can't see any point in having an FA 50 1.4.

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LennyBloke
Posted 30/05/2015 - 16:51 Link
Algernon wrote:
geordie01 wrote:
Pentax FA 50 1.4 I had 2 copies of this and was dissapointed with both which is strange as my A 50 1.4 is great.

Exactly the same as my findings. The A 50 1.4 is as sharp as the excellent A 50 1.7 and I've seen some really good shots from it on Sony FF.

I can't see any point in having an FA 50 1.4.

--

I have similar feelings about the FA50/1.4 - it's a very "capable" lens but nothing really wows me from it. Yet the F50/1.4, which is supposedly the same construction, produces some beautiful results. I've owned several A50/1.4's and they've all been sharp and had a great feel and look to the images.

I've always had a suspicion that the coatings play a great part in the overall "look" from a lens, yet I've never been able to find much info on the evolution of SMC coatings. Just look at the front elements of F and FA equivalent lenses and you'll often see a significant colour difference. There's info out there on newer coatings (ghostless, HS, Aero-brite, etc.) - but I'd love to see the history of SMC properly documented
LennyBloke
Jimd
Posted 31/05/2015 - 07:14 Link
M20 f4 and M100 f2.8.
Still have them from mid 70's to early 80's along with 28 f2.8, 50 f1.4 and 200 f4
Jonathan-Mac
Posted 31/05/2015 - 08:26 Link
lxmike wrote:
davidstorm wrote:
M28 F3.5, a fantastic landscape lens.

Regards
David

l have heard it is sharper than the 28/2.8

It is sharper and with better colour and contrast than either version of the M 28/2.8, however the K 28/3.5 is significantly better still, though much bigger and heavier.

I also love M lenses - they are the mainstay of my manual lens collection and get plenty of use on film and digital. My favourites are the 85/2, 35/2 and the amazing little 50/1.7.
Pentax hybrid user - Digital K3, film 645 and 35mm SLR and Pentax (&other) lenses adapted to Fuji X and Panasonic L digital
Fan of DA limited and old manual lenses
davidstorm
Posted 31/05/2015 - 21:08 Link
Jonathan-Mac wrote:
lxmike wrote:
Quote:
M28 F3.5, a fantastic landscape lens.

Regards
David

l have heard it is sharper than the 28/2.8

It is sharper and with better colour and contrast than either version of the M 28/2.8, however the K 28/3.5 is significantly better still, though much bigger and heavier.

I also love M lenses - they are the mainstay of my manual lens collection and get plenty of use on film and digital. My favourites are the 85/2, 35/2 and the amazing little 50/1.7.

I can't verify or deny as I've never owned a M28 F2.8, but I can confirm it is a sharp little lens. It also renders colours in a very specific way; it is superb with greens hence its value as a landscape lens. It also has little or no distortion.

I also have a M50 F1.4, which isn't as sharp as some 50's (at least it isn't wide open) but comes in very handy when using the K-01 indoors. I like this lens too, but the 28 F3.5 is my favourite.

Regards
David
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johnriley
Posted 31/05/2015 - 22:40 Link
Given the age of the lenses now and that we don't know how they have been handled or abused over the years, I would think quite a bit of variation is possible.

I've had some dreadful 50mm f/2 lenses, but the design itself is sound. Some users really do hammer their kit so the bad ones may well have had a rough ride.
Best regards, John

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