SMC M lenses
Some older lenses are of course super-sharp and will outperform cheaper modern ones, particularly cheaper zooms in that department.
My Guides to the Pentax Digital Camera Flash Lighting System : Download here from the PentaxForums Homepage Article .... link
Pentax K7 with BG-4 Grip / Samyang 14mm f2.8 ED AS IF UMC / DA18-55mm f3.5-5.6 AL WR / SMC A28mm f2.8 / D FA 28-105mm / SMC F35-70 f3.5-4.5 / SMC A50mm f1.7 / Tamron AF70-300mm f4-5.6 Di LD macro / SMC M75-150mm f4.0 / Tamron Adaptall (CT-135) 135mm f2.8 / Asahi Takumar-A 2X tele-converter / Pentax AF-540FGZ (I & II) Flashes / Cactus RF60/X Flashes & V6/V6II Transceiver

Get a good one though and it might surprise you.
Best regards, John
Older lenses can be superb. The M series are beautiful to use, silky smooth in operation and very often great optics as well. Not all designs from the film era in general will look good on digital. Not all lenses will be good anyway as they are quite old now and can have been severely mishandled in their lifetimes.
Get a good one though and it might surprise you.
What would you suggest John as a nice landscape lens and for general use.
regards Ian
I have plenty of AF lenses but I love using my M and K and other old manual lenses too, on both film and digital.
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

.... Does the old lenses give as much in terms of sharpness, Col and over all IQ quality as the more modern day lenses........ I have been happy with the IQ of the old lenses. But wonder if there might be any benefit in upgrading to the newer models.....
Many of the older lenses are on a par with current lenses for the particular characteristics you've mentioned, If you can't find flaws or limitations then I'd stick with what you've got. I tend to use newer lenses for 2 reasons - WR and Autofocus, but if I could focus manually properly I would have more MF lenses. The ones I do use are superb - the A 100/2.8 is incredibly under-rated, as is the A 50/1.4. The K 28/2.0 and 3.5 produce results that I doubt would be bettered by the newer equivalents, and I'm currently struggling with deciding whether I should sell my K 85/1.8 or FA 77/1.8 - the quality is so similar.
Yes the benefits of an upgrade are worthy for some situations, but if you're happy why change

LennyBloke

.... Does the old lenses give as much in terms of sharpness, Col and over all IQ quality as the more modern day lenses........ I have been happy with the IQ of the old lenses. But wonder if there might be any benefit in upgrading to the newer models.....
Many of the older lenses are on a par with current lenses for the particular characteristics you've mentioned, If you can't find flaws or limitations then I'd stick with what you've got. I tend to use newer lenses for 2 reasons - WR and Autofocus, but if I could focus manually properly I would have more MF lenses. The ones I do use are superb - the A 100/2.8 is incredibly under-rated, as is the A 50/1.4. The K 28/2.0 and 3.5 produce results that I doubt would be bettered by the newer equivalents, and I'm currently struggling with deciding whether I should sell my K 85/1.8 or FA 77/1.8 - the quality is so similar.
Yes the benefits of an upgrade are worthy for some situations, but if you're happy why change

Thanks Lenny I will keep and eye out for those you mention.
Any thing here that stands out.
What would you suggest John as a nice landscape lens and for general use.
Hard to say. One photographer might have a style that suits wide angles, another might go for a telephoto look. It's what we make out of it that counts.
Best regards, John

Both the *istDS and the K5 are incurably addicted to old glass
My page on Photocrowd - link

Best wishes,
Rob



This could have been a good opportunity to compare pros and cons of old and new, not just another gushing session for ancient lenses. We all know and love some old lenses, and that commitment may well be the whole reason for using Pentax for some, but a dose of perspective and reality is surely needed!?
I'll give some .... I love going out with the old M75-150 F4 in the City or Croydon and shooting architecture, taking time to focus, green button metering, aperture adjustments on the ring, shutter adjustments for exposure ... Good fun .....but ..... It's utterly useless for family shots, even static portraits (supposedly static

So the F35-70 or Tamron 70-300 are the only choices there because of what their more modern designs offer.
It depends on who you are and what you do as well. For the unwary poor quality old lenses can produce low contrast, greeny/purply faded looking shots that need a lot of processing, and frankly the unwary are mostly the ones who can't do the processing anyway. There are some gems of course .... But its about knowing about them .....
My Guides to the Pentax Digital Camera Flash Lighting System : Download here from the PentaxForums Homepage Article .... link
Pentax K7 with BG-4 Grip / Samyang 14mm f2.8 ED AS IF UMC / DA18-55mm f3.5-5.6 AL WR / SMC A28mm f2.8 / D FA 28-105mm / SMC F35-70 f3.5-4.5 / SMC A50mm f1.7 / Tamron AF70-300mm f4-5.6 Di LD macro / SMC M75-150mm f4.0 / Tamron Adaptall (CT-135) 135mm f2.8 / Asahi Takumar-A 2X tele-converter / Pentax AF-540FGZ (I & II) Flashes / Cactus RF60/X Flashes & V6/V6II Transceiver

Its also useful i've found for drawing up a 'wishlist' of suitable targets for purchase whilst also allowing you to make a list of the lemons so that when you are next trawling through hundreds of lenses on Ebay at least you've got some insight as to what to look for and a guide as to whether the price looks reasonable or not.
Best regards, John
philstaff
Member
Regards Ian