Thinking of a 28

Hi-I'm on the hunt for a K-mount 28mm lens. What is the opinion of the board as to which one to get?

I've read the 28/3.5 is a good one.

Aaron

Any f3.5 or FA f2.8

Or the 28mm f2, if you can find it.

G

I presume you mean a manual focus version, in which case I would go for the SMC Pentax-M 28mm f2.8, compact, superb, one more element than the f3.5 version.

The SMC Pentax 28mm f2 is no doubt a very fine lens, but bulky by comparison and very expensive.

If you like wide angles and want to stretch things a little more, the SMC Pentax 24mm f2.8 is an excellent choice.

Hi,
Again assuming an MF lens, I would tend to go for the 3.5 version rather than the 2.8M. Whilst the 2.8M was not a bad lens, it was perhaps the worst of the Pentax 28's. The early F2 is superb but very bulky and difficult to get hold of. It is about the same size as a 135! The A series F2 is much the same size as the other 28's and also a very good performer. Pentax managed to solve the problem of the 2.8 when they introduced the FA version. A good review is here http://stans-photography.info/

Regards
Kim

I found a 2 and a 3.5 M series while searching-I'll let you know what I get. The 2 is a lot more money...

I bought the 28/3.5 M, should be here Monday.

I have an F3.5 28MM Super Multi Coated Takumar - and I love it! I was lucky enough to get the matching rectangular metal hood with it. These lenses need a little flare protection.

Enjoy!

I'm beginning to find the Pentax lenses to be as good as the Leica lenses I have-so when I decided to get a wider lens, this seemed the way to go.

That 28/2 is 4 times the price of the 3.5!!

Do you have any of the Limited lenses yet? If not, you have a treat still to come!

G

I'm trying very,very hard not to accumalate too much gear-the 28 should compete my SLR outfit, and I want to keep the Leica/rangefinder as a "car/carry" setup. If I see a wonderful Pentax lens..I am afraid of what I may do!

Hi,
I am not surprised. If it was a K version, it sounds a good deal and worth every penny. It is a superb lens.

Kim

Hi,

Just to say that FotoFrenzy recently still had an SMC-K 28mm f2 for £280....the last I saw on evilbay fetched £330.

Cheers Grumpy...

For my sins, I have the A/2.0, A/2.8, M/2.8 and the K/3.5, but I don't find there's a huge difference beween them, particlarly on the *ist D.

The K/3.5 is the best of the bunch but I find it a bit too slow and it seldom goes on the camera these days. I usually use the A/2.0, but these are difficult to find and I would be inclined to recommend getting an A or M 2.8, as they are "as cheap as chips" and despite being reviled by the PDML crowd I don't think you're loosing much over the 2.0 or 3.5.

Mike

I do not know what the lens element design differences are between the K mount 28/3.5 and the M42 screwmount Super Takumar 28/3.5. Having owned the latter for years I can say with the authority based on experience that it is a very fine lens and a bread and butter money-maker in both photojournalism and (in some situations) landscape and architecture photography.

It would be nice to know how this lens has evolved over time (assuming it has, other than becoming multicoated).

Ted

The SMC Pentax 28mm f3.5 is the same lens as the Takumar screw-thread version it replaced. By the time we get to the M series, it will be a redesign that is much more compact.

When the K series of cameras was introduced, many of the lenses for the Spotmatic were immediately produced in K mount versions and called SMC Pentax. It took several months for new designs to appear, such as the 24mm f3.5 being replaced by the smaller 24mm f2.8.