Three K telephoto primes

As I recently acquired examples of the 135mm and 200mm I thought a group portrait was in order:

[IMG]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x21/Kingofthemountains/IMGP5300.jpg[/IMG]

From L to R, the 120/2.8, 135/3.5 and 200/4. The 120mm is an especially handy thing as due to the focal length you can use 1/125 without worrying too much about shake, and with the relatively fast max aperture you can keep shutter speeds up even when the light isn't playing.

Now to resist the urge to spend £100 on a K 50mm f1.4. It'd be perfect with my KX but I think that's a daft amount of money to pay for an old lens. None of the three here cost more than £65 and the 120mm is much, much rarer than a 50mm!

That 120mm is tiny. Me wants! Was using the 135mm wide open last weekend on the k7. Ok so not the sharpest but fine if you don't pixelpeep, and so cheap and discreet.

Keep your eyes open, they made an M 120/2.8 too but both seem pretty rare. I think I've only seen one other K 120mm since buying mine, I didn't see the final bid but it started at the price I paid. It's slightly larger than the common or garden M 135mm f3.5 but fits in the hand nicely. It takes 52mm filters and a dedicated lens hood (also fits the 135/3.5 and I think the 150mm) was available, although I don't have that.

The M 100/2.8 is a good alternative by all accounts, similar focal length and speed and slightly easier to find.

I have the 200/4 but not the other two. My 135 is the f/2.5 version which is quite a big beast. I ought to update my K series prime portrait at some point. I was looking at the K50/1.4 too but I cannot really justify it when I have the f/1.2 version.

I can second the recommendation for the M100/2.8. It is a tiny lens and beautifully sharp from f/4.

Best wishes, Kris.

Plus m100 is very light weighted

I always fancied a 120mm for portraits, the 135mm was far too
flat for head and shoulders enlarged bigger than postcard size.

The big drawback with the Pentax 135mm's was the 1.5m minimum
focus when other makes were down to 1.0m.... My favourite used to be
the Ensinor 135mm f/2.8 which went down to 1:5 macro. You see
them from time to time on ebay for a whopping £10-£20

Hmm, see, that isn't helping my 50/1.4 temptation. I don't have the f1.2 and I do have a KX which could do with an original kit lens to complete it...

Am I being unrealistic in expecting to ever find one for less than £100?

I only buy K series primes now, which keeps LBA under control and means I'm making a decent investment. Due to their comparative rarity good condition examples will hold their value, providing you paid sensible money for them. Plus you get superbly made lenses to enjoy using!

Did you miss that K2 with the 3 lenses for £138 link

I think the f/1.4 was a K? very cheap for all the items

Somebody got a bargain there alright! I hope they enjoy using it, the K2 is a great camera and those are fine lenses too. The family collection already includes a chrome K2 but I wouldn't mind a black one.

I think that 50 is an M as it has the M-type lens cap, the K series caps have a crinkle finish and don't have Asahi Pentax picked out in chrome. My three lenses above have the original K caps.

To be honest, £99 for the K50/1.4 is pretty much the going rate. You may be lucky and find it cheaper, but it all depends how severe your LBA is.

I have got to the stage that I have most of the cheaper K series lenses. KSBA could get painful from now on. Have you seen how much the 18mm goes for?, let alone the 30mm or 85mm?

K.

Yep, I've seen the mad prices on the 30mm. I think the last properly listed one went for about as much as a DA 21mm Ltd!

They are very definitely targetted by collectors now. I just buy them when I see them for sane money as I like the build quality and they're probably the best lenses available for my K and M series bodies. I have the 28/3.5 and 55/1.8 in addition to the three seen above.

My latest addition was the the K17 fisheye which is an interesting lens to try and use. If I ever have a little windfall, the 28mm shift will be high on my list.

K.

Ha! Ha! Your looking for a lens and don't know what your looking for ..... careful you don't get swindled

The 50mm is a 'K' It has INF then 10M on the focus scale the 'M' has INF then 15M which means it should be easier to focus at around 15M

'K' link and 'M' link

I wouldn't think there was much between the two the M is a slightly modified design of the K and some elements were increased in size which indicates it wasn't purely cost cutting.

Noticing that level of detail means that Algernon is now unofficially the "Forum Lens Nerd"... I take the easy option and ask them for a photo of the "vanity ring" although I have worked out what lenses are from bad photos when I am hoping no-one else might have noticed a badly listed item.

K.

It has been known for "vanity rings" to be swapped

The 28mm isn't a K because it's only got 3 bands of warts
on the rubber grip. The bigger K lens has 5