various brands..

Hi!
I'm looking for 50mm 1.4 or 1.7 lens.. so, i see, those are different brands..
Is big difference in Asahi, Takumar, Chinon, Pentax.. what else..?
Which is better?

The Asahi Optical Co. (now Pentax) made Takumar lenses (now branded Pentax) so an Asahi Takumar lens and a Pentax lens are both from the same manufacturer.

Chinon is a budget manufacturer and almost certainly not as good as Asahi/Pentax.

All the (Asahi) Pentax 50mm lenses are excellent, althought f1.7 and f1.4 designs have different properties. The f1.7 is better for use on bellows (flatter field) and the f1.4 is better in dull conditions (higher contrast) but all will give general results of a very high standard.

The only serious redesign of the standard lens for the last 40 years or so is the SMC Pentax 43mm f1.9 Limited and this is an exceptional lens.

Also worth bearing in mind that the Takumar will be an M42 fitting, so you'll need a genuine adapter to fit it to a K mount and the camera won't be able to hold the aperture open while you're focussing as it does normally.

You won't go wrong with buying a genuine Pentax 50mm f1.7 of any sort.

Not so, I'm afraid, Pentax brought out a range of budget bayonet mount lenses called Takumars.

M42 SMC Takumars have an auto/manual switch which is used to open and close the diaphragm.

Thanks a lot!
I don't afraid m42 and something manual, I grew up with Zenit..

Chinon were marketed in the UK by Dixons, in those far off days when Dixons was a Photographic Retailer.

Centon are something else entirely.

Yep, but to the best of my knowledge they didn't offer a 50mm in that range?

The bayonet Takumars are best avoided by most accounts, apart from the 28mm f2.8 which is pretty much identical to the Pentax-M version but with different coatings.

The bayonet Takumar lenses can be surprisingly good, as I found out when I looked at the F series lenses for Pentax User magazine.

IIRC the Takumat 28mm f2.8 is a simplified 5 element contruction, but it still performs well. I quite like the 135mm f2.5 as well - nice portrait lens on film, slightly softer at wide apertures which can be ideal.

The zooms are also good pereformers.

To be honest, although obviously some Pentax lenses are higher performers than others, you can't really go much wrong with them.

Centon were basically a brand exclusive to Jessops, once did 35mm Cameras, lenses and flash guns (flash gun is not bad, I have one), but now solely a bag maker. Gareth said they were re-branded Chinon, but I had heard they were Praktica bodies with a K mount. Possibly Chinon bought the remains of Praktica SLRs after 1990 when Praktica collapsed.


Zeiss make some stunning lenses, and still make a 50 F1/4 for the K-mount.
But it will be expensive.
Sigma make a 50mm F1.4 too, which is getting excellent reviews.

If you can't afford new, look at the FA 50mm F1.7, although I have the F1.4 version, it is loved by those who have it. And being the 1.7 rather than the 1.4 it will be cheaper.
Another Option is the 55mm SMC-M F1.8. I have one, great with digital and cheap too.

Although you didn't specifically mention it, I think I should point out Vivitar. Not because of any optical distinction on their part (I don't - yet - own any MF lenses so I have no idea) but because a 'Vivitar' lens may have been made by any number of companies - some good some less so. For example a 'Vivitar' lens whose serial number begins 37 was made by Tokina, whereas one beginning 42 was made by Bauer. A longer list is on Flickr.