The F lenses were born when the motors in the then AF bodies (SFX & SF7) were much less powerful than today. As such the lenses had to have as efficient an AF drive train as possible - they are much less damped for manual focussing than the later FA lenses (making them in my opinion much faster with screw-drive AF than the FA and later lenses). It wouldn't surprise me if they made more noise when attached to a more powerful AF screwdrive. The Z-1 had a more powerful motor than the SFX/SF7 - sometimes they hit the end-stop with quite a wallop.

I bought my 'shop demo' F50/1.7 back in the day for £20 from Dixons - I'd bought the last SFXn from them but the lens was £80, I went back and offered them £50 (they didn't have any other Pentax gear in). They refused, but the next week it was down to £20 so I snapped it up. The week later I went back and bought their last AF240FT flash for another £20. In some ways it's a better lens than my FA50/1.4 - which is apparently prone to flare due to the front element being closer to the front of the lens barrel.

Thanks for the comments. The Taks seem to render purples very well. I've cropped it a bit but otherwise there's very little PP. Lenny, yes it's a beautiful lens. I also have the early Super-Tak 28/3.5 (58mm filter thread) which renders differently with less contrast (I like it but only in certain circumstances).

The 'white' wall is actually matt metal panels illuminated by the setting sun, it's a very bright highlight. The raw file holds some detail but some of it is clipping (I tried various exposures but this was the best overall). I need to check my highlight/shadow settings on the K-1.

I struggle to record the vivid effect of rainbows compared to how they look to my eye. I haven't captured the full arc visible when I started shooting, but the light was changing quickly.

The building architecture is stunning, it's a shame they built the apartment block (centre) directly behind it. I also wish the new construction & cranes (mid right) wasn't there.

Thanks again.

I saw this light and couldn't resist trying to capture it: K-1 + S-M-C-Tak 28/3.5:

[IMG]https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/members/48820-johnha/albums/13260-shots-using-takumar-lenses/picture129597.jpg[/IMG]

I see like my ST 55/1.8, they both have the aperture running the 'wrong' way.

The FA20-35 is hardly ever off my K-1, It's a very versatile, compact option that doesn't need dinner plate sized filters. It's a very wide zoom, CA will always be a factor (even the ££££ modern lenses still suffer from it). Yes, it's plasticky and the focussing ring isn't the best, but it's reasonably quick to focus with the screwdrive and no worry about SDM.

The FA43 is special because of its focal length and build, nobody else makes a 43mm, Pentax also made a limited run in Leica screw mount (significantly smaller than the K mount version).

I'm not so sure I can detect character in particular lenses beyond perhaps how they render colour saturation perhaps contrast and distortion. Pixel peeping at 100% (yes I do do it sometimes), is futile, although it often demonstrates that the lens out resolving the sensor.

A lot of my preference is down to the tactile feeling of the lens in use. The Taks are superb for this with their stunning build quality. My Super-Tak 55/1.8 has the aperture ring running the wrong way, the SMC-Tak 105/2.8, 135/3.5 & 150/4 are all fabulously built lenses with super smooth focussing rings. Interestingly, my longer Taks are all in superb condition, it's the shorter ones where the barrels seem to be scratched and bashed about.

Nice deal, worth running a film through the camera, see it the rest of it works...

Bump - offers considered

I'm looking at off loading a lot of gear. Either I'll try to sell it here or probably go to a dealer. There are more and more reports of fraud in online auctions, buyers seem to have more protection, sellers very little. At best I don't want gear returned simply because the buyer claims it doesn't work (the base level of knowledge seems generally very low).

The D & Z fit really well within the Pentax ecosystem, the D-Li90 batteries, chargers, flashguns, IR remotes, O-GPS1 etc. are all compatible. P6x7 lenses work seamlessly with the Pentax adapter in M & Av modes (open aperture metering, auto stop-down), even the P6x7 90mm leaf shutter lens works well enough. With 645 lenses (A, FA, D-FA or DA) you get all exposure modes (including the Hyper modes) all working just like any other Pentax DSLR. Build quality is simply amazing, the vertical tripod socket (along the optical centreline, as with all P645s) saves a packet on an L bracket, the grip is simply amazing and the ergonomics are very good.

I agree, there were a handful of cheap AF zooms (28-80s with slow apertures and plasticky build) that were average or below average on film and should probably be avoided. I don't include the FA 28-80/3.7-4.5 PZ which often gets slated in this as my copy was very good on film.

The M75-150/4 is an amazing lens, as is the M80-200/4.5 (about £20 each), the A35-105/3.5 is described as a stack of primes and the F35-70 is also well regarded (and tiny). I have no issues with my FA20-35/4 on my K-1 (and much more manageable than the 15-30). My old film era Sigma 70-300 APO is just as good as it was on film (IQ drops off a bit towards 300 as it did on film).

Modern lenses would have the benefit of AF, WR and in camera corrections for distortion, CA and purple fringing etc (giving the lens designer an easier job). In my shooting, distortion is the biggest problem and is way more significant than a slight loss of sharpness (it shows up in 'low res' jpegs as evidently as it does in pixel peeping a 36Mp raw image).