I'm with George and Pentaxophile on this.

Having recently picked up an 'M' series 50mm 1.7 in as new condition for £22 it's at least as sharp as the FA 50mm 1.7 I had to sell recently to pay the vet's bill (!)

Using manual focus and stop down metering is much easier than I would have expected and is actually quite fun. Feels like proper photography again.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for occasions where you are taking lots of photos in a short time, where auto focus is a real benefit, but where you can take a little time and care it's great.

Add to that it's a thing of beauty compared with the FA 50mm's. Beautifully engineered, fantastic looks, feels weighty and well balanced, snappy aperture ring and a smooth manual focus to die for. To be honest I'm happy just looking at it and turning the focus ring with a big smile on my face.

Did I mention that it looks unbelievably cool on the DSLR body as well?

Add to that the fact that you will always get all or most of your money back if you decide to sell (provided you buy wisely - about 10 a day on Ebay so you can take your time).

A very dense contorted willow tree with the evening sun.

Pentax K-r, Sears 135mm f2.8 'Macro' manual lens, f4, ISO 200. 1/640. Straight off the camera - no cropping or post processing.

[IMG]http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/pp15/chriseast/willow.jpg[/IMG]

Thinking about it and looking at your last post are you sure your lens isn't f2 rather than f1.2? That would say 1:2 on the front, not 1:1.2. If it is that makes a big difference in price.

This is an f2 'A'

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PENTAX-SMC-50-mm-F2-PKA-LENS-PENTAX-GX10-GX20-KM-D-K-R...

If it's not that best post a picture!

Sorry - my mistake. I linked to the 'K' version and yours is the 'A'. This should be yours.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/smc-PENTAX-50mm-f-1-2-Exc-/160730761741?pt=Camera_Lens...

One of these sold for that price a couple of weeks back so worth quite a lot by the look of it.

Quite a lot because it doesn't come up much. One sold on Ebay for over £400 a few weeks back, but that's unusual.

There is a current auction for one on Ebay now

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Asahi-SMC-Pentax-50mm-f1-2-/230745571766?pt=UK_Lenses_...

Worth watching this as it will give you a pretty good idea depending on the condition of yours, though Ebay can be up and down obviously.

The US forum suggests an average of just under $500, but US prices aren't the same as here.

Thanks again

At the moment I only have M and DA lenses anyway, but might get some 'A' in future. Pity as they look better made (and cooler!) than the 3rd party tubes.

Thanks John

The Ffordes set in the photo must be fully manual then, not auto?

Am I correct in assuming that the small lever on the PK mount is for aperture control?

Ffordes have a set of Pentax extension tubes for sale:

http://www.ffordes.com/product/11111806425381

I know Pentax made two types of these, auto with aperture control for 'A' lenses and manual without aperture control for 'M' ones. Ffordes insist that these are the auto ones with aperture control, but they don't have the lever, as far as I can tell from the photo. I've managed to find a fairly poor reproduction of the original manual on the web which implies that the manual set don't have the lever, but the picture isn't great. Ffordes should know better than I, but just wanted to make sure before getting them.

I'd appreciate any help.

Thanks

Thanks both

Now just need to decide between these for my manual lens or a Raynox which would fit everything (or win the lottery)

I'd appreciate it if someone who, unlike me, knows what they are looking for could confirm whether the tubes in the above link are Pentax K mount or not. I'm not sure and Ffordes are closed weekends!

Thanks