I realise that, which is why I didn't take it back

I've never noticed this issue with my "Made in Japan" lenses though...

R

My brand new DA*300 had a fair few flecks of dust, as I recall.

They must have been present from manufacture, which is fairly disappointing

R

Forgot to mention that there are some beautiful pictures of early Pentax cameras & lenses here.

R

What you find with these collectable cameras is that cosmetic condition is everything.
A pristine one can usually be made to work again(at a price), but a bashed up one will always be a bashed up one...

Even so, I think you're looking at a few hundred pounds these days for a reasonable one, unless you get lucky!

You can get M37 -> M42 adapter rings, including one from Asahi, but there not that easy to find.

In terms of "fun", I'm not so sure because it has a waist level finder with a laterally reversed image and no focussing aids.
At least the IIA had the ground-breaking innovation of the "Instant Return Mirror" - how spoiled we are these days

R

I must be at the bottom of the list.
I've been a member for 4 years but am only averaging 1 post a week

I have one, but I really wouldn't want to part with it.

As the K28/2 is very rare, very large, very heavy and very expensive I would have thought you'd be better off with the K28/3.5 or FA28/2.8, which provide a similar performance for a fraction of the size/cost.

Just my 2p worth

R

In my experience of owning most of them, the A & M 28's are pretty Run of the Mill. Not great, but not bad either; so I would agrre with Steve's rating of 7.

The standout 28's are the FA, which I think is the best, closely followed by the K28/3.5 and K28/2.

The K28/2 has the disadvantage of being huge - even bigger than the M135/135
Legend has it that this lens (like the K15/3.5) dates from the time when there was some co-operation between Zeiss and Pentax and is the same optical design as "Hollywood" Distagon. Personally, I'm not sure I believe this rumour...

R

Rather than 50's, I seem to have a lot of 28's:

SMCT 28/3.5
K28/2
K28/3.5
M28/2.8
A28/2
A28/2.8
FA28/2.8

Better not tell the wife

R

At the more "cost effective" end (& assuming you don't mind manual focus),
I would recommend:

1/ Jupiter-9 85/2

2/ Pentax 55/1.8 (K, super tak or s-m-c tak)

R

Sounds a bit like the problem I was having here.

R