Comparing old with new lens.

[Old Engineer]

This lens is left over from my film-camera days. It is in almost-new condition. I have grown to love my Pentax 18-55 kit lens so much that I rarely use the old manual lens. Yet, there seems to be quite a lot of adoration of newer f1.4/50 auto focus Pentax lenses.

How does my old lens compare with the new AF lens? Also, how do the old MF lenses by pentax, the f1.2/50 and the f1.7/50 compare with the old f1.4/50?

Any comparisons would be welcomed.

I also have a manual focus Vivitar 28mm f2.8 that i would welcome a critique on. I bought it on a trip to Mexico for wide angle work in 1980s, as I had left my Pentax 28mm f3.5 at home because of weight considerations. I just couldn't get good group pictures of bunches of lovely little mexican children. I was flying homemade kites on the beach, and the kids must have come from miles around. After I gave two or three kites away the kids would stand on their heads if I wanted them to, and my camera soon nearly overheated. The vivitar seemed to me to be fine equipment.

As an aside, Veterans Day is now over. As a WW II vet, please, all you photo lovers, be considerate of all veterans. We gave up years of our lives to help this country, YOUR country. I hope you will not soil the great American tradition of military service.

Old Engineer

[Monza76]

Old Engineer wrote:

This lens is left over from my film-camera days. It is in almost-new condition. I have grown to love my Pentax 18-55 kit lens so much that I rarely use the old manual lens. Yet, there seems to be quite a lot of adoration of newer f1.4/50 auto focus Pentax lenses.

How does my old lens compare with the new AF lens? Also, how do the old MF lenses by pentax, the f1.2/50 and the f1.7/50 compare with the old f1.4/50?

This is just a general observation from my reading and experiences with the M 1.7 and the FA 1.4. The 1.7 is sharper, but it does not have as much control over DOF and the out-of-focus area (bokeh) is nicer on the 1.4. The 1.2 is generally a lot softer, an expensive lens that does not perform as well.

As for the old-vs-new aspect, it seems that the Pentax f1.7 and f1.4 50mm lenses have always been good with just some small improvements over the years, so an older mf model should be just as good as a modern af lens. I know that my old 50mm f1.7 M series mf lens is very sharp, definitely a match for my new FA series 50mm f1.4, but I like the look of the images from the 1.4 a little better.

Ira

[mtngal]

I only have the M 50mm 1.4 and M 50mm 1.7 lenses. My opinion of those two is that there's not much difference from about f2 on. Wide open the 1.7 is sharper than the 1.4, and the one I'll use (I keep saying I'll sell the 1.4 but haven't done anything about it - been saying that for a year and I never do).

I've heard that they changed the 1.4 version at some point (perhaps when they came out with the F or A, don't remember now what I read), and it seems like the examples I've seen from people shooting with the FA 1.4, it's a whole lot sharper than my M 1.4. If I didn't have the M 1.7, I think I would have bought the FA version a while ago, even though I do little low-light photography.

[Old Engineer]

Thanks guys for the comparisons. I am happy with what I have.

Old Engineer