RiceHigh's Pentax Blog: MTF Tests for SMC Pentax 50mm Lenses in 1977

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

MTF Tests for SMC Pentax 50mm Lenses in 1977

Source: Photography Directory and Buying Guide 1977 Via: Nesster @ Flickr.

Lenses Tested:-

SMC Pentax 50mm f/1.2
SMC Pentax 50mm f/1.4
SMC Pentax 55mm f/1.8
SMC Pentax Macro 50mm f/4

Well, these lenses are really excellent! The resolution performance is superior!

Comments (10)

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Richard · 626 weeks ago

I have three of these lenses: 50mm f/1.4, 50mm f1.8 and the macro. Yes, they are supersharp and I occasionally use them along with the 100mm f2.8 and 135mm f3.5 on my dslrs as well as film (reversal) Pentaxes.

I f you get the chance to buy a 50MM f1.8, it is particularly good.

6 replies · active 626 weeks ago

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RiceHigh 110p · 626 weeks ago

Yes, the old Pentax primes are mostly great.

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zosX · 626 weeks ago

The old primes are sharper than any modern pentax zoom imo. The 3.5 variants of the 28mm are razor sharp is with just about every 50 they have made. Old pentax glass has always surprised me and is the reason I ultimately chose pentax. My 1.4 m50 cost a whole $60. Try getting a canikon 1.4 50 for that cheap! I prefer MF most of the time and manual mode, so the lack of automation just slows me down a tick and forces me to make sure everything is how I want it to be.

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RiceHigh 110p · 626 weeks ago

These are really good if there was a FF!

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zosX · 626 weeks ago

Yeah, the 28mm really rocks on film. On the flip side it is also great as a 42mm lens on aps-c. I love 42mm. Pentax was on to something with the 41.

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Lurker · 626 weeks ago

Aren't primes generally sharper than zoom? Especially when compared to any kit zooms.

I have a 50 f2, probably the cheapest Pentax 50mm manual prime, and it's sharper than any kit zoom I have.

And it's one advantage of the Pentax system, legacy glass :)

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zosX · 626 weeks ago

Yes, in general that is true. There are primes that are awful and zooms that are nearly as good too. For most normal, outside shooting a zoom can give near equal performance and be a lot more flexible so there are always tradeoffs. For landscapes I vastly prefer primes for edge to edge performance. I will often use a zoom for walking around and shooting cityscapes, though sadly my 18-55 and 28-80 lenses are now badly decentered due to their stellar build quality so back to primes for now. You can do a lot with 3-4 primes. My kit lately was 12-24, 28-80, 28mm, 50mm, and an old tamron 60-300. I'm thinking a 16-45 will do it though I do like a zoom slightly longer and the 17-70 and and 18-135 just don't do it for me. As corner to corner sharpness is critical for my needs a lot of times. Primes rock because they generally hold up well and the old m/k primes are built like tanks. Its great they can be cheap too.