Pentax film camera lens: I have owned Pentax film cameras for over 30 years and have several lens. How good are those Pentax 28mm, 50mm and 28-80 zoom lens as compared to what is on...

trippler

I have owned Pentax film cameras for over 30 years and have several lens. How good are those Pentax 28mm, 50mm and 28-80 zoom lens as compared to what is on the market today that were built for digital? (I'm a new K 500 owner)

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

trippler wrote:

I have owned Pentax film cameras for over 30 years and have several lens. How good are those Pentax 28mm, 50mm and 28-80 zoom lens as compared to what is on the market today that were built for digital? (I'm a new K 500 owner)

Trip, welcome to the Hog.
I personnally am not a fan of using old manual lenses, unless they were of the highest quality and exceptional lenses in their day, like an f1.2 lens. If, or unless, you do the most static of all photography, they just are too slow to use. The new cameras don't have the correct focus screens to start with, not to mention you have few functions.
If they are the old screw lenses, they can be adapted to most brands of camera, if not, it's somewhat hit and miss as to good adaptability.
The new consumer lenses are very inexpensive, and eventhough not near as well built, optically are probably as good or better than most older lenses.
Some here use them, but if your style is dynamic at all, it will be pretty hard.
Good luck if you go through with it. ;-)
SS

alandg46 Loc: Boerne, Texas

The zoom is ok. You have it, use it. If the 28 is an SMC 28mm F3.5, it's pretty good. I'm going to assume the 50mm is an F2. It's fine.

JP/Avery Loc: Australia

Hey mate I use a number of asahi takumar lenses.love the 50mm 1.4 but it's radioactive.the 50mm 1.8 is crisp but I prefer my helios 44 55mm f2.i also have the 135mm f2.5 serial number 43812, fantastic portrait lens and a 300mm f4 lens.which is ok.eouldnt suggest it for bird watching as its a 200° focus range and no auto.for a fast paced shoot ie street photography they are abit hard but for portraiture I recommend them.

trippler

I have two 50s One is 1.4 and the other is 1.8 and they have always been crisp but only seen on no bigger than 8 X 10 prints. I have come up with a multiplication factor of 1.55 and think my film 135 mm Vivitar lens will look close to 210 mm on the DSLR. With that much reach I'm thinking it will be too much for portrait usage.

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

Have used several of the old PK mount lenses on both Pentax and Canon dslr's. I have no idea how the engineering compares, only the resulting images. Have had a mixed bag of results. If I had to guess, would opine older lenses are not comparable due to lack of coatings, not in the way the lenses are ground, which I believe makes them very subject to flare. Other than that, I think they are every bit as good as long as you like manual focusing, which I do on occasion. Overall, like the results from my 135/2.5 over the 28's and 50's. After dumping my K-x, I adapted them to my 40D. I am now beginning to search for a chipped adapter for my 5Dc to try out the 135. There were so many versions of the same focal length made for both PK, and M42 mount. Like most modern lenses, there are the good, bad, and in-between.

trippler

I'm a little dense on your radio active comment about your 50 mm 1.4. Does it have two meanings?

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

trippler wrote:

I have owned Pentax film cameras for over 30 years and have several lens. How good are those Pentax 28mm, 50mm and 28-80 zoom lens as compared to what is on the market today that were built for digital? (I'm a new K 500 owner)

They are all QUITE good - have no fears or shame ....!

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

trippler wrote:

I have owned Pentax film cameras for over 30 years and have several lens. How good are those Pentax 28mm, 50mm and 28-80 zoom lens as compared to what is on the market today that were built for digital? (I'm a new K 500 owner)

They are all QUITE good - have no fears or shame ....! Go to the Pentax forums to see user's reviews.

alandg46 Loc: Boerne, Texas

The only problem I ever have with them is the CA I get in high contrast situations. The coatings were designed for film, not digital. But I made Lightroom pretty much fixes it.

GeorgeH Loc: Jonesboro, GA

trippler wrote:

I'm a little dense on your radio active comment about your 50 mm 1.4. Does it have two meanings?

There has been some flap over lenses containing thoriated glass. From what I found on Pentaxforums.com there is little need to worry. See this link: http://safeshare.tv/w/kLlmcNCGBk

There is a lot of natural background radiation to which we humans have been exposed for millennia, and don't forget cosmic rays! Alpha particles from a radioactive lens are stopped by a few centimeters of ... air! You're not about to start glowing.

As far as using older Pentax glass, try it out. Those with the "A" on the aperture ring are the most convenient; my f1.4 and f1.2 have the A and give lovely results. Focusing is critical at wide apertures, of course. I had used a Katzeye on my K 10 and may put one on my K 5. Older glass of other makes is often most worthy, I have a Tokina f2.8 80 - 200 which gives excellent results via manual focus.

GeorgeH Loc: Jonesboro, GA

sirlensalot wrote:

Have used several of the old PK mount lenses on bo... (show quote)

"Lack of coatings...." All of the Asahi or Takumar lenses I've ever seen have been coated, including those for the Asahiflex 37mm mount cameras, which dated to the early 1950's. Most of the earliest lenses were single coated, as was true of almost all lenses by all makers until the advent of multicoating. BTW it seems that the SMC Takumar of 1971 was the first consumer product with this techology.

Single coated lenses are more susceptible to flare, granted, but we do have lens shades, which should ALWAYS be used regardless of single or multicoating. I certainly wouldn't discard a lens merely because it is single coated.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

trippler wrote:

I have owned Pentax film cameras for over 30 years and have several lens. How good are those Pentax 28mm, 50mm and 28-80 zoom lens as compared to what is on the market today that were built for digital? (I'm a new K 500 owner)

In a word?

Good.

I've used quite a few old lenses on my Fuji cameras and love them.

Here is the review page for your Pentax 28mm f/2.8...it got high marks

http://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/SMC-Pentax-M-28mm-F2.8-Lens.html

If you had a mirrorless camera you'd be in hog heaven.

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

GeorgeH wrote:

"Lack of coatings...." All of the Asahi ... (show quote)

Appreciate the clarification. I should have specified single vs. Multi-coated. I was thinking about he more modern coatings on canon L type lenses. Haven't thrown away any yet. Maybe one day. Lol

tradergeorge Loc: Newport, Kentucky

trippler wrote:

I'm a little dense on your radio active comment about your 50 mm 1.4. Does it have two meanings?

The front element on this lens is famous for having used Thorium as a component to help with refractiveness and crispness....While many are aghast about the "radioactivity", and there are abundant "tests" where Geiger counters are used to show it emitting radiation, the actual amount of radiation with constant exposure is comparable to what one would get from one chest X-Ray every two years, or from two cross country flights per year.....OR, roughly what you would get from having the occasional banana.....In other words, yes, it emits some radiation, but no, it is not as dangerous as what we get exposed to on a routine, daily basis.