Advice Before Purchase

LeftBehind · Oct 6, 2007

I am looking ,and seriously considering purchasing the Pentax 50mm f/1.2. Does anyone know how this lens compares in image quality to other , more expensive lenses?Should i hold out and get something more expensive?

Johnboy2978 · Oct 6, 2007

I don't know that I've seen a 1.2 before. I have this one:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/40755-USA/Pentax_20817_Normal_SMCP_FA_50mm_f_1_4.html

and it's worth every penny. Do you have a link to the one you're looking at? Is it manual or autofocus?

Don Simon · Oct 7, 2007

There was indeed a Pentax 50mm f/1.2... (you can find more info on this and other lenses at Bojidar Dimitrov's site)... or rather two, if you include the older 'K' version and the more recent 'A' version...

... however, I may be wrong, but since you refer to "more expensive lenses", I suspect the lens you are looking at is not an f/1.2 at all... but rather an f/2.

On the front of the lens is written "1:2" (see here for an example), which means that it is an f/2... but sometimes people will misread 1:2 and so list an f/2 lens on eBay as an "f/1.2" lens. Personally I suspect this misreading is not always accidental and frankly this should be a capital offence (well, almost)... but I digress...

Anyway the 50mm f/2 is a decent lens for the (usually very little) money... but if you want a 50mm prime, you might be better looking at the SMC-FA 50mm f/1.4 which Johnboy linked to... this is a better lens, which obviously has a larger max aperture than an f/2 lens, and has autofocus. If that is a little out of your budget then you could look at some of the older manual focus f/1.4 and f/1.7 lenses which are all over eBay; these are still pretty cheap but are likely to be better than the f/2.

LeftBehind · Oct 8, 2007

Please ignore that i typed 1.2. I meant 1.4. I was not thinking! Sorry!

Stratman · Oct 8, 2007

I have the SMC-M 50MM f1.4 and it is a great lens, works great with available light indoors, and has great bokeh

here are a few samples for ya.

indoors.

outdoors

LeftBehind · Oct 8, 2007

Awesome pictures. I look forward to buying this lens tomorrow after school!

sabbath999 · Oct 9, 2007

"Back in the day" I had an old manual focus K mount 1.2 lens for a while. It was not nearly as sharp as my 1.4 so I sold it. I know this was a typo and totally beside the point, but it just took me down memory lane.

I also remember that the 1.2 was the heaviest 50mm lens I have ever held, by far... had a HUGE chunk of glass in it, plus the typical Pentax indestructible metal body.

Don Simon · Oct 9, 2007

LeftBehind said:
Please ignore that i typed 1.2. I meant 1.4. I was not thinking! Sorry!

Ah ok... well then any of the old manual focus f/1.4 lenses will be good. I would look for the "A" lens instead of the "M" or "K" versions, as this way you will have more auto metering options and convenience. But personally I would look at the FA lens which Johnboy linked to... then you get full auto metering and of course auto focus (which I consider very useful on dSLRs which have relatively small viewfinders without manual-focus screens)... it is obviously more expensive than the older manual-focus lenses, but it's still the cheapest autofocus 50mm f/1.4 around and it's a great one.

LeftBehind · Oct 9, 2007

Just purchased it!
I took it out of the box and it turned out many of the people in the store didn't know they had it, and really wanted to see it in person. It's quite a lens, built much better than it looked on the internet and I'm very satisfied. I stood outside in the rain for 20 minutes waiting on buses, but it was worth it, I didn't get a chance to go outside with it yet, but here's a picture taken with it wide open.