25mm for Pen FV - f/4 or f/2.8?

[dsymes]

A friend recently gave me a very nice Pen FV body, a duplicate from his collection. I'd like to get a couple of user lenses, and thought that I'd start with a 25mm. Can any forum members offer advice on the relative merits of the f/4 vs the f/2.8? i.e., compactness, image quality, etc?

Thanks in advance,
dsymes

 

[ferider]

Both very good and not very different in size. Just a matter of speed vs. budget.

Roland.

 

[Al Kaplan]

It's an SLR so the 2.8 will be easier to focus. All of the F series Pen lenses are top notch.

 

[dsymes]

Roland and Al, thanks for the quick replies. I know the Pen F/FT/FV lenses have very good reputations, but was a little concerned with the simpler design of the f/4. I will be doing 8x10 blow-ups with traditional processing, and tend to be fairly critical of lens performance. I was hoping someone had done a direct comparison of these two 25mm lenses.

Thanks,
Douglas

 

[ferider]

Hi Douglas,

I didn't compare them side by side, I owned them one after each other. Today I only have the slower version. 8x10 will be no problem at all ....

Cheers,

Roland.