OT: Pentax 50mm 1.4 lens question

P

pcfranchina

Well-known
Local time
12:13 PM
Joined
Oct 31, 2005
Messages
315
I reciently picked up a Pentax 50mm 1.4 lens for my k-1000. Seems clear and fungus free.....But i notice if i shake the lens i hear something metal making noise in there? Anyone have this lens?

Thanks in advance.
 
I have the M42 screwmount version of this lens, and, after reading your question, removed it from the camera and shook it. Motion front-to-back produced no sound. A sharp motion side-to-side produced a "clunk" sound, not metalic. I suspect it is from play in the focusing helix.

Jim N.
 
I have a brand new autofocus version, it rattles when shook vertically - slight metalic noise, and it rattles just a tiny bit (barely) when shaken horizontally.
 
Ok at least im not the only one. I had just picked this up from B&H Used Section. They had the 1.4 and the 1.7 I went with the 1.4.
 
Don't shake it too much. I have a M42 Pentax Super-Multi-Coated Takumar, and it is *the* finest prime lens for SLR that I own. And I'm a Canon guy by personal history. A bitter pill to swallow, but it smacks my best Canon 50mm FD 1.4 about the head and shoulders.

A fantastic lens - really.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
greyhoundman said:
OK. I have the K-mount version. I just gave it a shake. It has a slight rattle.
Click to expand...

Mine has a slight rattle and clunk too. (K-mount version (-K not -M version)
No problems with usage though.

I have an image of many people shaking their lenses out of curiosity!

-Nick
 
Hey G'man,
Tell me your lens makes a little noise too, then I feel ok about it :)

I was thinkin about going back there but B&H closes early on fridays.
 
pcfranchina said:
Any feelings on the 1.4 k-mount?
Click to expand...

There are two of them, the A and the M. The A has the 'auto' setting for later AE-capable Pentaxes (ME, etc). M is 'manual'. I only have a 50mm f/1.7 A, not an M and not a 1.4 (too expensive)! I find the 50mm f/1.7 SMC-A to be a fantastic lens as well. I have not yet compared the S-M-C 50mm f/1.4 and SMC-A 50mm f/1.7, but I am sure it would come up only slightly less well-off than the master.

I have heard that some people prefer the M and some the A, but I don't know. All I know is that I can use the A on my Pentax *ist DS in full auto mode and that makes me happy as a clam. Great lens for that - beats ANY kit zoom, and makes the already-small *ist DS even smaller.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
greyhoundman said:
Super lens!
I even use it with my macro focusing converter.
Click to expand...

Is that the one we discussed? I always meant to ask you how you liked that - I love mine in Canon FD mount, but have not gotten around to getting one in P/K mount.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Mine is the SMC Pentax-M 1.4 it's my favorite SLR lens, but the M42 Pentax Super-Multi-Coated Takumar Bill mentions is a better lens according to what I've read. Jim
 
JimG said:
Mine is the SMC Pentax-M 1.4 it's my favorite SLR lens, but the M42 Pentax Super-Multi-Coated Takumar Bill mentions is a better lens according to what I've read. Jim
Click to expand...

I'd love to do a side-by-side comparo someday, but probably won't be able to afford to do so anytime soon. I got my S-M-C M42 before they went sky-high, lucky me. I can't say enough about it. I shoot and scan with a KM SD IV using Vuescan and The Gimp (running Linux) and I just can't seem to run the lens out of resolving power. I run out of max resolution on the scanner first. Wide open, the thing is a monster. From f/4 on, it is unbelievable. I wish that there was less difference between my best Canon lens and my best Pentax, I really do. Sickening.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
SuperTaks are that good?

SuperTaks are that good?

bmattock said:
Don't shake it too much. I have a M42 Pentax Super-Multi-Coated Takumar, and it is *the* finest prime lens for SLR that I own. And I'm a Canon guy by personal history. A bitter pill to swallow, but it smacks my best Canon 50mm FD 1.4 about the head and shoulders.

A fantastic lens - really.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
Click to expand...

Really? I'm not doubting you, just curious. I've had really good results with my Canon 50mm lenses and more with the 1.8 FD than a 1.4 actually (and you can pick up 1.8/50 FDs for almost free these days). I recently picked up a couple of slower Super Taks to make a Spotmatic Kit including a 55/2 a 28/3.5 and a 135/3.5 and was *really* impressed with the build quality and feel of these older lenses. The shots seemed pretty sharp, and I've wondered how they stacked up against similar Canon FD and Nikon AIS lenses for most people.
 
anandi said:
Really? I'm not doubting you, just curious. I've had really good results with my Canon 50mm lenses and more with the 1.8 FD than a 1.4 actually (and you can pick up 1.8/50 FDs for almost free these days). I recently picked up a couple of slower Super Taks to make a Spotmatic Kit including a 55/2 a 28/3.5 and a 135/3.5 and was *really* impressed with the build quality and feel of these older lenses. The shots seemed pretty sharp, and I've wondered how they stacked up against similar Canon FD and Nikon AIS lenses for most people.
Click to expand...

I speak the truth - but this is my experience only - your mileage may vary.

My first camera of any consequence was the Canon FX - and I've been hooked on Canon steel and glass ever since. I love 'em all from the FX up the the FTbN (never owned an F-1). I have a full collection of pristine FL-mount glass (minus the super long and the flourite glass) and a bunch of the FD-mount lenses in popular focal lengths.

When I first got my Pentax S-M-C 50mm f/1.4 M42, I put it on my newly-aquired Bessaflex and went out shooting - took my Canon T-60 with 50mm f/1.4 along as a control. The Pentax blew it away. Really obvious when I scanned the negs and looked at them 1:1 in The Gimp (Photoshop clone).

Since that time, I have gone through some serious depression over this. I mean, I was always raised to believe that Canon/Nikon were the ne plus ultra of the pre-AE, pre-AF SLR world (choose Canon or Nikon depending on religion). I sneered at Minolta users, laughed at Mamiya/Sekor dudes, looked pityingly at poor Pentax toters. OK, just kidding about that part. But seriously, I thought the sun rose and set on great Canon prime lenses. I didn't WANT to believe anything else.

I have aquired (seriously) a vintage mint chrome-nose 50mm f/1.4, a breech-lock, and a new-mount-style, FD in 1.8 *and* 1.4. I have half-a-dozen Canon FD 50's. Four 50mm Canon FL 50's. No lie.

Stopped down to f/8, they all seem the same, Pentax and Canon, f/1.8 and f/1.4.

However, from wide-open to f/4, the Pentax rules. Flat out.

From f/4 to f/8, the Pentax will make you cry. Critical sharpness out to the corners and contrast like a big dog.

Stop down further and they all look alike.

For what it may be worth, I like the Canon bokeh wide-open better.

But it is so hard for me now to look at a scan of a neg from my Canon 50's. Just not good enough, is all.

The other night, I shot an old Minolta SRT-102 with a ROKKOR-X 50mm f/1.7, and it looks like crud, even though the lens is crystal clear and I took lots of time to get focus right. Canon whups up on it. Hooray - but unfortunately, my Pentax beats my Canon like a gong.

Here's a comparo I did between two film types (I am trying to sell one of them, ignore that). I shot all of them with the same S-M-C lens, various apertures. You can click and see them bigger. No clean-up, not even balancing. Just scanned, resized, and posted online.

http://www.mattocksphotography.com/era_film/comparo/

If someone wants to take issue and say that their Canon glass is better, I'm cool with that. But I made the best effort I could to find even one specimin of a Canon FD-mount 50mm lens that could equal my Pentax, and failed. Sadly.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
bmattock said:
Cool! Is that a rocking Rabbi?
Click to expand...

It's better than that. He's a Hasidic jewish guy who sings reggae. He's gotten pretty popular recently and just came out with a new album. I'm not a huge reggae fan but my friends who are say he's pretty well respected in the reggae world. Part of this is that the Rastafarian religion considers Rasta's the lost tribe of Israel.

In any case he's a great performer and the story behind those pictures is that it was a boxing match and one of the boxers was an orthodox Russian Jew who is a big fan of Matisyahu and had him play for his ring walk and then a few songs afterwards. A friend who works in boxing invited me to the fight that day so the Pentax with the 50 1.4 was the fastest lens I had so grabbed it. Great time.
 
Bill,
Those shots are pretty amazing. Nice thing about the pentax glass is that it can fit onto a *ist DSLR at some point. You mentioned that you did incident metering on the subjects - how did you do this for the Garage and Car? Wondering if you walked up to the car or whether you took a closer reading off of something similar or what. I'm trying to understand how to use an incident meter outside of the house effectively.

Cheers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom