Pentax Kmount lenses?

R

Rob

Guest
Ok, not a rangefinder question this time...I picked up a perfect Pentax K1000 body with smc 50m F2.0 M lens and cheap JC pennys 135mm F2.8 lens. I missed my old Spotmatic with its all metal lenses and silky smooth focusing so I bought this...I will upgrade the lenses but my last experience with a 50mm A lens (thought to be better optically) was not good, lots of these break off the plastic rivets that hold the piece that controls the aperature ring rendering the lenses unusable...So I guess I would like to know if the M series are pretty good? Plan on adding a 28 and 100 or 135 SMC to this kit. Comments?
 
I don't know about the M lenses but I have a Pentax K1000 and a Spotmatic. Both need some work presently but I had an adaptor for the K1000 so I could use all the lenses from the Spotmatic. The Spotmatic came with 3 lenses from a tag sale for $25. They are the Takumar lenses ...regular 50mm?, wideangle, and telephoto. Off hand I don't remember the numbers. That was pretty cool to be able to use the lenses from one on the other. And I always like the results I got with them.
 
Hi Rob,
I hate to have to admit it but as many will have guessed from my website, I am a pentaphile at heart. If you can get them the original K lenses are generally much better than the M equivalents. Pentax made a few compromises on optical quality especially on the cheaper lenses such as the 28/2.8 (which is poor) to make the lenses smaller. A good link is Stan's site here http://stans-photography.info/

If you need any help or advice, contact me through the website at www.pentax-manuals.com and we can discuss it offline and not upset too many RFF diehards ;)

Kim

Rob said:
Ok, not a rangefinder question this time...I picked up a perfect Pentax K1000 body with smc 50m F2.0 M lens and cheap JC pennys 135mm F2.8 lens. I missed my old Spotmatic with its all metal lenses and silky smooth focusing so I bought this...I will upgrade the lenses but my last experience with a 50mm A lens (thought to be better optically) was not good, lots of these break off the plastic rivets that hold the piece that controls the aperature ring rendering the lenses unusable...So I guess I would like to know if the M series are pretty good? Plan on adding a 28 and 100 or 135 SMC to this kit. Comments?
Click to expand...
 
Hi

If you can find them, the M 50mm f1.4 and 28mm f3.5mm have excellent reputations. I have always been happy with the M 50mm f1.7. The Japan made 135mm f2.5 is also apprently a good lens.
 
Yes, the M lenses are very very good, and are generally more compact than the K lenses. Some prefer the K lenses as better made, perhaps more like the later SMC Takumar screw-mount lenses. But there's a lesser grade of lenses also in K mount that retain the old Takumar name, for instance the 135 f/2.5 that is branded "Takumar" rather than "Pentax." These K-mount Takumars may have fewer elements and/or be single-coated.

Of my four K-mount Pentax prime lenses, the 2.8/24 and 1.8/85 are "SMC Pentax", and the 2.0/28 and 1.4/50 are SMCP-M. I haven't noticed anything different about their quality, and all are excellent performers.
 
A member of my camera club has a K1000 that she is having some troubles with. I am not exactly sure of all of the troubles, but one is the meter is dead. I also think she has some problem with rewinding of the film. I have offered to take a look at it for her, mainly for the film trouble. I don't even want to attempt to fix the meter, as she has a hand held meter as well. Once I figure out the problem I may ask for some advice.

Heath
 
I have used M series lenses since 1981, the 50mm 1.7 and f2 are very very good, as mention above the 28mm 3.5 is far better than the 2.8, very underated is the M sereies 135mm 3.5, however, the 40mm 2.8 pancake is very poor, (especially fully open), very expensive and very overated. Most is not all M series lenses re very compact and good to use. I cannot really comment on the A series lenses. I have always used M series lenses, especiallywhen I was shooting with the LX, MX combo
 
Adding a 28mm is a good idea. The cheap 28/3.5 is a great lens.



I have SMC 35/2, 50/1.4, 85/1.8. I also have the 17/4 fisheye lens in K mount, and the 28/3.5 and the 50/3.5 macro ( or is it 50/4). I love the lenses, with a preference for the 85/1.8 and the 50/1.4. I also have the 40mm pancake lens and a 135mm lens.

The pancake lens is not sharp. The 28/3.5 is very sharp and also flare resistant when shooting against the sun. I paid $20 for it. My only M les is the 50/1.7. I never use it.
 
in m the 50 1.7 is very good as well as the135 3.5 . The 28 2.5 suck not because it an m but it's just bad in the corners the 3.5 is great.
 
I have been shooting a Pentax K1000 with an SMC M 50mm f1.7 lens since 1984 and have never ever had any cause to be disappointed, unless I screwed something up. The M lenses are very good, very reliable, and will give you years of unblemished service.

All the being said, I would strongly recommend that you ship both lenses and the camera to Eric Hendrickson for a full cleaning and adjustment. The price is extremely reasonable for what you get and not only will you have a wonderfully functioning camera with lenses when they return, you will also know if there is anything wrong with them at all.

As for your 135mm lens, I would not worry about it at all. Although it will not have the same name recognition that a Pentax lens brings you must remember that both JC Penney and Sears built their reputations on reliable, fairly priced, equipment. So you can expect that lens to provide excellent service.

Although I have much sexier lenses at my disposal, well over 90% of my photography using the K1000 is done with just 5 lenses. The M 35mm f3.5, the M 50mm f1.7, the M 85mm f2, the M 135mm f3.5 and the K 200mm f4. Why? Because they are light, easy to carry, and they provide awesome images when I do my job.

Enjoy your camera and happy shooting!
 
I've been a Pentaxian for more than 40 years. Tried a lot of cameras and lenses--very few dogs in the lineup. Lots of "good" lenses and a few gems as well. As I've moved from film to digital I've sold a lot of my older stuff but I still have a few of the good ones. A couple of my favourites are the Super Tak 55/1.8 in M42 mount and the K30/2.8. I get lovely results from both.

I have quite a number of F, FA and DA lenses and they all perform well technically but to me they tend to be a bit sterile in how they render an image. I much prefer the look and mood of some of the older lenses...
 
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