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Becoming a Pentax enthusiast

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titrisol said:
The 55/1.8 doesnt yellow, the 50.1,4 does but its cured easily with bright light
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I have a 1.8/55 that has been yellowed. I could remove the tint by the use of an LED lamp.

IMG_20230209_230335.jpg
 
Les Sarile said:
My first SLR was the Canon EOS3 that served me really well until I got a hold of the Pentax MX.

EOS3-MX by Les DMess, on Flickr

One look through that huge viewfinder - largest magnification on a fixed prism SLR, and I became a Pentax enthusiast 🙂
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Looking at the two of those together reminds me of why Barnack designed the first 35mm Leica. I've read that he was struggling with hauling the large equipment into the field back in the day and figured that something smaller could be really useful. Huge is back I think.
 
88E30M50 said:
Looking at the two of those together reminds me of why Barnack designed the first 35mm Leica. I've read that he was struggling with hauling the large equipment into the field back in the day and figured that something smaller could be really useful. Huge is back I think.
Click to expand...

I don't think huge ever left. I know they aren't all that way but every Canon or Nikon I ever owned was big. That is why I no longer own them.
 
88E30M50 said:
Looking at the two of those together reminds me of why Barnack designed the first 35mm Leica. I've read that he was struggling with hauling the large equipment into the field back in the day and figured that something smaller could be really useful. Huge is back I think.
Click to expand...

No doubt the same sentiment that prompted Yoshihisa Maitani to come up with for the Olympus OM design. According to this article - The man behind the Olympus OM camera , the Leica IIIF inspired him.
 
Does anyone know how many versions of 35mm f2.0 in K mount with manual focus? I saw a short and a longer one which must have different optical designs and performance.
 
As far as I know there were two slightly different versions of of the 35/2 M. I have one of them and it is good. The earlier 35/2 SMC Pentax looks like the old M42 SMCT but with a K mount. These are the 35/2 K mount versions which were made for manual focus film cameras.
 
dynachrome said:
As far as I know there were two slightly different versions of of the 35/2 M. I have one of them and it is good. The earlier 35/2 SMC Pentax looks like the old M42 SMCT but with a K mount. These are the 35/2 K mount versions which were made for manual focus film cameras.
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I understand now. The longer version is Pentax K mount with 8 elements which is rated higher than the Pentax M K mount with 7 elements. But the later can focus 5 cm closer than the previous version.
 
Back to the original topic...
If I wasn't a dyed-in-the-wool Nikon guy, Pentax Spotmatics would be my choice.
I had a Spotmatic F that I took on a trip to Mexico because if it got damaged or lost, it wouldn't have been my Nikon.
Great camera, but I sold it in a moment of poverty while going to college.
 
Recently I got two M42 normal lenses: SMC Takumar 50/1.4 and Chinon 50/1.4. The Takumar is a bit yellow, while the Chinon is crystal clear and neutral. But the Takumar gave such a vintage look that I decided NOT to bleach it with LED light. The Chinon is technically "better", but it just felt like every other 50mm modern lens.

In the age of quality abundance for lenses, character is what stands out. And with film, I always use the character lenses instead of the "best" lenses.
 
blee1996 said:
Recently I got two M42 normal lenses: SMC Takumar 50/1.4 and Chinon 50/1.4. The Takumar is a bit yellow, while the Chinon is crystal clear and neutral. But the Takumar gave such a vintage look that I decided NOT to bleach it with LED light. The Chinon is technically "better", but it just felt like every other 50mm modern lens.

In the age of quality abundance for lenses, character is what stands out. And with film, I always use the character lenses instead of the "best" lenses.
Click to expand...

It's very easy to be a Pentax enthusiast because most of it can be had for very little money. But just because it maybe cheap doesn't mean it's not capable.

That MX I picked up from a local craigslist for so cheap the presentation wasn't important as it came in plastic grocery bags . . .

Bagful of Pentax 1 by Les DMess, on Flickr

. . . along with a K1000SE and a bunch of lenses . . .

Bagful of Pentax 2 by Les DMess, on Flickr

Bagful of Pentax 3 by Les DMess, on Flickr

I was getting such sharp results - particularly from the SMC Pentax-M 50mm F4 macro lens, I was curious just how much can it resolve. So I tested it using Kodak Techpan @ ISO25 developed in Kodak Tehnidol at all apertures and scanned it using DSLRs 14.6MP K20D, 36MP D800 and my Coolscan 4000dpi as well as optical magnification.

Full target at bottom left and 100% crops from the DSLRs and Coolscan above it.

Resolution testing my SMC Pentax-M 50mm F4 macro lens by Les DMess, on Flickr

This lens is so high resolving that you can see from the optical magnification crop on the right, that the lens can capture far more detail onto this film then can be resolved by the methods I used. Lack of sharpness is not going to be the fault of this lens!
 
In general Macro lens are some of the sharpest 50mm out there. I have a Sigma 50 2.8 Macro that is tack sharp. had a chance to buy a Pentax 50mm F4 and passed to my regret. The sharpest 50mm I have use used is a Kern Swiss Kern 50 1.7 macro.
 
I have a couple of Pentax MEs and a Spotmatic and it's impossible to walk past the shelf where they sit without picking at least one of them up and cocking and firing the shutter just to hear the beautiful noise 🤣
 
I just finished adjusting the infinity focus on a 50mm Pentax-M SMC f1.4 as well as fresh light seals on the spare MX. Tomorrow, I'll put a quick 15 frames through it to see how well I got the lens adjusted and to test the camera out. I've not put film through this one yet, so it will be a fun test day.
 
Paul Howell said:
In general Macro lens are some of the sharpest 50mm out there. I have a Sigma 50 2.8 Macro that is tack sharp. had a chance to buy a Pentax 50mm F4 and passed to my regret. The sharpest 50mm I have use used is a Kern Swiss Kern 50 1.7 macro.
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In Pentax lineup which one is a better macro performer, 50mm F4 or 100mm F4?
 
As far as I know, both perform very well. I would prefer the 100 mm due to the more versatile usage.
 
the Pentax macro I have is a 100 short barrel lens for the Bellows II, it is very sharp at F8 and 11.
 
Les Sarile said:
I have both. Unless something is wrong, neither will be the reason for unsharp results.
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I have 55mm for my Nikon that I like since I can use as normal lens + macro but I feel that the lens to subject distance is limiting. I reckon 100mm may be better in this area.
 
Paul Howell said:
I was under the impression UV light will remove the yellow tint, has anyone used a LED?
Click to expand...

a few years back someone mentioned and Ikea lamp could work, and I tried it on a 50/1.4
It cleared it in 24h

As per an LawrenceLivermoe publication, UV is not a must, bright light is enough

Effects of ionizing radiation on selected optical materials: An overview (Technical Report) | OSTI.GOV

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Scientific and Technical Information
www.osti.gov www.osti.gov
 
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