Good Low Distortion Minolta or Pentax M42 MF Lens...

[FilmOnly]

I recently took some shots that require straight lines. I used my Super Takumar 50/1.4 and 55/2. I shot a staircase, and, while the steps in the middle part of the frame were straight, there was clearly some curvature in the steps toward the bottom and top of the frame. The Super Takumar 50/1.4 is a very highly regarded lens, but I was not impressed with its performance in this regard. I did not think this lens would show barrel distortion, but it did. The 55/2 was actually a tad better.

Any thoughts? Would the Minolta MC or MD 50/3.5 macro be any better? Any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Glen

 

[Ian Grant]

Over the years I've used the SMC Takumar f1.8 50mm the most although I have an f1.4 and an f2 55mm and I can honestly say I've never had a barrel distortion issue with any of the lenses. However the f1.8 was always regarded as the best of the standard lenses.

Ian

 

[ic-racer]

1976 Popular Photography:

SMC Pentax 50mm f1.2 = Moderate Barrel Distortion
SCM Pentax 50mm f1.4 = Very Slight Barrel Distortion
SMC Pentax 50mm f1.9 = Very Slight Barrel Distortion
SMC Pentax Macro 50mm f4 = No Distortion

MC Rokkor-X 50mm f3.5 = No Distortion


In general, for almost all the brands tested that year, all the 1.2 lenses had Moderate or Pronounced distortion and all the Macros they tested had no distortion.

As Ian indicated, the SCM 1.4 and 1.9 have very little distortion and tested better than many of the others. In fact, of all the f1.4 lenses the SMC Pentax had the lowest distortion.