Top lenses for Pentax ME Super

Hello,

I want to know which are the best lenses for:

1. Portrait
2. Landscape/Architecture
3. Macro work

Mainly black and white photography and I may try color when I get the chemicals/equipment to develop it at home but that is in future.

Cheers

Raffay

Hi!

well, in my opinion, one of the most versatile and best lenses is the Pentax-M 50mm 1.7. Some say it is even better than the 1.4, also it is much, much cheaper. For landscapes i also reccomend the 28mm 2.8 which is also cheap as chips. Unfortunately i can not reccomend anything for macro work since i'm not doing any of that. Portrait neither but most people get a 85mm oder 100mm or 105mm.
cheers

If you want the TOP lenses, I would recommend the 31mm, 43mm and 77mm limited lenses. But then you didn't mention your budget or the focal lengths you like to work with.

Nuff said:

If you want the TOP lenses, I would recommend the 31mm, 43mm and 77mm limited lenses. But then you didn't mention your budget or the focal lengths you like to work with.

Click to expand...

Since we are not spending a huge amount on a full frame sensor, the beauty of using film. I am interested to know what sort of a budget is required to get these lenses. Are these all Pentax lenses or other third party? I guess focal lengths you mention are fine. Normally, I see people talk about 24mm, 50mm, and 85mm, but what you have mentioned is fine. What exactly do you mean by limited lenses.

Cheers

Raffay

Are these the lenses you are talking about:

1. Wide Angle Lens FA31mm F1.8AL Limited Lens
2. Pentax SMC Limited FA 43mm f/1.9 in Silver Lens
3. PENTAX Camera lens FA 77mm F1.8 Limited K Mount 27980 Black

There are a lot of different types available, like the Smc, smcp, FA. Also these are all auto focus lenses and if I am not wrong the Pentax ME Super is a manual camera. If I am right (there is a big question mark there) then don't you think spending on AF lenses would be a waste?

Cheers

Raffay

Raffay, Yes, they are the ones and It's all about glass. I own all 3 and use them with my Pentax MX and my DSLR (I know it's a curse around here). They manual focus just fine, but when it comes to glass, this are some of the best lenses Pentax made.

I especially like they way they render bokeh, the 31mm is outstanding here, very smooth, considering it's wideangle and many wide angles are pretty bad at it.

I also do own few other lenses, like 24mm f2.8 (I'm selling it) etc... I just use this 3 all the time. With the 31mm and 43mm spending most of the time on my camera, but it depends on the focal lengths you like to use.

Best thing is, on MX and ME Super when I use 43mm I can have both eyes open and perspective/magnification is exactly the same. It's perfect 1 to 1 as if the camera isn't there.

Nuff,

Can you share a few sample images, if possible especially film. Also, would be exciting to see if you have comparison shots.

Cheers

Raffay

I checked on the internet, there are loads of sample images with 77mm but all with digital cameras. Do you know any site where I can find images made with these lenses but on film.

Cheers

Raffay

Honestly, after playing with about 4 different Pentax SMC lenses, I couldn't find fault with a single one. The 28mm 2.8, 50mm 1.7 and 85mm would all be on my list.

The M 50 Macro, M 100 Macro and M 100/2.8 are all excellent. 105/2.5 Vivitar Series 1 AKA Lester Dine macro is also excellent but very large compared to the Pentax lenses, but does 1:1 magnification natively. My copy has a bit more resolution (who cares) but has more issues with color fringing on high contrast lines. If I was less inclined to limit myself to 1 lens when out walking/shooting casually, I would have kept the Pentax as it is much smaller and lighter, and if you include a set of extension tubes with the Pentax, it is just as large to pack along.

If you want to keep it very simple and don't need large apertures: M50 Macro + Vivitar 2X macro focussing teleconverter + whatever wide angle gets you the landscape/architecture view you prefer. The Vivitar 2X TC takes a normal 50mm and turns it into a 100mm 1:1 macro, albeit with the loss of some image quality and some light.

The 100 Macro will work as a useful focal length for portrait and (obviously) macro.
Personally 24,40/45,60 macro works for me. My fast lens is a 5o/1.8

It's pretty easy to find these lenses with film photos. Go to flickr and search for something like "pentax 31mm ektar".
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=pentax+31mm+ektar&ss=2&s=int

Or "pentax 31mm portra"
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=pentax+31mm+portra&ss=2&s=int

"pentax 77mm portra"
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=pentax 77mm portra&ss=2&s=int

"pentax 43mm 400h"
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=pentax 43mm 400h&ss=2&s=int

I'm sure you get the trend now. If you search for a lens and name of film you will find what you want.

From mine, here's I think 77mm...

Cart by Jarek Miszkinis, on Flickr

43mm:

Shave by Jarek Miszkinis, on Flickr

and 31mm:

velvia50_35mm_plus_061.jpg by Jarek Miszkinis, on Flickr

I use the 28mm 2.8, 50mm 1.7, and a 135mm 2.8 SMC-A on both my ME Super and MX with no problems so far. I have a 28mm 3.5 and 135mm 2.5 Takumar in M42 mount that are very nice as well and cheap to buy.