Pentax manual lenses.

Jayst84

Jayst84

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James
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I finally made up my mind, and picked up a nice little Pentax MX this week. :)

Now I could do with a lens so I can have a go at that whole photography thing people keep talking about.

I'm after something wideish, ideally around 35mm, and faster than a quick thing if possible. I want a fully manual lens, so I can focus properly and I don't need one capable of aperture priority or any fancy stuff that I never use anyway.

I spotted an SMC Pentax M 35mm f2 that looked ideal, but missed out on it, and they seem to be very difficult to find now.

So, are there any others I should be considering? Other makes? All I can find are 2.8 primes, which just aren't fast enough for what I want.

I'm very new to the world outside of EOS and EF, so any and all help would be most appreciated.

Cheers,

J.
 
I think the 35mm is expencive, but if you are happy with 50mm, they seem to be plentiful and cheap, at least the older A and M spec ones are. I found a A-50mm f/2 for £21 off ebay and it's turning out to be a very nice little lens.
 
Sell a kidney and get the Pentax f/1.8 31mm Limited! It's one of the best lenses from any manufacturer.

There's also the FA f/2.0 35mm. You've got an MX, famous for its small size, so I hope you get a current, small Pentax body or wait for the K30D.

The Sigma f/1.4 30mm is another option but watch the quality control.

Among manual focus lenses, with an M42 adapter you could use the Takumar f/2.3 or f/2.0 35mm. These were the fastest lenses of their type in the late 1950s/early `60s when it was "35mm and be there" for press photographers. But fastish glass is easier to find in the range 50-135mm.

Not very well built, nor particularly fast, but with otherwise good reputations are the manual focus Sigma f/2.8 28mm and 24mm if you want something fairly easy to find and not too expensive.
 
Check out www.ffordes.com as they have some Pentax stuff in including the 35mm f2 your after
 
I'd go for a Pentax 28mm f2.8 you should be able to get one for upto £30 and no doubt if it's a shop they'd probably throw in a couple of filters for free - most have a draw full of them and I think they're 49mm in size.

Why's that not fast enough?
 
Jayst84 said:
Because f2.8 isn't very fast for a prime, and it's not quick enough for shooting at night, or indoors on gloomy days. My 50 1.8 isn't fast enough sometimes.
Click to expand...

Throw in a nice Neopan 1600 or something similar and off you go ;)

Brilliant lens anyway. To be honest, all manual Pentax lenses are great :) I still remember my old MX. I was a fool to sell it. :)
 
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