Thinking of buying old MF lens

Hi all,

Anyone out there had experience with this lens, PENTAX SMC-M 50mm F1.4 LENS. It will have an adapter. i thinking of buy just to experiment with and get back to basics.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers

I have it, just be sure that you buy one with smooth focus ring. Mine isn't exactly smooth, so if i use it with my 5d, my left hand will be busy with the focus ring and can't help the right hand to support the body, which makes my right hand sore. It is not that extreme when i use it with my 450d though. I almost never use it because it's pretty hard to focus mine.. But maybe it's because my copy have stiff focus ring. And be sure to buy the chipped adapter, so that you can get the af confirmation light, it only cost around 5 bucks more from the non chipped one.

It's a nice lens - as good as the Canon 50/1.4. Focusing may be a problem, though. I tried one of the split-prism fousing screens, and that never focused accurately despite receiving a second (modified) screen to replace the first. I also tried one of the focus confirm adapters (on 2 different cameras), and that gives me focus confirmation when the lens is slightly out of focus (i.e. it's useless). Live view on my 40D is the best way to manual focus, but that's not always convenient...

I haven't use the pentax 50mm 1.4 but I do have some MF lenses which are a joy to use. My current favourites at present are the Super Takumar 55mm 1.8 and Carl Zeiss Jena 135mm. Both are easy to MF on a 5DII, slightly more difficult on a my 450D but I have Katzeyes for that (live view is better).

Maybe it is because the optical design for all 50 mm is similar, and canon never updated theirs. The only aspect that I like from the takumar is their bokeh is better than canon, where i see a lot of condom like bokeh which hurt my eyes..

cogliostro wrote in post #10307139
where i see a lot of condom like bokeh which hurt my eyes..

Made my day I LOLed hard

you know someone somewhere may want to use this for their Sig

red snapper wrote in post #10306803
Hi all,

Anyone out there had experience with this lens, PENTAX SMC-M 50mm F1.4 LENS. It will have an adapter. i thinking of buy just to experiment with and get back to basics.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers

I have one and it's the lens I've owned for the longest time. I read a review once saying it was amongst the best 50mm's money can buy, bar non! I used it on a range of bodies and have been very happy with it, even against the Zeiss and Voigtlander lenses I have been using. The problem you'll have is focusing accurately with a small viewfinder. The chipped adaptors will give you a focus light and that will help a lot. Not the same tho' IMO! I still have it but can't use it anymore unfortunately as won't mount on Nikon bodies

I have the Takumar SMC 50 1.4 and it is a fantastic lens.

my first prime, and I'm in love. Kind of reworking my whole kit because of how much I love fast primes.

The SMC-M is a K mount, which is not as easy to adapt. I'd probably try to stick to the Takumar m42 mount.,

I think the SMC-M mount will have issues with the 5D/5DII, I don't think you will on a cropper. Fotodiox sells K Mount adapters.

oh, and for your adapter, BIG_IS on ebay is the best IMO. Well, haven't used others, but I've gotten a few from them and they are inexpensive and great quality IMO.

Agree on the 5D and K-Mount. Hits mirror. Mine was fine on crop bodies.

Thanks all, it comes with an adapter. I will try my luck with the bidding process.

Wish me luck.

cogliostro wrote in post #10306868
I have it, just be sure that you buy one with smooth focus ring. Mine isn't exactly smooth, so if i use it with my 5d, my left hand will be busy with the focus ring and can't help the right hand to support the body, which makes my right hand sore. It is not that extreme when i use it with my 450d though. I almost never use it because it's pretty hard to focus mine.. But maybe it's because my copy have stiff focus ring. And be sure to buy the chipped adapter, so that you can get the af confirmation light, it only cost around 5 bucks more from the non chipped one.

Just curious. Is there any cheap and easy way to smooth the stiff focus ring?