I'm looking for a good 50mm lens and I have found a number of Asahi M lenses for sale. At first I was looking for a Pentax FA f1.4, but are the Asahi lenses good too? Show SWEngineer • Senior Member • Posts: 1,024 Re: Asahi 50mm M f1.4 any good? Yes but... Arguably not as good as the FA50, but a fine lens none the less. I've used one for many years. It was the (upgrade) kit lens for my ME Super. It works great on my DS. (Its the only 50mm I own.) Of course it restricts you to manual use. It that doesn't bother you, lower price and (perhaps) better availability may make it worth considering. Here's a good post from a recent thread about Pentax 50mm lenses: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=15280146 -Mark  Jim King • Veteran Member • Posts: 8,588 Re: Asahi 50mm M f1.4 any good? PhotoSwedewrote: I'm looking for a good 50mm lens and I have found a number of Asahi M lenses for sale. At first I was looking for a Pentax FA f1.4, but are the Asahi lenses good too? Asahi Optical Company is the former name of Pentax Corp, so both lenses are made by the same outfit. The older manual focus M50/1.4 is essentially the same optical design as the current autofocus FA50/1.4 although the coatings on the newer lens are said to be improved and there were some minor tweaks in the optical design after the M series. The build quality of the M50 is superb; it is one of the finest manual focusing lenses ever made. Its only drawback (besides not having autofocus) is that exposure must be manually metered on the *ist-D/DS/DL bodies. -- Jim King - Colormonger (now retired) - Suburban Detroit, Michigan, USA * * * * * Local time here is 4 hours earlier than the GMT shown in the message header. * * * * * Belief without doubt is just opinion.
Pentax K-3 Leica M10 Pentax MX-1 Fujifilm X30 Sony RX100 VII +138 more OP PhotoSwede • Junior Member • Posts: 34 Re: Asahi 50mm M f1.4 any good? In reply to Jim King • Oct 23, 2005 So how much is an Asahi 50mm f1.4 worth? There's a couple of them on eBay and I've been tracking prices for a while. Also, would a Takumar f1.4 be a good choice? There's a bunch of them for sale on eBay and I've seen a couple of them at KEH. I might end up going for the Pentax FA f1.4 lens. I know how much they cost new at B&H, so I'll adjust my eBay bids for used lenses accordingly. rke21 • Regular Member • Posts: 468 Re: Asahi 50mm M f1.4 any good? If you like to have auto-focus, you should definitely get the FA-50mm instead of the M-50mm. I tried using the M-50mm. I find the pentax M-50mm to be easier to use as a manual lens than the FA-50mm. The bibbed metal focus ring was eaiser to use than the thin rubber focus ring on the FA-50mm. Also, the build is better with the M-50mm. It's all metal whereas the FA-50mm is plastic and feels cheap. Again if you want auto-focus, definitely get the FA-50mm. PhotoSwedewrote: Jim King • Veteran Member • Posts: 8,588 Re: Asahi 50mm M f1.4 any good? PhotoSwedewrote: So how much is an Asahi 50mm f1.4 worth? There's a couple of them on eBay and I've been tracking prices for a while. Do a search on eBay completed auctions to find current selling prices. As I remember, the M50/1.4 went for around $80-100 six months ago. Also, would a Takumar f1.4 be a good choice? There's a bunch of them for sale on eBay and I've seen a couple of them at KEH. It's a good lens optically (if you don't get one which has yellowed with age) but it requires a screw mount to K-mount adapter and is a bit more fiddly to use - you have to manually stop down to the shooting aperture to meter and shoot, while the native K-mount lens will stop down automatically. I might end up going for the Pentax FA f1.4 lens. I know how much they cost new at B&H, so I'll adjust my eBay bids for used lenses accordingly. Unless you are really into manual focusing I'd recommend this route - it's an outstanding performer, and has autofocus plus full electronic communication with the camera body. It doesn't cost that much more than a used MF lens with fewer features - consider it an investment. -- Jim King - Colormonger (now retired) - Suburban Detroit, Michigan, USA * * * * * Local time here is 4 hours earlier than the GMT shown in the message header. * * * * * Belief without doubt is just opinion.
Pentax K-3 Leica M10 Pentax MX-1 Fujifilm X30 Sony RX100 VII +138 more Re: Asahi 50mm M f1.4 any good? In reply to Jim King • Oct 23, 2005 I want one of every kind 50/1.4 Pentax ever made. I have two and I want to collect them all, the As, Ms, Fs, Super Takumars etc. My love of the 50s goes way back before the DS or even Pentax. -- Pentax *ist DS Asahi Pentax SMC Takumar 50mm f/1.4 SMC-Pentax FA 50mm f/1.4 SMC-Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 TresOkies • Senior Member • Posts: 2,420 Re: Asahi 50mm M f1.4 any good? In reply to Jim King • Oct 23, 2005 If the budget is a factor, an alternative would be to get the F50/1.7, not the FA. You can get them for around $125 used. They are auto focus and auto aperture. Jim King • Veteran Member • Posts: 8,588 My collection of Pentax 50/55 mm lenses It's probably a disease of some kind, but I am trying to collect all of the Pentax 50/55mm "normal" lenses ever made. I currently have all the K-mount normals except the F50/2.8 macro, and I lack some of the early screw mounts. Give me time, though... My Pentax 50-55mm lenses (32): A50/1.2 A50/1.4 x2 A50/1.7 x3 A50/2.0 x3 A50/2.8 Macro F50/1.4 F50/1.7 FA50/1.4 FA50/1.7 FA50/2.8 Macro K50/1.2 K50/1.4 K50/2.8 Macro K55/1.8 K55/2.0 M50/1.4 M50/1.7 M50/2.0 x2 M50/f4.0 Macro ST50/1.4 ST55/1.8 SMCT50/1.4 x3 SMCT55/1.8 SMCT55/2.0 -- Jim King - Colormonger (now retired) - Suburban Detroit, Michigan, USA * * * * * Local time here is 4 hours earlier than the GMT shown in the message header. * * * * * Belief without doubt is just opinion.
Pentax K-3 Leica M10 Pentax MX-1 Fujifilm X30 Sony RX100 VII +138 more A 'shout' for the A50/1.4 PhotoSwedewrote: I was lucky enough to be able to buy one of these in excellent condition for a reasonable price a few months ago and it's a real pleasure on the DS... looks good (IMHO), feels good and manual focus with that 1.4 aperture is a an absolute joy! The FA50/1.4 makes more sense, being AF, and the A50/1.4's tend to go for too much money on Ebay... but if you 'stumble' across an A50/1.4 and it's reasonably priced then grab it! If you want to save money then the A50/1.7 is also a very nice lens: it's very sharp and at only half the size of the A50/1.4 is more portable and more importantly you can often find these lenses for affordable amounts of money! Sony Alpha DSLR-A900 NEX5R Sony a77 II Jonas B • Forum Pro • Posts: 14,597 Re: My collection of Pentax 50/55 mm lenses In reply to Jim King • Oct 24, 2005 (scratching head) This is one bad case of LBA(m). If you find the lacking lenses, then what will happen? All the 100mm lenses ever made? Hmm. You'll keep us posted, eh?! Jonas Jim Kingwrote: ... A50/1.2 A50/1.4 x2 A50/1.7 x3 A50/2.0 x3 A50/2.8 Macro F50/1.4 F50/1.7 FA50/1.4 FA50/1.7 FA50/2.8 Macro K50/1.2 K50/1.4 K50/2.8 Macro K55/1.8 K55/2.0 M50/1.4 M50/1.7 M50/2.0 x2 M50/f4.0 Macro ST50/1.4 ST55/1.8 SMCT50/1.4 x3 SMCT55/1.8 SMCT55/2.0 Matja • Regular Member • Posts: 177 Re: A 'shout' for the A50/1.4 What is the difference between A and M 50's. I already won a M 50 f1.7 and I'd like to get one with f1.4 frome the same seller to save on shipipng. He has two models available the SMC A50/1.4 and SMC M50/1.4. A has more bidders and higher highest bid than M so where is the difference? Re: A 'shout' for the A50/1.4 In reply to Matja • Oct 24, 2005 The A series lenses allow the aperture to be set by the camera. The M series are strictly aperture priority. Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 Olympus Zuiko Digital 11-22mm 1:2.8-3.5 Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 45mm F1.8 Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm 1:2 +8 more blaketake • Regular Member • Posts: 381 Re: Asahi 50mm M f1.4 any good? This is an excellent lens. A real bargain and a much nicer build and feel than modern lenses. Here are some pics from Japan: Nice color and contrast beautiful at large apertures great boke Keyboard shortcuts: FForum MMy threads You may also likeLatest sample galleriesLatest in-depth reviewsThe Sony a9 III is the world's first full-frame mirrorless camera to feature a global electronic shutter with simultaneous readout. We've been using a full production version of this 120 fps sports camera, to see what you gain (and, perhaps, lose). The Aura Carver 10.1" HD Digital Frame is a great way to put your portfolio on display and a great way to surface forgotten memories. 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