2016
SMC Pentax-M 50 f1.4 - Just another fast 50?
Old Pentax 50s seem to have a bigger following than legacy 50s from other manufacturers. Great things are generally said about the contrast, sharpness, and bokeh produced by the various iterations of the Pentax 50, which include some radioactive Takumars and other mythical and rare 8-element creatures in the M42 mount. The well-respected SMC coating was standard by the time this K-mount version rolled out. This particular model is very well reviewed on Pentax forums. Does it live up to its reputation? Does it stand out in some way, or is it just another fast 50 in the very saturated used 50mm f1.4 market?
SMC Pentax-M 50mm f1.4 specs:
SMC Pentax-M 50mm f1.4 specs:
- 7 elements in 6 groups
- Weight - 235 grams
- Length - 37 mm (65mm with adapter)
- Filter size - 49 mm
- Min. focus distance - 0.45 m
- Aperture - 8 blades, f1.4 to f22 in half-stops from f2
Build Quality/Handling (Very good/Very good)
This is a nicely made lens with lots of metal and good mechanical operation. Focusing is smooth and the aperture ring works well also - in other words, typical vintage lens quality. I'd rank it above Canon New FD but below something like Minolta MC, Pentax Takumars, or Canon FL, mostly because the aperture ring clicks don't 'feel' quite as good as on those lenses.
The handling is very good. The lens is small and light (even with the adapter) and feels right at home on both the Sony A7s and the a6000.
Image Quality (Mostly great)
I've been shooting with this lens on and off for over six months and I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it. Perhaps it hasn't quite met my expectations, which were maybe a little too high after reading so many positive reviews on various forums. The sharpness, for example, is not as good as on the Canon FD 50 f1.4 SSC I reviewed a while ago. Here are a couple of shots wide open on the Sony A7s.
This is a nicely made lens with lots of metal and good mechanical operation. Focusing is smooth and the aperture ring works well also - in other words, typical vintage lens quality. I'd rank it above Canon New FD but below something like Minolta MC, Pentax Takumars, or Canon FL, mostly because the aperture ring clicks don't 'feel' quite as good as on those lenses.
The handling is very good. The lens is small and light (even with the adapter) and feels right at home on both the Sony A7s and the a6000.
Image Quality (Mostly great)
I've been shooting with this lens on and off for over six months and I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it. Perhaps it hasn't quite met my expectations, which were maybe a little too high after reading so many positive reviews on various forums. The sharpness, for example, is not as good as on the Canon FD 50 f1.4 SSC I reviewed a while ago. Here are a couple of shots wide open on the Sony A7s.
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The shots below show how the lens performs at various apertures on the 24mp a6000. I shot the same scene with the Canon FD 50 f1.4 SSC. Take a look at that review to see the differences in sharpness.
centre and corner @ f1.4
centre and corner @ f2
centre and corner @ f2.8
centre and corner @ f4
centre and corner @ f5.6
Wide open the lens has a pretty typical glow and lack of critical sharpness, especially in the corners. There's a significant improvement in central sharpness, contrast, and CA by f2, but corners are pretty blurry until f4. This is on an APS-C sensor, so expect worse performance on full frame. There's excellent sharpness across the frame by f5.6.
The bokeh on the Pentax is very good, and I really had to work hard to get results that weren't smooth.
The bokeh on the Pentax is very good, and I really had to work hard to get results that weren't smooth.
f1.4
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f2
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f2.8
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f1.4
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things look slightly messy in this one
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at f2 the aperture makes a slight star shape
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f2
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Though I haven't done direct comparisons yet, I'd argue that the bokeh produced by this little Pentax is better than many vintage 50s out there. To my eyes, it's certainly smoother than the Canon FD 50mm F1.4, the Contax Zeiss 50mm f1.7, the Canon FL 55 f1.2, and the Nikkor 50mm f1.2 that I've reviewed earlier.
Flare resistance is quite good, too. Ghosting is generally well-controlled, and contrast remains high when shooting into bright light sources. But, under extreme conditions, SMC does not seem quite as good as Zeiss T coating.
Flare resistance is quite good, too. Ghosting is generally well-controlled, and contrast remains high when shooting into bright light sources. But, under extreme conditions, SMC does not seem quite as good as Zeiss T coating.
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f1.4
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f2.0
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f2.8
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There's visible vignetting at f1.4, but it improves quickly and is mostly gone by f4. This is fairly typical for this type of lens. However, I would argue that the Pentax controls corner shading better than some of the other 50/1.4s that I've shot with. Here again, the vignetting is not even and there's more shading on the left side of the frame. I've noticed this linear vignetting with several adapted lenses, and it can be especially pronounced with longer focal lengths. I don't know what's causing it. (Edit: it appears that the electronic first curtain, which I usually leave enabled, can cause uneven exposure at high shutter speeds. I need to thank Phillip Reeve for pointing this out)
CA is well-controlled and is only sometimes visible wide open.
CA is well-controlled and is only sometimes visible wide open.
f1.4
f2.8
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f2
f4
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Conclusion
The SMC Pentax-M 50mm f1.4 is a solid lens with good mechanical construction, great handling on the Sony A7, and respectable optical performance.
My copy is definitely not the sharpest 50 in its class, particularly in the corners, but there's something attractive about the images it produces. I find that the photos require less post-processing than images coming from other vintage lenses because the contrast and colour are very good straight out of camera. Other positives include smooth bokeh, good flare resistance, and better than average (for this class of lenses) vignetting performance.
Is it better than other vintage fast 50s? Well, I haven't tried them all....yet.
Here are a few more sample shots taken with the SMC Pentax-M 50mm f1.4.
The SMC Pentax-M 50mm f1.4 is a solid lens with good mechanical construction, great handling on the Sony A7, and respectable optical performance.
My copy is definitely not the sharpest 50 in its class, particularly in the corners, but there's something attractive about the images it produces. I find that the photos require less post-processing than images coming from other vintage lenses because the contrast and colour are very good straight out of camera. Other positives include smooth bokeh, good flare resistance, and better than average (for this class of lenses) vignetting performance.
Is it better than other vintage fast 50s? Well, I haven't tried them all....yet.
Here are a few more sample shots taken with the SMC Pentax-M 50mm f1.4.
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Sample Images
Sample Images
