Hi all!
I'm just interested in which Pentax lens is supposed to be the sharpest?
I've heard that the SMC m 55/1,8 is a good bet.
How is the pancake SMC m 40/2,8?

Cheers,
calle

The Ltd are supposed to be good. For the money they better be -)

The pancake isnt that sharp, but it's tiny.

A 50/1.7 is probably the sharpest one in that range.
You can find lots of information about pentax lenses here:
http://stans-photography.info/

Well, and the marginal difference between the 50/1.4, 50/1.7, and 55/1.8 is so small as to make it hardly worth pursuing one or another. They're all among the few lenses capable of generating more resolution than most films can record.

I've got a radioactive 50/1.4, recently cured of most of the yellowing by a prolonged sun bath -- and now the meter in my Spottie is acting up. Sigh...

I have & love the 50/1.7 and it's a beauty :D

Of the normals, the 50mm 1.7 has the reputation of an all around sharpest lens. The 43mm at optimum apature is most likely unbeatable. The 50mm macros are the real sleepers. They aren't as popular due to their speed but are most likely the sharpest of all the 50s. As far as which lens is the "sharpest", it is probably one of the longer macros, but the 135mm f1.8 and the various 85mm f1.4 versions have the rep as being Pentax's sharpest lenses. Some members of the PUG did some tests at one time, maybe you can find them doing a google search.

Isaac

I love the old spotties though, my meter works about half the time. I have the 50/2, 50/1.4, and the 55/1.8, and cant honestly tell the difference. I use the 1.4 the majority of the time. The 28/3.5 is very sharp, I use it more then any other K-mount lense. The old K-mount "k" series lenses are sharper then the "m", and "a" according to some. I can see no difference there either. The K lenses are alot rarer because the M series came out so soon afterwards andreplaced the K. The K lenses are built more soundly though have the old takumar feel to them. Pentax glass has always done me proud, I just wish people would stop buying the screwmount taks for there dslrs, they are making the prices skyrocket!! The 40 mm is probably one of the least sharp lenses, but as mentioned above it is TINY.

My 2 cents worth - I think the 43 mm f1.9 is great, the 50 mm f2.8 macro is very good close up but less so at infinity, I do not regard this as a general purpose lens. I have also been impressed by late screw-mount lenses, I used to use 28 mm f3.5 and 35 mm f3.5 on a Bessa L via an adapter (couldn't find a Pentax screw body without vibration problems).

Thanks for all your replies! :)
Is there a difference between the SMC A and SMC M lenses? Optical I mean.
I have found both a SMC A 50/1,7 and a SMC M 40/2,8 at an online auction and placed a bid on them.

For all intents and purposes the same glass. SMC-A lenses have more contacts and work with later bodies in program mode (although I have an MZ5n and this works well with old lenses in aperture priority mode).

The A 50/1.7 is way sharper (and probably one of the *sharpest* normals out there) than the "pancake" 40/2.8.
There are some lenses that have been changed between the M and A versions, but most lenses are pretty much the same.

Example of a shot with my Pentax 50/1.4 alot of grain and a little distortion because of a Yellow filter but otherwise shows why I like this lens.

Check out my website for a photo made with the cheap 50mm f2 lens wide open. It's the red maple shot. Says a lot about Pentax's multicoating...

Isaac

take a look at these tests:

http://www.takinami.com/yoshihiko/photo/lens_test/index.html

in my lens line-up, the M28/3.5, A50/1.7 and the M100/4 Macro are my favorites. I must mention that the M100/4 gives really good results at infinity.

T!

looking more closely at the resolution tests, they reveal that those new "limited" lenses are in fact not sharper than their old manual equivalents.

I beg to differ with those saying the pancake lens is not sharp. I have made rather large blowups from NPS 160 negs taken with this lens that are extremely sharp. Every bit as good as any Nikkor, Canon for Leitz glass I have ever used in the same or similar focal length.

Hmm, why havent anybody posted this link yet?

http://kmp.bdimitrov.de/

For resolution charts click lenses --> Lens resolution.