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Playing around with a stock 18-55 and a Sigma 70-300 ...
Now, with an SMC Takumar 105 and a CZJ Flektogon 35 too ...

Monday, January 31, 2011

Another prime: SMC Pentax-M 35 f/2 ...

I borrowed this lens from a friend of mine (actually, one of my preferred lens dealer) because he was looking for someone to test it before selling ...
Thus, last weekend, i got a mint SMC Pentax-M 35/2.

SMC Pentax-M 35 f2 - _IGP3236

This is the first time i have one of these on my camera (before, this focal length has been almost the exclusivity of my FA-31, my Flektogon 35/2.4 and my SMC Takumar 35/2) ...

The lens looks quite nice. It has a practical filter thread of 49mm and a nice shortest focusing distance of about 30cm (1ft). Its optical formula is different from the one of the Pentax-K 35/2 (7 elements/7 groups for the M version, 8 elements/8 groups for the K version). I was wondering about its performances when compared to my Super Takumar 35/2 and my SMC Takumar 35/2 but, because of a lack of time, i haven't yet been able to do it.

And, because of the cloudy and rainy weather persecuting me since i got this lens, i'm stuck with indoor pictures. So, i decided to put it on a 12mm extension tube and test its performances at close focusing ...
The pictures have been processed by Silkypix with the default settings except for the color temperature (fixed manually) and an unsharp mask of 70/02/0.

The results: at f/2 ...

SMC Pentax-M 35 2 at f2 - _IGP3297

... and at f/8:

SMC Pentax-M 35 2 at f8 - _IGP3301

Focusing correctly this lens has been quite difficult, but, honestly, i don't know if it has been because of the relatively low light (the lens was on an extension tube) or because it has less contrast than my Pentax-K 28/3.5 or my Flektogon 35/2.4. Anyway, i have been truly surprised by its sharpness wide open (frankly i wasn't expecting it). And i have appreciated also the light CA shown (i didn't want, but it doesn't seem too difficult to fix).

Now, i really want to test it a bit more before it goes for sale.
Hopefully, i will update this post soon ;-) ...

In the meantime, if you are interested in looking at the full size pictures, the Flickr set is here.

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3 Comments:

Blogger Kris said...

Hi,thx for posting the photos.I invite you to visit my blog.I made photos with PORST 50mm F1,7 + Pentax K7.

February 1, 2011 at 12:06 AM  
Blogger Martin said...

I just bought one of these for my K10D. First outing with it this past weekend. As sharp as I expected, prone to some flare with a backlit subject. Focusing is easier with an O-ME53 magnifier mounted on the camera - do not have a split image screen. Don't take too many pictures with it, you may not want to return it :-) Mine is now part of my "limited on a budget" small bag travel kit (28 F2.8 SMC Pentax-A, 35mm F2.0 SMC Pentax-M, 50mm F1.7 SMC Pentax-A, and 85mm F2.0 SMC Pentax-M).

February 1, 2011 at 7:11 AM  
Blogger IndianaDinos said...

Hi all,

@Kriss: thanks to you for stopping here and commenting, will browse to your blog as soon as i finished typing ...

@Martin: Many thanks for your feedback, is always useful to have advices from other users ... Will try to bring the lens outside tomorrow (hopefully). But, unluckily, i will be forced to return it for budget reasons :-( ...
You have some fine lenses in your travel kit ;-) ...

Thanks both for commenting.

February 1, 2011 at 10:10 PM  

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