Chicago at Night with the SMC PENTAX -DA* 1:2.8 16-50mm ED AL [IF] SDM

Cost: Free (average market price, new, $767)

This lens came free to me as it was purchased by my wife several years ago for her Pentax K20D. As she has moved on to Nikon (D800), it is now part of my lens collection.

I can immediately state that this lens will be part of my standard lens kit for when I'm travelling. The excellent sharpness, nice colors and fast aperture makes this a great lens. Additionally, it is weather proof, so ready for use in any condition. But, perhaps most important, as it is an APS-C lens, the focal range is true to my camera (no conversion factor), making this a great lens for large buildings and landscapes.

The lens can be switched from auto to manual, but on my camera (Sony a6000), it is of course always manual as there is no mount adapter available to pass on any aperture, focal or focus information. So neither the screw drive focus as the internal focus motor will work.

This lens is known to fail the SDM motor after a short while and that was indeed the case with this lens. My Pentax K10D is still able to use the body screw drive focus, but on my wife's K20D that only supports SDM for this lens, it stopped working completely.

For an expensive lens, it lacks a stabilization system, as Pentax only support in-body stabilization. As this is not available on my Sony, the high ISO capabilities were really useful for this night time shoot in Chicago.

Zoom and focus rings are smooth, but not as smooth as on the older Pentax A or M lenses, Very easy to manually focus due to the wide focus ring.

For sure, I plant to test this lens again in the summer, under daylight conditions...

Designed for use with the Pentax digital SLR cameras, the DA* lenses have higher quality optics and feature a higher level of weather sealing (AW) than most DA lenses. The DA* lenses are more expensive and generally feature improved light transmission and larger aperture openings for better low light performance. Some DA* lenses also feature both body driven screw drive focusing and the Pentax SDM (Supersonic Drive Motor) lens based focus mechanism.
Some DA* lenses, such as the DA* 16-50 were co-developed with Tokina.

To combat partial reflection, Pentax developed chemical coatings for the lens surfaces with minimum light loss. SMC is "a remarkable seven-layer lens coating process that cuts the reflection ratio down to just 0.2% per lens surface. The result is a dramatic improvement in both color fidelity and brightness and the elimination of flare and ghost images."

SMC was patented and first applied in 1971, when Pentax was still making screw mount equipment. The multi-coated lens lines changed from Takumar and Super-Takumar to Super-Multi-Coated Takumar and later on to SMC Takumar. SMC Pentax was used for the newly introduced K-mount lenses. Pentax's SMC is still today considered as one of the best lens coatings on the market.

The Pentax-developed SDM autofocus systems, with SDM standing for "Supersonic Drive Motor", departs from the previous Pentax system which utilizes a screw-drive autofocus motor inside the camera body. Instead, SDM lenses incorporate an autofocus micro-motor as part of the lens itself. Most current production Pentax Digital SLR bodies are compatible with SDM lenses.
The SDM mechanism is claimed to provide smoother and quieter focusing.

(ED), Pentax lens featuring an extra-low dispersion glass to reduce color aberrations

AL or Aspherical lenses which indicates it has at least one aspherical element in it to improve corner sharpness, especially in wide and ultra wide angle lenses

[IF], or internal focus system which means the lens doesn't get longer or shorter as it focuses. This can be important on large lenses because and external focusing lens can shift balance of the camera dramatically.

Lens Specification:

Focal Length: 16-50mm
Maximum Aperture: F2.8
Minimum Aperture: F22
Image Format: APS-C
Lens Mount: Pentax KAF2
Optics: 15 elements, 12 groups
Blades: 9 blades
Focussing: AF (in lens motor or screwdrive), SDM
Minimum Focus: 30cm
Maximum Magnification: 0.21x
Filter Size: 77mm
Weight: 565g
Length: 98.5mm
Production: 2007 to present

Serial Number: 9012788

More information on Pentax

Samples:

1/50 sec - ISO1600

1/60 sec - ISO1600

1/80 sec - ISO1600

1/100 sec - ISO1600

1/50 sec - ISO1600

1/60 sec - ISO1600

1/80 sec - ISO1600

Sources:
Wikipedia - Pentax
Wikipedia Pentax (Lens)
Pentax Forums
All Photo Lenses

Filter Hoya 49mm CS (Cross Screen)

OK, its not a lens, but I got this filter as part of a lens package, so I though it would be fun to try it out. I used it on the Pentax-A 1:1.7 50mm, that really shows off the effects as it is a very sharp lens. It's also a fast lens so my shutter speed was a lot higher than last weeks shots with the Minolta lens.

The filter adds a four-cross flare to very bright areas, giving a soft-focus effect. Ideal for photographs of ladies wearing jewelry or other objects with strong reflections or lights such as Christmas trees. The filter is also available as a six-pointed and eight-pointed star flare.

Good fun to play with, but don't think I will use it often. But good to have in your toolbox.

Filter Hoya 49mm CS (Cross Screen)

 

Samples:

2.5 sec, 100 ISO, without filter

2.5 sec, 100 ISO, with filter

2.5 sec, 100 ISO, with filter rotated slightly

 

2.5 sec, 100 ISO

2.5 sec, 100 ISO

5 sec, 100 ISO

 

Hoya Filters



Night Photography with the Minolta MC W.Rokkor-SG 1:3.5 28mm

Cost: 18$ - with Minolta SRT101 body (average market price $30)

Again a good find from a Salvation Army Thrift Store.

It's hard to do a photo blog if it is dark when you leave home, and dark when you go back home. And even worse if it has rained for a average of 28 days per month, for the last 2 months. So, it's the season for some night photography!

I really liked shooting with this lens. Butter smooth focus ring and even more smooth aperture ring (maybe a tad to smooth). And I really like the feel and look of the lens. Fully made of metal, resulting in a very solid feel, nicely detailed finish with a sophisticated looking aluminum aperture ring. Easy to find the aperture and focus ring, even in the dark when just working on touch.

Nice to use, easy to focus. It's not a fast lens with a 3.5 minimum aperture, so not that good to capture active scenes, but the slow speed makes it useful for night ocean landscape photography as the lengthy exposures makes the water look velvety.

The APS-C crop factor of 1.5 results in 42mm, providing a nice crop for city skylines from a reasonable distance.

However, that's where the good qualities stop. As a pixel-peeper, it becomes obvious that the lens is lacking in true sharpness, especially in the lower to mid range f-stops. Slightly better when fully closed, but not as sharp as most of my other lenses within that range. But, if you are not a pixel-peeper, you can take some really nice pictures.

This the second generation of the MC W.Rokkor-SG 28mm 1:3.5. with a smaller filter size than the original. In general, most users agree on sharpness problems. The 1:2.8 version of the 28mm of the same era had a much better reputation.

I will have to take this lens out again during day light some other time, to evaluate the color and bokeh features. 

Rokkor: The Rokkor and Auto Rokkor where Minolta's first generation of lenses, with Auto Rokkor being the more expensive one with novel automatic apertures. The Rokkor line was fully manual but priced lower. Quality of the Rokkor lenses was top notch though and remained as the entry level Minolta lenses long after the Auto Rokkor line was replaced.

W.Rokkor: Wide Angle Lenses with SR-Mount

SG: The letter code after the Rokkor name show the optical design of the lens. The code designated the number of groups and elements within a lens:
First Letter (no. of groups): T=3; Q=4; P=5; H=6; S=7; O=8; N=9.
Second Letter (no. of elements): C=3; D=4; E=5; F=6; G=7; H=8; I=9; J=10; K=11; L=12.

MC: Stands for Multi Coated. The MC Rokkor lenses were easily identifiable by the aluminium aperture ring.

Lens Specification:

Focal Length: 28mm

Maximum Aperture: F3.5
Minimum Aperture: F16
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: Minolta SR
Optics: 7 groups, 7 elements
Blades: 6 blades
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 0.6m
Maximum Magnification: ?
Filter Size: 55mm
Weight: 245g
Length: 55mm
Production: 1968-1972
Serial Number: 1527223

Samples:

25 sec - ISO100

30 sec - ISO100

30 sec - ISO100

15 sec - ISO100

30 sec - ISO100

Sources:
Wikipedia - Minolta
Subclub.org
All Photolenses
Minolta.rokkor.de

SMC Pentax-F Zoom 1:3.5-4.5 35-70mm

Cost: 15$ (average market price $45)

This was a real find... 15$ and that included a film-era Pentax body. This time in an SPCA thrift store.

Image quality is excellent. Pretty sharp for an older lens, and nice Pentax SMC colors. But...

This is again a lens made completely from plastic. Combined with the green/gray color, it looks pretty cheap, although not really that light for such a small lens. On this lens, the aperture ring was difficult to move, but that might be the age and specific to the lens. The zoom was much looser, but did not have the typical Pentax smooth feel to it. But the biggest problem was in the focus ring. It was soft alright, but the with of the ring itself was very small, making it sometimes hard to find, and even when found, not practical to use.

The APS-C crop factor of 1.5 results in 52.5-105mm, making it a nice portrait lens. And I was pretty impressed with the image quality for portraits. Although it has a macro setting, I was not to impressed with the sharpness when in macro.

In summary, good color quality and sharpness when not used as Macro, but difficult to use due to the small focus ring (it is a manual lens after all). But if you can get it at a low cost, it's still a good deal.

It seems the community is giving this lens very good reviews, so my issues might be just my own taste... 

To combat partial reflection, Pentax developed chemical coatings for the lens surfaces with minimum light loss. SMC is "a remarkable seven-layer lens coating process that cuts the reflection ratio down to just 0.2% per lens surface. The result is a dramatic improvement in both color fidelity and brightness and the elimination of flare and ghost images."
SMC was patented and first applied in 1971, when Pentax was still making screw mount equipment. The multi-coated lens lines changed from Takumar and Super-Takumar to Super-Multi-Coated Takumar and later on to SMC Takumar. SMC Pentax was used for the newly introduced K-mount lenses. Pentax's SMC is still today considered as one of the best lens coatings on the market.

Lens Specification:

Focal Length: 35-70mm
Maximum Aperture: F3.5
Minimum Aperture: F22
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: Pentax K
Optics: 8 elements, 8 groups
Blades: 6 blades
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 32cm
Maximum Magnification: 0.25x
Filter Size: 49mm
Weight: 235g
Length: 50mm
Production: 1987 until 1991
Serial Number: 1318855

More information on Pentax

Samples:

1/320 sec - ISO640

1/250 sec - ISO100

1/60 sec - ISO250

1/80 sec - ISO100

1/60 sec - ISO100

1/60 sec - ISO500

1/125 sec - ISO400

1/1250 sec - ISO800

Sources:
Wikipedia - Pentax
Pentax Forums
The Northcoast Photographer
All Photolenses

Kitstar Multi Coated 1:4.5 80-200mm

Cost: 15$ (average market price unknown)

Also this was a a local Thrift Store find (Salvation Army). The lens looks as new, dust free, and includes the original lens cap. The rubber was a little worn, but that was easily corrected some gentle brushing with a toothbrush. The lens is a "Push and Pull" type of zoom lens and has a nice look to it, with a solid metal build, and smooth handling of the focus and the zoom. The aperture ring was a little to loose for my liking. I prefer some resistance.

As this is a re-branded lens, so not from the original manufacturer, there is almost no information available online. However, the build, length and and weight of the lens makes me believe the design is based on the Tokina RMC 80-200mm 1:4.5. This specific Tokina lens is considered to be a "better" consumer grade level, and should perform with adequate sharpness over most of the focal length. The 4.5 aperture is nothing special, but it is constant over the complete focal length.

I did not expect to much from a re-brand lens, but was presently surprised with the sharpness and ease of use. Not the sharpest, but pretty good for a lens of that age. Colors were a little flat, but not sure if that was the lens of the current "drab" weather in Vancouver. In any case, it was fairly easy to correct in Lightroom. It is a little confusing that the aperture steps are going from left to right with the widest opening to the left (opposite from most lenses I used).

The macro option is a nice addition. It will not allow for high-detailed insects but with 1:4 magnification, it's sufficient for flowers and similar subjects. Easy to use...

What is unique to this lens though, is that by pressing a button, you can remove the complete aperture section. Not sure what the advantage is here, aside possibly from supporting different mounts natively. It is however concerning that one wrong press of a button can cause the lens to fall out of the mount.

So, in summary, a decent zoom lens... but doubt it will become one of my favorites.

Lens Specification:
Focal Length: 80mm-200mm
Maximum Aperture: F4.5
Minimum Aperture: F22
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: MD (Minolta)
Optics: 12 elements in 9 groups (if based on the Tokina 80-200mm 1:4.5)
Blades: 6 blades
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 2m
Maximum Magnification: 1:4
Filter Size: 52mm
Weight: 590g
Length: 130mm
Production: likely in the 1970's
Serial Number: 104157

Samples:
It's pretty dark and cloudy in Vancouver around this time, so a higher ISO was required. Luckily not a problem on the Sony a6000.

1/400 sec - ISO800 - Macro

1/1250 sec - ISO800

1/640 sec - ISO800 - Macro

1/2000 sec - ISO1600

1/320 sec - ISO1600

1/500 sec - ISO800

 

1/2000 sec - ISO1600

Sources:
 

Sigma UC Zoom 1:4-5.6 70-210mm

Cost: 15$ (average market price $32)

I found this lens at a local Thrifty's Store (Salvation Army). It's a "Push and Pull" type of zoom lens and one the early lenses where Sigma tried a new Ultra-Compact lens design to minimize weight and bulk. The lens looks nice, handles good, but feels a little cheap. There is very little available online on this lens aside from a few user reviews stating that the lens is slow and not always sharp over the complete aperture range.

As the lens is very compact for such a focal range, I would consider this a useful walk-around lens, so my testing was done without a Tripod (almost a must for 210mm without in-lens or in-camera stabilization). I compensated by upping the ISO settings a little.

Some pictures definitely has some sharpness issues, but in general, I was able to make more then a few sharp pictures. Not extremely sharp, but acceptable for a lens in this low to mid-range quality segment. I plan to take this lens out again on a clearer day, to really validate the sharpness. Color wise, I thought the results to be a little flat, so had to add some contrast and color back in Lightroom.

So, in summary, a compact, long range zoom lens... nice to use as a casual street and landscape lens, but limited in quality.

Lens Specification:

Focal Length: 70mm-210mm
Maximum Aperture: F4.0-5.6
Minimum Aperture: F22
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: MD (Minolta)
Optics: unknown
Blades: 6 blades
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 1.2m
Maximum Magnification: unknown
Filter Size: 52mm
Weight: 402g
Length: 88mm
Production: 1992 to 2000
Serial Number: unknown
UC: Ultra Compact lens design, reducing weight and size of the lens.

Samples:

Pictures were taken just before dark, so had to choose a higher ISO in order to get decent shutter speed to maximize the sharpness.

1/800 sec - ISO400

1/500 sec - ISO400

1/160 sec - ISO400

1/400 sec - ISO400

1/160 sec - ISO400

1/400 sec - ISO400

1/1000 sec - ISO800

Sources:

All Photo Lenses

Auto Mamiya Sekor SX 1:2.8 135mm

Cost: 0$ (average market price $200)

I was looking forward to playing with this lens, as it was another one passed on from my dad. I remember taking this lens with us when I was travelling in Afrika with my brother over 30 years ago.

But oh, the disappointment! After reading online reviews, raving about excellent sharpness and color, my expectations were mile-high. This is a big and sharp lens, equipped with a retractable hood.
The SX series lens was manufactured by Mamiya for Mamiya "SX" cameras, enabling open aperture metering with Mamiya MSX/DSX camera's where a small pin transmits the selected aperture value to the camera.

To use this camera on any other M42 mount camera or adapter, you need to press the aperture pin in order to get the aperture blades as chosen on the aperture ring. If the pin is not pressed, the lens remains wide open. Most adapters for M42 will push the pin correctly and so was mine.

However, when testing the lens, it became obvious very quickly that the blades are stuck. As I do not have the correct tools, and without a manual on how to open the lens, I was forced to take all shots wide open, possible reducing the sharpness.

Additionally, due to how the lens is constructed, the aperture ring is hanging over the mount base, causing the aperture ring to get stuck against the adapter. Due to this aperture ring overhang, I was also not able to fully reach infinity focus. So the samples below will show the worst the lens can do.

Lens Specification:
Focal Length: 135mm
Maximum Aperture: F2.8
Minimum Aperture: F22
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: M42
Optics: 4 elements, 4 groups
Blades: 6 blades
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 1.5m
Maximum Magnification: ??0.15x
Filter Size: 52mm
Weight: 520g
Length: 108mm
Production: unknown
Serial Number: unknown

More information on Mamiya

Samples:



Taken with this lens on Pentax SV (35mm film) over 30 years ago...

1/1000 sec - ISO-100

1/1000 sec - ISO125

1/1600 sec - ISO100

Sources:
Wikipedia - Mamiya
The Unofficial Homepage for Mamiya NC Series Cameras
All Photo Lenses
aflenses.net