Philosophically, Pentax went with small/light primes as an alternative to zooms. I can still carry 2-3 primes for every zoom I might use, and get better performance - Faster maximum apertures and sharper results.
The K lenses are a carry on from the screwmount era. After 20 years of tweaking, Pentax made some damned fine screwmount lenses - the SMC 85/1.8 for example or the SMC 135/2.5. When they jumped to the K-mount, they stole shamelessly from their best screwmount designs. The K 85/1.8 was preceeded by the screwmount SMC 85/1.8, SMC 85/1.9, Super Takumar 85/1.9, etc. It should be no big surprise that the 4th or 5th version of the lens was optically great, even legendary.
But the K mount lenses are big and heavy. They work well and fit well with the K series cameras, KM, K2, KX, K2DMD, but these are expensive to manufacture mechanical cameras. Pentax introduced the miniature MX and ME cameras. They were cheaper, a terriffic success in the market, and a poor fit for the big old K lenses.
At the same time, Pentax and the major manufactures were holding out for optical quality. They wouldn't sell zoom lenses because the quality was INFERIOR to their standards. They left the zooms to 3rd parties, but those zooms were making inroads. Hence the strategy for a new line of smaller, lighter lenses to fit with the small cameras, and be nearly as transportable as a single zoom. Ultimately, this strategy failed.
Some of the A lens line is an improvement over the M line, but several are basically the same. The 50mm lenses are identical. The 28 M & A are the same. I think the M135/3.5 is superior to the A135/2.8 (and certainly the A 135 Takumar). I don't know that there is much difference between the M and A 100/2.8 or 200/4. Some people condemn the M85/2 as too soft, but it's a fine portrait lens and I'll match it against your zoom in a poorly lit room any day of the week. Many folks don't like the plastic parts on the A series lenses that replaced the metal in the M series. And yes, there are some A* lenses that are extraordinary including the A*85/1.4 and A*135/1.8 - real gems without any plastic. And lenses they never made in the M series like the A200/2.8 or A100/2.8 Macro or A20/2.8... Or the A35-105/3.5 zoom, a Pentax quality zoom. Or the A200/4 Macro.
After that, the great new lense designs get harder to find. I've heard of the F80-210/3.5-4.5 Zoom, the FA 85/1.4, the FA 28-105/3.5-4.5(?), the FA28-70/2.8 and the FA80-210/2.8, and of course the 300 and 400mm versions of F and FA lenses at 4.5 or 2.8(?). Finally, the Limited lens line is the throw back to small, no compromise, single focal length lenses.
So finally, I don't see the M lenses as the bottom of the line. Hundreds of thousands of each M lens reached the market because millions of ME's were sold. The cameras may have survived, but the lenses always did.
These lenses perform nearly identically to the K lenses they replaced. With the M 120/2.8 and M150/3.5, you will be hard pressed to find a match in today's lens line-up. The M20/4 makes the K20/4 look like a 135mm lens and performs similarly. Same for the M28/2 vs K20/2. The original K's are BIG, with no advantage in performance. And most of the M series carry a standard 49mm front filter.
The M series are fine lenses, designed with a purpose in mind which they achieved for the most part. It's your good fortune that thousands of these lenses are available on the used market, their quality is supurb, and you can have them for a cheap price. Yes, you can get a sharper version of many of these focal lengths in one of the rare older or newer lenses. My first advice is to sharpen up your technique, get a tripod, etc. before you start looking for 'better' Pentax glass. The M series is capable of out shooting most of us!
Regards, Bob S.
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: M lenses Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2003 09:06:48 -0500 (CDT)
On Tue, 7 Oct 2003, Mark Roberts wrote:
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > KEH.com is knee-deep in M lenses. > > But they can't keep later lenses in stock. This should tell us > something.
OK, here's a question for those of you with broader experience of pentax lenses (I've used K, M, and A*)--are the "M" lenses the low-water mark of pentax optics? I would think either that or sales volume accounts for their prevalence on the used market.
In almost every case the "M" lens that replaced a "K" lens is not as well thought of. Often, the "A" lens that replaced the "M" lens is better thought of. My guess is that in miniaturizing the "M" series pentax did make compromises optically and only gained it back with better manufacturing technology and design tweaks in the later lenses. I can't offhand think of any of the pentax legends that are "M" lenses only, except perhaps the 20mm f/4. Most of the legendary lenses are either "K" lenses that date from the screw-mount era (85 f/1.8, 105 f/2.5), new "K" lenses (18 f/3.5, 30 f/2.8, 200 f/2.5), or newer "A*" and "FA limited" top-of-the-line glass.
DJE
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