The first time I bought one, about three years ago, I used it on an ME Super. The size was wonderful, but my problem was that I was trying to use it like the 50mm f/1.7 or 50mm f/1.4 -- I was using it for available light photos indoors and was not pleased with its performance wide open. Since even the 50/1.7 performs much better than the pancake lens at f/2.8 (and can go more than a stop faster, too, of course), I felt it was always a tradeoff when I chose the 40/2.8, even when I was outdoors, since I kept thinking I could be carrying a faster lens instead.
I traded the pancake at some point, but I always missed it a bit. More recently, I picked one up for a more reasonable price and this time, I had two MXes and a different attitude. While the lens hadn't changed, I now appreciate its tremendous compactness and I don't take it along when I think I'm going to be shooting at f/2 or focusing in dim light. But it delivers very nice performance at most apertures, and seems fine at f/4 too, and even f/2.8 will do in a pinch if that's all you have. But it's no slower than Pentax's 28mm f/2.8 and 24mm f/2.8 lenses, and it's faster than the screwmount 35mm, 28mm, and 24mm f/3.5 lenses I've had. So it's really all a matter of perspective. It's a great walkaround lens, it gives the camera a different balance (it tips a little bit backward instead of forward -- the balance in the hand is more like a rangefinder!), and it has the 40mm focal length, which really is a nice compromise between the 35 and 50. It has the SMC coatings, doesn't need a lens hood and delivers nice saturated results.
$125-$150 for one in nice condition is about right.
Joe
This has probably been asked before, but I was wondering how good this lens (SMC M pancake 40mm 2.8) is and what it's worth.. Any experiences to share?
Optically, it is an okay lens imho, good but not great. The problem is that the focus ring is too narrow to use comfortably. The eBay price used to be unbelievably high, and many being tricked to believe it was rare, but should be quite a bit cheaper now. I think US$150 is a good price for a mint sample.
Alan Chan http://www.pbase.com/wlachan
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Joe Wilensky Staff Writer Communication and Marketing Services 1150 Comstock Hall Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853-2601
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