> > > > > What about Pentax-A, Pentax-F, Takumar-A and Takumar-F lenses? Where do > > they fit in? > > John Francis wrote: > > > I find it's best to fit them into the big round hole in the front of the > camera. > > > "A" lenses are manual focus, "F" lenses are auto-focus. The Takumar > > branding generally indicates a budget lens (usually without the SMC > > coating). > > I presume Pentax-A also were without the SMC coating? I had a Pentax-A > 28-80 f3.5-f4.5 and remember it as quite sharp with well controlled > distortion.
There were one or two lenses like that. In general, though, the A lenses were multi-coated (which was indicated by the presence of "smc" or "SMC" somewhere in the name on the lens). The smc coatings evolved over time; those on the "A" lenses quite often appeared very different from the coating on the corresponding "M" lens. I believe the 50mm/f1.4 is a good example to show these differences.
