I Should have stated all my comments were based on primes, not zooms, zooms are another animal altogher mechanically. Secondly, the "M"s which you say they are as "good" as, arent very good compared to the Ks and Super/SMC taks. Its a far cry from those to the "A"s, and thats why I dont really like the "A"s based on my experiences with all of these lenses. Optically some of the "A"s are outstanding, yes, but on average the series is mechanicanlly just not as refined as the earlier lens series they made, and I think it had to do with mfg cost concerns, because by '83 when the "A" lenses came out the third party makers were gaining much more acceptance in the marketplace and were putting hard pressure/competition to keep the lens selling prices down... jco
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bob W Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 5:52 PM To: 'Pentax-Discuss Mail List' Subject: RE: FS: Pentax SMC-A 35mm f/2 In my experience some of the A lenses were crap, but an awful lot of them were just as good as the Ms. Bear in mind that the A range ran from cheap consumer rubbish kit lenses all the way through to the A*s. The only non-M/A lens I owned was the K 28/2, which was certainly no slouch. -- Bob > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of J. C. O'Connell > Sent: 09 January 2007 22:45 > To: 'Pentax-Discuss Mail List' > Subject: RE: FS: Pentax SMC-A 35mm f/2 > > I know this may sound like piling on, but its not, > as I have stated this many times in the past, but > there is/was a also a build quality degradation from K to M > series too, > but > not as much as from M to A. In fact, based on hundreds > (maybe thousands) of Pentax lenses I have had in my > possession over the years, the Super-Taks and Early > SMC-Taks were the pinnable of mechanical refinement > in their MF lens series IMHO. The late rubberized SMC takumars > were slightly worse, and the early K about the same as those, > then the M's even more slightly worse, and then the A series much > worse then M series. I have only had a few F or later lenses and those > were AF so I wont comment on those but there is > definately distictive mechanical quality differences > between the Pentax Man Focus lens series and it went downhill > over time > most likely for cost reasons to stay competitive. Thats > where the old saying they dont make 'em like they used > comes true....This is one of the reasons I am still upset > about the lack of DSLR full support of K/M lenses, I simply do > not like ( hate might be a better word ) the A series lenses > for this reason alone. they just feel like ^%$^$* compared to > a nice K series or Super/SMC Takumar lens. > jco > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of > Digital Image Studio > Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 5:30 PM > To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List > Subject: Re: FS: Pentax SMC-A 35mm f/2 > > > On 10/01/07, J. C. O'Connell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Well if you count all the ones I got and sold > > over the years in pkg. deals, at least a couple > > dozen total. I still have a few mint ones in my collection too but > > even they are crass compared to the M and K ( even M42 too > ) versions > > mechanically, both the focus rings and aperture rings feel $#%$#%# > > and I am talking like new, perfect condtion lenses too. They just > > are simply not as mechanically refined from what I have had the > > opportunity to see.... I havent owned every singly model, no, thats > > why I said "most" instead of "all" .... How many mint condtion > > K and M lenses have you acually owned? ? ? > > Sill have two, but I've owned about ten over the years, mostly M, yes > they feel good but in reality the top end A series lenses that I have > retained are practically just as good. > > -- > Rob Studdert > HURSTVILLE AUSTRALIA > Tel +61-2-9554-4110 > UTC(GMT) +10 Hours > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~distudio//publications/ > Pentax user since 1986, PDMLer since 1998 > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
