This week I will be reviewing the Promaster Spectrum 7 MC 28mm 1:2.8 lens.  This particular lens is a Pentax k-mount, so you will need to either be using an adapter for your body or using a Pentax body.

The Promaster 28mm is both a wide-angle lens and a macro for some close-up photography. I’ve been using it for landscape photography, botanical and prop work.

Kenji Uegaki

This Promaster lens build was pretty light-weight, lacking  the solid metal feel of some older m42 lenses like the Hanimex I reviewed recently. There was a fair amount of plastic in the body, which made me feel a little paranoid sometimes when using it.

More lens reviews

• Lens review: Promaster Spectrum 7 MC 28mm f2.8
• Lens review - SMC Pentax-M Asahi 50mm 2.8 1:2
• Review of Hanimex 135mm F2.8 m42 mounted lens.

What really makes this lens shine though was the quality of its macro images. The bokeh was smooth and detail sharp and clear. Like I said earlier, it really shines in close in work. I also recently used it in a series of photographs of espresso cups. The shots taken with the Promaster actually turned out better than the tripod-mounted shots I was taking with my Asahi lens.

As far as landscape photography, it does an adequate job. Its nothing amazing but, if you need a wider lens and don’t like using zooms, this lens will do the job. Its really great for this when you consider the price.

Because the Promaster seems to be a mish-mash of various lens manufactures the quality can vary widely. But, the price of buying one of these used off of a site like eBay can be a really good deal.  I won the bid for this little lens for 18.00 U.S. dollars. Thats really cheap considering the versatility it offers.

cfinke

Now, there is a word of caution for this lens. You’re going to need to make a minor modification to get it to mount to your Pentax body. See, there is an extra pin that really serves no purpose on dSLR cameras. What happens is the extra pin gets stuck in the mount on modern Pentax cameras.

Instead of explaining this myself, I’m going to direct you to theaterofnoise for a detailed answer on how to fix this problem.

Here are some tips from my own experience doing this, in case it might help:

• Have plenty of light
• Mark how each part comes off or, take pictures of each step
• Have a set of jewelers screw drivers
• Tweezers
• A lot of patience

I think for the price this can be a great lens to add to your collection. It can work great for a macro lens with some nice bokeh for botanical shots or prop shots.

Some shots from gallery taken with the Promaster 28mm

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This week I’ll be reviewing the SMC Pentax-M Asahi 50mm 2.8 1:2 manual lens. Its a  k-mount lens for mounting on many Pentax cameras. I’ve tested the lens in every-day situations with only minor adjustments to the RAW files. Mainly boosting sharpness and contrast.

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Older lenses are very popular with both amateur and pro photographers alike. You can get some unique images that aren’t always achievable with modern glass. Or, if it is, will cost you an arm and a leg. So, if you’re just really tight with your coin, enjoy the hunt for older glass, or just really poor this can be a great option for you.

SMC Pentax-M Asahi 50mm 2.8 1:2

This lens has been in the family for around twenty years, moving from my P-38 to my Pentax dSLR. I’ll go ahead and admit its one of my favorite pieces of glass. With great bokeh, really nice color and a thin depth-of-field thats perfect for portrait photography.

I shot photographs on a cold cloudy day and, a cool winter evening with some golden sunset. I shot a range of distances so you can get an idea of how this lens focuses at different zones.

Here are my findings:

• Solid all-metal construction. I can attest to that with two decades of use.
• Smooth, fast focus
• Handles low(er) light setting well with 2.8 opening
• Pre-aperture preview still works on this older lens with my particular Pentax dSLR
• AF alert functions
• Nice color
• Nice bokeh

I promise, no one died in the making of this photograph.

This is a solid lens, great for portraits or selective focus. I’m really happy with the results, and I think you will be too if you can happen to snag one off of eBay or a local seller in older glass.

Here are a few samples. These are untreated to give you a real world example of how they come out of the camera.

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For those of us who take pictures on a meager budget, we are always looking for the next trick or hack, to avoid paying the price for a sometimes costly hobby or business. One of those ways is to invest in old glass. No, not an old dirty drinking glass. Old lenses that have gone by the way-side in this digital age.

One of the more popular groups of old lenses are considered M42 mount lenses. They represent a whole slew of glass that was part of a very popular mounting base, sometimes known as a Pentax mount as well. Its a screw-in arrangement since the base is threaded. And for most new dSLR’s you will need an adapter to get it to attach to your particular body.

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Today I’m going to give a brief review of a Hanimex 135mm f.28 lens. Its by far not the “best” glass in old lenses, as it was considered to be one of the many economy or knock-off brands that was popular back in the seventies and eighties. But, surprisingly or maybe not, it produced a unique image that’s worth taking note of.

Hanimex 135mm F2.8 m42

In fact,  a lot of old glass is worth taking note of. Because the quality in some of these old knock-offs actually surpass what you get today in a more premium lens. The build is usually more sturdy, the glass sometimes larger, and the image can be very unique. But, enough about the value of owning old glass lets talk about this particular one.

The build on my copy was very sturdy. All metal construction, clean glass – overall no major problems with the lens itself. The focus was responsive, but a little stiff.

I took it out for a test-drive on a sunny evening in a nearby town. And yes, as usual – it was cold (sigh.) Windy, and cold, when will spring ever arrive? For this test I tested in urban areas, alleys, street corners sidewalks etc. And I was also trying to see how the lens would respond to diminishing light since it was around 4:30 pm when I started my walk.

Here are my impressions:

• Bright lens. The Hanimex responded very well to light. I usually needed to stop down more than expected to keep from blowing out highlights.
• Nice depth-of-field. Most of these shots are taken between 5.6 – 8 stops.
• Bokeh is also pretty nice for this lens.
• The colors produced are often a mix of warm browns with blue deeper tones. Its a bit more of an unusual tone than I’m used to with my other lenses. But, I’m enjoying it.
• Chromatic aberration. Unfortunately this was the one weak area of this lens. You will need to do some post work to remove fringing, but its not the worst I’ve ever seen.
• Detail and sharpness. If you look at the video below you can see a few that have some very nice detail and sharpness. I was impressed with the level it was able to deliver.

So, overall its a nice lens for the price. You can normally find a lens like this on sites like eBay at a very modest price tag. Which is important for broke people like myself.

The next part of the review will deal mainly with adapting it to your camera. And in this case, since I shoot with Pentax, how you attach to that brand.

You will want an Pentax M42 adapter to make this work properly. Please, don’t even bother with one of the many knock-off copies you will easily find floating around the web and on sites like Amazon or eBay. These cheaper versions just don’t hold up.

The first problem you will find with them is that one, they break. And when they do you will need to pry that lens away from your camera body – a scary thought. And two, they don’t allow  you to focus to infinity – kind of ruins the fun doesn’t it? So, do yourself a favor and buy a genuine Pentax adapter, you will be much happier.

Original Pentax m42 adapter.

How the adapter works is you place it into the camera body, much like you would a normal K-mount lens. Turn it, it snaps in place and thats it. Then just screw the lens into the adapter and start taking pictures. You will in most cases loose the ability to get AF to alert when something is in focus, so you will need to do it the old fashioned way, and really pay attention to your view finder.

Next, set your camera  and lens to manual and go take some pictures!

Below is a short video of some of the photos taken with the Hanimex.