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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