Marco Aries

Back in 2019 I bought an Asahi Pentax-M 50mm f1.7 and right away I was surprised by how good it was and by the pleasant warm tones it produced. Since then I’ve been slowly putting together a kit, even branching out in the A series and the reissued Takumars, but I always find myself coming back to the M series. The lens is made out of metal, it weights 400g, it is 111 to 136mm long and it has an external diameter of 63mm, with a 52mm front thread. It also has a built in sunhood. The iris has 8 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f4 to f32 with half steps. The focusing ring is rubberized, it turns 230 degrees and minimum focusing distance is 2 meters. Flange distance for the PK mount is 45,46mm. The wide focusing ring is very smooth, comfortable to grip and the long throw makes fine adjustments easier. While the lens is fairly light in weight, it is also a bit on the longer side, meaning that on lighter camera bodies, can lead to a front heavy system. Sharpness is good yet n

Introduced in 1981 along with the X series of cameras, improving on the previous MC and SR systems and dropping the Rokkor name, this Minolta MD 50mm f2 was sold as the kit lens. According to the owner’s manual, it was one of four 50mm for the system, along with the f1.7, 1.4 and 1.2, but it was not available in the USA. So, how good can a 40 years old kit lens be? Well, you’d be surprised! The lens is made out of metal and plastic, it weights 155g, it is 36 to 45mm long and has an external diameter of 63mm, with a 49mm front thread. It has a 47 degrees angle of view and a 6 elements in 5 groups construction. The iris has 6 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f2 to f22 with half steps. The focusing ring is rubberized, it turns 180 degrees and minimum focusing distance is 45cm. Flange distance for the Minolta SR mount is 43,5mm The f2 and f1.7 versions are almost identical; the only difference is that the 1.7 weighs 10 grams more. Build quality is great, there is nothing lo