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Over the past three months, I have taken hundreds of photographs with my collection of normal lenses. I've been met with some surprises, like the excellent and inexpensive Helios-44M-4 58/2 or the somewhat disappointing Nikkor-S Auto 50/1.4. More often than not, however, I've been faced with choosing between two very similar lenses. I can confidently state that the f/1.4 lenses in this comparison are better in every aspect than the f/2 lenses, but the Normal Lens Shootout has in no way differentiated between any of the f/1.4s themselves. In fact, the penultimate comparison, of the Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 1:1.4 50mm against the SMC Pentax-A 1:1.2 50mm came down essentially to personal preference. Likewise it was only my preference by which the auto focus SMC Pentax-FA 50/1.4 lost to the manual focus SMC Takumar 50/1.4.

The Final

It should be clear by now that the differences between most of these lenses are not applicable to usual print sizes. Even typical enlargements are still one-fourth the size of 100% crops as they are displayed on my monitor. Some of the nuanced differences between even the best and worst of these lenses, therefore, is a moot point for the vast majority of printed photographs. Those making poster-sized prints I would guess rarely do so with f/1.2 shots anyway, as skillful manipulation of an f/11 shot in post-processing allows more exacting control over the final image. This doesn't even touch on sample variance, and the fact that even though my copy of a lens might be good (or bad), it can not be a definitive statement of every such lens.

So the Normal Lens Shootout has come down to my two favorite normal lenses - the M42 screw mount Asahi Optical Co. SMC Takumar 1:1.4 50mm and the SMC Pentax-A 1:1.2 50mm. In the last round, the Pentax-A 50/1.2 barely edged out the Super-Multi-Coated version of the 50/1.4, a result which can optically be duplicated against any of the 50/1.4 lenses. This final match, therefore, is somewhat anticlimactic in its result.

The SMC Pentax-A 1:1.2 50mm, my favorite 50mm lens. (Click the image to see my A50/1.2 gallery.)

The SMC Takumar 1:1.4 50mm, which is also a gem of a lens. (Click the image to see my SMC Tak 50/1.4 gallery.)

I decided to shoot a couple of my standard 'stress tests' for a final look at both of these lenses. (See the photographs of both scenes below.) The results were in-line with the previous matches, with both lenses producing decent but not flawless renditions of these difficult scenes. These two subjects - a series of metal-rimmed drinking glasses and a chrome electrical fan - both present tremendous difficulty to all the lenses I've tested them against. The high-contrast light reflecting off chrome and between glass tend to show purple fringing easily. The irregular glass proves difficult to render well when out of focus, and the colorless chrome fan easily shows off chromatic aberrations around its edges.

All the shots below show these difficulties. To my eye, the SMC Takumar 50/1.4 appears sharper wide open than is the Pentax-A 50/1.2. Certainly the depth of field is shallower at f/1.2, and in real shooting with current cameras, focus error is going to be a decidedly more noticeable flaw than the actual sharpness of either lens. At the shooting distance of approximately 4 feet, the plane of acceptably-sharp focus is not even enough to get an entire person's eyeball in focus through the tips of the eyelashes. Both of them render marvelously, and marvelously sharp, even stopped down to f/2.

The chrome fan crops show very typical Pentax design, with red/magenta fringing in the near bokeh and green fringing to the rear. This type of aberration gets less noticeable at f/2.8, and is also very color-dependent. I would not recommend attempting to shoot chrome objects at wide apertures without expecting to do some post-processing with either of these lenses. Given my experience with all lenses, not just the ones from this Shootout, that is not unreasonable to expect.

The Final Verdict

I decided to do a matchup-style format for this comparison because it is sometimes easy to pick favorites in this way without having to define exactly why. This has come down to a 'wine tasting' contest, where I can't exactly articulate objectively why I like one over the other, yet it certainly is so.

Why, then, is the SMC Pentax-A 1:1.2 50mm lens the Normal Lens Shootout champion?

Plainly stated, it is the one normal lens that I would pick if I had to have just one. It can do all the lovely rendering that the other lenses can, it is (contrary to conventional wisdom) a sharp lens, and it has a weight and build that I like. The A 50/1.2 is bigger than its f/1.4 cousins, which on the Pentax K10D isn't a bad thing after all. Compared to a fast 85mm lens, the A 50/1.2 lens is noticeably smaller - compared to a fast 200mm or 300mm lens it is outright diminutive. It is a finely-built metal, glass, and rubber lens with a silky-smooth focus throw. It is a manual focus lens that is built to last, yet it still maintains all the nice electrical functions offered by modern cameras. And lastly, it has that f/1.2 cachet.

While not perfect, the SMC Pentax-A 1:1.2 50mm does everything well, and some things outstanding. It is also a somewhat rare gem, one that in my opinion is worth seeking out. It has earned a continuous place in my camera bag, and has won my Normal Lens Shootout.