I acquired these two lenses within days of each other. It's only natural to test them against each other :-)

Due to the pretty bad cosmetic condition, and the glasses are not multi-coated, I did not have much expectations for the Mamiya. But it actually turned out to be a surprise. This little gem gives you a bright F2.8 maximum aperture, which is critical for manual focus on macro photography. Also, when used on digital SLRs, the pre-set type aperture is actually much easier to use than the normal type. At F2.8, the Mamiya is absolutely usuable. This lens is one of the very first macro lenses in the Japanese M42 family that goes down to life size. The Yashinon 60mm F2.8 is identical to this lens.

But the Pentax Super-Multi-Coated 50mm F4 is just brilliantly excellent! It's stunningly sharp and contrasty wide open at F4! The smaller size and smooth focusing, typical of all Pentax M42 lenses, plus the exceptional optical performance, are the reasons one fall in love with. The only thing I don't like about this lens is the small maximum aperture, and it only goes down to 1:2, or half life size.

Technical data:

Camera: Canon 10D with split screen
Mirror Lockup: Engaged
Tripod: Manfrotto 290 + #29 head
Cable Release: After market wired cable release
Light: 60watt Tunstang light
White Balance: gray card is used for white balance for each lens
File Format: jpg
Post Sharpening: none

All the pictures here are 100% crops without sharpening