[Wild Mark]

Rumour has it that the earlier FA limited (31/43/77) had 'unique' coatings incline lead, which gave 'superior' or desirable colours.

I was wondering if the same coatings might have been used on the earlier FA50/1.4? I have an 'early' copy and was thinking about keeping it on this basis (if it were true).

Does anyone know of the coatings used on the earlier FA50/1.4 lenses?

Regards

[Digitalis]

Rumour has it that the earlier FA limited (31/43/77) had 'unique' coatings incline lead, which gave 'superior' or desirable colours.

I have never heard of lenses with lead based optical coatings outside of lenses used for radiology. What is used these days for visible light AR coatings are commonly thin films of vapor deposited magnesium fluoride,vanadium nitrate,copper fluoride,hafnium arsenide... but never Lead. However elemental lead has been used in glass chemistry for decades as it makes the glass easier to shape without chipping. Sometimes lead was used in amounts as high as 85%, Cadmium which is categorically worse than Lead has been used in dichroic UV/IR cut filers. In 2003 RoHS declared that commercial optical grade glass cannot contain more than 0.5% lead by weight and outright banned the use of Cadmium in commercially produced glass - which put a big strain on glass manufacturers like Schott, AGI,Cooke..et al to achieve compliance with the directives, because 99% of their product portfolios feature leaded glass. Presently only small amounts of leaded glass with lead content over 5% for specialist purposes (Fine crystal glassware, and radiation shield glass) is made in order to minimize environmental impact.

Unless anyone has compelling evidence to the contrary, I'm calling this rumor complete bunk.

[Nicolas06]

Rumour has it that the earlier FA limited (31/43/77) had 'unique' coatings incline lead, which gave 'superior' or desirable colours.

I was wondering if the same coatings might have been used on the earlier FA50/1.4? I have an 'early' copy and was thinking about keeping it on this basis (if it were true).

Does anyone know of the coatings used on the earlier FA50/1.4 lenses?

Regards

I brought an FA50 lens 2-3 years ago new and it had the warmer rendering of the FA lens line instead of the cooler rendering of DA lens line. To be noticed that I find my FA77 much better than the FA50 that I sold due to lack of sharpness/constrast/AF reliability at large appertures. But they both share a warm rendering with lower constrast than the DA. They are also more prone to flare and CA than you typical DA lens, even more so with HD coatings.

To me you should not keep or sell a lens based on rumors. You have the damn lens, you know what it does well or what it does bad, what you like or dislike. If you think the len is great but other disagree that's their problem, not your. The reverse is also true. if you don't like the lens much it would be strange to keep it because you heard a rumor it must be indeed great or unique in some way.

[monochrome]

Unless anyone has compelling evidence to the contrary, I'm calling this rumor complete bunk.

A more accurate statement (rumor) might be that the glass formula in the early serial FA43's (1997) might have contained lead, so the colors might be a bit different than post 2000~ serials. The later FA77 and FA31 (both 2001) might not be so affected.

[audiobomber]

I find my FA77 much better than the FA50 that I sold due to lack of sharpness/constrast/AF reliability at large appertures.

Were you using a K-5 when you had these AF problems? I just shot some candids of dinner guests with my FA 50 and K-3 at f1.4, and only a small proportion were soft. The ones that didn't turn out I ascribe to motion blur at 1/30s.

I prefer the A and FA colour/contrast to DA lenses for shooting people.

[Digitalis]

A more accurate statement (rumor) might be that the glass formula in the early serial FA43's (1997) might have contained lead, so the colors might be a bit different than post 2000~ serials. The later FA77 and FA31 (both 2001) might not be so affected.

It certainly is possible, but it is almost impossible to prove short of assaying the metal content of the glass used in the FA43, the reason for this is because manufacturers go to painstaking lengths to make sure glass used is colour neutral.The RoHS directives were officially announced in 2003, from what I have read electronics and optical manufacturers were given a grace period of about a year to reach compliance. That gives plenty of time for the FA77 and FA31 to be designed with leaded glass in mind.

[Nicolas06]

Were you using a K-5 when you had these AF problems? I just shot some candids of dinner guests with my FA 50 and K-3 at f1.4, and only a small proportion were soft. The ones that didn't turn out I ascribe to motion blur at 1/30s.

I prefer the A and FA colour/contrast to DA lenses for shooting people.

Yeah it was a big issue with the K5. It worked better with K3 but my feeiing is FA77 is more reliable (while not esp great for AF).

I agree with you for shooting people an FA tend to be better than a DA out of the box for color handling.

You can also use a color profile suited for portraiture, this would typically have much more effect than your lens native color rendering. The FA50 f/1.4 wasn't that sharp neither constrasty and i never managed to get what I wanted out of it while FA77 did it nicely and F135 got me some nice portraits too.

In attachement you can see the color rendering in DxO film pack of (in order): K3, Kodac portra, afga precisa. For a portraiture I tend to choose Kodak portra as a basis. For landscapes/cityscape it depend but often I use afga precisa or the A7 body rendering that I tend to prefer.

What I try to say is that while it is interresting to choose a lens with a nice color rendering there much more possibility than just the lens for that aspect.

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Last edited by Nicolas06; 01-31-2017 at 02:03 PM.

[jkomp316]

In 2003 RoHS declared that commercial optical grade glass cannot contain more than 0.5% lead by weight and outright banned the use of Cadmium in commercially produced glass - which put a big strain on glass manufacturers like Schott, AGI,Cooke...

CFL bulbs in every home are cool though.