Testing out Fa 43mm ltd today ...

[roentarre]

This lens is just amazing. Though all the criticism is targeted on its "unsharp" quality wide open, I did not really care much about that at all! It is not that soft wide open but I do stop down the aperture to the range between f2.8 to f5.6.

This lens gives that wonderful 3D look with oil painting quality when the lighting is slightly blue and dim. Like the other 2 fa ltd lenses, it performs better in dark setting. This 3Dness and oily texture effect seems to linger even aperture is f8!

I still have little images coming out of this lens but I am very happy with it. It is very well built, tiny to hold and mine has that silver look. A gem!

All shot in PEF, converted by bibble pro 4.9 and some simple adjustments when needed.

1) Wake boarding shots: sports - AF speed is not that bad at all, freezing actions relatively faster than Fa 77 ltd. I love this lens today as I saw Nikonian guys next to me looking surprised with my tiny baby lens ...

1/2000s f/4.5 at 43.0mm iso200 full exif



1/1500s f/4.5 at 43.0mm iso200 full exif



1/2000s f/4.5 at 43.0mm iso200 full exif



1/2000s f/4.5 at 43.0mm iso200 full exif



2) General low light purpose (some shots do look quite 3D; most are shot relatively fast)

1/8s f/1.9 at 43.0mm iso800 full exif




1/20s f/2.4 at 43.0mm iso400 full exif



1/60s f/6.7 at 43.0mm iso200 full exif



3) Landscape (f8 here)

1/180s f/8.0 at 43.0mm iso100 full exif



1/180s f/8.0 at 43.0mm iso100 full exif








This lens can manage to produce sharp images when stopping down to f8 and it is a different kind of sharp!

Thanks to Regken, Godfrey and Peter Fang for assisting in helping me getting this beautiful lens!

Cheers

[Adam]

You've got some great shots there!

I'm only missing 2 regular FA primes in my collection, this being one of them. I'm still considering it (because the rebate's around ), but I just can't make up my mind.

I know I'll probably end up puting it on the shelf since I prefer the DA 40mm for snapshots (and that one's already on the shelf), but maybe you can convince me! What would make this lens better than all others for standard photos? Is it substantially bigger and easier to grasp than the pancake? As for the 3D effect, I think I'd have to experiment a bit to truly value it, but it clearly makes the 31 limited stand out.

I'm not really concerned for speed since I have a full lineup AF & MF 50mm's

[roentarre]

Originally Posted by Mo

You've got some great shots there!

Joel and I went for some shots today since we were quite dissapointed with our results yesterday. In fact, Joel (moderator) has better results than mine!! He just could not bother to process the shots he did today

Thank you for good words. I never get tired of encouragement

Originally Posted by Mo

I'm only missing 2 FA primes in my collection, this being one of them. I'm still considering it (because the rebate's around ), but I just can't make up my mind.

Adam, you are definitely one of the pentax fanatics... I wished I could have all your collections.

You guys are so lucky to have rebates BTW

Originally Posted by Mo

I know I'll probably end up puting it on the shelf since I prefer the DA 40mm for snapshots (and that one's already on the shelf), but maybe you can convince me! What would make this lens better than all others for standard photos? Is it substantially bigger and easier to grasp than the pancake?

I'm not really concerned for speed since I have a full lineup AF & MF 50mm's

Adam, my dad is a chef and he never gets tired of having all the best selection of knives and tools. In fact, he has plenty of them and a lot of them were just locked up in the safe. Yeah, in the safe! He only uses them when special guests are coming and I found little difference in his cooking

I do not own any Da ltds but I do know that the build of Fa 43mm is fantastic. So tiny yet great build! Today when I was taking the wake boarding shots, the water splash was quite an impressive attack to my gear. I turned my body around and smashed the guy's nose behind me with my Fa 43mm ltd. It withstood the test very well!

Fa 43mm apparently has that mysteriously dreamland quality to scenery shots when used properly. I will take this lens to my holiday trip and see if I could get the shots I have been hearing and seeing over last 2 months regarding this magical lens

Few more food shots

[Marc Langille]

That is one NICE lens - if those are test shots it is a keeper - very well done! Great compositions too...

I was considering the 77mm Ltd, since it would be good for portraits (as would my FA 100/2.8 macro, based on the non-macro shots I've seen).

Now I am not so sure... Hmmm, I'll have to check the rebates!!

Have you or anyone else seen a specific or compelling reason to take one over the other (31mm Ltd vs 43mm Ltd)????

Regards,
Marc

[joele]

Originally Posted by roentarre

Joel and I went for some shots today since we were quite dissapointed with our results yesterday. In fact, Joel (moderator) has better results than mine!! He just could not bother to process the shots he did today

OK thread hijack, you did ask for it ;-)

First two shots are from the DA70 which I just got on Friday (first time out with it) definitely a keeper...









Though I like yours better LOL

[FotoPete]

The Pentaxian Wars
==[Episode II : The Clash of the Limiteds]==

Haha jkjk. Great photos you two! I like that first food photo alot! Would make any kid eat their broccoli. :P

Thos surf photos are also great. Argh we are still pretty mouch covered with snow up up here. No nice blooming flower gardens or people out boating/surfing. Just last week, the Toronto downtown core had to be cordoned off a couple times due to large sheets/chunks of ice falling off the CN Tower.

[Duh_Vinci]

Great photos guys! Fantastic colors and tack sharp!

Regards,
D

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by FotoPete

The Pentaxian Wars
==[Episode II : The Clash of the Limiteds]==

Haha jkjk. Great photos you two! I like that first food photo alot! Would make any kid eat their broccoli. :P

Thos surf photos are also great. Argh we are still pretty mouch covered with snow up up here. No nice blooming flower gardens or people out boating/surfing. Just last week, the Toronto downtown core had to be cordoned off a couple times due to large sheets/chunks of ice falling off the CN Tower.

Joel and James - great shots! Good to know that Pentaxians are begining to show up the Nikonians and Canonites out there.

Fotopete - Yeah, I wish someone got shots of those two guys who scaled the CN Tower to break off the ice! I wanted to see the chunks of ice as they were broken off and falling.

I should have taken the day off, but 200mm won't reach anywhere close to where they are (341m ?) to get a decent shot. Where's a cheap, decent 500mm with a TC when you need one?

[roentarre]

Originally Posted by 35mmfilm_user

That is one NICE lens - if those are test shots it is a keeper - very well done! Great compositions too...

I was considering the 77mm Ltd, since it would be good for portraits (as would my FA 100/2.8 macro, based on the non-macro shots I've seen).

Now I am not so sure... Hmmm, I'll have to check the rebates!!

Have you or anyone else seen a specific or compelling reason to take one over the other (31mm Ltd vs 43mm Ltd)????

Regards,
Marc

Fa31 is certainly bigger than Fa43: at least two times bigger and heavier. But I would never leave two primes at home when I am going for a walk

In terms of image quality, I personally think that Fa31 is more consistent in producing sharp images than Fa43 (I have not used Fa43 long enough though). However, photography is not all about how sharp the images are.

Fa 31: of course wider view; more 3D only when used on protait - subject about 2-3 metre from the subject; subject's eyes tend to sparkle with glints; colour is brilliant.

Target audience - protraits of someone you know well or shot at a short distance

Fa 43: tighter crop; can be used in a candid situation when some backdrop are to be included; definitely faster AF than Fa 31 or Fa 77; the image quality is more of silky oily nature with certain colour; it seems that colour green and orange can be particularly enhanced by this lens.

Target audience - street candids (fair, show, festival). This lens is quite light (not as tiny and Da21 or Da70 Joel has - I want one).

Marc, I tend to use Fa 77 a lot while I had to make an effort to use Fa31. With Fa 31, composition is harder as it is not wide enough for landscape (needs thinking a lot). It is not wide enough for indoor party shots either. It can only be used for protraits with people who do not mind you taking photographs of them. So I tend to force myself to use it when necessary.

Fa 43 is now on the k10d all the time everywhere I go - I can do food shots, people's shots, candid shots etc. Quite handy. My aim is to do a pano using 43 when my holiday trip is coming up this week

Hope my mumbling here helps

[roentarre]

Originally Posted by FotoPete

[center][font=Arial Black] I like that first food photo alot! Would make any kid eat their broccoli. :P

Broccoli is good for you! It is the richest multivitamin remedy out of all vegies, plus the fact that its young sprouts are known to contain breast cancer fighting chemicals which are currently developed to be one of the newer chemotherapy agents. Did you know 100g Broccoli containing enough dosage of multivitamin for a person's daily requirement? Cheaper and contains more fiber

Originally Posted by FotoPete

Thos surf photos are also great. Argh we are still pretty mouch covered with snow up up here. No nice blooming flower gardens or people out boating/surfing. Just last week, the Toronto downtown core had to be cordoned off a couple times due to large sheets/chunks of ice falling off the CN Tower.

We were kind of stuck in one area called Bird'sman show for some time, taking no photographs at all since so many tall people are obscuring our view to the viewing - a bunch of wannabe dressing in weird costume trying to glide in the air as long as they could til they drop into the Melbourne's well known Yarra river - fully colonised with E coli and Listeria...

Lucky the weather is great for our weekend. Good to test lenses with events

To Duh Vinci and Alvin, thanks for dropping by. I think Fa 43 has been a victim of MTF assessment since we do not dislike photographs just because they are not sharp. We are not that shallow Fa 43 is like any limited lens - a specialty lens. You only buy it if you like the rendering from the lens. It seems I have not yet regret any limited lens purchase so far

Cheers

[regken]

James,

The FA43 seems to really shine in low morning light. It is turning into my most used lens. The type of photos I like don't call for real sharpness, more interested in the type of mood the lens captures. Glad you like the lens.
Regards,

[joele]

Originally Posted by Alvin

Joel and James - great shots! Good to know that Pentaxians are begining to show up the Nikonians and Canonites out there.

There was a couple of Nikon shooting Pro's (I think freelance) shooting at the wake boarding, James with his 43 LTD and myself with the DA70 got some very long strange looks from both of them LOL...

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by joele

There was a couple of Nikon shooting Pro's (I think freelance) shooting at the wake boarding, James with his 43 LTD and myself with the DA70 got some very long strange looks from both of them LOL...

They were probably talking amongst themselves saying, "WT* are those lenses on those ******* cameras?" On top of that they probably saw that you know how to use the gear very well and so they were too afraid to come up and ask

[silverbullet]

Aaargh!! I'd almost made the decision to buy a DA40mm limited, and then I read this thread. Now I'm considering the extra $ for the 43mm instead. I guess I shouldn't complain that I have so many great lenses available at reasonable prices.

Chris

[Alvin]

James - Mmm...looking at those food shots makin me hungry again. What's that first one with the broccoli (I'm a huge broccoli and bokchoy fan!) Looks like chicken? Can you send a recipe for that? YUMMY!