| Author: | | New Member Registered: October, 2011 Posts: 5 | | Review Date: September 24, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $449.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Stunning Color and Clarity | | Cons: | Minimum Focusing Distance | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K5
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One of the reasons why other camera systems will always play second fiddle to Pentax. They don't have FA Limiteds!
Pros:
1) Amazing colors, depth and clarity
2) Pretty quick AF
3) Compact and jewel-like
4) Good compromise between wide and short-tele, perfect for traveling light
Cons:
1) Price and availability
2) Minor PF wide-open
3) Some AF hunting in low-light
4) Focal length may be odd for some
For best results, some AF Fine Adjustment may be necessary as my camera was back-focusing with this lens. A little Focus Correction via PK_Tether (Debug mode) on my K5 took care of the issue.
I have a DA* 50-135, F 50 1.7, F 70-210 which are pretty awesome, but this is truly something special.
 | | | | | | | New Member Registered: November, 2010 Location: Aarhus Posts: 15 | | Review Date: September 8, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $680.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Super sharp, great color, compact size | | Cons: | Only minor things, Feeling of the focus ring, lens hood and cap | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K7, LX
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This is a great lens. It is extremely sharp and the image quality is fantastic. This lens is great on both film and digital.
The only real negative this about this lens is the lens hood and cap arrangement. The lens hood screws into the filter thread and the lens cap fits only onto the lens hood and not the lens itself. The lens hood will easily be loosened when removing the lens cap, which is a bit annoying. This is a minor thing and it can easily be fixed by replacing the hood and cap with a traditional lens cap.
I can highly recommend this lens!
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: June, 2011 Location: Arlington, TN Posts: 106
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 7, 2012 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Build, Image Quality | | Cons: | Focusing a tad slow, but acceptable. | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 9
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K20D
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So far I really like what I am seeing from this lens.
I Initially bought it because the focal length allows me to capture candids of my son from the distance I like to capture him. My personal experience and use with a 50mm on the crop sensor was a little too long for my liking.
Anyway, once I made some minor focus adjustments in my K20D this lens has proven to be very sharp and I have had to soften up some shots in post processing. I would rather soften than sharpen, so this is a plus.
I think it produces some great character in the images it captures and has to be one of the best values in the Limited primes from Pentax. A very good lens on all accounts for me and it will probably never leave me. And I am one those guys who swaps and sells until I find the right lens for the job.
Here are a few from the other day. The first three were captured as jpeg's and the last one's were captured RAW. (Hopefully they will help you out):
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 | | | | | Senior Member Registered: July, 2010 Location: MD Posts: 170
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 12, 2012 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | contrast, sharpness, color rendering | | Cons: | | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: Pentax
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This is the best lens I have ever used. The color rendering and contrast are absolutely brilliant. It is a terrific lens for couple portraits, especially indoors. At f1.9, it is very sharp and you stop down a little, it becomes razor sharp. I sold the DA40 immediately after getting the FA43. I don't regret it one bit. FA 43 is in a league of its own.
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: May, 2010 Location: Borlänge, Sweden Posts: 373
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 24, 2012 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp. Truly unique rendering. Metal. | | Cons: | what? | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: k-5
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This is a clear 10. Buy it, it's the best glass I've ever tried or seen.
I thought FA 35 and DA 40 was something. Sure they are good, but they are not near the 43, least the 35, they are ~9 and this is 10+.
+
It has a long focus throw that makes accurate. (Stop complaining about slow af, thank you)
Sharpness is incredible.
Contrast is insane - almost too contrasty 
"Pixiedust" rendering out of this world, I love it. 
-
No quick shift
| | | | | New Member Registered: January, 2012 Posts: 4
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 16, 2012 | Recommended
| Rating: N/A |
| Pros: | excellent indoors most of time | | Cons: | variable. perhaps a bad copy. I'm waiting for an exchange. | | New or Used: New
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I'm not yet ready to review until I get a replacement copy. I was puzzled by the variable performance.
edh
Later addition, now that I have another copy. I now begin to see a possible source of my confusion. In my extravagance, have copies of both 40mm and 43mm Pentax.
Testing both at f4, I find that the 43mm is sharper in well-shielded situations with the light behind and with little flare, but that the 40mm does a better job in backlit situations. Have others had the same experience? If so, is it because the 40mm has fewer elements and thus fewer internal, glass-to-air-to-glass reflections? My instinct then is to use the 43mm indoors and on cloudy days outdoors, but go with the 40mm outdoors on bright days. If I had to take just one of them for all occasions, I'd reluctantly go with the 40mm.
edh
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: February, 2011 Posts: 118 | | Review Date: November 18, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $550.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | color rendition, superb bokeh, 3d rendering, sharp enough | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
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I have a black version with serial number 0013XXX. According to some records those were sold with MZ-3 in a limited package, and were made from a late batch contain lead element in glass, before industry shift in early 2000s.
Lead-containing FA 43s are generally more sought after because of the 'pixie dust' factor.
It's a terrific lens very sharp stopped down a click or two, but it's a tad soft wide open though not as soft as the 50/1.4s. This works well for portraits. Color rendition is excellent. Definitely my go-to lens for portraits in this focal range.
According to some blog posts of a pentaxian who is obsessed with FA 43 , the earlier batch are the sharpest lead-containing lenses, with serial numbers lower than 1000. However, I have yet to find one of those to confirm.
No matter what serial number is on yours, you wont' be disappointed with this lens.
Highly recommended.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: October, 2011 Location: Temple City CA Posts: 726 | | Review Date: November 9, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $580.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | godness sharpness, colour is out of the world great! | | Cons: | haha only been using it for 10 days, none found so far! | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 9
New or Used: New
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I rated it 9.50, so that's became 10 , before buying this one(not for myself, but for a friend aboard that is sold about USD $100 more, I got a chance to test drive it! ) after seeing the 1st few shots, my jaw dropped! What colour and sharpness! I also own the FA 50.4 and FA 30/2, their pictures qualities aren't even close!! The bad thing about this experience is eventually I will send this away ....surely will miss to use it.
When I tried to use it focusing into a shadow over on a bright sunny day, the purple fring is pretty obvous, plus it isn't an "ultra/super sonic lens, but is very fast for a screw drive lens!
It is the most inexpensive of the 3 (FA31, and FA77) I have gotten a good deal of it usually sold for upper USD $600, hoping I will be able to try on the other 2 FA lenses memtioned up there, for someone who want to limited FA lenses, this is the one who isn't going to disappoint you for starter!
p.s. modern Pentax lenses are mostly made in Vietnam instead of Japan, I don't have them compare, but this one is pretty darn good | | | | | Senior Member Registered: January, 2010 Location: Gothenburg, aka Göteborg Posts: 234 | | Review Date: September 28, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $1,000.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, colour and size. Plus overall style and build-quality | | Cons: | The lens hood (a bayonet hood had been much better | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 9
New or Used: New
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As other have mentioned it is an outstanding lens. Even if I have the DA40, and the FA50/1.4 (late donated to my wife), and this little beauty costs as much as both of those, it really is a delight to use, and in practice, have replaced both, not least indoors. The wife has the FA77, so we just lack the FA31 or the full set ... just kidding!
I still use the DA40 as it is a rugged lens, capable of good shots, but it isn't quite in the same league as the FA43. The FA43 also comes handy with my old film Pentax SFX camera, by the way!
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: March, 2011 Location: United States Posts: 183 | | Review Date: September 25, 2011 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | sharpness, color, construction | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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There is not much more to be said different from the other reviews.
This MIJ lens is perfection. Never tried the AIV version of this particular lens so can not compare.
The lens is flawless. Sharper than the F50mmf1.4 across all apertures. Rendering is excellent. This is the 30mm to 50mm prime lens to get.
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: September, 2011 Posts: 1 | | Review Date: September 15, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $875.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharpness since an open aperture, excellent colors, pleasant a bokeh | | Cons: | The price | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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Excellent lens, sharp from an open aperture, excellent transfer of semitones of color. Approaches both for a portrait and for a landscape. Some my photos.
 | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: January, 2009 Location: East Bay Area, CA Posts: 6,622
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 22, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $550.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | compact, beautiful wide open rendering, all metal build. | | Cons: | i wish it had 7 or 9 aperture blades for nicer starbursts. | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 9
New or Used: Used
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Honestly, reading these very reviews and seeing the sample images was all it took to put this lens at the top of my LBA list. I purchased three FA limiteds recently and this one is so small it can always be in the bag. The FL is a convenient one, just slightly wider than my very comfortable 50 and 58mm lenses.
They say it's the photographer more than the equipment, but I can pretty much point this lens at anything and it takes an interesting photograph. I love the wide open rendering of this lens where it is surprisingly sharp...it gets even better by f/2.8-f/4.
Bokeh is nice though not as great as the 31 or 77, IMO. No issues with flaring or anything else. I do a good deal of manual focusing and the focus ring on this lens is naturally quite small given the compact design...but i can live with that!
 | | | | | Forum Member Registered: February, 2011 Location: Warsaw Posts: 93 | | Review Date: June 18, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $570.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | size, image quality when stopped down, color rendition, speed | | Cons: | not as well built as the DA Ltds, soft wide open, | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 9
New or Used: New
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I give a 9, but in fact it's more like 8.5 in my view.
It's the first FA Ltd I have bought. Quite naturally, the first thing I did was to compare it's build quality to the couple of DA Ltds I already have had (DA 35 macro, which I have sold; and DA 70).
This is the first thing I do not like about the lens. My copy is assembled in Vietnam, whereas the DAs are made in Japan. I am not at all prejudiced or anything (after all my K5 was made in the Phillipines), but the difference is there. And its BIG. The lens feels wobbly (a bit like the DA 70, but very, very much more than the DA 35 macro). The aperture blades do not align in a tidy shape. Overall, it's less excellent. Here I'd give a "6" or maybe a 7 for it being all metal body.
The second thing is the softness wide open. Try hard as I did, no single picture is sharp at 1.9. OK, I took all of them indoors, but still, that's why I bought the lens. To shoot without flash indoors. Again, a "7".
My best achievement to date [ISO 200; wide open at f/ 1.9; 1/800s]:
(Non working link removed)
When stopped down the lens is great. Beyond 2.8 it becomes very sharp. Colors are very nice and overall the images have a bit different "feel" than from the DAs.
The 43 is a very versatile lens with its comfortable size and weight. So it stays on my camera as the default lens.
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: March, 2010 Posts: 72
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 3, 2011 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Excellent IQ, superb build | | Cons: | Excellent IQ, but not unsurpassed | |
The FA43 is an utterly seductive lens: through its elegant but solid build and its unusual focal length, it exudes an aura of being special; as such, it's simply irresistible for any photographic afficionado. But does the image quality it delivers live up to the expectations created by the lens as an object?
Personally, I don't think the image quality is as unbeatable as you might think when you've fallen in love with the lens (which you are bound to, once you've laid your hands on it). I have now had two copies of the FA43, and in both cases, I found the image quality to be slightly inferior to the FA35/2.0 and specifically the F50/1.4, which are adjacent to FA43 in terms of focal length. More exactly, the sharpness and resolution of the FA43 is less than that of the other two. In other respects (fringing, distortions) all three perform very well.
Overall, I suspect that the stellar image quality claimed for the FA43 is indeed an attribution, a projection of the beauty of the lens as such. It is a very very good lens, definitely, and it's a joy to hold and behold, but in the context of a Pentax line-up, it's not unsurpassed.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: March, 2009 Location: Ohio, USA/ India Posts: 478
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 16, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $569.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Astounding portrait lens, Can shoot a small group with ease, great indoors | | Cons: | Nothing | | New or Used: New
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This was the last of the FA LTDs I purchased. I was a fool to wait that long. For some reason I felt that FA 77 was all I needed among the trio. Then I felt that the FA 31 is a one of a kind and should be had. The 43 kind of felt very superfluous considering I had the fabulous DA 40. But then one day I told myself that I would give this a try and I was hooked. It is just one great lens. It's focal length is great on the cropped DSLRs for indoor portraits.
If you do not have any of the FA limiteds and are wondering if you should venture into their world I strongly recommend starting with the 43 (and not putting it off to the last like I did).
I think over time Pentax should put a bold ASSEMBLED IN VIETNAM sign on their lenses. The recent batch of FA limiteds are just as spectacular as the MIJs and people should not doubt the quality of a lens just because it got assembled elsewhere.
Edit: Sample image taken at a museum:
[/url] [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/9678931@N07/6777350549/]IMGP2940[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/9678931@N07/]arvindh76[/url], on Flickr" target="_blank"> IMGP2940 by arvindh76, on Flickr
[/url] [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/9678931@N07/7638513920/]ARVI6226[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/9678931@N07/]arvindh76[/url], on Flickr" target="_blank"> ARVI6226 by arvindh76, on Flickr | | |
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