[Blue]

Two things surprised me.
1. The AL lens is surprisingly good, especially for a kit lens. It is a great deal.
and
2. The color difference with the FA. I hadn't thought that the WB would change, but that is an interesting thought. Maybe we can get Ned to post the raw files.
I'm still not sure what I'm going to get, but my heart just loves the feel of the FA.
David

I wouldn't call it a kit lens per se. While it is offered in a few kits, so were some of the better zooms in the past.

[DAKS]

That's a good point.
It certainly stands on its own.

[SylBer]

I can't speak for the 35/2.4, but I have the 31/1.8 and owned the 35/2.8. The 35/2.8 is an extraordinairy lens for closeup work and as a walkabout lens. Why did i sell it to buy the 31/2.8 ? Because it doesn't focus very fast and it's a little slow (relatively speaking) at f2.8. I never regreted selling the 35/2.8 and the 31/1.8 is now stuck on my camera almost permanently.

[civiletti]

Looking at the full size images:

The 31mm image is warmer. This could be the lens, or it could be the lighting.
The three lenses are equal in IQ at image center.
The 31mm has higher resolution and/or contrast in the corners.

Overall, a great showing for the plastic kit lens.

[wlachan]

Hover over each image and the click "download full size".

Arg... it's my FF. It shows up on IE.

[Ivan Glisin]

Ned says:

By shooting at f/5.6 for all three lenses, I simply wanted to see how the color rendering, contrast, and sharpness of this new lens (at a commonly used aperture) compares to the highly regarded DA 35mm Macro and FA 31mm Limited.

EXIF says auto white balance. What was exactly tested? Lens optics, or AWB algorithm impacted by slightly different FOV and slight change in the scene (people and clouds have moved).

I'd say comparing color rendering between lenses would make sense only on manual WB and under controlled lighting conditions.

[timh]

It's a bad test. Focus is different in each shot, white balance and exposure is different in each shot.

I can't make any meaningful comparison, which is a shame after wasting a few minutes downloading and staring at the full-sized images.

[Kammerer]

It's a bad test. Focus is different in each shot, white balance and exposure is different in each shot.

I can't make any meaningful comparison, which is a shame after wasting a few minutes downloading and staring at the full-sized images.

I don't think Ned really meant to do a measured comparison. Maybe he was just making a marketing point - Pentax has the "normal" range covered with three primes, from budget to boutique. Pick the one you like and can afford.

[timh]

Maybe he was just making a marketing point - Pentax has the "normal" range covered with three primes, from budget to boutique. Pick the one you like and can afford.

In that case, their more conventional method of conveying this point works better. The "standard" category is missing the 40 Ltd though, for some reason - bit of an oversight!

[taurus9]

It's a bad test. Focus is different in each shot, white balance and exposure is different in each shot.

I can't make any meaningful comparison, which is a shame after wasting a few minutes downloading and staring at the full-sized images.

They were all shot at 1/1600 and f5.6 when I load the images up in Bridge CS. In fact, Ned captured these in DNGs with AWB. He normalized the white balance in post (at 5500K) according to the Camera Raw metadata displayed in Bridge CS. So I do believe that the warmer rendering of the FA Ltd is due to the lens.

[dgaies]

I don't think Ned really meant to do a measured comparison. Maybe he was just making a marketing point - Pentax has the "normal" range covered with three primes, from budget to boutique. Pick the one you like and can afford.

I tend to agree. It takes a fair amount of thought and preperation to perform a fair and well controlled test to compare different lenses. The vast majority of "test shots" that people take in an effort to compare two lenses (or cameras bodies for that matter) have far too many uncontrolled variables to accomplish their intended purpose.

[timh]

They were all shot at 1/1600 and f5.6 when I load the images up in Bridge CS. In fact, Ned captured these in DNGs with AWB. He normalized the white balance in post (at 5500K) according to the Camera Raw metadata displayed in Bridge CS. So I do believe that the warmer rendering of the FA Ltd is due to the lens.

Fair enough, I stand corrected. The light may also have changed, but pausing the weather is rather difficult.

Still, shame about the focus, sharpness is more important to me than colour rendering.

I suppose the most interesting thing is how similar they all are at f5.6 in a real life situation.

[Kammerer]

In that case, their more conventional method of conveying this point works better.

What I like about Ned's images is that you can download their full resolution versions. Big thanks for that. Elsewhere you usually see images converted to, say, 800x600 - this is just not useful for lens evaluation.

[civiletti]

They were all shot at 1/1600 and f5.6 when I load the images up in Bridge CS. In fact, Ned captured these in DNGs with AWB. He normalized the white balance in post (at 5500K) according to the Camera Raw metadata displayed in Bridge CS. So I do believe that the warmer rendering of the FA Ltd is due to the lens.

How would post-production software differentiate between warmness caused by ambient light and warmness caused by the lens?

[taurus9]

How would post-production software differentiate between warmness caused by ambient light and warmness caused by the lens?

It wouldn't know the difference. I was just saying that the white balance was equalized not in the camera (since it was captured in RAW), but in post-production software. The color difference we see can be explained then by difference in lenses used, and/or change in the lighting (since it was taken outdoors; the sun could have been lower in the horizon, causing the warmer FA31 image).

Given all that, I am inclined to attribute a difference in warmth on the lens because it is also the case that in the second set of images, the FA looks warmer.