Originally posted by jstevewhite In this shootout I see your 31 has more contrast than your 35. That's fair enough for this test, I suppose. I see that the 35 is 1/200@f4, the 31 1/250@f4. Comparisons like this are difficult; did the lighting change, or is the 31 1/4 stop slower? My 35 has much higher contrast than these shots exhibit, assuming your roses are backlit by direct sunlight in both images and your images are not adjusted in post. When I've shot images like that, (flowers backlit by direct sunlight) I had to reduce contrast to keep from blowing out highlights or dropping the dark areas into shadow.
I'm wondering, here with the images in front of me, where the "oof rendering" of the 31 is so different from the 35. The differences here seem apropos to the 4mm difference in FL; the 35mm has slightly greater blur in each instance in OOF areas - and I like its bokeh better - like this:
Click for large view -
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As bokeh's quality is a matter of preference, not "objective", I can certainly understand that others might disagree; I'm just pointing out, as you asked, what I like and why I like it.
Anyway, thanks for this; you've saved me having to purchase a 31 to find out for myself. I want to make clear that I've never suggested that the 31 is not a great lens. I do think its cult status is a little overblown, but I do believe it's an exceptional lens, like most of Pentax's primes, and specifically their LTD series; Pentax's prime glass is the reason I chose the marque.
@Pentaxor - If money really meant nothing to me, I would own every LTD lens, because I love Pentax primes; but the reason I don't own a 31 isn't because I can't afford it. It's that if I were going to break loose a thousand dollars and buy LTD glass, I can get the 15 AND the 70 for the price of the 31, and my 35 serves me admirably; in this test, I think the bokeh is better, too.
Originally posted by GeneV Well, whatever subtle difference there is would not be worth 3 times the price. I'm happy enough with my FA35.
+1 to this and the FA35.
Agree with all you said. I prefer the oof rendering of the 35 as well, as well as the price.
Before this, I had the impression that the 31ltd would be like a 50/1.4@f1.4-f2 for closer shots (ie. close-ups; head-portraits).
Saved me the trouble to purchase this lens to find out for myself as well (Many Thanks).
I had been considering replacing my 35 with the 31 as a in-between FL to the DA15 and the 43ltd.
I money was no object, I'd have every single lens made by Pentax be it Ltd or K-mount Takumar