[DogLover]

Great examples, Todd!

[Blue]

The FA 31 gallery . . .

PENTAX Photo Gallery

[builttospill]

Yes, those are great examples Todd, both in photographic quality and "magic" dust samples.

The FA Limited lenses best exhibit this magic rendering due to their design. Other lenses may come close, but I'm guessing many of you have read things such as "I can immediately recognize which pictures from a group were taken with the 43..." Again, this is due to the design of the lens doing what it's supposed to do. It helps even more when the lenses are in more-than-capable hands.

[jstevewhite]

Yes, those are great examples Todd, both in photographic quality and "magic" dust samples.

The FA Limited lenses best exhibit this magic rendering due to their design. Other lenses may come close, but I'm guessing many of you have read things such as "I can immediately recognize which pictures from a group were taken with the 43..." Again, this is due to the design of the lens doing what it's supposed to do. It helps even more when the lenses are in more-than-capable hands.

I've read those claims, but remain dubious; See the "identify the lens" thread for examples of just how hard that actually is.

[v5planet]

Oh pixie dust is quite real, but that doesn't mean it can be channeled reliably.

[Jewelltrail]

Here is Pixie Dust for you, out of the Dictionary! 2 Definitions


Definitions
pixie dust
noun
(fantasy) dust purported to be passively produced by pixies. It is represented as being magical in quality and can grant certain abilities to those who can obtain and harness its power.



Main Entry: pixie dust 1
Part of Speech: n
Definition: magic dust from a fairy or pixie that hypothetically allows humans to fly
Etymology: from J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan

[selar]

How to make pixie dust for those that dont have FA Limiteds (or just cant stand how they PF)

How to make Pixie Dust-CannaFlour - Grasscity.com Forums

[jstevewhite]

I'll make an attempt at with/without, and will agree with Aegon about jsherman's post (the words, I mean, since his pics are no longer there). I am a relative newcomer to Pentax, and a confirmed Nikon shooter. 'Dirty' Nikon shooter, if you wish.

It would be easy to just post some crappy photo for the "without" pic, but I won't do that. I'll show you a couple that I think are really strong, nice photos, but just don't have the dust. First, here's a shot done with the Micro-Nikkor 85PC, a lens of indisputable quality:

And now another Nikon shot, with the Sigma 150/2.8:

I think these are both "nice" shots, but neither really has that extra spark of interestingness, or however you want to describe pixie dust.

Now a couple of recent shots from the FA77, which I have been tripping on the past few days. The shot of the grass in particular (color obviously altered) is a perfect example of "I can just point it at anything and it looks interesting."

Now to be fair, I should post something from my Zeiss 100 Makro-Planar (Nikon mount) which I think yields the same level of "interestingness." I guess if it's not a Pentax lens, it can't be actual pixie dust, but IMO it's just as brilliant. The Zeiss 100 has long been my favorite piece of glass, but the FA77 is threatening to supplant it. The macro capability of the Zeiss (1:2) is perhaps the only thing maintaining its edge.

Those are excellent images, but I'm not certain I think they're good examples of "pixie dust". The two non-dusty examples are shot at f3.5 and f4, while the dusty images are at f1.8 and f2.2. And while they're all of flowers, there is certainly a large difference in composition and setting.

I'm not saying it's not possible that the lenses might not have "something special"; but I have yet to see anything that even remotely resembles what the OP asked for in any thread. The 31v35 thread showed a *slight* difference in rendering OOF highlights and slightly more contrast in the 31 (though the 35 got 25% more exposure).

Call me skeptical about "pixie dust"

[JeffJS]

If it's samples you seek and can stand a bunch of flowery stuff, These are a sampling from most of my lenses. Both current and previously owned. In most cases, the lens is noted in the file title.

Flowery Stuff - a set on Flickr

or you can do a direct compare here..

Collection: Lenses

[TOUGEFC]

Here is Pixie Dust for you, out of the Dictionary! 2 Definitions


Definitions
pixie dust
noun
(fantasy) dust purported to be passively produced by pixies. It is represented as being magical in quality and can grant certain abilities to those who can obtain and harness its power.

I think there is alot of truth in that defination.
Alot of people claim to have lenses with pixiedust, whilst other's say they have tried the same lenses and have found no dust...

It makes sense too, anyone can pick up a claimed dusted lens and find no dust within......... the dust is there, they just dont know how to obtain and harness its power

[selar]

the dust is there, they just dont know how to obtain and harness its power

And the dust is sealed in to the lens with the DA* lenses, so it can never escape.

[jstevewhite]

If it's samples you seek and can stand a bunch of flowery stuff, These are a sampling from most of my lenses. Both current and previously owned. In most cases, the lens is noted in the file title.

Flowery Stuff - a set on Flickr

or you can do a direct compare here..

Collection: Lenses

I dig the flower stuff, and you have some beautiful examples. I'm having real trouble identifying anything there I would call "pixie dust" ( as in a defining quality that is produced by the lens rather than the photographer that makes an otherwise ordinary image magical ). They're all excellent images, some better composed or representing a photographic solution I enjoy more than others.

Bear in mind that I'm serious, despite the jokes. I'm of the opinion right now (barring some sort of evidence to the contrary) that... how to put it? The photographer, not the lens, contains the "pixie dust". That there's a 'lower threshold' for quality equipment, beyond which the photographer's decision makes 99.99% of the image, and the hardware .01%. The magick, the star stuff, is in your eye, not the lens - I *think*.

It's nobody's responsibility to demonstrate it to me (or the OP); I'm just curious, trying to relate, to understand; and I'm perfectly willing to change my mind with evidence. What I've seen is when "magic pixie dust" lenses are shot with "no-dust" lenses in controlled conditions, the results are virtually indistinguishable. If I had, say, a 31mm, I'd do my best to produce a test that showed the difference, but I'm not going to choke up $1000 for a set of test shots

Oooh, wait... there's a place that rents 'em. I'll have to check it out.

[axl]

Here is Pixie Dust for you, out of the Dictionary! 2 Definitions


Definitions
pixie dust
noun
(fantasy) dust purported to be passively produced by pixies. It is represented as being magical in quality and can grant certain abilities to those who can obtain and harness its power.

Main Entry: pixie dust 1
Part of Speech: n
Definition: magic dust from a fairy or pixie that hypothetically allows humans to fly
Etymology: from J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan

Being on a phone I can't now but when I'll get behind my PC you're SO getting reputation for this mister! I nearly laughed my ass off on packed comuter train

[axl]

Personally I'm with those who say pixie dust is a myth. I'd even go as far as saying it's bucketfull of shit...

There is a bunch of good lenses and bunch of good photographers capable of getting the best out of the lenses by using them the way they were designed for. Lack of pixie dust is term devised by average and worse photographers to be able to justify their inability of getting results from their perfectly capable gear...

Now I'm not saying all lenses are so good that you can point them at anything and it'll look good even in experienced hands but on the other side I've seen pretty horrid (Albinar level horrid) shots from FA ltds by folks who think how great they are...

[selar]

Pixie dust is real alright. You just can't see it on flickr because they vacuum the images you post. Imagine what would happen If dust got into the servers!