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02-10-2012, 12:57 PM   #1
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Why no "real" normal lens for apsc

What is Pentax's obsession with the nearly useless 40mm focal length? It's too long for a standard and too short for a tele. OK, it's real small and cute. I bought it.

Why can't they make a "Proper" normal lens for the cropped aps sensor? FA43 /1.5 crop factor = 28mm.
They need a 28mm in either the DA Limited pancake style (Small/compact) or/and a DA* style (Fast/full-featured)

02-10-2012, 01:08 PM   #2
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The FA31/1.8 is pretty close to normal on aps-c.
02-10-2012, 01:12 PM   #3
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What do you mean by "normal"? I use a 50mm on my digital camera without any problem.
02-10-2012, 01:13 PM   #4
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QuoteQuote:
What is Pentax's obsession with the nearly useless 40mm focal length?
It's only one of many lenses Pentax makes. The obsession lies with the buyer.

02-10-2012, 01:15 PM - 1 Like   #5
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Pentax 35mm f2.4 = 52mm.... cheap as chips and one of the best lenses out there !
31mm f1.8 = 47mm.... superb but expensive
35mm macro f2.8 = 53mm good and reasonable
43mm f1.8 = 64.5mm
That seems a pretty good choice to me ?
02-10-2012, 01:20 PM - 1 Like   #6
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Buy one of the following; 16-45, 17-70, or 16-50, problem(your problem) solved.
02-10-2012, 01:22 PM   #7
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I guess the DA35/2.4 would be it, though I would love to have a metal DA28/2 w/o SDM for <$600. The DA40 pancakes exist only because they are thin. I question the choice of mating it with the K-01 too.

02-10-2012, 01:24 PM   #8
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I would like to see a DA Limited pancake 28mm as well, one that's a bit faster than the FA 28mm f/2.8. I like my 40mm pancake, but your right, at times it can be too long/short. I have a huge gap between 15mm and 40mm...I would love to fill it with a FA31 but it's a bit pricey for me. I am looking at getting a DA 21mm but that is still a big gap till I hit my DA 35mm, and it is a f/3.2

I would be interested in a fast DA 23mm pancake as well, maybe an f/2. To me that would probably be the ideal street/walk around/low profile lens.
02-10-2012, 01:31 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by kcobain1992 Quote
What do you mean by "normal"? I use a 50mm on my digital camera without any problem.
He means "normal" as in the focal length of the lens is equal to the length of the diagonal of the sensor.
02-10-2012, 01:34 PM   #10
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I actualy like the idea of a 40=60mm to be honnest. Armed with the 21 and 40 thats a nice street setup for sure, and not half bad for landscape, and
the 40 would even take half decent portrait to boot. When you think about it..... how many times have you been shooting with 50 an thought... wish it was a tad longer !
How many pics do you see, where you think..... shoulda cropped tighter....
Its a lovely little lens... enjoy it !
02-10-2012, 01:59 PM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by westmill Quote
Pentax 35mm f2.4 = 52mm
31mm f1.8 = 47mm
35mm macro f2.8 = 53mm
43mm f1.8 = 64.5mm
QuoteOriginally posted by Franky2step Quote
16-45
17-70
16-50
add the
DA18-55
DA18-135
DA18-250
FA28-70
FA*28-70
FA 28-80
and perhaps a few more...sheesh, i'd say they have that length pretty well covered.
02-10-2012, 02:20 PM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by Franky2step Quote
Buy one of the following; 16-45, 17-70, or 16-50, problem(your problem) solved.
Or try the kit lens 18-55, which is one of the best kit lenses on the market.
02-10-2012, 02:59 PM   #13
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You make a point that I can't see answered in this thread. That is with the new K-01 it comes with a new 40mm pancake. So Why? Is the answer that to make a very flat lens for a FF or APC camera it can only be achieved between 40 and 70 mm? The 21Ltd is quite thick compared to the 40mm.
02-10-2012, 04:00 PM   #14
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To each his own,
I always found 40/43 much more useful for genaral walk around or call it normal lens, than 28-35 range. Couple it with good moderate wide (21 or 24) and you have great set up.
One thing I will agree on though, is that there is dire need of fast lens sub 30mm in Pentax line up. Below 31Ltd there is only 14/2.8 or zooms. Something in 23-26mm f1.8-2.4 is needed...
02-10-2012, 04:16 PM - 1 Like   #15
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Here's what I wrote earlier in another thread:

'Normal' has many meanings. 'Norma' is Latin for a carpenter's square, so 'normal' means "at right angles". In optics, 'normal' is the frame diagonal. In statistics, 'normal' means a value within a certain proximity to an average. In common usage, 'normal' means either "not too weird" or "what we're used to". Et cetera.

For 135/FF frames, optical-normal is 43mm. Many 135 RFs had lenses around 40-45mm -- a few stare down at me from my shelves. Lensmakers found the 50-60mm range more suitable|producible for SLRs. Many SLR shooters became used to that range, so Fifties were a de-facto 'normal'. But many users of RFs such as the Olympus XA became used to its 35mm lens -- it's 'normal' on that camera for those users. So we have 135/FF psychological-normal ranging from 35-60mm. Whew! And APS-C 'normal' may range from 24-43mm, again depending on our psycho-visual canalization.

What we're used to. What we're comfortable with. How we limit our vision. All these are related to 'normal' camera usage. That's one reason for my LOTD (lens of the day) strategy, where I semi-randomly choose a lens to use for a day or ten, to train my visual system to that FOV. For even more fun, I'll use a cheap safe wide-flange NIF (no infinity focus) M42-PK adapter and/or thin macro tube to pull-in the focus range. This forces me to not only seek subjects within a specific FOV, but also in a more limited zone. Yes, it's great eye-training.


Normal can be whatever you want. Let's all get normalized, eh?
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