[jsherman999]

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OK. I'm agonizing over this purchase, and I need some advice, prodding, cajoling, shaming, threats, whatever - to help me make the decision.


FA 77mm limited or DA* 50-135 zoom?


I know there's been some recent discussion re this, including his thread:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/16195-portrait...0-135-a-2.html


But I'm wondering if anyone can add to the argument on either side.

What I'll be using it for: 40% toddler/family low light, 40% toddler/family good light, 10% outdoor close-focus (plants, objects), 10% outdoor telephoto (bird, landscape, SA robbery, UFO, etc...)


So - please post your thoughts. Ramble all you want, free associate, post beautiful photos like the ones in that thread, post shots of newspaper print, whatever you think I and others trying to make this decision should see. Thanks in advance, I appreciate it.





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[offertonhatter]

I think you have already made your decision. Go for the 77mm as they wont be available for much longer, and then save up for for the 50-135 which will be available for a while.

I hear the 77mm is so sharp it could cut metal.

[TheWengler]

I don't think either will be long enough for bird photography.

[NaClH2O]

OK I know what a lot of people are going to say. "Zooms are more practical" "IQ of the 50-135 is stellar" (and I agree) BUT......I'd go with the 77ltd. I don't own the 50-135, I do own the 77ltd and I can honestly say that it's IQ is simply amazing. Not only that but it is a little jewel of a lens, the craftmanship on it is amazing. Yes, it's only a tool, but there is nothing wrong in owning a beautiful tool. And it takes such great photos! The 3D quality of this lens and it's bokeh continually blow me away. Last but not least, Mike Johnson of "Luminous Landscape" fame calls it "one of the best auto focus lenses ever made" and he is a Nikon shooter primarily. Check out this link:
sm-02-05-02
I think eventually Pentax will discontinue making the FA limiteds. Once that happens the price of second hand ones will skyrocket. The 50-135 will probably be around for a very long time. If it was my personal choice I'd get the 77ltd.

NaCl(but then again I'm an old fashioned guy)H2O

[creampuff]

BTW wouldn't it have been easier to have continued on the existing thread rather than starting a new one?

It's a toss up between using a prime versus using a zoom. Just buying a lens won't make you a better photographer, improving your technique will. My choice is to go with the prime, which happens to be cheaper too.


K100D FA 77mm 1/60 sec f/2.5

[TKH]

So as you are not using the lense only for portrait, I would choose non of the two.
My choice would be the DA70! The FA77 has perhaps the 5% better bokeh in the center, but the DA70 is all over (sharp to the corners!) better performer.

Best,
Rainer

[jsherman999]

BTW wouldn't it have been easier to have continued on the existing thread rather than starting a new one?

I was going to, but that thread was from December, so I thought a link to that discussion was a better idea.

I think you have already made your decision.

Just curious, why do you think I've already made my decision? Or maybe I should ask.... How did you know I've made that decision

In fact, I have made that decision several times, but keep un-deciding each time I read more about the 50-135 and see photos from it.

I don't think either will be long enough for bird photography.

I agree, it wouldn't be serious long-range bird photography, just happenstance wildlife shots, that sort of thing. I know that the 77 isn't a candidate for anything like that, and neither is the 50-135 really, but I will be using them outdoors. I occasionally can get pretty close to things like songbirds, rabbits, deer, etc, and both lenses would be long enough for what I'm trying to do there. But mostly the outside shots would be people and buildings, with some landscape.

I think eventually Pentax will discontinue making the FA limiteds. Once that happens the price of second hand ones will skyrocket. The 50-135 will probably be around for a very long time.

Very good point.


I'm going to probably be selling a significant number of my lenses to friends, flea-bay, and here, and I want to leave myself with at least one good walkaround zoom (18-250,) maybe two, my FA 50 1.4, M 50 1.4, and My vivitar series 1 105mm macro. maybe next year I can replace one of the zooms with the 50-135, or whatever equivalent Pentax has on the roadmap in 2009. getting the 77 limited now fits into that plan...



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[a a i b]

I love my 77 ltd -- it's my favorite lens.

That being said, if I were you I'd get the 50-135, as long as you can live with its size.

I don't own one, but I'm not really into zooms.

[jsherman999]

I love my 77 ltd -- it's my favorite lens.
That being said, if I were you I'd get the 50-135, as long as you can live with its size.

Any particular reason?



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[Viridian]

A dissenter: if you really are going to be shooting your toddler for the majority of use I would guess that you will be frustrated. Why? If yours is like mine then they do not sit still. I do not feel that my K10D's AF is really up to snuff but then coupled with the slow focusing ability of my 31ltd and I get frustrated. Perhaps the 77 is faster. I don't know. Also, framing with a toddler. Are you going to take pics of the kid sleeping or drooling in front of the TV? No, then you will be moving to keep up with the kid. A zoom is more versatile. For me the choice would now be the 50-135 over something like the 77ltd. Just from my experience. .02

Erik

[AVANT]

If people are posing and not moving around much, get the 77ltd. If the shots are more of the spontaneous variety, I would say the 50-135.

But to capture your toddler indoors, the best tool is a flash where you can bounce light. You're much more likely to get the shot with the flash than relying on ambient lighting.

[DAP]

Hi - I have a 77mm (don't have the zoom though). FWIW, if I were going to pick one of the two for taking pics of kids (bouncing off walls etc.) I would pick the zoom. Yes the 77 is a nice lens, but the zoom is going to be faster in use (in terms of composition and I assume AF - the 77mm AF is pretty slow). Theoretically the 77 might be the better lens, but in reality 99% of people looking at your photos wouldn't be able to tell any difference in the images produce between the two.

I also wouldn't let the looming prospect of the 77mm being discontinued sway you - there have been plenty of them sold over the years - they are not (and will not be) uncommon on the used market for the forseable future. The 77mm is hardly a rare lens.

[roentarre]

Fa 77 ltd is my very first pentax lens I own. Its relative small size across the brands and its image rendering ability is rather unique. I never have a thought of selling it as it always gave the images some wow factor from time to time.

With protraits, this is a bit too long. I think Fa 43 ltd will be a better lens for normal protraiture. But Fa 77 is convinient to be used to isolate the subjects whereever it is a person or an object. It is a great lens regardless.

It is really a multi-purpose lens. The following are shot between f1.8 - 2.4 (most of them)
























I had been tempted to grab a copy of Da* 50-135 f2.8 but I decided to wait for Da* 55mm, Da* 200mm f2.8 instead. Personally, this zoom covers a range that I hardly use. Unless you are really a wedding photographer or an event snapper, this zoom does not really give that much advantage over a prime. Even if you travel abroad, a wide zoom is more likely to be used 90% of time anyway.

[christinelandon]

A dissenter: if you really are going to be shooting your toddler for the majority of use I would guess that you will be frustrated. Why? If yours is like mine then they do not sit still. I do not feel that my K10D's AF is really up to snuff but then coupled with the slow focusing ability of my 31ltd and I get frustrated. Perhaps the 77 is faster. I don't know. Also, framing with a toddler. Are you going to take pics of the kid sleeping or drooling in front of the TV? No, then you will be moving to keep up with the kid. A zoom is more versatile. For me the choice would now be the 50-135 over something like the 77ltd. Just from my experience. .02

Erik

I'll second Erik on this point; I've shot family activities with both primes and zooms over the years, and find the quick reframing of a zoom to be a major benefit when things are happening all over! BTW, I find the DA* 50-135mm to have a very versatile short-to-medium tele range and remarkable IQ for a zoom. Fairly quick, too!

[txbonds]

I'll second Erik on this point; I've shot family activities with both primes and zooms over the years, and find the quick reframing of a zoom to be a major benefit when things are happening all over! BTW, I find the DA* 50-135mm to have a very versatile short-to-medium tele range and remarkable IQ for a zoom. Fairly quick, too!

I'll third you both. Just sold my 31 and 77 for the same reason. The 31 was for me an weird focal length on my K10d and I couldn't really get into it, and the 77 proved to be too slow and too long for family pics that include a 2 year old.

For posed portraits, I think you can hardly do better than the 77, but for chasing a 2 year old or toddler, the 77 is slow, and I think slower than the 31 by far. The 70, which I sold to get the 77 was also too slow, and I had about as tough a time keeping up with it as I did with the 77. I will second the fact that the 70 is a better "all around" lens than the 77 if you will be using for other than just portrait.

That said though, I don't know if I would consider the 50 to 135 either. You will probably only have about a 20mm useful focal range for chasing a toddler indoors, unless you have a 10,000 sq ft home or something. I am unsure what I'm going to do now as well, and have been looking for more traditional portrait zoom options like the tamron 28-75, but I don't know if it will focus fast enough either. This is definately where I miss my nikon cameras and afs lenses, but they didn't have built in image stabilization which is worth it's weight in gold to me.

As someone else previously posted, you may want to consider waiting for the 55 DA* as it's supposed to have SDM which most likely will make it a little faster, and it will have a wide aperature to help the camera a little with focusing. I kept my 43 limited as it is by far my most used lens for toddler shots indoors or out, as I can sort of keep up with him and the focal length is a wide portrait which helps indoors. I'm also considering the new 55 as an option to either replace or compliment the 43 if it turns out to be a quality lens.

To me, the 16-50, quality control problems aside, is just not long enough at 50mm, and the 50-135 is not wide enough at 50mm. I find the 18-70 style lenses on crop to be a better fit as it covers more of the traditional portrait range without lens changes, but in pentax we don't have any real options on that front yet.

So, after all my rambling, I think if I were you, I'd just keep using my 43 (50 f1.4 in your case) and wait to see what the future brings with the 55 DA* SDM, but what the heck do I know.