[redcat]

if stop down a bit, it's still stellar in low light, these are at f2.2 hand held:

[todd]

I'm using only the built in. I haven't noticed any wobble in the front element? Is there a test for this?

From what I recall, you could just wiggle the hood/front part of lens around and it should be solid (as it sounds like yours is.. My copy was and is solid too, but some aren't... I think some could feel it wobble a bit for instance if they switched to portrait orientation, etc.. When there is wobble, it could definitely attribute to softness especially wide open). If there is any wobble/wiggle in it, it would feel a bit loose, and you'd know you have some wobble. If you search the board for FA31 and wobble, you can read about it. Also would be curious if you would notice any difference if you added a hood. Many of us have added extra hoodage for FA31 on APS-C and find that it helps. There is one particular one I bought (I believe a Panasonic) that many here have, and a board search would deliver it quickly... But it sounds like your mind is pretty made up, so probably no point in that...

Oh and here's one of my @f1.8 shots that got some likes
diorama

[langkata]

Gratuitous wide open, close up dog shot.

[IchabodCrane]

And that's exactly it... at some point you have to let go of your way of looking at things, and try and see what the other guys are seeing. My 35 2.4 is a nice sharp lens and looks good on the test charts, but we're talking about selling it. We just never use it. 31 images on the other hand tend to be the opposite. It's better than it's test chart scores. But there's a message here. If so many good photographers like the 31 and you don't, they're seeing something you're not seeing. To me, it's the way it handles sharp to out of focus transitions and out of focus areas. I remember a while a go some guy posted a thread where he shot the 31 against some other lens, Sigma 30, someone's 28 or something, and was crowing about how they were virtually the same. I was looking at the same images he was, and I didn't think they were at all the same. It wasn't that the difference wasn't there, it was that he wasn't seeing it. Lenses of that quality tend to excel at the little things, usually they aren't things that hit you over the head with a bat. Although sometimes the stars align and they do (hit you over the head with a bat.)

But I can also just say, if you don't like it forget it and send it back. It does something special, but whether or not that something special is something you are going to like is a personal decision.

The other question is, is your lens aligned properly? I'm not convinced by your description that it doesn't need to be sent back for adjustment.

A new lens always puts you through the wringer, "do I have a good copy, why don't my images taken with it look better? should I send it back for adjustment? should I ask for an exchange?" all the stuff hits you all at once, and you just spin for a while. And first impressions don't always last.

My experience with the DA 35/2.4, too. I bought it when it was on sale (even less than the already low price) but don't find anything notable about it that can't be achieved with either the DA 18-135 or the Sigma 17-70 other than a one-stop light advantage. I'd sell it but the value received doesn't justify the effort (IMHO).

[knightzerox]

From what I recall, you could just wiggle the hood/front part of lens around and it should be solid (as it sounds like yours is.. My copy was and is solid too, but some aren't... I think some could feel it wobble a bit for instance if they switched to portrait orientation, etc.. When there is wobble, it could definitely attribute to softness especially wide open). If there is any wobble/wiggle in it, it would feel a bit loose, and you'd know you have some wobble. If you search the board for FA31 and wobble, you can read about it. Also would be curious if you would notice any difference if you added a hood. Many of us have added extra hoodage for FA31 on APS-C and find that it helps. There is one particular one I bought (I believe a Panasonic) that many here have, and a board search would deliver it quickly... But it sounds like your mind is pretty made up, so probably no point in that...

Oh and here's one of my @f1.8 shots that got some likes
diorama

I'll double check and beautiful image! I'd be interested to know if you saw any softness at 1.8 at that subject distance.
I've been going back and forth , but now leaning on keeping the lens. I've been able to get it tuned in to give me sharp clear results so I am happier with it now.

Im going to do a few more shots but I now get good sharpness at f1.8 for farther subjects. Before I would get either good close or good far.

[todd]

I'd be interested to know if you saw any softness at 1.8 at that subject distance.

I am a bad person to ask. I don't pay much attention to degrees of sharpness/softness when shooting at wide apertures at any distance or situation. FA31 is plenty sharp enough for me and always has been. I am just an unprofessional in it for fun, and can afford that luxury I suppose. FA31 is my favorite lens and it was love at first site. I did get DA35/2.4 first, trying to be satisfied with it, while thinking I could never justify the price, but that only lasted a year and I had to wrestle part of my bonus from work back from my wife and purchased a used copy of FA31 back in 2013. I still appreciate DA35/2.4 (still have it and have my kids use it when they want to shoot my K100D...) but it's far from FA31, in my very unprofessional opinion. I do want as sharp as I can get, and with my K-5 have found my best/most consistent results using back button AF in AF-C and have been using that mode for years now....

[knightzerox]

I am a bad person to ask. I don't pay much attention to degrees of sharpness/softness when shooting at wide apertures at any distance or situation. FA31 is plenty sharp enough for me and always has been. I am just an unprofessional in it for fun, and can afford that luxury I suppose. FA31 is my favorite lens and it was love at first site. I did get DA35/2.4 first, trying to be satisfied with it, while thinking I could never justify the price, but that only lasted a year and I had to wrestle part of my bonus from work back from my wife and purchased a used copy of FA31 back in 2013. I still appreciate DA35/2.4 (still have it and have my kids use it when they want to shoot my K100D...) but it's far from FA31, in my very unprofessional opinion. I do want as sharp as I can get, and with my K-5 have found my best/most consistent results using back button AF in AF-C and have been using that mode for years now....

Oh well no worries, your photo is very beautiful and an amazing shot. I found that I have no wobble in my lens that I can see. I can just barely move the hood a smudge with pressure but that's it.

I got my lens dialed in at +3 to +4. Both values seemed to work and I ran a different calibration test that found I need +3.5 which of course doesn't exist. I've left it at +4 and am finally seeing the images this lens should make. Saying that, focus can be finicky and I feel the lens is a bit overpriced, $800 seems like the right price to be, but compared to other brands this lens is still cheaper so I can't complain too much.

I'm awaiting my FA77 that will arrive in the hour. It will be interesting to compare sharpness between the other two FA's and if I can fall in love easier with this lens.

[todd]

calibration test

Now that is a novel concept! I have never ran a single calibration test in my entire photography uncareer!

One of these days...

[Sandy Hancock]

Now that is a novel concept! I have never ran a single calibration test in my entire photography uncareer!

One of these days...

LOL. Me too.
By the way, my FA31 has quite a bit of wobble, but it keeps producing the goods so I don't care.

[Rondec]

I struggle with the 31, mainly because I don't really like the focal length a whole lot. I'll like it better on full frame, I am sure. Depth of field is a big thing at f1.8. If what I want is in focus at that aperture than it is fine, but landscapes and so many other things require f4 at least.

Best thing about the lens is out of focus rendering which can be really nice.

[osv]

I'm awaiting my FA77 that will arrive in the hour. It will be interesting to compare sharpness between the other two FA's and if I can fall in love easier with this lens.

it's good to see that the af adjustment helped, but it needs to be said that af performance and lens sharpness are not relevant to each other.

also, shooting only centered objects like that dog is not a good way to judge the quality of a lens, because most glass delivers in the center.

it's the outer half of the frame that separates good lens designs from poor lens designs, and the fa31 really delivers there, even on ff 36mp cameras... that's what you pay extra for.

the nikon 28/1.8 costs ~$700, and look what you get, per photographylife: "...However, what worsens the focus shift problem on the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G is pronounced, dougnut-shaped field curvature that is clearly visible when photographing a flat surface. I tested three samples of the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G and all three showed these optical problems."

people who have never seen issues like that uneven focus field in a lens, and don't know how to test for it, might not be ready for an fa31... probably also true if the only thing they will ever shoot are centered objects; just get a zoom lens.

[knightzerox]

it's good to see that the af adjustment helped, but it needs to be said that af performance and lens sharpness are not relevant to each other.

also, shooting only centered objects like that dog is not a good way to judge the quality of a lens, because most glass delivers in the center.

it's the outer half of the frame that separates good lens designs from poor lens designs, and the fa31 really delivers there, even on ff 36mp cameras... that's what you pay extra for.

the nikon 28/1.8 costs ~$700, and look what you get, per photographylife: "...However, what worsens the focus shift problem on the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G is pronounced, dougnut-shaped field curvature that is clearly visible when photographing a flat surface. I tested three samples of the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G and all three showed these optical problems."

people who have never seen issues like that uneven focus field in a lens, and don't know how to test for it, might not be ready for an fa31... probably also true if the only thing they will ever shoot are centered objects; just get a zoom lens.

I've just sent the FA31 back for an exchange as I feel I got a bad copy. Despite correcting AF issues, which seemed to work erratically, I found the lens was decentered on the right. I hadn't noticed earlier as I as too focused on shooting at f1.8 and getting the focus nailed down. With all those uncertainties I felt is was best to exchange the lens at this point and hope the next copy works fine else just return it and live with the DA 2.4 which is fine.

The FA77 that arrived is perfect and after a quick calibration is shooting accurately at f1.8 and is as sharp as my FA43 wide open. No issues whatsoever and within an hour I had decided to keep the lens and sell my HD DA 70 limited.

[redcat]

The FA77 that arrived is perfect and after a quick calibration is shooting accurately at f1.8 and is as sharp as my FA43 wide open. No issues whatsoever and within an hour I had decided to keep the lens and sell my HD DA 70 limited.

yeah, the FA77 is a no-brainer ^^ put a subject in front of it and that's all

[blan01]

Well, I Just got my 31 last week. I use 20-40 and 77 a lot. 77 to me is a no-brainer, all you need is your subject in the frame and you will get great picture, whereas 31 is a different ball game here:I do love the special rendering of the lens, but comparing it to my 20-40 , which I mostly shoot in the range of 28-35, the 31 is not that impressive.

I believe it's a fantastic lens ,however I probably need to put extra effort to get most of it, at least from time to time I do get that "wow" from my 31.

[starjedi]

I've just sent the FA31 back for an exchange as I feel I got a bad copy. Despite correcting AF issues, which seemed to work erratically, I found the lens was decentered on the right. I hadn't noticed earlier as I as too focused on shooting at f1.8 and getting the focus nailed down. With all those uncertainties I felt is was best to exchange the lens at this point and hope the next copy works fine else just return it and live with the DA 2.4 which is fine.

The FA77 that arrived is perfect and after a quick calibration is shooting accurately at f1.8 and is as sharp as my FA43 wide open. No issues whatsoever and within an hour I had decided to keep the lens and sell my HD DA 70 limited.

I remember my first copy of FA31 also showed decentering issue at right side. I returned it after struggle as it did not wobble at all. My second copy is pretty sharp from center to corner at 1.8. But the hood wobbles... Anyway, I feel okay as I traded wobble with optical perfection...