[Bagga_Txips]

While wittering on about how bad my eyesight is, in the Single In discussion thread, I reiterated my long term desire to own an ABSOLUTELY FABULOUSLY sharp lens for my 3 Pentax dslrs. (3 so far but a K3 may be imminent...)


I reckon this is the right place to ask - what is the sharpest lens that I can buy? I tend to prefer the wider angle side of things, but usually wander between 15 to 100mm, very rarely above 80 ish. I would prefer the suggested lens to be sharp to the very furthest corners, even if it is slightly less perfect in the middle, and I use APS-C only at the moment, and doubt if I will ever buy a full frame body, as I already have too many apsc lenses! Sadly, budget is somewhat important too, I doubt if boss-lady would permit me to spend 1000s of dollars on a single lens!


Here is my list of what I have so far:


HD DA15, SMC DA21, DA40XS, SMC M50 1.4, SMC DA70, DFA100 WR macro
10-17 FE, 18-55WR, 18-135WR, 55-300


Sigma 17-50 f2.8, Tamron 70-200 f2.8


So, what should I put on my wishlist?

[Sandy Hancock]

Your DFA100WR would rank in the top echelon.

For mine, the DA*55 would be my choice - and would replace your M50/1.4 with autofocus to help your ageing monomyopia

I'm sure someone who owns the FA*200 macro will chip in soon.

[silverbow47]

While wittering on about how bad my eyesight is, in the Single In discussion thread, I reiterated my long term desire to own an ABSOLUTELY FABULOUSLY sharp lens for my 3 Pentax dslrs. (3 so far but a K3 may be imminent...)


I reckon this is the right place to ask - what is the sharpest lens that I can buy? I tend to prefer the wider angle side of things, but usually wander between 15 to 100mm, very rarely above 80 ish. I would prefer the suggested lens to be sharp to the very furthest corners, even if it is slightly less perfect in the middle, and I use APS-C only at the moment, and doubt if I will ever buy a full frame body, as I already have too many apsc lenses! Sadly, budget is somewhat important too, I doubt if boss-lady would permit me to spend 1000s of dollars on a single lens!


Here is my list of what I have so far:


HD DA15, SMC DA21, DA40XS, SMC M50 1.4, SMC DA70, DFA100 WR macro
10-17 FE, 18-55WR, 18-135WR, 55-300


Sigma 17-50 f2.8, Tamron 70-200 f2.8


So, what should I put on my wishlist?

I recently bought a Pentax F 50 mm f/2.8 Macro, I got it from B&H for about $230.00. There are several reviews on Pentax Forums about this lens and they are all rated as a 10 and I couldn't agree more. Center to corners are incredibly sharp. Since this focal length seems to be in the range you like to use try to find one. Also, KEH.com is another valuable source for used lenses and their rating is very conservative.

[clackers]

+1 for the 50mm f2.8 Macro.

[Transit]

+1 for the 50mm f2.8 Macro.

what he said

[macman24054]

While wittering on about how bad my eyesight is, in the Single In discussion thread, I reiterated my long term desire to own an ABSOLUTELY FABULOUSLY sharp lens for my 3 Pentax dslrs. (3 so far but a K3 may be imminent...)


I reckon this is the right place to ask - what is the sharpest lens that I can buy? I tend to prefer the wider angle side of things, but usually wander between 15 to 100mm, very rarely above 80 ish. I would prefer the suggested lens to be sharp to the very furthest corners, even if it is slightly less perfect in the middle, and I use APS-C only at the moment, and doubt if I will ever buy a full frame body, as I already have too many apsc lenses! Sadly, budget is somewhat important too, I doubt if boss-lady would permit me to spend 1000s of dollars on a single lens!


Here is my list of what I have so far:


HD DA15, SMC DA21, DA40XS, SMC M50 1.4, SMC DA70, DFA100 WR macro
10-17 FE, 18-55WR, 18-135WR, 55-300


Sigma 17-50 f2.8, Tamron 70-200 f2.8


So, what should I put on my wishlist?

For wide shooting the 10-20 limited is hard to beat.

[wstruth]

what he said

+1 for the 50mm macro

[simon_199]

Also the current production DFA 50mm f2.8 macro offers top notch sharpness. If i am not mistaken it has been recently reviewed and been found excellent on mtf tests on a couple of famous websites. Don't know if it is exactly the same optical design of the F series 50mm macro.

As others have suggested, you already have a really sharp lens in your DFA 100mm Macro.

Also consider the 35mm Macro Limited. I have the three macro lenses mentioned and in my experience all of them offer impressive corner-to-corner sharpness on APS-C.

[Adam]

I would definitely say that the 100mm macro is among the sharpest lenses, along with the DA 35mm and D FA 50mm macros.

[Rondec]

I think macro lenses in general -- whether Pentax or other brands -- tend to be the sharpest.

That said, I find both the DA *55 and FA 77 to be extremely sharp at f2.

[jddwoods]

I would say the DFA 100 mm WR and the DA 35 Limited are my sharpest lenses. Probably in the same league would be the DA 70 Limited and the DFA 50 mm macro. I had a DFA 50 Macro and sold it when I bought the DA 35 and DFA 100 WR macro lenses. Looking back at pictures The DFA 50 images I took look just as good as my DA 35 and DFA 100 images.

---------- Post added 07-10-15 at 07:36 AM ----------

While wittering on about how bad my eyesight is, in the Single In discussion thread, I reiterated my long term desire to own an ABSOLUTELY FABULOUSLY sharp lens for my 3 Pentax dslrs. (3 so far but a K3 may be imminent...)


I reckon this is the right place to ask - what is the sharpest lens that I can buy? I tend to prefer the wider angle side of things, but usually wander between 15 to 100mm, very rarely above 80 ish. I would prefer the suggested lens to be sharp to the very furthest corners, even if it is slightly less perfect in the middle, and I use APS-C only at the moment, and doubt if I will ever buy a full frame body, as I already have too many apsc lenses! Sadly, budget is somewhat important too, I doubt if boss-lady would permit me to spend 1000s of dollars on a single lens!


Here is my list of what I have so far:


HD DA15, SMC DA21, DA40XS, SMC M50 1.4, SMC DA70, DFA100 WR macro
10-17 FE, 18-55WR, 18-135WR, 55-300


Sigma 17-50 f2.8, Tamron 70-200 f2.8


So, what should I put on my wishlist?

I do not think you will find anything noticeably sharper than your DA 70 Limited and DFA 100 Marco lenses. I am also quite surprised how sharp my DA 21 Limited is. If you want to add something as sharp as these I would think the DFA 50 mm would qualify.

[Odinz]

My macros lenses all tend to be sharper than anything else, even my Macro Takumar 50mm preset is pretty darned sharp. I would have to concur thought that the DFA 50 & 100 macros are my sharpest.

[audiobomber]

The Sigma 35 f1.4 is the sharpest lens that DXOMark measured on the K-3. The DA 35mm Limited was next, followed by a tie for third place with the DA 50mm f1.8 and D FA 50mm macro. I doubt that anyone could see the difference between 12mp and 11mp though.

Best prime lenses for the Pentax K-3 - DxOMark

[Bagga_Txips]

The 50 1.8 is that good? It's dead cheap here in China, about 125 dollars...

[Bunch]

The 50 1.8 is that good? It's dead cheap here in China, about 125 dollars...

I think it's the best bang for buck of any lens I have.