[UncleVanya]

Bit shocked myself! ☺

I imagine so... Censoring my reply to avoid shameful smack down by mods.

[SMeK]

LOL, corrected

[Tessie]

In the test section I voted for number 4. It stood out for me and was an easy choice. The colors are just the way I like them, and the lens even got the subtle shadings in the horse's mane that the other lenses didn't. Being a horseperson, I notice details like that. The DA 35 f2.4 has been on my shopping list, so I was happy the image from that lens pleased me the most. Nice and sharp! I also liked Test 2 and 6. What surprised me was my reaction to Test 3. It's certainly sharp, but I guess it lacked pixie dust for me. I hadn't even considered the FA 35-80 before but the colors and general image quality impressed me. After checking the review database to see how well this lens did for others, I decided to get one. Bought a nice clean one on Ebay this morning for $30.

In the crop section I voted for number 6. Several of the others were quite nice too.

[normhead]

Long story short, shooting at ƒ5.6, the image is probably far more important than what lens it was taken with. Buy the lens you like, regardless of why you like it, or even if you can't even figure it out. But that, still leaves, buying fast lens for it's speed...

IN most cases, attributes other than sharpness, or zoom vs prime, make a lens desirable, even price doesn't make as much difference as we've been led to believe, for the amateur. Have no doubt that that 35-80 won't hold up to day in day out use, if you're a pro photographer, but for guys like myself, I'm sure it will last my lifetime. It's great you can add cheap light lenses like these without sacrificing much when you use them. They take as good pictures as you can set up for them.

this image taken with the DA 35 at ƒ4, nice clean crisp auto-focus and still plenty sharp, you'd never try this with a 4.5 zoom if you had the 35 2.4 available.



And there will always be low light situations that are beyond zoom capability. FA 50 1.7, at ƒ2, hand held. That DA 50 ƒ1.8 gives you a lot more than a DA*50-135 at 50mm... at 1/12 the cost, but more than stop faster.

[Tessie]

That campfire picture is loaded with pixie dust! My DA35mm F2.4 (in yellow!) will soon be on its way from Japan. A fun lens in a fun color is the perfect match for me.

The FA 35-80 that I bought off of Ebay on Thursday is out of delivery today (and that's with economy shipping). When I looked up the specs and saw how light and compact it is, that sealed the deal. I hope it is as nice as yours.

So now my new blue K-S1 will have a black 50mm F1.8, a silver 35-80, and a yellow 35mm F2.4. Hadn't started out thinking of getting my lenses in all different colors, but now the idea has some appeal--I will be able to tell which lens is in the camera bag with just the slightest glimpse of color. That might come in handy.

[monochrome]

Wow, 432 views, 26 guesses.... 5 distinct contributors to the thread, I have to assume people are finding this pretty tough.

Nope. We shudder at the prospect of enduring your scorn.

Courageous Kerrowdown is the winner on points.

[normhead]

The poll was anonymous.... , no need to suffer any scorn.

[PANGU_yien]

Great little experiment, Norm. And loving the capture of the fire on the lake. (In Algonquin?)

[normhead]

Great little experiment, Norm. And loving the capture of the fire on the lake. (In Algonquin?)

Crown land that at one time was considered for inclusion in the park, but in the end, the length of portages and size of the lakes meant it wouldn't be used much. We drive in in our 2000 KIA 4x4.

[Nicolas06]

Reading this thread a bit late but still fun. To me on the crop what was most visible is the focus point meaning in the crop different part were in focus. Second most important difference between the picture to me is the colors/lighting. I tend to prefer the sunny ones !

Last the bokeh is quite different. Some have outlining, some not, some are round some not. Some have small higlight, some big highlight.

To me the keeper would be the #7 on the tamron because it has more vibrant colors (likely due to lighting conditions) and there no disturbing outlining of bokeh. The DA35 f/2.4 has straight blade and had less interresting light. It avoid the outlining.

To me you are not going to get visibly better shoots all the time with higher quality optics. Depending of the strength of the lens you'll get on some occasion noticably better results for some kind of shoots. Some lenses are better for their bokeh and focus transitions. Some are more punchy and contrasty. Some are flare resistant or produce nice starbursts. Some have great border while some have pop/3D feel but border are a bit on the weak side. Some have simply a wider apperture that help in difficult lighting condition.

Often other aspects of the lens are as important: the focal or focal range it cover of course but the size/weight too, if it WR or not. AF accuracy, AF speed and AF noise... Let's not forget the look and build quality.

[normhead]

Reading this thread a bit late but still fun. To me on the crop what was most visible is the focus point meaning in the crop different part were in focus. Second most important difference between the picture to me is the colors/lighting. I tend to prefer the sunny ones !

Last the bokeh is quite different. Some have outlining, some not, some are round some not. Some have small higlight, some big highlight.

To me the keeper would be the #7 on the tamron because it has more vibrant colors (likely due to lighting conditions) and there no disturbing outlining of bokeh. The DA35 f/2.4 has straight blade and had less interresting light. It avoid the outlining.

To me you are not going to get visibly better shoots all the time with higher quality optics. Depending of the strength of the lens you'll get on some occasion noticably better results for some kind of shoots. Some lenses are better for their bokeh and focus transitions. Some are more punchy and contrasty. Some are flare resistant or produce nice starbursts. Some have great border while some have pop/3D feel but border are a bit on the weak side. Some have simply a wider apperture that help in difficult lighting condition.

Often other aspects of the lens are as important: the focal or focal range it cover of course but the size/weight too, if it WR or not. AF accuracy, AF speed and AF noise... Let's not forget the look and build quality.

Nothing to argue with there.... the most important thing being , with the better optics, like the 31, it may not come out better in a test like this, a bit, maybe, but, every now and then it does something the others just can't do.