First of all, thank you to every single poster of beautiful pictures taken with DA 35 (especially jsherman999). Since this morning I also have this lens and I really think it is my best lens so far. Even my beloved DA * @ 35 mm seems pretty outclassed by this little gem. My first impressions so far:

- very well build gives an impression of high quality;
- extremely sharp at almost any aperture between 2,8 and 7.1 (so far I only took like 20-30 photos);
- the exposure seems right on the spot (my DA* tends to underexpose a bit);
- vibrant colors, beautiful contrast, very pleasing bokeh;
- AF vastly faster than FA 50 (the other shaft driven lens that I have), VERY ACCURATE;
- did I mention it's razor sharp?
- light and small;
- leather pouch (no need for it that much but a nice touch nevertheless);
- IMO this could be the ultimate ~ 50 mm equivalent for a nice Limited body smaller and lighter than any in production.

Some first day photos:

This time LBA made me really happy.

Radu

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Last edited by RaduA; 05-14-2009 at 07:02 AM.

[boushh]

Thanks for your impressions on this lens RaduA! I was especially interested in the speed of the AF and you (along with other fans of this lens including the OP) helped me make my decision and purchase this lens. I hope I like it.

Thanks for your impressions on this lens RaduA! I was especially interested in the speed of the AF and you (along with other fans of this lens including the OP) helped me make my decision and purchase this lens. I hope I like it.

Hi, Boushh!

For every one it's a personal experience and as I said I have this lens for like 12 hours and I only done some dozens of photos but I really, really like this lens from all the reasons I wrote above. If you are curious about full size samples of one of those 4 pics you can PM me. As a former K100D user I must tell you that AF system of my K20D is faster and it hunts less. Take this into consideration!

If you buy one I hope that you'll enjoy it!
Radu

[Lance B]

These are stunning examples of how good the DA35 macro is!! Excellent work!

(posted in another thread also - started this afresh here to keep in the 'why xxx doesn't suck' theme...



Taken with the DA 35ltd on the early evening walk with the little guy. Not a lot
of time for composition, etc, but I like them as walkabout snapshots. I think this
shows off the casual-macro and D-normal attributes of the lens pretty well:

(posted for the benefit of the fervently anti-35ltd Ogl )






Cropped:




































.

[Lance B]

Beautiful shot, Bernard. Absolutely lovely!!

Still beautiful... thanks for clarifying the 'myth'...

I went the easier way out to test my DA35mm. Not sure about you guys, but I did have quite a difficult time trying not to have camera shake (actually my hands' shaking) when focusing at 1:1. The breeze didn't help as well... Here's an example which was NOT really well focus or sharp, but I just like the way it looked...



This is a tiny flower (1 - 1.5 cm in height) and taken handheld with whatever available light (in Singapore Botanical Gardens).

For me, the fact that the lens small enough not to add too much weight to a morning walk around, is already very much a bonus. Don't you think so?

[Bernard Yeo]

Beautiful shot, Bernard. Absolutely lovely!!

... It was just my contribution (hopefully positively) to this thread (that the 35mm doesn't suck).

Here are some I took out in my in-laws' small little garden...







There maybe better macro lens out there, but I just had my k200d and the DA35mm macro (travel light), and it certainly serve its purpose!

Okay just got mine from UPS an hour ago and unless I'm missing something, the OEM cap doesn't go back on if there's a filter in place?

Rob

[boushh]

Okay just got mine from UPS an hour ago and unless I'm missing something, the OEM cap doesn't go back on if there's a filter in place?

Rob

I got mind yesterday and it looks like you're right. I just tried putting on a filter and the lens cap and they don't go together.

[boushh]

I made my decision and purchased this lens from prodigital on ebay. The lens took a bit longer to get to me since I don't live in Canada, but it got here in a timely fashion considering. Once I'm done testing this lens I'll be leaving very positive feedback for the company.

Some of you may remember that I wanted a relatively fast focusing and close focusing lens to take pictures of dogs. The macro capabilities and normal focal length pushed me over the edge... as did the lovely pictures in this forum.

Here are some example from my copy of the lens from the brief shoots I've had with it in the last day. I think I'm in love.









Here's a link to the set. I'll hopefully be adding more tomorrow.

Pentax SMC DA 35mm 2.8 Macro Limited - a set on Flickr

[ivoire]

shot this with the k20d and 35mm macro:

[deuces]

The OEM lenscap fits over a filter if you pull the lens hood out slightly. Pretty dodgy though, not much friction. I ended up buying a clip-on cap.

[jsherman999]

.

The flora/fauna pickings are slim in the Northern Hemisphere right about now, but
I had the DA 35ltd Macro out with me for a bit today: