[MJSfoto1956]

I just received a nice FA 24-90mm from Seaside and had an opportunity to put it through its paces on a quick excursion to Nantucket MA. Some random observations:

• Super light, similar in overall feel and construction to the DA 16-45mm
• uses 67mm filters (my standard - yay!)
• 12% barrel distortion at 24mm, almost none at 50mm
• Sharp center, soft corners especially wide open -- I was expecting this given the old lens design.
• Setting the camera to use MTF Program suggests that this lens is sharpest at the following: 24mm @ f/4.5, 28mm @ f/5.6, 35mm @ f/5.6, 50mm @ f/5.6, 70mm @ f/5.6, 90mm @ f/6.7
• Surprisingly appropriate range for crop-sensor -- while not as useful overall as the Nikkor 24-120mm on my D800, the 35-135mm (equivalent) turned out to make for a very pleasant "walk around" lens (I was expecting to miss the 24mm equivalent more than I did)
• Pentax should revise this lens for the forthcoming F-1 "flagship" with a new, updated optical formula more in line with the latest Nikkor 24-85mm series of lenses.

And an outtake from my walk around Nantucket:



Michael

[Canada_Rockies]

I still have that lens, and have been thinking of hitting the local hockey rink with it on the K3. I think it would be workable. It was the workhorse lens on my MZ-S that left for more useful country in Ontario a while ago. I haven't used it on the K3 yet ...

[LennyBloke]

One of my favourite "legacy" zooms! An upgrade would of course bring many benefits, but it's still a very capable performer on current Pentax DSLR's

[ScooterMaxi Jim]

I still have that lens, and have been thinking of hitting the local hockey rink with it on the K3. I think it would be workable. It was the workhorse lens on my MZ-S that left for more useful country in Ontario a while ago. I haven't used it on the K3 yet ...

Many lenses that seem a bit marginal in sharpness on early dSLRs really show a lot of character on the K-3. Suddenly they become sharp enough - as long as the lens doesn't have other deficits to magnify. I would think the FA 24-90 would work pretty well. Even the 28-70 f/4 looks pretty good - better than any 18-55, and not too far off from the 16-45 in the range they share.

[Abbazz]

The FA 24-90 is a good lens on my full-frame Sony A7. I enjoy it as a lightweight walkabout lens and I particularly enjoy the focal range, which I find pretty much ideal for a wide range of subjects. The 50cm minimum focus across the range is also very useful. Color rendering is very nice with good microcontrast.

As stated by the OP, the main drawback is the lack of sharpness in the corners from 24 to 30mm (altough the corners get better at F/11). The image is also lacking sharpness from 80 to 90mm, even in the center, and becomes usable although not tack sharp when closed down. Other aberrations (visible lateral chromatic aberration and distortion at the wide end) are easy to correct in post. Flare resistance is rather good for a zoom, but you will get colored spots when the sun is in the frame.

The F/3.5 - 4.5 aperture is a great compromise, as it allows the lens to remain relatively compact, while being only 1/2 stop slower than a bulky F/2.8 zoom at the wide end. And I don't really get the point of insisting on constant aperture zooms nowadays. It might have been important thirty years ago for people using non-coupled lightmeters or manual flashes but it doesn't matter the less with a modern camera using TTL light metering and TTL flash. I much prefer an F/3.5-4.5 zoom over a constant F/4, as I find it very important to gain 1/2 stop at the wide end, even if it means losing 1/2 stop at the tele end. F/3.5 is very useful at 24mm for snapshots taken inside the house in poor lighting, when corner sharpness is of no importance.

Cheers!

Abbazz

[LennyBloke]

I love the colours that this compact little beauty delivers, the corner softness I can forgive (and it's usually stopped down a little for landscapes anyway)!

Here's an example from earlier this year (at f8 on 24mm):