Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
02-01-2016, 08:02 AM   #31
Master of the obvious
Loyal Site Supporter
savoche's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Lowlands of Norway
Posts: 18,309
QuoteOriginally posted by yorik Quote
Hmmm... It's becoming harder for me to resist the siren call of the 20-40.
Why resist?

I will stick to my primes, but from what I see there's no reason not to get a 20-40 if you want a zoom. I'm sure it has its weaknesses, but so does any other lens. It's just a matter of learning to work around them.

02-01-2016, 08:18 AM   #32
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
microlight's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Hampshire, UK
Posts: 2,127
Mine lives on my K-3II and is also pretty good wide open, so maybe it was an issue with earlier ones. Like a post above, it covers the bulk of the range that I normally use. If I want wider, I shoot two overlapping portrait shots and stitch them, and if I want longer then I use the 55-300.
02-01-2016, 01:59 PM   #33
npc
Veteran Member




Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 313
QuoteOriginally posted by Sandy Hancock Quote
Like Bill, my DA20-40 limited was good in the centre wide open at the wide end, but fell away dramatically even half way to the edges - it took f/5.6 or smaller to be usable. The problem persisted until at least 30mm. I returned it.

20mm f/4.0

My DA21 limited is tiny, very flare resistant, and gives awesome starbursts if needed. It is quite usable wide open:

K52S7595
This must be the most horribly decentered lens I've ever seen! I'm glad you returned it.

However, I'm quite happy with my copy - true, I almost exclusively use it at f8 only for landscapes when hiking but at that setting it's uniformly sharp across the frame and zoom range and with great color and microcontrast
02-01-2016, 02:18 PM - 1 Like   #34
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
THoog's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: North Carolina
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 3,685
My impression of the 20-40 is that it was meant to be a compact travel lens - small enough, bright enough, wide enough, long enough, and with better-than-average IQ, plus silent focusing and WR. Sure, there are lenses that beat it in each category, but nothing in the same exact niche. Compared to an 18-55 lens of comparable size, losing a little at the long and short ends in exchange for better IQ and about a stop in speed across the range seems like a worthwhile trade. I've found the extra stop to be useful in museums where f/3.5 zooms can struggle, without having to carry a chunkier f/2.8 zoom or a handful of primes (none of which are WR or silent focusing, at least in my glass collection). It's a niche lens, but it can be a useful niche.

02-01-2016, 02:46 PM   #35
Veteran Member
yorik's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Scotts Valley, CA
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 991
Original Poster
QuoteOriginally posted by THoog Quote
My impression of the 20-40 is that it was meant to be a compact travel lens - small enough, bright enough, wide enough, long enough, and with better-than-average IQ, plus silent focusing and WR. Sure, there are lenses that beat it in each category, but nothing in the same exact niche. Compared to an 18-55 lens of comparable size, losing a little at the long and short ends in exchange for better IQ and about a stop in speed across the range seems like a worthwhile trade. I've found the extra stop to be useful in museums where f/3.5 zooms can struggle, without having to carry a chunkier f/2.8 zoom or a handful of primes (none of which are WR or silent focusing, at least in my glass collection). It's a niche lens, but it can be a useful niche.
This is how I am thinking of it. Last summer I took the FA 43 as my only lens on a week-long family vacation, as an experiment of sorts. As I suspected, it suited my purposes just fine in almost all situations, I was only missing a bit of width inside on a few occasions. Hence my interest in the 20-40. I don't intend it to replace my primes in general, but as a one-lens solution for trips etc.
02-01-2016, 02:58 PM   #36
Banned




Join Date: Jan 2009
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 9,675
QuoteOriginally posted by yorik Quote
Question: how does the 20-40 compare to the 21?

I'm thinking of purchasing the 20-40 as a wr 20mm f/2.8 ltd with bonus focal lengths, hence the question.
I owned both for some time.

The 21mm is sharper, but the 20-40 is a very good performer. I never was a real wide-open shooter, so f4 is for me a nice point. At 20mm it was a good performer. The zoom is something you would 't get with the prime. If you want the best at 20 or 21mm then thè 21mm would be my recomendation.

Since I used my 20-40 mainly at 30mm I didn't had a need to hold on to it. But that is personal.
02-01-2016, 03:02 PM   #37
Pentaxian




Join Date: Nov 2011
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 4,309
QuoteOriginally posted by yorik Quote
Hence my interest in the 20-40. I don't intend it to replace my primes in general, but as a one-lens solution for trips etc.
It certainly does that job for me.

Back in the 35mm film days, I mostly used 35mm and 50 or 55mm primes,
and the DA 20-40 covers that range very nicely.

What distinguishes the DA 20-40 from the other standard zooms,
apart from its small size, is the superb and particular rendering.

Like a good prime, it can transform mundane subjects
which wouldn't be worth photographing with other standard zooms.

For the pixel-peepers, the resolution tests on Optyczne/Lenstip
show it to be softer than the DA 21 on the edges at f/4,
but sharper at f/5.6 and f/8.

Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
k-mount, ltd, ltd vs, pentax lens, question, slr lens
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
HD 20-40 Ltd Starburst cxzj Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 46 12-21-2016 02:38 PM
For Sale - Sold: DA 40/2.8 Ltd, DA 21/3.2 Ltd, DFA 100/2.8 Macro, Helios 58/2 - prices reduced ixian Sold Items 15 07-17-2015 01:04 PM
For Sale - Sold: Da 21 ltd, da 35 ltd, da 40 ltd (conus) pbancr Sold Items 4 06-23-2011 08:10 AM
For Sale - Sold: DA-21 ltd,DA-40 ltd,DA-70 ltd, DA12-24, DA 55-300 (metal mount) (Worldwide) telfish Sold Items 10 12-13-2010 06:15 AM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 12:47 AM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top