[robthebloke]

I have neither of these lenses, but if offered the choice with money no object, I would reach for the FA43 immediately.

Disclosure: I favour primes, I favour small packages over large, and all else being equal I tend to favour manual film body compatibility where it's on offer. These may not be your priorities.

Same here: FA43.

[discharged]

I'd go for something weather sealed, the 100mm macro is a good start.

Then I would look for the original version of the tokina 28-70 f2.6-2.8

I would also add the tamron 70-200 f2.8

This would set you back around $1200-1400 or so and cover most of your basic needs.

[mgvh]

It's not WR nor particularly fast, but I'm hoping someone w/ a K-1 gives the Tamron SP AF 24-135mm 3.5-5.6 a try. Not very expensive, great range for a full frame, and in my experience, it's better than the DA 18-135 on APS-C.

[serothis]

Has anyone used the Sigma 35mm art and the FA43? The sigma gets great reviews in the lens database. And the pictures posted in the reviews are very good.

I was wondering if anyone had hands on experience with both. Obviously the sigma is bigger, heavier and more expensive but how is the IQ compare to eachother? compressed-for-the-internet images don't always tell the whole story.

[Adam]

I don't normally manual focus. The D40x isn't really that conducive to manual focusing. I never switched out the focus screen. Live view was still new-ish feature at the time that was reserved for the higher tier models. And it doesn't any fancy features like focus peaking. So manual focusing has been a lot of guess and check. Not something I did regularly. I know the cosina I listed is a manual focus lens. What I plan to do is stick to AF for now and practice manual focusing on those. Then when i'm confident in my abilities i'll commit to a manual focus only lens.

In that case, let me point you to this page, which lists all the genuine Pentax AF lenses in one place:
AF Full Frame Lenses | PentaxForums.com

Perhaps there are some legacy options you might like

[robjmitchell]

Has anyone used the Sigma 35mm art and the FA43? The sigma gets great reviews in the lens database. And the pictures posted in the reviews are very good.

I was wondering if anyone had hands on experience with both. Obviously the sigma is bigger, heavier and more expensive but how is the IQ compare to eachother? compressed-for-the-internet images don't always tell the whole story.

To me the 35art photos look flat and yellow! The 43ltd is like Cinderella, it had a weird focal length on crop camera and was unfavoured, but with arrival of the k1 godcamera it is queen of the crop. It has lovely rendering at f1.9 and stopped down to 2.8-5.6 it has an amazing 3d look to the images due to superb sharpness and micro-contrast. Highly corrected lenses like the sigma loose contrast due to the number of elements and poor coatings. By the way i am bias!

43ltd on Crop body (since I cant afford the K1 at the moment)
Soft mode at f1.9


3D time

[serothis]

It's panic time. Adorama just charged my credit card which means my K-1 should be shipped. I haven't gotten shipping confirmation email yet. This was a lot sooner than I was expecting.

I need to make final decisions.

I'm pretty much sold on the FA43.

On the tele side of things i'm still waffling. The two final lenses i'm considering are the D FA100 macro wr and the sigma 85mm. I'm leaning towards the sigma.

For the sigma, I think I like the images I've seen a tiny bit more and I like that is has the better AF motor. Weight/size aren't really a concern for me. Despite my earlier comments about waiting for an "art" version, I've decided I don't really need to wait. When I think about what the current lens does and what could be improved the only things I can readily think is, addressing the CA. And of course there's no guarantee it will come in the k-mount.

For the pentax, it's hard to argue with the price advantage and it is weather sealed...and it's macro but I don't know how much I need a true macro. The macro shots I've seen look really good but for general purpose it's missing something the sigma has. I can't quite put my finger on it.

[robthebloke]

Then go for the FA43 and the sigma 85. It sounds like you've pretty much decided anyway

[serothis]

Then go for the FA43 and the sigma 85. It sounds like you've pretty much decided anyway

I have a tendency to immediately doubt myself. I can already see myself thinking, "If I had a proper macro lens I could have gotten closer and had a better shot"

edit:stupid autocorrect...

[robthebloke]

I have a tendency to immediately doubt myself. I can already see myself thinking, "If I had a proper macro lens I could have gotten closer and had a better shot"

edit:stupid autocorrect...

Go for the sigma 85 - I can fully understand wanting that bokehery goodness! (P.s. For the last few years the DFA100 has been heavily discounted on Black Friday. If you decide at a later date you want it, get it then!)

[robjmitchell]

Definitely get the lens you like the images from!

[monochrome]

I have neither of these lenses, but if offered the choice with money no object, I would reach for the FA43 immediately.

Disclosure: I favour primes, I favour small packages over large, and all else being equal I tend to favour manual film body compatibility where it's on offer. These may not be your priorities.

Same here: FA43.

I wouldn't choose.

I'd get the 43 first - they've been on sale lately - and save for the 24~70.

[serothis]

The deed has been done. I ordered the FA43 and the Sigma 85mm. The FA43 should be here by friday; The Sigma by saturday; And the k-1 in theory should be here by tuesday. But the k-1 is alread at my local UPS distribution center. So it could come early.

And to twist the knife, I'm out of town for memorial day weekend.

[Eyewanders]

Another tik for 43. It's my most-used lens on 135 format. One of the most versatile, and it just sings.

[MadMathMind]

K-1 + FA43: https://flic.kr/s/aHskzgd36p
K-1 + FA77: https://flic.kr/s/aHskzbYpu9
K-1 + DFA100: https://flic.kr/s/aHskzgdiPZ

Your FA43 results seem to be about as good as mine, perhaps a bit better. I am quite disappointed with the lens. It's clear that it doesn't have the resolving power to match this camera. I'm not one for counting pixels too much but the FA43 has been a lot of mush for me. When compared with the FA77, it's really obvious. The 43 has flashes of brilliance, for sure, and seems to be awesome within 5 feet. But after that...not as much. It needs a good dose of sharpening in post and a lot more contrast...it means the lens will fare poorly when noise is involved.