[W.j.christy]

First off, I need to say thank you to the fine folks here at "Pentax Forums" for having so many wonderful instructables on the common afflictions of the various Pentax lenses and how to repair them.

I recently caught a bad case of LBA and starting buying various 50mm's of different aperatures (Mostly ones that suffered some sort of affliction that I got cheaply and repaired) in hopes of finding something that would be faster than my DA 50 1.8 and have a different type of quality to it (note, not better image quality but renders the image in a unique way that would add some new artistic touch). With that in mind, and from, perhaps, still being woozy from having my wisdom teeth removed and the subsequent pain killers, I purchased a Sears 50mm 1.7 after reading the reviews and seeing some of the posted pics. With that i was off to the races.

I played around with the sears and found I wasn't a big fan of the lens and how it renders images. Truth be told i found them a little flat and the sharpness wide open wasn't very appealing. That and a fully manual lens wasn't my style (hey don't judge )

Since then (and even after the pain killers have wore off) I have (among other lenses not 50mm in length) purchased the following in search of something different,

Super takumar SMC 50mm 1.4 (which I believe is the 7 element version). I have tried it and it takes great shots, awesome bokeh, unique rendering, and pretty sharp, though I have no idea why I thought I would like a fully manual any more with this lens than the sears and alas I don't.

SMC Pentax A 50 1.7. This lens was a steal, and after some light repair work to fix the common stuck aperture, its a very nice lens. Has some nice rendering and can easily be used with the different modes of the camera instead of having to adjust the lens setting on the lens itself. However, I find myself thinking very hard about whether or not I really want a purely manual focus lens, that and I miss the wide open aperture of the tak and its specific image rendering.

All this led me to think that the lens I would like should have a large aperature and be autofocus capable. The logical conclusion was to invest in the FA 50 1.4 but given what I have recently experienced I didn't want to lay out that much money for something that left me unsatisfied.

To complicate matters, I started looking through some of my more favorite photos and have found that 40mm is sort of a sweet spot for me when I use a zoom. Unfortunately I don't know of any 40 mm prime that is faster than the 2.8 DA 40. I thought about the FA 43 but I worry the extra 3mm may narrow the Field of View to the point where I no longer fine the pictures appealing, that and the amount I would have to pay for that lens makes it very hard to justify.

So I am looking for some advice. At this point I think I may sell all my other 50mm aside from my DA 50 1.8 and attempt to fund a 40mm purchase but I am worried about how fast the lens is. Any comments, knowledge, or advice is welcome.

[pepperberry farm]

I love my DA40 Limited; it is stuffed full of pixie dust....


the speed of the lens is not an issue - on my K-3, if I notice that f2.8 isn't enough, I bump up the ISO a bit and away we go....

[BigMackCam]

Joel - in terms of light gathering, the DA40's f/2.8 aperture should be plenty fast enough. Bear in mind, it is sharp and very, very useable wide open, unlike many lenses that need to be stopped down a little to perform well. Of course, it gets better as you stop it down, really hitting excellent territory around f/4, peaking at f/5.6, but - honestly - you could shoot it all day at f/2.8 with no worries over IQ.

The FA43 f/1.9 is 3mm longer, I know, but I really don't think that would make too much difference. Apparently it needs to be stopped down to f/2.8 for the borders to sharpen up, but has good centre resolution from wide open (again, I believe it peaks around f/5.6). I understand that it has very identifiable rendering, so you might want to investigate that first to see if it's to your taste. It's an expensive lens at full retail price, for sure, but I've seen some very tempting deals from time to time, and you can always consider used...

[AtitG]

If you are not yet decided on the focal length, I suggest you buy a nice walk around zoom like the da 18-135 wr and then eventually you will know which is your favorite focal length.

[BigMackCam]

If you are not yet decided on the focal length, I suggest you buy a nice walk around zoom like the da 18-135 wr and then eventually you will know which is your favorite focal length.

I think that's what the OP was saying - looking at his photos, many of those he likes best are around 40mm...

[W.j.christy]

I do have an 18-135 and a few other zooms. That is how I figured I like the 40mm range.

BigMack it's good information to have that the 40mm is pretty sharp wide open. That does help with the decision making process. Thanks!

[biz-engineer]

do have an 18-135 and a few other zooms. That is how I figured I like the 40mm range. BigMack it's good information to have that the 40mm is pretty sharp wide open. That does help with the decision making process. Thanks

The HD DA35 limited macro is the sharpest of all limited, wide open, great color saturation, and very well finished product. I sold all of my limited primes, but this one I can't sell it. The next best one is the DA*55 f1.4, has harsh bokeh but amazing color rendition, and sharp from f2. Those are Pentax creations that we may never seem again from Ricoh.

[UncleVanya]

I'm not certain that your zoom will report any difference between 40 and 43 mm. The 40mm you see is already an abstraction - it's close enough but not exact there is some slop. I doubt the Field of View differences would be noticed by you.

43:
Field of View (Diag. / Horiz.)

APS-C: 37 ° / 31 °
Full frame: 53 ° / 45 °

Read more at: SMC Pentax-FA 43mm F1.9 Limited Reviews - FA Prime Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database

40:
Field of View (Diag. / Horiz.)

APS-C: 39 ° / 33 °
Full frame: 57 ° / 48 °

Read more at: HD Pentax-DA 40mm F2.8 Limited Reviews - DA Prime Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database

[gatorguy]

The HD DA35 limited macro is the sharpest of all limited, wide open, great color saturation, and very well finished product. I sold all of my limited primes, but this one I can't sell it. The next best one is the DA*55 f1.4, has harsh bokeh but amazing color rendition, and sharp from f2. Those are Pentax creations that we may never seem again from Ricoh.

Thanks for the harsh bokeh mention on the DA*55. I've been really close to pulling the trigger on one ( and at a good price, under $470) but still holding off. I'll look closer at sample pics now that you've made me aware.

The use would be as a companion to a 85mm 1.4 I already have for portraits and street photography. I've seen several mentions of the DA40 Limited in the past couple of days and perhaps that would actually be the smarter choice.

[UncleVanya]

I've seen several mentions of the DA40 Limited in the past couple of days and perhaps that would actually be the smarter choice.

I'm not sure if this helps but this is a link to about 40 shots with my SMC DA 40 on flickr:
https://flic.kr/s/aHskhjHRgr

What I have seen I don't know if the 55 is any worse. I personally haven't thought the bokeh is particularly harsh on the shots I have seen of that lens. I think the 40 bokeh is medium - sometimes really good sometimes a little busy.

[Driline]

I thought about the FA 43 but I worry the extra 3mm may narrow the Field of View to the point where I no longer fine the pictures appealing, that and the amount I would have to pay for that lens makes it very hard to justify.

You should be able to purchase used somewhere between 3 & 4 hundred dollars. The FA 43 has pixie dust. The DA 40 does not

FA 43 wide open at 1.9 . You're not going to get the DA 40 to to this.......

[W.j.christy]

The HD DA35 limited macro is the sharpest of all limited, wide open, great color saturation, and very well finished product. I sold all of my limited primes, but this one I can't sell it. The next best one is the DA*55 f1.4, has harsh bokeh but amazing color rendition, and sharp from f2. Those are Pentax creations that we may never seem again from Ricoh.

Thanks for the insight,

I have the DA 35 and I know its not the same as the HD DA35 limited Macro, but, I am not huge fan of the DA 35 with respect to how I compose images and the field of view it presents. That could also be a factor of the minimum focus distance being much farther than I like but I have found I don't really shoot around the 35mm mark that often if at all. Which is why I excluded it from the list of lenses i was thinking about.

I'm not certain that your zoom will report any difference between 40 and 43 mm. The 40mm you see is already an abstraction - it's close enough but not exact there is some slop. I doubt the Field of View differences would be noticed by you.

I agree, that the report given in the EXIF data is an approximation, but its good enough. That combined with paying attention to the focal length markers on the zoom lenses I use (hopefully they are accurate) is what led me to question my quest for the ultimate 50 and take a side road on the path to the 40mm.

It is interesting to see that the FOV from the 43 and the 40 are not to much different by the numbers, however, at these focal lengths it has been said that small changes in the focal length are very noticeable in practice.

Have you or anyone else had any hands on experience with both lenses and can help me understand if the practical application of the numbers results in only a small noticeable change or is it significant?

---------- Post added 06-16-16 at 11:08 AM ----------

You should be able to purchase used somewhere between 3 & 4 hundred dollars. The FA 43 has pixie dust. The DA 40 does not

FA 43 wide open at 1.9 . You're not going to get the DA 40 to to this.......

Thats pretty spectacular. Hmmmmm......

[gatorguy]

You should be able to purchase used somewhere between 3 & 4 hundred dollars. The FA 43 has pixie dust. The DA 40 does not

FA 43 wide open at 1.9 . You're not going to get the DA 40 to to this.......

I dunno Driline. I just browsed Uncle's 40mm catalog he linked a post or two ago and there's definitely some pixie dust in there, with both the Vulcan and red rose having the most the most obvious sprinkles IMHO

[BigMackCam]

As we all know (even those who'd tell us otherwise), pixie dust is entirely subjective... "One man's meat is another man's poison", as they say

[pathdoc]

I am not huge fan of the DA 35 with respect to how I compose images and the field of view it presents. That could also be a factor of the minimum focus distance being much farther than I like

You wouldn't have to worry about that with the DA35 macro - you can practically shove it up a bee's nose and take pictures of the nostril hairs (well, not really, but you can get VERY close. It gets me so close I was forced to buy a ring flash to make best use of it).