[todd]

Glad I saw this thread... Made me feel better about the $75 I just spent to get the AF fixed in my FA20.

[vespats]

... DOF is pretty huge with ultra-wides, the flip side is that the FOV is quite wide and magnification quite low...
...When I use that lens at 2m distance (e.g. for near/far), I am dependent on the focus aides on my KatzEye screen. Either that or I use magnified live view. Using the ground-glass or focus confirmation results in missed focus most of the time. ...
Steve

I agree that at super close distances you have to focus. But then you still have focus confirmation.
At 2m distance this seems rather easy to me already.
Looking at the distance markings of the A20 and Voigländer 20mm you see that 2m distance you have quite a FOV already.
With focus assist it is hard to miss the focus there to me.

...and honestly. At this distance I really do not see to many occasions I would go for F2.8. Honestly lower than F8 in general. If there is somewhat enough light, this is not the use of (ultra) wide angle for me.

[noelpolar]

Glad I saw this thread... Made me feel better about the $75 I just spent to get the AF fixed in my FA20.

Man you throw money around.....

---------- Post added 22-09-16 at 08:22 PM ----------

Looking at the distance markings of the A20 and Voigländer 20mm you see that 2m distance you have quite a FOV already.

Yes.... but the Voiglander is soft towards the edges remember.....

[todd]

Man you throw money around.....

Haha that never occurred to me but I'll take your word for it! I bought the FA20 last year at what I consider a bargain (especially right now) with the intention for it to tide me over with the K1 until RP releases an UWA prime someday (hopefully next year of course)... So when the AF began acting up earlier this year I started to lose my LBA grip... I kept using the lens but oddly it could only auto focus in live view (and even then would only lock focus sporadically), so it was bugging me to the point where I wasn't wanting to use it much... Yet I was reluctant to turn it over for repair for concern that it'd cost more than I wanted to spend, so in the last couple months bought a couple WA Takumars that are nice but haven't kept me from checking out all the new third party option threads with attraction... So fixing the AF on the FA20 was my latest effort to regain my resolve to stick as closely as possible to the original plan...

[stevebrot]

With focus assist it is hard to miss the focus there to me.

It appears you have a higher tolerance to missed focus then me.

Being within the range of acceptable sharpness is not the same as "in focus". When one says it is is easy to attain focus with an ultra-wide, it is essentially the same as saying, "I can't detect out-of-focus very easily".

Continuing on that line of discussion is a deep rabbit hole and not one I am willing to pursue. BTW...The very nice dog photo above by @noelpolar was taken at f/8 and is worth clicking through on. Use Flickr navigation to view at "original size" and consider where the point of focus is. (The subject that was 1-2 meters away, assuming photo is about 80% crop.)


Steve

(...would really like to find an A or FA 20/2.8 at a price this boy could afford...)

[monochrome]

Edit: if yoy can do without autofocus the K/M/A20mm's are good lenses, and the K18/3.5 is really great.

The K18/3.5 suffers from the same supply/demand/price issue as the FA20. Even I have a place I won't go in pursuit of K lenses.

[noelpolar]

Continuing on that line of discussion is a deep rabbit hole and not one I am willing

Reality of internet forums is that everybodies idea of "something" is spread around a bit like a histogram..... trying to nail a "fact" is something that lifes to short for..... unless a very specific set of requirements is clearly articulated..... a clear fact base to work from.

For what it's worth, I consider the Voigtlander 20/3.5 as a ff equivalent to the DA15, and in my terminology I refer to it as "lifestyle" lens.... mostly a combination of compromises .....size v's performance and function..... my failing is that I do like small, metal primes...... the other issue for my usage is that once I start to get around 20mm the sun finds it's way into the frame for a good percentage of my shots....

[Ric]

So what is focus confirmation. I have never used a manual focus lens before and have rarely set my autofocus lenses on manual. I was experimenting with manual focus on my K-5 with my DFA 50mm. Sometimes the camera beeped when it seemed to be in focus other times not and I'm not sure why that is as the subject seemed in focus each time. Does this mean that when using manual focus you just depend on your eyes through the viewfinder or in live view, to determine whether the subject is in focus or not or should the camera confirm somehow that the subject is in focus. My concern is that I will get a manual focus lens like a Pentax A 20mm 2.8 for reasons we already discussed and often miss the focus.

[Sandy Hancock]

I might consider selling my FA20/2.8
Make me a wildly inflated offer

[stevebrot]

So what is focus confirmation.

You can use the AF system with manual focus lenses. The camera will beep and the green hexagon will light when focus is attained for the center focus point only. This is true even if the AF switch is in the off position.


Steve

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

The K18/3.5 suffers from the same supply/demand/price issue as the FA20. Even I have a place I won't go in pursuit of K lenses.

Good for you! I might be a worse case of LBA.

through the viewfinder: My Lenses

But I was lucky with the K18/3.5 and bought it from a german guy who originally only wanted to sell it within Germany...but I convinced him Sweden was almost Germany. That of course kept competition and price down. Haven't regretted it. It does very well against more modern lenses. Yasuo Takahashi made a fantastic job with that design!

[Ric]

I think I'm going with noelpolar's advice. At the current price of the FA 20mm 2.8 (if you can find one that is) I think I will wait to see what pentax comes out with next year. Even though I would prefer the older lens hopefully a new wide angle prime will become available.
Great discussion.

Thanks

[gofour3]

I think I'm going with noelpolar's advice. At the current price of the FA 20mm 2.8 (if you can find one that is) I think I will wait to see what pentax comes out with next year. Even though I would prefer the older lens hopefully a new wide angle prime will become available.
Great discussion.

Thanks

Just make sure you get one with the original metal hood MH-RB67!

Phil.

[stevebrot]

Just make sure you get one with the original metal hood MH-RB67!

Phil.

This could take awhile...


Steve

[Sandy Hancock]

Just make sure you get one with the original metal hood MH-RB67!

Only for bragging value. It's stupidly large and hard to find second hand.
A plastic petal hood takes up much less space and does the job just fine. $4.00 from B&H