[davidsladek]

Hello guys, took the fat fifty for a walk. Write me your questions, if you have any, I will answer tomorrow. Shot with K-1 fw 1.5

Most pics around 2.0 aperture, some cropped, none of these is 100%, Apologies it is on Facebook

Pentax DFA 50/1.4 first outing | Facebook

PS: Use the Options > Download function to get the 1920px size images.

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Last edited by davidsladek; 07-28-2018 at 04:34 PM.

[Belnan]

Good work, keep them coming

[VoiceOfReason]

If you've used the DA*55 before how does it compare in handling with that?

[davidsladek]

If you've used the DA*55 before how does it compare in handling with that?

DFA definitely significantly heavier. But AF is much faster and more precise I'd say. My DA was squeaky, DFA is totally quiet. There is fringing on the DFA as there was on DA but the lack of ghosting and incredible sharpness of DFA from 1.4 make the pictures look much better. DA was sharp but not all frame and 1.4 was pretty soft contrast. DFA on K-1 with battery grip is certainly a weight to remember, but I spent 4 hours with it constantly lifting and do not feel a difference, it is also well balanced. I would even say that DFA is more comfortable to hold and control than DA, but I haven't held the DA for a long time since I sold it 2 years ago.

PS: I only ever used DA on APS-C bodies

Just to add: I don't normally use manual focus but tried it on DFA today and there is solid resistance which helps with precise movements but prevents very fast changes, or at least fast manual changes feel like you are hurting the lens and your wrist at the same time

[VoiceOfReason]

DFA definitely significantly heavier. But AF is much faster and more precise I'd say. My DA was squeaky, DFA is totally quiet. There is fringing on the DFA as there was on DA but the lack of ghosting and incredible sharpness of DFA from 1.4 make the pictures look much better. DA was sharp but not all frame and 1.4 was pretty soft contrast. DFA on K-1 with battery grip is certainly a weight to remember, but I spent 4 hours with it constantly lifting and do not feel a difference, it is also well balanced. I would even say that DFA is more comfortable to hold and control than DA, but I haven't held the DA for a long time since I sold it 2 years ago.

PS: I only ever used DA on APS-C bodies

How is it in corner sharpness, and do you notice any coma at all with it?

[Belnan]

Some really nice isolation and bokeh looks nice. If you get a chance to do some portraits that would be great too.

[davidsladek]

How is it in corner sharpness, and do you notice any coma at all with it?

I haven't done a brick wall test nor any pics with variable apertures but from the bits I have snapped it seems fantastic. I will need to test this a bit more. Admittedly, this has never been my priority with my lenses. This baby may change it

---------- Post added 07-28-2018 at 05:13 PM ----------

Some really nice isolation and bokeh looks nice. If you get a chance to do some portraits that would be great too.

Will try to catch someone on the street asap

[VoiceOfReason]

I haven't done a brick wall test nor any pics with variable apertures but from the bits I have snapped it seems fantastic. I will need to test this a bit more. Admittedly, this has never been my priority with my lenses. This baby may change it

I can't wait to see your results! I prefer real life testing with a production model on similar equipment to what I use.

[Saltwater Images]

How smooth and precise was manual focus?

[tomcook]

Thanks for sharing. It is becoming increasingly hard to resist this lens.

[davidsladek]

How smooth and precise was manual focus?

I have never used manual focus before other than pre-focusing for catch-n focus, but compared to my other FA primes (the old generation) the focus ring is much tighter and smoother to turn.

[davidsladek]

It's day 2 for my fat fifty and it just got a proper run for its money... but before you judge, please, read the disclaimer:

Disclaimer:

• I am not a sport photographer and have pretty much no experience with it
• 50mm isn't a focal length suitable for sport events anyway
• heavy rain isn't a good weather for bicycle test (or race or anything really)
• shooting bicycle test with several hundred cyclists in the view is just as confusing for the camera as for the photographer

So, after two months of subtropical weather and clear skies, England got clouds for the lunar eclipse and absolute torrential rain for the Prudential Race Surrey. Luckily for the cyclists, sun and heat comes back tomorrow as they will be drying their soaked kits

I decided to take the DFA50 to the race for a bit of snapping. Bad decision: rain doesn't only soak you wet, but confuses the K-1 autofocus so it is much less consistent than I experienced yesterday in dry and sunshine. Oh, yes, sunshine, the light today is several degrees darker too. So was DFA50 fast? I think it would be if several things didn't totally confuse it: number of cyclists in the view, rain, the fact that by the time you pick one cyclist to track, he's already speeding around you in 50km/h. But there was one more thing that really ruined my experience: the K-1 buffer. And I would have to repeat this word after every sentence. The amount of times when I was wildly pressing the shutter only to see the camera doing nothing because it was clearing the buffer was crazy. And I had 150Mbs card inside. Mid way through I decided to change from RAW to JPG L high quality. It improved a little, but didn't go away... The amount of keepers I have is dismal but I really believe it is due to the aforementioned issues rather than the DFA speed. BTW I used single (center) point which may also have played role in my results. Anyway, attaching a few of the better pics before I delete everything from my comp and grab the hairdrier

Enjoy

Questions welcome



---------- Post added 07-29-2018 at 02:07 AM ----------

PS: I don't know what it is but the uploaded pics look much worse than the exports. I guess there is a massive compression on this site.

---------- Post added 07-29-2018 at 02:21 AM ----------

So I uploaded all the previews and few more on my web because cannot look at the compression... All pics 1400px long side so not huge.

http://www.davidsladek.com/download/DFA50.rar

[nocturnal]

The guy in the yellow jersey looks a bit fat fifty never mind the lens 😂

[Brumtaffy]

Hello guys, took the fat fifty for a walk. Write me your questions, if you have any, I will answer tomorrow. Shot with K-1 fw 1.5

Most pics around 2.0 aperture, some cropped, none of these is 100%, Apologies it is on Facebook

Pentax DFA 50/1.4 first outing | Facebook

PS: Use the Options > Download function to get the 1920px size images.

Looking forward to seeing more with this new lens

[chima chinda]

Beautiful shots you took.
I'm so tempted to get this now - I'm not sure how much resistance I've got left.