Originally posted by gm4life I got mine pre-ordered and it will hold me over till the new DFA* wide angle. I will sure post my thoughts once I get it on my K1-II.
Please do!
Originally posted by aaacb I'm interested to see if/how color rendition has changed because of the new coatings. I like my older FA 35/2 very much, mostly I'm using in on film these days, but digital apsc sometimes too, because it has both screw autofocus and an aperture ring it's fully compatible with any of my cameras (from KM to K3ii).
I too am interested in film cameras, it's my intention to go backwards one day and grab a MZ-3 or MZ-S and use my FA ltds on it, so aperture rings are cool for me.
Where my head is at with all of this is; no doubt the FA31 is better lens than this new HD FA35, but look at the price difference. And if not going for a FA31 the other choice might be the Sigma 35/1.4 Art, which again is mighty expensive. For the price of one of those lenses you might be able to pick up a new FA35/2 or a new HD FA35/2
along with a FA20 or FA24 second hand (or... I'm hoping that this new HD FA35/2 is the pebble that starts the avalanche and we see some other older discontinued FA lenses being HD coated and back on the shelves for sale, which would suit me just fine!).
What I'm really concerned about is how well
f2 performs on all of the above mentioned. I know what shooting f1.4 is like, and it's tricky to nail that focus, even with AF I think the Art will have some hit and misses under the Pentax AF system. I think (like the DFA 50/1.4) that all the real magic of the Sigma 35/1.4 happens from wide open to around f2, after that I think the 'wow' factor loses some appeal and other lenses can start to keep up a little.
I've seen videos of the FA43 vs the DFA50 for example, and the DFA50 is obviously the better lens, in every way, but once it gets to around f2-4 I don't feel the difference is always night and day. For sure you need the DFA50 for those product photo shots, where imperfections are completely gone, but for general shooting, even paid events like weddings and such, I don't think the public will give that much of a hoot over 10-15% loss in IQ etc.
I truly want a FA31, but my god it's an expensive piece of glass, and here we have this new offering which although not quite as wide is not far from it's focal length, I do see it as being a competitor to the FA31. The real question is how much better this HD FA35 is to it's predecessor and how well it can battle the FA31.
Exciting times!
EDIT: Just had a chat with
Pentax Australia and they will be updating their website shortly for the HD FA 35/2 and DA* 11-18. Prices are
$495AUD and
$1925AUD respectively. Stock expected in around 10 days.
I'll post links to the lenses once he's updated the site, he's gonna notify me when he's done.
EDIT EDIT:
11-18
https://pentax.com.au/products/21230
35/2
https://pentax.com.au/products/22860
Last edited by BruceBanner; 02-12-2019 at 09:23 PM.