Originally posted by BrianR This is terrific, and will definitely help anyone looking for a comparison. I bought my dfa100mm sight unseen and was considering the FA100 as well. I made a couple of cardboard cylinders of their dimensions as I could not find a photo comparison
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If you wanted to add an extra touch, you could also throw in a shot of them both fully extended?
Yes, I should be able to get to this tonight as I ease into the working week, so standby for that.
The beauty of the DFA, and many would know, is that the lens hood essentially covers the extendable barrel such that the lens appears not to extend at all when focusing on the camera. The FA barrel extends much the same way, but as far as I'm aware it never came with a lens hood. Then again, the front element of the FA is considerably recessed into the barrel, whereas the DFA front element is closer to the end of the barrel.
I too could barely conceptualise the size and weight difference until holding them both in the flesh. The FA 100 is built like a tank. The DFA feels less solid, but I think that "feel" underestimates how robust that lens really is. Its focus ring tolerance is so firm, yet MF action is so smooth that it is a remarkable piece of engineering. Like a well refined car would be seen to be.