I could have bought the famous D-FA * 50 and D-FA * 85 lenses, but my choice was different, I opted for the HD FA 35 f2 (discounted since it was open box, part of a K1+HD35 bundle, the user sold the HD35 since he already had an FA 35 f2), old D-FA 50 macro f/2.8 (old stock from a deal who stopped selling Pentax) and "old" D-FA 100 macro f/2.8 (I already had it for my K3), and will likely never buy the D-FA* primes.
Of course those macro lenses aren't as fast as the new primes, BUT:
1) I can do macro shot at 1:1 magnification, even the new Canon RF macro prime aren't 1:1, only 1:2
2) On top of macro I can also shoot people, wide open with the 50 and 100. f2.8 aperture is adequate for shooting people, I mostly use f/4 to have DoF ~30cm, deep enough to have nose eyes and ears in focus.
3) Price: a lot cheaper than the DFA*. For the price of one DFA*50 (not to mention the DFA*85), I bought my 3 primes to cover from 35mm (moderate wide), 50mm (standard) to 100mm (short tele).
4) Sharpness from wide open, I can shoot wide open, those macro are sharp edge to edge. On the DFA50 macro, the center is sharp and there's basically no difference between corners and center.
5) Macros are virtually free of distortion, no need to apply distortion correction, and if I stitch images my stitching software enjoys the lack of distortion (shows in panos).
6) FA 35 2 is sharp as well, maybe not wide open, but at f2.8 yes.
7) They are very small and light weight! The 3 primes together don't weight more than a single DFA*50, I can have the three primes in my bag replace a standard zoom, swap them at wish, no need to carry an extra bag.
8) Screw drive focuses quickly, even with macros, for distant subjects (non macro) it's almost instant focus & lock.
Of course , they aren't weather sealed, and screw drive AF, they have CA (corrected in post) , but given the price + macro capability, sharpness and weight, it's hard to spend more on the larger lenses that don't do 1:1 macro.
P.S. Looking forward to a D-FA 21 limited (small) to cover the UWA range, and complete my kit
Last edited by biz-engineer; 01-17-2021 at 05:00 AM.