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01-16-2009, 03:50 PM   #1
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A Longer DA Limited

During all my time on the forum, I've never initiated a thread expressing a desire for a lens that Pentax doesn't produce (nor is on the Roadmap), but today I'm going to indulge myself.

I travel with a body and my three DA Limited primes, 21, 40 and 70, since these lenses produce very crisp images, are reasonable fast, AF rapidly and are blessedly small and light.

I do wish, however, that Pentax would offer a longer DA Limited - something in the range of 100 - 120 mm, f/3ish and no bigger than, say, an M 135/3.5. Although, my DA 70 is probably my favorite lens, I often find myself wishing for a bit more reach. Maybe someday . . . .

Jer

01-16-2009, 03:57 PM   #2
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Good point. Maybe it's hard to get a longer (fast) lens and keep the size as small as the rest of the DA limiteds.
01-16-2009, 04:09 PM   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by paolojackson Quote
Good point. Maybe it's hard to get a longer (fast) lens and keep the size as small as the rest of the DA limiteds.
I'm thinking you're right (but wishing otherwise).

Hey, is it pretty chilly in Houston? It was downright cold this morning here in Lake Jackson, and the furnace just turned on with the sun still out - something we see rarely.

I hope Sunday's not too cold; my daughter is running in the Chevron Marathon (all 26 miles) and I don't want her to freeze.

Jer
01-16-2009, 04:19 PM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by Sailor Quote
I do wish, however, that Pentax would offer a longer DA Limited - something in the range of 100 - 120 mm, f/3ish and no bigger than, say, an M 135/3.5. Although, my DA 70 is probably my favorite lens, I often find myself wishing for a bit more reach. Maybe someday . . . .
That type of lens usually gets a lot of votes when someone starts a thread about what kind of lens you wish Pentax made.

For me, the M100/2.8 is that lens. Obviously, manual focus and aperture, but that doesn't bother me. Smaller *and* faster than the M135/3.5, and plenty sharp - plus the focal length seems more generally useful to me. Available used for $100 or so. It plus the DA40 and an M28/2.8 are my regular walkaround kit.





01-16-2009, 04:32 PM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by Marc Sabatella Quote
That type of lens usually gets a lot of votes when someone starts a thread about what kind of lens you wish Pentax made.

For me, the M100/2.8 is that lens. Obviously, manual focus and aperture, but that doesn't bother me. Smaller *and* faster than the M135/3.5, and plenty sharp - plus the focal length seems more generally useful to me. Available used for $100 or so. It plus the DA40 and an M28/2.8 are my regular walkaround kit.



Who's the cat on the flugelhorn? Looks familiar.

On topic: I've never been able to get M lenses to expose reliably on my K10D. My K20D seems to behave similarly - maybe I'm doing something wrong.

Jer
01-16-2009, 04:47 PM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by Sailor Quote

I do wish, however, that Pentax would offe a longer DA Limited - something in the range of 100 - 120 mm, f/3ish and no bigger than, say, an M 135/3.5. Although, my DA 70 is probably my favorite lens, I often find myself wishing for a bit more reach. Maybe someday . . . .

Jer
Me too!
Something similar to the M/A 100/2.8, maybe a bit smaller/lighter would be awesome.
01-16-2009, 04:59 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by Sailor Quote
During all my time on the forum, I've never initiated a thread expressing a desire for a lens that Pentax doesn't produce (nor is on the Roadmap), but today I'm going to indulge myself.

I travel with a body and my three DA Limited primes, 21, 40 and 70, since these lenses produce very crisp images, are reasonable fast, AF rapidly and are blessedly small and light.

I do wish, however, that Pentax would offer a longer DA Limited - something in the range of 100 - 120 mm, f/3ish and no bigger than, say, an M 135/3.5. Although, my DA 70 is probably my favorite lens, I often find myself wishing for a bit more reach. Maybe someday . . . .

Jer
Until then, perhaps get a used FA 135/2.8? That's a quality lens probbaly at par with your limited's.


Last edited by Ole; 01-16-2009 at 07:08 PM.
01-16-2009, 06:51 PM   #8
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Hi Jer,

Dont forget the poor old DFA 100mm F2.8 macro. I'm surprised this lens doesnt get more attention.

This really is a good lens and meets all the criteria you have raised, with the exception of the DA Ltd status. It is compact and light and makes a good walk around option.

Checking through shots I took in NZ last year with "focal length check" 53% of the shots I took were with that lens.
Cheers mate.
Grant
01-16-2009, 07:03 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by Sailor Quote
Who's the cat on the flugelhorn? Looks familiar.
His name is Al Hood. He lvies here in Denver, but does get around some. Just released a new CD a couple of months ago.

QuoteQuote:
On topic: I've never been able to get M lenses to expose reliably on my K10D. My K20D seems to behave similarly - maybe I'm doing something wrong.
No, those two models are widely reported reported to have issues, usually blamed on the focusing screen. And the usual claim is that replacing the screen with one from the D or DS fixes the problem. Others say the problem goes beyond that. I don't know. I haven't had problems on my DS or K200D, and I've done the shoot-same-scene-at-every-aperture test to be sure. All exposures came out within a quarter stop of each other.
01-16-2009, 07:07 PM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by Mallee Boy Quote
Dont forget the poor old DFA 100mm F2.8 macro. I'm surprised this lens doesnt get more attention.

This really is a good lens and meets all the criteria you have raised, with the exception of the DA Ltd status. It is compact and light and makes a good walk around option.
Compact and light are relative terms, I guess. Maybe small compared to other telephoto macro lenses, but it's really quite a bit bigger than the M100/2.8 (81mm versus 56mm, 345g versus 225g).
01-16-2009, 08:02 PM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by Mallee Boy Quote
Hi Jer,

Dont forget the poor old DFA 100mm F2.8 macro. I'm surprised this lens doesnt get more attention.

This really is a good lens and meets all the criteria you have raised, with the exception of the DA Ltd status. It is compact and light and makes a good walk around option.
Tell me about it. They seem to be known to all those "in the know" tho as they go for too much on ePay, ya'know. Can't seem to get myself a bargain. There is one criticism I've often seen tho that it can hunt over a long focus range being a macro. I don't believe that one has a focus limiter. The older non-D has the limiter.
01-16-2009, 08:10 PM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by Mallee Boy Quote
Hi Jer,

Dont forget the poor old DFA 100mm F2.8 macro. I'm surprised this lens doesnt get more attention.

This really is a good lens and meets all the criteria you have raised, with the exception of the DA Ltd status. It is compact and light and makes a good walk around option.

Checking through shots I took in NZ last year with "focal length check" 53% of the shots I took were with that lens.
Cheers mate.
Grant
You know, Grant - I've got this lens. I just don't think of it as a "normal" telephoto - perhaps because it hunts a bit during AF when it's aimed at "normal" stuff. But you're absolutely right - it produces (in my view) super images. Maybe before I look at the Roadmap, I ought to look on the shelf I keep the lenses I already have. Right now, I'm feeling kind of stupid . . . . but, hey, I'm used to it.

Jer
01-16-2009, 08:54 PM   #13
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I'd agree with Marc, the M 100 2.8 is a great little lens - small, sharp, a lot
of IQ packed into a neat little package. I love that length, I seem to find that my
70-85mm lenses sometimes feel like a 50 to me for some reason. 100mm starts
feeling 'telephoto'.









However, I'd love a small DA 135mm f/2.8 or even something like a
limited 135 f/2.0. It would have to be pretty small to make me consider it over
the DA 50-135.


.
01-17-2009, 03:29 AM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by jsherman999 Quote
.

However, I'd love a small DA 135mm f/2.8 or even something like a
limited 135 f/2.0. It would have to be pretty small to make me consider it over
the DA 50-135.

.
I have some doubts that a 135/2 will be possibly be very compact. The front element will need to be 135:2= 67,5 mm in diameter at least. However, I would certainly get one
01-17-2009, 08:11 AM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by Sailor Quote
You know, Grant - I've got this lens. I just don't think of it as a "normal" telephoto - perhaps because it hunts a bit during AF when it's aimed at "normal" stuff. But you're absolutely right - it produces (in my view) super images. Maybe before I look at the Roadmap, I ought to look on the shelf I keep the lenses I already have. Right now, I'm feeling kind of stupid . . . . but, hey, I'm used to it.

Jer
Hey Jeff, don't forget to use the manual focus override if the 100mm misses its mark. (I figure since you forgot you had a longer telephoto you might forget it has Quick Shift too. )
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