Originally posted by Class A Could someone with more lens authority than I have please either confirm or dispel the statement that the 43mm is "one of the sharpest Pentax lenses ever"? I've seen one person state this but have never heard it before. Wouldn't the FA 50/2.8 macro or F 85/1.4 or FA 31/1.8 be stronger contenders for that title?
ClassA, I personally don't have any "lens authority," but if you look through the photozone.de reviews, I believe they have it (FA43) as giving the best results in their resolution tests. The macro lenses actually aren't at the top of the sharpness list. The sharpest Pentax's reviewed on photozone are the FA43(sharpest), FA31, FA35, FA77, FA50, DA16-45(wide end), and the DA*16-50(wide end).
Of course, that comes with a caveat. Those lenses reach sharper points at some point in their aperture range than all the other lenses reviewed on photozone, but some of them take a while to get there. For instance, the FA43's borders at f1.9 stunk up the joint. The FA77's borders don't really shine until f4. On the other hand photozone has this to say when assessing the sharpness of the DA40: "The Pentax DA 40mm f/2.8 Limited is indeed not as sharp as its direct cousins but frankly the difference is not really detectable by the naked eye." A pretty interesting statement about naked eyes if you ask me.
Photozone also rates the DA40 and DA70 higher than the FA43 and FA77 because of a more even performance in sharpness. Namely, the DA's start off better from corner to corner, though at their best, they don't reach the lofty heights of the FA's (before anyone gets excited and calls me an FA-ophobe, I've stated elsewhere that I've been disappointed with the build quality of the DA limiteds. Also, their bokeh is not as highly acclaimed as their FA counterparts). That said, the FA31 is the highest rated Pentax, optics-wise, because the sharpness is superb throughout the aperture range.
That's what some expert in Germany has said. Me, I don't know nothing.