[netuser]

You asked for illustrations, .......

Show with the FA 43 and processed in Lightroom:


.......

You are really good , Great shoot.
Congrats and thanks for sharing

[ll_coffee_lP]

I had the FA35 for a little over a year and despite it's sharpness I just didn't like its rendering.

After some looking around I decided to p/u the Sigma 30 f/1.4 in replacement and I love it!
- half the price of FA31, but still great build quality and has pop to the images.
- focuses quickly...unlike DA35
- beautiful bokeh...unlike the FA35

c[_]

[Mystic]

I had the FA35 for a little over a year and despite it's sharpness I just didn't like its rendering.

After some looking around I decided to p/u the Sigma 30 f/1.4 in replacement and I love it!

c[_]

wow! a new wind.. sigma 30mm 1.4 I never thought of it.. could you show something made with it..
its focal length and aperture seems very alluring.. what about its colors, contrasts, focus?

i've had sigma 17-70mm and I did not like its cold colors..

[Hello_Photo]

Mystic - best of luck in your quest to find a normal prime. The Pentax line-up has lots of great options. However, misinformation makes an already difficult choice even harder.

If I'm not mistaken, your biggest concern with the DA35 is "slow focussing speed". As a DA35 owner, I can state emphatically that this lens is capable of focussing very quickly at normal focus distances (say 2 feet to infinity), assuming that your camera body's AF can find something to lock onto. Look at photos of the DA35's depth of field scale and you'll see that the focus ring only needs to rotate about 10 degrees (out of its 170 degree total range) to go from infinity to 2 feet. In contrast, my FA77 has to rack through its entire 170 degree rotation to go from infinity to 2.3 feet. Unfortunately, I think this lens is being hit with the stereotype that macro lenses must be slow focussing. However, I will grant that there are times when I find that it takes my K10D a second or two to make-up its mind before locking focus, but when this happens, the focus ring is jumping back and forth by half a degree or so, which tells me that its the camera's AF algorithm that is the limiting factor for focussing speed, not the lens.

I hope this helps, best of luck with your decision!

[Mystic]

Mystic - best of luck in your quest to find a normal prime. The Pentax line-up has lots of great options. However, misinformation makes an already difficult choice even harder.

If I'm not mistaken, your biggest concern with the DA35 is "slow focussing speed". As a DA35 owner, I can state emphatically that this lens is capable of focussing very quickly at normal focus distances (say 2 feet to infinity), assuming that your camera body's AF can find something to lock onto. Look at photos of the DA35's depth of field scale and you'll see that the focus ring only needs to rotate about 10 degrees (out of its 170 degree total range) to go from infinity to 2 feet. In contrast, my FA77 has to rack through its entire 170 degree rotation to go from infinity to 2.3 feet. Unfortunately, I think this lens is being hit with the stereotype that macro lenses must be slow focussing. However, I will grant that there are times when I find that it takes my K10D a second or two to make-up its mind before locking focus, but when this happens, the focus ring is jumping back and forth by half a degree or so, which tells me that its the camera's AF algorithm that is the limiting factor for focussing speed, not the lens.

I hope this helps, best of luck with your decision!

thanks i'll experiment with it in a shop. I'm with k7 and hope it wouldn't hunt much..

[K McCall]

these pictures look all amazing.. yes I want 31ltd.. it would be perfect.. yet.. I do not think I could afford it.. so the
43ltd.. well I'm afraid it's a little too tight.. i mean.. focal length

Thank you very much. I think the hardest reason for me to offer advice about your situation is because I do very little street shooting. When I do, I usually go for a longer lens like something around 70mm so I can still get nice tight portraits without having to get too close.

and as you start to like DA35 I'm starting to lean toward it too..

I do love it, but the bokeh is very different from the 31 and the 43 when they're used wide-open. I think that the DA 35 should really only be on your list if you find that you'll be using its macro capabilities. Otherwise the FA 35/2 does seem to be a top performer.

what is the price that you'd sell your 31ltd?

I own quite a few lenses, and I have to say that this would be amongst the last three I would ever sell.

could you comment more on the focus of DA35?

Sure! Someone else has already said that so long as your subject isn't very close - they used the example of 2" - then the DA 35 doesn't take much longer than other lenses to focus. I find the same to be true. I'd say that it's enough of a non-problem that I don't consider the focusing at all when I decide which lenses to take me; the focal lengths and weight of the lenses usually come more into play.

could you show more of your samples pictures of DA35?

Sure, but most of them are going to be macros
Here's one that was taken from a pretty standard distance for street shooting at f/2.8:


Here's another taken at f/4 with this lens:

for now I think my taste agrees with yours..

Well, these three lenses are amongst ever made by Pentax, at least in my opinion, so I think it just shows you have good taste

[K McCall]

You are really good , Great shoot.
Congrats and thanks for sharing

Thank you! I remember when I was first doing my search that images helped me decide which lenses I wanted to buy at the outset, especially since I had no brick-and-mortar store and no friends with these lenses who could let me try them out.

[audiobomber]

When I was researching the FA 35 vs DA 35, it was pretty much a concensus that the FA 35 has better bokeh than the DA 35. The FA is sharper at every aperture according to Photozone and is one highly useable stop faster.

The DA has very high contrast, which some people prefer. I find my FA 35 is right between my FA 50 and D FA 100 for colour and contrast, which suits me just fine. The only thing I'm not thrilled about is the focal length. I find 35mm is in between where I want to be; I like both 28mm and 50mm better than 35. If they ever get around to releasing the DA*30mm f1.4, I'll buy one for sure.

Before anyone mentions it, I'm not interested in the Sigma 30mm because of poor border performance and because I prefer Pentax lenses.

[netuser]

Thank you! I remember when I was first doing my search that images helped me decide which lenses I wanted to buy at the outset, especially since I had no brick-and-mortar store and no friends with these lenses who could let me try them out.

Do you by any chance own or can borrow FA 50/1.4 ? I would love to see some real world comparison from FA50/1.4 against FA 43 regarding the 3d effect.

[Pentaxor]

Do you by any chance own or can borrow FA 50/1.4 ? I would love to see some real world comparison from FA50/1.4 against FA 43 regarding the 3d effect.

you should look for the 50/1.2 samples. there you would see a lot of those.

[netuser]

you should look for the 50/1.2 samples. there you would see a lot of those.

I get you Don't tease my LBA because I must focus on raise money to a 500/4.5 for birding.....

So let's take 50/1.1.2 out of the equation and focus on 50/1.4 against Fa 43 eheh. (Maybe I should make this request on another thread ? ... let's wait to see what K McCall says about it )

[K McCall]

I played with my friend's 50/1.4 about two years ago, so it's been a while. I liked the lens quite a lot but found it to be just a bit too long for me. I only took a few shots with it, and only a couple with any kind of bokeh, but I do have this one taken at f/1.4:



And just because the idea of f/1.2 was brought up, I'm going to throw this one out there too. I was playing with catch-in-focus with a 55/1.2. It's awfully 3D but it was sooo hard to get right (that's me holding the plant; I used the 12-second timer and then guessed where I had manually-focused).

[ll_coffee_lP]

wow! a new wind.. sigma 30mm 1.4 I never thought of it.. could you show something made with it..
its focal length and aperture seems very alluring.. what about its colors, contrasts, focus?

i've had sigma 17-70mm and I did not like its cold colors..

Focusing is swift and locks on well. Very sharp from f/1.6. As for colour/contrast...I certainly don't have any complaints (and I'm picky), but I shoot RAW and adjust for WB and contrast afterwards.

Here's some samples:













c[_]

[deadwolfbones]

Some with my copy of the 30/1.4:

[roentarre]

Fa 35mm f2 is a good lens if you adopt canikon philosophy. Still a good lens to use for photography but not good enough for gear OCD.

Most people do not see the beauty in the leica M mount lenses that cost >6000 US dollars.