Originally posted by Jonathan Mac I haven't tried the FA 31mm (and I'm not likely to, unless someone lends me one) but the idea that the DA 35 limited is clinical, soul-less and lacking in artistic rendering is complete nonsense. Yes, it's very, very sharp, but that doesn't detract from other optical characteristics of the lens.
I agree. Everyone knows that the FA Limiteds are "special rendering lenses," but the doesn't mean that the sharper DA Limiteds (DA 35, DA 40, and DA 70) are clinical or don't render nicely. The DA 35 renders it's superb sharpness very well. All the limiteds render well, are sharp, and have excellent contrast and color, but these attributes are not distributed perfectly among them. The FA limiteds render a bit better (they're faster, which helps), while the DA limiteds are primarily color and contrast lenses designed from the ground up to work well with digital cameras.
Another image from the "clinical" HD DA 35 Limited: