Originally posted by ChristianRock How do you like that compared to the DA 35 Limited that you say is your favourite? It is interesting that you seem to think both have a place in your bag.
It's a complex situation as they both have things they're good at.
The FA is a stop faster and is sharp in the centre from f/2.2, so effectively two-thirds of a stop. AF is perhaps a bit faster and it doesn't have the risk of racking through a huge macro focus range if it misses initially. These two aspects make the FA significantly better in low light and shallow DoF, which in my current situation of having very limited photo opportunities, really just photographing my daughters, are very useful. The FA has meant my Pentax gear can creep a little into the territory of my Fujifilm gear with f/1.4 primes, which is nice.
I like the overall rendering from both, very much. I'd say they're even in that respect.
The DA has quick-shift, macro capability and that Limited build quality, all of which the FA lacks.
The FA is also useful to me as it works 100% on all K-mount film cameras, and I shoot film as well as digital.
When the time comes around and we're able to travel again I'm going to have a
very hard time choosing between them.