[mikeSF]

here's one from yesterday with the F*300/4.5. This thing is rockin' sharp!

Night Lights

[chesebert]

Few FA*24 close-ups

City Lion



Bank Door



Candy Town

[builttospill]

Those candy houses look good enough to eat . . . Oh, wait!

FA* 24






FA* 80-200

[chesebert]

FA*24 Kodachrome Treatment

[Schmidlapper]

FA*24 @f8 iso 80; Wintery Lake Shore


FA*24 @f8 iso 80; Meadow Grounds Lake

[Schmidlapper]

FA*24

[KDAFA]

The FA*24/2 is a lens that continues to amaze me with the pictures it produces. I used it more in the film days, as a 24mm ultra-wide, but in the present digital days it continues to put out images with the same amazing intensity and breathtaking colour as in film days (it does great B&W too)! Here is a lens which consistently creates images that can make one stop and really take a look - in my reckoning, that makes it a truly special lens indeed!

The shot below was taken late evening in an open-air restaurant with a somewhat unique roof structure. The only light sources were the fading sunlight, and some artificial lighting from overhead lamps (you can see two in the picture). Zero post-processing other than some mild noise reduction in Adobe Camera RAW. I think that's some pretty amazing colour and texture seen in the roof tiles - I can tell you that the lens is rendering it nicer than the real thing, as I was there!

Attached Images

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File Date

 

[KDAFA]

Another shot with the FA*24/2. Zero post-processing, jpeg developed in-camera and resized in Photoshop for posting.

Just love the way this lens renders colour and micro-contrast.

[Mr.ma]

also from fa*24

[nickvdzwan]

Hello F* and FA* Lovers, (me too)

here are some shots taken with the FA*300 f2.8 and K5


1. Old Cadillac 62


2. Wakeboarding

[nickvdzwan]

Hello F* and FA* Lovers, (me too)

here are some shots taken with the FA*300 f2.8 and K5


1. Old Cadillac 62


2. Wakeboarding

Camera
PENTAX K-5

Focal Length
300mm

Aperture
f/16

Exposure
1/1500s

ISO
1600

[kis0907]

Hello F* and FA* Lovers, (me too)

here are some shots taken with the FA*300 f2.8 and K5


1. Old Cadillac 62


2. Wakeboarding

Camera
PENTAX K-5

Focal Length
300mm

Aperture
f/16

Exposure
1/1500s

ISO
1600

Nice shots, the FA* 300 2,8 is impressive...

[KDAFA]

Hi,

Just want to share a word of caution regarding the FA*24/2. For what it's worth, my local Pentax repair representative was explaining to me that this lens contains an ashperical group-element inside it, meaning that this group is made up of at least two parts glued together, where one of them is made of plastic. Seems that this is done because it's difficult to grind glass to achieve an aspherical profile.

He explained that apparently there is a certain tendency for fungus to grow on that plastic portion, and once it has grown for some time, it will damage the element coating. (I suppose that the risk may be higher if you live in a humid environment, but I'm not sure.)

So if you own this lens, do take it out from storage every now and then and use it. Take the opportunity to look through the lens to see if there is evidence of fungus. Take some representative test shots and note if there's been any change to the usual image quality you expect from the lens.

Seems to me that depending what country you are in, the local Pentax technician may or may not be skilled/equipped to open up the lens and attempt to clean off the fungus. It is not a straightforward job, since the element in question is not located at the rear of the lens, but rather, somewhere inside.

If cleaning does not help, element replacement will be practically impossible, since spare parts are no longer available even in Pentax Japan, this being on older lens - so the repair representative tells me.

Thanks.

PS: In fact, taking out all your lenses from storage and using them on a rotation basis is a good practice, for at least 2 reasons:
a. It's good for your photography, working with different lenses!
b. It gives an opportunity for early detection of potential fungus problems, and any other lens problems there might be.

[SyncGuy]

Hi,

Just want to share a word of caution regarding the FA*24/2. For what it's worth, my local Pentax repair representative was explaining to me that this lens contains an ashperical group-element inside it, meaning that this group is made up of at least two parts glued together, where one of them is made of plastic. Seems that this is done because it's difficult to grind glass to achieve an aspherical profile.

He explained that apparently there is a certain tendency for fungus to grow on that plastic portion, and once it has grown for some time, it will damage the element coating. (I suppose that the risk may be higher if you live in a humid environment, but I'm not sure.)

So if you own this lens, do take it out from storage every now and then and use it. Take the opportunity to look through the lens to see if there is evidence of fungus. Take some representative test shots and note if there's been any change to the usual image quality you expect from the lens.

Seems to me that depending what country you are in, the local Pentax technician may or may not be skilled/equipped to open up the lens and attempt to clean off the fungus. It is not a straightforward job, since the element in question is not located at the rear of the lens, but rather, somewhere inside.

If cleaning does not help, element replacement will be practically impossible, since spare parts are no longer available even in Pentax Japan, this being on older lens - so the repair representative tells me.

Thanks.

PS: In fact, taking out all your lenses from storage and using them on a rotation basis is a good practice, for at least 2 reasons:
a. It's good for your photography, working with different lenses!
b. It gives an opportunity for early detection of potential fungus problems, and any other lens problems there might be.

Erm... Thank you for the heads up but since you state "word of caution regarding the FA*24/2", doesn't this apply to all lenses, and not specifically against the FA*24/2?
I sincerely have no intention to start any personal issues but just find it peculiar that you have raised this up.. Hehee...

Nevertheless, such advices would be best to apply for all lenses, and not specifically the "cute" FA*24/2..

[KDAFA]

Well, looking at my previous posts concerning the FA*24/2, I think it's clear that I regard this lens very highly, so my "heads-up" wasn't meant to be an "attack" (so to speak) levelled against that lens in particular - certainly not. Rather, the opposite is true: My intention was to inform other FA*24/2 owners to be on the lookout, to ensure their (precious) lens does not suffer the fate described.

Here's what happened: I recently had my copy of the FA*24/2 inspected by a Pentax repair representative. He told me he saw evidence of fungus starting to form on the aspherical element. It was from that incident that I gained the info from him about this matter, which I decided to post here.

One needs to appreciate that I am not in a position to generalise that info to apply to any/all lenses. I do not have the knowledge nor authority to state, for example, that all aspherical elements in all lenses are prone to develop fungus. That may be a fact, but I personally do not know, and hence am not at liberty to say that. Indeed, I do not know what sorts of plastic are used by differerent manufacturers for making aspherical elements, what types of glue are typically employed in the construction process, what peculiar traits of the FA*24/2 design (if any) make it slightly more susceptible to fungus growth, etc.

Thus, it seems reasonable to me that I must not assume the same to be true for all lenses. I felt myself only qualified to speak specifically on the FA*24/2, since the info I was given was specifically pertaining to that lens. It may well be that some of the info given does indeed hold true for all lenses, but I am in no position to claim that.

Having said that, in my P/S section at the end of the post, I did say that it is a good practice in general (for all lenses) to use them periodically, checking for fungus and other problems.

Hope this helps clarify things. Thank you,