[Mistral75]

Aluminum construction!

Machined aluminium even (machined from a solid block of the metal to ensure consistent quality), à la Leica T/TL/TL2, not die-cast aluminium.

[Mistral75]

Weird that they don't publish the lens speed......

My guess is because they haven't decided whether to put a weird aperture number a-al fa43. (f3.9 or f2.7 )

They probably aren't sure about it yet, perhaps the optical design isn't final... or they don't want to drop so much info at the same time, giving us a heart attack . I'm betting on the second, two models (black/silver) with more or less "final" dimensions point to the lens being quite a way along development.

It's a form of coquetry. They're teasing us and playing with our nerves.

[Sandy Hancock]

I take it we are calling the other one "Weighty Eighty"?

Absolutely. I have been using that nickname since February last year

I should have Trade Marked that term. I think I was the first to coin it - at least in this Forum
Now we all wait for the Weighty Eighty TM

[BruceBanner]

I do wonder if they have moved the green pip to a location that makes it useful for what they were intended for or if they have just done it for cosmetic reasons.

Arn't all the green pips supposed to be feel references for lens swapping in poor light, because the green pip lines up with where to mount it properly? What am I missing here?

It certainly does, I have to say the built in lens hood is going to be a bit of a nuisance for users of square filter systems like myself. I use screw in filters a lot of the time, but use of square system GND filters can have issues with vignetting.

I'm not really looking at this lens as a landscape lens, if it's a Ltd then it will be 'character' lens, and even have poor IQ at edges till stopping down to f4/5.6 (that is if it is a fast lens). So I think the hood is characteristic of it's intent, not a serious landscape lens. That doesn't mean it won't be awesome for landscape, you just might have to live without filters for a lot of these kinda shots.

Weird that they don't publish the lens speed......

Possibly because it's quite slow and don't want to disappoint too many potential buyers at this time.

Speaking only for myself, I can see K-1 people really loving this sort of lens, but when I put on my APS-C shooter's hat I don't think that focal length is so useful. They split the difference between my 18mm and 25mm lens hopes; I'm left wondering what that last "maybe a 28?" lens is on the roadmap. I generally like the look of this lens, with nods to the FA Ltd's with maybe a touch of D-FA 100 WR in there as well.

Curious thing to say. It's pretty much a FA31 which has been well regarded for it's FoV.

Look, here's the thing; I don't really like 35mm as a focal length on full frame. I like 28's a lot there and I like 40mm as well. My general thought process is that I either want to show a lot of the environment + the subject matter, or I want a tighter focal length that will better isolate the subject with less of the environment to distract. A 21 on 1.5x crop is just a bit wider than that 35 on full frame. It's kind of the same set of issues. Likewise, I really like my DA 15 on crop, and I like 28's on crop. Near enough the same situation all around. When I take my 18-135 out I either have it out at 18mm or else closer to 25ish & longer.


I know there are people that love the DA 21. It's not for me. Like I prefaced my previous comment with, "speaking only for myself...". And I think it's great that we've got a second 21 for the crop shooters to pick from. Kind of like how we've got a trio of 35's for the crop shooters to use these days, each with different strengths. I was personally hoping for something else; a lens that I could replace my Sigma 28 f1.8 with that would offer better AF and a bit less fringing wide-open, and I'd take a smaller front element if possible while keeping a max aperture faster than f2.8. Maybe that's the next lens as mentioned.


I'm in a very positive mood about this lens even if I don't personally want it; it shows continued commitment on the part of Ricoh, I think it's what "a modern Pentax high-end prime" should be based on the little bits of information we know for sure, and I hope that many people buy it and love it.

Here's my 2 cents. I've only been shooting properly for a couple of years, during that time my learning curve never stops. I too at one point found myself not liking certain focal lengths but have learned that the focal length is not the issue, it's me. It takes time to really learn how to use a lens properly and exploit all its benefits and that includes it's FoV. In reality there is no bad focal length or optimum, it's just you, the glass and the world. Single In challenges are cute, but one month with a lens is scratching the surface of its capabilities. So although it can feel 'right' and natural that you don't gel well with a certain focal length and that is the end of that, I would suggest it actually highlights a learning curve not yet tackled.
Right now I am working on a book that is centered around 50mm only. It's proving challenging, many scenes are screaming for a wider focal length to portray the scene at it's strongest. But with this internal constraint it is forcing me to try and find a new different and not so obvious perspective on the scene, one that still provides a strong message but also plays strengths to the lens. I can review my playback of the scene, sometimes its about 20 frames later (and typically the last frame) that I find the best interpretation. It's interesting to look at the playback this way, it literally shows a 'map of my mind' and the steps I took from what I saw and my subsequent thoughts and changes of angles as I tried better to amplify what I saw in the scene initially to show it at it's best. Perseverance is the key here. If I had a poor attitude (like I did in the past) I would have simply given up after 2-3 attempts and just wished 'I had *that other lens' with me and not this stupid restrictive one.
Right now I know the FA77 is probably the best lens I own, but I think its the one I know least in how to wield properly. It too is needing 6 months of continuous use.
When I look at a lot of my favourite togs I see a strong consistency in their work, they seem to use 1-2 lenses max, they've become masters in those lenses and it shows. I can't help feeling the longer I stay in this game the more lenses I will sell and hold onto no more than a handful.

[Wheatfield]

Arn't all the green pips supposed to be feel references for lens swapping in poor light, because the green pip lines up with where to mount it properly? What am I missing here?

On the original K-Mount, if you were mounting a lens in the dark, you put one thumb on the pip and the other one on the lens release, and the mount was aligned for mounting when your thumbs were aligned.
They moved the release button on the *istD, and now that old trick doesn't work.

[monochrome]

On the original K-Mount, if you were mounting a lens in the dark, you put one thumb on the pip and the other one on the lens release, and the mount was aligned for mounting when your thumbs were aligned.
They moved the release button on the *istD, and now that old trick doesn't work.

Yes - that was a brilliant idea originally. I actually used that method in daylight as well to start the lens orientation, rather than searching for the orange dot on the lens mount. I can get close enough by feel even with the new position.

Of course many of the modern lenses don’t have a pip or button at all, so they must be oriented visually, using the distance scale window or the printing on the lens barrel for those without a distance scale.

[Zygonyx]

Same front element size as the FA31/1.8 it would seem. At 21mm that would mean f/2.8 at most IMHO.

Agreed initially, but doubting since Ooku's pict and comparison to FA31.

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Last edited by Zygonyx; 05-15-2020 at 09:17 PM.

[Paul the Sunman]

Same front element size as the FA31/1.8 it would seem. At 21mm that would mean f/2.8 at most IMHO.

I would be happy with that.

[Zygonyx]

Actually, the best max. aperture-guess revelator would be a side-by-side comparison with FA*24/2, benefitting from a 67mm filter thread.
Which'd also make f/2 possible.

[dangtrangiabao]

Same front element size as the FA31/1.8 it would seem. At 21mm that would mean f/2.8 at most IMHO.

It is bigger IMHO. Still, if I were the lens designer I would probably make it faster than f/2.8 so as to attract apsc users.

Pentax already have 20-40 Ltd, 21 Ltd and FA 20 at that same focal length and max aperture so the new lens should bring something new to the table.

[repaap]

But, it is made for FF users, just like other FA limiteds are. Besides. 21/2.8 is quite nice already. That said, 21/2 would be quite remarkable, especially made for modern digital sensor.

DA limiteds are for aps-c and does not cover FF. FA20 is old already, due it’s plastic construction and problems coming from there.

[FotoPete]

Well looking at the Tokina Firin 20mm f2 (I know its a Sony mirrorless lens) I guess it wouldn't be too far off to say an aperture f2.0 or thereabouts could be very much a possibility. Similar size and all, I wonder how the formulas will play out when more info is released.

[chaxdaman]

made a rough estimate comparing the FA 31 based on the size of the mount

it's possible it has a 67mm filter size. could be a 21/2.8 or 21/2?

[Digitalis]

I'm just going to leave this here:


I recall the filter thread on this prototype was 77mm. Both the FA20mm f/2.8 and FA*24mm f/2 have filter threads of 67mm, so I'd say 67 is a reasonable estimation of filter size. Lens designers have to take into account what filter sizes are in production and choose the nearest size that is least likely to cause vignetting. I'd say it is safe to say the filter thread could be anywhere between 62mm to 77mm.

[Mistral75]

Our fellow @Zygonyx made an interesting remark on another, French-speaking forum.

Look at this picture, already posted by @house:

The space between 'D FA' on the left and '21mm' on the right is too narrow to accommodate a two-digit aperture 1:x.y, therefore the D FA 21mm Limited is either 1:2 or 1:3.

Considering its size, at the upper end of the scale for a Limited lens, I'm leaning towards f/2 as the max. aperture.

HD PENTAX-D FA 1:2 21mm ED Limited DC WR