[barondla]

Your preferred aperture or aperture range, showing the most pixie dust magic, for the FA 31, 43, and 77 Limited lenses.
Thanks,
barondla

[garywakeling]

Your preferred aperture or aperture range, showing the most pixie dust magic, for the FA 31, 43, and 77 Limited lenses.
Thanks,
barondla

Wide open on all three, if I wanted pure sharp digital rendering, I wouldn't pick the amigos

[termy]

usually wide open with the 77 and 43 (with the MZ-S).

Sometimes (if the light allows it), between wide open and f2.0, f2.8.

[toodas]

It depend on the situation, my 31 shine with any apertures anyway

[Paul the Sunman]

Interesting. The concept of a "favourite aperture" had never occurred to me. I just pick the aperture based on circumstance and the effect I'm trying to get in that particular shot.

The replies so far have inspired me to shoot wide open more often with primes. I'll give it a try.

[08amczb]

In general I used them the most at around F2.2 for portraits. Altough the FA31 worked a lot at F1.8 because the smaller background blur.

[Sandy Hancock]

Wide open if the subject is suitable for such a shallow depth of field.

[ffking]

Hmm - hadn't really thought about it, but I suppose I believe in playing to the strengths of whatever I use when possible, so that would tend to as wide as suitable for the shot - I use the 31mm most - as a walk around lens - and that's mostly street here you want the subject to stand out from the background, and also there's a reasonably large dof, so definitely normally only up to about f/5.6 . The 77, for street, I might use f/8 to get the subject mostly sharp and increase the chances of acceptable sharpness overall, but otherise wide open. The 43 - not sure - have to check some time

After checking a few of my images I can see the following:

FA77 f/2.5 to f/4 for half body portraits.
FA31 f/2.2-4 for half body portraits, f/8-f/11 for landscapes
FA43 f/1.9 if I want sparkling highlights. f/2.0 if I want full contrast. f/2.2-4 for halv body portraits.

But... It depends on what image I am taking, what DOF I want and how sharp the edges of the frame needs to be.

I am still trying to figure out what f-stop and light I need to create the 3D pop some images tend to contain.

[SSGGeezer]

FA 77 : WIde open to 2.2 for portraits, F8 for Eagles fighting over a nearby fish.

[biz-engineer]

Your preferred aperture or aperture range, showing the most pixie dust magic, for the FA 31, 43, and 77 Limited lenses.

Only few people stumbled on the combination the aperture, shutter speed and ISO that release p***e d**t from those lenses. The p***e d**t is a century old well kept Pentax secret from Pentax ancestors. The p***e d**t powder pot is hidden at a secret place, only known by a few persons at Pentax in Japan (names also secret), only openned for a few hours when a new batch of limited in made and then put in a safe again for months and years. It is tradition that no one should ask about or talk about p***e d**t to avoid attracting attention of competitors.

[stevebrot]

I only own the FA 77/1.8 and shoot it the same as the other lenses in the bag with the aperture chosen being what is appropriate for the subject.


Steve

[pschlute]

The 31 and 77 have especially pleasing bokeh when used at or near wide open. But like many other posters, the aperture needs to suit the subject. Here are two pictures from a recent K1 + 31mm day out. One at 1.8 and one at 6.7. Can you tell which is which ?

[monochrome]

I tend to shoot with the 43 longer than most and at a much smaller aperture than most. The apparent highest resolution apertures for the 43 are f/8 - f/11 @98 lpmm and contrary to oral truth, it resolves to the edges at 98. Thus I use a smaller aperture and more working distance with the 43 than most other replies here. @10ft the total DoF is 11ft so unless the subject is 20+ feet in front of the backdrop I get little background blur. For me the 43 is not a bokeh lens. I use it most a general lens for documentary and color cityscape work.

The 77 is a different story. @f/8-f/11 it resolves 87 lpmm, but at a 10ft working distance total DoF is about 3.5 ft. Far focus is 12 ft, so background blur is achieved easier. I much prefer the 77 for centered subjects and 1/3 body shots.

I have no opinion on the 31. My copy is soft and there doesn't seem to be anything I can do about it.

[Snapppy]

The 31 and 77 have especially pleasing bokeh when used at or near wide open. But like many other posters, the aperture needs to suit the subject. Here are two pictures from a recent K1 + 31mm day out. One at 1.8 and one at 6.7. Can you tell which is which ?

This pretty much sums up my response, great pictures by the way, both of them! First is 1.8, and second is 6.7. (Don't mess with my mind by telling me it's the opposite xD)

I only have the 43mm, and I've posted a thread recently stating how I use it exclusively for documenting family, but I still follow the same rules of choosing the right aperture for the subject at any given time. I keep it wide open or close to for a single individual, down to 2.8 if it's daylight, maybe a little smaller if there's a group, and then of course landscape or travel would be smaller, but I have only taken maybe one non-family shot with it so far

It definitely has a unique look wide-open, but I think it serves a good purpose even stopped down because of it's size, focal length, and option for bright apertures, so I don't make any exceptions to my rules just because it's a limited lens.