[Atindra]

Pick the Irix for picture quality, Atindra, and the DA15 for portability.

I've got both, and they're great.

Irix is a well made lens as per reports. Eventually would love to have both.

Atindra

---------- Post added 03-20-2018 at 08:06 AM ----------

Have you considered the Rokinon? IQ is fantastic, often used by pros. I shot this on the 14mm Rok with a Sony A7r. I have had great results with it on a crop. It's a lot less risky on a crop, in fact, when it comes to defects. If you purchase off Amazon and your copy is not perfect you can simply send it back until you get one that is.

Atomic Tree by J. Creasy - Photo 249703989 / 500px

Rokinon also I am considering. In India finding 3rd party lenses for Pentax is not easy. Most of them are imported on special order so return is difficult.

Atindra

---------- Post added 03-20-2018 at 08:08 AM ----------

I have the DA 15 and it is really good. If you want to spend a little less and don't mind manual focus another lens is the Bower 14mm f/2.8 manual focus (also sold asRokinon & Samyang). I have this lens also. Just be aware of some have a de-centered lens issues, my first one did but B&H replaced it.

I will keep this in mind. Quality of DA 15 mm ltd is good right out of the box. I don’t mind MF lenses in wide angle domain.

Atindra

---------- Post added 03-20-2018 at 08:10 AM ----------

The DA 14 can shoot closer than the 15 if that matters to you. DA 15 is the flare King. No experience here with Irix 15 or Rokinon 14.

DA 15 is flare king, you mean it controls the flares really well right? Which is good for Architecture, landscapes having Sun etc.

Atindra

---------- Post added 03-20-2018 at 08:18 AM ----------

Just purchased the Irix (Firefly) 15mm today. I spent a several minutes doing a work out with a K-1 and the 15-30 and it was not for me - I knew it wasn't, which was why I'd been first to the Irix stand (at NEC, UK). The Firefly version is not instantly that much lighter, but after holding it and a Blackstone for around 5 mins while chatting with the rep, it was becoming clear to me that the Firefly was going to be my choice. I look after my lenses, so the finish differences between the two were not significant to me. The optics being the same got the Firefly over the line.

The Firefly can achieve the same level of WR as the Blackstone, so the rep confirmed, by screwing in a filter as the only wr difference is in that area.

The reviews I've read and folk I've talked too (many now) are very impressed with these two lenses. Personally, I am useless with wide angles, which is why I decided to buy a 'cheaper', modern lens to experiment with.

I'll feed back after a few days of playing ...unless the images are too embarrassing ;-)

eager to see your images.

Atindra

[UncleVanya]

Yes. The da 15 controls and rules flare situations. Flare is essentially never a problem.

[DeadJohn]

The DA15 is a legendary lens for resisting flare. It works very well with the sun in frame, or bright city lights at night. It is also very compact.

It is not a perfect lens, but no lens is. Don't overanalyze corner sharpness. It isn't full frame, either.

If you want K1 full frame usage, or prioritize sharpness over flare resistance, the Pentax 15-30 and Samyang/Rokinon 14 are good options.

[Atindra]

Yes. The da 15 controls and rules flare situations. Flare is essentially never a problem.

Nice to hear that.

Atindra

---------- Post added 03-22-2018 at 06:07 PM ----------

The DA15 is a legendary lens for resisting flare. It works very well with the sun in frame, or bright city lights at night. It is also very compact.

It is not a perfect lens, but no lens is. Don't overanalyze corner sharpness. It isn't full frame, either.

If you want K1 full frame usage, or prioritize sharpness over flare resistance, the Pentax 15-30 and Samyang/Rokinon 14 are good options.

I think finally I may end up with 15mm ltd lens as majority has praised this lens.

Atindra

[normhead]

Thanks for suggestions but overall still the floor is wide open and the confusion remains. I have not owned any limited lens yet so might get tilted to 15mm ltd. Suddenly Rokinon 14mm F2.8 has also made decision making difficult.

Best

Atindra

I recently got the Rokinon 14 2.8. After years of passing on the 15 ltd., because it covers FF. I've done a few test shots but really haven't had it out n front of a location where it had a chance to shine yet.

[Atindra]

I recently got the Rokinon 14 2.8. After years of passing on the 15 ltd., because it covers FF. I've done a few test shots but really haven't had it out n front of a location where it had a chance to shine yet.

Very good.

Atindra

[UncleVanya]

I recently got the Rokinon 14 2.8. After years of passing on the 15 ltd., because it covers FF. I've done a few test shots but really haven't had it out n front of a location where it had a chance to shine yet.

One knock on the Rokinon is when you want to have a close to subject shots to play with perspective. The Rokinon is limited to a minimum focus of 28cm (0.06x). The DA 14 (17cm, 0.19x) and DA 15 (18cm, 0.15x) are quite good at that by comparison. Of course neither covers Full Frame... .

[SharkyCA]

I am contemplating an idea of buying a new lens for wide angle range, for landscapes. I am thinking of primes over zoom lenses at the moment.
My choices are HD DA 15mm ltd or Irix 15 mm f/2.4 ( Blackstone or firefly), just to add more complications, I might add Pentax 14mm f/2.8. Now the problem is only Irix is WR lens, while two Pentax lenses are not weather sealed. I need advice from Pentaxians about image quality and handling of these lenses in comparison or otherwise.

Best regards,

Atindra

Pentax DA 15 mm f4 ED AL limited - PentaxForums.com

For sale in the Market Place forum!

[house]

My job on da 15 threads is to point out that the corner sharpness is very poor and that the field curvature is near impossible to master. It is however lovely in the center and wonderfully portable.

[pakinjapan]

DA15 + K3 here.
If you are on K5, DA15's edge sharpness is not a problem. If you are on a higher density sensor like K-3, it's edge sharpness is not that good only if you focus at the center of an image. My quick fix for landscape or cityscape is to focus at about 1/3 from the far corner. It works every time. if you are on higher density sensor body and want everything sharp, consider going with 3-4 times larger + heavier lenses.

[Atindra]

DA15 + K3 here.
If you are on K5, DA15's edge sharpness is not a problem. If you are on a higher density sensor like K-3, it's edge sharpness is not that good only if you focus at the center of an image. My quick fix for landscape or cityscape is to focus at about 1/3 from the far corner. It works every time. if you are on higher density sensor body and want everything sharp, consider going with 3-4 times larger + heavier lenses.

Nice perspective shot.

Atindra

[BarryE]

Irix 15mm first impressions. No photos, as I'm in test mode ...

It handles well. The bulbous lens looks vulnerable. There's a 95mm filter thread, so I repeated my B+W protective usage that I do with all my lenses. This filter will convert the Firefly version in the same WR spec as the dearer version - or so I've informed.

Manually focusing, which I often do, is tricky at 15mm. It really is hit and miss through the viewfinder. Using LV and a loupe, it's spot on. Nothing to do with the Irix, just with no aids in the viewfinder and tiny subjects, manual focusing is hard. No surprises.

When focused correctly the lens is very good in the centre, not dropping off in resolution, until a little at wide apertures. Still good, to my mind. At the edges and corners, the impression is different. There's always going to be distortion with ultra-wide on FF, so pixel peeping the edges is rather pointless, I think. I don't think I'll have any grumbles at all about the extremes in actual use.

There is a fair bit of vignetting. I was expecting this, but it's more than I would have guessed. Guessed is the operative word, as I've never played with modern ultra-wides on FF. I'm not sure how well it will clean-up in PP, to be honest, as my first tries were not too convincing. Knowing the vignetting issue at wide apertures and getting experience with when it's worse does not particularly bother me, but I'm sure I'll get caught out at times.

The handling of flare (with B+H filter) is exceptional. I really struggled to get flaring with the sun in the frame, either full on or off too the side. This is a real plus.

An issue I have, which I'll contact Irix about, is the focusing at infinity. Yawn... The lens comes with a method of calibrating focusing at distances greater than 50m, but with this comes with warnings. At the moment it focuses fine at infinity, but there is a nice click stop that I have to focus slightly beyond to get good long distance focus. All this means, in reality, is that the handy-to-have feedback that the supposedly reached infinity point has been reached, doesn't properly work. This is just a small irritation, as I'm focusing manually and I now know I have to go slightly beyond the click point. Maybe I'll attempt to calibrate it, if it bothers me.

So, in summary, for the just over £300 I spent on this experiment with ultra-wide, this lens, is looking very promising. It's light; balances well; flare resistance is great; it's plenty sharp in the centre. It does vignette more than I expected and the infinity focusing needs adjusting.

Finally, it's packaged very nicely, well padded in a metal box. It presents well. Something Pentax could improve on, perhaps ...

When I'm clearer about it I'll post in the database ...

[Atindra]

Great brief review Barry. Is Firefly heavy?

Atindra.

[Alex645]

From lightest to heaviest:

Pentax DA15: 190g.
Pentax DA14: 420g.
Venus Laowa 15mm: 430g
Rokinon/Samyang 14mm: 530g.
Irix Firefly 15mm: 581g.
Irix Blackstone 15mm: 685g.

[BarryE]

Great brief review Barry. Is Firefly heavy?

Atindra.

not really. I wanted an easy to handle lens as I envisaged using it in awkward places ie trying to keep some foreground by getting down to ground level. Blackstone is heavier, not immediately obviously but after a while the difference became more obvious. This is why I chose the Firefly version.