[Domenico]

Hi there! I own a 645nII with 35A and a 75fa. A guy is selling a 120 macro and a 150 both fa at reasonable prices (500 E for macro, 400 E for the latter).
I am thinking of buying one of them, which one would you pick up? I need a moderate telephoto lens for occasional portraits
and landscape.
Of course 120 has macro ability, but would you recommend it for portraits?
Need your advise!
Thank you!

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Last edited by Domenico; 11-27-2012 at 12:58 PM. Reason: mistapes

[jwjohnson]

I don't have the 150, but the FA 120 is the best Pentax lens I have.

[Ryan Tischer]

The 120 is the sharper of the two, making it better for landscapes (and obviously macro) and the 150 is supposed to be a great portrait lens and more flattering (not as tack sharp)

[larkis]

I'm re posting a section of a post (with samples) I made on another forum regarding a pentax lens question. I happen to own both of the ones you are asking about. The forum scales the images down so open them directly.

SMC Pentax-FA 645 120mm F4 Macro, Also very sharp (sometimes to sharp for portraits) and useful for many applications. I sometimes find the bokeh to be funky looking at some distances but generally this does not happen often. Some samples below, the one with the butterfly on the statue shows the bokeh issue I'm talking about.












SMC Pentax-FA 645 150mm F2.8 [IF], Nice lens for portraits, it's low contrast yet still sharp wide open, has a bit of a build in pro mist filter look at 2.8 but becomes very sharp at f 5.6 and higher.

[Domenico]

Thank you for your replies, I think I'll choose the 150, lighter, better bokeh, better lens for General purpose shoots. Macro is sharper, but heavier and a not so pleasant bokeh.
Thank you

[DandA]

I use both on the 645D. For portraits and general use, I too much prefer the FA 150mm f2.8, especially with its lower contrast and beautiful bokeh. For macro/clsoe-ups or where I am only concerned with absolute edge to edge sharpness and excellent microcontrast, I'll use the FA 120 f4 macro. The look from each is quite different.

Dave (D&A)

[derAngler]

I had both lenses. The 150mm 2.8 focuses much, much faster with an excellent bokeh. Probably the fastest autofocus lens you can get for the 645D. The 120mm is very slow and heavy. For landscape it is a great lens, but for portraiture I would not choose it.

[Underbridge]

120 for sure, 150 is not sharp when full Aperture

[neatpicture]

Thanks for sharingI I am new to the 645D coming from 35mm full frame. I am very interested in this focal length range as right now I do not own anything longer than 75mm.

Armando

[asahijock]

The man and dog pic has a 3D look about it. It is as if they both could step out of the shot. Really great

asahijock