Originally posted by wlachan I have owned and come across a few FA77 & FA31 since they were released, both MIJ & AIV. No, MIJ weren't better made or assembled. In fact, I have come across many poorly assembled MIJ FA lenses OOB, some were so obvious it was hard to believe. If I were in the market for a new Pentax lens or Limited, AIV would be perfectly fine for me so long as they weren't defective. It's a draw of luck, which you need more with Pentax, but that's just my opinion.
I have MIJ FA43mm and it is miles better than my AIV FA31mm, which frankly is too soft and requires a large micro adjustment. This is just my experience. Have never seen the MIJ FA31mm to compare it to. I did see some fantastic AIV FA31mm images on this forum posted by someone who rented the FA31 for travel.
Were any of the bad MIJ copies you came across later serial numbers? I've read somewhere that the best FA31mm were those with early serial numbers.