Good morning, everyone. At the weekend, I dropped into a local furniture store. My wife hated my impulse purchase of a revolving chair, but then she sat on it.
Eventually she came round.
Now, I don't like employers putting lots of conditions on their workers. An Indian restaurant I served in years ago was so secretive I had to sign a legal contract that I wouldn't share their flatbread recipe.
It was their standard naan disclosure agreement.
So, I have the Sigma 85mm f1.4 as a quality short tele prime, but it's big and heavy, and not always suited when I do walkaround photography. I often don't feel like loading it into my minimalist bag. Owners of the amazing Pentax DFA* 85mm f1.4 might even get the same feeling.
That's when I use my FA 77 Limited, which ultimately does most of what my Sigma can do, as you can see in the K-1 picture below. Why is it one of the most sought after Pentax lenses?
In the film era of the 90s, famed Pentax lens designer Jun Hirakawa (who would later head Tamron's lens division) was behind a project to make three small but quality primes - known later by some as The Three Princesses. Eccentricity seemed to be part of the philosophy ... the focal lengths were just the start.
The first was 43mm, which he had thought for geometry reasons was ideal for naturalistic street photography. A small production run was made for Leica owners too.
Second was the 77, which he saw as a smaller version of his famous FA*85 f1.4. The last was the larger 31mm, which IIRC others in the company finished, as his original idea of a descendant of his smaller FA28 f2.8 was rejected. It's a lot bigger than the FA35, too, but ... we'll see in a future tip, it's worth it!
The reduced sizes meant design compromises, and with less glass in them he sacrificed maximum aperture and sharpness for contrast and rendering. They're made of anodized aluminium and hand assembled, and have built in lens hoods. Mine is silver, and tends to get a curious second glance by other photographers. The current versions have HD coating (see Beginners Tip 103 for explanation).
If you're looking to spend on a joyful prime, used or new, to upgrade from say, a zoom, this is one to consider - iconic, even - and a fine portrait lens. Nine rounded blades contribute to the beautiful bokeh. With just a 49mm filter size, it's compact enough to even go in a pocket.
To finish with this week, there's the story of a not very bright man named Fred who goes to a doctor.
He says, "Doc, I want to be castrated. "
The doctor says, "Look, I don't know what kind of cult you're into or what your motives are, but I'm not going to do that sort of operation. "
Fred says, "Doc, I just want to be castrated, and I'm a little embarrassed talking about it, but I have $10,000 cash right here. Will you do it? "
The doctor says, "Well, OK, I guess I could make this one exception. I don't understand, but OK. "
He puts Fred to sleep, does the trick, and is waiting at the bedside when Fred wakes up.
"Well, Doc, how'd it go?" Fred asks.
"It went fine, just fine. It's really not too difficult of an operation. As a matter of fact, $10,000 is a lot to pay for such a simple task, and I felt a little guilty about taking that much. So, while I was operating, I also noticed that you had never been circumcised, so I went ahead and did that, too. I think, it's really better for a man to be circumcised, and I hope you don't mind my... "
"CIRCUMCISED! " yells Fred. "THAT'S the word!!!"
Find the rest of the series here: Clackers' Beginners Tips (Collected) - PentaxForums.com
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