31 Beautiful Millimeters

I still love the 31mm Limited FA to death - I think it is way better than anything I own.

I'd like to begin the next quest for another Limited Prime, and probably would like to go wider.

I notice that, for obvious reasons, the FA lenses are more expensive than their DA counterparts. Is there a difference in Image Quality twixt the two?

I have a couple of SMC TAK primes in wide angle which I'll keep using for film, so would only use the wide Limited on digital.

Would love to hear your experiences.

Thanks as always,

The DA 21mm limited is the only limited wider then your 31 Mac, so you don't have much choice I'm afraid.

The DA limiteds seems to be sharper across the image though, the FA's can be softer at the corners.
I know that the DA 70 and FA 77 produce different kind of photos. Almost everyone like the FA 77 more because of the way it renders the image, they just have a bit of extra "flair" so to say . Don't know if that's true for the rest of the Limiteds.

I really want to FA 77 but I also really really want the DA* 55... if they would just give away the lenses it would be a lot easier
Stefan.

Thanks Stefan,

I should have checked further into the wide Limiteds before I posted. Obviously we can't compare FA to DA on this one.

So, it looks like a DA 21mm Limited in black will be the next on the list. I don't think DA's come in silver - too bad.

Unless someone thinks the 21 is horrible?

(A LIMITED - horrible ::shock

Off to wash out my mouth with Grandma's lye soap.

Addict!


There's also a DA 15 Limited on the horizon (according to the roadmap--subject to change, etc)!
If you're only shooting digital, and just talking about image quality and sharpness, I think the digital lenses will provide a great image for your K110D. The 21mm limited provides a nice wide angle, but is much slower and not quite as sharp [edit: mostly in the corners] as what you've become used to. However, there could be a point where the resolution of your 31mm will be superior to what your sensor can catch.

I'm looking at the 21 myself!

[edit]--Oh another thing about the DA series which I like is the quick-shift--how you can use auto focus, and switch to manual, no problem.

Farfisa,

I agree about the quick-shift - have it on my kit lens, use it a lot, and can't believe how much I miss it on the 31mm!

I'll look forward to it on the DA 21.

Who are you looking at to get your 21?

Lens Buying Addict.

let me see. grandmas lye soap....
run water through ashes from fire pit.
takes filtered ash water and boil down or let eveaporate to a thick caustic sludge.
mix said sludge with animal fat (usually cow)....
Call it soap.

Grandma's...gotta love 'em.
My Grandsma, Bless her Soul, was a saint.
She was also like a Kung -Fu master with her broom.
When my Grandma reached for her broom, all ten of her children, any of the twenty-five or so grandchildren, and any bears in the vicinty, ran like hell for cover!

I've been buying at Aden Camera in downtown Toronto--great prices, compared to what else is around. Especially with the Canadian Dollar being so up and down right now, I don't really feel like shopping across the border, but I think it evens out to being better than US prices. The DA21mm is there for $529.99 CDN.
(see adencamera.com)

I've been trying to wait for a used one though. But waiting isn't really in the addict's vocabulary is it I might sell my Sigma 30mm 1.4 to make room for it.

I tried the 21 in the store and I love the angle, and it feels really smooth. I think it would be a great travel lens on a K100 or K110!

If you want to see the quality of images from each of the Limiteds then there are worse places to start than at the Pentax Photo Gallery.

Just navigate to Image Data -> Lens and choose from the drop-down menu.

The full list (at the moment) is:

FA 31 / 1.8
FA 43 / 1.9
FA 77 / 1.8

DA 21 / 3.2
DA 35 / 2.8 Macro
DA 40 / 2.8
DA 70 / 2.4

As mentioned above, there's also a DA 15 on the horizon but we don't know yet how fast that will be (although I'd bet on somewhere around f4).

The pros of the FA Limiteds include full-frame coverage (useful for film!), speed and aperture rings. The pros of the DA Limiteds are physical size (or lack of it!) and quick-shift focussing which I also love.

All of them seem capable of extremely high IQ but I think the DA 21 is the one that excites me the least - you might see it differently though...

Don't think you'd get very long odds on that bet though...

smc Pentax-DA 15mm F4ED AL Limited lens

Dan

...and for my next trick I will predict last week's Lotto numbers...

Thanks to everyone for the great feedback and info. (And Don's lye soap imagery)

Hefty is a visionary and Dan's up on the latest.

Will 15mm be a fisheye as far as distortion on regular subjects (people, pets etc.)? I'm hoping it'll be more like a 24mm on film would be. Do you figure it'll cost much more than the 21mm?

Farfisa, I'll look up Aden's, heck, sort of on the way to visit daughter #2 in Barrie!

Ta,

No, it's a rectilinear lens.

A little wider, more like a 22.5mm.

I would guess so, I reckon about £400 in the shops (£450 RRP)?

Dan

Thank you Dan.

I can see this lens being a big plus in my limited stable - and I'm gonna wait for it!

Epoxies wallet shut and buys methadone.

Good Evening, my name is Mac and I'm a "recovering" LBA....

Who am I kidding:

Thanks for your "support," Mac. I thought we were going through this together