DA 35mm f/2.8 Macro Limited

Has anybody used this lens?

I am tempted by it especially with the current cashback offer. I have a 50mm Super Tak already but find it is often too long for indoor shots (I live in a small house) and looking at my images I have taken quite a few with the kit lens in this range.

The 31mm limited would be nice but the price is too steep for me.

I would consider the FA 35 f/2 also but would probably use the macro feature of the DA more than an extra stop of light.

Has anybody got any real world samples from this lens they could point me to?

Macro at 35mm is way too close for living subjects I feel. 50mm is also too close, I prefer 100mm at least.

35/50mm is OK for static subjects.

Mike Johnston and Carl Weese wrote an excellent article over at photo.net in which the DA 35 Macro shines. Other examples can be found at the Pentax Photo Gallery (navigate to Image Data > By Lens) and over on PBase there are some more random shots.

Each time I re-read the Johnstone/Weese article I have to keep a tight grip on my wallet - it looks a fantastic lens.

I have the 35mm f2 and like it a lot although it's a bit long for many of my shots. Nice lens but in hindsight it wasn't ideal for me as I regarded 35mm to be a standard on 35mm film so that on digital I should have tried to get something around 20/24 but I did want the f2 for low light. It is also reasonably compact but not tiny.

As always a compromise!

Mike

I would agree with is viewpoint.

Outdoors my Sigma 105 is ideal but indoors, I find that often, I am at the limit of my tripod unless I put the item I am photographing on the floor

Thanks for the pointers, I think I'll go for this lens and compromise that it isn't ideal for living subject macro.

I'll try and put up some shots when I get it.