31 Limited - 35 Macro - 43 Limites

[giellaleafapmu]

Anyone tried any of these Pentax lenses. I have been years with no knowledge of the Pentax system till I bought a K-01 because of the design when they went ridiculously cheap and I fell in love so I had to complete the kit with k5-II. I have to say that both the cheap kit zoom (water proof!) and the DA 40mm are great, now I am curious to know how are the 600 US$ lenses if the 200 US$ ones are so good...

 

[redisburning]

http://www.photozone.de/pentax

 

[giellaleafapmu]

http://www.photozone.de/pentax

Everything seem to say 31...ugh, that would be more money on a single normal (in APCS) lens than on the rest of the "system"... On the other hand the fact that it covers the 24x36mm format would mean that should Pentax ever go into FF I would not need anything new in the moderate wideangle range.

Thanks.

GLF

 

[rover]

The 43 and 77 Limited lenses are two of the most appealing I have ever used. Wonderful rendering. I did have the 31 which I liked and I can't speak to the others, but can say these two are very very special.

 

[Asim]

I've had over a dozen years of use with Pentax equipment and projected slide film. If you really want to see the rendering and sharpness of a lens, I believe nothing beats slide projection.
I started off with a Tamron 28-200mm lens and thought it was great... mainly because I had nothing else to compare it with.
Then I bought an FA50mm 1.4 and realized that zoom lenses suck in comparison to prime lenses. I sold the 28-200.
But then I wanted something wider and got the FA28mm 2.8. Both these lenses served my needs quite well until one day I read about the 43mm and thought I'd give it a try. I bought mine back in 2002 and when I got the results back I realized that there was a lot more of a 3-D effect in the slides than I had seen in my 50mm and 28mm. I sold the 50mm and replaced the 28mm with the 31mm. The 31mm had the same rendering as the 43mm but was even sharper at wider apertures. I still loved the 43 because of its size and 3D bokeh effect. The 31, because its a wider lens had extreme sharpness even wide open but did not have the background blurriness of a longer lens. So with these two lovely lenses, I thought I would get something really long and so I got the FA100mm Macro. This lens was an all round stunning lens. It rendered just like the two limited lenses I had but after traveling with its 600grams of weight I realized I needed something a bit lighter and not so long. So I bought a 77mm for my tele needs and an FA20-35mm zoom for my wide angle needs. My travel bag now consisted of a Pentax MZ-S, LX, 20-35mm, 31mm, 43mm, 77mm and lots of Provia and Velvia. It was the perfect camera system that took me all over the world for several years. I never saw another photo from anyone that was more pleasing..... until I came across Leica. I saved up and bought a Leica MP and a Voigtlander 35mm f1.4. The pentax lenses had more contrasty colors but the MP and Voigtlander combo had more natural colors and it just seemed a lot more simple to have one rangefinder and one lens. Now I'm still shooting with the Leica MP and only slide film and I'm awaiting the arrival of a Summilux 50mm Asph.

To summarize my long story... the 31mm and the 77mm have been the sharpest lenses i've ever used. the 77 is still slightly better because it has more of a 3d effect becuase of its longer focal length. Simply put, the Limited lenses are a big step above the FA lenses if you like contrasty photos. If you don't like contrasty photos, perhaps Leica lenses would suit you better with rangefinders.

I hope I've helped.
I rarely post anything because I have a tendency of making a short answer really long! 🙂
By the way, I just sold my Limited lenses for more than I bought them since Pentax raised the prices by about 50 percent a few years ago. My three limited lenses were all made in Japan and when I sold them they were not in the best condition (except the glass was still clean and clear).

 

[jpfisher]

The 31mm is a wonderful lens, the perfect standard-angle equivalent for a Pentax APS-C D-SLR.

And, if you shoot with film or with a full-frame digital body (eg, M Typ 240), it's a killer wide-angle. Better edge-to-edge than the Elmarit-M 28mm ASPH when both are set to f/2.8. Haven't compared it to the 28mm Cron ASPH, though.

I wish I had time to use both more often. If I had a better Pentax 35mm body I probably would, but still haven't taken the plunge on an LX.

 

[FA Limited]

look at my username ... although i don't have them anymore, i sure as hell regret selling them. it wasn't because of the lenses i moved away from pentax, it was the bodies. up until the point i sold my lenses, pentax bodies weren't cutting it. to an extent, they still don't cut it.

but the lenses themselves! wonderful stuff, i've used on the K100D and numerous AF and MF bodies. the build quality is fantastic first of all. fully metal body lenses is rare in this day and age. secondly the manual focus rings are fairly generous for autofocus lenses. they have a bit of "grit" to them which gives them a bit of resistance, but it is not old school MF smooth. the hoods were annoying part, i used alternate hoods that let me use regular lens caps. i am not a fan of the integrated hoods in any of the FA Limiteds. the overall size of the lenses which are relatively small evoke comparisons to leica lenses.

but the rendering on the lenses was fantastic. strong contrast and beautiful colours. lifelike is probably the best way to describe. sharpness is varied, the FA31 is the most consistent performer edge to edge with smoother bokeh than the FA35. but the difference is rather small. the FA43 is very sharp and contrasty in the middle but wide open the corners are somewhat smeary. the FA77 again is not so sharp on the edges wide open but beautiful blur and rendering. on digital the 77 suffers from significant PF.

as great as these lenses are, they seem way overpriced considering the "budget nikon prime three kings" being the 28/50/85 1.8G's are probably not far off.

 

[giellaleafapmu]

Once again thanks to everyone. I shot film but I don't have any Pentax film camera and I am not sure I will get into yet another system so wholeheartedly. Also I don't have a FF Leica digital. For me it was more of a nice surprise to discover than Pentax makes such a nice cheapish cameras as the K-01 and K-5, the K-01 was more than anything an impulse buy due to the design (many hate it but I like Newson's stuff) and the K-5 followed to have the same IQ and feeling in a "serious" body. For all I read I think that 31 and 77 would be a perfect kit for me...unfortunately they are also the most expensive of the lot and don't really fit into any use which would pay by itself, so I will have to wait a bit for them.
By the way, since I am exploring their products I come to read a bit and discovered their 645D, anyone ever tried that? If it will ever go down to D800 price (it is already way cheaper than any MF digital system) it could be tempting (and much more relevant to what I do than any K-x).

GLF

 

[jpfisher]

I'm a fan of the 645D -- I've shot quite a bit with it. Samples: http://jimfisher.smugmug.com/keyword/pentax 645d

And a review: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2406809,00.asp

The 90mm Macro is a really lovely lens.

 

[hans voralberg]

I have the 645D as well, and it is very good. The lens are very cheap compares to the top of the range Nikons, which you need to have shooting with the D800 (I have it too, I run a studio). The two noticeable downsides of the 645D:

- Very slow write speed to card or to computer (~15s raw) compare to D800 (~2-3s raw)
- Much heavier than D800

Back to topic the 31 is THE lens to get in the FA Limited series, it's very sharp, has a very good 3D effect and the handling is top notch. The 43mm I don't like that much, haven't try the 77mm.

 

[shadowfox]

Jim, thanks for sharing those 645D photos.
What's the crop factor of the lenses compared to a full-frame 645 film cameras?

 

[jpfisher]

Wiki says the sensor is 44 x 33mm for the 645D. The math is making my brain hurt, but that's a 55mm diagonal, and the standard lens is a 55mm f/2.8.

I've never actually shot with a 645 film camera, just 6x6 (Rollei, Hasselblad), and am used to a 75-80mm being the standard-angle there.

 

[giellaleafapmu]

I have the 645D as well, and it is very good. The lens are very cheap compares to the top of the range Nikons, which you need to have shooting with the D800 (I have it too, I run a studio). The two noticeable downsides of the 645D:

- Very slow write speed to card or to computer (~15s raw) compare to D800 (~2-3s raw)
- Much heavier than D800

Back to topic the 31 is THE lens to get in the FA Limited series, it's very sharp, has a very good 3D effect and the handling is top notch. The 43mm I don't like that much, haven't try the 77mm.

Mmmmh, yep the lenses might be cheap, the only problem is that I am already in the Nikon system where Pentax would be yet another system in a format which in the opinion of many seems to make less and less sense as quality of FF camera evolves.

I was however amazed to see how I had completely overlooked the products Pentax make. I had already posted something here about their marketing but I now think they are really fool in the way they present themselves because for what I can see their quality is just at the same level of the very best existing and if the 645D is even half good what seem to be from your answers it might very well be the best kept secret in studio cameras. Well, I don't think I am ready for the investment quite yet but I'll keep an eye on anything they produce and wil produce in the future and as soon as the wallet allows I will invest in the 31mm lens.

GLF

 

[giellaleafapmu]

I have the 645D as well, and it is very good. The lens are very cheap compares to the top of the range Nikons, which you need to have shooting with the D800 (I have it too, I run a studio). The two noticeable downsides of the 645D:

- Very slow write speed to card or to computer (~15s raw) compare to D800 (~2-3s raw)
- Much heavier than D800

Back to topic the 31 is THE lens to get in the FA Limited series, it's very sharp, has a very good 3D effect and the handling is top notch. The 43mm I don't like that much, haven't try the 77mm.

Mmmmh, yep the lenses might be cheap, the only problem is that I am already in the Nikon system where Pentax would be yet another system in a format which in the opinion of many seems to make less and less sense as quality of FF camera evolves.

I was however amazed to see how I had completely overlooked the products Pentax make. I had already posted something here about their marketing but I now think they are really fool in the way they present themselves because for what I can see their quality is just at the same level of the very best existing and if the 645D is even half good what seem to be from your answers it might very well be the best kept secret in studio cameras. Well, I don't think I am ready for the investment quite yet but I'll keep an eye on anything they produce and wil produce in the future and as soon as the wallet allows I will invest in the 31mm lens.

GLF

 

[seakayaker1]

I have the FA 31/1.8 Limited and FA 77/1.8 limited and both are stellar lens to use with my K5IIs.

 

[tstermitz]

I like Pentax cameras because the handling is so well-thought-out. The K-5 is a small, solid waterproof camera, with a full line of APS size lenses. The FF Limited lenses are smallish, metal lenses reminiscent of leica lenses.

These lenses do show a little chromatic aberration, but the "look" they project is very nice.

 

[mugent]

Never used those ones, but I owned the 15mm Limited for a while, it was very good optically and the build quality was fantastic, I expect the other Limiteds to be similar.