In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (David Oswald) wrote:
> Now I'm working on building my fixed focal length kit. Currently it > consists only of the SMC Pentax-FA 50mm f/1.4. Lovely chunk of glass. > But then along comes the SMC Pentax-DA 40mm f/2.8 Ltd. This looks like > an interesting lens. Its pros are: Compactness, great image quality, > great bokeh, solid construction. Its cons are: wide open is only f/2.8, > and it doesn't seem to fit into any particular suite of lenses. I've only tried it by looking through it in the shop, but I'm baffled by it. It's expensive (UK price �250 - about US$450) and doesn't give a very bright viewfinder. As an angle of view, it's a slightly narrow standard lens, or a marginal telephoto. It is very small itself, but somehow the bulk of the *istDS didn't /feel/ much less with it than with a 16-45 mounted. Overall, I felt I must be missing something obvious, but I couldn't tell what. I suspect it comes down to which focal lengths work for you. On 35mm, I was happy with an 85mm most of the time, a 35mm for some shots, and occasional 19mm for interiors. On the *istD, I have about the same view angles with the 50/1.4 and a Sigma 12-24mm. Since I use the latter mostly at either 12mm or 24mm, I'd probably be happy with a 12mm and a 24mm, if there were a 12mm at a plausible price. -- PDML means I get more e-mail than spam!
