On Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 6:34 PM, paul stenquist<[email protected]> wrote: > I would think that the 31/1.9 LImited is probably the most versatile prime > for a Pentax DSLR. Of course that all depends on how wide or tight your > prefer to shoot.
The focal length and speed are great. A wide-normal. The 31 Limited annoyed me as being 3x as expensive as the 35/2, nearly twice the size and weight, and nowhere near twice as good on imaging qualities. Its fixed lens hood is inadequate for Pentax DSLRs and makes it difficult to fit a proper lens hood, filters, etc. The 43 Limited is a much better lens IMO, and I prefer its long-normal FoV on the Pentax DSLRs. > But I would also disagree with your assertion that zooms have their limits. > ... Middle to long tele zooms work nicely. Ultrawide zooms work well most of the time. Wide to portrait tele zooms almost without exception are a compromise over the prime lenses they replace, even the best of them. They are convenient for some things, but I get much better photographs using a fast normal prime lens than almost any zoom. In particular, I didn't like the DA16-45/4 very much at all: didn't like the way it zoomed, and wasn't particularly thrilled with its corner/edge rendering at the wide end at all. I liked the DA*16-50/2.8 a little more but found it an awkward lens in use. A better walk around kit for me was the DA21/3.2 and the FA43/1.9 ... one in my pocket, one on the camera. Both are small and light, show excellent handling and image quality. In the last year or so of using the K10D, these two lenses returned more than 80% of my best photographs with the camera. -- Godfrey www.gdgphoto.com www.flickr.com/photos/gdgphoto www.twitter.com/godfreydigiorgi -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
