Pentax K-1 + Pentax Limited FA 31mm, 43mm, and 77mm
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You're right - AF on these lenses is questionable. However, the K1 happens to have a beautiful bright viewfinder(one of the best on a modern slr). Flip that focus lever to MF and go nuts! The FA limiteds are an absolute joy to use manually.
This is why I still have my K1, its a great camera today. I still use it on the daily!
The limited series has its slight flaws but the images are unique that is for sure.
I have the 31mm and the 77mm and am really happy with them. Here is the reason. Both lenses are really light and compact (due to lack of motor inside the lens by design). They look really neat on my K-1 (yes i do care, I even got compliments). The counterbalance of compactness is noise because of the screwdrive. You have only done the test wide open which is not how you would commonly use them, and of course you will get some vignetting and fringing but you forgot to say that these are easily corrected in any photography software like Lightroom and they are very subtle. Last thing, the distance at which you were shooting the flower isn't the distance at which I would normally shooting as these are portrait not macro lenses. You didn't have problems with AF shooting yourself. What you also missed is the quality of colour capture by these lenses as they have high transmittance. Interesting review but far far from being rigorous and sometimes even irrelevant
Hey Cryil,
Yes, it also gets sharper when you change the aperture to 2.8 from 1.8. My apologies not to mention that as well. I should had post the video of the portrait test. During the Portrait test, it hunted a little actually. I purposely dim the lights in the room. I should reiterate the information a bit more. You are going to a deep dive and I should had done better at giving more. I was afraid it would be boring if it gets too long. Thank you for the suggestion. I will need to figure a way to put these kind of topics on the next video.
The 43mm has an amazing 3-D like pop to it
I have the 43mm. It makes great images. I guess the fringing you saw would happen in hard transitions between specular highlights on black surfaces in bright light with wide apertures. Your indoor portraits didn’t seem to suffer from the same problems. The lenses produce excellent plasticity and detail and their colour sensitivity is beautiful. I will buy a 31mm and a 77mm it feels like a great trio to have for the look it produces.
This video always makes me laugh to see how time flies. thank you Christopher.
I think you can choose an option that fires the shutter when the subject moves into focus.
That is interesting. I will check on that as soon as my camera returns. I know some camera has that feature. Mainly mirrorless system like my GH5, but I dont know if Pentax has it.
The feature is 'Catch In Focus' and I use it with my manual primes sometimes.
I have both the 31mm and the 77mm. I have had no issues with grinding noises with the 77mm. The 77mm occasionally will hunt on moving or low contrast targets. I use these lenses on my K-1 as well as two manual lenses, a Samyang 24mm f1.4 and a Rokinon 135mm F2.0. All 4 lenses work great on the K-1.
I have FA 77mm f1.8 silver version. Its sharpness is real amazing even wide open!
I did notice in my test, a stop down at 2.8, the image gets sharper. Overall no problem with the sharpness. Its still a great lens~!
I have all three of these lenses, and they are gems: very sharp when stopped down a stop or two. Never had a problem with purple fringing that Photoshop couldn't solve. One things for sure, I would rather carry these three lenses than the Sigma Art equivalents. Shooting wide open in contrasty light is not a very good way of testing any lens. I suggest you take the time to explore what these lenses are really capable of.
Hi Brian,
Negative. I suggest you take your time and think about how much you just paid for those purples fringing lenses. People aren’t buying it to shoot at F4/F5.6 just to dodge some of the purple fringing. They are spending top dollars to shoot at1.8 and also to show off the classic build.
If they want to shoot at F4/F5.6 constantly to avoid purple fringing, I would direct them over to a modern Pentax glass like 28-105mm, which is super sharp, quiet, WR, light, covers the entire focal range of the limited series and runs only under $500 USD.
You need to be aware that these are classic lenses at a premium price tag. It is all for show. Already you proven my point, you will need post processing for the color fringing with Photoshop because no matter how ,much you stop it down, it will be there.
In the grand scheme of things, for example, a Nikon 85mm 1.8 G is under $500. That lens is quiet, compact, sharp at 1.8 and no color fringing. The 77mm limited is the total opposite and cost $300 more.
All in all, I know there is a ton of Pentax Limited Series fans out there, but the series need some fine tuning if it ever wants the benefit of being legendary again.
My point was that your review was too limited (no pun intended) to draw any meaningful conclusions about the Pentax lenses. This is what photozone had to say about the 31 mm "The Pentax SMC-FA 31mm f/1.8 AL Limited is an excellent lens. It is already sharp at f/1.8 and razor sharp from f/2.8 to f/11. Distortions and CAs are very well controlled", and "The bokeh (out-of-focus blur) is very smooth and buttery which is fairly unusual for a lens with aspherical elements. Typical for all Limited lenses the build quality is exceptional and it is a joy to use the lens." It rated the lens above the Leica equivalent, which is twice the price. I don't have the Sigma 35 mm (and never will), and I would be willing to concede that it is probably sharper if one is prone to pixel peeping, but that is not what the Limited lenses are about. There is a reason why they are so well regarded by many photographers. Admittedly, they are expensive, but they are extremely well made. Of course, you must make your decision about which lens to buy based on your own criteria; I made my choice based on mine.
There is the issue. Don’t quickly fall for those lens review from outlets like Photozone. They are just big corporation getting paid by the brands. I believe they were invested by Starbucks CEO ( I think) It’s like reading Popular Photography, which was always brand funded, and trusting all their positive reviews. I was just like you with my Nikon gear and reading how great their lenses were and after some real testing, I realize I was so wrong.
Back to the Photozone review. The article said it is sharp at 1.8 but razor sharp from F2.8 - F11. So basically they are saying, 1.8 is slightly softer than 2.8, which lines up accurately with my Pentax 100MM 2.8 review. They had that same issue and yes you need to stop it down on the aperture to remove the CA and increase the sharpness. The CA does disappear really well like Photozone said but it doesn’t completely disappear. There will be a slight hint but only pixel examiners like me can tell. For everyone else they won’t know. Better Photoshop that picture well.
As for their Bokeh review, I did the bokeh test, and grading bokeh quality it is up to the end user. I think its smooth and I really enjoy the 77mm 1.8 from the rest. I feel the Limited series are in their own league so comparing to another lens like a Sigma, which is what everyone is doing, seems to be unfitting. I may try to do a review, but I know guys like you will defend the Limited series and there will be a new generation of guys that will defend the Sigma. Perhaps I should stir this pot for everyone and just do a review and have everyone from the wood works to come out lol.
I understand why people love these lenses a lot and even at the local photo store, they would always tell me this “Most people who are buying the limited series lenses now are shooting Sony mirror less with them. The reason is because they used to shoot Pentax back in the days.” They love the image quality, and the manual focus on it and I will agree. The Limited series is smooth like butter. The build quality is out of this world. I think in the video I did stated that it’s like buying alligator slippers. That’s how the build is. It is legit and it looks extremely nice. I really like the feel of the lens. It makes me want to go out and shoot all day. There is something special with the build.
The only wishful thinking that I can come up with is that Pentax should upgrade the limited series. Keep the build, keep the manual focusing and improve on the af and the glass. That would be something nice for a mirror less system ( if they ever plan to go down in the future with their mirror less system). That would be awesome.
All in all, I understand why the Limited is expensive and there are many people here that cant afford this route. I don’t want to throw people in the wrong direction and make the Limited series look like the holy grail of prime lenses. There are a lot of great affordable option, but if I had an unlimited amount of money, would I buy the Limited series? Yes.
Cheers Brian.
Thank you for your fair and balanced response, it was greatly appreciated. I can't argue with what you have said, though I had always assumed photozone to be unbiased in its assessment of equipment. I would be surprised if Pentax paid people to give generous reviews of their lenses, but that is another issue. Often the qualities of lenses are a subjective matter, and one may prefer the rendition, micro-contrast, colour and/or whatever of a lens in spite of more objective measures like resolving power and edge to edge sharpness. On these objective measures, I would concede that the latest Sigmas excel, and from that point of view represent much better value for money than the Pentax trinity. For my own purposes, when shooting portraits, I need a lens that is sharp stopped down but a little softer opened up, so as to give me more options. On the other hand, for flower and close-up work I want something bitingly sharp across the frame, and so favour the Pentax macros, though they would make respectable portrait lenses, particularly the 100 mm f2.8. Incidentally, you mentioned the Nikon 85mm f1.8G in your earlier reply: I have been shooting with this lens for a couple of years. It is undoubtedly an excellent portrait lens, but I would sell it before my 77 mm. I have recently graduated to the f1.4G and though it is early days, I prefer the colour over the f1.8 but is it worth three times the price.... probably not. Please keep up with your reviews, as so few people seem to care about Pentax. I am in awe of my Nikon cameras, but I love my Pentaxes. They have soul.
Brian , that was text book excellence. Yes. Something I don’t mention in my videos is that, I do also wish things was softer than sharper. I did a portrait session for a piano player. The image was so sharp and detail that I was able to notice all the tiny blemishes and detail on her face. I later had to go in Photoshop and remove the pores one by one. I felt if the image was slightly softer and later post some sharp areas in photoshop, I could had eliminate some post processing time. Plus sharper image doesn’t always mean better, just personal taste ( I just make it look like a goal to achieve in the videos lol, Im sorry! ).
Since we are on this Sigma lens, I will plan a comparison down the road because of this conversation. Do a side by side with all the aperture. Sigma 35 vs Pentax 31mm. This time I wont take a side and just display what I have. We will see what happens.
When you speak Nikon language on those lenses, I understand 100%. Iol.. I will do my best to make some noise in the Pentax community. I have a lot a head!
Cheers Brian!
Tell you what, if you can stop giggling at nothing(distracting), I'll send you my three all in silver and in brown, red and green bags to test(they have lead in the front coating). They came out in '92.
That is my trademark. I cant accept such great offer :). I must laugh a little. The silver ones look very nice though.
the CameraVille,
Sigh!,
I also have the FA 85 1.4 if you want to test it.
I would love to test it! We should talk! Im at work now, but can you send an email over to me at thecameraville@gmail.com.
WTH! Don't criticize his laugh. This guy is cool and super informative 👍
Have you tested the Pentax D FA 50mm f/2.8 macro?
I reviewed the 35mm Sigma Art vs the Pentax 31mm on my channel and preferred the newer Sigma. But the size of the 31mm and 77mm is amazing for travel!
Really hope pentax will update those three lenses with new silent motor.
I have the sigma 18-35 mm 1.8 and at 35 mm I never see any purple fringing . You are acting like the purple color is normal for 30mm lens range . Its not its only on Pentax lens .
This is why they made HD version. Cheers.
Its normal for that time period. Got the film look.
Cameraville, you should have expected defensiveness, hostility and personal attacks because you dared to criticize a Pentax lens or camera. As a dedicated Pentaxian who owns and loves the three lenses you wrote about, I would never change brands or give up any of the three Princesses but some of your criticisms are valid. It's just that owning a Pentax is somewhat like joining a cult. I would say that Pentaxians are to photography as Scientologists are to religion. I enjoy your articles even if they are somewhat heretical to us Pentaxians!
.... .... I love you too :).. I know, I get attacked alot. I understand. Thank you for still stopping by though. My email is full of it but I try to be honest. ( I f money was no object, I would buy those 3. ;) )
You will probably get a story about how they have been Pentaxians for 30-40 years. If you don't believe me go check the B&H reviews .
I really like your videos! Let's see the Pentax 77mm compared to the Samyung 85mm 1.4 manual focus lens, both on the K1!! :)
Thank you!
Veselin Vasilev No problem!
They chose those focal numbers literally for the numbers. 77, 43 (4+3=7), 31 (31 is the 11th prime number)
I would take these lenses over Sigma Art any day.
By the way, you don't say anything about the colour rendition of Pentax cameras + Pentax lenses. It's a whole new story )) Have a closer look at jpeg colours (my favourite is the Bright profile) or the colours from PDCU (no matter how detailes may look at 100% magnification). To my taste, the colours look just amazing (much better than an initial look from any raw converter). And yes, the purple fringing will be almost unnoticable :)
wait a minute... REALLY? OKay Orel, I will take a look at this! Thank you sir!
the CameraVille you're welcome!
To me, there are 3 things why I'm still shooting Pentax:
1) "Pentax colours",
2) FA* and Limited lenses. I would never change them on any Sigma Art or Tamron lenses (I used to shoot Sigma 50 Art and Tamron 70-200/2.8 G1 on Nikon D750). Not only Pentax lenses add a character to images but they are also very small and light! (In my bag I could put only D750 + Sigma 50 Art. Now I can put K-1 + 31 + 43 + 77 in the same bag ))
3) great usability of Pentax cameras with unique features (auto horizon, SR, green button, user-friendly menu, rugged camera body, etc.).
P.S. In order to eliminate the fringing in jpegs/PDCU, turn on this feature in the camera menu or PDCU.
P.P.S. Actually, if ones selects the corresponding colour profile in ACR, the colours look pretty similar to jpeg/PDCU colours. However, I still think that jpeg/PDCU colours are superior.
P.P.P.S. :) Haven't you noticed that photos on K-1's screen look better than on a monitor? Maybe it's just my monitor (4K ips LG) but if I saw the photos on my monitor of the same quality, in 85% I wouldn't apply any PP at all.
+1 on this. The colors made by Adobe are not good. In camera calibration in LR select one of the camera specific.
R J How do you do Provia emulation?
Reading this I can't stay away I absolutely confirm that the rendition of colors in Pentax system are just gorgeous! I currently have three lenses and no matter which one I use, every time I open anything in lightroom, there is no need to worry about colors, it's just there! IMHO these three amigos mainly were created to deliver quality and even more, I don't own them but I've seen tons of pictures taken with them, I should say that truly there is magic happening which makes those pictures so pleasing. I think for those people who owns them, AF and noise is not an issue.
since there are really no other reviews about the lenses on TH-cam, I like that you take the initiative to go out on your personal time and do one yourself to find and learn something new. I am not sure about the grinding noise on the 77MM lens, but if only the 77MM and the other screw drive mount lenses do not do it, it would concern me. I have some screw mount lenses for my crop sensor Pentax too, and it is loud, but it never really bothered me. it really annoys me to see so much purple fringing and chromatic aberrations in all of the lenses. Why has that got to be a Pentax thing? When I see softness at high aperture settings in the depth of field that really turns me off too, I like super sharp photos with less bokeh
I have an expensive lens made for the Full Frame Pentax K-1, it is the Pentax 24-70MM F2.8 ED SDM, and it has noticeable Chromatic Aberrations and while one side of the photos are sharp, the other side opposite from the sharp in focus are is very soft and has noticeable loss of details. I am disappointed with the lens.
Yea, I did a lens review on that 24-70. It also gave me the same issue. I cant believe it lol.
Thank you Philip for stopping by and taking your time to watch the review man! I may had left a few tiny detail out from the video, the lens get sharper at 2.8( a little bit), but it still purple fringe, It is also a very compact lens that all 3 fit in my mirrorless bag. Yea the noise scared me at first because Im used to quiet lenses but after shooting outdoors and using it for a bit, the noise slipped away. I didn't mind it later on. A lot of images I seen, people seem to removed the issues in lightroom/PS, but that is a whole another step.
Cheers mate~!
Maybe I am being overly critical about purple fringing/chromatic aberrations in Pentax lenses. Do other lens brands like Nikon and Canon have chromatic aberrations? Or are chromatic aberrations an issue with how the photographer shoots in light with aperture and shutter speed and ISO? I have seen TH-cam videos on how to remove chromatic aberrations in Lightfoot, maybe chromatic aberrations are a lot more common in most lenses than I think?
I own all three of them but i just use the 31 and the 77 on my k1. I just dislike the 43mm on ff. With my k3 i love the 43. All lenses need some finecorrection in the camera but after that they're perfect. For portraits i love the 77. For me the Bokeh of the 31 is just perfect if u use it right. Its somekind of a diva. :D
I am about to rent a 31 mm and vs a 35mm sigma ! We will see. I enjoy the 77 but I think 31 is the all around lens imo . Very nicely built and also I love the lens cap. Fancy!
Lol, same feeling when I got my silver 43mm. Looks very fancy!
"these vintage lenses" the canon 85 1.4 for example came out in the early 90s
Have a 31mm and 77mm, they are the best legacy lens out there :D they are nowhere near the ultrafast quiet eye-AF of new Sony lens but they works beautifully on slow moving subjects ;)
I just picked up the HD versions!
@@theCameraVille i'll wait for your review
You're my hero!
This is one of my favorite video I did 4 years ago 😎😎. It was hot as heck that day 😂😂😂.
The noise as just the screwdriver moving slower
Your reviews are excellent
This one is so classic lol. I got a ton of folks using this video as reference.
I always wanted a 77mm but could never justify the price. Especially when I own a few pentax 85mm's
Damn! Let me do a review on your 85mm! I hear ya. Pricing is about the same. The only difference is the slight focal range and the longer the better in photo compression. 77 was very compact and fancy. 77 is like a vintage sports car, while the 85mm..is.... until Im able to review it, I cant say yet haha ;)
With SDM lenses very available these days, why doesn't Pentax make a quiet screw drive?
I think to keep the classic feel lol. I am on the same boat with you
Really usefull, thank you very much!
I found an interesting article, here,
gw.org.za/images/Lens%20Technical%20and%20Trial%20Use%20Reports.%20SMC%20Pentax%20FA77mm%20and%20FA43mm.%20Hirakawa%20Jun%20and%20Adachi%20Masamitsu,%202000.pdf
on 43mm and 77mm lenses, according to lens designer Jun Hirakawa, the concept of those lenses was, free from traditional measures such as sharpness and MTF scores, but rather, intended better three-dimensionality.
So, it may be difficult to evaluate those lenses by conventional, standard method.
nice!!!
Choosing these lenses over modern lenses is like choosing a 1960 automobile over its contemporary model. Pentax Limed lenses are well built and cool-looking but they are undoubtedly inferior to modern lens. I had the 77mm then returned it for the Tamron AF 90mm f/2.8 Di SP A/M. The Tamron is not as well built/ cool-looking but the image quality is superior. Pentax Limited lenses, like their newer lenses made for the K-1 line are over-priced.
Yea, I can agree with you on that. Its like driving a classic vintage car vs driving a contemporary car. I gave it some thought. If Pentax Ricoh, made mirrorless camera and made it look almost like their film camera, I would for some reason buy these FA limited lens. Just vintage feel at that point. It would be cool.
Does anyone know why pentax makes strange focal lens?
能不能加个中文字幕啊啊啊啊啊啊?
I used to own all those three lenses and they do some stuff quite good (although I always hasiteted to like the 43 bokeh, sometimes there is this 3d like image going on and other times it is just not looking good at all). I replaced the 31 by a Sigma Art 35 and the 43 by a DFA 50. The new lenses are deffinitly superior in many ways and if Pentax finally manages to put out the DFA 85 I might also replace the 77. The amount of purple inside my pictures kind of anoys me. On the other hand I never saw a lens not being bigger than those limiteds doing a better job. Your AF issues with the 77 suprised me. I never had that "lock up" sound like I heard in your video which might be a faulty lense?
The MF capabilities of those lenses are superior to any af lense I know, but it is questionable if this is of any importance these days as af continues to develop.
Those three lenses are the reason I got a Pentax in the early 2000s and I stayed with it. If I would start completly over, I would go with Nikon now, to be honest. Still the lenses and cameras are good enough to not switch and those three lenses can produce good pictures while being really compact and have nice haptics.
I can relate with your ideas and these are good points. I may have to do a video on how to remove the CA in post. I came from the opposite end where I was shooting Nikon since 2005. Nikon have some good lenses but lack the features. There is pros and cons between each system and how it get used. Overall, all brands have their pros and cons but the Limited series lens is an iconic image of its time. I personally went with the 20-40 Limited in the end.
Also the 77 was able to acquire sharp focus, which was surprising with that sound. Those were good times with the limited.
@@theCameraVille Right, all current brands got their pros and cons.
Considering the price points, my k3 ii and k1 ii are really good cameras. I think, for the money you dont get better ones, but there also is nothing above those. Sigma stopping development of K-mount lenses however is a real bummer.
A ca removing tutorial may be the thing most important about postprocessing for the pentax community. Certainly a good idea.
E sarebbe una recensione questa!?!? Ma questo lo pagano per fare le gite in macchina?
Those magnified low-res screen grabs in 4k footage look like absolute crap. Honestly, when you show it like that, I can't tell much the difference between these lenses. They all look terrible and useless. Is your screen 720p or something? Why such low definition? Everything seems much worse than it is.
overrated lenses! IQ has advanced and many modern lenses blow these away!