FA 77mm Limited: A Gem of a Lens

Just a few days ago I had the rare opportunity to pick up a new FA 77mm f1.8 Limited. Rare because over here, Pentax lenses are scarce and not often readily available even at the best stocked photo shops.



For quite a while now, I've been having a little mental debate on which prime AF lens would make a nice portrait lens. Now as we know, in the days of 35mm film, that would mean a short to mid-telephoto focal length typically between 85mm to 135mm. Factoring in the 1.5x crop factor, the current choices available were:

1) DFA 100mm f2.8 Macro
2) FA* 85mm f1.4
3) FA 77mm f1.8 Limited
4) DA 70mm f2.4 Limited
5) FA 50mm f1.4

I would rule out the 50mm and the 100mm. I find the 50mm a little too wide and it doesn't quite give a tele perspective. The plus side its f1.4 aperture allows for a very shallow depth of field and it's a fairly compact lens. Having been a one time owner of the FA 50mm f1.4, I find image quality is a little soft at f1.4 but sharpness gets better stopped down. I'd still recommend the lens because:

i) it's currently the most affordable Pentax AF prime lens
ii) it's a fast lens that's great for shooting available light
iii) you can use it with extension tubes for pretty decent macro
iv) use a teleconverter and you still get a decent and fast combo



As a macro, the DA 100mm is a sharp lens. However in the context of a studio or indoor shoot, the working distance for a head shot can be just a little too long; though this isn't an issue for outdoor candid shots. Secondly, at f2.8, it's the slowest of the lenses under comparison, and obviously a larger aperture would help give better subject isolation from the background. Still it's a good and versatile lens that can do double duty as a macro and telephoto.



The excellent FA* 85mm is a lens I can only dream about. Very expensive and very rare to find but a lens capable of rendering very compelling portraits. This is a great lens but I'm told produced in fairly limited quantities. Have a friend who has one and it is really a beauty.



So it's a toss up between the DA 70mm and the FA 77mm. The DA's distinctive "pancake" design makes for a compact lens. As a lens made for digital, it does away with a manual aperture ring, meaning aperture control is from the body. This is fine except that if you intend to use it with extension tubes or bellows, you're limited to shooting only at the largest aperture. (The DFA macros still retain the aperture rings for this very purpose.) The DA 70mm is newer, lighter, focuses a tad faster but only manages a modest f2.4 maximum aperture.



The older FA77 on the other hand has a image circle designed for traditional 35mm film. It's a little bigger and heavier but maximum aperture is 1 stop faster at f1.8. I think I could be equally happy with either lens though I feel the FA77 has a slight edge due to the larger maximum aperture and image quality wise.



My initial reaction to the pictures shot with the lens is the excellent colour rendition and contrast. At f5.6, the lens is exceedingly sharp. The bokeh is also very pleasant, an important consideration for a portrait lens. This lens isn't cheap but I'm suitably impressed by the build quality and more importantly the image quality to give it the thumbs up.