FA 43mm random images

Some images from the new FA 43mm Limited with the K20D. It is such a lovely lens and I'm always wowed by the colour rendering. It's the cheapest and most compact of the FA Limiteds and the one that I will be putting in some quality time.





Took these unusual hand railings and had it processed in Photoshop CS4. Like the colour and composition. It's important to have confidence in one's equipment and when you experience that honeymoon period where you have a succession of keepers, it's positive reinforcement to generate more confidence down the road. I've had a great time with the FA 43mm in the past and using it again brings to mind those good vibes.

The Pentax FA 43mm Limited

I decided to start the new year with a new addition to the lens collection. Yes the dreaded "lens buying addiction" bug has hit me! The lens in question is the FA 43mm f/1.9 Limited. I really love the images from this lens. They have a hard to describe three dimensional like rendering that it's nearest focal length counterparts, the DA 40mm Limited and the ubiquitous FA 50mm just doesn't convey.



This is my second copy of the lens, an uncommon super cool silver version. I had previously owned a black version that a good friend had sourced for me and while I had some lovely images with this lens, the copy I had seemed to exhibit a bad case of purple fringing when shooting specular highlights. On this copy, the colour fringing was well controlled, hardly visible at f/2.8.

Now one would ask why get the FA 43mm when the FA 50mm has a wider aperture and much more affordable? The FA 50mm is indeed a fine lens but I needed a lens that was a little wider in angle of view and while the diminutive DA 40mm fit the bill, it simply is outclassed by the FA 43mm in maximum aperture, build quality and image rendering. I certainly hope to put this beauty to work in 2009.

Been Absent

I have not been posting for awhile due to the Chinese New Year. Being in the print business, it is usually the quietest month of the whole year. And it has been a welcome break after a very hectic 4 months of print projects.



During this period I've decided to re-evaluate my Pentax gear in the light of the imminent arrival of the K20D. I've decided to let go of some stuff and I have also been buying stuff!!! Yes Lens Buying Addiction (LBA) is a disease and it reared it's head with a few new acquisitions.



Got the FA 43mm f/1.9 Limited, the DFA 100mm f/2.8 Macro (yet another macro lens) and the FA 20-35mm f/4. I'll talk about the FA 43mm here and illustrate this post with some images that were taken with this wonderful lens.



The FA 43 has the ability to render images that give a sense of depth coupled with a certain colour vibrancy that makes it a little different than the FA 50mm f/1.4. The angle of view is also a little wider and thus more versatile in my opinion. At almost twice the price of the FA 50, this comes in the form of an excellent build quality.



The FA 50 with it's wider aperture and slightly longer focal length can give slightly better out of focus backgrounds but the FA 43 shines in terms of colour and in delivering images with what I'd describe as film like in quality. For those undecided between the two (and three if you include the well regarded FA 35mm f/2), the FA 50 is the obvious choice for those on a budget but if you can spend a little more, the FA 43 Limited is well worth the extra cost. If a slightly wider field of view is needed, then the FA 35 would be the one to look for.