LBA: DA21/3.2 Ltd (1 pic)

tcom

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Hi

I finally got the DA 21 Limited today and posting the first picture. As the weather was quite hazy, I tried this lens on flowers in the garden. I hope to post some landscapes soon.

*istDS, 1/250s f/6.7 iso200:



The picture has been converted from RAW to JPG. The full sized JPG is available on my web page under http://www.pbase.com/tcom/pentax_istd_samples

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Dominique

http://www.pbase.com/tcom
 
A very nice shot. I guess you must have been quite close to the flower for this shot, seeing as it was at f/6.7?

I'm looking forward to getting one of these (if they ever arrive in Britain). I may have to content myself with a DA 14mm instead...

Thanks for sharing,
-Steve M/
 
I cannot say a lot concerning image quality. I will wait for some landscape shots...

The build quality is similar to the DA40 Limited, excellent.

However, on the DA40, I could put a circular pol or UV filter on the lens and put the lens hood on top of it. On the DA21, there is a 49mm thread for a filter, but the lens hood is mounted on a holder below the filter thread. So one has to choose between a filter and the lens hood.

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Dominique

http://www.pbase.com/tcom
 
A very nice shot. I guess you must have been quite close to the
flower for this shot, seeing as it was at f/6.7?
Yes, I was not far away from the minimum focusing distance of this lens (20cm).
I'm looking forward to getting one of these (if they ever arrive in
Britain). I may have to content myself with a DA 14mm instead...
The first DA21 reached Pentax Switzerland this Monday so I guess it should be reaching the UK also these days...

I am worried about the availability of the K100D. I am going on two weeks safari holiday next week on thursday where SR might be very usefull (and surely some excellent subjects for field testing the K100D).

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Dominique

http://www.pbase.com/tcom
 
Thank you for the pictures Dominique! And what a slick little lens!

But... it it only me finding the bokeh a little bit harsh? It reminds me about the bokeh from the FA28/2.8 and you can see some example of bright ring bokeh as well as the not very soft rendering between different things in the background.

Now I guess this is a problem only when focusing really close and at big aperture openings. But, sometimes one want to do just that...

Ah, I'm tempted as well but right now I stick with the FA20-35/4. Not much slower but quite versatile. (

What about flare? I have seen impressing examples (from Pentax) of a beach or a pir with lights on it. Is it that good?!

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Jonas
 
Great image Dominique!

It looks like the 21 Limited is keeping up the traditions of the LE line of lenses, ie great image quality!
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Lance B

http://www.pbase.com/lance_b
GMT +10hours

 
Fantastic pics, Dominique.

I was looking at the full size version of the first image, and came away impressed with the DA21's sharpness, especially from the rendering of the town buildings in distant. Thanks again for sharing.

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http://www.pbase.com/chynyj
 
Hi Jonas,

I tend to agree about the bokeh in this example, it does seem a little bit 'brittle' (difficult to find adjectives to describe bokeh!). But it's not easy to evaluate a lens by looking at a resized, web jpg.

I have to say that it makes me wonder whether I should grab a DA 14mm instead - but then I'd lose the 'pocketability' of this lens.

It'd be nice to see some samples at a longer focus distance to compare...
Thank you for the pictures Dominique! And what a slick little lens!
But... it it only me finding the bokeh a little bit harsh? It
reminds me about the bokeh from the FA28/2.8 and you can see some
example of bright ring bokeh as well as the not very soft rendering
between different things in the background.
...
 
Hi Jonas
Thank you for the pictures Dominique! And what a slick little lens!
But... it it only me finding the bokeh a little bit harsh? It
reminds me about the bokeh from the FA28/2.8 and you can see some
example of bright ring bokeh as well as the not very soft rendering
between different things in the background.
Now I guess this is a problem only when focusing really close and
at big aperture openings. But, sometimes one want to do just that...
On my closeup shots, I was not more than 25cm away from the subject. I guess that is the source of the little bit harsh bokeh. I could not test the lens well enough so far to see if it could be a problem.
What about flare? I have seen impressing examples (from Pentax) of
a beach or a pir with lights on it. Is it that good?!
I did not check the lens specially for flare until now. I have mainly checked it for purple fringing and am pretty happy with the result so far.

--
Dominique

http://www.pbase.com/tcom
 
Hi Lance

Thank you. I am really happy with the DA21.

Up to now, I used the DA16-45 as walk around lens. I might consider using the DA21 and DA40 instead...
--
Dominique

http://www.pbase.com/tcom
 
Hi Jonas,

I tend to agree about the bokeh in this example, it does seem a
little bit 'brittle' (difficult to find adjectives to describe
bokeh!). But it's not easy to evaluate a lens by looking at a
resized, web jpg.
Hi Steve

It was by far not the best shooting conditions, the sun was still quite low and I was nearly photographing directly against the sun.

BTW: the full sized image is on http://www.pbase.com/tcom/image/64171508
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Dominique

http://www.pbase.com/tcom
 
Up to now, I used the DA16-45 as walk around lens. I might consider
using the DA21 and DA40 instead...
How is the colour balance? I find the DA40 a little warmer than my other Pentax lenses, even warmer than my Sigma 17-70. Is the match between the DA40 and the DA21 quite close? Doesn't matter much with a zoom but I like the "look" to stay consistent if I'm swapping prime lenses.

--
John Bean

PAW 2006 Week 29:



Iindex page: http://waterfoot.smugmug.com
Latest walkabout (4 April): http://waterfoot.smugmug.com/gallery/1348582
 

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