Pentax DFA 21 2.4 . Sony G 20 1.8

KL Matt wrote:

Now I've read the review at Pentax Forums and... well I'm not exactly blown away by the performance. At 1429€ for an only moderately fast lens ... it's just a really fat pricetag IMO to only get great resolution in the center (I wanted this lens to be better/different than my FA*24!). Sure, the rendering is dreamy, and I'd probably have a lot of fun with this lens. But man they said it's also not even that great with flare, so it's not going to be like my DA15 in this respect, which is so fun to shoot into the sun etc. And they didn't even put their best AF motor in it. And no surprise, AF is slow.

Especially considering that the Sony 20 1.8 *is* sharp wide open. And weighs less. And costs 500€ less right now, and also has really nice, smooth bokeh... and I want to get into the Sony system for the exact reason that I would have a wide selection of excellent, truly fast wides and other lenses to choose from... I'm just really hesitant right now.

Expectations for DSLR and MILC are a bit unfair. One must recognize that this Sony has great flare resistance as the DA 15, but doing the same for the K bodies is another challenge!

If I consider that I can get an outstanding 85 1.8 for Sony at a fraction of the price and weight of the DFA* 85, too, and I get eye AF... forking out 1500 for the DFA 21 makes little sense. Depending on what lenses I buy, the savings will probably cover the entire price of an A7 III or more than half an A7 IV. The DFA 21 would be pure luxury.
I love shooting with my K1 II and this is the lens I've been waiting for. But the price is just really making me think. The Sony 20 G is a *full stop* faster and better in nearly every measurable way. The only things left are pixie dust and the experience of shooting through an optical finder. But it won't even be that bright because only f/2.4...Help!! Where's the flaw in this logic? Is there anyone in the world with both lenses who could compare?
Matt

Pentax responded to the demand for higher end lenses and more "spiritual" lenses, so to say. The hype and the prices, are now for Pentax : last manufacturer sticking to true OVF without third party to share this small market. This lens is all about quality, design, rendering, style and handling, leaving the higher IQ pro lenses to the DFA* series. Maybe a DFA* 20mm will come next with greater expectations and higher price ? Who knows.

Sony on the over hand is going the other way, doing what we expected from Pentax a few decades ago: great affordable lenses to complement their GM lenses. It seems that they just forgot the M on this G 20mm f/1.8 and they had to sell it at this incredible price. Breaking the market with such lenses, bringing more people to the brand : the 85mm f/1.8 and 250-600mm are other strategic lenses to bring reluctant DSLR shooters to them!Their association with Tamron is also part of their success. Strange when we think about previous Pentax partnership with the same brand.

EVF is not yet as good with "entry level" bodies, but things are changing and brings other goodies indeed. I still keep my trusty K1 and K3 with older lenses for "pixie dust" as you call it. These brands complement each other well depending on your goals, if you can keep both.

Apart from that, I can't compare these lenses : I got a great deal for this 20mm, so I can't justify buying the pricier Limited for the K mount! Maybe one day, if I can borrow or rent one to feel how well it fares? On the other hand, putting a lightweight body on this little 20mm is just amazing.

If you ever add a Sony body to your stable, you should also have a look at the old a7Riii : coming from the K1 I sometime missed a few MP with the a7iii. Its AF and DR are already good: sweet spot for me. But the new a7iv, with state of the art AF if you need it, should be closer to what you're used to on your K1 with its 33 MP sensor.

Just in case, another point I found useful for a fair comparison between Pentax and Sony files is to give it a try with default DXO RAW processing for each brand as a starting point (pretty conservative); unfortunately the a7iv is not yet supported.

Tough choice indeed !

Best regards, Fred

PS: Another option to consider if you have some of the few Pentax lenses already compatible with the LA-KE1 adapter is to keep them and make good use of eye-AF. Convenient but maybe not the experience you expect.