We now have our black 31's

[Lance B]

Well trendsetter's, Brett and I received our FA31mm f1.8 limited blacks yesterday! They are a beautiful piece of engineering and Pentax know how and are a lovely match for our FA77mm f1.8 limited blacks.

Pentax certainly know how to make a lens, and I include the DA16-45 in this as I think that it is a great zoom regardless of those who have exposure issues(QA problems I do believe).

I am now itching to go out and take some photo's with the 31, but Brett and I are a little busy this week so it will have to wait until the weekend before I, or possibly Brett, can post any photos worthy of the forum.
--
Lance B

 

[Yem]

Care to post some photos of the lens itself? Google is holding out on me.

 

[racehorse in the desert]

Yes, you are the trendsetters alright when it comes to black limiteds. Will be interested in seeing some images, and I know they will be great!
--
John Power
Racehorse in the Desert

'Life is too short to miss out on photography.'



Gallery at: http://jpowerphotos.smugmug.com

 

[Jim King]

All of us who have the black Limiteds know they take better pictures! ;
--
Colormonger.
* * * * *
Belief without doubt is just opinion.

• unknown

 

[Lance B]

All of us who have the black Limiteds know they take better
pictures! ;

As they say, "Once you've had black, you'll never go back"

--
Colormonger.
* * * * *
Belief without doubt is just opinion.

• unknown

--
Lance B

 

[Matts N]

I am now itching to go out and take some photo's with the 31, but
Brett and I are a little busy this week so it will have to wait
until the weekend before I, or possibly Brett, can post any photos
worthy of the forum.
--
Lance B

I have a vague memory of Brett promising to go out in the middle of the night the same night you delivered the lens to him. What happened with that?!?

Matts

Nowadays also the owner of a black 31 and 77 thanks to Jonas B!

--
Self-announced LBA member #42 (Pentax Chapter)

'He's not stupid, he's just got bad luck thinking'
Unknown

 

[Lance B]

Care to post some photos of the lens itself? Google is holding out
on me.

I will try to remember to get Brett to take a pic of my *ist D with the 31 attached or visa versa.

I now have two "standard" lenses, the 31 and the DA16-45 although I am going to try to be diciplined and leave the 31 on to try and make me use my feet for better composition. I think some of us can benefit from this sort of one focal length dicipline from time to time.

--
Lance B

 

[Lance B]

Yes, you are the trendsetters alright when it comes to black
limiteds. Will be interested in seeing some images, and I know
they will be great!

I thank you for your faith in my ability as a photographer, John, or is it more of a faith in the lens? I am sure Brett will come up with some great shots and I just hope I can match his expertise.

From the pics I've seen from other accomplished photographers with this lens it certainly has the ability of great image quality.

--
John Power
Racehorse in the Desert

'Life is too short to miss out on photography.'



Gallery at: http://jpowerphotos.smugmug.com

--
Lance B

 

[Lance B]

I am now itching to go out and take some photo's with the 31, but
Brett and I are a little busy this week so it will have to wait
until the weekend before I, or possibly Brett, can post any photos
worthy of the forum.
--
Lance B

I have a vague memory of Brett promising to go out in the middle of
the night the same night you delivered the lens to him. What
happened with that?!?

As I was leaving his home last night at 11:45pm after delivering the lens to him, he was wandering off into the dead of the night to scare people with his new toy! He said he did take some pics, so I will be interested in any developments there as well, Matts.

I have to go into town every Monday night to pick up my son from his sound engineering course which finishes at 12:00 midnight and as this is only 5 minutes from Brett's home it worked out well that I could bring it to him.

Matts

Nowadays also the owner of a black 31 and 77 thanks to Jonas B!

--
Self-announced LBA member #42 (Pentax Chapter)

'He's not stupid, he's just got bad luck thinking'
Unknown

--
Lance B

 

[Joele]

I now have two "standard" lenses, the 31 and the DA16-45 although I
am going to try to be diciplined and leave the 31 on to try and
make me use my feet for better composition. I think some of us can
benefit from this sort of one focal length dicipline from time to
time.

I have found I pretty much always use my primes, I haven't used the 18-125 in at least a month. Not because I don't like it, I tend to compose better shots with the primes...

Now that could very well be just in my head but just maybe using primes makes me think a little more about what I am doing....

I could also say that using my primes just makes me feel better about all the money I have been spending... LOL...

Anyway enjoy the 31 Lance, look forward to seeing some sample shots from you and Brett...

------------
Joel - *ist DS/P30n/ME
http://www.pbase.com/joele

 

[RiceHigh]

Lance and Brett,

Congrats on having a great new lens! I am sure the 31 limited will work great on the *ist D, as my 43 limited and simply the FA 28 prime do (the image formation of the 43 is a little bit more robust than the 28, btw).

--
Best Regards,

RiceHigh - Pentax AF SLR/System User since 1988 (My Equipment are listed in Profile)

 

[Lance B]

I now have two "standard" lenses, the 31 and the DA16-45 although I
am going to try to be diciplined and leave the 31 on to try and
make me use my feet for better composition. I think some of us can
benefit from this sort of one focal length dicipline from time to
time.

I have found I pretty much always use my primes, I haven't used the
18-125 in at least a month. Not because I don't like it, I tend to
compose better shots with the primes...

I try to avoid using the DA16-45 only for the same reason. When I go to a birthday party or family gathering, the trusty DA16-45 is firmly attached, but when I am on a photoshoot I leave it at home and only take primes and enjoy the dicipline and benefits they invoke.

Now that could very well be just in my head but just maybe using
primes makes me think a little more about what I am doing....

It's not in your head, it should work for you.

I could also say that using my primes just makes me feel better
about all the money I have been spending... LOL...

That is part of the reason, but the end results should be better. There's nothing like crafting a shot rather than just point and shoot like a zoom can allow you to get away with.

Anyway enjoy the 31 Lance, look forward to seeing some sample shots
from you and Brett...

Thanks Joel, I hope I can do the 31 justice!

------------
Joel - *ist DS/P30n/ME
http://www.pbase.com/joele

--
Lance B

 

[Lance B]

Lance and Brett,

Congrats on having a great new lens! I am sure the 31 limited will
work great on the *ist D, as my 43 limited and simply the FA 28
prime do (the image formation of the 43 is a little bit more robust
than the 28, btw).

Thank you Ricehigh.
It is a curious observation, but what do you mean more robust?

--
Best Regards,
RiceHigh - Pentax AF SLR/System User since 1988 (My Equipment are
listed in Profile)

--
Lance B

 

[Jim King]

Having agonized with Jonas over the acquisition of his black 31mm Limited I'm glad it wasn't cast off to Ebay but ended up in your capable hands. I'm confident you will do it justice!
--
Colormonger.
* * * * *
Belief without doubt is just opinion.

• unknown

 

[Matts N]

Now you make me blush...! Thanks, Jim, I'll give them a good home with their own place by the fire during the cold winter nights.

They are a pleasure to use, that's for sure. I'll try to post more, haven't been very good at that earlier.

Matts

--
Self-announced LBA member #42 (Pentax Chapter)

'He's not stupid, he's just got bad luck thinking'
Unknown

 

[Lance B]

Now you make me blush...! Thanks, Jim, I'll give them a good home
with their own place by the fire during the cold winter nights.

They are a pleasure to use, that's for sure. I'll try to post more,
haven't been very good at that earlier.

Matts, I didn't realise that you purchased Jonas B's limited's. Excellent and welcome top the "limited's" club! Let's see some posted pics from your limiteds as well.

Matts

--
Self-announced LBA member #42 (Pentax Chapter)

'He's not stupid, he's just got bad luck thinking'
Unknown

--
Lance B

 

[RiceHigh]

Lance and Brett,

Congrats on having a great new lens! I am sure the 31 limited will
work great on the *ist D, as my 43 limited and simply the FA 28
prime do (the image formation of the 43 is a little bit more robust
than the 28, btw).

Thank you Ricehigh.
It is a curious observation, but what do you mean more robust?

"Robust" actually means a lot of things here: the overall contrast is better, the grey reproduction is better (more 3d feel, or use Lecians' term - fine micro contrast), the color rendition is excellent on *ist D (or I found it too rich for some films which has high color saturation), the resolution is excellent (I can see the image formation is very "concrete").

Also, actually the RAW converted jpeg size or simply the straight out-of-the-camera jpeg size do often tell something - they have a larger file afterall - for the same scene, when compared with other lenses, especially zooms.

p.s. whilst I like very much my 43 limited on the *ist D, I found that actually the effective focal is not much useful to me as it is not wide nor reaching the short tele for portrait. I think the 31 will be much better to serve as a "standard" lens. I think the 28 is even better as it is just like a 43 on the *ist D which I found the Angle of View and Perspective to be very natural, as Pentax claims

I had actually considered to get a 31 limited when I got my 28 but I found the price is too expensive and its size/weight is just a little bit too large/heavy for me :-( But then it is a fast lens.

Finally, just wish to remind you to check if you new 31 can focus to infinity on your *ist D. Some users have reported this problem of using 43 limited lenses on *ist D including mine which cannot focus to infinity sometimes - just because the infinity mark room/tolerance has been made to be very tight for limited lenses.

--
Best Regards,

RiceHigh - Pentax AF SLR/System User since 1988 (My Equipment are listed in Profile)

 

[Brett St Pierre]

I have a vague memory of Brett promising to go out in the middle of
the night the same night you delivered the lens to him. What
happened with that?!?

Matts, I did! Lance dropped the lenses off at 11pm we talked for 45 minutes and then he headed off to collect his son and I went walking at midnight (!) to take some photos (mostly ISO1600 at f/1.8 -- said I would!) I got to bed at 1am and up at 6am to a crying baby ---- no time to process the RAW files yet but I will just for you when I get home tonight!!

--
Brett



The Journey is the Thing

 

[Brett St Pierre]

"Robust" actually means a lot of things here: the overall contrast
is better, the grey reproduction is better (more 3d feel, or use
Lecians' term - fine micro contrast), the color rendition is
excellent on *ist D (or I found it too rich for some films which
has high color saturation), the resolution is excellent (I can see
the image formation is very "concrete").

A good way to describe it!

p.s. whilst I like very much my 43 limited on the *ist D, I found
that actually the effective focal is not much useful to me as it is
not wide nor reaching the short tele for portrait. I think the 31
will be much better to serve as a "standard" lens.

I agree, that is why I made a decision a while back that the only 2 limited I would need is the 31 (for normal) and the 77 (for portrait / short telephoto). The 50/1.4 fits perfectly in between and is not a bad lens in any case ;-)

Finally, just wish to remind you to check if you new 31 can focus
to infinity on your *ist D. Some users have reported this problem
of using 43 limited lenses on *ist D including mine which cannot
focus to infinity sometimes - just because the infinity mark
room/tolerance has been made to be very tight for limited lenses.

Yes, I will, I haven't even seen it in the daylight as yet so will have to wait for now...

--
Brett



The Journey is the Thing

 

[Douglas Film]

I wonder how much better it is than my black 28mm M lens. To convince my wife I need a 3mm longer focal length lens would not be easy ;-)