On May 5, 2005, at 10:17 PM, David Oswald wrote:
The Pentax 31mm LTD, however, is a highly sought-after lens, including for 35mm film photographers. An FA20mm lens mounted on an *ist-DS will offer a field of view roughly equivilant to 30mm, which is pretty close to 31. Apparently people find that focal length useful enough to pay big bucks for a top quality Limited lens.
For me, with 35mm, a 20mm and a 35 or 40mm is about right for my wide angle needs. That's a 14mm and a 24-28mm for the DS.
Had the 31 Limited ... wonderful lens, but didn't like the weight and size so I sold it.
A 135mm lens mounted on the *ist-DS will offer a field of view very similar to a 200mm lens on a film SLR, as you're aware of course. That may be a little long for everyday shooting for some people. I happen to enjoy sailing a lot. It seems like in sailing you need two lenses; a good wide angle, and a good telephoto. Wide angle is for everything going on in your own boat, and tele is for everything going on outside of your boat. ;) At the moment I've got wide angle covered with my 16-45mm DA lens. Tele, I'm just not thrilled with my 80-320.
The FA135/2.8 is very good from wide open but is that field of view, 200mm equivalent in film, sufficient for your desires? Last time I was boating, I wanted a 300-400mm equivalent field of view.
I'm using the F100-300 more than I expected to. It's not a great lens, but good enough in the range I use it for, stopped down. Unlike some of the good f/2.8 zooms in similar range, it is light, compact and handy ... given that I only use something this long relatively infrequently, that counts for a lot.
Godfrey
