Rob, We have been down this road many, many times. For current production models, there are two - FA *85 f:1.4 and FA 77 f:1.8 Limited. Both are great lenses. Based on test and observation, the FA 85 is probably mostly designed for portraits at shorter ranges. It's sharpness falls off the closer you get to infinity until you stop way down to about f8. But for portraits, it truly excels. The 77 Limited could be thought of as a more general purpose lens. It does not have the same sharpness problem at distance so could easily be used as a mild telephoto lens.
Both lenses have great bokeh for portrait work. The FA 85 is faster and bigger and heavier. If you use one of the ZX series bodies, it will feel nose heavy. It balances much better on the PZ-1p or MZ-S with battery grip. Since the 77 Limited is actually cheaper than the FA 85, unless one has a very specific reason for getting the FA 85, the 77 seems like the better deal. Smaller, lighter, more general usage, pretty similar for portrait usage and less expensive. When I got my FA 85 there was no other option. I am *Very* happy with it. If the 77 had been available at that time, I probably would have gone that route instead. But there has been nothing shown to me yet that makes me feel the 77 is a better portrait lens than my FA 85 so I am not changing over. Shel or Fred might be able to give you a good rundown on the used market and what the offerings are. HTH, Bruce Dayton Bruce Friday, March 08, 2002, 2:13:18 AM, you wrote: RB> Can anyone recommend a good portrait lens in this range which is perhaps RB> a bit kinder to the subject? RB> Or would you recommend just putting a soft focus filter or stockings or RB> something over the lens? RB> Alternatively, I could do stuff in photoshop I suppose, but when RB> shooting negs I like to get 6*4s to put in the album when the film is RB> developed, and only spend my time scanning and tweaking for exceptional RB> shots. RB> Ideally a sharp lens with some form of softening/diffusing 'filter' RB> would be most versatile as I could stil have the sharpness when I want RB> it, but my main goal is for a fast portrait lens only in this case, and RB> if another (possibly cheaper) lens would do the job better then I may RB> consider it. 50mm is too short for me though - I want one in the RB> 75-100mm range. - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
