New Lens: Pentax FA31mm F/1.8

I think I alluded to this in my last post, or at least alluded to something coming up on the horizon, of which we should all be excited about. Well, I got a new lens, and it’s basically the best (or at least most expensive) Pentax (SLR) prime ever made.

Beautiful new lens FA31

Now we all know that a full-frame Pentax DSLR is on its way (end of this year perhaps) but that certainly didn’t factor into my decision to get this lens, even though it is a full frame lens. I’ve just read so much about this lens and its magic pixie dust that it’s always been the next lens on my wish list, I’ve been waiting for our next overseas trip before putting down the hard-earned on this one, and we’re heading to the lens’ motherland again, Japan (although this lens was assembled in Vietnam) in mid-July so the GST will be coming back to me (yay!) :D. We’ll also be heading back to Vietnam at the end of the year so the lens is going back to all of its roots this year.

I have to admit, the camera that took the picture of my camera is a pretty special machine as well (the Fuji X100), I really like its output, but I’m really liking the output of my new lens a lot. I’ve pretty much only been shooting with it wide open, actually I’ve pretty much been doing that for everything lately because I’ve only been taking portrait shots, but this trip to Japan is going to be a real test for this beauty. I will not be taking my DA21 (my usual workhorse) due to space limitations (which is strange considering the DA21 is tiny) so I fully expect the FA31 to be on my camera for most of the time (although I may still change my mind about the DA21). I did read a few posts and points about the FA limited being out of date and such, but remembering that the FA43 actually renders pictures optimally to my preference, this was definitely a no-brainer.

Poor, sick baby, and his mother.

So now I have four limiteds, two DAs (21 and 70), and two FAs (31 and 43), I have not given the 70 much of a workout in the three years that I’ve had it, but I’ve got plenty of time to work on it. We’re going to be travelling to Japan at the end of the rainy season (that’s what we hope anyway) and moving through central Japan around the Kiso Valley and the northern alps, let’s hope that I won’t be so consumed with looking after my son that I won’t be able to take a lot of beautiful photos of some beautiful places (weather permitting of course). I’m excited, we’re all excited, we have three weeks to go, and then we’re off, off to see the Japanese, the beautiful Japanese of Japan; doesn’t quite work does it?