77mm 1.8 limited lens

Hello,

The 77mm f/1.8 lens does have AF and manual focus. The focussing speed is generally quick. You state that you want to shoot indoors. That changes the usefulness of this lens as it may tend to be too long on a cropped sensor for indoor shots. The 50mm f/1.4 may be a step in the right direction. The wider/faster the better for indoor shots unless the light is plentiful.

AF speed will also be light dependant.

Best regards

Yes, I use 70mm indoors , but that's for portrait type shots, really close or head and torso maximum ... For moving around and standing shots, you usually need a little space around in order to shift position or to allow cropping out distractions. So as Gary says, 50mm , or even 35mm, works better for this type of thing. Ideally you want both, because the 70-85 range is beautiful for portraits ... It's just that indoors you'll find you keep stepping back all the time for more general shots, and may run out of space.

A lot of people out there (in general) like to "weigh" the options for lenses in both size and weight. I personally prefer to toss both of those options; I go for best optics and preferably best apertures = which means typically sacrificing both size and weight.

The Pentax limited glass is above average. For glass, the Pentax FA's are quite impressive. One might want to strongly consider Sigma as well.

Even remaining in PK... Look for lenses that will reach out to f1.2 next year, and will also be a full frame variation lens, but not under the Pentax label or also the FA designation that Pentax uses. Possibly even f0.95 . Imagine the lens and filter sizes

FA 35mm f2 , still a few around but you have to shop around - for less there is the Samsung-branded equivalent, but rare.

The FA31 1.8 is hard to beat and certainly comparable in terms of quality with the lens you originally enquired about. Its price new is a king's ransom, though it can be bought second-hand for, I suppose, a knight's ransom.

The "31" is more or less the same price as the "77". If you can afford the "77", then you can afford the "31".

I have all three FA Ltd lenses, and in studio work, they're outstanding. In very high contrast situation, they do tend to show quite a bit of purple fringing.

Their compact size and lightweight makes it easy to handle the camera lens combo for a long session, especially when the grip is not on the camera, but to use them manually, you have to switch AF off on the camera. They don't have quick shift to change focus after AF has locked on.

They really shine on the K-3.

I do have the 77 f1.8 and the 31 f1.8.

I personally prefer the 77 for portrait and landscape shots. I am not to keen on landscapes with wide angles.

I think the 77 is so fantastic. It is really wasted on an APS-C sensor.

I haven't been on this forum for a while and it seems there is no possibility anymore to add pictures.

Else I would have attached a couple taken with the 77.

By the way they are not that expensive here in Australia. I bought the 77 for $AU 799.- Approx 300 GBP new and the 31 f1.8 for $AU 1099. Approx 400 GBP , also new.

I anyone can enlighten me , how to attach pictures to the posts, it would be appreciated.

Regards, Horst