Thanks for the info Bill, I'm looking forward to using the 77. On the 85 side, I have an older FA85 1.4 that I got for a bargain price in the bad old days of ebay. Its a heavy lens, but I heard the new one is really a beast. Mine is so razor sharp I just can't imagine a sharper lens to be honest. I guess I just got lucky.
On Fri, Aug 20, 2021 at 12:55 PM Bill <anotherdrunken...@gmail.com> wrote: > > On 8/20/2021 11:21 AM, Gonz wrote: > > Going on a trip up to Maine in a couple of weeks. Been lusting over > > the 77 for years, maybe decades. I've had the 31 for a few years and > > love it. Figured I could take both as a lightish weight kit on my > > trip. Apparently they're making a new 77 now, "HD". Anyone have any > > experience with these newer models? Any comparisons with the older > > limiteds? > > > > > > > > No personal experience, but they've updated the coatings and I believe > they have rounded the aperture blades somewhat. > > I expect it's purple fringing when wide open is about the same as the > original model, I don't think that is something that can be cured with a > coatings update. > > The 77 is still a much loved lens and gives very good image quality most > of the time, though it has now been much superseded by the D FA* 85/1.4 > in several categories, image quality, size and price are the ones that > come to mind. > > Expect the new version to be similar in most regards, and perhaps > somewhat better in a few metrics, those being the ones where rounded > aperture blades are better than straight ones. > > I'm not sure if this is true, but my understanding is that the coating > update had as much to do with economics as anything else. By updating > the lens to HD coatings, they are standardizing on a more modern coating > strategy for all their lenses, not because the HD coatings are night and > day better than the older SMC process, which is already excellent. > > The SMC 77 that I have handles flare better than just about any lens I > have used. It is quite difficult to ruin a shot with flare with the 77, > so if the HD coatings are in improvement, it's going to be incremental, > and making what is very good indeed a tiny bit better. > > I expect if you dig around on Pentax Forums a bit, you will probably > find a few direct comparisons between the two. There are a number of > people there who spend quite a bit of effort making the type of > comparisons you will find helpful. > > I'm keeping my 77 for when I get too frail to carry the 85/1.4. I hope > the mechanics of it haven't frozen by then, as my intent is to not > become that frail for half a dozen decades. > > bill > -- > %(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List > To unsubscribe send an email to pdml-le...@pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- "I think my ex-wife has weekly lessions with the Devil on how to be more evil. I don't know how much she charges him." - Emo Philips -- %(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List To unsubscribe send an email to pdml-le...@pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
