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Camera Kit For The Trip

All items are in and ready for the trip! I think I’ve got all of my bases covered in focal length and maximum aperture. I’m looking forward to giving my two new recruits (31mm and 50-200mm) a full run-through.


I’ve decided to take:

DA 14mm f2.8
– Rectilinear wide angle should be great for taking images on the ship, and of course landscape vistas.

FA 31mm f1.8 Limited
– All rounder, which I now dub the renaissance man of lenses.

DA 50-200mm WR
– Give some range to the kit without much weight.
– Weather resistance to go along with the K-7 on rainy days if any occur.

Call me crazy, but I usually use filters with my lenses. While it’s possible that there is some very slight quality loss I prefer having something in front of the main lens element for ease of cleaning and protection.

I found to today that the new 31mm has a strange filter layout. The filter threads go all the way down to the front element, so when I put a filter on the two pieces of glass were touching in the middle. Luckily I had ordered a higher end 58mm filter with the lens and had a cheap one of the same size I bought in the past (a used Canon filter). What I did was remove the glass from the canon filter so that I could get extra spacing between the new filter and the lens front element. It works quite well and should not be a problem vignetting wise as all Pentax cameras are APS-C sized sensors.

Check out the Pentax FA 31mm f/1.8 AL Limited Lens through my links: 

As an affiliate of these shops, I earn from qualifying purchases! 


Sadly the Canon filter text is covered by the built-in hood. It would have been funny if it were visible!


EDIT: I have quite a few videos on this lens after the fact. Here's the main review video:
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