The type of photography that you are planning to use is an important decision factor. Here we have evaluated the HD Pentax-D FA 50mm F1.4 SDM AW and the Lensbaby Velvet 56 for their suitability to various photography scenarios:
Size and Weight Comparison
Size of a lens is an important deciding factor when comparing two lenses.HD Pentax-D FA 50mm F1.4 SDM AW is the longer of the two lenses at 106mm. The Lensbaby Velvet 56 with a length of 86mm is 20mm shorter. Besides being longer, the HD Pentax-D FA 50mm F1.4 SDM AW also has a larger diameter of 80mm compared to Lensbaby Velvet 56's 72mm diameter.
Below you can find the scaled side by side image of HD Pentax-D FA 50mm F1.4 SDM AW and Lensbaby Velvet 56 to get a better idea of how their size compare in real life.
Comparison image of HD Pentax-D FA 50mm F1.4 SDM AW and Lensbaby Velvet 56 Size and Weight Weight of a lens is as important as its external dimensions, especially if you are planning to hand hold your camera and lens combination for longer periods. Lensbaby Velvet 56 weighs 400g, 56% (510g) lighter than the HD Pentax-D FA 50mm F1.4 SDM AW's weight of 910g.
Below you can find the dimension and weight table of the 'Standard Prime Lenses in Pentax KAF3 Mount for size comparison purposes.
Standard Prime Lenses in Pentax KAF3 Mount for Size Comparison
Lens Mounts
Both HD Pentax-D FA 50mm F1.4 SDM AW and Lensbaby Velvet 56 has the same Pentax KAF3 lens mount. Some of the latest released cameras that are compatible with the Pentax KAF3 lenses are Pentax KF, Pentax K-3 III and Pentax K-1 II.
Lensbaby Velvet 56 is also available in Canon EF , Fujifilm X, Micro Four Thirds, Nikon F (FX), Samsung NX, Sony Alpha and Sony E mounts.
Focal Range
HD Pentax-D FA 50mm F1.4 SDM AW is a prime lens with fixed focal lenght of 50mm. When it is mounted on an APS-C sensor camera with 1.5x crop, it provides an 35mm (FF) equivalent of 75mm.
Lensbaby Velvet 56 is a prime lens with fixed focal lenght of 56mm. When it is mounted on an APS-C sensor camera with 1.5x crop, it provides an 35mm (FF) equivalent of 84mm.