The M Club! - Page 57

Sean Nelson · 06-04-2009, 12:29 PM

Originally Posted by jsherman999

.Been meaning to take this baby out more, haven't got around to it - but I took just a couple snapshots this afternoon, and was reminded how sharp it is:

I find the backgrounds in the full frame shots to be distracting, but I really like that last crop!

pschlute · 06-08-2009, 05:17 AM

Gave this little lens an outing at the weekend.

*8540tomg* · 06-08-2009, 01:47 PM

Simply divine pschlute.

I'm getting more and more impressed
with that M 20mm.

Tom G.

chhayanat · 06-08-2009, 03:55 PM

The SMCP-M 20/4 seems to produce very attractive colours and is sharp as well. Both shots of the church by Pschlute are very welcome evidence of his talent for composition and the quality of the Pentax lens.

pschlute · 06-08-2009, 05:33 PM

Thanks for the comments guys, but I think the lens is the star

jsherman999 · 06-08-2009, 07:04 PM

Originally Posted by pschlute

Gave this little lens an outing at the weekend.

pschlute, you've just won the "Best M 20 f/4 Shot" award!

I bet you didn't even know that award existed, but you just won it!

Seriously, great work with my one of my all-time favorite M's. I'd love to to see more from you with that baby.

PS: what kind of PP was done there, if any? I love whatever you did, looks like subtle HDR, perfectly done.

.

pschlute · 06-09-2009, 02:36 AM

Jay. thank you for your very kind comments. I have a few more with the M20mm from the same location on my Flickr site: St. Martha on the Hill - a set on Flickr

I agree the picture does have an appearance of HDR, but it is a single exposure. I use Silkypix DS, and had to use the gamma slider to lighten the brickwork a bit, and I upped the contrast a tad. I darkened the blue of the sky in Silkypix also. Then resize to 1000px wide and apply USM 80/0.6/0

Some of the other pictures of the church on my flickr site I saved as a tiff first, then opened in PSElements and darkenened the sky using blend mode multiply.

Getting the exposure right in the camera for this shot was tricky as the white clouds were blowing the exposure. If I corrected for them the result was the brickwork was too dark and would need too much gamma adjustment to brighten them up. So i bracketed and used a compromise as my basis for raw processing.

Peter

**Marc Sabatella** · 06-09-2009, 10:17 AM

Actually, it's the clouds that kind of give away this is a "real" shot - an HDR approach would probably have saved more detail there. And made it that much less realistic-looking, IMHO. Great shot as is!

This lens has been at the back of my mind for a while as I've been toying with the idea of getting the DA15 or 21 at some point. The recent price increases have started to make the M20/4 look that much better in comparison. Now I do wish I had bitten when someone was auctioning a camera with M20/4, A50/2.8 macro, and an "M" telephoto lens I don't have - either the 120 or 150 - and someone won the auction at barely over $200.

jsherman999 · 06-09-2009, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by Marc Sabatella

Actually, it's the clouds that kind of give away this is a "real" shot - an HDR approach would probably have saved more detail there. And made it that much less realistic-looking, IMHO. Great shot as is!

This lens has been at the back of my mind for a while as I've been toying with the idea of getting the DA15 or 21 at some point. The recent price increases have started to make the M20/4 look that much better in comparison. Now I do wish I had bitten when someone was auctioning a camera with M20/4, A50/2.8 macro, and an "M" telephoto lens I don't have - either the 120 or 150 - and someone won the auction at barely over $200.

Oh, lord, don't tell me that.

I bought my M 20 f/4 for $160, but I think it would cost around 200-250 to
replace it now. A 50 2.8 macro = at least 100 for a rough copy, maybe 180
for a good copy, M 120 = $150, M 150 = $75 or so... so those lenses were
worth $375 to $580 or so depending on condition. Not to mention that they
are all optically superb.

The day I found my M 20 f.4 in a hoodie pocket (thought it had been stolen) was
a very good day.

.

jsherman999 · 06-09-2009, 01:38 PM

Originally Posted by pschlute

Jay. thank you for your very kind comments. I have a few more with the M20mm from the same location on my Flickr site: St. Martha on the Hill - a set on Flickr

I agree the picture does have an appearance of HDR, but it is a single exposure. I use Silkypix DS, and had to use the gamma slider to lighten the brickwork a bit, and I upped the contrast a tad. I darkened the blue of the sky in Silkypix also. Then resize to 1000px wide and apply USM 80/0.6/0

Some of the other pictures of the church on my flickr site I saved as a tiff first, then opened in PSElements and darkenened the sky using blend mode multiply.

Getting the exposure right in the camera for this shot was tricky as the white clouds were blowing the exposure. If I corrected for them the result was the brickwork was too dark and would need too much gamma adjustment to brighten them up. So i bracketed and used a compromise as my basis for raw processing.

Peter

Peter, excellent work.