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| Pentax SLR Lens Discussion Discuss any Pentax K-mount, screwmount, or medium format SLR lens, as well as filters and attachments. |
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| 08-01-2008, 08:32 PM | #17 |
| Pentaxian | Originally Posted by deudeu Nice shots! From what I can see from your pics, your Sigma does a way better job than my MC Zenitar 16/2.8.
I just took delivery of the Zenitar about 1 1/2 weeks ago and have been feeling ambivalent about its performance. I have yet to take any pictures that I would really consider posting on this forum. My main issues appear to be related to attaining accurate focus. Once the subject is in focus, the performance is not bad. Sharpness is a little better than the 18-55mm kit though contrast seems a bit low. I guess for the price, there is little reason to complain! On the subject of PF, the Zenitar has a definite tendency (though not as bad as some of the DA 10-17 pics on this thread). I have yet to figure out what conditions yield the worst fringing. I know that back-lit branches/leaves are the classic case with bright, smooth, curved surfaces being another. What puzzles me is that in some shots even brightly backlit limbs are clean. Ditto for chrome tubing in direct sun in others. Oh well...best to just shoot and enjoy the lens for what it offers! Steve P.S. I will post something from the Zenitar when I get some more practice with the lens. The county fair is this next week. That should provide plenty of subjects for the fishy view! Last edited by stevebrot; 08-01-2008 at 09:26 PM. |
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| 08-01-2008, 08:42 PM | #19 |
| Pentaxian | @ Frank, I really like the picture of the little girl, thats just too cute @ Daacon that shot of the surf washing in is so clear, thats quite an impressive capture - I kept looking at and kinda felt like I was right there, made me dizzy, heh. |
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| 08-01-2008, 08:49 PM | #20 |
| Pentaxian | @Deudeu - glad to see you're happy with the purchase! Here are a couple of shots from the same lens before it found you     I had no complaints with the lens. AF was decent, CA, fringing etc were well controlled and it was sharp. Could focus decently close as well. |
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| 08-01-2008, 09:46 PM | #21 |
| Senior Member Location: Bay area, CA Gallery Photos:
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Posts: 152 | home town... |
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| 08-02-2008, 06:02 AM | #24 |
| Pentaxian Location: Toronto Gallery Photos:
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Posts: 577 | How about handfeeding and shooting birds with a Zen 16mm  Toronto 2006 Kite Festival These are not optical illusion as they are huge .  Huge file warning of the same image IMGP9408 e.jpg photo - Daniel TONG photos at pbase.com Daniel Last edited by danielchtong; 08-02-2008 at 06:31 AM. |
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| 08-02-2008, 07:25 AM | #25 |
| Site Supporter | Originally Posted by stevebrot Steve, I find this puzzling because the DOF on my Zenitar is so wide that I find it harder to get something out of focus than to have it in focus. And I agree that PF on the "Z" is terrible, but as you say, it's an inexpensive lens. The one thing I have found that kinda bothers me is that it is VERY soft at 2.8, I find that anything below 3.5 is unusable, and 3.5 itself is problematic. The "sweet spot" of mine is about f5.6 to about f8.0 tho it is certainly sharp enough out to f16. I've rarely used it stopped any further down than f16. If you are still having problems focusing, even at f5.6 and higher, I'd say you have gotten a bad copy, and may want to return it
NaCl(even the Russians can make a mistake now and then)H2O |
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| 08-02-2008, 07:54 AM | #26 |
| Pentaxian Location: Toronto Gallery Photos:
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Posts: 577 | Originally Posted by NaClH2O Sorry to hear. I am a big fan of the Zen. And here is the whole album of Zen's shots
zenitar Photo Gallery by Daniel TONG at pbase.com Majority were shot at F5.6 . By F4 , it is quite decent already definitely sharper than the kit lens Can you check if your infinity is in focus? I know older version may need minor adjustment. That is about it Did you get direct from Russia - Victor ? All you would need to know is in here Zenitar 16 FE- presentation and samples: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review Daniel |
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| 08-02-2008, 08:30 AM | #27 |
| Pentaxian | Add Ons In a bundle of goods from ebay the other day a 'King Deluxe Video Semi-Fisheye' was included. It is a 'Filter' in that it has a 52mm screw thread to fit on the filter threads of a video camera lens. It comes in two parts - the Fishy part and a Macro part - says series VII Made in Japan on the side. I have yet to try it for real to explore its creativity. It has an odd loose collar on the front which spins and moves forward and backward. i guess for this wide angle that is about as deep a "hood' as it allows without vignetting and it has enough thread in it to be able to screw on a 76mm or so filter.  I tried it first mounted on a K55 f1.8 on a SFX but the effect wasnt so strong on a 55mm. (Please correct me if I just failed to see something) Then on a Spotmatic 28mm F2.8 Tokina and it gave a perfectly round image in the view finder. On the cropped digital sensor of my DL2 it gave the following result - near 180 degree angle of view of the street, taken from balcony, going past my house in a rural country town. The red is not a hue - that is the colour of the dust and dirt. Apart from resizing this image is un retouched.  It seems like it has had a polariser on it but this is just the effect of that thick piece of glass on the front. I am looking forward to playing. In the full size the image is really badly diffused at the edges with some blue and yellow colour shift and blurryness - but maybe that is part of the attraction. Slightly off topic but while I am writing about adding stuff to the front of lenses, also thrown in the job lot was a Cokin A series filter holder with 52mm filter ring adapter and a funky piece of moulded perspex with heaps of facets and a hole drilled though it. The filter makes this kind of image for when I get tired of fish eyes.  I have since added a Cokin tobacco grad filter to play with some of the sunsets. Wanted a Neutral Density but none available around here and the item was 50% reduced from a real shop.  |
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| 08-02-2008, 09:38 AM | #28 |
| Site Supporter Location: portland Gallery Photos:
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Posts: 515 | Moments of Zen  Is this the purple fringing people keep talking about   A great way to hide flare... take pics of stained glass   zoom zoom zen zen!  |
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| 08-02-2008, 10:43 AM | #29 |
| Pentaxian | Originally Posted by NaClH2O
Originally Posted by danielchtong Salty and Daniel,
Thanks for the thoughts and links. I may be just a little discouraged about the full process of acquiring this lens and its current condition. I ordered the lens new through Rugift the first week of April. The first lens was apparently lost in the mail. The second had manufacturing defects that rendered both the aperture and focus controls unusable. I took delivery of the third about 1.5 weeks ago and just yesterday I noticed a strange sound when I focus (sort of like a loose ball-bearing or screw rattling against metal). So I guess I get to send this one back to Russia for a replacement (yes, Russia). I can't blame the vendor for these problems and to their credit, Rugift has been very responsive to the shipping and quality issue. I am glad though that your experiences have been positive. Perhaps I will have better luck with the next copy. Steve |
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| 08-02-2008, 10:46 AM | #30 |
| Pentaxian | Originally Posted by vagrant10 Great shots vagrant! It looks like you have good karma with your zen!
Steve |
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