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04-02-2011, 03:19 PM   #1
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35mm 2.8 Macro as a walkabout

Hey all, quite new around here so hello to all!

I've not had the 35 2.8 macro for long - and I didn't buy it as a walkaround - I've seen a lot of conversations here about the pros and cons of using it as such, and decided I'd give it a go..

One of my passions is photographing museums - and went to 'Steam' - the museum of the Great Western Railway this afternoon. When I started out I had a Nikon D70 - museums were a challenge as ISO 1600 was required with some fast glass.

So today I took the K5 with the 35 macro and had a fab time - I was really surprised just how good it is when not being used for traditional macro shots. Some observations:

- Didn't find the focus hunting or long focus travel to be a problem at all. If this is putting you off getting one then don't - yes, it hunts a bit more than other primes (more than my 21 3.2) but not significantly more..
- Its sharp as they come
- Colour and contrast is fantastic
- The K5's high ISO performance is knockout. I have a Canon 5dMk2 as well - but the size is just too much for discretely walking round a museum - the K5 is perfect for this

Here's some samples. Not stellar, I know, but I'm reasonably pleased..













You can see the rest of the set on my Flickr page:

Steam - a set on Flickr

04-02-2011, 03:24 PM   #2
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Nice shots.
I like that lens, I've used is for the Single in November challenge and overall it's a great lens. It's my husbands and he bought it because of its multifunction. For macro the focal length is too short, imo, you have to get very very close on your subject, but it's great that if you want to get close, it's possible.
Here are the shots I took during that month.
04-02-2011, 03:29 PM   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by mplatt1903 Quote
Hey all, quite new around here so hello to all!

I've not had the 35 2.8 macro for long - and I didn't buy it as a walkaround - I've seen a lot of conversations here about the pros and cons of using it as such, and decided I'd give it a go..
I really enjoy the first and last shots. Great stuff! Yes, the lens is quite versatile and you can use it for a lot of different subjects. The close focus abilities (even short of true macro range) make it very useful.

I experience quite a bit of focus hunting in low light on my K-7 with it. I imagine the K-5 is much improved in that regard.
04-02-2011, 03:29 PM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by KarenH Quote
Nice shots.
I like that lens, I've used is for the Single in November challenge and overall it's a great lens. It's my husbands and he bought it because of its multifunction. For macro the focal length is too short, imo, you have to get very very close on your subject, but it's great that if you want to get close, it's possible.
Here are the shots I took during that month.
Hi Karen

Nice gallery - you seem to be using the 35 macro in a similar way to me today - you're right about needing to get really close for true macro work, and in some ways this does limit it a bit - but I have to say I was drawn partly by the size and the build as much as the macro capability.

I think I might have found my perfect general purpose/multifunction lens tho..

04-02-2011, 03:30 PM   #5
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Very nice shots.

I agree very much with the thrust that the 30-35mm focal length range is nice for walkaround.

Personally I found the FA31mm f1.8 an excellent walkaround lens, including for travelling overseas as a single-lens+body combo. Together with the K-7. the FA31mm is fast enough and I did not experience any focus hunting in low light.
04-02-2011, 03:32 PM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by v5planet Quote
I experience quite a bit of focus hunting in low light on my K-7 with it. I imagine the K-5 is much improved in that regard.
Never tried the K7 so I don't know for sure - I have the Canon 105mm macro for my 5Dmk2 and it's quicker than that (much quicker in fact..)

Glad you enjoyed the shots - the last one was actually a bit of a fluke. Was trying for a wider shot which didn't work, but cropped and turned to B&W and it seemed to work then..
04-02-2011, 03:34 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by hcc Quote
Personally I found the FA31mm f1.8 an excellent walkaround lens, including for travelling overseas as a single-lens+body combo.
You know, I did think about the 31 1.8 - and apart from the cost issue I decided against it due to size/weight as I was trying to get as compact a system as possible (is that a good enough excuse? )

04-02-2011, 03:37 PM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by mplatt1903 Quote
Never tried the K7 so I don't know for sure - I have the Canon 105mm macro for my 5Dmk2 and it's quicker than that (much quicker in fact..)

Glad you enjoyed the shots - the last one was actually a bit of a fluke. Was trying for a wider shot which didn't work, but cropped and turned to B&W and it seemed to work then..
Well, if it's not hunting it's pretty fast, for sure. But if it can't find the target and it spins back and forth through its entire range it can be annoying, at which point I take over with MF ha. I do think the vastly improved low light capabilities of the K-5 in general will have reduced that problem significantly. I looked through the set on your flickr and I'm also continuously impressed with that camera's dynamic range!
04-02-2011, 03:39 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by v5planet Quote

I experience quite a bit of focus hunting in low light on my K-7 with it. I imagine the K-5 is much improved in that regard.
I've used it on the K-7 and I didn't notice a lot of focus hunting. But I bet the K-5 is much better overall than the K-7.
04-02-2011, 03:40 PM   #10
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Yes Karen, it is an absolute gem on the K5. A brilliant combination.
04-02-2011, 03:41 PM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by v5planet Quote
I looked through the set on your flickr and I'm also continuously impressed with that camera's dynamic range!
You know, I used to shoot a load of slide film - and I'm starting to get the same feeling about DR with the K5 and the Limiteds I have as I did with slides. Maybe not quite yet, and not so much with the kit zoom - but the Limiteds seem to make the K5's DR really shine through, and I'm very impressed too!
04-02-2011, 03:56 PM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by mplatt1903 Quote
You know, I used to shoot a load of slide film - and I'm starting to get the same feeling about DR with the K5 and the Limiteds I have as I did with slides. Maybe not quite yet, and not so much with the kit zoom - but the Limiteds seem to make the K5's DR really shine through, and I'm very impressed too!
The DA Limiteds are very contrasty lenses, and I think when they have a wide DR to play with it really makes the images pop!
04-02-2011, 05:16 PM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by v5planet Quote
The DA Limiteds are very contrasty lenses, and I think when they have a wide DR to play with it really makes the images pop!
Yep - editing those images from today, I was really surprised just how much range there was to play with - the lighting in the museum was tricky - a mix of natural light from skylights and big diffuse tungsten lights, but even when shooting some of the backlit shots there was an abundance of shadow detail. Mmmm.
04-03-2011, 05:40 AM   #14
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Landscape taken by DA35 Macro

04-03-2011, 04:07 PM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by gummy73 Quote
Landscape taken by DA35 Macro
Nice.. how close were you to infinity focus do you think?
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