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08-04-2008, 07:06 PM   #1
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Lessons after Travelling with Limiteds

just a year ago i was using my crappy (but has sentimental value) 3MP Sony P&S which never went past ISO 100. i recently went to Scotland and London with my K100D and chose to bring the DA21, FA43 and FA77. This probably mirrors most "Limited" travel kits which are anchored by the DA21 and a *A7* lens.

some stuff i've learned about the lenses:

-FA43 is a great walkaround lens - landscapes, people, street-style w/ extra reach, food, overall very versatile





-FA43 is an awesome museum lens. the circular hood makes it easy to block out glare shooting through museum glass



-not afraid to shoot wide open on the FA43 or the FA77

FA43 1.9


FA77 1.8


-FA43's hood is not sufficient



-FA43 does have some focus some sporadic focus problems in museums / churches. very difficult to pin down the cause, sometimes it would work fine then suddenly go out of whack. for example, the AF couldn't get the ceiling as sharp as when i MFd.



-FA77 does not do group photos - i had the FA77 on sometimes and my parents wanted a photo. what looked ok on the display did not look ok on the computer. the faces were too square due to perspective and need to stop down past f11 to get sharp backgrounds

-FA77 DOES do great landscapes - both the FA43 and FA77 have excellent infinity focus detail



some comments about shooting style:

-bring at least the number of rear end caps as the number of lenses, makes it easy to change lenses

-did not have a problem with changing lenses too often which was good, with primes i am starting to "see" exactly how much of what i'm looking at will show up in the picture. i had to use my dad's Pana TZ4 to take some photos and i had a horrendous time zooming in and out for composition.

-FA43 doesn't provide a thin enough dof for my taste but the FA77 definitely does and i should practice much more



-slr is a lot heavier than a p&s, but it's worth the struggle

-still need to adjust from the P&S massive DOF which would be handy to have in an SLR sometimes at more handholdable shutter speeds

-i almost didn't use the DA21 and almost none of the photos were keepers, not sure why - until i went to the autoshow. lucky i didn't leave that lens at home that day!



-i probably need a polarizer, but bumping up the saturation and contrast in PP does the trick



-as great as the FA43 next time i'm considering taking the 31 and 77 next time to save on bulk (and have the DA21 available) because the FA31 is better than both the DA21 and FA43 although quite a bit heavier

-at the end of the trip, the shocker was how much i loved using the FA77, quite a large portion of my photos came out of using the lens. using it to look for details is awesome. i'm starting to develop a philosophy that it is easy to find very excellent photos of entire objects / scenes so instead, it's more fun to be creative and look to highlight details.



please take a look at additional photos in the zenfolio link in my signature under travel
comments are very welcome


Last edited by k100d; 08-04-2008 at 08:12 PM.
08-04-2008, 07:30 PM   #2
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Great pics and commentary, thank you for sharing:-).
08-04-2008, 07:49 PM   #3
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Couldn't agree more with Eaglerapids. Great story and shots.

c[_]
08-04-2008, 08:28 PM   #4
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I agree with you on the longer lens thing... I had the DA pancake trio and have sold off the 40 and 21, but can't rave enough about the 70. It became a landscape lens due to great detail rendering and sharpness across the frame.

The 21 was useful for 'snapshots', but like you I didn't find it easy to produce any keepers. It seems with wideangles I need to be up close or indoors to make use of them, and in those situations a fast zoom would be more suitable for the environment.

I miss the 40 though, but am eyeing the 31/35 limiteds to replace it.

Glad you managed to grab some great shots, and neat to see someone else gravitating towards short teles for landscapes.

08-04-2008, 10:34 PM   #5
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I love that church ceiling photo! you are making me want one of those limiteds even more...
08-04-2008, 11:03 PM   #6
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Awesome record k100d.
You're putting these sets of glassware to good use, and giving us lots to chew on...
Awaiting my own 77 ltd...
08-04-2008, 11:25 PM   #7
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Such an enjoyable series of shots, Very diverse.
Those lens you chose to use certainly did the job. Love the shots with the 43 particularly. But all are great.

Get down LBA, down, boy down!

08-05-2008, 01:06 AM   #8
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Great commentary on great shots.

Go to put my FA77mm to better use after reading this


Neil
08-05-2008, 01:14 AM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by nulla Quote
Great commentary on great shots.
s


Neil
You took the words right out of my mouth Neil.
Gary
08-05-2008, 04:29 AM   #10
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Excellent write up, and this echoes my experience (mostly with other lenses of similar length, although I do have the 43 and am in love with it). And a dSLR is hefty to lug around, but worth it.

To take the three lens set further, if you carry a light film SLR you have 3 additional FOV's (and the 43 gets even better)...

Oh, almost forgot: excellent set of photos.
08-05-2008, 05:11 PM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by clawhammer Quote
I love that church ceiling photo! you are making me want one of those limiteds even more...
thanks clawhammer. took a few tries to get it right, but that's the great thing about digital.

QuoteOriginally posted by Ash Quote
Awesome record k100d.
You're putting these sets of glassware to good use, and giving us lots to chew on...
Awaiting my own 77 ltd...
thanks Ash, hope you get your soon

QuoteOriginally posted by Eaglerapids Quote
Great pics and commentary, thank you for sharing:-).
QuoteOriginally posted by ll_coffee_lP Quote
Couldn't agree more with Eaglerapids. Great story and shots.

c[_]
thanks Eaglerapids and coffee

QuoteOriginally posted by CSoars Quote
I agree with you on the longer lens thing... I had the DA pancake trio and have sold off the 40 and 21, but can't rave enough about the 70. It became a landscape lens due to great detail rendering and sharpness across the frame.

The 21 was useful for 'snapshots', but like you I didn't find it easy to produce any keepers. It seems with wideangles I need to be up close or indoors to make use of them, and in those situations a fast zoom would be more suitable for the environment.

I miss the 40 though, but am eyeing the 31/35 limiteds to replace it.

Glad you managed to grab some great shots, and neat to see someone else gravitating towards short teles for landscapes.
i used to love wide angles w/ my P&S and couldn't get enough. but now w/ an SLR, it's like my point have view has changed a lot.

the ~40mm length was surprisingly handy. i'm starting to wonder what it would be like with a DA40 instead of the FA43. the slightly smaller size would be neat and with the FA43 i don't go wide open as much.
08-05-2008, 05:14 PM   #12
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Original Poster
QuoteOriginally posted by Bramela Quote
Such an enjoyable series of shots, Very diverse.
Those lens you chose to use certainly did the job. Love the shots with the 43 particularly. But all are great.

Get down LBA, down, boy down!
i always hope with my posts that i inspire some LBA

QuoteOriginally posted by nulla Quote
Great commentary on great shots.

Go to put my FA77mm to better use after reading this


Neil
thanks, look forward to seeing more FA77 photos

QuoteOriginally posted by Damn Brit Quote
You took the words right out of my mouth Neil.
Gary
QuoteOriginally posted by Nesster Quote
Excellent write up, and this echoes my experience (mostly with other lenses of similar length, although I do have the 43 and am in love with it). And a dSLR is hefty to lug around, but worth it.

To take the three lens set further, if you carry a light film SLR you have 3 additional FOV's (and the 43 gets even better)...

Oh, almost forgot: excellent set of photos.
thanks Nesster, i never considered a film camera, but digital is just too convenient. i feel very restricted using film because it's so expensive to process.
08-06-2008, 01:18 PM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by k100d Quote
i used to love wide angles w/ my P&S and couldn't get enough. but now w/ an SLR, it's like my point have view has changed a lot.
Looks like a successful trip in regards to lens choices! I liked your observations... I am also finding the FA43 makes a wonderful walkaround lens. I was thinking that I needed to have something wider than a 43, but having used it as a walk-around the last couple weeks, I am enjoying it more each time. My wife and I took a mini-trip and all I took was the 16-50 zoom for general P&S and wide stuff, along with the 21, 43 and 77, first time I'd gone out with that few lenses. I was surprised at how much I actually used the FA77 walking around. My favorite shots as well as most of the shots taken were from the FA43 and FA77. The DA21 offered me nothing than the 16-50 was able to provide.

I think next time I'll use the FA77 more as I liked the Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey and Tower of London series you shot with the 77.

QuoteOriginally posted by k100d Quote
the ~40mm length was surprisingly handy. i'm starting to wonder what it would be like with a DA40 instead of the FA43. the slightly smaller size would be neat and with the FA43 i don't go wide open as much.
I found that the DA40 was a very versatile walk around lens, focused quickly and accurately and was akin to using a P&S, again, I think I covered the convenience factor of the DA21 and DA40 with getting the 16-50. I found that the DA40 lacked the color and image charm of the FA43, as well. The 16-50 image and color is to me, similar to the DA21 and DA40, while the FA31 and FA43 feel different.

The Lionshead with the Pistols image (perhaps my favorite that set) from the Tower of London you shot with the FA43, was very nice, and don't think it'd look quite like that with the DA40.

Thanks for posting the gallery link, I enjoyed visiting the images.
08-06-2008, 01:51 PM   #14
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I wanted to thank you just when i thought I had me travel lens decision made I have been toying with the idea of a prime only trip and after reading this thread the urge has hit again. decisions decisions
08-06-2008, 02:01 PM   #15
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i told you about the DA21 man, useless lens
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