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08-17-2017, 06:55 AM   #16
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QuoteOriginally posted by Sandy Hancock Quote
I have now taken the DFA15-30 on two overseas holidays, and I love it. Sure it's heavy, but the IQ is fantastic for landscapes, it is fast enough to use indoors, and the lack of filters doesn't bother me.

Although I haven't done any real bush walking with it, my days often involved more than 10km of walking with about 7kg of camera gear. With a well-designed backpack like my Peak Design Everyday I would have no qualms at all.

Some landscapes (well, tourist snapshots with scenery in them):












Great shots. Which filter system do you use for long exposure pictures? Also , what aperture is the sharpest? I have been reading online anything above 8 is not sharp.

---------- Post added 08-17-17 at 06:57 AM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by Patriot Quote
I also thought about choosing a lens for a wide angle after buying my k-1. For K-5 and K-3, I had a sigma of 10-20mm.
I checked my photos taken with sigma and found that most of the photo is taken at 10mm, which match to 15mm in full format.
Therefore, I decided that it is more right to buy the Irix 15mm and the D-FA-24-70mm, which is much more versatile, which I did.
I am very satisfied with the Irix, it’s very good, sharp lens, it does not have autofocus, but for the landscape and 15mm it does not matter.
For most my shots I set it on at infinity and set the aperture more than f5.6 to get every things in focus.
Build quality is superb, focus is smooth with clicks in at infinity. In addition, its front lens is not so convex, which allows the use of conventional screw-on filters.
I will give some examples of landscapes captured by this lens:








Amazing shots. Which version of Irix did you purchase , fire fly or blackstone?

08-17-2017, 07:05 AM   #17
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QuoteOriginally posted by Pentax_WA Quote
Amazing shots. Which version of Irix did you purchase , fire fly or blackstone?
Thank you, I have Firefly, bought it on the Amazon for $400
08-17-2017, 07:17 AM   #18
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QuoteOriginally posted by Patriot Quote
Thank you, I have Firefly, bought it on the Amazon for $400
I never used manual focus lens. how easy it is to get a crisp shot in focus?
08-17-2017, 07:20 AM   #19
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I have been debating this question myself for nearly 2 years since I purchased my K-1 in May of 2015. I have owned a FA 20-35, Sigma 10-20, Sigma 12-24, Sigma 20-40 and Tokina 20-35.

For me, size/weight means little; the added weight would be minimal over the Sigma 20-40 which it would replace and nearly insignificant compared to the current weight of my full kit.

With that said, I STILL haven't purchased a DFA 15-30 for two reasons:

The lack of filter compatibility - I don't have the budget for the insanely expensive filter kit required
The lack of real world need - I very rarely find myself switching out my 24-70 for the Sigma 20-40. 20mm for me is a niche perspective that is very rarely needed. (I did a focal length comparison of all my shoots since I purchased my K1 and only 5% of my images were BELOW 28mm. Less than 1% of all my images taken were between 20-24mm. I find if I do require a much wider view, I shoot and stitch a panorama. 5 shots stitched together at 35mm is much more pleasing to my eye than a 15-20mm single shot.

So it's possible, you may be pondering a lens for which you would have very little use. Unless you find yourself considering permanently soldering your 10-20 to your K3, you may be contemplating adding weight and expense to your kit with very little reward.

As a trial run, find a used Tokina 20-35 or Sigma 20-40. I prefer either over the FA 20-35 and they both are 82mm threads. Both deliver "pro" IQ, maybe not to the Pentax standard if you are a 300% pixel peeper on a 40" 8k monitor, but honestly good enough to get wall space in a gallery). Carry your 20mm lens for 6-12 months and see if you find yourself shooting consistently at 20mm and wishing for that extra 5mm. If you don't/aren't, you probably don't really need the 15-30. If you do, the Tokina I owned and sold, lasted less than a week on the Marketplace. You then also have the justification for the added expense and you'll just have to suck up the filter requirements because they would now be tools necessary for completing the task.

I've tried really hard to justify purchasing a 15-30 since it's release, but so far I haven't been able.

08-17-2017, 07:29 AM   #20
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QuoteOriginally posted by Pentax_WA Quote
I never used manual focus lens. how easy it is to get a crisp shot in focus?
Very easy to use, for most my landscape shots I set it on at infinity and set the aperture as f8.0 -f13.0 and I get all the subject at a distance from me of 0.4 meters in focus.
08-17-2017, 07:38 AM - 4 Likes   #21
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I really like the DFA 15-30. The biggest knock on it is the size, which is pretty big. I haven't found the lack of filters to be a problem. With the K-1 I have enough dynamic range to play with that I can underexpose by a couple of stops and still have a nice clean image -- particularly if I am using Pixel-Shift. Having the flexibility of the zoom and having the range of 15 to 30 is awfully handy as well.

I know Sandy shared some shots, but here are a few of mine...







08-17-2017, 08:32 AM   #22
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I shoot with the 16-85 on my K-3II, which on the wide end would be similar to using the 24 wide end on the 24-70. The 15-30, which I have never used, seems like it would satisfy a great amount of the quite wide category of shooting, along with some longer exposure opportunities that would not require a filter, and if you could find something to utilize as a filter system for it that would be great and complete the system. If you were to be satisfied with a 24-70 range, the filter (screw on) availability is easy to access in the market (for example, Hoya 82 mm ND). I guess the answer to your question really lies in the range of zoom you want, which you have mentioned to most likely be the 15-30.


Last edited by C_Jones; 08-17-2017 at 10:34 AM.
08-17-2017, 11:38 AM   #23
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I don't have Irix, I have Samyang 14/2.8 and Tokina 20-35/2.8. There are times when I'd wish to combine them to one. That is one reason why 15-30 is on my list..now only thing keeping me from buying is money. Filters are one other thing to worry about. But now when we opened that box, there are several times when I wished to have ND with my Sam 14/2.8....or polariser, I can easily put those on my tokina...now this does not ansver your question. I suppose it is about having a flexibility -and bulk- of a Zoom or those filters(reason why 'm also eyeing that Irix, but that is just me) and just wide lens and longer zoom or collection of primes

Edit: Oh, and If I put a filter which dims scenery, I usually have to turn lens on MF anyway because AF does not work.
08-17-2017, 11:48 AM   #24
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Have any of you used the multiple exposure feature in place of an ND filter? It seems as though that would be an option here -- take 25 images and let the camera average them for your blurring effect.
08-17-2017, 12:09 PM   #25
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QuoteOriginally posted by Rondec Quote
Have any of you used the multiple exposure feature in place of an ND filter? It seems as though that would be an option here -- take 25 images and let the camera average them for your blurring effect.
I'v done it. It seems to work quite well too
08-17-2017, 01:30 PM   #26
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QuoteOriginally posted by Aslyfox Quote
stupid question time

is the DA 16 - 85 mm zoom one of those DA lenses that would work with the K 1

HD Pentax-DA 16-85mm F3.5-5.6 ED DC WR

I have read that some do, at least to some extent.

I understand that it is a F 3.5 not a F 2.8 and thus is not a 1 to 1 comparison but just wondering if it might be an acceptable compromise?

[please be gentle]
No, it doesn't cover FF, not even close. Very similar results across the board with other 16- and 18- mm DA lenses.

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08-17-2017, 01:47 PM   #27
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Your Tamron 28-75mm on a FF body will already get you pretty wide, so your need is for wider and the DFA 15-30mm f/2.8 is a candidate that fits right in. The images Sandy offers are pretty convincing! You have some exceptionally fine FF lenses. Changing your entire system just to save a few ounces at the wide-angle end seems questionable. There's overall system handling, controls, and features such as the Pentax Hyper System as well. A FF zoom lens getting down to 15mm wide and having a f/2.8 constant aperture, and of very high quality, is going to entail size and weight. When it comes to the ultra-wide end, 16mm is still not 15mm.

The only other question being how often will you need to go that wide, or need f/2.8? There's where the cost and weight are. Your experience with your K-3 and Sigma 10-20mm should give you some answers. The alternative Patriot presents seems worthy of consideration. That prime does indeed look to be very sharp. Another inexpensive idea is a used Tokina 19-35mm f/3.5-4.5 (plastic body but well-built- 77mm filter size) or AF 20-35mm f/3.5-4.5 (the later version, metal-body, 77mm filter size). I get great results with my film bodies, and look forward to seeing what happens with a FF DSLR.

Last edited by mikesbike; 08-17-2017 at 01:53 PM.
08-17-2017, 01:47 PM   #28
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QuoteOriginally posted by Aslyfox Quote
is the DA 16 - 85 mm zoom one of those DA lenses that would work with the K 1
That's one of the first things I tested when my K-1 arrived. I love the DA 16-85, and was hoping. But no, it's doesn't even come close to covering the full frame. I should also say that the DA 15 Limited also fails miserably in that regard, so it's not just zooms.

On the other hand, the DA 55-300 is quite close. It's the wide lenses that miss out worst.
08-17-2017, 02:19 PM   #29
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QuoteOriginally posted by Paul the Sunman Quote
On the other hand, the DA 55-300 is quite close.
Not close enough. It's OK at 55mm, then the vignetting gets quite bad until it disappears at about 200mm, only to return again at the long end.
It is definitely a crop lens.

---------- Post added 18-08-17 at 07:00 AM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by Pentax_WA Quote
Great shots. Which filter system do you use for long exposure pictures? Also , what aperture is the sharpest? I have been reading online anything above 8 is not sharp.
Thank you, but they really are holiday shots rather than serious attempts at landscape photography.

I don't have a filter system for this lens. If I want a long exposure I use the K-1's multiple exposure function to simulate the same thing.

I rarely go above f/11 with any lens, mainly to avoid diffraction, which can decrease resolution with any lens. While not aperture-specific, the DFA15-30 seems to be particularly capable of inducing shutter shock on the K-1 at intermediate shutter speeds; because of that I tend to turn SR *off* unless it is really needed, i.e. below about 1/50 hand held. As a good proportion of landscapes are shot from a tripod that isn't much of an issue though.

Last edited by Sandy Hancock; 08-17-2017 at 02:31 PM.
08-17-2017, 02:37 PM   #30
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QuoteOriginally posted by Sandy Hancock Quote
Not close enough. It's OK at 55mm, then the vignetting gets quite bad until it disappears at about 200mm, only to return again at the long end.
It is definitely a crop lens.
Yes, the DA 55-300 vignettes, but well beyond the APS-C circle. Only minor cropping is required. The 1x1 crop mode works particularly well with this lens.

---------- Post added 18-08-17 at 07:46 AM ----------

More DFA 15-30 shots. Very handy when travelling, despite its size.

Last edited by Paul the Sunman; 08-17-2017 at 02:47 PM.
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