[northcoastgreg]

Sunrise over Samoa Bridge:

[Cambo]

Sunrise over Samoa Bridge:

Been thinking about you and hoping that these fires have not affected your part of the world too much. The devastation I have seen there has been awful, and all of these people missing a huge tragedy. Terrible. Stay safe, young man! The world needs your great photography!

Cheers,
Cameron

[northcoastgreg]

Stay safe, young man! The world needs your great photography!

Thanks Cameron. Fortunately on the northcoast of CA it's probably too damp to burn, even in a dry year, but with the fall offshore winds, we can get some of the smoke. I know someone who lost their home in the Redding fire earlier this summer. He's a photographer and he asked me advice on a picture he wanted to take of his family with their burned out home (completely destroyed) in the background. I drove through the Sacramento area last week and it was very thick with smoke. Part of the California experience, like Tornados are in the midwest and hurricanes are on the eastern seaboard and the Gulf.

[Cambo]

Thanks Cameron. Fortunately on the northcoast of CA it's probably too damp to burn, even in a dry year, but with the fall offshore winds, we can get some of the smoke. I know someone who lost their home in the Redding fire earlier this summer. He's a photographer and he asked me advice on a picture he wanted to take of his family with their burned out home (completely destroyed) in the background. I drove through the Sacramento area last week and it was very thick with smoke. Part of the California experience, like Tornados are in the midwest and hurricanes are on the eastern seaboard and the Gulf.

We had smoke all summer long here, and stretching over 1200 KMS, from the west coast of Vancouver Island to Calgary, Alberta. Really, really awful; the new 'normal', but I was born here, and this is FAR from normal. Only ever seen this in the last couple of years.

Glad you're well, and very sorry about your friend's devastation. Now, please let's get back to whining and moaning...

All f their lenses are horrible, their cameras suck, and, of course...Pentax is doomed...DOOMED!!!®


Cheers,
Cameron

[SSGGeezer]

This morning at Pemaquid Point for pre dawn freezing and shooting images. Let the other Pentax user @jcsnyc who met me there try the PLM, waiting to see what he puts up. [IMG][/IMG]

[aslyfox]

does anyone know whether this lens works " well with others " specifically the HD Pentax-DA 1.4x AW AF Rear Converter

any one want to give me advice or suggestions about acquiring this lens, please check out this post in the " Gear Acquisition Syndrome " and comment on it:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/173-general-photography/379419-gear-acqu...ml#post4524745

thank you

[jeallen01]

A couple more (a Hurricane and a Havard/Texan) with the K-30 /"K-50" + PLM from a day out at Duxford a couple of weeks ago when planes were being flight-tested (both cropped but otherwise hardly "touched" - couple of "dust bunnies" on one of them though !)

Attached Images

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[swanlefitte]

does anyone know whether this lens works " well with others " specifically the HD Pentax-DA 1.4x AW AF Rear Converter

any one want to give me advice or suggestions about acquiring this lens, please check out this post in the " Gear Acquisition Syndrome " and comment on it:

Gear Acquisition Syndrome - PentaxForums.com

thank you

See this thread. Thoughts about using Pentax 1.4x HD PENTAX-DA AF Rear Converter AW - PentaxForums.com

[aslyfox]

See this thread. Thoughts about using Pentax 1.4x HD PENTAX-DA AF Rear Converter AW - PentaxForums.com

thank you

[ThorSanchez]

So I found something that I can't do with the PLM that was I could with the old screwdrive 55-300... or rather the PLM makes it much harder. I was with my sons and nephews shooting off model rockets over the weekend. One of the days was a bright blue, mostly cloudless sky. Shooting the rockets on the pad was trivial, but once they shot up in the sky all bets were off. Little contrast in the cloudless sky, tiny rocket with a single trail of smoke. So if you weren't just on point with the autofocus it would hunt and usually not find focus at all. With the old 55-300 I could manually turn the focus ring quickly to the hard infinity stop and catch the rocket easily (I've done this in the past). With the PLM there is no hard stop at or near infinity, so it's dramatically harder to focus on what you want. The attached photo is one I think I got mostly in focus.

[jeallen01]

So I found something that I can't do with the PLM that was I could with the old screwdrive 55-300... or rather the PLM makes it much harder. I was with my sons and nephews shooting off model rockets over the weekend. One of the days was a bright blue, mostly cloudless sky. Shooting the rockets on the pad was trivial, but once they shot up in the sky all bets were off. Little contrast in the cloudless sky, tiny rocket with a single trail of smoke. So if you weren't just on point with the autofocus it would hunt and usually not find focus at all. With the old 55-300 I could manually turn the focus ring quickly to the hard infinity stop and catch the rocket easily (I've done this in the past). With the PLM there is no hard stop at or near infinity, so it's dramatically harder to focus on what you want. The attached photo is one I think I got mostly in focus.

I can only agree with your findings/comments because that's what I had found myself - and why the title of this thread is what it is!

Edited: OTOH, that said, I think it actually works "better" on the older/slower bodies than it does on the later/faster ones in challenging situations like those we have both experienced! It's my "go-to" long telezoom for the K-30/"K-50", but is rarely used with the K-3/ K-3 II for that very reason (based on actual "experience")!

[john5100]

I know this isn't the right thread but this is the old 55-300mm WR and it works well too. This is for those who want the new one and they can't because it's not compatible.


Foo Fighters shot for Back Beat Seattle by John Rudolph, on Flickr


Foo Fighters shot for Back Beat Seattle by John Rudolph, on Flickr

[ThorSanchez]

I can only agree with your findings/comments because that's what I had found myself - and why the title of this thread is what it is!

Edited: OTOH, that said, I think it actually works "better" on the older/slower bodies than it does on the later/faster ones in challenging situations like those we have both experienced! It's my "go-to" long telezoom for the K-30/"K-50", but is rarely used with the K-3/ K-3 II for that very reason (based on actual "experience")!

I have only done a few limited tests with my K-30 with the hacked K-50 firmware, and I didn't notice any great difference with the K-3ii. But I wasn't really looking.

The PLM will be my go-to telephoto lens for the K-3ii despite the manual focusing issues. That's popped up twice, once with the rocket shoot, once with the moon. Hopefully limited use cases. For my primary use, shooting kids sports, it's just leaps and bounds better than the old screwdrive lens. And I'm never trying to focus on a tiny object against a featureless background with manual assist. Maybe focus point settings would help with that, anyway. I've never been much of a bird-in-flight shooter but I could see the PLM focusing being a problem there, at least with how I've approached the rockets.

[jeallen01]

@ThorSanchez
Well, I think I probably do have "proof" (which I will try to find tomorrow!) of what can happen with the PLM on the K-3 and K-3 II in the form of shots taken at a Shuttleworth airshow earlier this year, i.e. I used spot focus to focus on low-flying moving aircraft and then the PLM suddenly focuses "anywhere" and it then takes a lot of time & effort to get it accurately focusing back on the plane - whereas that didn't happen anywhere near so much with the Sigma 100-300 F4 on both K-3 bodies.

Thus, whilst I will generally use the PLM on the K-30 / "K-50", I will use that Sigma (and its "little brother" the 70-200 F2.8) on the K-3 / K-3 II for challenging situations like that mentioned above.

[SSGGeezer]

@ThorSanchez
Well, I think I probably do have "proof" (which I will try to find tomorrow!) of what can happen with the PLM on the K-3 and K-3 II in the form of shots taken at a Suttleworth airshow earlier this year, i.e. I used spot focus to focus on low-flying moving aircraft and then the PLM uddenly focuses "anywhere" and it then takes a lot of time & effort to get it accurately focusing back on the plane - whereas that didn't happen anywhere near so much with the Sigma 100-300 F4 on both K-3 bodies.

Thus, whilst I will generally use the PLM on the K-30 / "K-50", I will use that Sigma (and its "little brother" the 70-200 F2.8) on the K-3 / K-3 II for challenging situations like that mentioned above.

I have heard that 9 focus points is the way to go for airshows and certain Bird In Flight shooting.