[aslyfox]

To the OP. . . Second, as I was trying to show, a macro lens has many uses besides macro. They are known for their excellent resolution at various apertures, and their capacity for sharpness from corner to corner. The trade-off is that they are usually slow to autofocus, because they tend to have a long focus throw to allow for fine manual focusing. Third, it's often said that there is no such thing as a bad macro lens, just very good or excellent. The DFA 100 is great, but there are other highly regarded lenses too that are cheaper, including earlier versions of the Pentax 100mm macros, . . . .

I must admit, whether for macro or other uses, I do like my SMC Pentax-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro with my K 3 II


crop and pp

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[midnightvisions]

Thanks again for all the advice, suggestions and web links.

[Wasp]

My interests are not just in insects, but also macro electronics, Surface mount components repair and modification need to magnify an area of 20mm square down to 1mm. I have not seen any Pentax lenses do that. Can the collective offer any advice on how to do that?

That is quite a high magnification ratio. From a subject that is 6 by 4mm to full frame on a 24 by 16mm sensor means about 4:1. The current Pentax 35mm, 50mm and 100mm macros will 'only' do 1:1. More than that and you need extension tubes or a bellows. My math lets me down at this point on how much extension you need.

Two words about hand holding a camera with extended lens - forget it. Focus is hyper sensitive and depth of field is paper thin.

For lighting some sort of LED ring light or ring flash that attaches to the lens would work best but there might no be enough room in your application. A 100mm macro wil give a longer working distance than a 35mm or 50mm but with even less depth of field.

[aslyfox]

A reminder to the OP and others about the opportunity to win a camera in August:


The community must reach 45,000 posts each month

At that point, 3 threads will be created 8 hours apart, and the first 80 posters in each will get a raffle entry

Automatic raffle entry if you have 180+ posts

Raffle participants must have at least 10 forum posts in the month of the raffle

The winner is drawn at random, and we will ship a K-1 to the winner

If the community reaches 51,000 posts by the end of the month, the prize gets upgraded to a K I II

Read more at: Pentax K-1 Triple Giveaway: Summer 2018 - Giveaways and Events | PentaxForums.com

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Last edited by aslyfox; 08-10-2018 at 04:50 AM.

[midnightvisions]

That is quite a high magnification ratio. From a subject that is 6 by 4mm to full frame on a 24 by 16mm sensor means about 4:1. The current Pentax 35mm, 50mm and 100mm macros will 'only' do 1:1. More than that and you need extension tubes or a bellows. My math lets me down at this point on how much extension you need.

Two words about hand holding a camera with extended lens - forget it. Focus is hyper sensitive and depth of field is paper thin.

For lighting some sort of LED ring light or ring flash that attaches to the lens would work best but there might no be enough room in your application. A 100mm macro wil give a longer working distance than a 35mm or 50mm but with even less depth of field.

Yes I have a ring light, and i had a small tripod setup, but it was mickey mouse (in my opinion) for repeat-ability. I've been looking for some other kind of small linear motion setup but have not seen anything I like, or that is under a grand.

[david94903]

I do like my SMC Pentax-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro

The D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro is an incredible lens. Excellent for macro work and much much more. Makes a great portrait lens too.

[mikesbike]

Yes I have a ring light, and i had a small tripod setup, but it was mickey mouse (in my opinion) for repeat-ability. I've been looking for some other kind of small linear motion setup but have not seen anything I like, or that is under a grand.

Yes, what this extreme is called is micro rather than macro photography, which is highly specialized. It can get quite expensive, and difficult to execute well! But I would recommend getting into the macro range at this point for quite some time. Plus there is so much else to learn as well. Experience is the best teacher, so just do it at your own pace, and get some control with good results in the areas that are within reach.

Just be sure to set up your Fine Sharpening in the Custom Image menus, following procedures as I suggested, with the mode dial on "P". The settings then will be automatically applicable in the "P" "Av" "Tv" "Tav" "Sv" and "M" modes. But not necessarily with your mode dial set to auto Green mode, or the SCENE mode, as they do their own thing in selecting which Custom Image category will be used. I recommended upgrading the Fine Sharpening setting in both the "Bright" and "Natural" categories, and keeping your camera set to the default "Bright" category for most uses.

The SCENE mode selection for "Portrait" would probably set the camera to the "Portrait" Custom Image category, for color palette, and all of its other settings, for which of course I did not recommend any Sharpening change. Fine Sharpening is not appropriate in this category. The SCENE mode will also no doubt open the lens aperture to wide open, to blur the background to some degree so that your subject will stand out from it.

Your DA 50mm f/1.8 lens is an exceptionally good choice for portraiture. Its FL on an APS-C camera like your K-70 is very good for shooting distance, natural perspective front-to-back of the head and body, etc. The SCENE mode would probably also set this lens to f/1.8 wide open. Depending on the distance of the background, the 50mm f/1.8 setting greatly reduces DOF and might even blur it so much as to be unrecognizable. You'd only see blurred colors, which might be the effect you want, or not.

If shooting in another mode, say "Av" where you choose aperture and the camera automatically sets shutter speed for "correct" exposure, then you can quickly set the camera to the Custom Image category- "Portrait" then select your own choice of aperture, and regulate the degree of background blur yourself. Depending on the circumstances, you might want some blur to make your subject stand out, but still have it recognizable because then it may give your photo a more picturesque environmental setting, or may tell a story involving your subject.

Only by doing things this way will you gain the experience to have a good idea in advance of what your choices are likely to be, and get to be more efficient and accurate. Such things are not so challenging after you get some practice under your belt, and they are fun and become a part of your choice of composition for your photo.

You could even be shooting in the "P" mode and do likewise as above as with the "Av" mode, that is without having to change the mode dial first from "P" to "Av" just for a few quick portrait shots, and just quickly shift the camera to Custom Image- "Portrait", then just use the thumb dial to select your preferred aperture anyway, since you have the Pentax Hyper System. That would be quicker. Then after the portrait shots, just hit the green button and reset the camera back to "Bright" Custom Image. Just take another look at my initial post.

Believe me, you have more useful tools in your K-70's toolbox than there are with cameras of other brands!

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Last edited by mikesbike; 08-15-2018 at 02:01 PM.

[midnightvisions]

Yes, what this extreme is called is micro rather than macro photography, which is highly specialized. It can get quite expensive, and difficult to execute well! But I would recommend getting into the macro range at this point for quite some time. Plus there is so much else to learn as well. Experience is the best teacher, so just do it at your own pace, and get some control with good results in the areas that are within reach.

Just be sure to set up your Fine Sharpening in the Custom Image menus, following procedures as I suggested, with the mode dial on "P". The settings then will be automatically applicable in the "P" "Av" "Tv" "Tav" "Sv" and "M" modes. But not necessarily with your mode dial set to auto Green mode, or the SCENE mode, as they do their own thing in selecting which Custom Image category will be used. I recommended upgrading the Fine Sharpening setting in both the "Bright" and "Natural" categories, and keeping your camera set to the default "Bright" category for most uses.

The SCENE mode selection for "Portrait" would probably set the camera to the "Portrait" Custom Image category, for color palette, and all of its other settings, for which of course I did not recommend any Sharpening change. Fine Sharpening is not appropriate in this category. The SCENE mode will also no doubt open the lens aperture to wide open, to blur the background to some degree so that your subject will stand out from it.

Your DA 50mm f/1.8 lens is an exceptionally good choice for portraiture. Its FL on an APS-C camera like your K-70 is very good for shooting distance, natural perspective front-to-back of the head and body, etc. The SCENE mode would probably also set this lens to f/1.8 wide open. Depending on the distance of the background, the 50mm f/1.8 setting greatly reduces DOF and might even blur it so much as to be unrecognizable. You'd only see blurred colors, which might be the effect you want, or not.

If shooting in another mode, say "Av" where you choose aperture and the camera automatically sets shutter speed for "correct" exposure, then you can quickly set the camera to the Custom Image category- "Portrait" then select your own choice of aperture, and regulate the degree of background blur yourself. Depending on the circumstances, you might want some blur to make your subject stand out, but still have it recognizable because then it may give your photo a more picturesque environmental setting, or may tell a story involving your subject.

Only by doing things this way will you gain the experience to have a good idea in advance of what your choices are likely to be, and get to be more efficient and accurate. Such things are not so challenging after you get some practice under your belt, and they are fun and become a part of your choice of composition for your photo.

You could even be shooting in the "P" mode and do likewise as above as with the "Av" mode, that is without having to change the mode dial first from "P" to "Av" just for a few quick portrait shots, and just quickly shift the camera to Custom Image- "Portrait", then just use the thumb dial to select your preferred aperture anyway, since you have the Pentax Hyper System. That would be quicker. Then after the portrait shots, just hit the green button and reset the camera back to "Bright" Custom Image. Just take another look at my initial post.

Believe me, you have more useful tools in your K-70's toolbox than there are with cameras of other brands!

thank you.