[jgredline]

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/14187-finally-...0-135-a-7.html

Here is a quote of mine from this thread.

''Now, I am not blaming the lens, but my lack of experience''

[jgredline]

And yes, you really do need to understand how "exposer[sic]" works to make the most out of lenses, more so with the higher end lenses. Maybe slow down your lens purchasing and learn some photography!

I can accept this and I am learning...

[jgredline]

To expand on my last point, example - Someone buys a Bigma, keeps it in auto mode, goes out on a cloudy day and wonders why the pictures are all blurry. I mean, a $1K lens should give me crisp clear pictures, right? I shouldn't have to know that I need to keep the shutter speed as high as possible, both for subject motion (those birds fly fast) and camera shake (@500mm)....And I might need to bump the ISO up to 800 or open up the aperture a bit depending on the lighting conditions. No, I just spend $1K on a lens, it should work without me knowing how to use it

OK, I see your point...and yes you are right...I normally use iso 1000 OR 1100 when using the bigma and yes fast shutter speeds...

[jgredline]

I believe so, and he also owns a D40 and a D200 (maybe a D80 as well?) I can't imagine buying all that stuff (all those lenses too) and not understanding basic photography. He must have a nice high paying job

You are correct, but I do not have a D80..
As for a high paying job, I am semi retired and will be 43 years old soon...I did purchase a D300 with a couple of lenses for my daughter though...

[jgredline]

JGredline do you really own all three camera bodies? K10D, K110d, and K100d Super?

Yep, here is a picture of my K110D...Shot it this morning...This camera and two lenses I keep in my truck...They are the 28-300mm tamron zoom, sigma 70-300 and 18-55 kit lens...
Since I never lock my truck, if this were to disappear, it would not bother me to much...



You can take a look at my K10D and K100D super here.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/13572-post-your-gear-3.html

When I get home, I will shoot the D40 that my wife took possession of and I will dig the D200 out of the closet....

[egordon99]

WOW! You keep the D200 in the closet (you need to "dig it out"), and you just bought your daughter a D300! Why not go for broke and get yourself the D3 and give her the K10D....

Seriously, why do you need all those camera bodies? Why didn't you just give your daughter the D200? Not trying to be a jerk, I understand folks have more money than me, I'm just scratching me head......

[Peter Zack]

jgredline, It's fine to go buy a ton of gear and I have 3 bodies and a couple of film units myself. But each fills a need. K110D for my son to learn on and a *istD and K10D for myself as well as dual body wedding shooting and to go out with my wife to teach her this.

That being said you are in an enviable position. If I were you I'd take a hard look at the lenses you have and bodies. The 28-300 you show above for example. What purpose does that serve? The kit lens is better and wider and the 70-300 is also a better lens. Give it to your wife/daughter or sell it. Then look at the rest of your kit and see what you actually use and what just looks pretty in the bottom of the closet. List the surplus on Ebay. If you want to add a lens or 2 to fill some perceived holes then buy the best you can afford. For example if you have the money for an FA300 f4.5 don't buy some Soligor M42 300mm 5.6 whatever (no offense to Soligor), they are light years apart. If you can't drop that dime today, save for it. It's worth waiting for the right lens than shooting with the wrong one and getting frustrated.

You earlier said you bought a lot of gear in 18 months. Some of these larger collections are a generation of slow and steady purchases (In my case 25 years). The biggest issue I see on these forums is this incessant need for 30+ lenses. Yes each has a use but if most of us stopped and looked it over we'd be fine with 3-6.
Tom Lusk is a perfect example. He shoots some of the best work posted here or anywhere and uses 1 lens and 1 TC for 90% of his work.

Next you say you're semi retired. a few suggestions. Get your wife to buy you the book I mentioned earlier (Understanding Exposure) for Christmas and study it. At the same time enroll in some sort of photography course. LA's a big place and should have some great spots for this. I bet if you can make the time, you'll be giving me advice in 6 months.

My rant for the day is now complete....

[jgredline]

jgredline, It's fine to go buy a ton of gear and I have 3 bodies and a couple of film units myself. But each fills a need. K110D for my son to learn on and a *istD and K10D for myself as well as dual body wedding shooting and to go out with my wife to teach her this.

That being said you are in an enviable position. If I were you I'd take a hard look at the lenses you have and bodies. The 28-300 you show above for example. What purpose does that serve? The kit lens is better and wider and the 70-300 is also a better lens. Give it to your wife/daughter or sell it. Then look at the rest of your kit and see what you actually use and what just looks pretty in the bottom of the closet. List the surplus on Ebay. If you want to add a lens or 2 to fill some perceived holes then buy the best you can afford. For example if you have the money for an FA300 f4.5 don't buy some Soligor M42 300mm 5.6 whatever (no offense to Soligor), they are light years apart. If you can't drop that dime today, save for it. It's worth waiting for the right lens than shooting with the wrong one and getting frustrated.

You earlier said you bought a lot of gear in 18 months. Some of these larger collections are a generation of slow and steady purchases (In my case 25 years). The biggest issue I see on these forums is this incessant need for 30+ lenses. Yes each has a use but if most of us stopped and looked it over we'd be fine with 3-6.
Tom Lusk is a perfect example. He shoots some of the best work posted here or anywhere and uses 1 lens and 1 TC for 90% of his work.

Next you say you're semi retired. a few suggestions. Get your wife to buy you the book I mentioned earlier (Understanding Exposure) for Christmas and study it. At the same time enroll in some sort of photography course. LA's a big place and should have some great spots for this. I bet if you can make the time, you'll be giving me advice in 6 months.

My rant for the day is now complete....

Actually Peter...
You are one of the folks here whom I take what I read with great appreciation...
I did enroll in a photography class that I will be attending in a couple of weeks..It is a 2 day course...As for the book, I will order it today...
Now, since joining this forum, I have bought little gear...In all honesty, had I found this forum 1 year ago, I would not have 2/3rds of what I have...I have thought about selling most of my stuff...No doubt I have spent money foolishly...Shamefully I might add, but it was my money to spend....

As far as giving anybody advice, I have only shared what not to do as I am in no position to share ''what to do''...

Actually, thinking about it...I am going to give most of my camera gear away...I really don't need all that have....

[Peter Zack]

Jgredine, I'm not trying to make you feel bad (shamefully...) Trust me we've all been there. I once bought the same 28-80mm piece of crap too and that's not the only one. Just trying to pass on some advice and offer some assistance. But I think you are on the right course. This can be a wonderfully rewarding hobby or a terribly frustrating one.

Don't suddenly give everything away. Go through the stuff you have and ask yourself, "Have I used it since I bought it?" and "Is the lens in a range that makes sense for me, will I or do I have an interest in an area that this will work best?" It might be that you slim down your Pentax kit and keep the D200 as a body for long fast glass to shoot sports or wildlife.

One of the things I don't think many people realize and why I mentioned Tom Lusk before is each lens takes time to learn. Tom said the other day that (even though he's one of the 2 best bird shooters on the forum), he still goes out and and shoots gulls all the time just to stay sharp and practice. Like anything, if you want to be good at it, you need to study it and work at it. Tom uses primarily one lens and knows how it reacts. Give him another 300mm and I bet he would shoot like any other average person till he got used to it.

So you decide where you want to go with this. Hobbiest or better. Learn the craft and practice.

Hope that helps.

[Canada_Rockies]

Jgredine, I'm not trying to make you feel bad (shamefully...) Trust me we've all been there. I once bought the same 28-80mm piece of crap too and that's not the only one. <snip> Hope that helps.

Every one of us makes the error of purchasing what seems to be a wonderful lens/camera/car/truck ... My latest photographic waste of money was the 170-500 Sigma. It reviewed well. Luckily, I did not get rid of my 30+ year old SMCP-M 400mm f/5.6. I still have the 400, I don't have the Sigma any more. Compared to the 400 prime, ancient as it was, the Sigma was intolerably soft. Contrast was wimpy. AF was iffy - f/6.3 at the long end. This lens cost me somewhere around US$500.

I bought the 400 used for C$330. I've used it a couple times on the K10d that arrived three weeks ago, and it's still a good lens. Yeah, there's some color aberrations, but the edge softness is outside the sensor, so it is actually a better lens on the K10d than it was on the MZ-S/SF-1/ME/KX before that.

[Maxington]

I'll just never really understand the emphasis on sharpness wide open at f2.8, for a wide zoom lens.

I'm very glad the DA* 16-50 goes to 2.8, but I only use it if I have to. Its a wide lens, thus its not great for subject isolation, background blur and bokeh, but its extremely high contrast which is brilliant for wide shots at 5.6 or above. The only lens I have that is as high contrast is probably the 100mm macro. Its better than my Tamron 28-75 in all respects. (Except value for money, heh)

Its not a portrait lens, its not a prime, I just don't expect it to be a razor sharp lens wide open. (of course, I do expect it to focus properly, unlike some copies people have received)

Its a weather sealed wide to normal travel zoom. And its brilliant at that, for a thousand bucks.

[codiac2600]

It's not a portrait lens? This thing is an awesome lens in the studio, my bread and butter! The results are nothing less than amazing and sure there are bad copies out there and I believe there is in an issue with it at times, but it's the same with the Tamron 28-75 with bad copies floating around. I had a bad copy of the 16-50mm which Pentax replaced immediately with a fresh copy that worked fine and the bad copy was sharper than the Canon 17-40 L at f4 and 5.6 I compared it with.





If it kills an "L" it's a wow lens and you can't tell me those shots don't wow!

[Wethphotography]

Chris,
those are indeed stunning photos; I see influences of Benjamin K. in your lighting. Please keep sharing your beautiful images and models!

[TFTM]

^Ditto.

Absolutely awesome work...

[Peter Zack]

Chris those shots certainly do Wow, particularly the second one.

I wish I had receeived a copy of the lens that didn't BF so badly. Trouble is where I live, there are no dealers, so I have to order online from a distance and taking the risk of wasting another 50-60.00 to ship a lens back and forth just isn't worth it now. I'm going to wait a bit and maybe try to order one in spring when these issues have worked through the pipeline. better yet if Pentax would make some announcement that they have corrected the problems.