It was a snap decision, my friend Jack Simpson who works at a camera shop had one, I asked him to show it to me; five minutes later I was handing him the cash... cash that came from the sale of my retired DS, some 10 minutes before that.

Anyway, I love the lens! It's optical characteristics like sharpness and bokeh are "stunning" to say the least.

I've had the Tamron 90mm macro for quite a while now and also love that lens, but the focal length is somewhat off IMO. It's neither a dedicated detail/flower/copy macro, nor is it long enough for serious bug shooting. (remember, just my opinion) So I decided to get a 50mm Macro and then later, depending upon need, something close to a 200mm.

Here are some shots from the first couple of days I had the DFA50 Macro.

What did I say about the blur, this one was on a tripod, the rest are all hand-held:


Another sample:


This is the actual first shot with the lens, but I don't think it deserves to be posted before those roses:


SR helps with Macro as well:




Next post: Non Macro use.

[Asad_Masede]

Typical Pentax colours:



I like this one for some reason:


On murky days the colours get a punch to them while everything else goes grey:



Comments and critique welcome!
Cheers all,
-Asad

[dave sz]

WOW. That first picture is........just wow. So, how much was that lens?

[roentarre]

This is very impressive of a great macro lens which is often ignored in forums. Without your examples photos, I would have never considered using this lens at all.

The typical pentax colour is very obvious here and the bokeh is so creamy as well. A really playful lens to own.

I like all the shots in this post

[clarenceclose]

This macro fetish is growing and there are some really nice posts today. I like your compositions and visual story telling on the second set too.

[-=JoN=-]

yeah...macro fetish...im gonna hate going to B and H this week..(or adorama, as i'm so close there....we'll see what happens @ lunch on tuesday...:ugh: ) great shots btw asad...(which is making me want to get a macro even more)

[regken]

All are great but that first one is a knock out. Looks like it was money well spent.
Regards,

[carpents]

These are really good samples, judging by them it looks like this is a really nice offering from Pentax. I've been considering replacing my DFA 100/2.8 for a while, this might be the one.

I can always throw the 1.7x teleconverter and get a super-close-focusing 85mm...

[borno]

I really like the flower shots and the lighting is superb! I would love a macro lens like that but would rather have some talent

[joele]

fantastic series, love the first one...

[roy]

a great series as a study in DOF.
i do like the distance of a 100mm tho

[Photochop]

The first 2 are gorgeous. I like your selected points of focus and that bokeh is very creamy. Money well spent!

[Marc Langille]

Hi Asade,

Those first two are beautiful - worthy of framing, no doubt!

Please keep those shots coming. I think we're weakening the resolve of the folks without a macro lens...

Cheers,
Marc

[Photodan]

Yea, the first one is a stunner. I agree with everyone but for me that "Hard Hat" shot is great. I like the composition, the textures, the colors and the theme. Always did like those kinds of images and that one is special. As always, IMHO.

Dan

[Scott Rylance]

Great series Asad...the first is superb. It's surprising that this lens doesn't get more said about it, It gives excellent result from what I've seen with your shots.