A few from this afternoon: I'm still testing out the K135 2.5/ Canon 500d close up lens combo. Both are sharp pieces of glass, but I'm still on the fence as to how they'll work together come wildflower season in the Smokies in another couple of months. As I learned on my initial run, there is a focus "window" of about six inches, which places a premium on precise tripod placement, and also of course limits your composition options.


Still, I'm kind of digging the look--these are mostly at f8:

[Wild Mark]

Nice thought. I have this lens and with extension tubes - it makes a good macro alternative.

Watch out for colour shifting in wide open shooting. Bokeh colour fringing can also be distracting. F8+ is a safe place to be. I would be keen to see f14 performance.

[CreationBear]

I would be keen to see f14 performance.

That's a great idea--I'm still kind of just flipping between f4 and f8 right now to get a sense of DOF, etc. (No keepers at f4 from the field, which tells me something, fringing or no.) Here's a shot from the initial run that shows DOF at MFD--a fairly manageable three inches or so, I'm guessing. F14 might serve up a "regular" sized flower on a platter.





At any rate, I have an A 50 2.8 to test out in the woods as well--still, the 135 FL is kind of fun, and unless I can shake a VL125 out of y'all, it will just have to do.

[Wild Mark]

This lens produces incredible bokeh and colour. 3D effect is also apparent. But, like many older lenses it can fringe ..... bummer. Some more than others.

[CreationBear]

But, like many older lenses it can fringe

Ha, yes I've seen it get wild and wooly--definitely a high risk/high reward lens, and probably not a great choice if "getting the shot" is of paramount importance. Still, there's just something about those K-series lenses that zens me out--probably for that exact reason. (Besides, you macro guys have set the bar so high on a technical level, I sometimes have a hard time finding an excuse to do the close-up thing in the first place.
)

[Wild Mark]

I think I have noticed (and not extensively tested) is the crazy things that the K135/2.5 can do at higher ISO. I accidentally shot at ISO400 and the lens nearly broke the cameras colour palette. I was shocked with the JPEG conversion from the raw and thought that my lens was broken. I am not game to shoot this lens at ISO 200 plus at the moment.

[CreationBear]

I am not game to shoot this lens at ISO 200 plus at the moment.

That's very interesting--for handheld "street shooting" I usually just set my ISO to 400 so camera shake is one less thing to think about, but haven't done that with the K135 2.5 yet. I'll definitely post the results if I do.