I've often struggled to be comfortable using my A70-210 with my K5, likely due to a combination of focus throw, weight/balance and my tendency to shoot at low ISO because it is a film habit I just can't break. When I got a K135/3.5 years ago, I was amazed at how much smaller, brighter and easier to handle it was. So I couldn't pass up on a recent opportunity to get its big brother, the K200/4. It has the same special feel about it.

I'm still learning how to use the lens, and the morning I took these was somewhat cold and windy (only -4 C, but my hands can't handle the cold any more so I'm learning how to take photographs with gloves and there was little incentive to stand still for very long). I don't think these are anything special but I still wanted to share. The one downside of a K lens? I started at ISO 400 and somewhere between f8 - f11, so I sometimes hit shutter speeds as low as 1/100. Not a huge problem for largely stationary objects, but not nearly fast enough when a few birds decided to fly by or do a water landing. For an A lens, I might have used TAv mode and let the ISO wander as needed, but this isn't an option for a special K.

Very little post-processing other than auto adjusting of the colors/brightness in Faststone and some cropping. It is another reason I think many of us find old glass so joyful to use.

[Sailor]

A great series - looks like you and that lens are going to get along very well!

Jer

[pbancr]

A mighty fine job with the lens!

[MSL]

A great series - looks like you and that lens are going to get along very well!

Thanks Jer. It is somewhat ironic. I spent a lot of time wanting to buy wide angle lenses, and picked up a few including a DA 21, which I immediately loved using. I had a chance to buy a K200/2.5 but I thought the weight would keep me from using it often, and because of my so-so relationship with my A70-210 and F100-300, I have shot very little telephoto. But this lens is a joy to use that it has been the main lens on the camera since I got it.

A mighty fine job with the lens!

Thank you kindly. I'm please with what I was able to get before my fingers hurt too much. And the last shot was taken as I was heading away from the duck pond. It was too interesting of a scene not to pull the camera out again and fire it up.