[subidoc]

Ta mate.

The Zeiss lenses do produce some great colours.



Some FYI for those shooting Zeiss or other manual lenses with their K-1.

Back when I first started shooting Zeiss glass on my K5 I really struggled shooting wider apertures. In the end I went to focusingscreen.com and sourced a Canon S type screen. The fitted spacer for the Pentax focusing screen needed to be swapped out for one of those provided with the screen. Once I did this it made a huge difference for shooting with a manual lens. Unfortunately I had some etching done on that screen to assist framing a scene and these meant that sometimes the exposure metering would be wrong in portrait orientation. Other than this and managing to capture some annoying dust bunnies, the S type focusing screen was a bonus for manual shooting.

With the K-1 I've struggled to get manual focusing correct, even with the aid of focus confirmation. This was especially so with wider apertures on my Zeiss lenses. A few months back I bought an S type screen for my K-1. So far it's sat in its packaging up until yesterday. This was when I decided to 'throw caution to the wind' and installed it in the K-1. Just like last time, it's fiddly (even more so than the K5), susceptible to dust intrusion if you're not careful and after testing I found the spacer needed to be replaced. How did it go? Well the image above was shot at f2 and is from a walkaround I did with some Zeiss lenses to test the S type focusing screen in the K-1.

From this small amount of testing all I can say is I don't know why I took so long to do this as the difference is marked. The ability to quickly identify when a the focal point is correct has returned and from that I might need to add one more spacer to get it spot on. The difference is minimal though so I may just leave it.

A major difference with shooting using the S type focusing screen is I can quickly identify the chosen focal point as being in-focus and can shoot confidently quick because of it. With the standard K-1 focusing screen I'd be back and forth hunting the correct point and 'missing the moment' quite regularly. For me it's been well worth the stress of worrying about duffing up my camera (I didn't) and for the one bit of fluff I managed to capture (which I can live with).

The last test for now was to see if the change would be negative with AF lenses. Accordingly I also tested both manual and AF focusing on the D-FA* 70-200mm for any problems and cannot find one. Set at f2.8 focus was spot on, and in MF was way easier to see the focal point correctly. So all in all if you tend to shoot manual this is a worthwhile change to consider.


Tas

X-post with the K-1 photos thread.

Tas, do you have any idea if your experience with the K-1 and fast MF lenses is pretty consistent with what others say? Does focus peaking really fall short??

[dshfoto]

Tas, you wrote "I found the spacer needed to be replaced." Was this supplied by focusingscreen?
Thanks,
Steve Harris

[Tas]

Tas, do you have any idea if your experience with the K-1 and fast MF lenses is pretty consistent with what others say? Does focus peaking really fall short??

I assume you're talking about focus confirmation through the viewfinder not focus peaking when in Live View mode. With the standard focusing screen I never felt particularly confident that focus was on, and sometimes it wasn't. With the new screen I can see focus confirmation is indeed very close but now I can visually see whether I think focus confirmation has missed or not.

Tas, you wrote "I found the spacer needed to be replaced." Was this supplied by focusingscreen?

The screen comes as a kit that includes:

A Canon S type focusing screen that comes in its own box with a special tool to grasp the screen tab for handling.
A pair of non-static plastic tweezers.
A pair of rubber finger gloves.
A black sponge pad - this is what I used in place of the standard metal spacer.
Two transparent pads to adjust focus if needed

Like my last camera (the K5) I just used the single pad and found that to be sufficient without further pads. I might benefit from adding one of the transparent pads to bring the focal plane slightly forward but I reckon I might leave it as it is so close to not really be an issue unless I'm lazy.

K-1 with the Makro Planar T* 2/100 @ f2.5.



Tas

[travelswsage]

Great info Tas. Thanks for posting. I have almost given up trying to focus anything manually as no matter what I do I just cant seem to nail it -- I've gone to tripod only with live view magnification but this is obviously very limiting and for static shots only. Good to know there is an alternative.

[Tas]

Great info Tas. Thanks for posting. I have almost given up trying to focus anything manually as no matter what I do I just cant seem to nail it -- I've gone to tripod only with live view magnification but this is obviously very limiting and for static shots only. Good to know there is an alternative.

No worries mate, I'm glad it helps. I have also posted the same info in my post from yesterday to the K-1 photos thread and was asked a question there. In my response I have added a post with multiple links to threads on the topic that you might like to consult as well. The thread with the links is at the bottom of this thread page: Post your K-1 pictures! - Page 1120 - PentaxForums.com

Tas

[Tas]

K-1 and the Makro Planar 2/100 @ f2.


K-1 & Planar 85/1.4 @ f2.


K-1 and Distagon 2/35 @ f8.




Tas

[subidoc]

Tas, I have the ZK 85/1.4 up for sale in the marketplace. You are making me wonder... I struggled with the decision to sell, and you aren't helping.

[Tas]

Tas, I have the ZK 85/1.4 up for sale in the marketplace. You are making me wonder... I struggled with the decision to sell, and you aren't helping.

Good to know, there's not enough of us Zeiss fans around here so we don't want you running away.

The 85 is a great lens, these are some of my favourite images captured using the 85 on my K5 & K-1:

The view from Perkins St. | Newcastle, NSW Australia. For th? | Flickr

Dreams of the past | Ocean baths, Newcastle, NSW. | noompty | Flickr

Smoky Cape Lighthouse | noompty | Flickr

Ten minutes to sunset near Wauchope | noompty | Flickr

Shannonmarshall.com | Click on the photo then press F11 for ? | noompty | Flickr

Light the Night - Striking Back at Cancer | Why do I feel li? | Flickr

Riverfire 2012 | The big finale for the Brisbane Festival wa? | Flickr

Please, take a seat | A fast telephoto in the city at night | noompty | Flickr

Sunset on the river | Brisbane after a day of rain. | noompty | Flickr

Viva! Viva! Bris Vegas! | Well that's what Elvis Aaron would? | Flickr

I've noticed a resurgence in the number of ZK lenses for sale on eBay, so I guess several other people are looking to move on too. Either way, good luck if you do sell but there's plenty that the 85 can offer if you choose to hang on to it.


Tas

[subidoc]

Not leaving. I am still holding on to the ZK 35 and 100, along with the VL 58.

[Tas]

Not leaving. I am still holding on to the ZK 35 and 100, along with the VL 58.

Cool, The 100 is a keeper for sure and the 35 is a real ubiquitous lens. Hopefully the 85 will mean someone else comes and joins us then.

[Tas]

This is a reworked image from six years ago, if I've posted it previously it would be the older version that I no longer like. This version I reworked in PP a few months back and think it better represents to style and feel that I wanted to create when I first captured this moment. K5 with the Makro Planar T* 2/100 @ f2.



Tas

[Fenwoodian]

This is a reworked image from six years ago, if I've posted it previously it would be the older version that I no longer like. This version I reworked in PP a few months back and think it better represents to style and feel that I wanted to create when I first captured this moment. K5 with the Makro Planar T* 2/100 @ f2.



Tas

Very moody effect.

Looks like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

[Tas]

A Zeiss sale in the US & UK if you're interested. The biggest ZF2 savings are US$300, all lenses are 35mm and wider.

New Zeiss lens discounts in the US and UK | Photo Rumors

Tas

[subidoc]

This was with the ZK 35/F2.

[Tas]

This was with the ZK 35/F2.

I love the colours here, bold but not overdone and complimentary.

Tas