[edom31]

My new audio-setup
Super Takumar 50/1,4

Amazing!

---------- Post added 03-03-20 at 03:05 PM ----------

I'd rather they use unmodified Taks than butcher K-mount lenses.

Indeed! I got a 10+ year-old Canon 450D because I did not want to ruin my OM glass to use with pentax...

[MXLX]

You've definitely got the Tak 20 rendering there, Paul.

A combination of factors means that I've put my Takumars into retirement for the timebeing. The state of my eyesight means that I was missing focus too often, which is a real age-related downer after decades of pride in my ability to nail focus without even needing to think about it. I've also been getting more and more reluctant to carry anything more than one camera with one lens. And, much as I hate to admit it, the Super Takumar 20mm isn't enough in itself to cover every single photo opportunity.

So I think I've got to that stage of life when an autofocus zoom is probably the best way to go. I never thought I'd ever say that, but there it is.

I feel ya. I've felt less ...something... about manual focus since AF cameras did away with the split prism with the microprism ring. I'm not familiar with how Pentax cameras assist focus, but I rely heavily on the combination of a magnified view and focus peaking, which are the two assists that Olympus provides. The new firmware update also added focus stacking; I have to look up how that works but it's obviously an AF tool. Keep shooting those Takumar jewels!

[Andrew_Oid]

Thanks Albert. I know a couple of people who have had their eyes fixed, and it's made a huge difference for them. At the moment I'm at a frustrating point where my eyes are bad enough that manual focusing has become hit-or-miss in a way that it's never been for me before, but they aren't really at the point yet where surgery is justified (which is a decision that only the NHS gets to make, not me since I can't afford to go private).

I can still focus fine with a dioptre using the big bright viewfinder of a film SLR, but with the smaller and darker viewfinders in my APS-C DSLRs I've started missing focus often enough that it's become an issue. And nowadays, after I've stopped down to the shooting aperture with my Taks, it feels like I'm shooting blind. It isn't a problem that's come on suddenly; it's been creeping up on me for a few years, but until now the incidences of really obviously missed focus weren't happening so often. There have been a few shots that I've posted here in the Takumar Club over the past couple of years where I knew I'd missed focus slightly but figured I'd gotten away with it. But lately I've been missing focus more often and more obviously.

None of this is in any way a criticism of Takumars. I still think, and always will think, that they've got the most beautiful rendering style of any lenses ever made. And hopefully at some point in the not-too-distant future some kind surgeon will decide it's time to put me under the knife, and then maybe I'll be able to enjoy my Taks again.

Sorry about your eyes, Dave. I was recently told I have cataracts as well, and I can recognize a steady decline in my vision, which is hard because I, too, always enjoyed great eyesight. When I get on the local insurance, this month, I might see about corrective surgery, but then again maybe everything will have to be pushed back because of the virus. I haven't used Pentax cameras since the three ME cameras, so I'm not familiar with focusing assists in the digital models. The Sony a65 and a7 that I use have a great feature by which proper focus is indicated by a color outline of what's in focus (red, yellow or white). It works really well. My other Sony is a DSLR, the a850, so it doesn't have focusing aids, but the viewfinder is so clear and bright that I can usually get good focus with it, too.

[Josslen]

Love these series of images, gorgeous!

Amazing!

Thanks a lot, Bruce
Thanks edom31

---

Last edited by Josslen; 03-04-2020 at 07:31 AM.

[tim60]

Thanks Albert. I know a couple of people who have had their eyes fixed, and it's made a huge difference for them. At the moment I'm at a frustrating point where my eyes are bad enough that manual focusing has become hit-or-miss in a way that it's never been for me before, but they aren't really at the point yet where surgery is justified (which is a decision that only the NHS gets to make, not me since I can't afford to go private).

I can still focus fine with a dioptre using the big bright viewfinder of a film SLR, but with the smaller and darker viewfinders in my APS-C DSLRs I've started missing focus often enough that it's become an issue. And nowadays, after I've stopped down to the shooting aperture with my Taks, it feels like I'm shooting blind. It isn't a problem that's come on suddenly; it's been creeping up on me for a few years, but until now the incidences of really obviously missed focus weren't happening so often. There have been a few shots that I've posted here in the Takumar Club over the past couple of years where I knew I'd missed focus slightly but figured I'd gotten away with it. But lately I've been missing focus more often and more obviously.

None of this is in any way a criticism of Takumars. I still think, and always will think, that they've got the most beautiful rendering style of any lenses ever made. And hopefully at some point in the not-too-distant future some kind surgeon will decide it's time to put me under the knife, and then maybe I'll be able to enjoy my Taks again.

I had a problem with manual focusing before I moved here. When I moved the new job was so much less pressure my eyes improved considerably, and manual focus became easier.

Then MrsTim was diagnosed with diabetes , which had only just come one. She elected to try to manage it with diet and exercise. She put me pretty much on her diet, since she does most of the cooking. We now eat food from all categories, both grown in and on the ground and self-propelled, but we have almost completely cut out foods which are primarily carbohydrates. We still eat a reasonable amount of carbs, but that is where they are incidental in some other food (e.g. carrots). After a few months of that I found that when I was driving at night, oncoming headlights were much more bearable, usually appearing as small point sources rather than with a starburst effect.

Our local Waitrose is the only one we know of with dry-aged beef. The price looks high at first glance, but is actually similar to the full moisture beef when you take account of the amount of the full moisture beef that is just water embedded int he structure of the meat.

Overall it seems to have helped my health.

Soon after she started trying convince me to eat this way there was a story on the BBC about a GP in Birmingham or Manchester (the soccer fans will get really worked up about me not remembering which) who did a study of diabetics, including people who were grossly overweight and had been diabetic for 20 years and were in a bad way, and found this diet approach to management was effective enough they could be taken off medication.

Counter intuitively, what makes people fat is eating carbs which are stored in the body as fat unless the energy is consumed immediately, such as eating before a long race. Eating fat is first consumed as energy. The carbns also give you the sugar spike and crash effect, which makes you eat again soon after.

[Dartmoor Dave]

Then MrsTim was diagnosed with diabetes , which had only just come one. She elected to try to manage it with diet and exercise. She put me pretty much on her diet, since she does most of the cooking. We now eat food from all categories, both grown in and on the ground and self-propelled, but we have almost completely cut out foods which are primarily carbohydrates. We still eat a reasonable amount of carbs, but that is where they are incidental in some other food (e.g. carrots). After a few months of that I found that when I was driving at night, oncoming headlights were much more bearable, usually appearing as small point sources rather than with a starburst effect.

Type 2 diabetes runs in my family, so no doubt I'll get it eventually although I was okay in my last routine blood test. But really it would be sensible to do what you've done and start cutting down on carbs now rather than later.

The problem I've got with my eyes is that I can't focus on a thing by looking at it directly. I have to sort of look slightly away from the thing I want to focus on, using my peripheral vision more than my direct vision. So with my beloved manual lenses I've been reduced to only estimating whether or not I'm really in focus, because if I look directly through the viewfinder at what I'm trying to focus on it immediately seems out of focus. I have to look towards the corner of the viewfinder, in the hope that I'll be able to see what's in focus in the centre of the frame with my peripheral vision.

I've decided to reframe the problem as an opportunity to learn how to use autofocus lenses properly. Which is something I've always resisted, because when my eyes were working properly autofocus seemed like more trouble than it's worth. At least now I've got one autofocus lens I can actually bear to use: the cheap plastic mount 18-55mm WR, which to my amazement turns out to render beautifully. I'm convinced Pentax must have quietly changed the coating, because none of the other modern lenses I've tried in the past has ever rendered colours this naturalistically.

In the meantime, my Takumars are in climate controlled storage waiting for some sort of a medical solution that'll eventually let me start enjoying them again.

[Jean Poitiers]

From yestreday's visit to Azay-le-Rideau castle (Château d'Azay-le-Rideau) ... still working on entries to the regional clubs' photo expo in the Spring. Here again, "views from the ground" expo theme using the SMC Tak 17/4. (xpost from K-1 thread)

[tim60]

Type 2 diabetes runs in my family, so no doubt I'll get it eventually although I was okay in my last routine blood test. But really it would be sensible to do what you've done and start cutting down on carbs now rather than later.

The problem I've got with my eyes is that I can't focus on a thing by looking at it directly. I have to sort of look slightly away from the thing I want to focus on, using my peripheral vision more than my direct vision. So with my beloved manual lenses I've been reduced to only estimating whether or not I'm really in focus, because if I look directly through the viewfinder at what I'm trying to focus on it immediately seems out of focus. I have to look towards the corner of the viewfinder, in the hope that I'll be able to see what's in focus in the centre of the frame with my peripheral vision.

I've decided to reframe the problem as an opportunity to learn how to use autofocus lenses properly. Which is something I've always resisted, because when my eyes were working properly autofocus seemed like more trouble than it's worth. At least now I've got one autofocus lens I can actually bear to use: the cheap plastic mount 18-55mm WR, which to my amazement turns out to render beautifully. I'm convinced Pentax must have quietly changed the coating, because none of the other modern lenses I've tried in the past has ever rendered colours this naturalistically.

In the meantime, my Takumars are in climate controlled storage waiting for some sort of a medical solution that'll eventually let me start enjoying them again.

T2D is in MrsTim's family. She was the first in her generation to get it and her diet help has helped her sisters, particularly.

When she was diagnosed she went to see the GP practice nurse who looked at her walking in the door and said "you do not look like everyone else who comes in here. Must be genetic." MrsTim is still quite slim and looks reasonably healthy in the thinness.

My daughter said that her impression is that here a lot of people are slim, but look unhealthy, like they starve themselves to be thin, rather than a healthy and vigour thinness. Daughter is a PT.

[MJSteele]

A sunny Sunday in Socal - S-M-C Tak 20/4.5 on K10D:

The Color Palatte's with a K10D And A Tak Lens Are So Awsome. Lol

[paulh]

The Color Palatte's with a K10D And A Tak Lens Are So Awsome. Lol

That's so true, isn't it? Thanks.

[BruceBanner]

The Bridge & Tree



Tak 135/3.5

[scratchpaddy]

SMC Tak 55 f/1.8 at the park this morning.



Sasha's not my dog, but she's always up for belly rubs.

[Canada_Rockies]

The Bridge & Tree



Tak 135/3.5

Unfortunately, at the moment our Flog course (describes accurately my golf skills) is white all over, and getting deeper in depth. We are warned by our weather app that we are expecting 20-30 cm (8-12 in) of the white stuff today.

I respectfully request that people living North of the equator take pity on the sensibilities of those of us who live North of the 49th parallel and refrain from pictures of lovely green areas on the ground. I get migraine headaches when the weather is changing, and seeing pictures such as the one Bruce so unkindly posted make them worse. I have a limited budget for T-3 medications.

[BruceBanner]

Unfortunately, at the moment our Flog course (describes accurately my golf skills) is white all over, and getting deeper in depth. We are warned by our weather app that we are expecting 20-30 cm (8-12 in) of the white stuff today.

I respectfully request that people living North of the equator take pity on the sensibilities of those of us who live North of the 49th parallel and refrain from pictures of lovely green areas on the ground. I get migraine headaches when the weather is changing, and seeing pictures such as the one Bruce so unkindly posted make them worse. I have a limited budget for T-3 medications.

Haha! Well... us southerners have our own set of unique problems, such as the fires that ravaged our land recently. A lot of us are still in complete shock as the 'return to normal' colours of this land return where for so long were just dry, straw like and yellow. We're all a little green obsessed right now and loving this continued rain fall we've been getting.


------------


Tak 50 (8E)

Wide Open;


F4

[lidy]

[/COLOR]

Haha! Well... us southerners have our own set of unique problems, such as the fires that ravaged our land recently. A lot of us are still in complete shock as the 'return to normal' colours of this land return where for so long were just dry, straw like and yellow. We're all a little green obsessed right now and loving this continued rain fall we've been getting.

I for one am so happy for you all down there that you're getting a lot of rain now. Those horrid bush fires have caused huge devastation and grief. �� I read somewhere that already parts of the burnt areas miraculously seem to sort of 'recover'? That won't bring back all the animals that lost their lives, or houses that were burnt down though. It's so sad!