The 15mm Limited controls my mind - club

**rkappleby** · 08-30-2015, 11:51 AM

Originally posted by Sage97

My new (to me) lens. Liking it a lot.

It appears to be working out well for you - nicely done

This is a five shot pano with the 15mm. This valley was burned out 12 years ago with the Lost Creek Fire that went through our area. The new growth is coming in extremely well and is now roughly 6 feet high and amazingly thick. Fire was started by a careless camper and burned out 200 square kilometers and came close to burning out the town but nature is showing her resilience. We have had extremely smokey conditions here the last couple of weeks from the major fires presently burning in Idaho and Washington and it brings back memories of the devastation. We have a break in the smoke this morning.

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ultraviolet · 08-30-2015, 01:41 PM - **1 Like**

Niagara falls

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**mattb123** · 08-30-2015, 09:11 PM

Originally posted by cantthink193

Beautiful shot! Very striking, and a little different to the typical landscape-type shot on the DA 15mm.

thanks!

**Rondec** · 08-31-2015, 03:13 AM - **4 Likes**

Horses at Dawn.

Sage97 · 08-31-2015, 05:52 PM

Originally posted by rkappleby

It appears to be working out well for you - nicely done

Thank you rkappleby.

ultraviolet · 08-31-2015, 09:36 PM

Casa Loma
movies such as X-Men, Strange Brew, Chicago, The Tuxedo, was filmed in Casa loma

---------- Post added 08-31-15 at 10:39 PM ----------

ntrao · 08-31-2015, 10:05 PM

@ultraviolet, @Rondec, @rkappleby : you guys are posting some wonderful pics; especially the Niagara falls, misty morning and landscape (pano). I recently acquired the lens and couldn't get used to it. I couldn't nail the focus great on it with my K7, but my *istDL is working great for infrared pics!! Have to work with it extensively. Any tips in nailing focus with 15mm?

**Hattifnatt** · 09-01-2015, 01:36 AM

Originally posted by ntrao

@ultraviolet, @Rondec, @rkappleby : you guys are posting some wonderful pics; especially the Niagara falls, misty morning and landscape (pano). I recently acquired the lens and couldn't get used to it. I couldn't nail the focus great on it with my K7, but my *istDL is working great for infrared pics!! Have to work with it extensively. Any tips in nailing focus with 15mm?

What I usually do is switch to MF, then adjust the focus as I want using zoom in live view to check while the camera is on a tripod. Or, sometimes I just use MF and the hyperfocal scale which I have available on my DA15 (if I shoot at f8 for instance I just have to align f8 with the center of the infinity mark). If you prefer AF, I guess you can focus on something 1/3 of the frame for some hyperfocal approximation.

There are more detailed posts about how to get sharp focus with DA15. Some in this thread, and I think there was a separate thread even.

**Rondec** · 09-01-2015, 02:21 AM

Originally posted by ntrao

@ultraviolet, @Rondec, @rkappleby : you guys are posting some wonderful pics; especially the Niagara falls, misty morning and landscape (pano). I recently acquired the lens and couldn't get used to it. I couldn't nail the focus great on it with my K7, but my *istDL is working great for infrared pics!! Have to work with it extensively. Any tips in nailing focus with 15mm?

I usually just set the lens to somewhere between the 1 meter and infinity mark and the aperture to f8 and shoot away. If I want to focus on something really close to the camera, I will use auto focus to get it exact, but otherwise hyperfocal really works well here.

**acoufap** · 09-01-2015, 03:31 AM

So I do - hyperfocusing is the way to go.

I often stop down (as I do with other lenses) and use manual focusing to set the focus point where sharpness shall start. To set this focus point I change the focus until appearing fine contrast lines (hopefully there are some) I see in the OVF are optimized in sharpness. With this lens that's really difficult because of it's wide angle and slowness. If the viewfinder gets too dark by stopping down this procedure doesn't make any sense. Then I use the focusing scale of the lens.

Most of time I use the autofocus only to prefocus.

ntrao · 09-01-2015, 05:37 AM

Thank you very much for your tips about hyper-focusing. I would definitely try it. If I am not wrong, it works only with subjects at infinity, right?

**Rondec** · 09-01-2015, 06:34 AM

Originally posted by ntrao

Thank you very much for your tips about hyper-focusing. I would definitely try it. If I am not wrong, it works only with subjects at infinity, right?

Hyper focal depends on the aperture. With a lens like the 15, you can get everything in focus from just over a meter away to infinity at f8. If you stop down more you should be able to focus closer and still have infinity in focus. I seldom shoot this lens trying for narrow depth of field so that works pretty well.

**riseform** · 09-01-2015, 11:43 AM - **8 Likes**

A few from the Canadian Rockies

Sage97 · 09-01-2015, 06:20 PM - **5 Likes**

Fantastic shots riseform!

Two panos with the 15mm.

**Hattifnatt** · 09-01-2015, 07:14 PM

Originally posted by riseform

A few from the Canadian Rockies

Fantastic shots. Was pixel shift activated for some? I'm curious to see what it does for landscapes, assuming not that much is moving.

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08-30-2015, 01:41 PM - 1 Like	#8807
ultraviolet Pentaxian Join Date: May 2010 Photos: Albums Posts: 687	Niagara falls ---------- Post added 08-30-15 at 02:41 PM ---------- ---------- Post added 08-30-15 at 02:42 PM ----------

08-30-2015, 09:11 PM	#8808
mattb123 Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Colorado High Country Photos: Gallery Posts: 10,872	Originally posted by cantthink193 Beautiful shot! Very striking, and a little different to the typical landscape-type shot on the DA 15mm. thanks!

08-31-2015, 03:13 AM - 4 Likes	#8809
Rondec Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Photos: Gallery Posts: 27,653	Horses at Dawn.

08-31-2015, 05:52 PM	#8810
Sage97 Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2012 Photos: Albums Posts: 3,238	Originally posted by rkappleby It appears to be working out well for you - nicely done Thank you rkappleby.

08-31-2015, 09:36 PM	#8811
ultraviolet Pentaxian Join Date: May 2010 Photos: Albums Posts: 687	Casa Loma movies such as X-Men, Strange Brew, Chicago, The Tuxedo, was filmed in Casa loma ---------- Post added 08-31-15 at 10:39 PM ----------

08-31-2015, 10:05 PM	#8812
ntrao Veteran Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: India Photos: Albums Posts: 384	@ultraviolet, @Rondec, @rkappleby : you guys are posting some wonderful pics; especially the Niagara falls, misty morning and landscape (pano). I recently acquired the lens and couldn't get used to it. I couldn't nail the focus great on it with my K7, but my *istDL is working great for infrared pics!! Have to work with it extensively. Any tips in nailing focus with 15mm?

09-01-2015, 01:36 AM	#8813
Hattifnatt Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Bucharest Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,625	Originally posted by ntrao @ultraviolet, @Rondec, @rkappleby : you guys are posting some wonderful pics; especially the Niagara falls, misty morning and landscape (pano). I recently acquired the lens and couldn't get used to it. I couldn't nail the focus great on it with my K7, but my *istDL is working great for infrared pics!! Have to work with it extensively. Any tips in nailing focus with 15mm? What I usually do is switch to MF, then adjust the focus as I want using zoom in live view to check while the camera is on a tripod. Or, sometimes I just use MF and the hyperfocal scale which I have available on my DA15 (if I shoot at f8 for instance I just have to align f8 with the center of the infinity mark). If you prefer AF, I guess you can focus on something 1/3 of the frame for some hyperfocal approximation. There are more detailed posts about how to get sharp focus with DA15. Some in this thread, and I think there was a separate thread even.

09-01-2015, 02:21 AM	#8814
Rondec Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Photos: Gallery Posts: 27,653	Originally posted by ntrao @ultraviolet, @Rondec, @rkappleby : you guys are posting some wonderful pics; especially the Niagara falls, misty morning and landscape (pano). I recently acquired the lens and couldn't get used to it. I couldn't nail the focus great on it with my K7, but my *istDL is working great for infrared pics!! Have to work with it extensively. Any tips in nailing focus with 15mm? I usually just set the lens to somewhere between the 1 meter and infinity mark and the aperture to f8 and shoot away. If I want to focus on something really close to the camera, I will use auto focus to get it exact, but otherwise hyperfocal really works well here.

09-01-2015, 03:31 AM	#8815
acoufap Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Munich, Germany Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,187	So I do - hyperfocusing is the way to go. I often stop down (as I do with other lenses) and use manual focusing to set the focus point where sharpness shall start. To set this focus point I change the focus until appearing fine contrast lines (hopefully there are some) I see in the OVF are optimized in sharpness. With this lens that's really difficult because of it's wide angle and slowness. If the viewfinder gets too dark by stopping down this procedure doesn't make any sense. Then I use the focusing scale of the lens. Most of time I use the autofocus only to prefocus.

09-01-2015, 05:37 AM	#8816
ntrao Veteran Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: India Photos: Albums Posts: 384	Thank you very much for your tips about hyper-focusing. I would definitely try it. If I am not wrong, it works only with subjects at infinity, right?

09-01-2015, 06:34 AM	#8817
Rondec Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Photos: Gallery Posts: 27,653	Originally posted by ntrao Thank you very much for your tips about hyper-focusing. I would definitely try it. If I am not wrong, it works only with subjects at infinity, right? Hyper focal depends on the aperture. With a lens like the 15, you can get everything in focus from just over a meter away to infinity at f8. If you stop down more you should be able to focus closer and still have infinity in focus. I seldom shoot this lens trying for narrow depth of field so that works pretty well.

09-01-2015, 11:43 AM - 8 Likes	#8818
riseform Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: WA, USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 473	A few from the Canadian Rockies

09-01-2015, 06:20 PM - 5 Likes	#8819
Sage97 Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2012 Photos: Albums Posts: 3,238	Fantastic shots riseform! Two panos with the 15mm.

09-01-2015, 07:14 PM	#8820
Hattifnatt Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Bucharest Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,625	Originally posted by riseform A few from the Canadian Rockies Fantastic shots. Was pixel shift activated for some? I'm curious to see what it does for landscapes, assuming not that much is moving.