The 15mm Limited controls my mind - club

**mattb123** · 09-14-2013, 09:25 PM

Wow, great stuff here lately!
I was in Boston for work last week. Nice city and photogenic!

and now I'm back in soggy Colorado. Wet but we didn't flood like the Boulder area! My heart goes out to those people.

Last edited by mattb123; 09-14-2013 at 09:32 PM.

gda13 · 09-14-2013, 09:26 PM

Got another opportunity to head into town...this time in the late evening.

Downtown Tampa @ Channelside

pinholecam · 09-15-2013, 01:57 AM

Tokyo Tower again.

Just a few seconds later, no more sun burst...

derelict · 09-15-2013, 07:17 AM

Question to all you 15mm guys, I am looking for a shallower length lens. I usually go with a 28/ 2.8 but lately, I have had the need for something shorter (closely parked cars, pit shots, etc...). I have an M42 Zenitar 17mm that I would normally go for but sometimes, although the Zenitar really is not all that convex, it is not the solution. Will the 15mm replace my Zenitar as go to short lens?

jeff knight · 09-15-2013, 11:29 AM

This is one of the most spectacular threads ever. There are so many truly great photos here, and kudos to all the fine photographers that took them! It's a joy to see so much great work.

After finally wading through every page of this mega-thread two things bother me. The first is that there is way too much canned HDR here. Some of it is ok but a lot of it looks like pure kitsch to me. Some of it is full-on HDR clown-vomit. To me this actually hurts the eye and ruins the rendering of this fine lens. Don't get me wrong, I actually love some HDR images, but you can really tell when they're overdone. Yuck!

Second: You can usually tell when someone is using this lens because of it's distinctive rendering and vibe, and a lot of the photos here have a certain sameness about them. This isn't necessarily a bad thing! The DA15mm gives consistently excellent results. It's what we want our lenses to do, right? But if you are the kind of person who really wants to stand out from the herd I would think twice before taking the plunge. Maybe this doesn't matter to you. Maybe you're such a stylistic genius that you can impose your unique vision on any lens. It's still something that some people might want to consider.

**Rondec** · 09-15-2013, 11:58 AM

Originally posted by jeff knight

This is one of the most spectacular threads ever. There are so many truly great photos here, and kudos to all the fine photographers that took them! It's a joy to see so much great work.

After finally wading through every page of this mega-thread two things bother me. The first is that there is way too much canned HDR here. Some of it is ok but a lot of it looks like pure kitsch to me. Some of it is full-on HDR clown-vomit. To me this actually hurts the eye and ruins the rendering of this fine lens. Don't get me wrong, I actually love some HDR images, but you can really tell when they're overdone. Yuck!

Second: You can usually tell when someone is using this lens because of it's distinctive rendering and vibe, and a lot of the photos here have a certain sameness about them. This isn't necessarily a bad thing! The DA15mm gives consistently excellent results. It's what we want our lenses to do, right? But if you are the kind of person who really wants to stand out from the herd I would think twice before taking the plunge. Maybe this doesn't matter to you. Maybe you're such a stylistic genius that you can impose your unique vision on any lens. It's still something that some people might want to consider.

I actually prefer the DA limited lens club thread to this one, because 15mm is 15mm. There are separate 15 limited and 35 limited threads, because Jay Sherman really liked both of those lenses at one time (I think he has mostly moved over to a Nikon D800 at this point).

As to editing, that's what you get on the internet. My idea of "good editing" is different from somebody else's idea and if there are photos I don't appreciate as much, I pass over them. Tastes do differ and people go through stages. I would probably do different editing on a photo a took a year or two ago now, than I did then, but that's life. We grow and change in different ways. Live and let live...

derelict · 09-15-2013, 01:48 PM

There is a lot of HDR style shooting in this thread, which I would usually chock up to making up for a crappy lens. I know thats not the case so I am still interested in trying to find one.

What I am looking for is a sharp, close focus for car shows where everything is inches apart. I favor a 28/2.8 for just about everything else.

Sandy Hancock · 09-15-2013, 05:33 PM

Originally posted by derelict

What I am looking for is a sharp, close focus for car shows where everything is inches apart. I favor a 28/2.8 for just about everything else.

The DA15 is *much* wider than your 28, and it really needs f/8 to be sharp corner to corner. Consider the greatly under-appreciated DA21 as well.

And I tend to agree about the HDR thing too....

LeRolls · 09-15-2013, 10:13 PM - **1 Like**

Fun group shot of co-workers at a get together last night. DA15 came in quite handy!

steve1307 · 09-16-2013, 01:55 AM

Originally posted by jeff knight

This is one of the most spectacular threads ever. There are so many truly great photos here, and kudos to all the fine photographers that took them! It's a joy to see so much great work.

After finally wading through every page of this mega-thread two things bother me. The first is that there is way too much canned HDR here. Some of it is ok but a lot of it looks like pure kitsch to me. Some of it is full-on HDR clown-vomit. To me this actually hurts the eye and ruins the rendering of this fine lens. Don't get me wrong, I actually love some HDR images, but you can really tell when they're overdone. Yuck!

Second: You can usually tell when someone is using this lens because of it's distinctive rendering and vibe, and a lot of the photos here have a certain sameness about them. This isn't necessarily a bad thing! The DA15mm gives consistently excellent results. It's what we want our lenses to do, right? But if you are the kind of person who really wants to stand out from the herd I would think twice before taking the plunge. Maybe this doesn't matter to you. Maybe you're such a stylistic genius that you can impose your unique vision on any lens. It's still something that some people might want to consider.

If you think there is a lot of "too much" HDR in this thread then maybe you ought to check in the Sigma-8-16mm-club for HDR-ness-ness. Proportionally higher amount of HDR & tone mapping in there.

What we tend to see a lot of in this DA15 thread is shots taken into the sun with f8 - f16, one of the DA15's party tricks.
Of course this means backlighting and too often and underexposed foreground which might need a bit of a lift in the shadow areas in PP. If you're not careful this results in something that looks un-natural and HDR-like. I've ruined a few nice DA15 landscapes when I'm not careful with exposure.

Sometimes we also see a little bit too much sharpening on order to get sharper in the foreground where we might not quite have got the DOF perfect for the foreground. I'll put my hand up for that one too.

Not a fault of the lens, but one of the challenges in learning how to use it properly to get the results you want.

Originally posted by derelict

There is a lot of HDR style shooting in this thread, which I would usually chock up to making up for a crappy lens. I know thats not the case so I am still interested in trying to find one.

What I am looking for is a sharp, close focus for car shows where everything is inches apart. I favor a 28/2.8 for just about everything else.

I think the DA21 would be excellent at car shows if there is at least a tiny bit of space to work with.
It's no macro but can focus pretty close at about the same distance as a DA15.
It's just as sharp and a more natural focal length to work with. Close ups with the DA15 can look a little odd due the the field curvature in the corners.

**Rondec** · 09-16-2013, 03:09 AM

Originally posted by derelict

There is a lot of HDR style shooting in this thread, which I would usually chock up to making up for a crappy lens. I know thats not the case so I am still interested in trying to find one.

What I am looking for is a sharp, close focus for car shows where everything is inches apart. I favor a 28/2.8 for just about everything else.

I think the DA 15 is used the most for landscapes and HDR or pseudo-HDR are much more prevalent with those types of shooting than with other types of photography. Just know that the DA 15 does need to be shot at least at f5.6 to have sharp corners.

derelict · 09-16-2013, 06:52 AM

Yeah, I think I am going to start looking for a 21. 17mm Zenitar, 28, and 55 are my go to primes at shows. The 21 will probably end up replacing the 28s that I currently use.

**mattb123** · 09-16-2013, 09:07 AM

Last night's sunset (alpenglow looking SE). My 10 year old son is now really into going out and shooting. He was the catalyst for last night's outing!

**mattb123** · 09-16-2013, 09:11 PM - **4 Likes**

Tonight's sunset was even better!

gda13 · 09-16-2013, 09:45 PM

Originally posted by mattb123

Tonight's sunset was even better!

Definitely! Great photos especially the first, reminds me a bit of some of the high desert regions of Anzo Borrego . There sure is some interesting geology out west.

09-15-2013, 10:13 PM - 1 Like	#6174
LeRolls Pentaxian Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: PSL, FL Posts: 4,504	Fun group shot of co-workers at a get together last night. DA15 came in quite handy! Last edited by LeRolls; 09-17-2013 at 08:34 PM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
The FA* 85mm REALLY controls my mind	Adam	Pentax SLR Lens Discussion	173	08-27-2011 04:31 PM
15mm Limited and 35mm Limited at a distance	designinme_1976	Pentax SLR Lens Discussion	19	08-22-2011 10:12 PM

09-14-2013, 09:25 PM	#6166
mattb123 Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Colorado High Country Photos: Gallery Posts: 10,873	Wow, great stuff here lately! I was in Boston for work last week. Nice city and photogenic! and now I'm back in soggy Colorado. Wet but we didn't flood like the Boulder area! My heart goes out to those people. Last edited by mattb123; 09-14-2013 at 09:32 PM.

09-14-2013, 09:26 PM	#6167
gda13 Pentaxian Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Florida Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,108	Got another opportunity to head into town...this time in the late evening. Downtown Tampa @ Channelside

09-15-2013, 01:57 AM	#6168
pinholecam Pentaxian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: North Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,709	Tokyo Tower again. Just a few seconds later, no more sun burst...

09-15-2013, 07:17 AM	#6169
derelict Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: NoVa Posts: 525	Question to all you 15mm guys, I am looking for a shallower length lens. I usually go with a 28/ 2.8 but lately, I have had the need for something shorter (closely parked cars, pit shots, etc...). I have an M42 Zenitar 17mm that I would normally go for but sometimes, although the Zenitar really is not all that convex, it is not the solution. Will the 15mm replace my Zenitar as go to short lens?

09-15-2013, 11:29 AM	#6170
jeff knight Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Pacific Northwest USA Posts: 261	This is one of the most spectacular threads ever. There are so many truly great photos here, and kudos to all the fine photographers that took them! It's a joy to see so much great work. After finally wading through every page of this mega-thread two things bother me. The first is that there is way too much canned HDR here. Some of it is ok but a lot of it looks like pure kitsch to me. Some of it is full-on HDR clown-vomit. To me this actually hurts the eye and ruins the rendering of this fine lens. Don't get me wrong, I actually love some HDR images, but you can really tell when they're overdone. Yuck! Second: You can usually tell when someone is using this lens because of it's distinctive rendering and vibe, and a lot of the photos here have a certain sameness about them. This isn't necessarily a bad thing! The DA15mm gives consistently excellent results. It's what we want our lenses to do, right? But if you are the kind of person who really wants to stand out from the herd I would think twice before taking the plunge. Maybe this doesn't matter to you. Maybe you're such a stylistic genius that you can impose your unique vision on any lens. It's still something that some people might want to consider.

09-15-2013, 11:58 AM	#6171
Rondec Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Photos: Gallery Posts: 27,663	Originally posted by jeff knight This is one of the most spectacular threads ever. There are so many truly great photos here, and kudos to all the fine photographers that took them! It's a joy to see so much great work. After finally wading through every page of this mega-thread two things bother me. The first is that there is way too much canned HDR here. Some of it is ok but a lot of it looks like pure kitsch to me. Some of it is full-on HDR clown-vomit. To me this actually hurts the eye and ruins the rendering of this fine lens. Don't get me wrong, I actually love some HDR images, but you can really tell when they're overdone. Yuck! Second: You can usually tell when someone is using this lens because of it's distinctive rendering and vibe, and a lot of the photos here have a certain sameness about them. This isn't necessarily a bad thing! The DA15mm gives consistently excellent results. It's what we want our lenses to do, right? But if you are the kind of person who really wants to stand out from the herd I would think twice before taking the plunge. Maybe this doesn't matter to you. Maybe you're such a stylistic genius that you can impose your unique vision on any lens. It's still something that some people might want to consider. I actually prefer the DA limited lens club thread to this one, because 15mm is 15mm. There are separate 15 limited and 35 limited threads, because Jay Sherman really liked both of those lenses at one time (I think he has mostly moved over to a Nikon D800 at this point). As to editing, that's what you get on the internet. My idea of "good editing" is different from somebody else's idea and if there are photos I don't appreciate as much, I pass over them. Tastes do differ and people go through stages. I would probably do different editing on a photo a took a year or two ago now, than I did then, but that's life. We grow and change in different ways. Live and let live...

09-15-2013, 01:48 PM	#6172
derelict Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: NoVa Posts: 525	There is a lot of HDR style shooting in this thread, which I would usually chock up to making up for a crappy lens. I know thats not the case so I am still interested in trying to find one. What I am looking for is a sharp, close focus for car shows where everything is inches apart. I favor a 28/2.8 for just about everything else.

09-15-2013, 05:33 PM	#6173
Sandy Hancock Moderator Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Adelaide Hills, South Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,275	Originally posted by derelict What I am looking for is a sharp, close focus for car shows where everything is inches apart. I favor a 28/2.8 for just about everything else. The DA15 is much wider than your 28, and it really needs f/8 to be sharp corner to corner. Consider the greatly under-appreciated DA21 as well. And I tend to agree about the HDR thing too....

09-16-2013, 01:55 AM	#6175
steve1307 Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Sydney Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,130	Originally posted by jeff knight This is one of the most spectacular threads ever. There are so many truly great photos here, and kudos to all the fine photographers that took them! It's a joy to see so much great work. After finally wading through every page of this mega-thread two things bother me. The first is that there is way too much canned HDR here. Some of it is ok but a lot of it looks like pure kitsch to me. Some of it is full-on HDR clown-vomit. To me this actually hurts the eye and ruins the rendering of this fine lens. Don't get me wrong, I actually love some HDR images, but you can really tell when they're overdone. Yuck! Second: You can usually tell when someone is using this lens because of it's distinctive rendering and vibe, and a lot of the photos here have a certain sameness about them. This isn't necessarily a bad thing! The DA15mm gives consistently excellent results. It's what we want our lenses to do, right? But if you are the kind of person who really wants to stand out from the herd I would think twice before taking the plunge. Maybe this doesn't matter to you. Maybe you're such a stylistic genius that you can impose your unique vision on any lens. It's still something that some people might want to consider. If you think there is a lot of "too much" HDR in this thread then maybe you ought to check in the Sigma-8-16mm-club for HDR-ness-ness. Proportionally higher amount of HDR & tone mapping in there. What we tend to see a lot of in this DA15 thread is shots taken into the sun with f8 - f16, one of the DA15's party tricks. Of course this means backlighting and too often and underexposed foreground which might need a bit of a lift in the shadow areas in PP. If you're not careful this results in something that looks un-natural and HDR-like. I've ruined a few nice DA15 landscapes when I'm not careful with exposure. Sometimes we also see a little bit too much sharpening on order to get sharper in the foreground where we might not quite have got the DOF perfect for the foreground. I'll put my hand up for that one too. Not a fault of the lens, but one of the challenges in learning how to use it properly to get the results you want. Originally posted by derelict There is a lot of HDR style shooting in this thread, which I would usually chock up to making up for a crappy lens. I know thats not the case so I am still interested in trying to find one. What I am looking for is a sharp, close focus for car shows where everything is inches apart. I favor a 28/2.8 for just about everything else. I think the DA21 would be excellent at car shows if there is at least a tiny bit of space to work with. It's no macro but can focus pretty close at about the same distance as a DA15. It's just as sharp and a more natural focal length to work with. Close ups with the DA15 can look a little odd due the the field curvature in the corners.

09-16-2013, 03:09 AM	#6176
Rondec Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Photos: Gallery Posts: 27,663	Originally posted by derelict There is a lot of HDR style shooting in this thread, which I would usually chock up to making up for a crappy lens. I know thats not the case so I am still interested in trying to find one. What I am looking for is a sharp, close focus for car shows where everything is inches apart. I favor a 28/2.8 for just about everything else. I think the DA 15 is used the most for landscapes and HDR or pseudo-HDR are much more prevalent with those types of shooting than with other types of photography. Just know that the DA 15 does need to be shot at least at f5.6 to have sharp corners.

09-16-2013, 06:52 AM	#6177
derelict Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: NoVa Posts: 525	Yeah, I think I am going to start looking for a 21. 17mm Zenitar, 28, and 55 are my go to primes at shows. The 21 will probably end up replacing the 28s that I currently use.

09-16-2013, 09:07 AM	#6178
mattb123 Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Colorado High Country Photos: Gallery Posts: 10,873	Last night's sunset (alpenglow looking SE). My 10 year old son is now really into going out and shooting. He was the catalyst for last night's outing!

09-16-2013, 09:11 PM - 4 Likes	#6179
mattb123 Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Colorado High Country Photos: Gallery Posts: 10,873	Tonight's sunset was even better!

09-16-2013, 09:45 PM	#6180
gda13 Pentaxian Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Florida Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,108	Originally posted by mattb123 Tonight's sunset was even better! Definitely! Great photos especially the first, reminds me a bit of some of the high desert regions of Anzo Borrego . There sure is some interesting geology out west.