[BruceBanner]

Field with Red Flowers (DA 15 limited)

Great work Rondec.

[Rondec]

Great work Rondec.

Thank you.

[lukulele]

Agriculture above the Little River, Alleghany County, NC. US

[Clarkey]

Agriculture above the Little River, Alleghany County, NC. US

Like the boat on the porch on the house deck. For those rare days when there is nothing else to do on the farm...

[rayallen]

Lavender Bay, North Sydney.

[RookieGuy]

So I've never had a wide angle. I've never really had the use for one. The mid Atlantic forests don't contain any grand vistas and everything is too dense for a wide angle. So I've used an old FA 28mm and made due. It's really served me well over the past year or so. I've learned how to compose what should be a wider angle into something a bit more compressed.

Then one day after a family trip to either Gettysburg or Amish country in Lancaster, PA, I was looking at the back of the camera and lamenting I couldn't capture the whole scene. When Mrs. Rookie asked what would fix it I said a lens somewhere around 15mm.

My birthday was last week. And yesterday I came home to a box addressed to me. In it was a used SMC DA15MM ED AL!! I finally have a wide angle! And I finally have a Limited that I hear everyone raving about! I get to see what pixie dust looks like.

Now, to the other point of this long novella. I know there are a couple tricks to using a telephoto. Is it the same with a wide angle, where it's an acquired skill set? Is there a pixie dust setting on my k70? Other than grand vistas and close ups of food or babies, does this lens shine anywhere else? Thanks everyone! I'll be posting pics as soon as I take some worth posting.

[PALADIN85020]

So I've never had a wide angle. I've never really had the use for one. The mid Atlantic forests don't contain any grand vistas and everything is too dense for a wide angle. So I've used an old FA 28mm and made due. It's really served me well over the past year or so. I've learned how to compose what should be a wider angle into something a bit more compressed.

Then one day after a family trip to either Gettysburg or Amish country in Lancaster, PA, I was looking at the back of the camera and lamenting I couldn't capture the whole scene. When Mrs. Rookie asked what would fix it I said a lens somewhere around 15mm.

My birthday was last week. And yesterday I came home to a box addressed to me. In it was a used SMC DA15MM ED AL!! I finally have a wide angle! And I finally have a Limited that I hear everyone raving about! I get to see what pixie dust looks like.

Now, to the other point of this long novella. I know there are a couple tricks to using a telephoto. Is it the same with a wide angle, where it's an acquired skill set? Is there a pixie dust setting on my k70? Other than grand vistas and close ups of food or babies, does this lens shine anywhere else? Thanks everyone! I'll be posting pics as soon as I take some worth posting.

One of the things I really like about this lens is that it gives very creative distortion when you get up really close to something. As an example, I shot this 1951 Studebaker Commander some years ago with it, and I enjoyed the result. You already know about the starburst capability, I suspect. You hardly need to focus it at all for most shots, just set it at the hyperfocus point and fire away. There will be some purple fringing at the edges of photos where there is high contrast, but that is a minor annoyance, solvable in post.



As a writer-photographer for firearms publications, I find it handy for photographing longer subjects where my photo distance is limited by a tripod, and it gives sharp and practically distortion-free results, as you can see here.

I think you will really enjoy your new toy - I love mine.

John

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Last edited by PALADIN85020; 05-12-2018 at 02:15 PM.

[Hattifnatt]

So I've never had a wide angle. I've never really had the use for one. The mid Atlantic forests don't contain any grand vistas and everything is too dense for a wide angle. So I've used an old FA 28mm and made due. It's really served me well over the past year or so. I've learned how to compose what should be a wider angle into something a bit more compressed.

Then one day after a family trip to either Gettysburg or Amish country in Lancaster, PA, I was looking at the back of the camera and lamenting I couldn't capture the whole scene. When Mrs. Rookie asked what would fix it I said a lens somewhere around 15mm.

My birthday was last week. And yesterday I came home to a box addressed to me. In it was a used SMC DA15MM ED AL!! I finally have a wide angle! And I finally have a Limited that I hear everyone raving about! I get to see what pixie dust looks like.

Now, to the other point of this long novella. I know there are a couple tricks to using a telephoto. Is it the same with a wide angle, where it's an acquired skill set? Is there a pixie dust setting on my k70? Other than grand vistas and close ups of food or babies, does this lens shine anywhere else? Thanks everyone! I'll be posting pics as soon as I take some worth posting.

To me, framing is the most difficult part of using the DA 15mm Limited. You may have difficulty finding a good subject since everything appears small if you don't get close, or maybe framing would include a lot of stuff that shouldn't be there. On the other hand, minimum focus distance is very small on this lens, this opens some really nice possibilities. My advice is to pay attention to your framing and don't be afraid to get up close and personal. Also, watch out for possible starbursts (as the sun shine through the branches of a tree, or on the edge of a building).

[lukulele]

So I've never had a wide angle. I've never really had the use for one. The mid Atlantic forests don't contain any grand vistas and everything is too dense for a wide angle. So I've used an old FA 28mm and made due. It's really served me well over the past year or so. I've learned how to compose what should be a wider angle into something a bit more compressed.

Then one day after a family trip to either Gettysburg or Amish country in Lancaster, PA, I was looking at the back of the camera and lamenting I couldn't capture the whole scene. When Mrs. Rookie asked what would fix it I said a lens somewhere around 15mm.

My birthday was last week. And yesterday I came home to a box addressed to me. In it was a used SMC DA15MM ED AL!! I finally have a wide angle! And I finally have a Limited that I hear everyone raving about! I get to see what pixie dust looks like.

Now, to the other point of this long novella. I know there are a couple tricks to using a telephoto. Is it the same with a wide angle, where it's an acquired skill set? Is there a pixie dust setting on my k70? Other than grand vistas and close ups of food or babies, does this lens shine anywhere else? Thanks everyone! I'll be posting pics as soon as I take some worth posting.

Congratulations! There are many ways of try to make the most interesting images possible. A classic from my instructor fifty years ago, compose, compose, and compose with your feet.
If you’re using an editing program, leave some room for distortion adjustment.
A Circular Polarizing lens and a Neutral Density lens really help shooting into the sun for enhanced starburst effect and high glare situations.
If you’re shooting manual, experiment with underexposing a few stops to deepen colors and effects.
Finally, ask all the talented folks here on the forum. They’ve posted some incredible images over the years.

[lukulele]

A few with the 15 from Parc Natural Cap a Creus, Costa Brava hiking a few weeks ago

[jacamar]

Knock knock - can I come in? First outing with my new (used) ED lens yesterday.

[RookieGuy]

Man, those northern forests are just beautiful! I gotta get up there one day. It took me a second to realize the second shot was angled down, not up.

[Cornholio]

I popped into Derbyshire for a potter earlier in the week, and thanks to the nice weather I was able to leave the 15mm on all day.

[Hattifnatt]

Reflections in Stavanger Harbour.

[Rondec]

Reflections in Stavanger Harbour.

I really like the first one.