[crewl1]

Awesome handheld shots Snostorm. Don't show these to Rupert and Otis

[snostorm]

While on the subject of how long one can go hand held without SR using a Q and adapted lenses. . . Also, later that Nov, I was experimenting with the DA 55-300 and DA 18-250 with the Q. The DA 55-300 fits my Tamron 80-200 f2.8 Adaptall 2's tripod ring, but the 18-250 doesn't so i had to hand hold the 18-250.

There was direct sunlight, though it was late in Nov, so it's not quite the same as in summer. . . I was leaning against a post, so there was some support.

This first shot was at 18mm for some perspective (@100mm EQ) between 30-40 feet away. . .


Then at 250mm (1383mm EQ) -- remember this is at f6.3 max aperture at 250mm so is diffraction limited -- jpeg straight OOC, and my default is to turn down in-camera sharpening to -4. Shutter speed was 1/320, so about 2 stops slower than the normal "rule of thumb" for hand held shooting (1/FL without SR)


This is the same shot after PP with my normal sharpening drill (Topaz InFocus with deconvolution sharpening and micro cotrast)



Scott

[snostorm]

Awesome handheld shots Snostorm. Don't show these to Rupert and Otis

Hi crew1,

Thanks!

The second set is a lot more Otis friendly. . .

Scott

[rawr]

The reach of the Q10 mounted on the new DA 560, on display recently by Pentax in Osaka.



http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20121001_563316.html
I don't know if it is the new sensor or the new lens, but the clarity seems pretty good, despite the gloomy weather outdoors and shooting through a rainy window.

[Aegon]

Snostorm, the sharpening shown in the squirrel example is exceptionally good. Thanks for sharing.

[crewl1]

About the Sigma and the white haze. I loaned my DA*300 to a Q friend going to Alaska. Friend let me use bigma 50-500. Had used the lens on K7 before. On Q the same white haze developed around 500mm. Not a problem on dslr. Wonder what causes the problem? Possiblities: 1. Light is bouncing off rear element and back to sensor. 2. Inside of adapter reflects light when tele throws bigger image circle. May try adding black felt inside adapter. 3. Something in lens is causing flare. Any ideas? thanks barondla

I decided to see if I could improve the performance of the Sigma 70-200 before going out and spending money on another lens, and am pretty happy with how it is working out.

Items 1 and 2 you indicated appear to be the problem.

I had not noticed that this lens has an element right at the rear just inside the mount that is coated but still could be catching reflections.

The Fotodiox adapter has a black semi gloss finish inside and out that does reflect light somewhat.

I decided to mask off the adapter and spray the inside with a true flat black paint to hopefully eliminate any reflections coming back on the rear element.

Results show that it does appear to have helped.
I also found that this lens needs a couple of clicks towards closed on the adapter to sharpen it up. (I assume that is 5.6 f - stop.)

This is a nice lens in that is has very well controlled CA, I did not have to do any purple correction on the shots below.
It is very similar to the DA*300 in that respect.

The target power pole using 02 zoom at 15mm


Results from the Sigma 70-200 HSM II @ 200mm


DA*300 image for comparison



I am pleased now as I thought this lens would not be a good fit for the Q, but these results changed my mind.

I recommend if you have one of these adapters to do this minor modification and see if your results improve as well.

I hope to do some field tests this week and will report back.

[rawr]

I recommend if you have one of these adapters to do this minor modification and see if your results improve as well.

That's a very good result. I have both those lenses but no Q (yet), and I was curious about whether I could put the 70-200 to good use with the Q. Now it seems that I may be able to.

Now I'm just waiting to see what the Q10 may bring to the party, but the general decision just got easier.

[crewl1]

rawr, yes it does look like a good fit. It will be nice to have the ability to change the range from 385 to 1100 with the zoom.

The lens actually shows better results once you move below 200 too, and may be able to use it at f4 which will help with any diffraction issues.

[barondla]

Wow crewl1. The adapter mod looks great and that Sigma isn't doing bad either. Which Sigma is this? A constant f2.8 thru the whole zoom range? A lens with so little fringing is hard to find. It is nearly impossible to know which lens will perform well in ca without actually trying it.

Have been told the Pentax adapter is approx 6 weeks out. I will have to do this mod to my RJ adapters in the mean time. The cone shape of the adapter probably makes the light scatter into the lens worse than normal.

Also need to check out the Topaz sharpening program. Don't think my PSE 9 does as well. I have one program that does deconvolution sharpening but it doesn't seem any better than the Silkypix program that came with the Q. Snostorm, is the topaz simple to use? Have you ever tried the Silky sharpening on a file? Your hawk images are an amazing catch- and without a tripod! I definetly need to work on that more.

thanks
barondla

[crewl1]

Which Sigma is this? A constant f2.8 thru the whole zoom range? A lens with so little fringing is hard to find. It is nearly impossible to know which lens will perform well in ca without actually trying it.

Barondla it is the Sigma 70-200 2.8 HSM II which is a constant 2.8. It is not the latest version, but one version back. Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG APO Macro HSM II Lens Reviews - Sigma Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database

The newest version has OS and the price has gone up quite a bit, but IQ is said to have been improved on the latest version.

Performance of this lens on APS-C is well documented, it is a little soft at 200mm 2.8 but sharpens right up from 3.2 on, and anything below 200 is very good also.
I think that is why it needs a couple of clicks on the Q as well.

Yes the CA/purple fringe is not a problem with this lens.

[barondla]

This is great news. The white haze has been banished. Now I am wondering what that bigma could do with a blackened adapter?
thanks
barondla

[crewl1]

Took an early lunch and headed out to Legg Lake again today to test out the Sigma fix.

Here's a shot using the Prime 01 for interested_observer's sake. A subject GBH is standing at the waters edge just past the sandy area at center frame.


As I got closer the GBH flew over to the reeds in the middle of the lake, as normal ones typically do when I approach.
Here is the setup, Q + Sigma 70-200 by iPhone.


The Sigma did well, first shot is in the reeds and the second one is when it flew back over to the bank further down. The lighting was better for the second shot as I had the sun to my back, but it was walking so I missed focus and it may have been motion blurred.




The DA*300 still beats it for amount of detail that it can pull out, I think, but the smokiness of the lens is gone.
If I open it up fully it does become dreamy but it does that on the K-5 also. The advantage to the Sigma is that you can pull out to get the whole critter if you end up being closer than necessary.

Once the heron moved away I spotted this turtle on a log. It was very hot so it seemed to prefer the shade today.


Overall I am pleased with the results.

[snostorm]

. Snostorm, is the topaz simple to use? Have you ever tried the Silky sharpening on a file? Your hawk images are an amazing catch- and without a tripod! I definetly need to work on that more.

Hi barondla,

I've had to work with Topaz InFocus for quite a while before I discovered the best way to use it. I don't use their sharpening presets at all because they seem to be set up using deconvolution, micro contrast, and an unsharp mask local contrast bump, and this last tends to be a bit too much for me with Pentax jpegs. Pentax's jpeg engine since the K10 biases the local sharpening toward the darker side of a contrast border, and this often creates a dark outline where there should be none. Unsharp Mask and other local contrast enhancement schemes only accentuate this further, but InFocus seems to do this the least the way I use it. I was a long time Focus Magic user, but only use that program now for it's motion blur correction as it's much easier to use than the Topaz version in InFocus.

I've set up my own presets using deconvolution and micro contrast alone, to different degrees, then apply them in multiple applications. It's not a one click solution, but IMO, it's the best I've found to get images the way I like them. I've found that between Topaz DeNoise and InFocus, I can do 90% of the PP that I need. I use them as plugins for PSPPX4.

When it InFocus first came out, a lot of people found it hard to work with, but I stuck with it and it's become an invaluable tool for me.

Scott

[VisualDarkness]

Amazing shots here!

I also got Topaz but can't seem to get good results with DeNoise nor InFocus. I guess I'm doing something horribly wrong as Lightroom 3 beats them by a mile for all editing, also the whole conversion to Tiff and slow performance of the plugins test my patience. Maybe if I learned to use them I would appreciate them.

[Shawn67]

Had a chance to try out my Nikon 200mm f4 Micro (Macro) lens today. This spider was on the windshield of my wifes car.

This is the full size image from the Olympus OMD. Lens was mounted on a tabletop tripod sitting the windshield and I was using two remote flashes. No cropping.


Full size at:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8181/8058019870_610ed33d09_o.jpg

This is from the Pentax Q using the same lens setup at roughly the same distance using available light for these shots and the 2 second timer. Again no cropping.



Full size at:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8175/8058020261_55e9164f05_o.jpg



Full size at:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8174/8058020657_30df904cbc_o.jpg

The Q shots were at ISO 125 and due to the low light levels were at slow shutter speeds. I think both of these were at 1/5 of a second. I was using a LCD loupe to help focus.

The hardest part was simply finding the spider in the viewfinder in the first place.

Shawn