[repaap]

My biggest gripe was MF, with my sammy. I sold it, it was super sharp'n all, but If you miss focus then that does not matter. That nice smooth Oof becomes annoying with your subject in it... FA 77 is smaller, but AF is also really nice, even if it is not super fast. Fast enough. Especially with FF 84/1,4 has really thin in focus area wide open.

Well, it's very nice for what it is. Someone who bought a K-1 with almost nothing left over for glass could do a lot of great photography with say, just the Samyang 85mm and the plastic fantastic DA35.

[Erictator]

Sometimes the leaf is more interesting than the bloom... at least I thought so.

smc PENTAX-DA* 300mm F4 ED [IF] SDM ƒ/5.0 300.0 mm 1/500 iso320

[ivanvernon]

Interesting plant leaves with K-1 and Kiron 105mm f 2.8, 1:1 macro
.

[Rondec]

Odd Clouds (DFA 15-30)

[mattb123]

A few from last night.

K-1ii & 15-30


K-1ii & Tamron 70-200

[fs999]

Third shots a beaut!

Thank you !

K-1 • FF Mode • 100 ISO • Laowa 105mm F2 STF (Smooth Trans Focus)


K-1 • FF Mode • 100 ISO • Pentax DA* 200mm F2.8 ED SDM


K-1 • FF Mode • 200 ISO • Pentax FA 35mm F2 AL • Hoya HD nano CPL polarising filter


K-1 • FF Mode • 200 ISO • Irix Blackstone 15mm F2.4 • Irix circular polarising filter

[repaap]

Couple pictures made with brenizermethod

FA 77 + K-1

[BruceBanner]

My biggest gripe was MF, with my sammy. I sold it, it was super sharp'n all, but If you miss focus then that does not matter. That nice smooth Oof becomes annoying with your subject in it... FA 77 is smaller, but AF is also really nice, even if it is not super fast. Fast enough. Especially with FF 84/1,4 has really thin in focus area wide open.

Yep, that's the conclusion I am coming too, but my funds are too low to afford anything else, and I really wanted to experience 85/1.4 for myself (I have a Takumar 135/2.5 which I find a similar experience to handle). Like the Takumar the Sammy is hit or miss with nailing f1.4-1.8 on things far away, this from the eyepiece that is. I have actually removed my Pentax 1.22 magnifier as I think it hinders the process. Either it needs a good clean or it just blurs things every so slightly that the sharpness feedback is compromised (of what I can tell with my currently healthy eyes).
If the subject matter is closer then nailing f1.4 and 1.6 things becomes easier, so it maybe that when shooting something further away just bump that aperture down to f4 or something to get a better safety buffer.

This picture was taken last night, shot with the Sammy at f1.6 (ISO 800).


It took two attempts, due to the slightly off centre I just had to use my eye to judge the correct sharpness. I have increased clarity and sharpness slightly on the bottle, but I think it's a good pic to illustrate that even f1.6 can be neat if you nail it, I'm just hoping that with practice I can get it right first time more and more.
There maybe times I use a monopod and LV with magnification to hit higher success rates, and with people I am anxious to pulling off the shot (as they will move ever so slightly as well as myself), so we'll see. AF might not help much with this focal length and thin DoF (Christopher Rankins would probably be best to tell, I wonder how many shots it takes him with his Pentax 85*/1.4 to get things just right when shooting particularly wide with that lens).

The issue really is the Focus Confirmation, it's a range not a single point. You can twist and turn the lens quite a fair bit within this range, which when shooting at f1.4-1.6 is a large shift in where the focus lies. I tried to do some Focus Chart testing with it this week and what I learned is that if you focus from near to far (and then get the green focus hex confirmation) then perhaps that should be what you fine adjust the lens to, and never focus confirm from twisting the focus ring from far to near. I think if you always twist to focus in one direction then you may increase the success rate significantly (with the Fine Adjustments biased towards this), at least that is the theory I am going to practice and work on...

Until I decide which child of mine to sell I will have to make do with the Samyang and just drool over the Pentax 85*

[Erictator]

Yep, that's the conclusion I am coming too, but my funds are too low to afford anything else, and I really wanted to experience 85/1.4 for myself (I have a Takumar 135/2.5 which I find a similar experience to handle). Like the Takumar the Sammy is hit or miss with nailing f1.4-1.8 on things far away, this from the eyepiece that is. I have actually removed my Pentax 1.22 magnifier as I think it hinders the process. Either it needs a good clean or it just blurs things every so slightly that the sharpness feedback is compromised (of what I can tell with my currently healthy eyes).
If the subject matter is closer then nailing f1.4 and 1.6 things becomes easier, so it maybe that when shooting something further away just bump that aperture down to f4 or something to get a better safety buffer.

This picture was taken last night, shot with the Sammy at f1.6 (ISO 800).

Bruce, I dunno if this helps, and you prolly already know this, but it is worth mentioning anyway in case it helps anyone else reading - I use Catch in Focus with all my manual Tak's, the Soligor, etc. by just leaving the AF switch On, and use spot focus. I set the lens close to in focus as I can get, press the shutter and lean in or back gently until it lights up and trips the shutter for me. Works a treat! Even on moving targets, with practice. You can't move FAST or it will give motion blur, depending on shutter speed, but after a while and you get used to it, it is more like focus confirmation. Sure, it is annoying if you can't trip the shutter when you want to because the camera thinks it is out of focus, but that is prolly because it is out of focus and you don't want that shot anyway.
Eric

[BruceBanner]

Bruce, I dunno if this helps, and you prolly already know this, but it is worth mentioning anyway in case it helps anyone else reading - I use Catch in Focus with all my manual Tak's, the Soligor, etc. by just leaving the AF switch On, and use spot focus. I set the lens close to in focus as I can get, press the shutter and lean in or back gently until it lights up and trips the shutter for me. Works a treat! Even on moving targets, with practice. You can't move FAST or it will give motion blur, depending on shutter speed, but after a while and you get used to it, it is more like focus confirmation. Sure, it is annoying if you can't trip the shutter when you want to because the camera thinks it is out of focus, but that is prolly because it is out of focus and you don't want that shot anyway.
Eric

Yep, that idea/mode has not slipped my radar and I indeed tend to practice with it as well. My immediate gripe with it is that we can only be privy to shots with the focus in the centre, so it massively limits our framing. However, I have been practising the brenizer method a great deal this month, excellent results can stem from just 2-3 shots being stitched. It might be I become prolific with the technique, use CIF for the first shot, then quickly (without moving the camera away from my eye), flip the AF/MF switch so that I can pan to the left or right and take a second shot (without of course adjusting focus). This way I get an almost AF like experience using a MF lens and also an additional degree of framing/composition from which to work with.

[TwoUptons]

Yep, that idea/mode has not slipped my radar and I indeed tend to practice with it as well. My immediate gripe with it is that we can only be privy to shots with the focus in the centre, so it massively limits our framing. However, I have been practising the brenizer method a great deal this month, excellent results can stem from just 2-3 shots being stitched. It might be I become prolific with the technique, use CIF for the first shot, then quickly (without moving the camera away from my eye), flip the AF/MF switch so that I can pan to the left or right and take a second shot (without of course adjusting focus). This way I get an almost AF like experience using a MF lens and also an additional degree of framing/composition from which to work with.

I also tend to move a little when shooting with my 85 (Rokinon), so even if my focus is perfect, I can move back out again.

And yes, that wonderful f1.4 is occasionally a curse, especially on a modern, high-resolution camera...

-Eric

[eaglem]

What's down there..

[longbow]

DFA 150-450mm - 2 image pano

[gaweidert]

This was made using Microsoft Image Composite Editor. From three images of Yellowstone Lake taken a few weeks ago.

[selar]

Sigma 20-40/2.8 on K-1
Instead of sand crunching beneath your feet, imagine the tinkling sound of coral as you find the perfect spot to enjoy this remote beach. You won’t be competing for real estate here since access requires a 2km bushwalk from the nearest carpark; explorers rejoice!

To get there: Head towards Shute Harbour from Airlie Beach and locate the carpark on the left, just past the Harbour.

---------- Post added 31-05-18 at 01:19 PM ----------

Sydney Harbour, K-1 with Sigma 20-40/2.8