[Botanizer]

K-1. I mostly find rare plants and take photos. I am not an artist. The Pentax HD DA 35mm F2.8 Macro Limited lens seems like the perfect choice for me. I like the depth of field I get with the lens. My camera will be paid for soon. Any suggestions for a second lens?

Attached Images

   

[dbs]

K-1. I mostly find rare plants and take photos. I am not an artist. The Pentax HD DA 35mm F2.8 Macro Limited lens seems like the perfect choice for me. I like the depth of field I get with the lens. My camera will be paid for soon. Any suggestions for a second lens?

Hi Botanizer

Thats a dangerous question around here

What mm do you gravitate too ?

The 35 and you are doing a wonderful job

Dave

[Botanizer]

Hi Botanizer

Thats a dangerous question around here

What mm do you gravitate too ?

The 35 and you are doing a wonderful job

Dave

Maybe 20 to 25 mm with close focus. But, I am waiting to see comments on the new FA 50 mm.

[eaglem]

Bud on top scene below

[Jorgario]

With HD DA 55-300, I liked the vignetting ... it gives an old taste:

[/URL]

[AdrianM]

A visitor to my back yard today - a Pale-headed Rosella. K1II with Sigma 500 f4.5 APO DG EX. Av mode, ISO 1600, f6.3, +0.67EV, 1/1600th.

[ChatMechant]

Well, maybe in some parts, but other parts would be obscured if you hadn't pushed it a bit because there is so much DR there... personally, I like "cooked" once in a while... Sushi gets old if that's all you ever eat.
Very nice set of pix and you make that 24-70 look good.
Eric

Thank-you Eric, yeah it was kind of fun to push the file around a bit. Hadn't really done that yet with the k-1.

[Botanizer]

K-1 35mm macro

[WPRESTO]

K. Any suggestions for a second lens?

As someone noted, a dangerous question. How many Pentaxians are there? That's the number of suggestions you could get.

My view: Think hard about what kind of subjects you select and what kind of framing you do:
1) If you take plants and want to show them set in their habitat = relatively close image of the plant but a lot of background and surround also in sharp focus, then a wider lens, in the 15~24mm range would be the choice.
2) If you do small plants, little things that grow close to the ground, then a longer FL macro is the way to go, something in the 90~105mm range. Longer would be even better, but the options are very limited and the price skyrockets.

What would I select? I would not hesitate to select a longer macro. There are many, many options, and almost all of them are good to outstanding. Just about any macro lens of 90mm to 105mm focal length made over the past 60 years will give excellent results in the f5.6 to f11 range, and all of them will start showing diffraction induced image deterioration at f16 (although sometimes the gain in DOF outweighs the loss in IQ). SO: select Pentax, Tamron, SIgma, Tokina, Lester Dyne, just about any macro in the 90~105mm FL range, f2.5, f2.8 or f4 (makes no difference, you'll almost never use the lens wide open) in a Pentax K mount. I would recommend manual focus over AF, and because there are so many out there, and prices therefore are so reasonable, a Tamron 90mm macro, any vintage, as the most available. The lens has had an outstanding reputation ever since the very first Adaptall II version came onto the market.

BTW: Advantages of a longer FL macro: 1) greater working distance; 2) less of potentially distracting background included; 3) when getting low, the camera & lens can be up a little higher and still have the same perspective on the subject; 4) can use the focus ring at a higher reproduction ratio (this applies to unit focusing lenses, but internal focusing macros are rare and generally found only in the very long focal lengths)

[Erictator]

Takumar 135mm F3.5 M42 Lens w/25mm Ext Tube 1/400 iso100

[wtlwdwgn]

K-1. I mostly find rare plants and take photos. I am not an artist. The Pentax HD DA 35mm F2.8 Macro Limited lens seems like the perfect choice for me. I like the depth of field I get with the lens. My camera will be paid for soon. Any suggestions for a second lens?

I heartily recommend the D FA 28-105. Great all around lens and for travel too. Just my two cents.

[LeRolls]

[fs999]

K-1 • Crop Mode • 100 ISO • HD Pentax DA 560mm F5.6 ED AW

[fs999]

K-1 • FF Mode • 100 ISO • Irix Blackstone 15mm F2.4 • Irix Nano circular polarising filter

[sas8888]

K1
Irix 11mm
F16 1/350
ISO 100
Cachoeiro de Velha

Old woman's Water Fall

This photo isn't anything technically great but oh that 11mm sure can cover a lot of ground (or water). The leveling in camera is a must have for these wide lenses.