[Bramela]

Thanks Reeftool, your post is very helpful.
I agree, Taks are heavy and steadiness is the major problem.
But, what the heck, its a lot of fun

[uccemebug]

Ok its official I have whooping cough! 5 days bed rest i will post what i have when I can this is the first time in ten years off working for myself that i have been ill. ask your Doctors about a booster shot we need one every ten years as adults.
Mark

Oh, no!! At least you know what it is and you know the road to recovery. Get well!

[axl]

My wife's favourite. She loves it when I put that lens on and hand it over to her.

As for your metering woes, you've gone farther than I have in mapping the f-stops to meter compensation. I'm very impressed with Pentax's lenses but frankly, the green-button-metering situation is ridiculous. It's a real source of complaint for me, as it interferes with the joy of using the camera.

The MILC cameras support metering with any old lens you put on them, and now Nikon's introduced a mid-level camera with meter coupling. This is a technology that was rolled out in the early 70's ffs! But there's hope. In one conversation on photo.net comparing the K7 to the new Nikon, some owners familiar with the technology showed that it would be quite straightforward to bring real meter coupling in.

The support for old lenses was once a distinguishing element for Pentax. They really need to match Nikon now and bring in real meter coupling. And rather than produce two mounts, I imagine that it would be cheapest for them to simply re-create the uncrippled mount and use it for "all" (both) their DSLRs.

In my dreams, anyway.

I'm not sure what MILC cameras are and I'm not familiar with the new Nikons. Truth is that the green button metering is slightly annoying. This and owning TTL flash is one reason why I keep thinking of *istD. That was the last pentax body to feature both! I hope on K-5 or following body they will bring back the meter coupler so K & M will be able to meter again without green button. Fingers crossed.

PS: it's easy to monitor stop down metering behaviour if you are using it every day with the same lens...

[uccemebug]

I'm not sure what MILC cameras are

"Mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras". Things like the Sony NEX-5 and the Olympus EP-2 and whatnot.

and I'm not familiar with the new Nikons. Truth is that the green button metering is slightly annoying. This and owning TTL flash is one reason why I keep thinking of *istD. That was the last pentax body to feature both! I hope on K-5 or following body they will bring back the meter coupler so K & M will be able to meter again without green button. Fingers crossed.

PS: it's easy to monitor stop down metering behaviour if you are using it every day with the same lens...

The *istD had the same mount as the rest, unfortunately.

Ah well. I went on another cycle trip today. Having had to lay low for literally ten weeks of 35ºC weather I'm keen to see something beyond our apartment. Shot 100 frames, let's see if I can choose one to post.

[urje]

As I ran out of space, I reposted a few of my early shots in a lower quality and have now just over 1MB of space again, hopefully enough to see the end of the challenge. It's too bad the photos are not in the right order anymore, but I'm not re-uploading all pictures... Also, I joined the social group!

What I learned about the DA21 so far: it's still my favourite. The focal length works well for a 'single lens kit', although I do long for a longer lens after 17 days (but I never feel like I need something wider). Sometimes it's just difficult to get close enough to shoot some detail, and especially in portrait mode, the perspective feels a little too distorted (for example, when shooting a door). I guess that in landscape, we're used to 'wider' views, so that doesn't feel too unnatural.

This is also the first autofocus lens I'm using heavily, and I must say that I like the convenience. I think that rather than spending more money on exotic old lenses, I'll be slowly phasing out my M and A glass in favour of a 40 and 70. I think that combined with a 50-200 or 55-300, and an 50/1.2 or 55/1.2, I'll have all I need.

[axl]

"Mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras". Things like the Sony NEX-5 and the Olympus EP-2 and whatnot.



The *istD had the same mount as the rest, unfortunately.

....

one never stops learning...

and my bad on the *istD.... well, at least I don't want it now
How I wish thought they would bring KAF2SDM into production....

[uccemebug]

As I ran out of space, I reposted a few of my early shots in a lower quality and have now just over 1MB of space again, hopefully enough to see the end of the challenge. It's too bad the photos are not in the right order anymore, but I'm not re-uploading all pictures... Also, I joined the social group!

You can post to the social group and include all of your photos in order there, with pics linked from your flickr account. See my "Tokyo street photos 2005-2006" post:

more tokyo street pics (2005–2006) - Photo Challenge 2010.09 - Spares - PentaxForums.com

In fact, I suggest that we do the October challenge that way. Each of us can start a thread for our photos and add to each day, linking in images from wherever we post them (the ones above are on my AWS account). That way we can all see the new photos and all of the comments in a forum-listing format within the group.

What I learned about the DA21 so far: it's still my favourite. The focal length works well for a 'single lens kit', although I do long for a longer lens after 17 days (but I never feel like I need something wider).

It's the only lens I took on our honeymoon.

One of my bride. One by my bride. One of Chinatown in Bangkok.

This is also the first autofocus lens I'm using heavily, and I must say that I like the convenience. I think that rather than spending more money on exotic old lenses, I'll be slowly phasing out my M and A glass in favour of a 40 and 70. I think that combined with a 50-200 or 55-300, and an 50/1.2 or 55/1.2, I'll have all I need.

Wow! A convert...

[urje]

Those are great pictures, uccemebug. It's a great lens for those dense asian cities for sure! Regarding the social group and the order of images there, I think I just 'dumped' them there, so I hope I didn't make a mess.

And yes, I'm slowly moving towards a set of modern lenses, but I knew from the start that the M lenses are mostly interesting because they're cheap for the IQ, and now I know which focal lengths I really like, I feel like I can justify a pricier DA limited here and there, if I can afford it. But that will take some time I'm sure, and in the meantime, I'll be enjoying those old gems! (well, at least again after this month...)

[stillshunter]

I could never quite get my head around the difference between MILC (mirrorless interchangeable lens camera) and EVIL (electronic viewfinder interchangeable lens)....unless they are synonymous of course!

[uccemebug]

Those are great pictures, uccemebug.

Thanks for that. Say, how do you find the colour rendering of the 21mm? I'm convinced I'll be converting everything to black and white again next month not (only) because I enjoy it but because I find the reds a bit violet and the greens a bit yellowy.

...now I know which focal lengths I really like, I feel like I can justify a pricier DA limited here and there, if I can afford it.

Well said! Having used the Zenitar enough that it's inferior build is starting to tell (it shakes loosely every time the mirror reflexes!) I've got my eye on this inexpensive replacement. Only five times the cost of the Zenitar, hah heh ahhhh. The Pentax 15mm is a bit better.

[stillshunter]

Next challenge for this or a sub-group?

Inspired by many who have achieved outstanding results with what Pentax Lens Reviews would attribute with mediocre performance or IQ.

Sub-Fifty Swap Group

Buy one lens for no more than USD50 and use for a period (month?), posting results to a folder - grouped under person and lens - and then pass that lens onto the next person around the globe.

NB: they do not necessarily have to be prime or MF glass. I've seen some F-series zooms that would easily qualify.

Anyway, just putting it out there.

[urje]

Thanks for that. Say, how do you find the colour rendering of the 21mm? I'm convinced I'll be converting everything to black and white again next month not (only) because I enjoy it but because I find the reds a bit violet and the greens a bit yellowy.

well, to be honest, I'm a bit colourblind, so I'm not the best person to ask about nuances in colour. That said, the colours in your pictures do look a bit... different to me. Is it only the DA21 which does that? Maybe you could shoot a colour chart or something, so you can figure out the offset to apply on all DA21 images?

Well said! Having used the Zenitar enough that it's inferior build is starting to tell (it shakes loosely every time the mirror reflexes!) I've got my eye on this inexpensive replacement. Only five times the cost of the Zenitar, hah heh ahhhh. The Pentax 15mm is a bit better.

Luckily, my Zenitar is still nice and tight, but since I got the DA21 it's sitting in a box, so it'll stay tight for a while I think I think the DA15 isn't really comparable with the fish eyes, since it's a rectilinear wide angle. The resulting images of a fish eye are a bit wider for the same focal length, too. But I'm sure both will do fine

[uccemebug]

well, to be honest, I'm a bit colourblind, so I'm not the best person to ask about nuances in colour. That said, the colours in your pictures do look a bit... different to me. Is it only the DA21 which does that? Maybe you could shoot a colour chart or something, so you can figure out the offset to apply on all DA21 images?

It's just the DA21. One of the reasons I've more or less set it aside. It was a very early release of the lens, I wonder if that's a factor.

[uccemebug]

Next challenge for this or a sub-group?

Inspired by many who have achieved outstanding results with what Pentax Lens Reviews would attribute with mediocre performance or IQ.

Sub-Fifty Swap Group

Buy one lens for no more than USD50 and use for a period (month?), posting results to a folder - grouped under person and lens - and then pass that lens onto the next person around the globe.

NB: they do not necessarily have to be prime or MF glass. I've seen some F-series zooms that would easily qualify.

Anyway, just putting it out there.

Wow! Wow....

Under $US50. Hmm, possibly impossible in Japan. But what an idea. I'll think about that a bit.

[uccemebug]

I've added today's pic. Another Japanese temple, yes, I know.

I've also added a couple of dozen "spares" to the 'social group'.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/groups/photo-challenge-2010-09-spares/201...l#gmessage3163