[baro-nite]

It's been great fun and a great learning exercise doing Single-in for the past four months. I will be taking a break for at least the next month, partly for work reasons but mainly because I feel it's time for a change. Here's my review of my month's lens.

SMC Pentax-M 1:2.8 28mm

A good performer in many respects, if not outstanding in any particular, other than its very compact size. An excellent value, though, as these are widely available and can be had very cheaply by Pentax standards. Very sharp when stopped down to f/8 or so. Of course, that's true of lots of lenses and the M28/2.8 is pretty soft at the wide end, especially in the corners. However it does make a pleasing lens for close subjects, with a good smooth bokeh. Color rendition is good, quite natural to my eye, and not quite as cool as some Pentax-M lenses.

I've been on a macro kick lately and most of my shots from this month are using the lens on extension, either normally or reversed. I did some reasonably thorough (if subjective) testing of this lens against the others I have in a similar focal length, at 3:1 magnification (reversed on extension), and the M28/2.8 held up well. Again, good but not outstanding; the K28/3.5 was the pick of the bunch.

I plan to sell it, as the K28/3.5 is better in nearly every way. The M28/2.8 is a touch faster and much smaller, so I could justify keeping it, especially given how little I'll get for selling it, but that cuts both ways and I could always get another copy later if I change my mind.

[bigted]

Another month and I've survived. This month I used a new to me Sigma 18-125mm f3.5-5.6. Overall, I've been very happy with this lens. It can hunt around a little, but it does take some pretty impressive shots. I've done some of my best this month - B&W flowers and a few squirrel and cat shots came to mind. It doesn't do well with movement and low light, but then this isn't the lens for that kind of subject or situation. I'm very happy with the lens and it's a keeper.

[todd]

Appreciated your work this month and the write-up baro-nite...

Enjoyed your posts too BT!

Slight regret here that I burned out and didn't make the finish line this month. I will try to participate in March but not sure I will have the time to start until Sunday. As much as manual focus gave me fits at times this month, I think I will still choose another one of my MF lenses that I haven't yet used significantly since I got my K5 last June... That will either be 28mm or 55mm..

Edit: I forgot to remark on my Single lens from the month, the Tak-k 135/2.5. I really am happy with this lens especially at the $40 purchase price. I think it is really sharp and has nice IQ and bokeh. I don't have much else to say about it technically. I do agree with someone from the review page for this lens that is seems to be optimized for the mid range.. Didn't get great results from stuff that was far away.. Yes, it's not SMC so there was fringing at times, but I get that with most of my coated lenses too so I'm never surprised. The throw is long but that was only an issue a few times with the short window of opportunity stuff and would be the case for me with any MF lens..

My only previous experience with a telephoto lens has been with my Tam70-300 and this is an entirely different animal. I do think I prefer zoom-ability at the telephoto end, at least for the walk around stuff. I still regret not picking up the Tam/Pentax 18-250 when I had the chance years ago..

I didn't reach my goal of taking and posting a lot of photos of my kids with this lens this month. Most of my opportunities for that were around the house and indoors and that just didn't suit my fancy (nor theirs for the most part). All five of my kids got baptized this month and I was going to use it for that but the church has bad lighting so I opted for my FA50/1.4 and I'm glad I did..

[Just1MoreDave]

The F28/2.8 is my top choice for 28mm so far. I can only find a few flaws. It has just an ordinary minimum focus distance of 0.3m, I think good enough if you're using it as a "normal", but some lenses get closer. It has an IR hot spot. It isn't super-fast but it is the sharpest I've used, so it's perfectly usable wide open. The F lenses have that terrible thin manual focus ring, assuming AF was so great you'd never need it.

It's so awesome that the flaws are forgettable. It's nearly pancake small, probably close enough to be in a DA Limited set if you don't like the 21mm. Performance is really good - I leave open the possibility that there are better 28mm lenses that I haven't used yet, it's better than the ones I have used. Focus is zippy. I have one shot with some veiling flare but it's great compared to the cheap stuff I've tried.

I got this lens attached to an MX Data - not the data back, but a special body with a watch, a flash to illuminate the watch and a small flag in the mirror box to project the watch face onto. (There was a similar LX version) I sold that to a collector.

Here's the lens with a metal screw-on hood I used. The hood takes a 58mm cap. It's about an inch deep. I just left it on the lens unless I needed to carry the camera in a coat pocket.

[mattt]

Love the F 28/2.8 myself, I use a metal screw in hood too. Nice review.

I was shooting M 85mm f2.0.

I've concluded other than for portrait work The bokeh from the faster apertures must be "managed". It's a solid hunk of glass and I've found that I've grown accustomed to the compact limited I own. It can be razor sharp, and the short telephoto can be used creatively . I also realized I struggle with greater than normal FL. I like to be closer to my subject and the ~127mm FL is quite narrow FoV does not afford that, and neither does the Long min focus distance.

Vacation, and business travel will curtail participation in Single In Mar.. But I'll be hanging around.

[VisualDarkness]

Sorry guys that I'm very late, but I'm uploading my last February ones now. I haven't uploaded since 20/2!

[bigted]

Sorry guys that I'm very late, but I'm uploading my last February ones now. I haven't uploaded since 20/2!

No worries, better late than never