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12-01-2013, 09:37 PM   #466
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Time to review DA 18-135
I received this lens as a kit with my K30, and soon after that, it's performance specially wide open disappoints me. mostly because it was my first DSLR experience and I had a lot to learn about how to use it. and I expected too much.
But this month I found it a quite versatile lens with a good range, and acceptable performance when none of my other lenses can get a photo (rainy days). and I can sharpen it's photos a tad in PP.
It's sharpness improves as you stop it down, and if you know how to use it, it will produce good photos.
MFD of this lens is very good to me and give 1:4 reproduction ratio which is quite good for some close up shots.
I may decide to sell this lens later not because of it's performance but because I need a smaller/lighter WR lens, to keep in my bag when I'm going out and there's a chance of rain! and now I'm thinking to buy the new DA 20-40, if it's performance is better and price drops to 800 during next year, because of it's size and weight which are important factors for me.

12-01-2013, 10:17 PM   #467
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Yes, it's lens review time for sure. I used the Vivitar 85mm f1.4 lens (also branded as Samsung/Bower and ?). I've owned this lens since about 2008 and have a love hate relationship with it. It's a full frame lens, manual focus, and is very bright. The focus is buttery smooth and I like that but at wide open or nearly so, it's a beast to get a sharp focus. On my old K10d, with out a split image viewfinder it was really hit or miss and the K20d wasn't much better. However, on my K5, this problem has been mostly licked. Generally, this month, I've been pleased with the results. However, it's not a general purpose lens. I bought it for portraits and it does them well, everything else well, I'd rather use other lenses for.

Pros
buttery smooth focus ring
f1.4
solid build
lovely bokeh - this is a really strong point with this lens and one of the reasons it's still in my gear bag
full frame lens

Cons
the lens cap/hood suck - it needs a pinch cap to use quickly however, the standard configuration isn't that way and it's a pain to use.
difficult to focus - particularly in low light
not a general purpose lens

Beyond all of this, I still like this lens and will keep it around to use on my film cameras and should Pentax actually come out with a full frame camera, the Vivitar 85 will be very useful. While this is a cheaper lens than some of the alternatives (Pentax in particular) it's not much different in image quality and if handled well can produce some excellent results.
12-02-2013, 04:42 AM   #468
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So it's time for the obligatory review, eh?

This was my first ever Single In challenge, and I enjoyed it immensely! Sure there were busy days when it was a bit tough to get a shot, and days where inspiration was lacking, but who doesn't have those days? If they're my tallest woes I'm doing very well indeed!

The lens of choice was the DA* 16-50mm f/2.8, which is rather new to me. It certainly gets mixed reviews and some would stay right away based on that... indeed some of the reviews are downright scathing. Build quality is superb... I'm sure I could hammer nails in with this puppy, and handling on the K-5 is very nice thank you (not quite as well balanced on the K-r or the K-01). Zoom ring is a little stiff, but as it's new that might settle down some; focus ring is just right. AF performance was very good, and I was surprised to see AF operational in some extremely dark conditions.

Optical performance? I'm sorry I'm not much of a pixel peeper... my philosophy tends to be that if a lens looks good at human sized images, it just looks good... plain and simple!

I did find the lens to be versatile, with an extremely useful focal length. Great wide at 16mm (I like 16 so much better than 18!), and a nice short portrait length at 50mm (I would like a *touch* more reach... 16-70mm f/2.8 would be my idea of lens nirvana!). Of particular note I LOVE the lens' ultra close focusing distance!!! Bokeh can be downright dreamy when shot wide open, and the colour rendition is lovely. I found it to be quite sharp indeed. I didn't notice any significant issues with sharpness (caused by the lens!), even when wide open. Mostly when I'm shooting wide open I'm looking for a sharp central(-ish) subject and creamy bokeh anyway, so edge sharpness in that context is something of a moot point. I did notice a little chromatic aberration kicking in in high contrast situations, and I think this would be this lens' major weak point if I had to pick one, but none were entirely objectionable, or unfixable. There's a little distortion wide, which is noticeable in the right situations, but I think you'd need to be a real-estate or architectural photographer for this to be a major headache.

I was having some reservations about this lens going into the challenge, but now that we've come out the other side still together I'm very happy with it indeed. A keeper for sure.

Now to see if I can withstand the woeful close focusing distance of the otherwise lovely SMC DA 70 for a whole month (particularly as it's Bokecember!).


Last edited by Eberbachl; 12-02-2013 at 04:51 AM.
12-02-2013, 06:40 AM   #469
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The SMC 85/1.8

Like blackcloudbrew's Vivitar, this really isn't a walk around lens. During the month I grew more confident of quick focusing and manual intervention, and used it more for informal on-the-street portraits. Nevertheless, it remains hard to focus, doesn't automatically meter very well on dslrs, and you'll find yourself deleting loads of poor photos. The good photos, however, will be stunning, ultra sharp with ultra smooth bokeh.

One of lens's real pains is that its focus goes to over 60ft before reaching infinity. So when you walk down a street, or go to a kids sports match, with 60ft plus to focus, you can't be sure it's in focus if set to infinity. For comparison, the K55/1.8 only goes to just over 30ft before infinity.

The K55/1.8 is an interesting comparison for another reason: it's another great lens, long enough for portraits, but so much cheaper. I'd go for a K55/1.8 first....On the other hand, I personally believe the K series 85/1.8 is a better buy than the even more expensive K 50/1.2, as the 85mm produces exceptionally smooth and artistic bokeh at very shallow depths of field. And its not a one-point-two trick pony like the 50/1.2.

Overall, I remained convinced the 85/1.8 is one of the greatest MF lenses Pentax made, at a time when Pentax was one of the great manufacturers. On FF it would be fantastic.....

12-02-2013, 07:15 AM - 1 Like   #470
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@Eberbachl - lens reviews are are not mandatory but they have become a feature of these challenges because it's a nice end point of the challenge to sum up your experience. So if you do a review, fine, if not, fine. You did well BTW.

One additional point I forgot to add on the Vivitar 85mm is that it's minimum focus distance is 1 meter. This makes it hard to use close up and I've blown shots trying to shoot too close. I put this in the con column.
12-02-2013, 02:19 PM   #471
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QuoteOriginally posted by Eberbachl Quote
I did find the lens to be versatile, with an extremely useful focal length. Great wide at 16mm (I like 16 so much better than 18!), and a nice short portrait length at 50mm (I would like a *touch* more reach... 16-70mm f/2.8 would be my idea of lens nirvana!).
Interesting that you say that. I also dislike lenses ending at 50mm. It's always a tad short for me and the reason I now own a sigma 17-70. I'd love it though if like you said we could go one step wider. But that's just LBA speaking..
12-05-2013, 10:34 PM   #472
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Hi All,

Apologies, I fell off the SI wagon mid way through the month. Work just got in the way and I wasn't able to maintain the pace.Thanks for all the positive feedback, sorry I haven't had a chance to return the favour to any great extent.

A quick review of the DA 50mm F1.8 while i'm at it. Certainly struggled early on with the extremely shallow DOF, going from 2.4 to 1.8 seemed a large jump, and maybe highlighted my lack of experience. I will need to spend more time with this lens on my camera. When I was able to catch exposures with it, it was tack sharp with colour rendered beautifully. I did struggle with the 50mm focal length at times, found the 35mm I used last month far better for walking around. Other than that, for the price...great lens.

This certainly wont be my last single in.

Esky


Last edited by Esky; 12-05-2013 at 10:48 PM. Reason: Added lens review.
12-05-2013, 11:01 PM   #473
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I guess I'll give you all my review of the coupled lens set I used this month. The Pentax DA 18-55mm AL ll is nice by itself. Coupled with the Raynox DCR-250, it just didn't give me the macro shots that I was hoping would work with this setup. One shouldn't have to crop photos as much I had to do in PP to get the macro shot. I was told that the Raynox DCR-250 worked better on lenses shorter than a 100mm, but after this months shooting, I'm not so sure that's true. My closeup filters work a lot better in getting close to macro.

So that's it. It's was fun for the first few shots but after I wasn't getting the macro's I wanted, I've decided with the kit lens, the Raynox just doesn't do it.
12-06-2013, 07:46 AM   #474
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QuoteOriginally posted by photolady95 Quote
I guess I'll give you all my review of the coupled lens set I used this month. The Pentax DA 18-55mm AL ll is nice by itself. Coupled with the Raynox DCR-250, it just didn't give me the macro shots that I was hoping would work with this setup. One shouldn't have to crop photos as much I had to do in PP to get the macro shot. I was told that the Raynox DCR-250 worked better on lenses shorter than a 100mm, but after this months shooting, I'm not so sure that's true. My closeup filters work a lot better in getting close to macro.

So that's it. It's was fun for the first few shots but after I wasn't getting the macro's I wanted, I've decided with the kit lens, the Raynox just doesn't do it.
Interesting review and observations. The kit lens is a love it or hate it lens and at times I've done both. Thanks for your comments.
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