[blackcloudbrew]

Time to sum up December with the Pentax DA*55 f1.4. I chose this lens because it's supposed to have lovely bokeh and with 9 rounded aperture blades it ought to have lovely bokeh (and starbursts too). Well, simply put, it delivered brilliantly in whatever I asked it to do. I've never shot so many images day and night at wide open or nearly wide open ever. While I did get fixated on Xmas lighting - because it was easy and fit into my shooting time when I wasn't on a shoot - but this really allowed me to play and learn to be much more creative defocusing images. A side effect of this was that I realized a week or so ago, that with a defocused image you don't need a tripod or stabilization. That was kind of an empowering realization. Another side effect is that the focus on bokeh became the thing really learned this month for me and not the lens. The DA*55 is a top of the line prime lens you expect it to be build well, be sharp, and deliver the best image you can get from your camera. It does not disappoint. As I've had this lens for more than several years, I had already known that it's just about the right length on an APS-c sensor for portraiture. Using it for low light and / or bokeh was expected to work and again it did. As a general purpose lens, at times I felt it was a bit long but mostly it was right for a lot of work. I do love the lens hood on this lens as well. Nice and deep. I should have done some more work with it using my IR camera but I already knew that it's quite subject to wild IR flaring.

The bottom line is that as a Pentax * lens, I expected quality and I got it. For me, the only thing that comes near it is the Voigtlander Nokton 58mm f1.4 which is a full frame manual focus lens with a buttery smooth focus ring.

In all of this I haven't said anything about the DA*55's SDM system. For the record, it works fine and that's what I expect. Many times with the defocused light images, I was using manual focus anyway.

So, is the DA*55 f1.4 a keeper? You betcha.

_______________

Thanks to all who viewed and commented on my postings this month. I learn from what ever comments I receive. I'm also happy that so many joined the challenge. I also have to say, the theme was just brilliant and we have some really talented members in this group. I think this is the best single month's challenge that I've participated in since the beginning of 2011. Well done and Happy New Year.

[Canmannac]

It will be strange not to take a pic tomorrow, or do some downloading or PP on some image! This was an interesting month for me taking apart in my first challenge…
If I may, I’d like to reflect on the challenge, lens and camera here…hopefully not too longish

The Challenge is an interesting space. A kind of workshop/seminar/presentation, and it really has value to the user. Visually seeing what you have done good or bad, is a big impression, set beside other Challengers work and their comments. I think all comments of critique have value, positive and or negative. Asking questions of why or where or how help you to understand better how to create but even produce, angle, conceive in new ways. Thanks to all of you who took the time to share with me. I really appreciated the interaction.

I wrote out a partial list of things to shoot, and some ideas in my head and went and tried them. Some worked, some others not so well. I thought the Bokeh theme was great to help focus on something, rather than just anything. I dragged my camera everywhere, to clients, school, cafes, markets and parks. People asked a lot what I was up to and I had to explain myself. I am photographer, I am in a Challenge for December and I need to do this… So after a while I had some people expecting results, and that was also good for me to get through the Challenge AND SHOOT SOMETHING.

As for my 43mm, in all due respect, my lingo & knowledge is pit poor..so excuse the roughness of the diamond I try to describe. The 43 is a razor and can cut you to the bone if you are not careful with it. It does not tolerate loser photogs very well. I had no idea how to work with it at the start of the month, but I have fallen in trust and respect for this Pentax gem. When I pushed it to give me something in the tight light, it always delivered. It gave me great colours, brutal sharpness, and allowed me to dabble in poor light. We always found something. It gave me circle and octagon bokeh, fading bokeh, not always creamy as some might have, No matter. It warriored. However when not careful enough the 43 gem could expose my bad focus habits, showed me poor purple fringes in poor lit places (on glass and sheer metal meshing) and showed me some of the boundaries of its ability. The 43 gave me a lot of confidence to pull of some shots in this month. It will remain a trusted companion.

Why is it that no one speaks of their cameras? Vorsord, not VorsorT, I hear from Mrs. Mann (Vorsord is hunter in Armenian) also deserves some remarks. Dependable and reliable. I learned more about how to adjust AF on the fly from 5 spot to multi, learned more about ISO settings and with how much fire I could steal from the gods at night  I am very content with my k-5oo.
I will add my other bokeh challengers in case is anyone interested in some other shots. Thanks for your input and camaraderie during the month. I won’t participate next month but I do intend in joining in during 2014 a few times. Happy New Year to you all.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/members/62597-canmannac/albums/7559-bokeh-challengers/

[twilhelm]

I was disappointed that I was unable to complete the month, but enjoyed what everyone did very much. The 77 is an amazing lens and I enjoyed using it outside of the portrait realm.

I hope to see everyone in January!

Have a Happy New Year everyone!

[jmschrei]

Despite some of the nastiest weather we have ever seen in December, the bokeh theme made this month a joy. I was pleased with most of my images. Nine of my shots even made it into Explore though one did drop out and three of this month's shots found their way into the 2014 calendar I created for friends and family. As for FA 50/1.4, I have used the lens for several challenges and it performed admirably. I generally find 50mm to be an awkward length on a DSLR but it seemed to suit the subject matter this time around. I do wish it had a closer close focus range though! Typically I find this lens to lack contrast but a simple tweak of curves is really the primary basic treatment it needs in processing from RAW. Any PP I did with plug-ins was primarily for my own entertainment or to cope with the PF inevitable when shooting wide open in snowy conditions.

Happy New Year to everyone. Thanks for all of the kind comments this month and best wishes to those heading into the January challenge. I am taking a break but I will pop in and, most likely I will cross paths with most of you on the forum or on flickr. On to 2014!

[OzzRod]

Thank you everybody for viewing and especially commenting on my pictures this month; it's really appreciated. Congratulations too on all your own fine efforts - many have encouraged me to try new techniques, some have been quite inspiring. And a thank you to Torben too for suggesting the bokeh theme. I think we all found it a test at times, but I'm sure we all learned something about our chosen lens' capabilities.

And of course, a Happy New Year to everyone. May 2014 bring all that you hope for.

[Jools]

I just want to begin by saying that I am humbled by all the images this month from all the participants of this Single in December 2013 challenge. Many thanks some fine work!
Gleaned much from your vision, composition. lenses, post-processing and approach during the month. Many thanks for that. I would rush from work just to see the daily pictures each of you uploaded, sometimes while letting go of valuable light for the image I had not yet taken.

This month, unlike any other Single in... Challenges was the most difficult. Between my long and heavy work schedule and the inclement weather, I felt I was pressed for time to capture an image the way I wanted but in the end this was another learning experience of a different kind.

My thanks for all the comments on my images and my apologies for not having been able to comment as often as I would have liked.

Regarding, the Helios; it still remains a strong and interesting lens in my arsenal. Love what it can produce under low light conditions. (Something I learned this month) This is a gem of a lens.

Here is wishing all of you a great 2014. Hope the right light you are looking for illuminates your photography.

See you down the road.
Saludos, Julio.

[camerons]

Thanks for another great month all. I appreciate the comments. I used the Tamron 17-50/2.8. I already had the DA*16-50 which I used for October and after reading some reviews I wanted to see how the Tamron compared as I really like this focal range.

The pros and cons are probably fairly well noted in reviews but I'll reiterate what I found:

- Tamron was sharper wide open
- Tamron is lighter and smaller
- I found that the Tamron zoom ring was nicer to use once you "un-stick" it after not using it for a little while. It doesn't feel as smooth but is uniform pressure throughout its range.
- I found the slightly cooler/desaturated rendering of the Tamron very pleasing.

- Pentax has nicer bokeh
- Pentax has more saturated and warmer colours
- Pentax is possibly sharper once stopped down.
- WR

I didn't really get around to stressing it out with flare or CA.

So in summary, the Tamron is amazing bang for your buck.

[jackassp]

My mental notes for the month, during which I used some very nifty 50s! Thanks for letting me explore multiple variants.

- A 50/1.4 (same as K50/1.4 and M50/1.4) - base on the Zeiss planar 7 elements in 6 groups design. These lenses can be regarded as the same in usage. Nice 8 blade bokeh, sharp from f1.4 super sharp from f2.0, razor sharp from f4.0

- SMC Takumar 50mm 1.4 (version 2, with 7 elements 0 the radio-active one) - I picked up this mint copy recently, very cheaply, and used it for a week, and was pleasantly surprised. My hands-down winner for the month. Best bokeh, sharpness and contrast. Can flare.

- Pentax M 50/1.7 I've had it for years, and really never used it much, because I got the f1.4 lenses. If you don't have one, get one, you won't be disappointed. Optically the same as the new DA 50/1.8

- FA50/1.4 Also had this one in the bag for years, and use it occasionally. Was previously very disappointed by softness wide-open, but now know how to work around these issues, and bring out the sharpness within. But you MUST use a hood with it.

The bokeh challenge has brought out some awesome shots from all participants, we must do it again, perhaps every december?
Certainly the idea of a theme for everyone works well.

[Zorglub]

Thank you all for participating this month. It has been a joy ride and source of rich inspiration as always. Every time I participate I feel I come out the other end as a better photographer. A new (sometimes) focal length added to my vocabulary. A new set of limitations and ideas tried out in practice. I gained a lot of confidence with manual focusing and my love of the K-01 was cemented even more firmly than before. What a great camera for manual work.

I shot with the Revuenon 55mm 1:1.2 MC. The bokeh is out of this world, not pure cream but evocative and engaging. I also found it's sharpness at f4-5.6 to be a pleasant surprise for my own personal favorite - the small landscape
One thing I did not show you is it's ability to do portraits. I shot quite a few family portraits with it and I think my DA 70 has serious compitition for top spot.

A special shout out goes to Canmannac who gave me the title of "grass master", now I hope to move up to "greens master" but then I would have to take up golfing I guess

In review these are my top 3 favorite pictures I shot with it this month that demonstrate it's best qualities that I could not do with any other lens that I own. I hope you can forgive the rerun.

[Canmannac]

A special shout out goes to Canmannac who gave me the title of "grass master", now I hope to move up to "greens master" but then I would have to take up golfing I guess


Dearest 'Grass Master', we could even take the grass from under your feet and you would still left with Master. Grass was meant in all non smokable senses, lol :-) But you have a unique PoV and wonderful talent. It was a honour to challenge (new verb!!!) with you this month, learn from your work and take some points from your comments. I hope you have the time to teach people some of your craft in an more in depth way.

[mtux]

I almost failed the challenge because of my back pain which I didn't post any photo for the last week. but still I can comment on the lens

Review time:
Well my lens of choice for this month was DA 50mm f/1.8
It is a quite capable lens and I'm happy that Pentax has this line of plastic but optically very good lenses, and now I'm thinking of buying the DA 35mm too.
Since DA 50 f/1.8 optical formula seemed like Pentax's film era 50mm f/1.7 and I had Pentax-A 50 f/1.7 for some times, so that was the reason I bought this lens. to have a AF version.

I had my DFA 50 macro before the DA and for sometime I hesitated to buy the DA because I thought that f/2.8 is fine enough and since the macro lens is tak sharp from wide open, and I heard that the DA 50 is tak sharp from f/2.8, so why do I need it!?
But then finally I decided to buy the DA, and hmm, I can say I don't regret it. I used the apertures wider than f/2.8 throughout the month and I was pleased by results from f/2 onward!
The bokeh out of this lens is nice and because of 7 rounded blades it's bokeh highlights are near circular until f/2.8, and that's very pleasing to me as someone who hates hexagonal bokeh highlights.

So all in all, I'm happy of this lens, and will keep it.
and don't forget the weight of it! it's almost nothing! You can't even feel it's in the bag or not!

[Canmannac]

Two more points came to mind, it is New Year's and all...and so much to recall...

Just for your info, I tried out a pair of blackhawk officer patrol gloves for shooting in colder weather - though most of December was sunny and warm here! Great tactile sensitivity, and no problems to operate the camera. Make sure you get a size that is SKIN tight for you - mine isn't so so tight. They aren't that warm either, so in colder situations you might need to use finger less gloves to cover your palm and lover parts of your fingers...I was quite satisfied with that set up at -6c at night.

And if I may suggest, the theme Gods should provide a theme a month, even if it is say a 12 month cyclical thing, bokeh in december, rule of thirds in another month, or negative space, minimalism, whatever, just help to challengers focus (ha ha) through the month. Any shot can be any thing which can lead to nothing....

Anyways, yes I will shut up now :-) Challenge on!

[blackcloudbrew]

...And if I may suggest, the theme Gods should provide a theme a month, even if it is say a 12 month cyclical thing, bokeh in december, rule of thirds in another month, or negative space, minimalism, whatever, just help to challengers focus (ha ha) through the month. Any shot can be any thing which can lead to nothing...

This is a nice idea but honestly, a monthly theme would be limiting and in someways harder. Occasionally, sure why not but with the variables of this challenge being constrained to a single lens, this may not work for all comers. OTOH, you can always assign a theme to yourself each month. A number of us have done this from time to time.

[chemtech]

Thanks, everyone for such an awe inspiring month. I've got a new appreciation for Bokeh and abstracts now.

I struggled to keep up this month, but, I've finally caught up at the very end. What a creative and talented group I joined in with this month!
Thank you for all your kind comments, advice and encouragement. A special thanks to Tim, who got me to re- evaluate my mindset about these challenges, which helped a great deal.

On to my lens Summaries:
Access 28mm --
I started out the month with a 28mm Access, f2.8 Macro (sort of) lens. The Macro part is a built in close-up lens that goes down to 1:3.7. I found the close-up ability very handy if you used it above f2.8. I found f2.8 really soft and glowy, but the bokeh was too. The rendering steadily improves the more it is stopped down and it does go up to f22. The bokeh stopped down is interesting and swirly,if a little hexagonal. I started out the month very happy with my choice until the Auto/ manual switch quit working. I went on quite a search for a good dependable replacement to finish out the month. Thus all the multiple rose shots on that one day.

The stand-in: Takumar 50 mm, f1.4 (I think the 1965 version)
I've got this lens shortly after I joined the forum because it was regarded so highly. An ebay find it came bundled with a mint condition Spotmatic. As a newbie, I favored the M 50 f1.7 and so, the Tak 50mm soon went into it's case with the Spotie to live until I needed a replacement for this challenge.
The Tak 50mm f1.4 does deserve the high regard garnered in all the reviews here on the forum. It's a smooth well oiled machine that focuses on a dime and stays that way. That doesn't mean it didn't have some issues associated with lens coatings. Yes, the white balance had to be adjusted and the purple fringe and chromic aberration made appearances from time to time. Stopped down the color problems disappeared, though

Some of the things I learned:
With a polarizer you can get crazy orange flare. I tried it with two different circular polarizers yesterday and was able to replicate the flare abstract look.
Just this last week I figured out there are Half-stops on this lens. I felt rather embarrassed to tell you the truth. I had a "now I remember moment", Duh....
Flare seemed to be an issue when I tried it out on the Q. But, your results could vary. Maybe, I'll get the official Q adapter someday.
You don't need a tripod to take low light shots with this lens. A tripod always helps, but, I ended up not using one at all this month.

I'm keeping an eye out for more Takumar's now.
This challenge was a success for me in several ways: I slowed down and became more observant, I appreciate the MF lenses I have more, I got out of the rut of using a zoom for everything, and it perked up my creativity seeing all the wonderful photos that were shared this month.

Thanks, again for a great month,
Edith

[Canmannac]

This is a nice idea but honestly, a monthly theme would be limiting and in someways harder. Occasionally, sure why not but with the variables of this challenge being constrained to a single lens, this may not work for all comers. OTOH, you can always assign a theme to yourself each month. A number of us have done this from time to time.

I see Torben made a theme for himself for January,and again with the Bokeh theme, it was not so strict to adhere to the theme. I don't know if anyone had 31 shots of bokeh, but i can serve as a benchmark or guide for people who struggle with the grind factor of the challenge. Since there are no Hard rules, it might help people to master certain photographic aspects and allow each of us the right mind set to appreciate what people are doing, We had people changing lens during he month
:-) nevermind not following he theme...