[UncleVanya]

April and May in juxtaposition...

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[mattt]

50 1.7 is a great lens.. I had one for a brief while that I sold ( but should have kept)

[blackcloudbrew]

April lens wrap up for the 04 lens. This month I shot with the Q7 + the 04 toy wide angle lens. With manual focus and a fixed aperture of f7.1 this 6.3mm lens is roughly equivalent to a 28mm lens on the Q7 or 35mm lens on the Q/Q10. It's called a Toy lens and while volumes have been written about this being a serious misnomer, I can only say that I wish it was a toy lens that gave lomo like toy looks. It doesn't and that's one of its problems. Basically, if I wanted to be negative about it, I'd just say, it's a cheap lens that's not very good and is hard to use. Get something else for you Q-system. While I've yet to do it, I almost know that my May review of the Q7+05 toy telephoto lens will be very similar. In my opinion, the Q-system is not made for manual focus lenses. I had thought that the focus peaking features would be a big help but...the LCD is just not big enough to really make a difference and I've had to resort to using a Hoodman loupe to get some assurances of sharpish focus. I've also had to result to taking a number of images varying the focus to get one good shot, and that doesn't always work. For distant subjects or large wide landscapes, I hit a good shot about 1 out of 10 times, but when it's good, it's good. The other thing is that when this lens is in use, the longest exposure the camera will allow is 2 seconds. That makes night work not much fun at all.

The surprising thing though is that this lens is easier to use than the 03 fisheye lens! In fact, if you don't want to spend the money for the 08 really good wide angle lens, go with the 04. You have to work at it but it will produce good images. It's cheap, lightweight, and a PIA to use.

Thanks for all your input this month. It's been a less than inspiring month for me, particularly when I see those super sharp, jump off the screen images so many of you post day in day out. I just feel like with this lens, I have been putting something up just to do it. But that's the way these challenges go.

[Sagitta]

April lens wrap up for the 04 lens. This month I shot with the Q7 + the 04 toy wide angle lens. With manual focus and a fixed aperture of f7.1 this 6.3mm lens is roughly equivalent to a 28mm lens on the Q7 or 35mm lens on the Q/Q10. It's called a Toy lens and while volumes have been written about this being a serious misnomer, I can only say that I wish it was a toy lens that gave lomo like toy looks. It doesn't and that's one of its problems. Basically, if I wanted to be negative about it, I'd just say, it's a cheap lens that's not very good and is hard to use. Get something else for you Q-system. While I've yet to do it, I almost know that my May review of the Q7+05 toy telephoto lens will be very similar. In my opinion, the Q-system is not made for manual focus lenses. I had thought that the focus peaking features would be a big help but...the LCD is just not big enough to really make a difference and I've had to resort to using a Hoodman loupe to get some assurances of sharpish focus. I've also had to result to taking a number of images varying the focus to get one good shot, and that doesn't always work. For distant subjects or large wide landscapes, I hit a good shot about 1 out of 10 times, but when it's good, it's good. The other thing is that when this lens is in use, the longest exposure the camera will allow is 2 seconds. That makes night work not much fun at all.

The surprising thing though is that this lens is easier to use than the 03 fisheye lens! In fact, if you don't want to spend the money for the 08 really good wide angle lens, go with the 04. You have to work at it but it will produce good images. It's cheap, lightweight, and a PIA to use.

Thanks for all your input this month. It's been a less than inspiring month for me, particularly when I see those super sharp, jump off the screen images so many of you post day in day out. I just feel like with this lens, I have been putting something up just to do it. But that's the way these challenges go.

I use this trick with the K-30/K-3, so maybe it will work on the Q if it has the option to do so - in your live view settings, turn on your blown highlight notification ('Highlight Alert' on the K-3) along with your focus peaking. The camera will see the focus peaking's sparkles as blown highlights and will make them flash. That trick improved my ease with manual shooting in live view tremendously, and only really fails if you have ridiculously thin depths of field to play with.

[blackcloudbrew]

I use this trick with the K-30/K-3, so maybe it will work on the Q if it has the option to do so - in your live view settings, turn on your blown highlight notification ('Highlight Alert' on the K-3) along with your focus peaking. The camera will see the focus peaking's sparkles as blown highlights and will make them flash. That trick improved my ease with manual shooting in live view tremendously, and only really fails if you have ridiculously thin depths of field to play with.

Hmmm...have to give that a try. I have no idea if I can do that with the Q7. Thanks!

[mattt]

But that's the way these challenges go

Well said.

I fussed with my K24/2.8 because of that apparent infinity sharpness issue... should have just enjoyed it. Might keep it a while to shoot some film. I struggled for the month just to get out shooting, and I realized that my portable device of choice does not support easy navigation to PentaxForums.com groups... so I have to apologize for my lack of commenting, but sitting at a desk wasn't really on the agenda for me.You can tell I was off my game, I didn't even participate with the Selfie challenge (sorry Sara). Particularly liked some of the work JBarry was posting - some bold PP with great results, and Mtux with the Visco treatments were nice too (as well as his usual fine macro work). I had to snicker at Pam's summary - FA 35 is a favorite lens of mine, great for street, but that normal FoV really is... normal .

Anyway - spring/summer and Autumn for you folks in the Southern Hemisphere... May will bring some wonderful shooting no doubt.

[utak]

Great reviews above, I enjoyed reading them all. Mehrdad, your photos just jump off the page!

Well in case you hadn't guessed, I used the Auto-Takumar 35/2.3 this month. A big, fast, quite rare lens.

I've already reviewed the lens here: Auto Takumar 35mm F2.3 Reviews - M42 Screwmount Wide-Angle Primes - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database My views haven't changed, except I'm now even more impressed by the lens's versatility. If you want swirly soft bubble bokeh, tick. If you want ultra thin dof, smooth painterly macros with extension tubes, tick. If you want product placement sharpness close up, a few stops down, tick. If you want great urban landscapes stopped right down...

Most of my photos were processed, sometimes outrageously. But I did post a few SOOC, and if you nail the settings, it produces exceptional results, unlike some other old Takumars that always need processing. All-in-all a wonderful piece of 56 year old glass. It will never be out-resolved.

Many thanks, as ever, for all your great photos to look at and all your kind comments.

I'm not able to do May, sadly. As my last photo of the month says (in flowers)..."Forget me not!"



***********
EDIT...and here is my favourite photo posted this month on flickr...processed during the month, but taken just before the Challenge started

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Last edited by utak; 05-01-2015 at 01:57 AM.

[Tsuken]

I'm not able to do May, sadly. As my last photo of the month says (in flowers)..."Forget me not!"







***********

EDIT...and here is my favourite photo posted this month on flickr...processed during the month, but taken just before the Challenge started

Unforgettable, Simon.

And I love that photo!

[wolfiegirl]

Sigma 17-70.

Like some, April has been a tumultuous month for me. It started out so promising with a trip overseas, and then rapidly went downhill after Elsie came down with her illness.

My drug of choice this month was the Sigma 17-70. It fit perfectly into my shooting - for me, it's the perfect walk around focal length. It's super sharp and produces some lovely images. AF is a bonus. There is a slight distortion on the edges, which I noticed when trying to get my landscapes to line up correctly at 17mm. On the k-50, the lens is so darn wide though, that I end up getting shots with the edges of the hood showing (!)

If I ever need to go anywhere, this lens will do everything I need it to. And yet.... I never really felt inspired to use it. There was no excitement as I went to view, to see what magical surprises this lens could bring. Instead, it was always just a stock standard performer. Sad, considering how long I lusted for this lens. And now that it's here, I'm more excited about my Tamron 70-300 and the domiplan 50/2.8, then I am with this. Not fair, really. It does everything it says out of the packet, and I bought it because of what it says on the packet. And I'm still not happy!

The sigma produces crisp images and produced some documentary images of this month that I will always treasure, without ever feeling the need for another lens. So I guess in that sense, it's more than earned its keep. And I should be more than grateful. Sometimes 17mm is all you need.

Will it stay in my arsenal? Yes. Will I use it more often? Debatable.

[blackcloudbrew]

Carsen 180 f3.5 wrap up for April. I bought this lens from member MightyMike in January of this year for about $50USD. It's hard to find any info about it online as Carsen apparently was a Canadian reseller of Olympus gear. Apparently this lens traces it's history back to Olympus and back to somewhere in the 1970's or '80's. Not sure really. It's big, heavy, long, M42, manual focus, and has a very interesting shape.


Mounted on my K5 with the Pentax M42 adapter, it tends to wiggle a bit. Could not find any problem with that but there is a lot of weight on the adapter. I've read that this is not uncommon for M42 lenses (although I can't remember others I have doing this a noticeably as this one).

What attracted me to it was it's interesting shape (really!) and ten aperture blades, which I suspected might provide pleasant bokeh and interesting starbursts - and as I found out this month, I was right on this.

What I've learned about this lens is that it's a good lens just not a versatile great lens. With a minimum focus distance of about 7 feet, it's hard to get close to something. At f3.5 is on the slow side too. It clearly provides nice bokeh and 10-point starbursts and I like both of those features. I've gotten reasonable night images of the moon and stars as well, although clearly much longer lenses would be much better at this. I didn't spend a great deal of time finding it's sharpest f-stop but around f8 or f11 it seems to be - like many lenses - at its best.

Bottom line here is that this would not be the first lens I reach for but it's staying in my lens kit for sure. Like Takumars old cheap lenses like this have a charm all their own. Yes, there is a little flaring with this lens (no idea of the coatings used on it either), yes it's a bit slow to use, no it's not a telemacro type lens, no it's not long enough for birds etc. but with a metal body that you feel you could use to drive nails in to wood, this puppy is a solid piece of glass. I will say that towards the end of the month, I got tired of the limitations a telephoto places on you day in day out. As I've found before, telephoto lenses can't be used for everything. Anyway, it's been an interesting challenge.

Once again, thanks to all of you who commented on my postings this month.

[g026r]

It's hard to find any info about it online as Carsen apparently was a Canadian reseller of Olympus gear.

W. Carsen Co. Ltd. was the exclusive Canadian distributor of Olympus products from 1949 until sometime in the late-90s/early-2000s. Their lenses were, as far as I know, generally just rebrands of the usual third-party Japanese manufacturers. I know it's rumoured that some of their lenses were likely Tokinas, but I'm tempted to say that the 180/3.5 is actually a Petri as the two look fairly similar.

Though it could also be another manufacturer that both Carsen and Petri rebranded, as apparently not all Petri lenses were actually made by Petri Camera K.K.

Edit: And, further down in the page linked, someone comments that the Petri 180/3.5 was made by Kyoei -- which looks just like your Carsen.

Mounted on my K5 with the Pentax M42 adapter, it tends to wiggle a bit. Could not find any problem with that but there is a lot of weight on the adapter. I've read that this is not uncommon for M42 lenses (although I can't remember others I have doing this a noticeably as this one).

It looks like it's fairly narrow at the base. Perhaps it's not wide enough to pull the adapter snug? (I know I have that problem with a handful of mine, with the problem becoming more pronounced for longer focal lengths.)

[willdmo]

Well in case you hadn't guessed, I used the Auto-Takumar 35/2.3 this month. A big, fast, quite rare lens.

I was on the Takumar too this month,
I have some results Id like to share but some inconvenience with the country restrictions in Flickr and no good scanner stand against. I got some nice pictures on paper and try to scan the paper pictures, ASAP, maybe tomorrow. On the other hand, some results of this lens where not that good at all, but I have to find out if it was malusage, the old film or the aged SPF. For everyone whos gonna try this lens on crop sensor, a Hood is strongly recommended. With Film I already reduced the hood a bit, but got ugly vignetting on nearly every picture on the wirst roll of film. The second roll was much petter with only a filter and a step up ring screwed on. In some circumstances I got vignetting here too. The hard thing is, what to do... live with vignetting in some circumstances or with a sever drop in contrasts with the "wrong" lighting. On the last roll I started to shade the lens with the hand on some sides with hopefully no vignetting, but the developed roll on the end of the next week will show it.

[ripper2860]

Just received my Tak 35/2 3 today. Hope to give it a whirl this weekend.

[Canmannac]

First off, thanks for taking time in April to take a look at my work and making comments on it. I appreciated it very much.
Second, the group as a whole took some great shots, very inspiring to be shooting along with you. The versatility, imagination and the creativity was so abundant. Great stuff. Robust!
I had noticed somewhere a comment that the Singles In was a lens review type of event. I have never really held/shared that view. Partially I am somewhat inept in telling you the technical data and also because I want to spend that month getting better using the lens, just not fire off some test shots to compare with.
So I wandered into April with the Tamron 28-75mm on my K5IiS determined to improve my nonexistent portrait skills, and went full bore at it. Yeah I got business cards as I said to create some ice breakers for shy, alarmed people and it was a good balsam.
Now this Tamron was recommended for portraiture, and having a bit of range ie 28-75, you have very decent flexibility to frame moments with people. My only regret is that I didn’t take a group photo….
But you get very lovely consistent light with this lens and when paired with the K5iiS you get wonderful response in lower light situations. Lovely colours. The lens I found handled direct sunlight welll with little flare as well. The focus was tight and bang on, no issues with missing focus. The issue the lens has is the fact at times you will get a part of the picture blacked out, say 1/5, in my always bottom frame. Like the shutter didn’t close fast enough or something. Fortunately never happened on a possible keeper shot. Can’t remember if it happened only with flash… Read that it can occur. In over 500 shots I saw it happen 4 times.
It is hefty, there is a lot of glass inside, but I feel plenty of photographer love for this lens. It was so reliable, it brought me a lot of great light that gave me confidence to pull off some shots, to create something.
I had to work a lot with my Sigma Super 610 flash and my triggers as well. And that was like monkeys in a barrel at time. Oh boy, batteries, switches, misfires. What fun. However we did get it to fire over 25metres away and once fully charged and set it really helped out when asked. I would say the misfires kind helped break some ice too with people.
The K5iiS was just awesome. Wonderful Wonderful Wonderful.
Portraits took a lot of work, so much more than I was ready for. Glad I have the tools in software for it, very happy for the 28-75 and the K5iiS too  Great thing was I met a bunch of people, had these experiences with them and so many are now using the pics I shot. I feel a lot of gratitude in that. Marketa, lady with hat, is using the entire series to market a small event her import company is doing.
Thanks again and see you next month, with the ol 10-17 Fish eye…. Cheers

---------- Post added 05-02-15 at 12:26 AM ----------

sweetness. Sad you are not shooting along side saddled this month.. Cheers

[blackcloudbrew]

W. Carsen Co. Ltd. was the exclusive Canadian distributor of Olympus products from 1949 until sometime in the late-90s/early-2000s. Their lenses were, as far as I know, generally just rebrands of the usual third-party Japanese manufacturers. I know it's rumoured that some of their lenses were likely Tokinas, but I'm tempted to say that the 180/3.5 is actually a Petri as the two look fairly similar.

Though it could also be another manufacturer that both Carsen and Petri rebranded, as apparently not all Petri lenses were actually made by Petri Camera K.K.

Edit: And, further down in the page linked, someone comments that the Petri 180/3.5 was made by Kyoei -- which looks just like your Carsen.

It looks like it's fairly narrow at the base. Perhaps it's not wide enough to pull the adapter snug? (I know I have that problem with a handful of mine, with the problem becoming more pronounced for longer focal lengths.)

Wow, you've doubled my history on this lens. Thanks. Yes, it's clearly not wide enough to snug the lens to the camera body.