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08-26-2018, 07:19 AM - 2 Likes   #46
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QuoteOriginally posted by photolady95 Quote
I'm slowly getting better health wise. Maybe I can come back to play in October. I sure do hope so anyway.
Glad to hear from you, and glad to hear you are on the road to recovery.

Yesterday, I went to see performance by Cirque Italia, a European-style touring circus of jugglers, clowns, acrobats, and aerialists, performing on stage where lights and water droplets painted patterns in the air. Even though I could not bring a camera, I am glad that I went, because it really was worth seeing in person, my jaw dropped open in amazement several times as I watched the performances. I do wish I could have taken photos, because the lights, water, and action would have made for some great shots.

It's Sunday morning and I've already gotten some shots taken. After early morning services, I went down to the railroad tracks, and it looks like someone may have finally taken on the renovation of the café located in the 150 year old train station. With any luck they'll keep some of its art nouveau appointments as they bring it back to use. I'll have to stop there more often to make a visual history. Later today I'll go up to the mountains to tour an Italian-style manor that dates back to the 1920's. It's a beautiful old pile of white marble with a red terra cotta roof and a Tuscan style garden and arcades on the grounds, overlooking three valleys. Unfortunately decades of neglect and mismanagement have kept it from getting the renovation it needs. Still it looks very nice and offers a lot of photo opportunities.

08-26-2018, 07:30 PM - 1 Like   #47
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September thread is up:

Single In - September, 2018 - PentaxForums.com

Also, my apologies to everyone for my poor commenting and spotty participation this month. A busy schedule, combined with a fair bit of burnout, are the culprits. I'm looking forward to a much more active month in September!
08-28-2018, 05:31 AM - 4 Likes   #48
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QuoteOriginally posted by Sandy Hancock Quote
I blame @severalsnakes
Not sure that the "bare" part is essential to the concept, but I confess to having played along on a couple of occasions
Here I am, trying to relax in my own home, and little do I know folks are traipsing around the internet dragging my good name through the dirty world of belf portraits!

Well, if I'm going to be referenced I want it known that the bare buns are essential for a quality belfie, and if you're not going to put the effort forth (or... rear...?) then you may as well just keep it conventional.

Bare belfs or die!

(Honestly, I've only taken one belfie, butt it was great.)

Someday I'll come back to you, Single Inners... I still manage to make daily shots, but I'm about two months behind on processing photos.
08-28-2018, 02:13 PM - 1 Like   #49
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QuoteOriginally posted by severalsnakes Quote
Here I am, trying to relax in my own home, and little...
Good to see you here again.

Missed you in June. We had a date, you know? And you left me shooting M100/4 all by myself
Well, it was still a good month.



08-28-2018, 03:37 PM - 1 Like   #50
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Today I saw a news article about the restoration of the train station I mentioned above. I'm glad the new tenant will try to reuse the old decorations and fixtures, I look forward to seeing the results!
08-30-2018, 06:20 AM - 2 Likes   #51
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I'm still in the game.

I have a shot from the 28th, taken during a brief hiatus in the middle of a 15 hour working day. It's still in my K-1.

I missed the 29th, amidst a similarly long day.

On the 30th (today) I drove to Falls Creek, which from Adelaide takes about 11 hours with no real breaks, for my brother's 60th birthday celebrations. The SD card I have in the KP is not playing nicely with the card reader in my laptop, so this evening's images from the snow will also have to wait until I get home.

I have tried a spare SD card as I prepare for bed, and It appears to work better, so here's hoping for something contemporaneous for the 31st.
08-30-2018, 07:01 PM - 2 Likes   #52
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my sunset shot from Tuesday hit 'explore'



08-30-2018, 11:20 PM - 4 Likes   #53
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By the way, Falls Creek Hotel's WiFi is glacially slow, so even opening Flickr to comment on everyone's fine images is extremely tedious.

So I am going to wrap on my month with the HD Pentax-D FA 1:1.4 50mm SDM AW.

It is, in a word, incredible.

Physically, it is certainly a big heavy lens - reminiscent in dimensions and heft to my DFA24-70 - but it balances well on the K-1. Build quality is impeccable, with that familiar Star lens finish but taken to even higher tolerances. The the big petal hood fits so snugly it looks integral when it's in use, and the focus ring is almost sensual. The only thing that irritates me is that it lacks depth of field guides on the focus scale window.

Optically it's almost impossible to fault. It is the only lens I have used which truly sharp wide open, and maintains that to the edges. The bokeh transitions smoothly into the most buttery wash, and highlights are almost perfectly round across the frame even when stopped down. I didn't test the starbursts, but I have seen lovely examples from other users.

Autofocus is pretty quick, totally silent, and very accurate.

If the rest of the DFA* series maintains this standard, good times are ahead for Pentax.

As for my own participation in the challenge, my photographic mojo continues to be at a fairly low ebb, and my commenting has become a little slack. But I only missed three days (plus the first, when I did not have the lens), so I'll cut myself some personal slack
08-30-2018, 11:55 PM - 3 Likes   #54
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I'm done with the month and time to write the wrap up. Full album for anyone interested: SIC 2018 08 Pentax M28/3.5 | Flickr

I was a lazy photographer this month and shot almost nothing else than the shots needed for SIC. I believe I didn't use any other lens during this month. But I have kept shooting daily and managed to produce something that I'm not ashamed everyday. I also try to put the lens thru a different shooting styles during the month and I'm quite happy with the variation I have produced. As typical a bit tired of the lens by the end of the month and eagerly waiting for the new lens.

This month I shot with M28/3.5 which interestingly has better reviews in PF and is more expensive than faster M28/2.8. I've been wondering the reason for the difference in appreciation, but I'm still lost after shooting a month with both, as I find the 2.8 better of the two. Lenses are pretty similar to use and I don't notice difference in IQ in normal situations. 2.8 triumphs in starbursts and in resistance of flare and PF. Of course it also has that extra step of light. I can't point any clear advantage in 3.5, so for me the winner is clear. If you want to compare yourself the album of 2.8 is here: SIC 2018 03 Pentax M28/2.8 | Flickr

M28/3.5 is a quite compact lens and nice to handle as M's typically are. It's in the gategory of the sharp enough lenses. There are sharper in the series, but it's no issue with 28. Hyperfocal distance is really short, so it's easy to take shots with everything sharp. This is good for landscapes, but also handy for shooting action, if you can get yourself to right distance, As a drawback it's quite hard to squeesh bokeh out of the lens and the quality of it is not the best. Especially if stepped down. Wide open at MFD you can get decent results. I think the 28's are the weakest in my lens gatalogue in this respect.

Overall M28/3.5 is a good and cheap wide angle lens and I used it happily when it was my only wide angle. I got it out of my paggage, when I bought M35/2. More expensive, but better lens in everyway. Final nail for the 3.5 is the 28/2.8, as it provides everything 3.5 does and something special in starbursts and flare resistance, which remain pretty much the only reason why I would go for 28 over 35. So my M28/3.5 shall go back to the shelf to wait for the next round of SIC in full frame mode and most likely I'm ready to sell it after that. In case I sound negative I want to emphasize that M28/3.5 is a good lens despite the fact that I have better.

Highlights from the month:









08-31-2018, 03:27 AM - 1 Like   #55
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QuoteOriginally posted by Sandy Hancock Quote
By the way, Falls Creek Hotel's WiFi is glacially slow, so even opening Flickr to comment on everyone's fine images is extremely tedious.

So I am going to wrap on my month with the HD Pentax-D FA 1:1.4 50mm SDM AW.

It is, in a word, incredible.

Physically, it is certainly a big heavy lens - reminiscent in dimensions and heft to my DFA24-70 - but it balances well on the K-1. Build quality is impeccable, with that familiar Star lens finish but taken to even higher tolerances. The the big petal hood fits so snugly it looks integral when it's in use, and the focus ring is almost sensual. The only thing that irritates me is that it lacks depth of field guides on the focus scale window.

Optically it's almost impossible to fault. It is the only lens I have used which truly sharp wide open, and maintains that to the edges. The bokeh transitions smoothly into the most buttery wash, and highlights are almost perfectly round across the frame even when stopped down. I didn't test the starbursts, but I have seen lovely examples from other users.

Autofocus is pretty quick, totally silent, and very accurate.

If the rest of the DFA* series maintains this standard, good times are ahead for Pentax.

As for my own participation in the challenge, my photographic mojo continues to be at a fairly low ebb, and my commenting has become a little slack. But I only missed three days (plus the first, when I did not have the lens), so I'll cut myself some personal slack

how does it compare to it's previous generation, the DA* 55mm f1.4 SDM?
08-31-2018, 03:56 AM - 1 Like   #56
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QuoteOriginally posted by Sandy Hancock Quote
If the rest of the DFA* series maintains this standard, good times are ahead for Pentax.

As for my own participation in the challenge, my photographic mojo continues to be at a fairly low ebb, and my commenting has become a little slack. But I only missed three days (plus the first, when I did not have the lens), so I'll cut myself some personal slack
The performance of the DFA* was really something different and I have quite high expectations for the future releases. Somewhere in the spring when the first shots came online I realized that I will probably never get FA limiteds. Instead, if I ever feel the need to go for modern glass it's more likely straight to the top.

Slack is much better than quit. It was good to see you back in challenge after couple of hard days.
08-31-2018, 06:29 AM - 2 Likes   #57
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QuoteOriginally posted by pepperberry farm Quote
how does it compare to it's previous generation, the DA* 55mm f1.4 SDM?
I didn't compare them side by side, but using historical controls the new lens is much sharper wide open, and over the whole frame. It vignettes much less (i.e. not at all vs a lot), and focusses faster. And the bokeh is next level.

So much better all around, apart from size, weight and price of course. I still really like the DA*55 as a nifty fifty on the K-1, but the Fat FiftyTM flies the flag for what is possible with the format.
08-31-2018, 12:46 PM - 2 Likes   #58
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my end-of-the-month review for the Tamron Adaptall-2 01BB

I felt lucky enough when I bought this lens on eBay to find a NIB/NOS copy of it - as far as I could tell, the lens had never been mounted on a body; all the original paperwork, etc were included with the lens....

I had a spare Adaptall mount, for KA bodies, so mount the lens and away we go!


Firstly, this lens is nicely-built; as Tamron moved closer to autofocus lenses, they used more composites and less metal in their lens construction (the 72B is a good example), but the 01BB is primarily metal, with the addition of a plastic window over the distance scale... supposedly, the optics are identical to the prior version (01B) but there are some reviews that compare the two and state that there does seem to be finer optics in the later model of this 24mm lens...

the focus ring is my only complaint on this entire lens - it's small and slightly recessed; it does not protrude above the lens body at all; this makes it a bit tricky to use occasionally... the action itself is nicely damped and is smooth all the way through its travel...

throughout the month, I was consistently impressed with this lens' ability to resolve details, its color rendition, bokeh, and general IQ... this lens is dramatically different from its 28mm sibling (02B)

some of my favorite shots from August:









this last shot shows the 01BB's ability to capture a sunset and was my only 'explore' for the SIC this month

the rest of the month's shots:

Single In Challenge, August '18 | Flickr


overall, the 01BB is highly recommended - so much so, I started a lens club just for 24mm lenses based on this lens' abilities....
09-02-2018, 06:40 AM - 2 Likes   #59
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Well my end of the month review is phew, as the first challenge I have tried , I really enjoyed the mental challenge of using the camera every day. The added bonus was becoming reacquainted with my old friend from the film days and LX, the 50mm 1:1.2 . The K1 took a little while to feel natural with the manual focus lens, however mid way through the month I added the O-ME magnifying viewfinder, which made a big difference to my focusing hit rate. I thank all of you for the informative comments over the month and the support with getting into the single challenge. It was interesting to compare the 1.2 vs the shots Sandy posted with his 1.4 , I liked seeing the shots from the other side of the world, reminding me that the warm weather will soon return after what seems a long dark winter here. So onwards to next month to continue
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