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05-28-2019, 04:47 AM - 3 Likes   #106
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I can't read any of your comments, so I'll assume they are all laudatory and illustrative of your excellent taste, I thank you most humbly

05-29-2019, 09:56 AM - 1 Like   #107
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This has been a fun month for me, though tough to be consistent, especially with the flickr issues. I'd wanted to try the FA*24 for years but could never really justify it on paper. But like the FA LTDs that's not what this lens is about. The colors and bokeh are unparalleled. The sharpness is exactly where it needs to be. It's a professional lens in the sense that it does it's job without compromise. I'm probably going to sell it but only because of $$ reasons. But it will be tough as this lens is as good at pulling my heartstrings as the FA ltds are. A 3 lens travel/hiking kit of the 24, 43 and dfa100 would be pretty sweet.

This is my fav shot from the month:


As always, I really enjoyed seeing everyone's photos this month. This is a great little corner of the forums.
05-30-2019, 08:24 PM - 1 Like   #108
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So. May done; June looms.

I'm quite pleased, to be honest. The DA16-45 it was this month, and I fear I will damn it with faint praise.

It's a capable, serviceable lens.

I do really like the wider side of it - but that's down to the wider field, not the lens.

It's sharp enough.

Focus is reasonably quick and accurate.

Renders nicely. I'm not sure about colours, and how much of what I'm struggling with is changing conditions, how much is down to camera damage/upset from being dropped some months back (the metering's stuffed; why not the white/colour balance?), or how much is the lens. I also faffed about with it and was set to "daylight" for a while, which messed up some inside photos because I forgot about it and didn't change the setting...

I've just not felt a bond with it, or inspiration from it - though it is a perfectly good lens, and I'm glad I have it.

Roll on June and the big, heavy, slow-and-sketchy-autofocus Sigma 30/1.4.
05-31-2019, 01:27 AM - 3 Likes   #109
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I'm done with May. It was a fun run. I shot and delivered every day in time. Some cheap shots during the month as normal. You just can't spend time and effort for shooting every day.

Still in love with what K1ii does to the wide open performance. When I shot M*300 with APSC I tried to avoid wide open due to decrease in sharpness. This month it was hard to move away from wide open due to quality in bokeh I gained. On FF the wide open sharpness is good enough. It's good to be on format these lenses were designed for. This is the first star lens from Pentax and it has quality in its rendering to be worth it.

4m MFD was a challenge during the month. Even with 2" extension I only got around 2m. Normally this isn't a problem, as you would only use this lens when shooting further away, but in the SIC it limits versatility a lot and makes indoor work very difficult. Other big problem during the month was shutter shock which was quite obvious with this lens. Live view and electronic shutter was easy solution on tripod, but it limits OVF use a little and takes away advantage from improved SR. There was purple and green fringnig especially wide open as can be expected from such a long lens. Defring on Capture 1 didn't clean it all and on some shots I reduced saturation from purple color locally to get rid of PF.

Outside SIC I mainly use this lens for action and continue to do so. IQ is good enough and CIF makes shooting easy enough. The other uses are when you want the soft bokeh background or if you want brenizer kind of rendering. Not the easiest lens to use, but still the star in M series.

Wide open:


Wide open (the Brenizer kind of rendering when focused close to infinity):


Wide open action:


Wide open taken with 2" extension tubes with Brenizer stitch of 20 shots spread on 4 rows:


f8 panorama from 10 shots:


f11 focus stack from 3 shots:


f11 landscape cropped to panoramic frame:


f11 sunset:


05-31-2019, 05:11 AM   #110
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QuoteOriginally posted by iheiramo Quote
I'm done with May. It was a fun run. I shot and delivered every day in time. Some cheap shots during the month as normal. You just can't spend time and effort for shooting every day.

Still in love with what K1ii does to the wide open performance. When I shot M*300 with APSC I tried to avoid wide open due to decrease in sharpness. This month it was hard to move away from wide open due to quality in bokeh I gained. On FF the wide open sharpness is good enough. It's good to be on format these lenses were designed for. This is the first star lens from Pentax and it has quality in its rendering to be worth it.

4m MFD was a challenge during the month. Even with 2" extension I only got around 2m. Normally this isn't a problem, as you would only use this lens when shooting further away, but in the SIC it limits versatility a lot and makes indoor work very difficult. Other big problem during the month was shutter shock which was quite obvious with this lens. Live view and electronic shutter was easy solution on tripod, but it limits OVF use a little and takes away advantage from improved SR. There was purple and green fringnig especially wide open as can be expected from such a long lens. Defring on Capture 1 didn't clean it all and on some shots I reduced saturation from purple color locally to get rid of PF.

Outside SIC I mainly use this lens for action and continue to do so. IQ is good enough and CIF makes shooting easy enough. The other uses are when you want the soft bokeh background or if you want brenizer kind of rendering. Not the easiest lens to use, but still the star in M series.

Wide open:


Wide open (the Brenizer kind of rendering when focused close to infinity):


Wide open action:


Wide open taken with 2" extension tubes with Brenizer stitch of 20 shots spread on 4 rows:


f8 panorama from 10 shots:


f11 focus stack from 3 shots:


f11 landscape cropped to panoramic frame:


f11 sunset:
Nice work Ismo, the 300mm is a very nice focal length on full frame
05-31-2019, 06:14 AM - 6 Likes   #111
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Well I picked this lens up cheaply on eBay, mostly due to the fact that Pentax had released an updated version, why not try the original. Well the lens on the K1 was an easy to live with choice for the month, I almost felt like I was back in the film days with a high quality point and shoot. The angle of view was common in many cameras from that era. I found it performed nicely for landscapes and with a minimum focal distance around 30cm detail close ups were able to be taken easily. When reversed for super macro, the use of the manual aperture meant extra versatility compared to a lens with no way to close the aperture when reversed. Shooting into the light there seemed to be no obtrusive flare and the lens hood works well and reverses onto the lens for storage. The bokeh was pleasant and not intrusive and despite using the in body motor for focusing, it was not very noisy and focused accurately and quickly without hunting under normal conditions. If Pentax was happy to update the lens with a new lens coating and leave the optics alone, I guess they must have thought the quality was worth persevering with, I am happy to recommend this as a keeper.
Some examples of my month with this lens












Last edited by garywakeling; 05-31-2019 at 06:18 AM. Reason: photos added
05-31-2019, 07:15 AM - 1 Like   #112
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QuoteOriginally posted by garywakeling Quote
Nice work Ismo, the 300mm is a very nice focal length on full frame
Thanks. You had a great month also.

05-31-2019, 01:56 PM - 1 Like   #113
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You all had some great images this month. I still have to post a few. Being away from home 1/2 the month makes it hard to be consistent, especially when my days away are often very long, and I still haven't come up with a suitable mobile workflow.

The FA 24-90 is a real jewel. Light and compact with great IQ . It's large front glass gathers a lot of light, so it does pretty well in lower light conditions. It zoom range makes it a good walk-around lens on the K-1. All in all, I am very pleased with this lens, purchased used on PF for a very low price.
06-01-2019, 07:04 AM - 2 Likes   #114
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I also still have a few days to catch up on, but I'm ready to review and see what next month gets me. :-)

For May I used the Tamron 28-105/4-5.6, which is a replica of a lens I had under the Promaster badge, and apparently is a clone of the Pentax FA of the same suit, because that's what Lightroom recognizes it as (and what shows up on the exif data in Flickr).

The good:
  • Zoom range
  • Fast focusing
  • Lightweight
  • Ability to use aperture ring
  • Sharp enough

The bad:
  • Large/bulky
  • Slow
  • Vignetting
  • Dreadfully short focus throw (if wanting to use manual focus)

The lens also probably would benefit from a hood to prevent haze and boost contrast, although flare wasn't too intrusive. Minimum focusing distance was very workable, although I almost always want every lens to be able to get closer - that's my own obsession. :-)

It's a cheap, lightweight lens that's perfect for, say, walking around at an event. It's extremely versatile for outdoor scenes, but a little slow for indoors. The bokeh's/isolation abilities aren't great, so it's not a super artistic lens, but sometimes its good to just try to "see" interesting things with a lens like this. That's something I'm still trying to work on getting back into the Single In Challenge.

Here's the link: Single in May 2019 | Flickr Hopefully I'll get the rest uploaded today!

I'm looking forward to next month!
06-01-2019, 08:53 AM - 1 Like   #115
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My lens for this month was the Super Takumar 55 1.8. I got the lens at the end of April and saw immediately its a bit yellowed. Will have to leave it our in the fun to see if that will clear it up. Despite the yellowing it performed as well as I hoped. Mt biggest concern was focusing the thing since i need my readers for any close up work. However I've really been working at manually focusing lenses through the view finder and am getting better at. I actually think i was better at focusing through the view finder than with the rear screen, except when i could use the zoom in feature.

The reason i bought it was for the bokeh it could produce and most of my shots this month were shot wide open. However it performed quite well at narrower apertures. it does have a bit of flare but that can handled with a lens hood, I just never got to putting one on. Despite the yellowing, I did not shoot with black and white in mind and for the most part was able to get something I liked by changing the white balance.

I also finally hunkered down to figure out why I could not get catch in focus to work. Most of my manual lenses are M42 or non Pentax lenses. So after I found the foil trick it never came off the K-1.

Pros: small light, great image quality and bokeh.

Cons: yellowing and making sure the auto switch is not engaged.

Between Single in and Daily I had 4 explores this month on Flickr! That's the most I ever had in a month and I do think doing Single In helped me work on my skill set this month, in addition to learning the lens.

See you in June!
06-02-2019, 05:53 AM - 1 Like   #116
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quite the month with the FA 43 Limited!


I finally bought a copy (used from the Marketplace) of the venerated FA 43mm f1.9 Limited - slightly intimidating, given its status as one of the Three Princesses (or Amigos, or whatever you call this trinity), but here we go:

of course, there's the build quality of the FA Limited - all metal, tight tolerances, engraved markings, all the things we've come to know and love about these lenses - she's a beauty...

two shortcomings for me are immediately apparent from the get-go: MFD of just under 18" and no quick-shift, but this lens was designed in a different time, to a different spec so I'll just adjust...

beyond those two issues, however, all is a land of sweet bokeh, beautiful colors, and rendering that is just delectable...

witness:












and even one flickr explore this month




there is one quirk I learned about the FA 43 Ltd during my month with her: do not force the lens; what I mean is, this lens has a definite, distinct style of shooting that gives you the opportunity to see why it's a legend....

I tried to force the lens into MFD, wide-open shots as I would any other close-focusing or macro lens I own and the results were not pleasing to the eye at all - flat, busy bokeh, uninspiring shots were the result...

but give the lens the chance to flow, to allow the Art to happen, and it's sooo rewarding...

the rest of my month with her:

Single In Challenge - May 2019 | Flickr
06-04-2019, 03:02 AM   #117
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QuoteOriginally posted by pepperberry farm Quote
I finally bought a copy (used from the Marketplace) of the venerated FA 43mm f1.9 Limited - slightly intimidating, given its status as one of the Three Princesses (or Amigos, or whatever you call this trinity), but here we go:
I've been hearing its siren song loud and clear lately. At times the rendering is just special. We'll see how long I can resist
06-04-2019, 03:03 AM - 1 Like   #118
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QuoteOriginally posted by iheiramo Quote
I've been hearing its siren song loud and clear lately. At times the rendering is just special. We'll see how long I can resist


you have not heard the end, then - I compared the FA43 to the DA40 and the FA43 is now for sale....
06-04-2019, 03:28 AM - 1 Like   #119
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QuoteOriginally posted by pepperberry farm Quote
you have not heard the end, then - I compared the FA43 to the DA40 and the FA43 is now for sale....
I don't fall that easy. I can still resist
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