[Ivan]

Happy 2021! All the best, prosperity, happiness.
It was pleasant and interesting to participate in this game. Thank you all for your tact and attention to the participants.
In the coming months, I will not participate in anything like this. Otherwise I will have problems with my wife . But I find such events very useful. I have never shot architecture, cityscapes. Got some experience. I must say I have studied the camera and lens this month more than in the previous four years. I will share my experience later in the thread dedicated to K7 K-7 Appreciation - The Forefather Forgotten - PentaxForums.com .
Happy New Year again!

[robgski]

I must say I have studied the camera and lens this month more than in the previous four years.

That's one of the benefits of SIC, glad you enjoyed it. I liked seeing your part of the world, I hope that you will be able to participate again. Tell your wife that taking photos is cheaper than going out drinking (until you start buying more lenses)

As for my year end SIC, I enjoyed it, and only had to use safeties about 5 days, but that is often how it goes for me each month. Some days I have no time and no inspiration, other days I am spoiled for choice.

The SMC 300mm f4 was a whim for me while out finishing Christmas shopping, but I got a good deal on this used lens, and I think it was money well spent.
The lens is a big beast, with a very long and tight focusing throw, and a little finicky in getting focus confirmation on the K-1. It performs best with a lot of light allowing it to be set at f8 or higher but in bright conditions it is prone to CA and PF.
Still I did get a few images that made it a good lens. I usually prefer to work in wide to short telephoto, and have been lazily relying on zoom lenses very often as walk around lenses, so committing to 300mm forced a big change in almost every aspect of my technique and my composition habits. The images, while good at base, often require some PP, but that is OK as I have resolved to learn to use Raw Therapee and the Topaz AI suite of tools this year.
It will not be an everyday lens, but it will probably be at hand (or in my car) for the right time and place.
Some favorite images:

This lens did give me the best moon shot I have ever achieved, a big win in my book

Once I became more familiar with the long focus throws, I got better at capturing BIF (The reason this lens will always be on hand, I stumbled across these scenes, and was able to mount the 300mm and take advantage of the opportunities


And birds at rest


And even people

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2kifgsZ][/url

[garywakeling]

Well another month is over, I had a fun time playing with the SMC F 28mm 2.8. It had a chequered past having been rejected by both Sandy and Eddy Summers then on to me. Despite such rough beginnings, the lens really is a great little performer. The focal length just seem to work well on either APS-C or full frame. The minimum focus distance is very usable and the overall sharpness was very impressive. The ability to zoom right in to pixel level and keep image sharpness meant that even with a wide view, you could easily crop in to still have a very usable image. It has a reputation for starbursts, however I didn't really have time to play with that side of the lens due to work time issues. The ability to reverse the lens and turn it into a macro lens was a surprise, the quality was amazing and the ability to use the aperture ring to close down to any aperture made it even more useful. I was still in monochrome mode after being infected in November, hopefully next month I can inject some more colour into my photography. For the small size and excellent quality, I think this lens will be a keeper

Some of this month's favourites

[Sandy Hancock]

It had a chequered past having been rejected by both Sandy and Eddy Summers then on to me.

I wouldn't quite say "rejected" - I also enjoyed it greatly; it was offered to Eddy when he was just getting on his feet photographically, as I had recently acquired a K28/2.0 and couldn't see the need to keep both. I have a tinge of regret about that decision, but as they say, "if you love something, set it free".

Let's consider it the travelling 28TM. You've done it proud in December

[garywakeling]

I wouldn't quite say "rejected" - I also enjoyed it greatly; it was offered to Eddy when he was just getting on his feet photographically, as I had recently acquired a K28/2.0 and couldn't see the need to keep both. I have a tinge of regret about that decision, but as they say, "if you love something, set it free".

Let's consider it the travelling 28TM. You've done it proud in December

Apologies Sandy, from now on I will always think of it as a traveller

[robgski]

from now on I will always think of it as a traveller

OF both time and space!

[zubzubadoodle]

I thoroughly enjoyed using the Jupiter 11A 135/4 lens this month. It's ridiculously sharp from wide open and produces great colours. There is quite a long throw on the focus so it's not for snap shooting. I enjoyed it for landscape views as well as closer stuff with a narrow depth of field. A few of my favourites are:

[pepperberry farm]

end of the month review - December '20

the continuing saga of the Tamron Adaptall-2 SP 52B - it was mentioned early in the month that this was probably the third month in a row that the 52B had been a part of the Single In Challenge....

hopefully, I kept up the good name....


I originally bought my copy of the 52B to be used as a longer macro for my M42 line up - a position it will return to...

with a P/K-A adapter on the lens, I kept it on my K-3 all month... my copy came with the OEM hood and the 018F extension to make the lens a full 1:1 macro...

as with most dedicated macro lenses, it's sharp across the frame and renders details crisply...

I've found that this lens and my 72B both tend to overexpose for my taste, but that may be just the way I see/shoot/process photos...

the 52B does not handle flare well, so a hood is always a good idea - one note on the OEM hood vs any lens cap: you'll get an either/or decision to make, since the lens barrel mates with the hood in a specific manner to pretty much foil any attempt to pinch a cap down in the throat of the hood - best bet is to cap the end of the hood and call it a day....

any cons for this lens - other than the dreaded 'hot-spot' that the flat rear element will occasionally cause if you're shooting bright images, and the aforementioned hood vs cap arrangement - no other downsides to this lens...

and the shots?












definitely a keeper.....

[Tsuken]

Really nice work from all this month, I reckon

[Chris_K]

and the shots?

Inspiring work!

[pepperberry farm]

Inspiring work!

thank you


I almost considered selling it - but I'm going to keep as my longer-range macro for my Fuji experiment....

[womble]

Finally I can post images again (too long and boring a story to explain) but it seems far too late to catch-up with December and I gave-up taking images after about the 19th anyway. I'll jump back in for February with something or other. No idea what, yet!

[Chris_K]

I'll jump back in for February with something or other. No idea what, yet!

Sounds like a plan! See you in February, then