[robgski]

Merry Christmas to all!

My wife is German, and they celebrate and open presents on the night of December 24th. Since I was living in Germany at the time, I adopted the custom. Once we had children, we celebrated by letting them open the presents from the German side of the family on the 24th, and the American side of the family's presents were opened on the 25th. I'll take all 12 days of Christmas, not sure where I'd put all those leaping lords and ladies dancing though, our living room is not that big.

[Photos-by-Chas]

Being it is Christmas Day here, I wish a Happy Holidays to all. I am of an age when I don't ask for much in the way of gifts, I can usually get what I want throughout the year. Having the day to give to others is a joy in and of itself. Providing gifts to the children and grandchildren makes for a happy day. However, winning a new Pentax KP in the raffle would not make me unhappy.

[Ivan]

I also wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Next year will not seem to be any easier than this one, so let's gain patience and calmness. I apologize to the group for leaving very few comments. I am doing everything in my power to participate in the game. But I try to compensate for this by frequently clicking on the asterisk).

[babywriter]

Merry Christmas, everyone!

January thread is up:

Single in January 2021 - PentaxForums.com

---------- Post added 12-25-20 at 08:21 PM ----------

Just a note: we've been going through some tough family issues for the past several months, and I don't see that letting up anytime soon. I'll continue to participate when I can and will make sure the monthly threads get posted. Thanks for understanding.

[pepperberry farm]

Merry Christmas, everyone!

January thread is up:

Single in January 2021 - PentaxForums.com

---------- Post added 12-25-20 at 08:21 PM ----------

Just a note: we've been going through some tough family issues for the past several months, and I don't see that letting up anytime soon. I'll continue to participate when I can and will make sure the monthly threads get posted. Thanks for understanding.

Thank you for keeping up with this...

[Tsuken]

Merry Christmas, everyone!

January thread is up:

Single in January 2021 - PentaxForums.com

---------- Post added 12-25-20 at 08:21 PM ----------

Just a note: we've been going through some tough family issues for the past several months, and I don't see that letting up anytime soon. I'll continue to participate when I can and will make sure the monthly threads get posted. Thanks for understanding.

My sympathies - I hope things look up soon.

Also my thanks for keeping everything rolling

And merry Christmas to you and yours.

[Photos-by-Chas]

Merry Christmas, everyone!

January thread is up:

Single in January 2021 - PentaxForums.com

---------- Post added 12-25-20 at 08:21 PM ----------

Just a note: we've been going through some tough family issues for the past several months, and I don't see that letting up anytime soon. I'll continue to participate when I can and will make sure the monthly threads get posted. Thanks for understanding.

Thoughts and prayers for resolution of the issues, soon. I've not been very active in the single in game, but maybe if the COVID starts declining with the vaccine, maybe we can all get more involved. Thank you for continuing the game for us.

[garywakeling]

Merry Christmas, everyone!

January thread is up:

Single in January 2021 - PentaxForums.com

---------- Post added 12-25-20 at 08:21 PM ----------

Just a note: we've been going through some tough family issues for the past several months, and I don't see that letting up anytime soon. I'll continue to participate when I can and will make sure the monthly threads get posted. Thanks for understanding.

Thanks for the work with the threads, sending best wishes to you and strength through the tough times

[robgski]

Christmas Day was one of much happy snapping and little sitting around. It began with fog and snow flurries, so I grabbed my K-1 and a non-SIC lens, the ever ready DA 18-135mm WR, and went out to gather more images showing how Bad Weather Makes Good Pictures before attending Christmas Mass, then I came home to find my wife and son wanted to get out of the house for a hike, so off we went for another two hours, allowing me to catch some good images and spend time with family. I slapped on the bulky 300mm SIC lens for a quick image out the window as we returned home and began making dinner when our daughter arrived and we opened presents after the meal, and images were captured using the DA 40mm XS . Gaming and laughter filled the evening until I retired to bed. Today, I'll review, cull and process a few images to post, and maybe catch up on commenting .
I hope each of you had an equally wonderful Christmas Day.

[Tsuken]

So another month with the Takumar Bayonet 135mm f2.5 on (mostly) my KP; at the end of the month, having received an HD DA21 Limited for Christmas, and not wanting to take it off my KP, the Tak has been on my old K-30. I forgot about its aperture block failure; I think perhaps some of what I thought were just crappy exposures were actually due to that.

Anyway, I guess I have comments on the lens, on my progress even since I last used it (in March this year), and on the notable difference between the lens on the KP and K-30.

The lens:

Wonderful bit of gear. Looks great, feels great, allows excellent photos. The focus throw is quite slow, and not small, so it forces one to be quite considered in one's shooting - which I think is a good thing. The focus feel is excellent, and particularly in conjunction with the focus confirmation beep/square can give razor-sharp results. Even wide-open the in-focus bits are really sharp. The bokeh is really nice; no fancy words I know to say about it; I just think it's really good. There's fringing in high-contrast areas. The lens - as far as I'm aware - lacks coatings, so that's probably not surprising. It's often fixable in post anyway, and when it's not it's usually because I've over-exposed and/or focused poorly, so... whatevs. I love the look/rendering - great for people, for cats, and for things.

My progress:

Reviewing my single in March 2020 album I think I would say this has been evident more in the "feel", and connection with the lens, and perhaps the degree of mindfulness in shooting, than it has in the results. That feel is important though, and I definitely felt a bit further along the path this month.

The difference:

Holy wow... I wasn't unhappy with the Tak bae on my K-30 before; or even before that, and I had used it on the KP in March this year, but going from the KP to the K-30 between one day and the next was really striking. Resolution, "pop", sharpness, all just took a hit. The camera isn't as nice to use either.

The best:

I was and remain well-pleased with this one:


Christmas table by -Occasionally Focused-

I think I started the month pretty well


Agapanthus by -Occasionally Focused-

The owls are not what they seem


Owl be right here by -Occasionally Focused-

Gotta love a flippy screen


Sullivan by -Occasionally Focused-

The verdict:

DAMN good lens, and well worth whatever it was mrs tsuken paid for it. I actually don't know what that was, tbh - but I doubt it was heaps.

[Sandy Hancock]

While Raf's on the wrap-up tip, it might be a good time to chip in before I sort out my New Year's Eve shot with the HD Pentax-DA 1:2.8-4.0 20-40mm ED Limited DC WR. I imagine it will be taken late in the evening after several drinks, so don't expect to see a processed image anytime soon

I bought a copy of this lens some years ago when it was first released, but it was clearly a bad copy - damn near unusable at the wide end until stopped down to f/8.0 or so - so I returned it. As I have all the other DA Limiteds I felt no strong urge to replace it until last year, when an upcoming trip to Alaska made me reconsider, for its relatively compact versatility and weather resistance.

My first copy was silver, the current one is black. In either flavour it is a beautiful lens, with a gloriously smooth zoom ring referencing the old Takumars and fantastic build quality overall. For those used to the DA Limited primes, it is not a small lens - both slightly longer and thicker than the FA 31 Limited. It is fairly light though. Focus is virtually silent, and nicely accurate and decisive on the KP. Manual focus was surprisingly easy despite a very short focus throw; the focus ring is particularly well damped for an AF lens - nicer in fact than any of the DA or FA Limiteds.

I was a little apprehensive about IQ second time around. I needn't have been. At all focal lengths sharpness across the frame was at least good from wide open. Bokeh is generally pleasant, chromatic aberrations were minor, and I saw no flare (although I don't recall making any deliberate attempt to induce it). Nothing to complain about at all.

With all that said, nothing about the rendering from this lens really wowed me. The DA Limited primes all have a special place in my heart, with quirks and unique qualities which are a pleasure to learn and exploit. This one's just a little bit beige, for want of a better word.

My efforts this month were a little half-arsed, as usual: more opportunistic than creative. I missed the 1st and the 26th, and many images were safety shots at best. But I enjoyed myself, even with the silly mail box series. It's an easy lens to just carry with you on the camera, ready to go - and as we all know, the best camera is the one you have with you when the time is right.

There is a handful I'm reasonably happy with:











It will remain a useful travel lens: basically a slow normal with a little bit of wriggle room either side, rather than going properly wide or long like a "real" zoom. Without the DC focus and weather sealing though, I would struggle to justify keeping it. If the upcoming DA* 16-50/2.8 is any good this limited (in the true sense of the word ) zoom might get its marching orders.

[iheiramo]

My last shot is still untaken, but I think I can wrap this up in advance. To me this month was more about software than hardware. I bought upgrades to Capture One that finally brought the support for K1ii. Without support there was huge issues with high ISO shots and I couldn't get everything out of the camera. That was a major upgrade that I wanted to research, but the colors are also now better at base ISO. It might be worth the note that from two RAW formats the Pentax own PEF seems to give better results. Also installed upgrade to Helicon focus and focus stacking feels now faster and more accurate. The gear itself was familiar K1ii and excellent M50/1.7. They didn't let me down.

ISO6400 is my new 800. Thought I will keep prefering base ISO whenever possible, this is as far as I can comfortably go when needed and can show results without need to feel ashamed




ISO12800 raises some questions, but still usable. I'd rather avoid using this, but maybe in average light to keep exposure speed up for action sports. Not completely sure how I feel about it yet. In focus no problem, but OOF does worry me already. This was taken in pretty dim light and results are acceptable, but I rather produce something better.




ISO25600 goes if small enough and OOF areas can be hid in darkness. Really can't see any use for these results. In that light either put camera on tripod or mount flash and you are much better off. 52K absolutely no go.

Capture One 21 brought Dehaze slider. What it does can be made from traditional sliders also, but it makes it easier to pull out detail out of haze. I didn't use it much during the month, but it's nice to have when you need it.




Then there was that focus stacking. One can squeesh out some serious detail from old lens with f8, pixelshift and some stacking. I usually downsample my shots before I share them, but this just had too sweet detail to pixelpeep to do that. One can see some artifacts on pixel level, but overall the quality is impressive.




I think bold shot is my favorite from the month. Thought bit overwhelming at full screen, at right size it's just sweet. It turned out pretty much as I imagined.

[Chris_K]

December with my GR3 was a great photographic experience. I like this little camera a lot and it already gave me plenty of satisfying pictures. I love the idea of the fixed focal length.
Being so small makes it unnoticed on many occasions, so I snapped plenty of candid shots of my kids, which wouldn't be possible with my louder and bigger K-50. The IQ is great, built-in presets inspiring (especially the b&w ones) and quite often I rely on the sooc jpegs. It was certainly a good purchase (although expensive as hell...).
Below are some of my favourites. Thanks again for all the comments and critique. Till tomorrow

[Cerebum]

I have been dying to sic with my Auto Yashinon 5.5cm f1.8 but something always cropped up. It has been on the pedestal as my favourite M42 and I was slightly concerned it may take a knock during a month of use, but it hasn't. It remains my favourite M42. The lens is nicely built, focus is buttery smooth as is the action for changing aperture. When i dont cock the focus up it is very sharp all round. The only slight negatives are the fact that you view the aperture through a window, and it is tiny, and the way it flares when you are shooting towards the sun, or for that matter, any bright light source. This is one of my three Tomioka and they are all lovely (although one fouls my mirror on the K3). I used it on both my KP and K3 and was equally happy with both. We had grim weather for much of December so I didn't take anything epic, although I was happy with the shots. Also, towards the end of the month I changed the way I expose images. That made a big difference to my IQ. All in all, it is a gorgeous lens and I can't recommend it highly enough.

[womble]

There has been some great photos this month. Sorry that I dropped out but I've been keeping an eye on the posts.