[babywriter]

My lens for the month was the Pentax-F 100mm f/2.8 macro. General impressions:

- The lens is sharp. I mean, really sharp. You would expect that from a macro, I suppose, but I really enjoyed being able to nail a photo and zoom WAY in. Details for days. And, surprisingly, lovely smooth bokeh at wide apertures.
- It's a heavy lens, but seemed to balance well on the KP, so I didn't notice it much while I was shooting. AF was quick and reliable. It has a focus limit switch, but I really didn't use it. It does, like most macros, have a huge focus travel - 270 degrees or so.
- One of my colleagues on here said, early on, that my ego was trying to take pictures that the lens wouldn't cash. As the month progressed, there was definitely some truth to that. I used it as a general-purpose lens, including in some situations where I would have been better advised not trying. Those situations, mostly, involved CA. In the wrong conditions (i.e., shooting somewhat into the light), the lens would produce both purple and green CA in abundance. Ugly, but often removable using Lightroom.

Bottom line: this lens is a keeper. Really enjoyed using it.

A few pictures:

[pepperberry farm]

March '21 with an FA 31 Limited:

an epic lens - much more so than my experience with the FA 43 Ltd...

the FA 31 Limited is all the things you'd want in a lens: sharp, colorful, great bokeh... what more could you want?

this is the lens that all 28mm lenses aspire to be (can you tell I'm not a 28mm fan?)...

some of my favorites from the month:











and the rest of the month:

Single In Challenge - March '21 | Flickr


I got lucky with my purchase of a used lens through Adorama for a really low price - it has a loose hood that I'll be sending the lens off for correction....

in short, if you find one in decent nick for reasonable money, buy it....

[Tsuken]

So, month #3 with the HD DA 21 limited.

Still in love.

Nine to go.

Easy to use, sharp, LOVELY rendering. Not a thing I don't love, frankly. In my opinion, it’s a must-have, if you like things a little wide, but not super-wide. Suits me beautifully. I still love my DA35, and even feel more positively about my Sigma 30mm after the last go with it - but there’s something special about this.

Not my most inspired set of photos, perhaps, but I'll chuck a few here that I really like.


Monkeying around by -Occasionally Focused-


The lad by -Occasionally Focused-

I love the water in this:


Much water by -Occasionally Focused-

[zubzubadoodle]

This months lens was the Tair 11A 135/2.8, and I have to say that I didn't really take to it. It can be very sharp with good separation between subject and background. The aperture preset method is the best I've used. I'm not a huge fan of the ultra smooth bokeh, although that does work well on a foggy day. This was the first time I'd used the lens, so it's probable that I've not yet figured how to get the best out of it. It will get another go later in the year, but for now the Jupiter 11A remains my favourite 135mm lens. Here are a couple of my favourites,







Album here

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Last edited by zubzubadoodle; 04-01-2021 at 02:39 PM.

[JensE]

Finally wrapped up my first ever single-in, a real challenge for me, because there were some long editing sessions involved. But well worth it, and the FA31 positively surprised me, I think I can pre-visualice results better now. My favorites have been the weather shots and architecture - nothing I had expected. Close-ups with extension ring came out surprisingly well, too.

[southlander]

Done with the M50/1.4 for now. Took photos most days but missed a few days posting in the middle when I was out of town quite a bit.

Was surprised in a positive way with this lens.

My prior use suffered from:

(1) poor close shooting technique while using wide apertures. Using the M120/2.8 and M85/2 in challenges over the past year has improved my technique/understanding so I think I was finally ready for a 1.4 lens.

(2) the infinity mark was completely off so previous distance shots were just 'not right' so the lens went back on the shelf. I made the effort early in the month to go down with a JIS screwdriver to the train line where I can get a good long view and reset the infinity calibration. Lens much improved at infinity but I still think not quite as good as a F1.7. I would recommend a 1.7 over a 1.4 for landscapes.

So, how was I surprised?

Much better centre sharpness at wide apertures than I expected. Technique counts!

Really nice bokeh at wider apertures.

Far fewer colour aberations than I was expecting. There were some but mostly easily dealt with in Lightroom. Would go so far as to say the lens is quite well behaved. In general the M series seems to be much happier on full frame than APS-C.

Contrast generally good although not to modern lens standards. A tweak in LR generally brough contrast up to desired levels.

Reliably focussed using the K-1 focus confirmation (which I had calibrated using Correct All setting last year for the M120/2.8 challenge). Autofocus lens calibrations over-rides this if done using Correct One so quite a set and forget solution to swap between manual and autofocus lenses.

And after my Tuesday delivery, soooo compact.

On the downside, my copy is a little decentred on far left of frame. Generally not an issue on close ups but noticable on infinity focus shots.

In summary for those looking to use older lenses, I would recommend the M50/1.4 for close up to middle distance shooting but a 1.7 for landscapes.

Oh, and the HD DFA 50 1.4?

Size-wise not that different to my usual walkaround the DFA28-105. But its a heavy beast for extended use. My post for the 30th makes stark the size difference with the M50/1.4.

Yes its sharp, sharp, sharp! When pixel peeping there are no little blurry circle of confusion spots that less sharp lenses create when they can't resolve the finest details (and then get amplified with sharpening). There is just detail! And sharp all over.

Took a while to settle on the lens calibration setting. In the end, -3 seemed the best compromise. What I found after (a little frustration with focussing) is that with centre spot focus, the true AF focus point seems to be at the very far right edge of the square box shown in the viewfinder (at least for my K-1). Enough to make a diference when trying to pick out a specifc edge as the point of focus eg one cactus leaf over the one immediately behind.

Its been gloriously sunny and warm autumn weather the last few days but too harsh for interesting daytime photography. Waiting now for some moodier light to see what character the HD DFA brings to images.

Will glue onto the K-1 for now as my walk about lens (sorry DFA28-105, shelf time for you).

[iheiramo]

(2) the infinity mark was completely off so previous distance shots were just 'not right' so the lens went back on the shelf. I made the effort early in the month to go down with a JIS screwdriver to the train line where I can get a good long view and reset the infinity calibration. Lens much improved at infinity but I still think not quite as good as a F1.7. I would recommend a 1.7 over a 1.4 for landscapes.

I agree with this statement. Wider apertures at close distances go for f1.4. Stopped down further and long distances go for f1.7, which make f1.7 better walk around lens.