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05-31-2021, 10:02 AM - 6 Likes   #316
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Cought up with comments and have all post published, so I'm done for the month. DFA*85 wide open for a month was no challenge at all. I could easily keep going. You can basically thow that lens wide open into any circumstance and it pulls thru. In regular use cases it works as expected. In less regular use cases for wide open it provides special character. Amazing how well it handled straight to the sun shots. If you have brances against brite white you get some CA in transition areas. Not a big problem, but visible at times. Really liked the way you could bring up a layer from behind and that way highlight the main target you had in the shot. Amazing lens. Love it.









05-31-2021, 03:46 PM - 5 Likes   #317
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Well first SIC and it definitely was a challenge. Was fun to see some really exceptional images from everyone else.
I'm was not used to 70mm focal length to walk around with and found myself wanting shots I couldn't achieve. Eventually warmed up to it though.
What I notice about the lens is the color rendered is great and you can get a lot of detail. I especially like it at close range where it produces some pretty nice background blur. If the image isn't sharp on subject, it is my fault. I feel I have a great deal to learn about it yet though.







05-31-2021, 04:21 PM - 7 Likes   #318
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QuoteOriginally posted by Cerebum Quote
It is such a lovely combination, the 21mm & the KP. Another great month
QuoteOriginally posted by Tsuken Quote
So, month #5 with the Pentax-DA 21mm f/3.2 LTD HD. Still not tired of this amazing piece of glass ...
Your pictures almost make me want to buy that lens, even though my plan was to not invest further into APSC-only lenses. I guess I should try the FoV with my Color Scopar 20mm on the KP for a while.

I definitely realized this month how much I liked the KP with DA40 in April for a SIC. In contrast the K-1 + 15-30mm is heavy and bulky, it doesn't fit into any of my shoulder bags mounted and thus wasn't such a pleasure to use on 'ordinary' days, when I just like to throw the bag in my pannier when running errands. I most enjoyed the combo when I had dedicated time to go out just for the sole purpose of taking pictures. It does (just) fit my Mindshift Gear Rotation backpack, and paired with the 55-300PLM it actually made a decent hiking combo. I replaced the bigger tripod with just the Xiah Little Elephant for that day - a good decision, covered all my tripod needs. My biggest challenge was surprisingly focus: There is no usable distance scale beyond 1m and the hyperfocal distance is sometimes fairly far out if you want fine details to be preserved. Once I loosened up, accepted that despite all the bulk and heft it's just a lens with a nice range and good close focus, it became a really useful lens without major weaknesses, some of my favorites include, for different reasons:






05-31-2021, 04:48 PM - 2 Likes   #319
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QuoteOriginally posted by Riggomatic Quote
I'm not looking forward to the month ending. Just means I'll be turning the big "5-0" next month.
Its not all bad, just had my 51st last week. Your as old as you let yourself get -- obviously we physically age, but if you keep on keepin' on it helps I think.

05-31-2021, 04:51 PM - 5 Likes   #320
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Well, finished up the month of May. The M85 f/2 is a fun, if challenging lens to shoot on a crop camera. Would love to try this lens on a full frame camera some time but it's not in the cards right now. Only real issue was bad CA in certain conditions, sometimes not going away even stopped down some but it's not too hard to clean up in post. I am torn between using these lens and selling all the manual stuff to fund the DA* 11-18 and complete the f2.8 set.

Anyway, are are a couple of my favorites for the month.




05-31-2021, 06:36 PM - 5 Likes   #321
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FA 31 ltd wrap up for May. I did enjoy the colors this lens produces as well as the handling, bokeh...it was just a joy to shoot. I still need to do a side by side comparison between the 30mm K series and the 31, and have a feeling the colors will be very similar. The two lenses are definitely of the same bloodline. I didn't torture test the lens with high contrast shots, and was very happy with the minimal CA from my shooting. That was probably one of my worries, and was sitting on the fence looking at the HD version. I'm glad I bought this one.

Some of my favorites for the month:

Finn relaxing by riggomatic, on Flick






05-31-2021, 07:55 PM - 4 Likes   #322
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To sum up my month with the GR III: it's a very versatile and capable camera and its compactness makes it a great companion. It's a cliche, but having a camera with you all the time really helps in catching photo opportunities. I love the lens with its wide-open sharpness and macro capability. I could easily continue the next SiC with it but I don't want to abandon the rest of my gear. Below some of my faves. Thanks for all the comments!









05-31-2021, 10:19 PM - 1 Like   #323
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QuoteOriginally posted by mbceft Quote
I am torn between using these lens and selling all the manual stuff to fund the DA* 11-18 and complete the f2.8 set.
I'm happy with my M85/DFA*85 combo, as they feature opposite designs. One compact and light and the other modern IQ perfectness. Also in general I prefer M primes in FF with exception of 35mm lenses. I guess K1iii should bring a lot of used K1's to market in a year or two.
06-01-2021, 01:17 AM - 1 Like   #324
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QuoteOriginally posted by Chris_K Quote
I could easily continue the next SiC with it but I don't want to abandon the rest of my gear.
Maybe get one of the converters for another SIC? I really enjoyed your images this month, which often had a nice spontaneous feel to hem.
06-01-2021, 03:36 AM - 4 Likes   #325
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SMC Pentax-DA* 200mm F2.8 Wrap up

I like the DA*200mm and have owned it since 2014. Great bokeh and very sharp.
  • Just to get it out of the way, the biggest failing is the SDM. Mine has never stopped working but it is very sleepy and always needs waking up.
  • The lens is capable of producing some CA but purple fringing can be taken care of in LR with one click and green fringing can be dealt with by gentle use of the HSL sliders in LR.
  • The lens is excellent on both APSC and FF and combines well with the HD-DA-AF 1.4 Teleconverter.
  • With the K-1 this lens pairs well with the 28-105 and on APSC with the 20-40/100 or 18-135.
The DA* 200 is versatile for a prime; astrophotography, landscape and removing fences at zoos/wildlife parks work well. Birds if you’re close enough - renders their feathers really well. Still, that all said I was prepared for a tough month finding everyday uses but in the end it wasn’t too bad at all.

Right, big revelation for the month; my present for myself was the K-3iii and, quite unexpectedly, the SDM showed a massive improvement on the K-3iii - which seems to have the ability to override the sleepiness.
The K-3iii AF really seems to give old SDM lenses a kick up the backside. There is a thread about this on the forum and my experience from the single-in May Challenge was a marked improvement in the DA*200 performance. For the last week of the month I mostly used the K-1 and the lens returned to it’s sleepy-needs-waking-up mode every day.
So …. What have Pentax done? It isn’t just a case of new batteries - I switched them about. Still not in the league of PLM but much, much more responsive.

Anyway, the lens has a decent MFD of 120cm but I didn’t go trying any macro! Just a few at or near MFD. For normal use I think the 200mm focal length is probably easier on the K-1 but with a 1.4x TC on APSC it makes an excellent and small 400mm FF equivalent.
Finally, a few favourites, for varied reasons, from the month:














Last edited by W412ren; 06-01-2021 at 05:01 AM.
06-01-2021, 04:59 AM - 3 Likes   #326
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With how busy the last weeks have been (up to and including no shots in the last week, which is a shame), I'm gonna preemptively sorta pass on June (I will be playing around with the Irix 11mm I'm getting tomorrow, but I can't see a full month with it just yet!). Assuming things go alright, July should see a trip back home and lots of opportunities for the 77 to shine...

I'll try to chime in and comment on people's photos all the same, if that's still in the spirit of the challenge
06-01-2021, 12:30 PM   #327
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QuoteOriginally posted by JensE Quote
Maybe get one of the converters for another SIC? I really enjoyed your images this month, which often had a nice spontaneous feel to hem.
Thank you for the kind words! I've been thinking of the converters but I realised that the compactness of this camera is a huge advantage for me and I don't want to spoil it So I think I'll rather stay with the "pure" camera and certainly will get back to it soon.
06-01-2021, 02:54 PM - 1 Like   #328
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QuoteOriginally posted by iheiramo Quote
I'm happy with my M85/DFA*85 combo, as they feature opposite designs. One compact and light and the other modern IQ perfectness. Also in general I prefer M primes in FF with exception of 35mm lenses. I guess K1iii should bring a lot of used K1's to market in a year or two.
That’s why I am so torn. I have a nice M set with the 28 f/2, 50 f1.7 and 85 f/2 and I use them all the time but it seems a shame to keep them in crop especially when I have the 20-40 & 70 LTD along with the DA* 16-50, 50-135 and 300. I keep saying I should simplify my kit to narrow my choices and concentrate more on the photos but I can’t seem to ever put anything up for sale. Buying another camera would be counter productive to simplifying. Problems of GAS I suppose.

---------- Post added 06-01-21 at 02:56 PM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by Chris_K Quote
Thank you for the kind words! I've been thinking of the converters but I realised that the compactness of this camera is a huge advantage for me and I don't want to spoil it So I think I'll rather stay with the "pure" camera and certainly will get back to it soon.
I feel the same way with mine. The wide angle kit would be nice for my GR3 but I would lose the pocket factor and that’s what makes it so great!
06-01-2021, 07:25 PM - 2 Likes   #329
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Some observations about the SMC Pentax 4/200 lens:

- The image quality of this lens, considering its vintage, is stunning. Again and again it treated me with razor-sharp images, excellent color, and lots of detail. I have a DA* 200/2.8, and so I know what good images look like at this focal length. The 4/200 didn't quite match up with that excellent lens, but it was close enough to give me pause. The only flaws I noticed were some very controllable purple/green fringing in backlit settings, and a bit of resolution breakup at infinity focus with complex images (but this may have been operator error, not a fault of the lens). I was able to do heavy crops of songbirds with acceptable results. Would the DA* 200 have done better? Yes...but not by nearly as much as you would think.

- The lens' handling is a mixed bag. It is a long lens, with a minimum focusing distance of 200cm. This makes it pretty awkward in close quarters, but I suppose that's not what this lens is designed for anyway. It's solidly built and a bit heavy for its size. Focusing is smooth as butter, as you would expect from an early Pentax lens. Overall quite usable for its purpose - outdoor telephoto work.

- As a side note, while shooting this lens I figured out my preferred setup on the KP with manual lenses - which was huge for me. Following advice on this forum, I set up C2 user mode so that I could adjust ISO with the large third dial. This gave me control over all three elements of the exposure triangle - which was incredibly freeing. I also set up a three-shot bracket, 0.7 stops apart, and assigned the green button, as recommended, to adjust shutter speed. Focus, tap the green button to get a reading, and press the shutter button to get the three bracketed images. Choose the best of the three, process, and post. It's pretty much my go-to setup with the KP now.

Some of my favorite shots from the month:








Last edited by babywriter; 06-01-2021 at 07:32 PM.
06-01-2021, 10:28 PM - 3 Likes   #330
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QuoteOriginally posted by mbceft Quote
That’s why I am so torn. I have a nice M set with the 28 f/2, 50 f1.7 and 85 f/2 and I use them all the time but it seems a shame to keep them in crop especially when I have the 20-40 & 70 LTD along with the DA* 16-50, 50-135 and 300. I keep saying I should simplify my kit to narrow my choices and concentrate more on the photos but I can’t seem to ever put anything up for sale. Buying another camera would be counter productive to simplifying. Problems of GAS I suppose.
Why would you need to simplify? If you don't have financial or storage problems, why would you need to limit your choices? K1/ii is fantastic partner to M lenses. It's really nice to use them as they were designed. Your M28 would be true wide angle again. Fifty true normal and 85 the portrait lens it was designed to be. You might want to add M120 to give you the reach 85 on APSC gives, but they aren't very costly. I believe I will get K1iii when it comes to have better AF for DFA* line I'm building up, but for M's I don't believe it will bring anything meaninfull, so unless you plan to build modern FF lens line up, there's no reason to wait for it. If you can afford K1, go for it. You're worth it

It's also a reason to single all your compatible lenses again...
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