[MSL]

Time to launch the fifth edition of: Something Special About That Lens

The goal of this contest is to show off some special feature of a lens, whether it is a fish eye, bokeh monster, super starbursts, perfect for reversing, super sharp, dreamy colors, super fast wide open aperture / narrow depth of field, creative use of vignetting etc. Pull out that hidden gem you haven't used in a while and find how it can enable your creativity. While members are free to like any image they like, ideally voting should be towards images that show off the special feature of the lens. Entrants are encouraged to include a short description with the image to tell what special feature they are trying to highlight.


The formal stuff:

• 1 entry per person per month. Any brand of lens, but the photo should be taken with a Pentax or Ricoh DSLR/SLR camera.
• PLEASE INCLUDE a short blurb explaining the special characteristics of the lens you are trying to show off
• To enter, reply to this message and put your image in this thread.
• The top entries (this will be adjusted based on how much interest there is each round), based on total likes, will then be voted on in a poll for the monthly prize (one 128 GB SD card, or three (3) 32 GB SD cards).
• The 2nd - 4th place finishers in the poll voting each month will be entered into the December contest for additional prizes.
• Contest winners will be asked for a brief blog post describing the technique you used to shoot and process your photo, as well as what equipment you used. Additional information about the lens and how and when you tend to use it will be most welcome.

This month: 50mm (absolute lens focal length, don't include any crop factors - no math required!). Zoom lenses set to 50 are allowed, but I challenge everyone to show off a lesser used or less thought of 50 mm lens in a special way! Many of these lenses are common and inexpensive and often the first manual lens a person will buy after they get started so I hope to see a lot of entries.


Entries will close at the end of the month, but voting will continue until July 15 and then the shortlist voting poll will run for 14 days after that.

If you have any questions and they are specific to this month please put them here, otherwise please use this thread (Something special about that lens - NEW CONTEST series - PentaxForums.com) to learn more about the origins of this contest.


FINALLY: Whether you enter or not, please go view the photos from Issue 4 (Something special about that lens Volume 1 Issue 4 - 40-49 mm - PentaxForums.com) and LIKE the ones that you think best show off a special characteristic of a lens. To that extent, credit should be given for those who included a short blurb about their images as befitting the purpose of this contest.

[pepperberry farm]

SMC A 50mm f1.2 (this shot is at f2)

the top of the heap for the 'A' 50mm lenses (except the 2.8 Macro) - I've owned all the 'A' 50mm lenses and sold all of them except this one....

sure, there's the aperture, but this lens is more than that - built to a different standard and with a optical formula all its own...

the colors, the clarity, the bokeh are exemplary - all within a standard nifty-fifty....

this one makes it easy to shoot at just about all ranges, in just about every lighting....

[ramseybuckeye]

I do not shoot very much macro, so patiently waiting for a good deal to come along on a manual focus macro lens I found this one, which has an "A" setting. It is not a pretty lens, it has a sticky "zen" coating over the plastic parts of the lens, which is most of it. I tried cleaning it off once and ended up fusing the focus ring to the barrel, after surgery it no longer has a focus ring, but I can focus just fine turning the inner barrel, it just looks awful. Fortunately that did not affect the performance. It shows a lot of detail, and has a good bokeh too. This photo was a setup for a Flickr Friday theme of "melting". It is some ice on top of an upside down glass, with some lighting that was either behind or under it. I just like the details in this, shot a f14 and 1/10 second using a tripod. I like the lens so much that after the "degradation" of the cosmetic appearance I was afraid it may fall apart, so I started searching for a backup, and found one last year.

[jquill]

Quick question. The "standard" prime lens for the 645z is a 55mm. Since a 50 is not available for this camera, would this be acceptable?

[UncleVanya]

IMGP9382_DxO by -vanya_42nd-

DA* 50-135 @50mm. This lens is the Swiss Army knife for apsc.

[MSL]

Quick question. The "standard" prime lens for the 645z is a 55mm. Since a 50 is not available for this camera, would this be acceptable?

I'm afraid it will have to wait until the next month. I thought hard about the ranges before I set up the contest and for the reasons mentioned above I wanted to have a month just dedicated to 50s. While I realize this excludes the lens you mention it also excludes the DA* 55. There are so many 50s out there, from the Tak 50/1.4 8 element, to the 50/1.2 to lesser known lenses like the Industar 50/2.8, as well as macro 50 etc etc. I really want to see how all these lenses could be used in this sort of contest at least for this version. If I run this again next year - something I'll evaluate towards the end of the year - I'll certainly consider all suggestions for how to improve the contest and broaden its appeal.

[jquill]

I'm afraid it will have to wait until the next month. I thought hard about the ranges before I set up the contest and for the reasons mentioned above I wanted to have a month just dedicated to 50s. While I realize this excludes the lens you mention it also excludes the DA* 55. There are so many 50s out there, from the Tak 50/1.4 8 element, to the 50/1.2 to lesser known lenses like the Industar 50/2.8, as well as macro 50 etc etc. I really want to see how all these lenses could be used in this sort of contest at least for this version. If I run this again next year - something I'll evaluate towards the end of the year - I'll certainly consider all suggestions for how to improve the contest and broaden its appeal.

Thanks. I do have a short zoom that covers 50 so I can use that; I just would have preferred the 55 as it is just a much nicer lens.

[MSL]

Thanks. I do have a short zoom that covers 50 so I can use that; I just would have preferred the 55 as it is just a much nicer lens

Sounds perfect. This contest isn't so much about nice lenses as showing off a special aspect of a lens. So maybe there is something your zoom can do better than the 55

[stevebrot]

I thought hard about the ranges before I set up the contest and for the reasons mentioned above I wanted to have a month just dedicated to 50s.

Too bad...my most special "fast-50s" are 55mm and 58mm focal length.


Steve

[MossyRocks]

all within a standard nifty-fifty

I would hardly call the A 50/1.2 standard, or a nifty-fifty. To me it was:
50/1.4 - Fast Fifty
50/1.2 - Fat Fifty
50/1.7-2 - Nifty Fifty

Most of which were all very good, add in the slower 50mm macro and finding a bad 50mm might be rather hard. I'm hoping to see a bunch of 50/1.4 8 element Super Tak shots.

[pepperberry farm]

I would hardly call the A 50/1.2 standard, or a nifty-fifty. To me it was:
50/1.4 - Fast Fifty
50/1.2 - Fat Fifty
50/1.7-2 - Nifty Fifty

Most of which were all very good, add in the slower 50mm macro and finding a bad 50mm might be rather hard. I'm hoping to see a bunch of 50/1.4 8 element Super Tak shots.

I'd disagree - any 50mm could be a nifty fifty....

[MSL]

I would hardly call the A 50/1.2 standard, or a nifty-fifty. To me it was:50/1.4 - Fast Fifty50/1.2 - Fat Fifty50/1.7-2 - Nifty FiftyMost of which were all very good, add in the slower 50mm macro and finding a bad 50mm might be rather hard. I'm hoping to see a bunch of 50/1.4 8 element Super Tak shots.

Keep this up and I'll invite @Kerrowdown to come name every fifty we can think of. I take your point of view, but I really was just using Nifty Fifty more in relation to the focal length and its history as "normal" than any particular lens. I'm also disappointed you didn't include the 50/2.0 in that list since they really are quite common in the A variety.

---------- Post added 06-05-21 at 10:49 PM ----------

Too bad...my most special "fast-50s" are 55mm and 58mm focal length.Steve

Next month! And I look forward to your entry.

[Kerrowdown]

Keep this up and I'll invite @Kerrowdown to come name every fifty we can think of.

I'll certainly can make myself available, if required...

[Kerrowdown]

More or less these days both a permanent and certainly an emotional attachment to one of my K1s... please allow me to introduce to you all my "Special Lady" Pentax-A 50mm F1.2

She just has the ability to produce the imagery, that both myself and more importantly my clients like and are indeed willing to pay for...

Small, lightweight and very discreet and all this while still remaining a joy to use on a daily basis.

[jmcsys]

Time to launch the fifth edition of: Something Special About That Lens

The goal of this contest is to show off some special feature of a lens, whether it is a fish eye, bokeh monster, super starbursts, perfect for reversing, super sharp, dreamy colors, super fast wide open aperture / narrow depth of field, creative use of vignetting etc. Pull out that hidden gem you haven't used in a while and find how it can enable your creativity. While members are free to like any image they like, ideally voting should be towards images that show off the special feature of the lens. Entrants are encouraged to include a short description with the image to tell what special feature they are trying to highlight.


The formal stuff:

• 1 entry per person per month. Any brand of lens, but the photo should be taken with a Pentax or Ricoh DSLR/SLR camera.
• PLEASE INCLUDE a short blurb explaining the special characteristics of the lens you are trying to show off
• To enter, reply to this message and put your image in this thread.
• The top entries (this will be adjusted based on how much interest there is each round), based on total likes, will then be voted on in a poll for the monthly prize (one 128 GB SD card, or three (3) 32 GB SD cards).
• The 2nd - 4th place finishers in the poll voting each month will be entered into the December contest for additional prizes.
• Contest winners will be asked for a brief blog post describing the technique you used to shoot and process your photo, as well as what equipment you used. Additional information about the lens and how and when you tend to use it will be most welcome.

This month: 50mm (absolute lens focal length, don't include any crop factors - no math required!). Zoom lenses set to 50 are allowed, but I challenge everyone to show off a lesser used or less thought of 50 mm lens in a special way! Many of these lenses are common and inexpensive and often the first manual lens a person will buy after they get started so I hope to see a lot of entries.


Entries will close at the end of the month, but voting will continue until July 15 and then the shortlist voting poll will run for 14 days after that.

If you have any questions and they are specific to this month please put them here, otherwise please use this thread (Something special about that lens - NEW CONTEST series - PentaxForums.com) to learn more about the origins of this contest.


FINALLY: Whether you enter or not, please go view the photos from Issue 4 (Something special about that lens Volume 1 Issue 4 - 40-49 mm - PentaxForums.com) and LIKE the ones that you think best show off a special characteristic of a lens. To that extent, credit should be given for those who included a short blurb about their images as befitting the purpose of this contest.

I shoot with a LUMIX G9, but use an array of Pentax lenses. Most of my shooting is with the old manual Pentax lenses on my G9. So instead of focusing on (pun intended) Pentax & RICOH cameras, would you consider sponsoring a contest that showcased just the Pentax glass. I would love to show off some of the photos I’ve made with Pentax glass. I am a true believer in Pentax products and they have helped me make a few images that I am very proud of. Color, contrast, bokeh, and some stunning sharpness that is equal to any other manufacturer out there; Pentax lenses are a marvel.