[Minimonster]

how is that lens working out for you - did you choose poorly this time around?

The K 50/1.4 is proving to be a great little lens and I am enjoying it a lot. Shooting it on the K1 is fun and it focuses and exposes perfectly. I've also been using the Sony A7 which is also full frame and has been a bit of a revelation, it feels good in the hand and seems about half the size and weight of the K1. I bought a decent adaptor and have found the K 50 to work nicely. Focus peaking and the zoom help to get things sharp. All in all, going well so far.

[womble]

The K 50/1.4 is proving to be a great little lens and I am enjoying it a lot. Shooting it on the K1 is fun and it focuses and exposes perfectly. I've also been using the Sony A7 which is also full frame and has been a bit of a revelation, it feels good in the hand and seems about half the size and weight of the K1. I bought a decent adaptor and have found the K 50 to work nicely. Focus peaking and the zoom help to get things sharp. All in all, going well so far.

I used the K50/1.4 a couple of months back (although on APS-C) and was very pleased with it. Lovely little lens, really sharp and easy to focus. Looks like you are having the same feelings about it.

[womble]

For Womble:

Beautiful shot for the 12th, (Knebworth Churchyard). I love the mood, the gentle lighting and the framed and obscured OOF background.

Many thanks, I was quite pleased with it but wished I had taken my tripod!

[womble]

The K135/2.5 was one of the first K-series lenses I bought and have had for over a decade. It has been a bit neglected of late which I why I decided to use it this month. 135mm on APS-C is quite long, and nailing the focus / dealing with camera shake when using it hand-held requires one to not take it for granted. On the tripod (and using live view for focus peaking), it is lovely. Very sharp when needed and quite pleasant OOF areas. It does not focus very closely, and so I have used a 13mm extension tube a few times. The most frustrating thing is that the "correct" plastic hood does not stay on very well (it is slightly damaged) and normally I use a metal Takumar one. Thanks to the house move, I cannot find the metal hoods at the moment. I know which shelf they were on in the old place....

[Chris_K]

I'm pretty confused... the lens is optically excellent, sharp, and pleasant to work with and I even got "explore" for the very first SiC picture taken with it. Still, I don't feel this sort of excitement which I did when shooting with DA70/2.4; Tamron 90 or even GR3. Maybe I have a "weaker" month (as discussed several posts earlier). The second half will tell but for the moment: a) I see totally no flaws in it, and b) I'll probably sell it...
And what about you, Dave?

[pepperberry farm]

I'm pretty confused... the lens is optically excellent, sharp, and pleasant to work with and I even got "explore" for the very first SiC picture taken with it. Still, I don't feel this sort of excitement which I did when shooting with DA70/2.4; Tamron 90 or even GR3. Maybe I have a "weaker" month (as discussed several posts earlier). The second half will tell but for the moment: a) I see totally no flaws in it, and b) I'll probably sell it...
And what about you, Dave?

bored out of my mind with the Macro-Takumar 50/4.....

technically - there isn't a thing wrong with it, there's just nothing it does that makes my heart flutter....

I had to put away that Soligor 55mm macro, because in every single facet, it's a better lens than the Takumar....

to keep myself occupied, I decided to sell off my Micro 4/3rds kit....

[bigted]

Mid Month Check-Up…

Well it has been a bit of a learning curve for me. Both the body (Pentax K-1) and the lens (D FA28-105) are new and this is the first time I have shot full frame since I went digital. (When I shot film I had a 3rd hand bought from a yard sale Praktica and a couple of lenses and it has been a very long time since I used it).

This month has been an adjustment as I previously had the 300mm plus 1.4 converter almost permanently attached to my K-3 so I’m not used to a zoom lens with a short focal length and a wide view. Having said that I have enjoyed the month so far and I look forward to some better weather and the ability to travel beyond my living room window and the front door. My grumbles have more to do with my limitations than that of the lens and body combo. A smaller focusing distance would have been helpful a few times and a flash or better lighting in my dining room would have made quite a bit of difference too. Neither issue is large enough for me to regret my choices.

[Riggomatic]

here it is - your monthly mid-month check-in....

how is that lens working out for you - did you choose poorly this time around?

or is this the month you discovered just what you've been missing?

The SMC 200mm f4 has been a really good challenge for me, especially some of the indoors/basement shots. I can see using this for portraits, if I did that kind of stuff.

[robgski]

I can see using this for portraits, if I did that kind of stuff.

Maybe you should. I know I want to do more of that sort of photography. Landscapes interest me less these days.

[Chris_K]

technically - there isn't a thing wrong with it, there's just nothing it does that makes my heart flutter....

Sounds like my DA 40/2.8 experience

to keep myself occupied, I decided to sell off my Micro 4/3rds kit....

One of a few or the only one?

[pepperberry farm]

One of a few or the only one?

the entire kit: camera, lenses, the works...

[iheiramo]

M50/4 macro this month and I have enjoyed to be able to get close to subjects. I've taken few landscapes, but in thruth they have been pretty meh, but also I haven't put in the effort to have special light in those landscapes. Rendering in macro work has been even better than I remembered.

As my personal performance: It's still less than stellar. I miss the sence of purpose I had when I put M series thru the test. I was learning so much about lenses and shooting during those 3 years. Now it's all too easy and I already know which settings I want to use when I see the target. There's no practicing or learning anymore
Also start of the windsurfing season has taken a lot of my energy. I'm been too lazy during the winter and I need to build up some stamina. I've been trying to keep sessions short and go often, 7 days out of last 10, but it takes few weeks more to get into proper shape. I'm glad I took sunday shot in the morning as the wind very gusty and unreliable, so had to use strength to steady the sail and I was really beaten after surf. Trying to recover from yesterday today, but feel beaten still. Somedays it's just hard to find the energy for shooting

[Mikey Floyd]

here it is - your monthly mid-month check-in....

how is that lens working out for you - did you choose poorly this time around?

or is this the month you discovered just what you've been missing?

The A 645 75/2.8 is a ripper of a lens. 240 grams of sharp to the edges goodness, I haven't seen the remotest hint of anything unpleasant from this lens at all. And if we're looking for excitement, I absolutely relish the natural output that I feel that I'm getting, no need to touch the 'sharpening' - ever. No need to push and pull and massage the files. (Note: On the adaptor, the lens is twice the length and twice the weight, so no longer small at all.)


To hit what I feel is the essence of the point more directly on - If we compare this lens to the K mount lenses on the same sensor, (ie looking at an image enlarged from an equal sensor area) then this 75 is about equal to the better K mount lenses, I don't feel that it would be a standout on aps-c at all. However putting it on a larger sensor really takes the pressure off lens performance in my experience. Not only is the enlargement ratio from sensor size to final image just half of what it would be from aps-c, also the required aperture for an equivalent depth of field is a whole 2 stops narrower, which even further takes the pressure off the lens. (There are notable downsides to this as well, sometimes slooooow shutter speeds and/or high ISO's.) So if I'm shooting my 75 at f/2.8, to be equivalent on aps-c you'd need to be shooting a 35mm at f/1.4 - It's just a whole lot easier to make a lens do 75/2.8 nicely than 35/1.4.


The last thing I'm intending to do by saying this is to brag about how big mine is (my er.... sensor) Just saying it how I see it over and over, old lenses do far better on bigger sensors. There are exceptions of course, ones with mushy edges, but the general trend is undeniable.

So how's my lens? My lens is just fine thanks. But it is my lens/camera combination that really lets the lens shine.

Note for those that haven't read enough already, Lol: You might notice my conversions are a bit creative - how does 75mm on 33 x 44 equal 35mm on aps-c? I know, I know... I've gone around and around this so many times in my notebook. My only answer is that it is not the exact science that the maths would imply. When the native aspect ratio changes from 3:2 to 4:3 things just feel a bit longer or shorter or somehow just different. I played with doing the conversion on long side, on short side, on diagonal and on area, and none of them feel exactly equivalent. Now I just accept that it's a slightly mushy conversion.



-

A lot of what I enjoy about this Single Challenge is the restriction to a single focal length, rather than details about the lens' performance as such. In this respect, 60mm equiv is very comfortable for me. I think in the previous challenges I've done, I've felt a bit of focal length frustration - you know, not being able to frame up a shot for want of something longer or shorter. I'm not feeling that this month.

One challenge for myself for the future will be to do a SIC with something wide - Not my comfort zone at all! I'll do it, I just haven't decided yet whether I should work my way down the focal lengths, or just smash in with a wide and fumble and blunder my way through.

My other pending mission is to drill down a favourite pair of focal lengths. I don't really like carrying three lenses, two is much nicer. Of course this doesn't fit with the SIC theme, however what I learn here definitely plays into the thought process. In my months off from SIC I'm often working on the two lens thing.

---------- Post added 05-16-22 at 01:48 AM ----------

Also start of the windsurfing season has taken a lot of my energy. I'm been too lazy during the winter and I need to build up some stamina. I've been trying to keep sessions short and go often, 7 days out of last 10, but it takes few weeks more to get into proper shape. I'm glad I took sunday shot in the morning as the wind very gusty and unreliable, so had to use strength to steady the sail and I was really beaten after surf. Trying to recover from yesterday today, but feel beaten still. Somedays it's just hard to find the energy for shooting

I can understand that one! I have a long history with windsurfing, most recently on a Lechner D2, which is such a different experience to a flat bottomed board. Here's a video from a few years ago if you're interested:

You Tube

You Tube

[iheiramo]

Here's a video from a few years ago if you're interested:

What a lovely steady wind. It's never so stable in our homebay

Nowadays I ride mostly Starboard Phantom 377L, but I have a couple of smaller slalom boards for windy days. I mostly use those if I go surfing somewhere with more open access for wind.

[robgski]

Mid Month Check-Up…

The DA 18-135 WR is a great lens, it's almost effortless to get great images, and the zoom range makes it a fantastic walk-around lens. Zooms do make me lazy, so it's time to get back into a prime for SIC.