[GeneV]

My favorite travel setup is my K-7 with two Limited lenses: 21/3.2 and 70/2.4 -- one on the camera, the other in my pocket.

Might have to invest in the 15/4 someday, but that would require another pocket....

I often go K-x with the 40 and the 21. The whole think can go in a winter coat pocket. The 70/21 is also a great combo. With a little waist pack you can add the 15.

[GeneV]

Posts like these do not help my LBA :-P

I only want to get the DA 35 limited, but I'm beginning to think I should get all of them as I had originally intended to do! :-)

Compact, high quality cameras and lenses are probably the main reason I've stuck with Pentax all these years.

[johnmflores]

Hinman, stop Stop STOP!

Wait...I've put my credit card in a safety deposit box....

more More MORE!!!

It really is amazing how predominant zooms are these days. You could probably tell a young photographer that primes are a new technology and they'd probably believe you!

Now, to count my coins for the DA15...GeneV, your explanation on how you use it makes perfect sense...

[GeneV]

Hinman, stop Stop STOP!

Wait...I've put my credit card in a safety deposit box....

more More MORE!!!

It really is amazing how predominant zooms are these days. You could probably tell a young photographer that primes are a new technology and they'd probably believe you!

Now, to count my coins for the DA15...GeneV, your explanation on how you use it makes perfect sense...

I used the DA21 indoors, too, but in a crowded market or older interior, I often needed more. The perspective from the 15 often turns a dull interior shot interesting.

[GeneV]

By the way, one more travel observation: I saw exactly two pentax DSLRs around necks for the entire time. Neither were from North America. I saw hundreds of CaNikons. It made me wonder.

[hinman]

I often go K-x with the 40 and the 21. The whole think can go in a winter coat pocket. The 70/21 is also a great combo. With a little waist pack you can add the 15.

The 21 and 70 are actually very similar in size when the hood on the 70mm is not mounted

It is true that when I go traveling with the Pentax DA limited, the 70mm doesn't get used as much as the 21 and 40. I just wish the 40mm to have better close up ability and it will take on the place of the 35mm when compactness rules in traveling. The minimum focusing distance on the 21 limited is 0.2m while the 40 limited is at 0.4m. The 40 is the limited lens that I find it surprisingly sharp even in wide open shots. And of course, it is the thinnest pancake that will make one happy while in traveling light.

All lens porn shot with DA 35mm limited

I will try using a diopter on the 40/21 and report back if it serves better for close up.

[lba shameless decision]: I am sold on the 15mm limited

Thanks,
Hin

[GeneV]

That is some nice lens porn, there Hin. I look forward to seeing the DA15 shots.

[yoshizuki]

argh... 21 or 15... sigh. probably end up with both

[hinman]

argh... 21 or 15... sigh. probably end up with both

I just made the purchase with 2-day air from USP. How can I ever justify my lba purchase? Tonight is the confession time to spouse and my boys. But you all hear that from me first -- the guilty and happy feelings starts now.

Thanks for all the inputs and insights,
Hin

[GeneV]

I just made the purchase with 2-day air from USP. How can I ever justify my lba purchase? Tonight is the confession time to spouse and my boys. But you all hear that from me first -- the guilty and happy feelings starts now.

Thanks for all the inputs and insights,
Hin

You will enjoy the lens, and they will enjoy the photos.

One down side to my penchant for primes is that I spent quite a bit of time trying to clean my sensor after coming home. I ended up trying several products and the last session took over an hour of cleaning and shooting test shots. The final tool turned out to the the Visible Dust green swab and Sensor clean, but it turned out I had something on the sensor that required each of their products.

[hinman]

You will enjoy the lens, and they will enjoy the photos.

One down side to my penchant for primes is that I spent quite a bit of time trying to clean my sensor after coming home. I ended up trying several products and the last session took over an hour of cleaning and shooting test shots. The final tool turned out to the the Visible Dust green swab and Sensor clean, but it turned out I had something on the sensor that required each of their products.

Yes, sensor dust a painful problem. I bought the cleaning kit from micro-tools

• 1.6x sensor for K2D cleaning kit from micro-tools
• youtube cleaning demo -- my blog page

but I have to check with micro-tools if that can be used on K-x sensor.

Thanks,
Hin

[pixelated]

You will enjoy the lens, and they will enjoy the photos.

One down side to my penchant for primes is that I spent quite a bit of time trying to clean my sensor after coming home. I ended up trying several products and the last session took over an hour of cleaning and shooting test shots. The final tool turned out to the the Visible Dust green swab and Sensor clean, but it turned out I had something on the sensor that required each of their products.

I will be travelling this summer (including some time in Spain) with a k-x and some primes and I'm concerned about the dust issue.
So let me ask you: 1) Did you use the sensor self-cleaning feature? 2) if yes, then _how_ did you use it? routinely? and finally, 3) what is your judgment about how effective it was?

thanks for your reply.

[Marc Sabatella]

I think dust is rather exaggerated as a problem. I shoot primes almost exclusively and change lenses maybe a dozen or more times a day. Sure, every once in a while I notice some dust and when I do I simply blow it off with a $5 rubber bulb. Maybe once every few months or so I need to do this (and maybe spend a minute or two cloning out the spots in the last few pictures I took before noticing the spot). So, a few minutes every few months spent on dust - that's *way* less time than I spend dealing with dust on my floors and on my furtniture, and yet no one thinks twice about that. I do have the camera set to run the dust removal on startup, and I always power cycle when changing lenses (which is supposed help not attract dust in the first place), so the sensor gets a shake gets run every time I put on a new lens.

[GeneV]

I think dust is rather exaggerated as a problem. I shoot primes almost exclusively and change lenses maybe a dozen or more times a day. Sure, every once in a while I notice some dust and when I do I simply blow it off with a $5 rubber bulb. Maybe once every few months or so I need to do this (and maybe spend a minute or two cloning out the spots in the last few pictures I took before noticing the spot). So, a few minutes every few months spent on dust - that's *way* less time than I spend dealing with dust on my floors and on my furtniture, and yet no one thinks twice about that. I do have the camera set to run the dust removal on startup, and I always power cycle when changing lenses (which is supposed help not attract dust in the first place), so the sensor gets a shake gets run every time I put on a new lens.

Marc, it's nice that it works out that way for you, but there is nothing exaggerated about my report of this problem. It went from one spot at the beginning of the trip to a whole menagerie in the skies by the end, and it did not respond to air from my rocket blower, or even to a sensor pen.

It is also inaccurate to call it dust, because dust does usually blow away. I usually don't find dust all that big a problem when I'm shooting close to home, but travel seems to bring in more lens changes in less than ideal conditions. There are all sorts of other airborne matter with a sticky or greasy component. This trip's bounty took all three liquid treatments from Visible Dust plus a final blowing to remove.

[GeneV]

I will be travelling this summer (including some time in Spain) with a k-x and some primes and I'm concerned about the dust issue.
So let me ask you: 1) Did you use the sensor self-cleaning feature? 2) if yes, then _how_ did you use it? routinely? and finally, 3) what is your judgment about how effective it was?

thanks for your reply.

Yes, I used the self-clean regularly. I can't say how effective it was, because I don't know how much dirtier my sensor would have been if I hadn't used it. It and the air might have been dealing with much of the dry, loose dust. However, the things that seemed to be getting into my camera were not responsive to air or shaking. I suspect that changing in crowds of tourists may allow for all sorts of DNA sources such as hair, sweat and saliva, and one of the spots looked as though it might be some sort of pollen or tiny pollen-bearing structure.