[aslyfox]

another from the Topeka Zoo and Conservation Center's Rain Forest

Scarlet Ibis Eudocimus ruber

using the K 10d and the newly acquired Tokina SZ-X845 80-200 f1:4.5-5.6 1:4

crop and pp

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[blankmampf]

When I went looking for older budget teles a few years ago I had trouble finding one I liked, and eventually came to the conclusion that I was as well off going for a more recent standard second hand zoom for that reach. One side benefit, beyond clarity and rendering was the addition of autofocus, which I've found good for quickly locating the focal plane around insects and birds.

I started off with a few 80-200mm telezooms, and soon added a Beroflex 500mm F/8 "Wundertüte".
My favourite so far is a Vivitar 75-205mm F/3.8, so I was surprised that I actually liked it more in full zoom than the 200mm, expecting a prime to have slightly better image quality.

So far my only use for tele's were birds, though I may expand to other animals at one point. I've gotten a few decent images with manual zoom, but automatic surely would be better for those in flight. Maybe I'll get a 55-300mm one day, they seem to be very decent performers.

I remember reading, as you probably have, that a number of Revuenon lenses were quite good as they sourced from other well respected suppliers, as did Porst and others such as Carena. I have a Porst Enna Munchen 35mm that I think the world of.

I also have a Porst, a 135mm F/2.8, the first "tele" I bought shortly after I got my K10D. Also a very beautiful specimen hasn't seen much use lately, with all the new lenses I got, but I definitely like its feel, so I'm bound to return.

My fastest lenses are only f1.7, but from my experience and what I've read most f1.4 lenses are soft, low contrast, and/or glowy wide open. This was seen as an advantage when many of these older lenses were made and marketed, as soft focus was quite popular and fashionable. I still think it can be an advantage for subjects such as flowers, or aesthetic effect in other compositions, but fixing the narrow plane of focus of these faster lenses on your subject will take some skill and practice. I work with what I've got but am willing to credit luck as much as skill to any success I've had. Many of these will start sharpening up somewhere above f2.

I also like my SMC 50mm F/1.7 very much, maybe even more than the Revuenon F/1.4. It makes me a bit sad, because after all, what's the purpose of having such a fast lens if I'm not using it wide open....both are very sharp and produce great images at 2.8 or 4.0
Time will tell which one I'll keep.

I was also surprised when I first started using the tele lenses at how much extra skill was needed to get a decent photo, and even with all the good advice available online (I'm sure you'll have found some) it still needed practice.

It's been similar for me - I've had to delete most images I took with my 500mm, because the subjects were over- or underexposed, or mostly, just not properly in focus. I'll still have to get one of those split prism viewfinder plates.

In the meantime a rose and bokeh from the K10 & a Riconar 55mm f2.2:

Absolutely beautiful! I'm fond of roses in particular, and the separation from the background is just perfect in your image.

For me a large part of liking the lens is also down to feel, as long as the images it takes are somewhat decent.
For some reason I love my new 35-100mm Auto Revuenon even though it's huge and heavy (I opened it up, and found a huge, thick glass lens as its first element), but there's something about its boxy shape that just pleases me, like heavy-duty machinery. Not beautiful, and yet it has a certain beauty of use.
I'll try to get warmer with the 200mm and 50 F/1.4, and see to which images they lead me

Cheers!
Leon

[MXLX]

^^^^^
If your Auto Revuenon zoom is a Tomioka, that would match with your enjoyment of it; those are highly regarded optics. I really don't need another obscure lens to quest after...

[blankmampf]

I used the opportunity of a very rural bus connection to and from my workplace again, and wandered around a bit in the adjoining park, still trying out that 200mm F/3.5
And I may have found its calling: Stunning bokeh under the right conditions.

Shot wide open at F/3.5

^^^^^
If your Auto Revuenon zoom is a Tomioka, that would match with your enjoyment of it; those are highly regarded optics. I really don't need another obscure lens to quest after...

I'm not sure. Mine seems to go under different brand names, another is Chinon.
I found a thread in another forum that suggests the original manufacturer (or at least one of them) was CIMKO Cima Kogaku.
And hey, what better platform to try obscure lenses on than Pentax if I get unlucky, I may soon be the owner of a 75-205mm F/3.5 (!) Soligor Auto Zoom due to yet another eBay auction. I may slowly become addicted....

[MXLX]

^^^^^
Welcome to OLAS: Old Lens Acquistion Syndrome.

[MichaelaPDX]

Pentax K10d, Pentax SMC M 28mm

[rjbrett]

200mm F/3.5

It's certainly crisp enough wide open as well Sometimes, after initial disappointment in the photos I'm getting with a lens, I'll also come back to them some time later and find strengths and qualities I missed first time round. I like to let them sit on my hard drive for a while now before I delete them.

don't need another obscure lens

yeah... I've got a chest of 40 or more collected while using my K5. I keep thinking I should sell some, but seem to have difficulty letting go. This one does this well, I never gave that one a fair go, and I'd only use that other if I had to but gee I had fun when I first got it. Having spent the last year learning to use more recent lenses I'm just starting to pull them out and try them on some of these other bodies I've bought, such as the K10, and I am glad I haven't passed them on.

---

Last edited by rjbrett; 03-22-2021 at 03:25 PM.

[blankmampf]

I'm actually proud that I managed to put up three of the lenses I own on eBay - though only the ones I didn't like at all. Two Revuenon-Zooms, feeling too plasticky, and a Phenix 50mm F/1.7, for the crime of "looking too new"

I've wrestled with the F/1.4 for about three hours straight, and it's been a tough fight.
I can't believe I actually got it back together in working order, and without too much new dust inside. I had to force my way through two lens retaining rings, because they simply would not unscrew, up to the point that I had to break the metal.
I feel exhausted, and closer to my fastest fifty, thankful that it chose to remain alive.

[blankmampf]

Here's an image I took with the 50mm F/1.4. I named this one "Wiedergänger", an old German name for something that has returned from the dead. An apt name, since the plant in the picture is dried-out, yet is displayed and beautiful, and the lens that captured it also has been taken apart many times.

And I believe behind every second amazing wildlife photograph is an animal that's just too cool to move . This one let me approach to about 2 meters, and snap many pictures before it eventually flew away.


Third, I've just ordered a Sigma 28-200mm F3.5-5.6 DL Hyperzoom Macro at the bargain price of 37,50€, and will now try to quell my lens-collecting habit at least for the next few days and weeks

[Eye.n.Eye]

Erosion- K10D, 18-135

[aslyfox]

from a minipark in the NOTO Arts & Entertainment District

The NOTO Arts & Entertainment District is the vibrant heartbeat of North Topeka that offers fine art experiences, unique shops, and all the mouth-watering food you could ever need! The development of an arts and entertainment district in the historic North Topeka business district is dedicated to stimulating the cultural and economic life of the surrounding area and throughout the Midwest. Whether you're looking to observe or add to the art scene, or you need some tasty cuisine, NOTO's Arts & Entertainment District is the eclectic place to be! . . .

EXPLORE NOTO

NOTO

note the stones in the wall, this is the original wall

[brewmaster15]

We have a small flock of Hens and a Rooster here. Its been our Tradition to name the rooster after Musicians. This is Jimmy, named for Jimmy Buffet. This is one Chill Bird.

K10D w/ F*300mm


-al

[paulh]

DA18-55 on K10D:

[subsea]

The Cathedral Cave, one of the chambers in St. Michael's Cave, in Gibraltar in 2010. Used as an auditorium due to its unique acoustics. K-10D and FA 28-80mm at ISO 800.

[brewmaster15]

The Cathedral Cave, one of the chambers in St. Michael's Cave, in Gibraltar in 2010. Used as an auditorium due to its unique acoustics. K-10D and FA 28-80mm at ISO 800.

Thats some serious Stalagtites! Nice colors too! Good capture!

al