[paulh]

DA 50-200mm

Beautiful images, Ray. I'd always thought the 50-200 got a bad rap - I was pretty happy with the photos I'd taken with mine (the DAL version). Admittedly, it saw most of its work on my K100D, but I was able to coax some decent images from it.

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Last edited by paulh; 08-05-2019 at 11:34 AM.

[beachgardener]

It's the time of year when the hippeastrums flower. Pentax K10D, SMC Pentax-DA 50-200mm F4-5.6 ED. Some of the reviewers of this lens were a bit unkind but others, like myself, were happy with its results. This is my second copy of this lens because the first one was badly damaged when I took a tumble on some rocks covered with wet slippery seaweed. The K10D survived OK with just a few scratches which are now barely noticeable.

Those hippies are so early, no sign of them here. Spring is coming

[rayallen]

Beautiful photos, Ray

I'd guess most folks who were unhappy with the DA50-200 either didn't calibrate AF fine adjustment, didn't stop down sufficiently, or simply expected too much from what is, after all, a kit lens. Like many zooms, it benefits hugely from stopping down - sharpening up noticeably at one stop, and becoming very decent between f/8 - f/11. Still, I think it shines best on the lower resolution bodies... 6 or 10MP. Today's 24MP models are very unforgiving...

Thank you, Mike. Those were taken at f11 to extend the DOF. Your thoughts about the lower resolution bodies are interesting. I saw very similar comments on a Canon Facebook group yesterday. I don't think that I have used the DA 50-200 on my K-3 so I must give it a try and see how it performs.

---------- Post added 06-08-19 at 08:37 AM ----------

Beautiful images, Ray. I'd always thought the 50-200 got a bad rap - I was pretty happy with the photos I'd taken with mine (the DAL version). Admittedly, it saw most of its work on my K100D, but I was able to coax some decent images from it.

Thanks, Paul. Yes, that is precisely the term I use "I was able to coax some decent images from it." You do have to work a little harder with that lens but you can get good results from it.

---------- Post added 06-08-19 at 08:39 AM ----------

Those hippies are so early, no sign of them here. Spring is coming

And you are closer to the equator than I am. Your spring will arrive soon.

Update: I just took a few images (same subject, same lens) with my K-3 (so I can't show them here!) and, honestly, I can't see much difference.at all. Maybe a fraction better even. It might be a kit lens but, if used properly, it produces the goods.

[paulh]

Another mobilehome sunset - DA18-135:

[Mobusaki]

Nice sunset, Paul. I like the silhouettes of the buildings and the glimpse of the horizon between them, and the subtle range of colors in the sky is great.

This past weekend I took the K10D and my favorite lens (Pentax DA 18-135mm DC) to "the spillway" at Pymatuning State Park, a short drive north of my town. Most of it is open for fishing and boating but part of it is sectioned off by the spillway and used as a hatchery and wildlife protection area.

I took too many photos with a slow shutter speed... I have a lot of shots that would have turned out great but for the blur! I was rusty I guess, and with the dim screen on the K10D I had trouble even noticing that my shots were blurry. But soon I had bumped up the ISO and goosed up the shutter speed and was getting some good shots.

People bring loaves of bread to feed the carp at the spillway (the Park allows this), which the kids never seem to get tired of, and neither did my wife. This time there were ducks and geese competing for bread as well. Sometimes a seagull would swoop in and grab a piece if the ducks and fish were too slow. The carp were the usual winners... they are fast! Descriptions of the photos follow, please let me know if it is annoying for me to post so many photos at once.



A throng of fish...they basically writhe on top of each other after loaves of bread. Eerie and mesmerizing.


You can see the protected part of the reservoir here. There are never boats out there and it's quite scenic. The sun was behind me so shots like this were easier than I'm used to. I got a couple with this guy, or others like him, looking right into the camera while in flight. Very cool.


This and the next are a couple close ups of the carp doing their fish thing.




The flower is actually my favorite photo from that outing... it just came out so nice, and it was unexpected. I went there to photograph fish, after all!


This last one made us laugh. A duck had a piece of bread on its back, but did not know it. That goose sure noticed and chased the duck all around trying to get the bread! I was losing light at this point and we went home soon after.

[Dartmoor Dave]

. . . please let me know if it is annoying for me to post so many photos at once.

Those photos are beautiful and do exactly what I personally think all good photos should do: they show me things in the world that I might never have known about otherwise. Keep 'em coming!

[rayallen]

... please let me know if it is annoying for me to post so many photos at once.

With quality photos like those you can post as many as you like. They were very enjoyable viewing. And that yellow flower is spectacular. Long live the K10D.

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Last edited by rayallen; 09-14-2019 at 03:00 PM.

[paulh]

Nice sunset, Paul.

Thanks! A very enjoyable set of photos from you as well - they really show off those K10D colors.

Pointing upwards with the DA18-55 on K10D:

[Mobusaki]

Thanks, everyone! Great perspective in that sky shot, Paul. That's the lens I usually have on my K10D.

[rayallen]

One from the vault - 8 portrait images taken with K10D and SMC Pentax-DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL WR. (X-posted).

[Grippy]

I love my K10, picked up another one the other day for 80 bucks, plan was to convert it to full spectrum, but I love it too much, so I'll just have 2. Between that and the ccd on my Oly E1, I'm happy with the old tech

IMGP6822_stitch | Ian Lucas | Flickr

---------- Post added 08-10-19 at 08:27 PM ----------

IMGP6849 | Ian Lucas | Flickr

[goatsNdonkey]

At the South Fulton Antique Tractor Show, Vermont, Illinois.

RMC Tokina f/5.6 100-300mm
Pentax K10D

[ChristianRock]

One from the vault - 8 portrait images taken with K10D and SMC Pentax-DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL WR. (X-posted).

Majestic! Great eye for the composition, and the panorama really brings out the details.

[rayallen]

Majestic! Great eye for the composition, and the panorama really brings out the details.

Thank you so much, CR, for your kind comments. Much appreciated.

[wtlwdwgn]

With the A 70-210mm f/4.