During x-mas holidays we took our kids to a theatre version of the "Alice in wonderland". The Swedish popstar Amy Diamond (and guess what two kids around here who think she is great?) played Alice and Roger Westberg played all other creatures...and did that pretty well.

I brought the SMC Pentax-A* 135mm f1.8 since it is by far my best low light stage lens. Mainly iso1600 full open to f4, 1/50 to 1/125.

f2.5


f2.5


f2.2


f3.2


f1.8 (full open)


f3.2


f3.5


f4.0


f3.2


f3.2


More photos (also full open) on my flickr: SMC Pentax-A* 135mm 1:1.8 - a set on Flickr

[the swede]

Nice work, and very tough scenery to shoot!

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

Nice work, and very tough scenery to shoot!

Thanks!
Well, it wasn't harder than most conserts or theater sceneries: low or varying light. Heads getting in the way. And if you are not press, the inconvenience of working from your seat instead of shooting right up the front of the scene. But the A*135 is great for this sort of task. The loss rate is mainly because of failing to get the thin DOF in the right place since it is a manual lens, but with a bit of excersize it is not harder than it was before AF was invented. But I think it would be great if Pentax released an AF version of this lens.

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

Mmh, I thought I would get at least some more comments.

[milesy]

did you do much noise reduction on these shots?? the reason i ask is when i am shootin 1600 i seem to see a fair bit more noise than this??

[Kerrowdown]

Mmh, I thought I would get at least some more comments.

It's a great lens, I've got one too.

There's another comment.

As for pictures well seen and taken.

[PentX Girl]

Nice series from a nice lens

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

did you do much noise reduction on these shots?? the reason i ask is when i am shootin 1600 i seem to see a fair bit more noise than this??

I processed raw files through lightroom. Most of the photos was set to 0% noise reduction on luminanse and 25% on color, which is my standard setting, and I think quite modest. The exception is the picture with the cat, which was noisier and took something like 40%/40%.

To my experience, the darker the photo is, the more noise I see. It appears to me that a fast lens helps avoiding noise. Don't know if this is technically correct, but it is what I experiense.

Don't really understand why people complain that much about the noise in the K-7.

It's a great lens, I've got one too.

There's another comment.

As for pictures well seen and taken.

Nice series from a nice lens

Thanks!
The only thing that might make me part from this lens is if someone offer me to swap it for one of the Pentax 200mm macro lenses. But I would sure end up missing it.

[Rense]

Douglas, that one but last is wonderful!!
Great job btw!

[fractal]

Nice job Douglas under what looks to be very difficult lighting. I would have loved to have seen this play. I guess i'll be off to see the new Johnny Depp film instead.

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

Douglas, that one but last is wonderful!!
Great job btw!

Nice job Douglas under what looks to be very difficult lighting. I would have loved to have seen this play. I guess i'll be off to see the new Johnny Depp film instead.

Thanks!
Also looking forward to the Depp version (he is a genious). Do you know who is playing Alice?

[fractal]

Thanks!
Also looking forward to the Depp version (he is a genious). Do you know who is playing Alice?

I can't say it is anyone I know of. I love Tim Burton & Johhny Depp though.

[Sailor]

I'm impressed with the high quality of these shots and your excellent timing - it had to be tough under these conditions. Great job.

Jer

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

I can't say it is anyone I know of. I love Tim Burton & Johhny Depp though.

I googled it: Anne Hathaway. She might not sing as well as Amy Diamond (the version I went to was sort of a musical), but I would say she will do fine as an Alice. Watched a trailer. Appears there are some modifications compared to the original book(s). 1) Alice appears to be somewhat older and running away trying to avoid getting married. 2) There is a dragon! (Does holywood believe that a dragon is necessary in all movies today to get a success?) 3) There seams to be a regular war, and the mad Hatter swings the rapier as vigilant as captain Jack.

I'm impressed with the high quality of these shots and your excellent timing - it had to be tough under these conditions. Great job.

Jer

Thanks Jer! You are flattering me!
I used to shoot a lot of rock concerts (often with this lens), typically with more difficult light, but that was before kids etc. Bringing the kids to theater gives a possibility to dust of that old capability. Give them a few more years and I can start taking them to rock concerts! And the circle will be closed. Bet that same lens will still be with me!

[Jonson PL]

Well done indeed. Some of the better work I've seen from the A*135/1.8