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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-15-2024, 03:41 AM
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One thing to remember with these old lenses is sample variation. Especially wide open performance vary from lens to lens. For example my F version of f1.7 is sharper wide open than my M version of f1.7 and other member has opposite situation with same lenses.
I have shot two months in single in challenge with all M fifties. First in APSC format and second time in FF. In my experience f1.7 does everything better than f2 and offers half step faster option when needed. Main weakness in f2 is poor handling of highlights.
All 4 lenses take perfectly fine shots, but I have my favorites clear. F1.2 has the best bokeh and is the best for portrait work. F1.7 is my choice for landscapes.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
04-15-2024, 03:59 AM
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Running f1.2 like last month. Haven't really learned anything new. Little motivation problem on vacation. I still don't like to carry anything with me when I'm seriously skiing or snowboarding and I was too tired to go out with camera afterwards. When hiking to off piste the backpack is needed anyway so it's easy to take camera with me there and get some shots with decent view. I hope to improve my performance now that I'm back home and working again.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
03-31-2024, 12:51 PM
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I'm done. I believe I shot everyday and got everything posted. It was fun to have a new lens to play with and test out. With travel and computer problems I wasn't actively commenting this month, but I tried to look all the shots thru. I got new harddrive on my laptop, so it's running well again, so that shouldn't be an issue for awhile. This computer seems to burn thru SSD drives pretty fast. Currently on third one. So hopefully 2-3 good years before I need to replace it again.
Onto the lens itself. Is there a nickname for this superfastfifty? It feels like a true bokeh machine. The quality of bokeh is pretty much as good as it gets. I find it quite similar with DFA*85 which is obviously a very good thing. I think the lens is at its best when not focused at infinity. So for portrait type of shooting this is exellent lens no matter if target is human, animal or some thing. Yes it can also take landscapes, but they are not as magnificent as portrait kind of work. I think I need to do some landscape comparison between this and f1.7 as I feel like the latter is still better in that department. Maybe next time I shoot f1.2 at SIC.
Wide open lens is bit soft as can be expected. Especially at MFD the focus plane seems to disappear. This gives different kind of rendering compared to modern fast primes which have very clear and sharp focus plane. In a way this gives smoother transition as focus plane is not so highlighted, so not necessary a bad thing. I also noticed that wide open rendering has similar glow to what can be found on soft lenses at some apertures. Not so strong as in soft lenses, but a little to give special rendering or some character to the lens. Wide open rendering seems to work very well in instagram where shots are typically watched on mobile phones.
Stopping down give sharped focus plane. Bokeh quality seems to stay very good stopped down too. I didn't get to test this very much this month as I was so keen to test wide open performance.
This was clearly the most expensive fifty back in the days. Almost double to M50/1.4 and close to M85/2 in price. I'd say it was worth it, as f1.2 feels a lot better lens than f1.4. I think it wins in everything you can put those two lenses in comparison. After one month I'm very impressed. This is a keeper. I'd say that even when I get DFA*50/1.4 this will be worth to keep in collection for its rendering.
Full SIC album: Pentax K50/1.2 | Flickr
And some of my favorites from the shots that didn't make it to the SIC album:
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
03-25-2024, 11:29 PM
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I was thinking about an other month with 50/1.2.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
03-27-2024, 06:02 AM
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I have 130 shots left in Flickr account, so 4 months more and then I need to make a new account again.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
03-16-2024, 11:17 PM
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You got fast moves. Is this part of the new MF body or despite it?
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
03-16-2024, 04:34 AM
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I'm a huge fan of M120 and consider it the best tele lens in M series. Sharp, compact and lovely rendering.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
03-15-2024, 03:51 AM
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Yeah, good light helps a lot with long and slow lenses. Handheld with 300mm I go 1/250 or faster to keep results sharp.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
03-15-2024, 02:04 AM
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Had to find and istall PixelShift2DNG program to make todays shot. The name is pretty selfexplaining, but I still had a hard time to remember its name :lol:
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
03-15-2024, 12:04 AM
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Okei, my problem is solved. I wrote to support last night and this morning they provided me with download link to old ZPS18. So now I got it back on the computer and running as it used to be. Talk about customer support. Programs been unsupported since 2016 and I paid something like 50€ for it ten years ago when it came on the market. I really couldn't have been offended with polite decline saying sorry, but it's not available anymore.
Also the new ZPS X is set on my computer, so will keep it and see how it works when free trial is over. Might give it a try as RAW editor during trial just to see how much Zoner has improved, but I expect to C1 still have edge over it in colours and sharpness of jpg's.
But as a viewer and organizer it is really good and has integrated surface to Zonerama cloud surface to store shots. So far Zonerama has been free and unlimited photo platform. Not as easy as Flickr to get BBCode to post shots into PF, but can be done if you know what to do.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
03-14-2024, 11:40 PM
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You never know until you try. My first SIC was with M*300. Just saying... :cool:
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
03-15-2024, 02:21 AM
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And since I'm already here and Pepperberry is gonna ask any second now, Pentax 50/f1.2 has been a blast :D
As typical for me I find it difficult to stop down and tend to shoot more wide open than absolutely necessary. I know it not pin sharp in focus like big modern beasts, but I do enjoy that soft rendering. Wide open there's similar soft glow as can be found in the rendering from the soft lenses Gary collects. Something uique I haven't seen in my other vintage fifties. If you go pixelpeeping, it may be distracting, but in right viewing size give nice feel to the shot. Stop down a little and it's gone, so something easy to play with.
So far my feeling is that this lens is at its best on wider apertures and with close targets, so it can boast its excellent bokeh. From the landscapes focused to infinity I have taken, so far I'm left with the feeling that 50/1.7 would do it better. Yet I can't find anything wrong in them, so can't explain where the feeling comes.
Month has been going great so far thought I haven't have very much time to put into photography. Fun to have a new lens to shoot and test. This lens is a keeper and will keep it even when I have acquired DFA*50/1.4.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
03-14-2024, 01:52 PM
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So new hard drive on my laptop and fresh start with windows on the side. The latter is not so fun. All programs and you customizations gone. Reinstall everything and set them the way they were. Except I think I lost my Zoner Photo Studio 18 with permanent licence I've been hanging on to for 10 years, as I don't have copy of setup file and it's not available in their support page anymore. I liked to use it as organizer and viewer thought I had moved the photo editing to Capture 1 a long time a go. I think I can get used to C1 import tool and the way it likes to store files. Just need to learn new habits.
But what to do with viewer. I'd like something fast and flexible where it's easy to go thru photo archives. The windows standard is not acceptable and I really don't want to pay monthly fee for Zoner Photo Studio X as I have no need for it's editing features. Any suggestions? What programs you use to view your jpg's?
EDIT: It looks like ZPS X might work as a viewer for free. All might not be lost after all. I guess I try how that goes.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
03-13-2024, 03:17 AM
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Good for you.
I have purposefully avoided any career advancements as my current position allows decent pay with freedom of remote work at flexible working times. I couldn't run my life in any job that require me to be in an office at a certain time of a day. Instead of work life balance I try to steer to life as much as possible :D
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
03-09-2024, 09:02 AM
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My one rule is never try unless you can buy. It will only lead to mental or financial trouble :lol:
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
02-20-2024, 05:48 AM
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
02-28-2024, 09:12 AM
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I'm gonna wrap up the month today. 28 days is enough of 24mm for me. More than enough to be honest. I have been bored with the lens for the last week or so. I just find it hard to be versatile and creative with such wide FOV. Cropping for panorama helps a lot. Otherwise there's typically just too much empty space to be interesting. Occasionally it's the right tool, but if I have to go with just one lens I prefer something longer. Missed one day due to lack of motivation. I thought it would've been later, but it was already 10th day. Glad I managed to push thru to here.
Lens itself is decent or good enough in viewing size, but I would like to add some pixie dust in it to get some wow factor. I would appreciate sharper, more 3D pop and smoother bokeh. Things that are hard to get in such a wide paggage. I don't know if it's even possible to get what I desire, as I'm not 100% sold on rendering of DFA21ltd either. Even if it were possible. I'm not certain I'd be willing to pay the price asked for a lens I would mount as a last resort.
I can sell this, if someone else wants to give it a go, but probably too lazy to actively sell it and will leave it on the shelf.
My favorites from the month:
...I thought there would be more, but in this date and time; That's all folks :o
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Forum: General Photography
02-28-2024, 05:50 AM
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Like Sandy I'd like to suggest slower shutter speeds. Set camera on tv mode and test out the slowest shutter speed where you can realiably produce sharp results and then stick to that in the museums so that you get the most out of available light. With DFA*50 something from 1/60 to 1/30 should work. With K1ii that should rule out the possibility of shutter shock.
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Forum: Lens Sample Photo Archive
04-30-2019, 09:49 AM
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
02-25-2024, 01:34 PM
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I got a new lens to play with so definitely in. K1ii & K50/1.2.
I'm traveling at the beginning, so not sure how it effects my posting. I try to take laptop with me, but I need to take a lot of other stuff too, so it's possible I can't fit it inside weight allowance. My laptop ain't travel friendly and has brick like 200W transformer.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
01-28-2024, 01:05 PM
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Yesterday:
Today reversed view:
And panorama from 6 shots:
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
02-24-2024, 12:58 AM
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I've been waiting for this :D
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
02-21-2024, 09:02 AM
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Thanks. I try to occasionally shoot also stopped down :lol:
But bokeh and wider apertures is the main reason I bought this lens. My 50/1.7 lenses work just fine for stopped down work, say f2 and smaller.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
02-21-2024, 12:47 AM
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K50/1.2 arrived today and it will be my March SIC lens. Took some test shots wide open and quick analyse is that my M50/1.4 has just become useless. Happy with wide open sharpness and that bokeh is pure sweetness :D
I have postponed DFA*50 purchace due to need to upgrade windsurfing gear and this lens will make it a lot easier. Still think I will eventually get it, but I need plenty of sails before I get there.
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