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Forum: Post Your Photos! 12-19-2020, 05:31 PM  
2021 Pentax Lens Tournament HD Pentax-D FA* 85mm F1.4 ED SDM AW
Posted By PF752
Replies: 0
Views: 93
I'd like to nominate my new favourite lens: The Pentax-D-FA* 85mm F1.4 ED SDM AW.

HD Pentax-D FA* 85mm F1.4 SDM AW Reviews - D FA Prime Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database

I used that lens yesterday on my K-1 photographing a rehearsal for a Christmas Carols event at our church in very challenging lighting conditions (although the camera and lens combination is so good you wouldn't know how dark it really was by looking at the images). The camera (K-1) was set on ISO 3,200 and the results are absolutely stunning. The images are very sharp with beautiful colour reproduction, the auto-focus very quick and accurate.

I have lots of Pentax lenses including two other primes (DA*55 F1.4 and DA14 F2.8) but the new 85mm is by far the best (albeit very heavy - but that's the price you pay for this kind of image quality and low light capability).

The attached image is an in-camera resized, in-camera jpeg with no external processing.
ISO 3200, 1/250, F2.0
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 07-23-2020, 08:34 PM  
Pentax D FA* 85mm F1.4 first impressions
Posted By PF752
Replies: 6
Views: 1,784
I have v1.53 firmware in the camera, which is, I believe, the most recent and the download page for that firmware says that it is optimised for this lens.
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 07-23-2020, 06:18 PM  
Pentax D FA* 85mm F1.4 first impressions
Posted By PF752
Replies: 6
Views: 1,784
I've just received (hot off the press, so to speak) my brand new Pentax D FA* 85mm F1.4 lens. First impressions (unsurprizingly) it's very heavy!... That's what happens when you have lots of quality glass, of course. So I took a quick photo inside of one of my moth orchids and cropped the jpeg image (in camera) as small as my K-1 would allow. Talk about sharp!! I think I'm going to have lots of fun really putting this lens through its paces.
This image was taken hand held at ISO400 1/100sec, F6.3.
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 06-24-2020, 06:11 PM  
Are we really THAT rare?
Posted By PF752
Replies: 7,240
Views: 985,630
Yesterday I had an interesting conversation with one of the staff in a local camera shop in my hometown of Adelaide:

He told me how his shop used to carry all the Pentax products but no longer does because of the lack of support from the Pentax distributor here in Australia (and the fact that they undercut him by selling direct via the web at prices lower than he can buy them wholesale from the distributor). These days they sell Canon, Nikon, Sony and Olympus cameras (not a Pentax in sight - apart from a few second hand offerings on consignment in their window).

He was very positive about the quality of Pentax products and told me that he thought the K-1 (which I have) is the best SLR camera body ever made (by anyone). He was also very complimentary about some of the newer lenses (many of which I also own).

Perhaps the lack of support from the distributor is one of the main reasons why Pentaxians are getting rarer. If camera shops won't stock them, nobody (who isn't already in the Pentax fold) is likely to know about them or seek after them.

Maybe Ricoh should seriously think about finding a new Australian distributor who will actually give camera shops incentive to carry Pentax (after I get my new 85mm lens that I ordered today, that is).

The way the brand is being marketed in Australia doesn't seem to be good business practice to me.

Just a thought.
Forum: Post Your Photos! 10-13-2019, 04:47 AM  
Nature Dragon Fly
Posted By PF752
Replies: 20
Views: 1,140
I have an old Pentax 540 fgz and an old Pentax 360 fgz. Both have wireless capability so you can use one as the master (on the K1's hot shoe) and one as the slave wirelessly. I also have three Cactus V6 wireless controllers (one is used as the master/transmitter, sitting on the camera's hot shoe, and can control up to 4 flashes (counting one on top of the master/transmitter - the other Cactus V6s are set as receivers and you put the flash guns (you can use many TTL flash guns from many different manufacturers - see: Cactus Wireless Flash Transceiver V6 | CACTUS for a list) on top of the receivers). I also have one Cactus RF60x flash gun that can be controlled from the V6 controller master transmitter.

I don't think the AF 400T can be controlled by the Cactus V6 (it's not listed). There might be other similar controllers that might though. Basically the transmitter/receiver allows you to manually control the output of each of the slaved flashes independently.

Before I got my TTL flashes, I used to use an old Sunpack flash gun that looks quite similar to the Pentax 400T. I used that with another simple slave flash that was much smaller and was simply triggered by the light of the big flash when doing macro photography. We just used to measure the distance from the flash to the subject and work out the exposure that way. It also meant needing three hands (or the camera or flashes on tripods). TTL certainly makes it much easier to get good exposures though (or a TTL ring flash).

I think the Cactus system is more creative in how you can use it (to some degree) but takes a little trial and error to get the exposure right. I imagine there are other similar controllers but the Cactus one is the only one that I have heard of that can use so many different flash guns from so many different manufacturers.

You might be able to put your 540fgz on the K1's hot shoe (running that normally with TTL metering) and use the cable connection on the K1 to fire the 400T (sorry, I don't know if you have that sort of connection for the 400T) but you would need to be able to control the power of the 400T manually I suspect.

Have fun experimenting.
Forum: Post Your Photos! 10-12-2019, 03:06 PM  
Nature Dragon Fly
Posted By PF752
Replies: 20
Views: 1,140
Another couple of tips for macro work: It's usually best to use a very small aperture because focusing very close on something very small means a very narrow depth of field. I routinely use f/32. That will, of course, mean you will need a lot of light on the subject (or you will need to use a high ISO or a long exposure if you're not augmenting the light with strobes). Using strobes will usually stop any movement of the subject (and/or camera - if it's a hand held shot) due to the short duration of the flash of light. If you don't have a macro flash (I have a Sigma EM-140 DG PA-TTL Macro Ring Flash - the strobe of which sits on the front of my FA100mm macro lens) you can use two flashes - one either side of the subject. That's what I used to do before I got the macro flash gun. If you have a K1 the easiest way (for hand held shots) would be to put one flash gun on the hot shoe of the camera (as the master) and hold the other flash gun (set to "Slave") on the other side of the camera. If you're using a camera with an in-built flash, use that as the master and slave the other flash gun to that. If you use flash guns and a very small aperture, the ISO you choose will determine how dark the background is. If you want the subject to really stand out, using flash gun (or two), an ISO of 100 or 200 and a very small aperture will make the background dark. If you use two flash guns, varying the second flash's distance from the subject (compared to the master flash's distance) will vary the lighting on the opposite side and can lead to nice lighting effects. (or you could use flash controllers - I have a set of Cactus wireless flash controllers that can vary the output of the attached flashes - to achieve the same effect). Happy macro shooting!
Forum: Post Your Photos! 10-11-2019, 03:18 PM  
Nature Dragon Fly
Posted By PF752
Replies: 20
Views: 1,140
The 100mm macro will allow you to be further from your subject to achieve the same magnification than if you were to use the 50mm macro.
Forum: Post Your Photos! 10-09-2019, 03:30 PM  
Nature Dragon Fly
Posted By PF752
Replies: 20
Views: 1,140
I have an FA 100mm f/2.8 macro that I use a lot for macro work and also for portraits. It's a great lens. Most of the dragonfly images and other macro images that I posted on my website were taken with it (as well as several portrait shots). You won't be disappointed.
Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras 10-09-2019, 03:24 PM  
The first Pentax was... East German
Posted By PF752
Replies: 31
Views: 2,662
Thanks for sharing the history lesson. Most interesting.
Forum: Post Your Photos! 10-08-2019, 11:52 PM  
Nature Dragon Fly
Posted By PF752
Replies: 20
Views: 1,140
I'm a fan of dragonflies too. If you'd like to see some of my images go to: Photography then click on the "More" button. Some of the images are incorrectly labelled as Dragonflies when they are actually Damselflies (before I knew the difference).
Forum: Post Your Photos! 10-08-2019, 11:45 PM  
Landscape Tasmania - K1 with D FA 15-30mm f/2.8 and D FA 24-70mm f/2.8 lenses
Posted By PF752
Replies: 6
Views: 535
Thanks for your nice comments. Yes, Tasmania is very beautiful. My wife and I had never been there before but may have to make a return visit. Although in the two weeks we were there we didn't miss much of the island. I took around 2,500 images and now am going through them all, selecting which ones I will use for my next photo book/s.
Forum: Pentax Full Frame 10-08-2019, 11:33 PM  
K1 users: what lenses do you use?
Posted By PF752
Replies: 197
Views: 23,829
I use the Pentax D FA 15-30 f/2.8 and D FA 24-70 f/2.8 (probably in that order) for landscapes. If I'm going somewhere that might spray up mist or dust (e.g. on a recent trip in an ocean going RIB with three big outboard motors on the back) I will go for the 24-70 as I have a filter protecting the front element on that lens but mostly I will use the 15-30. That lens got a serious workout last month when we took a two week vacation in Tasmania and the results were very pleasing indeed.
I use a Sigma APO DG 70-200 f/2.8II for most of my theatre photography (If I hadn't picked that up for a relative song and if it didn't perform as brilliantly as it does, I probably would have the Pentax equivalent by now).
Pentax FA 100 f/2.8 macro for... well... macro and also for portraits.
I also use a Pentax D FA 150-450 but I've only had that for about a month.
Occasionally I will use my Pentax DA* 55mm f/1.4 if I need the extra light. Even though that lens is for a crop sensor, it works pretty nicely on the K1 if you stop it down a little.
My really wide lenses are not getting much use now given that they are for crop sensors (Pentax DA 14mm f/2.8 & Pentax DA 10-17mm fisheye zoom)
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 10-07-2019, 11:56 PM  
Are we really THAT rare?
Posted By PF752
Replies: 7,240
Views: 985,630
Yes we Pentaxians are rare, but that's not a bad thing. In my home town of Adelaide none of the camera shops carry Pentax DSLRs or lenses anymore. They will order them in for you if required, but why would we (or they) bother when you can more easily buy direct from the importer's web site (often at a better price), which is what I've done for my four more recent purchases (three fast D FA zoom lenses and a K1 camera body). In the past I toured a lot (yes, I'm one of those actor types - among other things), mostly in Asia (not Japan though). It was very difficult to find any Pentax gear there too, whereas Canikon were everywhere. I'm very happy with the results I get with my Pentax gear. One interesting comment that was made to me when I was visiting a big, multi-level camera market in Seoul, South Korea: "Pentax! Very good colour" - and that was from one of the sellers who wasn't selling Pentax - in fact, I only found one small shop in that big market that had any Pentax gear and I bought a second hand extension tube and a used "Samsung" branded flash gun that is identical (apart from the name) to the previous model of the Pentax flash gun.
Forum: Post Your Photos! 10-07-2019, 11:16 PM  
Landscape Tasmania - K1 with D FA 15-30mm f/2.8 and D FA 24-70mm f/2.8 lenses
Posted By PF752
Replies: 6
Views: 535
Here are a few images from our recent trip to Tasmania:
IMGP4112-1 was taken with the Pentax D FA 24-70 f/2.8 lens: ISO-100, f/9, 1/200 sec. at 24mm focal length
IMGP4486-1 was taken with the Pentax D FA 15-30 f/2.8 lens: ISO-100, f/8, 1/125sec, at 15mm focal length
IMGP4949-1: Pentax D FA 24-70 f/2.8 lens: ISO-800, f/8, 1/800 sec. at 45mm focal length
IMGP5152-1: Pentax D FA 15-30 f/2.8 lens: ISO-400, f/8, 1/125sec at 15mm focal length

I was going to upload more, but sadly, my quota has been reached.
Forum: Post Your Photos! 10-07-2019, 02:04 AM  
Nature Images from the Adelaide Hills (mostly native orchids)
Posted By PF752
Replies: 1
Views: 465
The image of the young magpie was taken using the D FA 150-450 f/4.5-5.6 lens at 360mm, 1/60sec, ISO=800, f/8.
The remaining images were taken using the FA 100mm f/2.8 macro lens with a Sigma TTL macro flash attached to the front of the lens.
IMGP6179-1, IMGP6191-1, IMGP6194 and IMGP6206-1 were all taken using the following settings: ISO = 200, f/32, 1/125sec
The final two images (IMGP6221-1 and IMGP6224-1) were taken with ISO=400, f/32, 1/125sec.
I have resized these originally RAW images in Lightroom and slightly adjusted the exposure in a couple of them and cropped a couple of the images before resizing them. There was no other processing in Lightroom.
All these images were taken hand held with anti-shake on in the camera.
Forum: Welcomes and Introductions 10-07-2019, 12:56 AM  
Hi from Australia - Pentaxian since 1987
Posted By PF752
Replies: 14
Views: 651
Thanks Kiwi_Jono. Yours is a lovely part of the world. I've been to Christchurch (Adelaide's sister city) a number of times - twice for holidays, twice to perform title roles for the now defunct Canterbury Opera and once for a concert with the CSO.
One of my cousins had a Canon AE1-Program with a couple of very nice lenses which I used a few times. Unfortunately his gear was all stolen (a very long time ago). My brother-in-law has one too (as well as a 5D (MkIII I think, or maybe MkIV - not sure).
I bought the first three lenses in my list this year when Kennedy's had special discounts going and put the two shorter ones through their paces when we had a 2 week holiday in Tasmania recently. I'm very happy with the results. I have about 2,500 images to go through from that trip and will be making photo books (probably two). I have already made 15 or so from our various travels. I'll post a few images later but I will have to resize them first.
Forum: Welcomes and Introductions 10-07-2019, 12:41 AM  
Hi from Australia - Pentaxian since 1987
Posted By PF752
Replies: 14
Views: 651
Thanks.
Forum: Welcomes and Introductions 10-06-2019, 08:02 PM  
Hi from Australia - Pentaxian since 1987
Posted By PF752
Replies: 14
Views: 651
My photographic interest began when I was 12 and my aunt and uncle gave me a Minolta Hi-Matic 11 (range finder with a 50mm f/1.7 lens) with fully auto exposure or shutter speed priority. This served me well until I graduated to an SLR with my Pentax P50. A great camera. I only had two lenses for a long time - the 35-70mm macro that came with the camera and a 70-210 Vivitar. I started in the digital world with a small compact Kodak but in about 2005 I got my first Pentax DSLR - an istDL. Since then I've upgraded a number of times K10, K7, K3 and most recently a K1. I've built up quite a collection of lenses over the years:
Pentax D FA* 85mm (f/1.4)
Pentax D-FA: 150-450 (f/4.5-5.6);
Pentax D FA 24-70 (f/2.8);
Pentax D FA 15-30 (f/2.8)
Pentax DA* 55mm f/1.4
Pentax FA 100mm macro f/2.8
Pentax DA 14mm f/2.8
Pentax DA 10-17mm fisheye zoom
Pentax DA 18-55mm kit lens that came with my ist-DL (not used these days)
Pentax DA 50-200mm f/4-5.6 (not used these days)
I have a set of three manual extension tubes of different lengths for macro photography (these don't throughput auto-focus nor the f-stop (iris) information so you have to manually set that on the lens) plus one extension tube that does throughput the iris (f-stop) information but no auto-focus.
I also have a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 and a Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art Lens
I have several strobes:two Pentax, one Cactus and a Sigma macro flash - as well as a set of three Cactus wireless flash controllers, plus several brollies for portrait work.
As well as portraiture, I enjoy landscape photography; macro photography (especially of Australian native orchids, some of which are very tiny); and photographing theatrical performances (which is the main reason why I have so many fast lenses).
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