Forum: Post Your Photos!
04-06-2023, 03:10 PM
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Male display of a starling (Sturnus vulgaris) close to the main station in Berlin |
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-05-2023, 03:14 AM
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First, let me thank you all again for the great advice on budget telephoto lenses. I am really happy with the lens I bought!
I would now like to find a drop-in replacement for my 18-55 DAL lens. I know that many find this lens to be quite sharp, but that is not my experience. Maybe my copy is flawed; I don't know. But there are a few others I have seen.
My first priority is budget, second - sharpness, third - speed. I do not care much about the additional 1 or 2 mm at the short end or quiet/fast autofocus, but ability to take macro or macro-ish photographs would be nice. I will buy a second-hand lens. Here are some lenses below 200 EUR I have seen in local ads or on ebay and their respective prices; what would be your advice?
Sigma DC 18-50 f/2.8 macro: 200 EUR
Pentax DA 16-45 f/4: ca. 150 EUR
Sigma 17-50 f/2.8: ca 150-200 EUR
Tamron 17-50 f/2.8: ca 150 EUR
Pentax 18-50: ca 120 EUR
From the specs alone, I tend towards the sigma f2.8, because it has a macro button and is quite fast throughout the zoom range. I haven't seen many examples of photographs from this lens, though, and the crowd wisdom says is not very sharp, despite some contrary opinions. The other sigma, 17-50 f/2.8 seem also quite nice.
The runner up is the Pentax 16-45; parameter wise, I would prefer 18-50 and f/2.8, however I have seen several nice pictures made with this lens. Also, the average rating is higher than for the Sigma.
Too much choice!
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-18-2023, 08:50 AM
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Yeah, well, this is as good as it gets for me without using live view.
The blue tit has been photographed through a window, though, I was positively surprised that it worked.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
03-12-2023, 08:12 AM
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I think he has been in a fight |
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-12-2023, 06:15 AM
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Once again, I would like to thank you all for your advice. I am really happy with the 55-300. |
Forum: Post Your Photos!
03-04-2023, 03:50 AM
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OK, so I know that it is not a very good photograph, but somehow I like it. I shot it from a bridge over our local train station, near Berlin, after sunset. It was a beautiful view, you could hardly see any stars, just these two planets, and there was still some red glow on the horizon, the light of the setting sun melting in the haze from Berlin city lights. |
Forum: Photo Critique
03-03-2023, 12:23 AM
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Thank you, that is very interesting. Beautiful pictures!
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Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
03-01-2023, 04:20 AM
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K-30 and 55-300 WR. |
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-01-2023, 04:12 AM
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Dear all, thank you very much again for your advice. I am now a proud owner of a 55-300 WR. It is really a nice lens!
Practically no editing, shot on my way to work: |
Forum: Post Your Photos!
02-25-2023, 02:04 PM
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-24-2023, 11:17 AM
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Beautiful images! Thank you
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-24-2023, 12:57 AM
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That isn't my point. The point is to be able to turn around from photographing people, dogs and shoot an occasional butterfly without too much hassle or too much gear.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-23-2023, 01:08 PM
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Thank you all for your answers, that was very helpful!
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-23-2023, 03:56 AM
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This is a follow-up to this discussion. After having seen the Pentax 55-300 images I got fairly convinced that this is the lens I would like to buy. However... since then I have seen some really nice macro photographs taken with the Sigma, and I started to wonder. I like photographing bugs and flowers a lot, so maybe this is not such a simple decision? Can you use the 55-300 for macro photography at all?
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Forum: Photo Critique
02-21-2023, 03:12 AM
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To eliminate the reflections, I turned off the lights. The room is pretty dark, and there were no reflections.
I was photographing without flash. I remember from a while ago when I tried to use flash the fish looked really weird. I would probably have to invest some time in doing a more complex setup. Do you have any experience in using flash for aquarium photography? How did you set it up? I think the light should optimally come from top, between me and the fish - that is when the colors stand out best. You can see on my photograph that the light source was behind the fish: the colors should be more vivid red.
I will try next weekend and let you know what the results were...
Yes, about that... my idea for the photographs was actually to show how the little fish feed on the fish food crumbs. You can see it on the second photograph. Many characids catch a crumb, and it if its too large, spit it out and catch it again. I wanted to photograph this behavior. So, well, particles in water cannot be avoided ;-)
I tried that, but it did not work reliably for me on my K30.
The problem was low light. At ISO 3200, the photographs are already too grainy for my taste (at least for this type of photography). And the fish move constantly in quick, jerky movements, so even 1/60 time is too slow and results in blurry photographs.
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Forum: Photo Critique
02-20-2023, 02:57 AM
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I tried to photograph fishes in my aquarium. This turned out to be more difficult than I thought. First of all, I realized how dark the aquarium really is. In addition, the fishes I tried to photograph are quite small (~ 1cm) and they move all the time.
I tried different setups and different lenses. In the end, I had the best results with a Pancolar 1.8/50, opened wide, plus a macro ring. "Best" is relative, they are not good at all. The first photograph is made with the Pancolar only. The second is made using a 5mm macro spacer ring, also with Pancolar 1.8/50, wide opened. I set up the lens to the minum distance and tried to catch the fish in the focus by moving the camera (almost cracking the aquarium on one occasion). The photographs are slightly edited in Rawtherapee, but not cropped.
My question is: what setup or tricks do you use in such a situation? Or is it just a matter of patience? Or do you use additional light sources? |
Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
02-13-2023, 02:56 PM
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K-30, Sigma Mini Wide II 2.8/28, name is Bilbo |
Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
02-13-2023, 02:44 PM
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Dear pschlute, maybe you could post it somewhere as an article on its own. I feel that it might be a good reference, handy for many users of manual lenses.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-11-2023, 03:25 PM
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Des, thank you very much for your exhaustive comment. You make many good points. I did not realize the difference in coating or age, which both make the differences in price much more understandable. In any case, wish me happy hunting.
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Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
02-11-2023, 02:21 PM
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I can still see the green hexagon lighting up, thank you very much.
It most definitely appear to influence it, at least in K30. You can check it yourself; take a manual lens and a simple setup involving a ruler and a target, shoot a photograph with the green hexagon lit, change the AFFA setting, focus again, shoot another one. You will find that the focus is now at a different position. I have done it a hundred times with a half a dozen of different manual lenses. I attach fragment of two photographs taken with the same manual lens (M42, Pancolar 1.8/50). One photograph is without the AFFA correction, the other one with AFFA -10.
Alternatively, read this article. Quote:
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Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
02-11-2023, 02:19 AM
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In the meanwhile, I have downloaded the K-30 service manual. After reading it, I don't think calibrating the camera is as simple as that. Changing the global AFFA from the debug menu might be possible, but that is a far cry from actually calibrating the AF.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-11-2023, 02:14 AM
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A general question here: do the WR lenses have a better image quality? I thought WR was only about some low-grade protection against moisture. Down here the price difference between 55-300 and 55-300 WR is huge; you can get a used 55-100 for 100-120 EUR (DA, not DA L), but a used WR variant costs on average 250-300, more than twice as much.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-10-2023, 03:08 PM
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You got me at your second example, I think I'm sold. Thank you for your exhaustive answer!
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Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
02-10-2023, 11:54 AM
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Do I understand that correctly - calibrating the AF in K30 is a software only operation, no mechanical adjustment necessary?
Well, I am not averse of doing such things, I have repaired laptops and lenses several times, I am known to hold a soldiering iron occasionally, and I have quite some IT knowledge (it being my job, more or less) but I tend to approach these things methodically. I know too little of how the AF in K30 works internally, so I would not attempt it without a good manual. Would you recommend any reading for me?
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-10-2023, 10:53 AM
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Easier to say what I don't like to photograph: panoramas. Apart from that, basically everything. Mostly I shoot a lot of people and animals.
Nope.
Hard to say. When it comes to the lenses I really like, I prefer character, definitely, coupled with technical excellence, nice looks (preferably zebra stripes) and at least fourty years of experience in making photographs. Currently, however, I am looking for cheap AF zooms, so I guess I don't expect much of either. I like them sharp and fast, but I don't expact that from a budget lens.
Something in the price range of a used Pentax 55-300 (prices are sometimes really different between the US and EU).
K30, and budget around the price of a used Pentax 55-300.
These are outside of my budget, though.
I do not have a problem with them either! I don't have much comparison, though. Apart from these two AF lenses, all my other lenses are manual lenses from 60s, 70s and 80s. Thank you for your advice on the telephoto zooms!
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