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Forum: Lens Clubs 04-07-2009, 09:47 PM  
300mm plus Lens Club: discuss your long lenses
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 40,768
Views: 4,310,277
I do understand, Marc. Every telephoto lens is a compromise, I guess - a fast, long lens will be large and heavy, while a compact, light, long lens is gonna be slower. However, the best lens for the job is not the one that got left at home (again), but is the lens that's with you when you're ready to shoot - .



"Been there, done that..." (more or less). I used to have a gorgeous A* 600/5.6, and I even used it hand held on rare occasion (back in FF film days, and in very bright light only). But, most of the time it got left at home (along with the tripod, which also often got left home).

I eventually replaced the 600/5.6 with an A* 300/2.8 (comparatively "smaller"), which, with an A 2X-L TC, gave me a "more practical" (even though somewhat less sharp) 600/5.6. But, it was ~still~ a bit big to carry most of the time.

But, the F* 300/4.5 is small enough and fast enough (and certainly sharp enough) for ~most~ situations (even if not bright enough for ~all~ conditions). And, the bottom line is that an F* 300/4.5 (or, at an earlier time, an A* 300/4) can go with me ~most~ of the time.

In a sense, because of its excellent optical and mechanical qualities, but also because it is not overly large (or overly fast), an F*/FA* 300/4.5, compared to one of the 300/2.8's is sort of a "Limited" long telephoto lens...
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 01-20-2016, 03:49 PM  
Manual focus "normal" zoom
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 19
Views: 2,482
There are actually two A 35-70's - the one dcshooter mentioned - f/3.5-4.5 - which is optically the same as the F version, and also the A 35-70/4. I have no experience with the F or A 35-70/3.5-4.5 (I tend to prefer constant-aperture zooms for simpler manual exposures), but I recommend the A 35-70/4 -- it's a nice little walking lens with a very good close focusing "macro" function.

And the A 70-210/4 and the A 35-105/3.5 are indeed very good lenses -- I'd also recommend the big brother to the latter - the A 28-135/4.
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 10-23-2016, 03:35 PM  
K-1 or K-3 for birding
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 173
Views: 17,045
Thanks, Norm, for all your efforts and for starting this interesting discussion.
And thanks to everyone else (certainly including the "skeptics") for propelling the discussion forward...
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 05-03-2016, 08:32 PM  
The perfect/best portrait lens for K-1
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 62
Views: 16,852
A* 85/1.4. Period.
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 09-11-2015, 05:05 PM  
Is it just me or is the F 35-70 an insanely over rated lens?
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 82
Views: 9,602
The A 35-70/4 is a nifty but unpretentious little lens with a surprisingly good "macro" function (and, if it's a good copy, $25 would be a good price). The A 35-105/3.5 is (except for its "macro" function) in a different (higher) league. Not just in zoom range (obviously) but in IQ is it greater than the A 35-70/4 -- it is a most impressive zoom. [The A 35-70/4 in no "Poor Man's A 35-105/3.5.]

The A 35-70/4 is very compact and also quite light -- it's really a simple, lightweight design that just works very well -- so it is nice to tote around. OTOH, the A 35-105/3.5 has a lot of very nice glass, and so it is larger and heavier, but I myself really don't think of it as either too big or too heavy to tote around. [You ought to try lugging around the 35-105's big brother, the A 28-135/4, for a little while, if you want to experience big or heavy - LOL.]
Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras 08-29-2015, 07:11 AM  
1.7 vs 1.4?
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 33
Views: 10,050
In my experience and in my not-so-humble opinion (and this is from K, M and A versions):

The 50/1.4's are the best "all around" 50's - slightly sharper, but they do have more field curvature than the 1.7's, but ultimately they have slightly better bokeh than the 50/1.7's, especially wide open (probably only or mostly due to the 1/2-stop wider aperture).

The 50/1.7's are nearly as sharp as the 50/1.4's, and have a flatter field (maybe important only for macro work with tubes or with a macro-focusing TC).

The 50/2's make nice "fat body caps".

The 55/1.8's (and the optically-slightly-strangled-by-the-Pentax-marketing-department 55/2's) have very nice bokeh, and the "extra" 5 mm of FL does sometimes make a difference.

If I were you (but obviously YMMV), I'd want at least one 50/1.4, at least one 50/1.7, and at least one 55/1.8, and if three 50's were not enough, then "stock up" on the 50/1.4's. :)
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 09-28-2017, 01:55 PM  
The poor old much maligned Takumar Bayonet group.
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 26
Views: 3,396
I used to have a Takumar Bayonet 135 as part of my small collection of 135's from back in Ye Olde Film Days of Yore --

[A* 135/1.8, VS1 135/2.3, K 135/2.5, Takumar Bayonet 135/"2.5", K 135/3.5]


I found that the Takumar Bayonet 135 was a decent enough lens for build quality, resolution, and contrast, just as long as it didn't have to deal with any bright lights -- IMHO, its only serious drawback was its susceptibility to flare, either obvious geometrical flare markings or overall veiling flare. SMC does (at least sometimes) make a difference --

[K 135/2.5, Takumar Bayonet 135/"2.5"]


However, the lens must have had its "135/2.5" specs "determined" in the marketing department, since it really is a nominal 135/2.8 lens. 135mm / 2.5 = 54mm, while 135mm / 2.8 = 48mm. And the Takumar Bayonet 135's 52mm filter threads (unlike the K 135/2.5's, which measure 58mm) allow for probably only 49mm or 50mm (at the most) of clear front aperture. [Of course, this is not unlike the K200/"2.5" which, with its 77mm filter threads, is probably actually a 200/2.8 lens.]
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 08-24-2015, 08:52 PM  
Remove aperture lever from K series lens = get M42 functionality?
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 58
Views: 8,534














[EDIT: If you can't figure out the above series of images, what I am trying to show is that I picked up an already crippled K 135/2.5 lens, to see how it works (as if it were an M42 lens, using AV mode metering, similar to the original thrust of this thread), compared to how my original K 135/2.5 works (using M mode with green-button stop-down metering). Of course, the actual results should be approximately the same -- this is more of a test of convenience. But, in addition, to sort of paraphrase the words of the seller, I also hope to give the poor crippled K 135/2.5 a good home, where it can live out the rest of its life in dignity, as opposed to being stuck ingloriously on the snout of some god-awful Canon beast.]

:)
Forum: Pentax K-01 04-25-2017, 04:18 AM  
Add your best K-01 photos here
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 3,863
Views: 776,358
Yes -- converted to IR by Isaac Szabo.
Forum: Pentax Price Watch 02-03-2018, 06:34 AM  
Pentax Binocular Deal
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 14
Views: 1,553
I bought my wife the 6.5x model, and they're good not just for bugs, flowewrs,,etc., outdoors, but they're also great for museums, where sometimes you want to see
the detail in something closer but are otherwise restricted from physically getting closer.. And the're fine at concerts, too, as "opera glasses".
Forum: Pentax Price Watch 11-20-2017, 09:40 AM  
Holiday Special: Loyal Site Supporter Status
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 12
Views: 6,282
This is a great deal -- it's the best Black Friday Pentax money you can spend... :)
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 09-17-2017, 09:13 AM  
looking help: whale photography baja california.
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 86
Views: 9,015
As I said, most of the time you don't get lucky. Here's a few more looking through the generally-not-very-helpful air-water interface --

In Massachusetts waters, the usual #1 prey species for most baleen whales (except for tight whales and sei whales, both of whom feed on planktonic animals, usually copepods), and for many other critters as well, is sand lance (as illustrated above, in my last post). However, once in a while, swarms of krill (a.k.a. euphausiids) (which is the main food for humpbacks, finbacks, blues, minkes, etc., in many places) do appear, and "our" local whales may turn to it as an alternate food source here. Krill look sort of like slightly reddish shrimp-like animals, but it's often quite difficult to see their forms easily unless conditions are very forgiving, as they were not for this photo --


The largest shark we see in Massachusetts Bay (and the white shark is second in size here) is the basking shark (which is a plankton feeder, by the way) -- however, it is often difficult to see them clearly, and sometimes little else besides their dorsal fin may be easily visible (and, even then, only when they're at the surface) --


One of the strangest fishes seen here is the ocean sunfish --


The most common (by far) species of dolphin seen in Massachusetts Bay is the Atlantic white-sided dolphin (and the Pacific white-sided dolphin, which you might see, Aslyfox, is quite a different species), but photographing them is quite difficult -- even when they clear the water's surface, the film of water they bring with them can make for some optical masking and/or distortion --



The left eye on this dolphin is just partially visible through its "bow wave" --


...and the left eye on this dolphin is visible (but perhaps a bit distorted a bit) through the water film passing over its head --


You mentioned bubble-net feeding, Aslyfox -- well, humpbacks (who are very agile but not overly fast whales) in many parts of the world do utilize various bubble-feeding techniques (although here in Massachusetts Bay, "our" humpbacks use both bubble-net feeding and bubble-cloud feeding), but finbacks and minkes (who are both quite a bit faster than humpbacks) basically just "outrun" their prey, often literally swimming circles around them -- however, this is not to say that such whales cannot blow bubbles if they did want to -- here's a people watching minke whale blowing some bubbles (which we anthropomorphically assume is done for our benefit) while swimming around our boat --





But, even though a few of the above are decent shots (all things considered), it has to be remembered that, while these did end up being "keepers", many more "through-the-air-water-interface" shots were "throwaways", ending up on the "digital cutting room floor"...
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 09-11-2017, 07:32 PM  
looking help: whale photography baja california.
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 86
Views: 9,015
Thanks. :o



"Two Gulls Share a Cab" --


[In this image, they're herring gulls, of course.]

:D
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 09-11-2017, 04:32 PM  
looking help: whale photography baja california.
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 86
Views: 9,015
I am afraid I can give you very little advice on the use of a polarizing filter. First, while performing my duties as a whale watch naturalist, I typically was holding a camera body in one hand, as I was also cradling (and sometimes zooming) a lens in the other hand, as I was holding a microphone in my third hand, and as I was holding onto a rail with my fourth hand. Oops - I don't actually have that many hands (really). Well, as you can see, I certainly couldn't easily afford to be adjusting a polarizer very well (which would have also been complicated by the fact that my various long zoom lenses generally rotated the objective end of the lens when focusing -- if, on the other hand (so to speak), I could, when using a polarizer, somehow just "set it and forget it" - i.e, if the objective end did not rotate in use - it might have been more practical).

Besides, a polarizing filter cannot perform miracles -- it can help considerably with filtering out glare reflected off the water's surface, but it cannot help with the distortion of a target's shape and features due to refraction by a water-to-air interface that is all too often not "as smooth as glass", and it cannot help with water that is turbid (i.e., not "crystal clear"). Perhaps when watching whales near Hawaii, or in the Caribbean, where the water clearly (so to speak) seems nearly sterile (so that such places, therefore, do not represent major feeding grounds for typical large baleen whales), turbidity might not be a problem -- however, in many important feeding areas, where there is a lot of plankton in the water (supporting an active food web involving feeding by large baleen whales), the water is generally pretty cloudy, and a polarizer cannot help much with that. [Many baleen whales eat very little on their breeding grounds, doing most of their feeding for the entire year only on their feeding grounds.]

However, sometimes you do get LUCKY -- sometimes the target critter may be "trying to be photogenic" when the water just happens to be flat, and/or when the critter just happens to be in the shadow of the boat (where glare is naturally reduced), and/or when the critter just happens to be in the lea of the boat (where wave action may sometimes be reduced). But sometimes (well, most of the time) you just don't...

Here's a harbor seal pup that came up close to the surface right next to the boat in water that was relatively conducive for photography at the time --


However, 17 seconds later, the same pup had moved to where only his head, and little else of his body, was visible above the water --


Actually, when I've seen seals while on a whale watch, most of the time it was only the head that was visible, whether they were harbor seals --


- or gray seals (such as these traveling grays that briefly slowed down to do some "people watching" while our boat was stopped for us to watch some whales) --


Of course, sometimes what is going on above the surface is "the main event", an example of which is this gray seal "playing with" his din-din (an unlucky ocean pout) --


Whales (such as this "people watching" humpback) sometimes "spy hop", apparently to bring their eyes closer to (but usually still below) the surface, where they still have to deal with some of the same problems we photographers have to deal with --


But you are right -- most of the time "we will be able to photograph backs, tails, fins, blow holes, spy hopping, breeches and spouts etc, etc, etc, and so forth and so on as the whales break the surface of the water" -- most of the time we are left watching "the tip of the iceberg", such as with each of these three actively feeding humpbacks --


Here's a humpback seemingly doing some "people watching", likely checking out some distorted appearing little human critters while swimming in a circle (or, actually, an oval) around the boat, while the people are all looking back at the somewhat masked, somewhat distorted, and somewhat non-visible large friendly whale --


And the viewer's exact location may also be critical for successful viewing or shooting through the air-water interface as well -- here some whale watching passengers are obviously looking at whales swimming around the boat just below the surface, while - at least for me and my camera - the whales are nearly entirely masked by glare --


In Massachusetts Bay, the favorite food for most (but not all) species of whales is a fairly small fish known as American sand lance (nicknamed "sand eels", although they are not eels). Sometimes sand lance can be found partially buried in the sand at the bottom (hence their name), sometimes at intermediate depths, and sometimes even at the surface (where the wakes of their own motions add distortion to the surface, and where interface distortion can make them appear perhaps more eel-like than they really are) --


Sometimes, however, their appearance may benefit from more favorable conditions, making them a bit more "photogenic" --


But, they're even more visible when a surface feeding humpback whale makes a few of them "airborne" above the air-water interface --
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 09-02-2017, 07:12 PM  
looking help: whale photography baja california.
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 86
Views: 9,015
Humpbacks are not the only large whale species that breaches, of course, even though they may be the species seen breaching most often. In that National Geographic article I referenced earlier ( http://whitelab.biology.dal.ca/hw/scientificamerican0385-84.pdf ), the occurrence of breaching in humpbacks is listed as "very frequent", but rights, grays, and sperms are listed as "often breaches". Most other large whales breach very seldom in comparison, according to that article.

In my experience, however, minkes do breach more than the article states (as "unusual") -- I have found that, in an increasing sea, minkes may breach occasionally, and furthermore, when they do so, they may breach several times in a row.

Here is a minke whale that (as I recall) breached perhaps half a dozen times -


On the other hand, I do agree with the article when it reports that a finback breach is a "rare" occurrence. In fact, I have seen a finback breach on only just two occasions, and I was able to photograph only one of those breaches.

So, here is my only (and yes, pretty "rare") finback breach photo (scanned from a 4x6 print from "way back in Ye Olde Film Days of Yore") -
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 08-27-2017, 09:30 AM  
looking help: whale photography baja california.
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 86
Views: 9,015
There are a ~lot~ of online pages that discuss whale breaching and other active behaviors, some of which pass on small or even large bits of nonsense, IMHO. However, here is a PDF file of a Scientific American article by a very knowledgeable and experienced Canadian whale researcher -

http://whitelab.biology.dal.ca/hw/scientificamerican0385-84.pdf

It's hardly recent, but it does contain a lot of good info.

And here's a breach from a humpback named Pitcher -

Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 08-27-2017, 09:06 AM  
looking help: whale photography baja california.
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 86
Views: 9,015
As an example of a windy October day possibly "triggering" some drama, here is a breach from a humpback named Alphorn -



However, the sea state is such that probably not all of the passengers enjoyed the breach (or even saw it)... :eek: :fedup:
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 06-23-2017, 01:15 PM  
looking help: whale photography baja california.
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 86
Views: 9,015
I have a bit of experience with whale watching, having worked as a "whale watch naturalist" on 2,000+ whale watch trips over 31 years (before retiring 7 years ago). [These trips, however, were on a fleet of 85- and 110-foot whale watch vessels, and I actually have little experience on boats as small as 20 feet.] I can't speak specifically about gray whales, since my whale watching has been in Massachusetts waters 100% of the time, and gray whales exist only in the North Pacific -- our "bread and butter" whales over here are humpbacks, finbacks, minkes, and rights (and Atlantic white-sided dolphins for our "small critters"), with others species only occasionally.




I think that the above would be your best for most of your shooting. [I know nothing personally about this particular Tamron lens -- this opinion is based strictly on the FL and f/ numbers.]




The above would be a good lens for boat and people pics, as well as for any "close encounters" with cooperative whales you might experience.




I think the above lens is too long for what you are trying to do, especially on a very small boat, and is also a bit "precious" to risk taking on such a small boat, too, methinks.




No need for a TC with the lens choices you have. The K-3 will give you a lot of ability to some serious cropping without much loss of IQ.

Good luck on your trip. :)
Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio 12-31-2017, 07:03 AM  
Why am I getting TTL exposure with a AF200T and the K-70 DSLR?
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 13
Views: 1,822
Yes, the same with the AF540FGZ.

And the AF200T and the AF280T do a (perhaps surprisingly) very good job at good ol' "auto (thyrister) flash" on older bodies and even on the newer DSLR's.

[The AF080C ring flash that I mentioned, though, lacks the external thyristor sensor (which might be difficult to implement on a macro flash anyway), so it can't do "auto flash", but it does work nicely for TTL on film bodies and those first three Pentax DSLR's, and it also works well fror manual flash.]

Pentax, sometimes purposefully and sometimes accidentally (as in this original topic of this thread, I would say), usually seems to offer a lot of forward and backward compatibility, and it's always nice to have options. :)
Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio 12-29-2017, 09:14 PM  
Why am I getting TTL exposure with a AF200T and the K-70 DSLR?
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 13
Views: 1,822
Actually, to be most correct, the *ist D, the *ist DS, and the *ist DS2 can all use TTL, so that the DS2 is the last model to do so. [Admittedly, of course, a DS2 is basically a DS with a larger LED screen -- are there any other differences? -- so I am guilty of quibbling, I guess.]

I have two DS2 bodies that do TTL flash with AF280T and AF080C flash units just fine. :)
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 03-27-2017, 02:09 PM  
The DA 15/4 Limited Does Infrared
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 23
Views: 2,778
pI had a K-01 converted to infrared, and started experimenting with various scenes and subjects using various lenses and various post-processing techniques (all using freeware and/or shareware tools), and most of the what I might modestly call "successes" ended up using the DA 15/4 Limited for the lens. So, here are some of my (alleged - YMMV - LOL) "successes", labeled with the post-processing method that appealed to me the most for each image (at the moment):

#1 - Left as Infrared -


#2 - R-B Channel Swap -


#3 - Black & White -


#4 - R-B Channel Swap -


#5 - Left as Infrared -


#6 - R-B Channel Swap -


#7 - 180-degrees Hue Shift -


#8 - Left as Infrared -


#9 - Black & White -


#10 - R-B Channel Swap -


#11 - 180-degrees Hue Shift -


#12 - R-B Channel Swap -


#13 - Black & White -


#14 - R-B Channel Swap -


#15 - Black & White -


[If you're curious to see the comparative results of each image having been processed with all four methods (counting "leaving the image as an IR image" as one of the "methods"), I have a gallery showing all four methods applied to each image at 'InfraFred' Experiments March 2017 (which also includes one image that used the HD DA 55-300/4.5-6.3 ETC lens).]

Overall, I would suggest that the DA 15/4 Ltd and the K-01 worked out very well for my "InfraFred" experiments. :)
Forum: Pentax K-01 12-08-2017, 12:20 PM  
is the pentax k01 still worth buying in 2017 ?
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 42
Views: 8,490
I have some of my earlier photos taken with one of my IR-converted K-01 bodies (I have two of these -- the other is a backup body) with the DA15/4 Ltd mounted on it at The DA 15/4 Limited Does Infrared - PentaxForums.com
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 10-31-2017, 12:36 PM  
DA 55-300 vs 55-300 PLM
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 18
Views: 6,468
IMHO, the new 55-300 PLM may be a smidge sharper at 300, or at leasat it is not less sharp. However, the difference (in my copies of these lenses) is small, and may be smaller on the average than typical sample differences. [I did a couple Live View MF tests shortly after getting the PLM.] Certainly the AF (on a K-3) is much faster and may also be more reliable/accurate, which is a significant difference.




I wouldn't think that would work well for AF, except possibly in very bright sun. And, wide open the IQ may suffer more than you'd like.
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 10-05-2017, 05:24 AM  
looking help: whale photography baja california.
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 86
Views: 9,015
The top pic looks like a couple of finbacks with what might be some Provincetown or Truro dunes in the background.

The middle pic looks like the ventral flukes of humpback "Evolution" -- here's an ID photo from a 2003 catalog (since I retired from being a whale watch naturalist in 2010, I don't usually have the latest catalog in hand) --

Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 11-11-2017, 07:42 AM  
Recommended 'Cheap' 200mm or 300mm High Quality MF Lens
Posted By fwcetus
Replies: 43
Views: 6,715
However, for any Adaptall-2 lens slower than f/4 (such as the SP 300/5.6), one has to add a piece of tape to the PKA mount for correct exposures (without the tape insulator, such lenses will over-expose). It's not a big deal to live with (as I do with my SP 30/5.6, shown below), but, before doing so, metering can be problematic.



Thanks to excanonfd for pointing this out --

Adaptall Mount Club (Tamron). - Page 39 - PentaxForums.com
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