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Forum: Lens Clubs
12-15-2020, 10:16 AM
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Couple of snaps taken on my morning walk with the K-1 and Leica Vario-Elmar-R 35-70mm f 4.0 macro.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
09-27-2020, 09:47 AM
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Wow, thats an amazing capture.
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Forum: Sold Items
07-29-2020, 02:15 PM
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Hi Les, I really like your approach here. Well done.
Ross
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Forum: General Talk
07-14-2020, 02:41 PM
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I’m a little confused as to your meaning here, but then so is the origin and use of the word. It derived from the Latin “fortis”, but its journey into (non-musical) English seems to have come via the French language, where its pronunciation is, indeed, “fort” but only because “forte” is the feminine form (the “t” is silent in the masculine form, “fort”). If we were adhering to the French, we’d talk about his “fort” and her “forte” (pronounced “for” and “fort” respectively). Those who didn’t learn French would be even more confused now.:D
I suspect that the musical application of the word came via Italian, rather than French, and the “e” In “forte” is pronounced separately in the Italian. So, to further confuse matters, “proper” pronunciation depends on the context, but at least it isn’t a malapropism that’s wormed its way into common usage.
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Forum: General Talk
05-20-2020, 06:53 AM
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been reading some interesting articles on what faces the world in the future
now I have only lived in communities ranging from less than 2,500 to less than 150,000 so I am no expert in living in metropolises
the articles discussed changes from working at home instead of skyscrapers ( and the domino effect on rents and " supporting " businesses ), to decreasing services due to lack of tax revenues, to changes in mass transit, changes in what people do because of " social distances ", the effect on air travel and vacation
any one want to discuss any of this ?
[ personal note, my wife married me Sept 7, 1991 so I am trying to figure out what the world's situation will be next year and how we might celebrate, right now I feel nervous about planning a trip ]
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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/20/health/coronavirus-vaccine-harvard.html?a...gtype=Homepage |
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Forum: General Talk
05-20-2020, 11:47 AM
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Watch it, if talk like that gets out, there will be a serious tweeting in store for you. It could get ugly.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
03-30-2020, 03:57 AM
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Forum: Lens Clubs
03-07-2020, 09:42 PM
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Forum: Lens Clubs
03-10-2020, 01:48 PM
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Forum: Pentax Price Watch
12-26-2019, 01:02 PM
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Great deal! Wish I'd had been able to purchase my copies at these prices. I can't image being without Gigapixel AI !
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Forum: Lens Clubs
12-10-2019, 03:11 PM
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I just love how Leica R glass produces "rich" colors. It's freezing here today. I just went outside into my cold garage and shot a bunch of TEST PHOTOS of garage junk. No fancy post processing - right of of my K-1 camera (jpg's in the "natural" color mode).
I just bought 4 Leica "Colorplan" projector lenses. I've already adapted one of them for Fuji X body; and one for use on my Pentax K-1 body. I have Sony NEX, Nikon F. and Canon FE mounts - maybe I'll have to adapt the last two to these mounts?
Anyway, the Colorplan projector lens version that I favor is the original made-in-Germany silver version. It is a Mandler design that has virtually identical optics to the Leica Summicron 90mm f/2 pre-ASPH lens. Below are my quick garage photos I took with the Colorplan on my K-1.
With the helicoils I use, on DSLR bodies, the Colorplans can only focus on close subjects. However I have found that with my helicoils, on a mirrorless body, I can get just about infinity focus.
Nice colors for an old, $75 USD slide projector lens!
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Forum: Lens Clubs
09-29-2019, 02:25 PM
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A Cityscape captured using the K1 and the Distagon 21/2.8. I'd left the CPL on hence the uneven look to the sky. A shame really as the sky really needed the CPL. I also lost the edges of the frame to correct for the leaning buildings. I probably should have opted for the 18/3.5 instead of the 21/2.8 but that would have exacerbated the imbalance in the sky.
 Sunset approaches, Brisbane by noompty, on Flickr
Tas
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Forum: Lens Clubs
09-28-2019, 07:27 PM
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Taken this afternoon alongside a country road that winds through a forest here in northern Wisconsin USA. I used my Leitax adapted Leica Telyt-R 350mm f/4.8 lens on my K-1. Aperture was wide open.
The dusty car is mine (wife's inside doing Suduko). This lens is so sharp that when viewed at 100% I can see individual grains of dust on the back window.
I'm impressed with the creaminess of the bokeh! I did not do any post processing on the blur, right out of camera.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
09-14-2019, 04:03 PM
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Your comments and other review comments that I have read about the 135/2 remind me of the Pentax 77 which prioritizes rendering over sharpness to glorious effect--not that I know much about the 77, my wife having stolen it from me several years ago and adamantly refuses to let me retrieve her "magic" lens. I am also on the track of an "as is" 35/1.4 with scratched front glass and no mount but ready for leitexing. I am the worst kind of photographer, one who collects quality lenses and does not use them enough. Once I began collecting Pentax 67 lenses, I had to have them all--except the 35 fisheye and a couple in the 400-800 range. Therefore it is not unusual that I should have specified a specific focal length range, only to become immediately enamored of a lens of a focal length xtotally outside that range!
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
09-04-2019, 11:08 AM
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I've got a stable full of premium fast prime lenses.
Multiple times a week I go out on a little local photo safari. I'll grab one lens, and one lens only. Then I'll work that lens and come home and see what I've got.
I've found that I can make any lens work on any photo outing. If I've go a macro I'll be looking for potential macro compositions. If I've got a telephoto, I'll look for tele compostions. By having just one lens, I don't need to worry about getting dust inside the camera changing lenses in the field. Also traveling with one single lens lessens what I need to carry.
Using this simplified approach, I actually have found that I enjoy my photography more because I'm totally focused on just one focal length, and I never get confused second guessing my lens choice. Also, I'm quicker on the trigger, and I seem to get many more keepers than years ago when I used to carry zooms and/or multiple primes at all times.
SIMPLIFICATION IS BLISS
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Forum: Sold Items
09-01-2019, 12:51 PM
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I thoroughly enjoy mine. I am surprised to see you sell this. You have been an active voice in the Zeiss lens thread.
Friendly bump and nod to a fantastic lens.
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Forum: Sold Items
09-01-2019, 08:42 AM
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I've owned 3 copies of this lens. It's a little jewel - nice size for hand-holding. It has that "3D Zeiss Pop" in spades.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
08-26-2019, 01:53 PM
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Forum: Sold Items
08-21-2019, 12:56 PM
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Bump for the BEST Zeiss wide angle lens. I know, I've owned them all...
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
08-17-2019, 03:33 PM
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They have, I think, been looking at ways to combine both EVF and OVF. Combined EVF/OVF would be ideal, as long as it didn't mean dumbing down one or the other just to get a combined system working.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
07-07-2019, 11:13 AM
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Zeiss Distagon 28 2 ZK, f22, Pentax K-1
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Forum: Photographic Technique
07-07-2019, 06:11 AM
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The K-1 spotmeter is relatively narrow and is defined by the circle in the center of the focusing screen. The K-1's spot has a diameter about 1/6th the height or 1/9th the width of the frame. In angular terms, the K-1's spot depends on the focal length. A K-1 with about a 200 or 250mm lens matches the 1° spot of the Pentax Spotmeter. So you could mount a telephoto lens, use the spot meter & green button in M mode to pick the exposure, then swap to the lens you want to use for the shot. (Note, if the K-1 is set to link the metering spot to the AF spot, the size of the spot depends on the AF zone size and moves with the AF point.)
P.S. You can map the sensitivity pattern of any TTL meter and AE mode by putting on a wide-angle lens, pointing the camera at a bare bulb or bright light source in an otherwise dark scene, and then panning the camera while watching the meter reading slide up and down.
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Forum: Photographic Technique
07-06-2019, 10:24 AM
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I've always assumed that the spot meters in DSLRs will have a wider angle of view than the very precise Pentax Spotmeter, but I don't know the exact figures. For digital I shoot mostly with Takumars and I usually incident meter or follow Sunny 16, but I'll sometimes use a very simplified version of the zone system using the DSLR's built-in spot meter. Since digital cameras blow out to white in a horribly abrupt way, I usually concentrate on what I want to put into zones viii and ix and let everything else fall where it will. I'm usually so concerned about avoiding nasty blown highlights that I don't even bother to meter for anything below zone iv. I just cross my fingers and hope I can recover some detail from the raw file.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
06-26-2019, 02:53 PM
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The Happy Tree Trimmer - 30 foot above the ground! Used my Leica 135/2.8 lens
 30 Feed High by Dave Weber, on Flickr
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Forum: Photographic Technique
10-20-2017, 08:57 PM
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The focus screen registration is supposed to be at the same registration, but whether care has been taken during assembly to properly place and confirm is difficult to assess. If calibration is wrong, one would see consistent front or back focus with ALL lenses.
Front/back focus with PDAF is not related to registration. The topic is complex, but it is probably enough to simply say that it is related to alignment and relative position of elements at various distances and zoom setting causing an ambiguous or skewed image on the AF sensor. As a result, sensitivity to the out-of-focus condition is greater on the near than the far or vice-versa.
The phenomenon of two similar lenses performing differently? Without an optical bench probably not. Problems with mechanical lash (elements shift position when the focus ring is released) is a possible cause as might misalignment. Another might be the method of testing/comparison.
Kudos to Adam for asking the critical question. The live view image is the gold standard for focus evaluation. I am not confident of focus peaking, but am very fond of the magnified view.
A few points to ponder:- The optical viewfinder on your camera is less sensitive to detect out-of-focus (OOF) than that of a manual focus SLR from the late 1970s-1980s. The reasons are complex, but one can expect the ability to detect OOF to be no better than with about an f/3.5 aperture regardless of whether a faster lens is mounted. The result is lower precision regardless of how well calibrated the rest of the system is.
- Your ability to detect the plane of focus is highly dependent on whether your eyes are actually focused on the focusing screen surface. The viewfinder diopter adjustment is important. On screens with etched lines (most Pentax dSLR stock screens) the AF area bracket lines should be sharp.
- When doing your focus evaluations the intent is to make it easy, not hard. Use a high contrast target positioned parallel to the camera sensor. Do your testing in good light and on a tripod (inches count).
- Distance is important, though perhaps not in the way one might think. There is no virtue in testing focus at other than moderate distance. Being able to actually see the target in the viewfinder is one good reason, but more important is that the further away something is, the less degrees of throw are available on the focus ring. This is easily seen by looking at the distance scale.
I have in front of me a 50mm lens. There is probably less than 20 degrees of arc between infinity and 30 feet. Extrapolating a bit, I figure there is less that 10 degrees between 30 feet and 1000 feet. A little closer in and that same 20 degrees will satisfy the range of between 10 and 15 feet. How easy is it to make fine adjustment of less than a 1 mm of linear travel of that ring? That is with a lens having a full 180 degrees focus ring travel to cover 15" to infinity. Now consider a lens such as my Sigma 17-70/2.8-4 (C) which traces the range 8 inches to infinity in about 40 degrees of throw.
If it is physically difficult to bring the target into focus, move it close, much closer.
- Focus technique counts. It makes a difference whether one is focusing near-to-far vs. far-to-near. DOF is shallower in the near direction and focus "pop" is more distinct working from that side, though possibly no more accurate.
- Accuracy and precision are two different things. A combination of short focus throw, long distance and inability to reliably detect OOF works against even the most accurately calibration. Because precision can be poor, multiple attempts should be made before claiming front/back focus.
I am quite curious to read what happens with your live view attempts. One last thing...Is there any chance your focus screen has been removed at some point or that any of the lenses in question might have been dropped?
Steve
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