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Forum: General Talk
2 Days Ago
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This week's additions:
a) SMC Pentax 28mm F3.5
b) Tele-Takumar 200mm F5.6
...with hood and adapter. Quite extreme!
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Forum: General Photography
04-11-2024, 06:22 AM
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This article took a long time to research and write. I might say three decades! I find it's worth diving deep into a contentious topic, if only to gain clarity in my own mind. Hope it's useful for others. That Elusive "3D Pop" Defined is available on my blog. Contains simple explanations of MTF, DOF, and sharpness that will help beginners cut through the technical details. Examples provided from three Pentax lenses.
TL;DR
3D pop is a desirable characteristic of an image where the subject is rendered with a pleasing dimensionality that allows it to be clearly distinguished from its environment. This effect is created by a combination of ideal light, appropriate subject to background distance, and perspective. Furthermore, it requires a lens that is free from optical defects, with high measurements for sharpness and contrast, at least in the part of the frame where the subject is located. Furthermore, a lens that does not perfectly correct field curvature can enhance 3D pop.
Background blur and separation are not the same as 3D pop, though they might enhance the effect. A wide open aperture is not essential and might even be counter-productive. Instead, choose the aperture that most clearly isolates the subject.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
4 Days Ago
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Some ordinary photos taken with the ordinary M 50/1.7 which ordinarily sells for 50 clams. Now that's extraordinary.
I took these at F2 to illustrate my article on this lens.
kitchen colours
Rin-Rin, my loyal model
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Forum: Lens Clubs
4 Days Ago
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Limerick field
Treaty City brewery
Abbey River
I have used well over a dozen 28mm lenses, but this model is unsurpassed. Better be, for the size and price!
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Forum: General Photography
4 Days Ago
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Hi Mike,
I provided references in the article, including two articles on MTF. Plus there are white papers by Zeiss etc. that are still extant. The plot is given as value (on a scale of 0 to 1) against diagonal distance from the centre of the image. Hence each curve only represents one spatial frequency. Sometimes only two such curves are provided, but best to have three.
Additionally, for each spatial frequency we get a solid curve and a dashed curve for sagittal and meridional respectively. So actually there are six curves on a complete MTF chart.
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Forum: General Talk
5 Days Ago
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So many conversations would be improved by reference to philosophers who have already trod this ground. Thanks for elevating the conversation!
We should be aware, whatever personal choices we make, that we live in the end-times of rampant extractive capital. Any who follow, perhaps even the next generation, will not have the luxuries that the privileged few (e.g. us) currently enjoy. As luxuries I consider all those "natural but not necessary" desires Epicurus described so well in the Letter to Menoeceus.
Decisions made without awareness of sociopolitical context cannot be wise decisions.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
5 Days Ago
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It has a lot to do with availability bias. Unless a reviewer has access to all the possible options they will tend to believe that what they do have is superior to what they don't have. A commitment made to the lens in hand (e.g. through monetary investment) makes it more likely to be evaluated as a good decision. There is also a affinity bias that occurs when something is already highly regarded: we tend to agree with the previous assessment lest we fall outside social convention.
There's also a simple lack of knowledge, which I don't think affects the reviews here as much as it does, say Google reviews of restaurants. The only thing you can do with those opinions is ignore them entirely, since so few people have any understanding of cuisine, food production, etc.
At least here on Pentax Forums we have knowledgeable photographers!
Bill, that is a superb photo, like so many of your others in this thread. it has a lovely dimensionality to it, without appearing in any way unnatural. If I was in the market for a 20mm lens for landscapes, you have convinced me with those you've posted!
I should also thank Jonathan Mac and paulh for their contributions.
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Forum: General Photography
5 Days Ago
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I did a more reading because I assumed there must be more to it. But no, the "Brenizer method" is simply a panorama with shallow DOF. I would never be so pretentious as to name something this simple after myself!
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Forum: General Photography
04-12-2024, 05:28 AM
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Sincere apologies for calling my own minor attempt a rendang! I can only try, stuck here in Ireland. It is likely as close to a rendang as Indian food here is to food served in India. :-)
Thanks for your reply.
---------- Post added 2024-04-12 at 01:33 PM ----------
Don't have time to reply to everyone individually, but I am glad this sparked conversation. And I thank you for your kind words.
After some decades, I've slowly realised that I have a particular kind of mind. I enjoy researching deeply into a topic, but then move on to the next thing. Ten years later I have some technical or aesthetic question and do a web search. Lo and behold I find my own article, largely forgotten. This has occurred to me several times. My blog is basically an external memory. And if it also helps anyone else, I am happy. (Among other things, I am a teacher.)
---------- Post added 2024-04-12 at 01:38 PM ----------
I am only aware of this technique from viewing the results, which can indeed be striking. Since I am not as fascinated with bokeh as others, I doubt I will try this method. All I need is a nice smooth transition and a background that doesn't offend me. I find the fad for completely obliterated backgrounds to be annoying... especially in film! Context adds important information to an image. Removing this is, in fact, the easy way out. It's much harder to retain full depth of field but nonetheless produce an eye-catching image. Just my 2c.
Nonetheless the otherworldly look that the Brenizer method can achieve is kind of cool!
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
6 Days Ago
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This makes good sense to me. The reason to use such a fast lens is for some interesting bokeh. But I disliked the strong hazy look an colour shift to magenta that came with the Pentax 50/1.2. It's true that I didn't consider the overall image and OOF areas in the article, since that quality degradation was enough of a sacrifice for me not to continue evaluating... if that makes sense.
Also, I admit to not being that interested in flamboyant bokeh. To be precise, I love seeing what others do with crazy lenses but I have no need for this myself. All those Russian lenses with their swirling bokeh hurt my eyes! :lol:
---------- Post added 2024-04-13 at 01:23 PM ----------
Though likely not stated in the article, my number one priority (over-riding all others) is to have a compact and light camera system. That is why I used MFT for so many years, and still rely on it when travelling. This is one reason I love the Lumix S system, because Panasonic's own primes are both excellent and lightweight. So far the only exception I have made (for regular use) is the Pentax 28/2 (Distagon) which is the largest 28mm I have ever used.
This is why the Zeiss lenses I own are the C/Y mount. They are much smaller than their lenses for other platforms and have a precise jewel-like quality that makes them wonderful to use. The over-sized and heavy lenses they made for other systems are not on my radar. I believe that the Milvus is one.
For the record these are the Contax Zeiss I own at present. All are small and all share a 55mm filter thread, which is handy for adding a hood:
Distagon 28/2.8 (280g)
Planar 50/1.4 (290g)
Makro-Planar 60/2.8 C (270g)
Sonnar 85/2.8 (230g)
The jury is out on whether this set is better/worse than an equivalent Pentax set.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-11-2024, 05:59 AM
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Thanks for this discussion. The various points raised here are all good.
Variation between lens samples can indeed have more impact than differences between lens models. Unfortunately I am not able to buy several copies of each!
I did have the books at different distances in the full frame images, though not in the small crops presented.
Some lenses will indeed perform better on APS-C than FF, because the outer edges of the image circle, where IQ is typically worse, will not impact the result.
Some lenses will perform better on film than digital, because film is not sensitive to the angle of the light hitting it, whereas a digital sensor is.
Some lenses will perform better on one sensor than another because the sensor thickness stack varies between manufacturers and formats. This is why many M-mount lenses work poorly on digital, so much so that a company exists in order to sell expensive modifications to the sensor stack on your camera.
My data points are only presented for what they're worth. Hopefully useful when combined with other comparisons by other photographers. These are mostly performed for my own learning and then, since I've done the work, I choose to share. This is not the only test I did to determine my own personal preference. And I only performed this comparison after shooting with the lenses for some months. Well, two of them anyway. The comparison results conformed to my experience.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-05-2024, 11:11 AM
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smc Pentax 50/1.2 wide open
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-05-2024, 01:31 PM
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Historically, most of my photography has been on Pentax APS-C and Micro-Four-Thirds formats. A vintage lens made during the film era is more suitable for a full-frame sensor in terms of coverage, but any issues will show up more plainly. Now that I am back into 35mm format, I've been going through my older lenses and seeing what works best. Apologies that I no longer use a Pentax body, rather a Panasonic Lumix S5. I trust the comparison will still be of interest to those looking for a fast lens.
I decided to compare my three fastest normal lenses: Cosina 55mm 1:1.2 MC, SMC Pentax 50mm F1.2, and Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4. The result surprised me!
Theatre of Noise article here. Would love to hear the experiences of others.
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Forum: General Photography
10-09-2023, 04:30 AM
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I am not sure how many painters responded in this way. Likely almost none. Photography was not seen as art and so posed little threat. It took decades for photography to be so recognised.
In any case, it's a false comparison. Photography is not based on ripping off the imagery of those who came before. And there are rules in place for taking photos of existing artworks, architecture, etc. Regardless of legislation, it's usually dead easy to tell where the attribution lies. (Monkey selfies as an edge case!)
None of that is true with these image synthesisers, which have been trained on a large corpus of images for which no permissions were given. The work of millions of artists has simply been harvested.
So, yes, we should stop calling these photographs. We should also stop calling this AI. There is no such thing as artificial intelligence and never will be. There is only a hype train formulated by corporations for the sole purpose of conning investors and making money off the back of human labour. As it ever was.
Everyone playing around with these engines should at least be happy with their own work being ripped off with no compensation.
Which changes nothing.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
06-10-2023, 11:00 AM
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A new version of the Bestiary is now completed, the first update in a decade.
I know, I know. I'm crazy.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
07-26-2010, 01:49 PM
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Here's more retro...
camera self-portrait
(Shot with the SMC K 50mm f/1.2.) |
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
06-20-2023, 11:59 AM
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I've compiled all the L-mount lens stats into one spreadsheet. This should save someone a few hours.
Link is to a blog article with spreadsheet freely downloadable.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
05-08-2023, 05:10 AM
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Pentax K 50mm on Lumix S5. First shot is wide open at f/1.2. Dreamy look works sometimes. Full-size on Flickr.
P.S. My first post here in almost a decade!
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
06-14-2023, 06:15 PM
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I am looking for a lens hood with push cap to match the beauty of several lenses I own. I'd be looking at 55mm first.
My gold standard is the hood and felt-lined cap of the Pentax FA Limited series, specifically the 43mm. Minimal. Beautiful. Ergonomic.
But all I can find is generic crap. Does anyone make such hoods?
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
06-10-2023, 10:59 AM
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A new version of the Bestiary is now completed, the first update in a decade.
I know, I know. I'm crazy.
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
06-08-2023, 08:03 AM
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I've only had my Lumix S5 for a few weeks, but I've been researching a new system for two years. As a result, I've already written a dozen articles on this system. I'm motivated by the fact that there's darned little information available on this amazing camera system, unless one wants to watch endless talking heads on YouTube. My most personal article is the first one you'll find on my landing page, which explains how I went from Pentax to MFT to where I am now.
I must say that the native lenses are incredible. They really give up nothing in terms of image quality. But I can't quite get used to how huge they are. Others call them small!
Laura Duff with the Lumix S 85mm.
Rin-Rin with the Lumix S 35mm.
The Abbey River with the Pentax FA Limited 43mm.
This camera is huge compared with my MFT set, which is already amazing. So long as I can continue to deal with the size, I'll be shooting Lumix S.
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
06-10-2023, 05:54 AM
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Thanks Jonathan.
Even though I'd used the Panasonic MFT and a Varicam (on a couple occasions)... stilI I didn't know about the Lumix S series! That's how well they are hidden. I now know one other person who shoots with a Lumix S locally. But I had never even seen one before I took the plunge.
On a strictly features versus cost basis they completely out-class the competing brands. Excellent photographic features, some of which are akin to magic. And very good video features as well. (Though no false colour.) As someone who is primarily a photographer, the Lumix S line makes so much sense.
But I don't get the lens thing. I have plenty of full-frame glass and some of it is rather big and heavy. With today's plastic compounds the weight can be reduced significantly. Hence we get a 35mm f/1.8 at only 295g and a 85mm f/1.8 at 355g. But they are so huge! This impacts how much I can take out on a daily basis.
The decision to have the primes an identical size is a video imperative. I would like to see a range of pancakes that can appeal to a different audience. For example, a set of tiny 28/35/50 primes at f/2 could be marketed as retro glass, especially if they had aperture rings.
In the meantime I will adapt and manually focus.
Vivitar 28mm f/2 MC Close Focus:
Vivitar 135mm f/2.8 Auto Telephoto Close Focusing
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Forum: Photographic Technique
05-09-2023, 07:17 AM
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Here's the correct way to think about focal length. Let the debate begin.
Apologies to my Pentax friends that I am using Lumix S lenses as the data. But exactly the same thinking applies to any system. Though the actual numbers here apply only to so-called full-frame (135).
And, hey, I am using Pentax glass on the Lumix, so there's that.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
08-20-2008, 09:54 AM
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Shelter From The Rain 3
f/8 1/250s
For this one I did some extensive curve work and went monochrome.
Double Stairs
f/4 1/40s
The textures seem realistic and everything is suitably sharp despite being only f/4. Basically, it looks like f/4 should. "Softness" towards the bottom is because of being OOF. But it's nicely appealing.
Blinded
f/2 1/640s
Getting close wide open. Things are soft but usably so, especially when coupled to the correct subject.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
08-20-2010, 04:16 PM
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door ajar
(Shot with the DA 12-24mm.) |
