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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
05-02-2020, 03:28 PM
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a couple have left the farm for greener pastures, while two more have arrived:
Carl Zeiss Planar 85mm f1.4 ZK T*
Carl Zeiss Distagon 25mm f2.8 ZK T*
and on the way: Auto Topcor (Cosina) 58mm f1.4
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
05-13-2020, 05:32 AM
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I'm doing my best to not read anyone's list, for fear that I'll find some new object of obsession. FWIW, I'm completely unfamiliar with any Pentax glass newer than the A-series, so I don't own those or search for them.
My LBA started with the Takumar club here, so...
I'm also doing my best to not expand into any other system. I keep drooling over the digital 645...and then I click on something else. To that end, I'm saved by the dearth of Pentax retailers to go to and lay hands upon unfamiliar gear. So, in not counting, I'm keeping my semi-rational self in check.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
05-10-2020, 11:46 PM
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So uhm despite owning several nifty fifties as mentioned in my opening post, not to mention 16-50, 50-135, 70 ltd, during the lock down another member joined: DA* 55, so far its job is to photograph my walls and some random objects in the house. Why not, the other lenses are either too long, too heavy or too slow for that anyway :-)
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Forum: General Photography
05-12-2020, 03:17 PM
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My wife has remorse when I buy. Does that count?
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
05-06-2020, 01:43 AM
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I know this reply was to another member, but I'll comment anyway.
You're on vacation, on a beautiful beach in Australia, and you have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to surf there, but sharks have been spotted in the area. If you go in the water, there's a good chance you might be attacked. Would you choose to go surfing? Most would answer "no", but if you answer "yes", then you have to accept the risks and consequences of surfing in those conditions.
If you have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to take a photo, even if all the good, professional photographic advice and common sense says it's the wrong time of day with harsh lighting that's going to result in a poor shot, then by all means take the shot if you wish, or if you need to. But you'll have to accept that - sometimes - those conditions are going to be challenging for your chosen lens, and you'll have more work to do in post as a result.
I'm closing this thread, and I'll explain why.
You're repeatedly drawing conclusions and making statements that could quite easily discourage others from acquiring what is a very fine and well-performing lens. You're drawing those conclusions from opinions and evidence represented by the minority rather than the majority, and with no personal experience of the lens itself. You're choosing to believe and make exaggerated claims from this minority evidence, whilst simultaneously claiming that members here are playing down the fringing aspect (in effect, accusing them of acting dishonestly). We are not. I, certainly, am not. Without wishing to sound dismissive, we don't care whether you buy the lens or not. We're merely presenting you with our opinions and evidence based on actual experience with our own copies of the lens. If you believe we typically underplay issues with our gear, or you didn't want our opinions and advice, then - with respect - you shouldn't have asked in the first place. If you only wanted feedback that confirmed what you seem to want to believe, that's not how it works here.
I've already explained - and demonstrated by means of a 200% crop from an appropriate image I took specifically for this discussion, and posted publicly for everyone to see - that only minor fringing remains at f/5.6 in a well-exposed photograph. If you shoot certain subject matter in certain lighting conditions at wider apertures, especially wide open, and especially if you over-expose elements of the scene with high contrast borders, you're going to experience more fringing.
You're at liberty to accept or discard whatever advice and evidence you wish, and I bid you good luck with whichever lens you choose :)
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EDIT: In response to your PM, let me make absolutely clear to anyone reading this thread that it is neither PentaxForums policy, nor my personal intention, to "protect" sales of Pentax equipment, nor is there some imagined "Pentax cult" behaviour at work here :hmm: Any suggestion to the contrary would be both inaccurate and inflammatory. I have been, and will continue to be, openly but constructively critical of Pentax products... when I feel it's justified.
:closed:
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
05-05-2020, 01:23 PM
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That was shot from a few meters, well out of the macro range, and is of a very tough subject, being heavily backlit. I'm not suggesting what you should, or shouldn't take pictures of, but I would suggest that rather than being dismissive of people who are trying to help you, perhaps have a look at the help they are trying to give. It's a good way to give people a reason to help you in the future. If I was going to get fringing on that lens, the picture I showed would have it in spades. I apologize that it isn't a backlit tree branch.
Sometimes we have to take the help that is offered. Sometimes we don't get what we want, but if we try real hard, we get what we need.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
05-03-2020, 01:40 PM
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The good news is that well corrected lenses are designed so that all colors are in in focus at the (same) plane of focus. The flowers are out of focus and overexposed as well. Pentax lenses are not corrected for that. Maybe Coke bottles are....
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-05-2020, 12:29 PM
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I just say that there is a queue at the camera-maker's bankruptcy court and that Nikon and Olympus are ahead of us.
Steve
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-02-2018, 03:03 AM
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I've only got three Limiteds: FA 43, FA 77 and (recently) DA 20-40. They all have something special about them, but for me the 77 is the real knockout. It can make the ordinary extraordinary like nothing else. The 3D effect, the rendering, the bokeh, the colours - it can be just breathtaking. You don't really get the full effect looking at small images on the web - even if you view them on Flickr. To get the full effect you need to see a full-size image on a large monitor or a large print. Still, you may get some idea from this stitched pano from 8 images taken with the 77 - somehow it still has the 3D effect (when viewed large anyway).
Can I add an honourable mention for a lens that is neither a * nor a Limited, but has some of the virtues of each (including beautiful all-metal construction and a relatively compact form)? The DFA 100 f2.8 Macro WR. Of course it's sharp - what macro isn't? But it also renders really really well.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-21-2020, 08:40 AM
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As long as we are discussing quantity over quality; I have 11.175 kg, excluding projector, enlarger, and CCTV lenses :D
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Forum: Lens Clubs
10-30-2019, 08:11 PM
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Documenting the important moments, like her first Kit-Kat bar :lol:
K-1 + 43mm Limited, cropped to 4:3
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Forum: Lens Clubs
10-27-2019, 03:00 PM
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DA40 XS is IMHO nice lens for b&w.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
10-27-2019, 12:51 AM
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Good detail from this inexpensive wee piece of glass. :D
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Forum: Lens Sample Photo Archive
04-26-2020, 03:59 AM
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Forum: Lens Sample Photo Archive
08-08-2017, 08:13 PM
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Here are a couple of shots with my K-1 and new Distagon 25:
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-11-2020, 09:10 PM
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As far as I'm aware, the 2015 Sigma 20/1.4 Art is it. The Pentax was 40 years ahead of its time, and the world wasn't ready.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
10-13-2019, 06:12 PM
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North Jetty of Humboldt Bay with the M 20/4:
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
08-18-2014, 11:13 AM
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It's not the equipment, its the photographer. People who buy fullframes are more likely to be really into photography, and thus you can expect a higher proportion of eye opening photos from users of those cameras than your everyday rebel, k-r, or d3000 snapshots.
While ff also holds a technical advantage, it doesn't necessarily lead to better images :)
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Forum: Lens Clubs
10-05-2019, 09:25 AM
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DA 20-40mm with bare hand (Großglockner)
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Forum: Lens Clubs
10-18-2019, 03:07 PM
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What you're missing is the difference between a lens having more glass/elements than another, this can have quite a different impact on how the bokeh renders and appears (as well as I imagine other things such as grouping and placement of the elements). If you click on that other link I posted you can see a fair bit of difference between the FA31 and FA35 on how the bokeh resolves around the jug. (Hd fa35/2 - Page 3 - PentaxForums.com)
FA35, 6 elements, 5 groups
FA31, 9 elements, 7 groups
I have come to test and see for myself that the FA ltds seem to do a really nice job with how it handles bokeh. Those extra elements seem to account for a bokeh that you would normally associate from shooting at wider apertures, yet it's still able to put out that kinda look when stopped down. This is why these lenses are such a joy to use, you can shoot them a little more stopped down than wide open, gain the advantage of that (increased sharpness, more of the subject in focus) yet the compromise from bokeh that you would normally have to put up (from stopping down) does not quite apply the same. Really nice lenses for subject isolation, hence their preference for portraiture.
Correct, and that comes with pros and cons. On the one hand the 20-40 is giving nice circular bokeh at stopped down apertures, on the other hand the roundness of the blades leads to less than stella star bursts (if that's your thing). Having compared how a FA ltd renders star bursts I would say it quite substantially trumps the 20-40 in this regard.
It's not a competition tho, I mean I own both glass for a reason, the 20-40 is after all also WR, compact and silent AF, my biggest reasons for adding it to my collection. But hopefully the picture of the ducky above can help show people how different lenses do behave differently at the same apertures and approximate distance to subject (and the jug comparison shots are helpful also in the other thread).
One of my favourite shots that I think really shows the FA43 at its best is this shot I took here;
Obviously not comparing with a 20-40 here, how can it? This is a f1.9 shot and the 20-40 at 40mm would be f4. But what we're looking at here is how the bokeh is rendering. If we look at the wine glasses bottom left behind the girl the bokeh is layered, textured and rich. Having owned a DA50/1.8, FA50.1.4, DA40/2.8, I can honestly say that whilst those are great lenses and priced attractively with fantastic value to be had, the bokek for me was not resolving the same way. It was flatter and a little more... 'boring'.
The interesting thing about this shot is that even greater difference would have been seen had I stopped down to say f2.8, and then compared that with a DA40/2.8 or something, I think you will see how much more the subject appears isolated and the bokeh still retaining a more dreamy fade compared to a DA40/2.8 that starts to show that 'stopped down' look (similar to the jug examples).
Hope this helps! Sorry all for the slight deviation from the wonderful 20-40! Let's get back on track :D
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Forum: Lens Clubs
12-05-2019, 11:03 PM
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KP+20-40mm
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-12-2018, 07:57 PM
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Just get them both or you'll forever wonder what might have been.
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
03-24-2018, 05:59 PM
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Because DSLR is a matured tech and M/L did catch up and is almost there in some areas, there are no bad cameras nowadays, but a lot of bad photographers.
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Forum: General Photography
04-06-2018, 10:07 AM
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Sony = Rootkit. That’s all I’ve needed to know about their corporate values.
.:
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Forum: Lens Sample Photo Archive
09-12-2017, 06:31 PM
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Fishing at Patrick's Point SP:
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