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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
05-24-2017, 08:52 AM
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Actually this needs serious clarification.
The 18-135 has better centre sharpness throughout it's entire range than any other zoom lens with it's range. In fact at every focal length, it's has measured excellent centre sharpness. It's edge sharpness falls off considerably after 50mm. It's rating is brought down by how soft the edges are from 85mm to 135mm. But when you consider neither the 17-50 or 16-85 don't include 85-135 in their range, I'm not sure how that should be held against the 18-135.
It's rated excellent or near excellent in 17 of 53 measured FL and apertures.
By comparison the DA 16-85 which folks are always comparing it to is excellent or near excellent in 17 of 45 measured categories, and it has more range. The 16-85 tends to be stronger edge to edge but not always.
At 24 mm the lenses are pretty close to even.
You can't make a direct comparison but it appears the Tamron 17-50 exceeds them both at 24mm as des the Sigma 17-50, but they are constant aperture 2.8 lenses, so sort of a different class.
So as i said before, go for the best deal you can find. You aren't going to be unhappy with the sharpness of any of these lenses. The weakest premium lens in this category on the test charts is probably the Pentax DA*16-50, and many people love that lens. Worrying about the sharpness of an 18-135 is just crazy. Why not worry about that lack of range in it's competitors instead? It's truly a one stop solution. With other lenses, there will be times you wish you had the extra reach and may even end up buying a second lens to cover it. I would really only consider a 17-50 type lens if i was also getting the 55-300 PLM. 50mm or even 85mm is just to short to be an everything all the time type of lens.
Any of the mentioned lenses will be great for flowers, the 16-85 and 18-135 are pretty good pseudo macro lenses, but for birds the 55-300 is pretty much the bare minimum. But you have the 70-300 so you're covered for now. You'll probably want to look for something a bit sharper in the future.
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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
01-18-2016, 09:19 AM
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I have to remind myself too often to resist the urge to upgrade "too much". I took these shots with a Canon A620 point and shoot, Joby Gorillapod, 15 s exposures, then composited them in The Gimp. I eventually moved on to Pentax K200D and now a K5 for making larger prints, weathersealing, wider angles, and Bulb mode, but I always use this shot as a reminder that good images can be made with just about any gear (oh, and to composite the lightning, use the "Lighten Only" mode when in layers. Works for star trails, too!).
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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
01-18-2016, 08:34 AM
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You can create cool effects that add atmosphere by using a combination of action freezing flash and slow shutter speed blur.
Model: PENTAX K-3
ISO: 1000
Exposure: 1/6 sec
Aperture: 2.8
Focal Length: 17mm
Set the camera Tv mode and try using slow speeds around 1/6 while moving the camera. Side to side, or spinning in a circle like turning a steering wheel work great. Everything will be blurry, except where the flash hits and freezes the action.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
05-26-2015, 02:52 PM
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
05-21-2015, 11:55 AM
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Insect
M50 f/1.7 @ f/8.0 + Bonnette
The Ant that wanted to be a Bee
DA 35mm f/2.4 @ f/5.6 + Bonnette
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
05-29-2015, 03:03 AM
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
06-01-2015, 04:20 AM
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
05-22-2015, 02:53 AM
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
05-09-2015, 03:04 PM
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DA12-24
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
04-22-2015, 08:46 PM
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-17-2015, 03:00 AM
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I think they could rekindle some interest in the K-3 by giving it a good firmware upgrade and launching a new higher end kit with the 16-85. If they want to go crazy, they could even do some advertising.
I think that when the K-50's true successor comes along, it will have more of the K-3 tech in it than the K-S2 does, but be made of plastic. It will compete more directly with the Canon 70D. This would leave space at the top for an eventual K-3 successor with new features, perhaps shared with the new full frame.
In short, I don't expect a K-3 successor just yet.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
03-04-2015, 02:12 PM
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This was a fun and difficult session! A friend of mine that has a food blog (specializing in gluten-free food) contacted me for some pictures. She wanted a retro theme to go with her kitchen - no problem! But her kitchen was very small, so it was a challenge with both light and angles. We wanted a few pictures of her taking pictures in the kitchen, what better than old Asahi gear? :) Here are a few pictures from the session.
Pentax K-3, SMC Pentax-FA 77mm F1.8 Limited. 1/180 sec at f/5.6, ISO 100
Pentax K-3, SMC Pentax-FA 77mm F1.8 Limited. 1/180 sec at f/5.6, ISO 100
Pentax K-3, SMC Pentax-FA 43mm F1.9 Limited. 1/180 sec at f/5.6, ISO 100
More images with Sandra can be seen on my flickr |
