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Forum: Lens Clubs
05-12-2018, 02:05 PM
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One of the things I really like about this lens is that it gives very creative distortion when you get up really close to something. As an example, I shot this 1951 Studebaker Commander some years ago with it, and I enjoyed the result. You already know about the starburst capability, I suspect. You hardly need to focus it at all for most shots, just set it at the hyperfocus point and fire away. There will be some purple fringing at the edges of photos where there is high contrast, but that is a minor annoyance, solvable in post.
As a writer-photographer for firearms publications, I find it handy for photographing longer subjects where my photo distance is limited by a tripod, and it gives sharp and practically distortion-free results, as you can see here.
I think you will really enjoy your new toy - I love mine.
John
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Forum: Lens Clubs
01-17-2017, 10:42 AM
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Taken in the old copper mining town of Bisbee, Arizona - the buildings on main street are over 100 years old. This building houses the post office on the first floor, and the city library on the two upper floors. The fireplug saved this building from a disastrous fire in 1908. The building still serves its original purposes today. I kept the perspective distortion instead of modifying it in post to draw more attention to the fireplug. Conversion to sepia to give an old-time flavor, and color extraction for the plug.
John
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Forum: Lens Clubs
09-16-2016, 01:44 PM
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I routinely photograph firearms for articles I write for gun publications. Rifles are a challenge, because they are longer; most of my primes do not allow me enough coverage from a tripod, and the zooms such as the 18-135 do not have the requisite sharpness to bring out detail. I was thinking the HD-DA 15 Ltd might show some barrel distortion which would prevent me from using it, but I looked up the forum review on it and found that it has practically zero distortion. So I used it to photograph this vintage (1936) Winchester Model 64 lever action rifle. I think the result was perfect, befitting a graceful old rifle that looks practically as good after 80 years as when it left the factory. This lens will get more use from me in the future for rifle pictures!
John
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Forum: Lens Clubs
12-20-2015, 11:24 AM
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When it's Christmas season in Arizona, many neighborhoods line their streets with luminarias. These are small paper sacks weighted with sand, in which a candle is placed. When lit, the candle makes the bag glow at night. This was taken with the HD-DA 15mm Limited, and is a crop of a larger photo. Interestingly, this Phoenix neighborhood is where I lived as a boy. We had a particularly beautiful sunset as I took the picture.
John
PENTAX : PENTAX Photo Gallery artist page |
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Forum: Lens Clubs
08-01-2015, 10:33 AM
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This lens has a hyperfocal scale on it. Set your focus to manual, and simply place the infinity mark on the focus ring directly over the indicated mark for the f-stop you are using. I generally use f/11 and the focus is sharp from about a yard out to infinity. Be sure you double-check your focus setting just before taking each shot, as the focus ring is a bit loose and easily bumped out of its selected position through handling.
John
PENTAX : PENTAX Photo Gallery artist page |
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Forum: Lens Clubs
07-31-2015, 05:57 PM
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If you work with the camera-processed JPG file, the CA will be somewhat compensated for by the camera's software. If you work from the RAW file, it's there in all its glory and can be annoying. Removing it can be done, but it's difficult.
John
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/paladin |
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Forum: Lens Clubs
07-31-2015, 05:30 PM
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The Arizona monsoon season was in progress today. Here's one I took with the HD-DA 15mm Ltd. today. I rather like it in both color and black and white. Of the two, which do you folks prefer?
Taken with the K3 at f/11, 1/250, ISO 100 and processed in Photoshop Elements 10. Silhouetting the mountain (Squaw Peak in Phoenix) was intentional for better emphasis of the dramatic clouds.
John
PENTAX : PENTAX Photo Gallery artist page
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Forum: Lens Clubs
06-08-2015, 10:22 AM
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Love the shot of the E-type Jag! Should be featured as a spread in "Car and Driver." The color extraction and black and white works for me, for sure.
Good work.
John
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-16-2015, 12:06 PM
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I like mine fine - the only problems are that starbursts are not as well-defined and dramatic as the earlier SMC version, and that there is considerable chromatic aberration on the edges. The camera will correct for this latter problem if you have it set to do so with JPGs, but the RAW file shows the CA phenom quite vividly, and it's hard to get rid of when converted by you to JPG.
I particularly like the deep blues of skies that are rendered by this lens - quite dramatic when contrasted with clouds. Almost the same effect as a polarized filter. I've taken numerous pictures of classic cars with it in confined spaces, and it's ideal for this. Some of them are shown on my Pentax photogallery site below.
John
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/paladin |
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-05-2015, 10:05 AM
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Right you are. Corrected in the original post.
John
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-04-2015, 12:51 PM
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As Spring begins in Arizona, the increasing temperatures play interesting tricks, with the upward currents disturbing the clouds in various ways. I was impressed by the patterns I saw today above Phoenix. Taken with the HD-DA 15mm Ltd.
John
PENTAX : PENTAX Photo Gallery artist page |
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-04-2015, 10:45 AM
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Let's see now. Is France going to extradite him from the U.S., pay for the journey, put him through the legal system there, and if he's found guilty of this horrendous crime, lock him up in a Paris dungeon?
Good grief - that is not only dumb, but impossible to police.
John
PENTAX : PENTAX Photo Gallery artist page |
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Forum: Lens Clubs
03-27-2015, 05:44 PM
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I just took this shot today - a view of Phoenix's iconic Camelback mountain. The dark blue sky color was not obtained through a polarized lens or post-processing. Depending on the angle of sunlight, sometimes the effect with this lens is amazing. Note the early afternoon moon hanging up there!
John
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/paladin |
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Forum: Lens Clubs
03-24-2015, 03:02 PM
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I think that it's a really charming and evocative shot just the way it is. Perfect balance of the background against the central presence of the dog. Good show.
John
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Forum: Lens Clubs
03-03-2015, 04:10 PM
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Forum: Lens Clubs
01-19-2015, 11:22 PM
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Here are some more shots taken at a car museum in Phoenix with the DA 15 Ltd.
John
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Forum: Lens Clubs
01-17-2015, 05:28 PM
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My project this Saturday was to visit a car museum and a car club gathering to photograph some old cars using just the 15mm DA Limited on my K3. It was a good choice, as often my space to maneuver was limited, and the wide angle allowed me to cover my subject matter and crop later.
Here are some samples:
I took many more shots, but just haven't had time today to process them.
I'm glad I chose the 15mm for this shoot!
John
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Forum: Lens Clubs
12-24-2014, 11:34 AM
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I took this shot this morning with the Hd-DA 15 Ltd. I didn't have much room to back up in, and the lens came in handy to get all of the tree in. From our house to yours, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
John
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Forum: Lens Clubs
11-23-2014, 09:49 AM
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Great shot; well executed and processed. The B&W contrast is, in my opinion, spot on. Also great to have the seagull overhead. I would have cloned out the jet airplane at the left, as it's a bit distracting for an "art" photograph. Good job!
John
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Forum: Lens Clubs
11-03-2014, 12:21 PM
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Closeups with the 15mm are quite possible and give interesting effects. Here's one of a table setting at the Wrigley Mansion in Phoenix. Also a pic of a curbed junk 1950 Studebaker pickup in Lowell, Arizona. Both shot with the HD_DA 15mm Ltd. and the K3.
John
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Forum: Lens Clubs
10-30-2014, 01:23 PM
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I think it's an excellent B&W shot. Not perfect, perhaps, but still a fascinating rendition of the subject and the background. This particular thread is not a contest, nor meant to be a tutorial on PP. It's more a "show us what ya got" and "we'll tell you if we like it." I like it - a lot, and think that nitpicking the technical details is way out of place here.
John
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Forum: Lens Clubs
10-02-2014, 09:32 AM
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A series of disastrous fires rampaged through the mining town of Bisbee, Arizona in the early days of the 20th Century. In 1906, much of the town was rebuilt with brick construction, including this building, the Post Office & Library. In 1908, another terrible fire threatened to engulf the city, but thanks to its new brick structure and the fireplug shown in color here, this building and others near it were spared to continue to survive to the present day. I converted most of the picture to sepia to preserve the feeling of century-old architecture, and cut-and-pasted the fireplug from the original color picture to emphasize it. I used the HD-DA 15mm Limited.
John
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Forum: Lens Clubs
09-16-2014, 04:28 PM
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Those are great shots - I love the foam in the forground in each of them. Good job!
John
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Forum: Lens Clubs
08-27-2014, 12:53 PM
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The main street in the small town of Lowell, Arizona (actually a district of Bisbee) seems to attract classic cars from time to time. I took this pic with the 15mm Ltd on the K-3 this weekend. I call it "The class of '57" - as it is a very nice 1957 Cadillac.
John
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Forum: Lens Clubs
08-25-2014, 10:09 AM
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Another shot taken in southern Arizona this weekend. Here, a monsoon storm breaks over a distant mountain range. I used the 15mm limited a lot for architecture shots in Bisbee - still going through the RAW files on those.
John
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