|
Forum: General Talk
12-15-2023, 02:52 PM
|
| |
Didn't expect to win this for 15 bucks but no one else bid for it, so it's on its way to me...
Merry Christmas to myself. Seriously, if I don't win the Limited lens, at least I got this one which I know I'll like just as much.
I've missed my Sears 50mm f/1.7 since I sold it. That lens had a unique, painterly bokeh that looked so artistic on closeups. It also had this 3D rendering wide open. This one's not exactly like the one I had, the front element is a bit more recessed, so I know it's older. But it's also a rebadged Rikenon (only goes down the f/16), not a Chinon (goes down to f/22, different coatings) like the even older ones were. The coatings look exactly the same if I remember right...
|
|
Forum: General Talk
02-22-2023, 02:16 PM
|
| |
Wow, congrats - in such a short time you already have more Limiteds than I do (I have 21/35/70). But I can't complain at all, I really don't think I have use for the 15 and 40. And I'd probably have use for the FA Limiteds but like you, I don't have the budget for them. Probably not while raising 3 boys but who knows, I got the 3 Limiteds that I have when we had a bit of a headwind in finances a couple years ago. It could happen again and be even better :)
|
|
Forum: General Talk
01-30-2023, 04:02 PM
|
| |
I also got both at the same time, back in 2014... and ended up keeping only the 70-210, as at 135mm I thought it was better than the prime, in pretty much all aspects... but I might have had a bad copy of the A 135 2.8, it was a bit soft (especially if any source of light was in the picture) and lacked contrast at f/2.8. Colors and rendering were nicer and more "alive" with the zoom, to my surprise. Let's see what you think...
|
|
Forum: General Talk
11-07-2022, 07:32 AM
|
| |
Nice... Didn't you have one of those already? Is this the earlier K era or the M era version (you can tell by the fonts... and coating reflections)
What are the odds you're going to finally get used to the 50mm focal range? :) Looking forward to see how this goes :)
|
|
Forum: General Talk
09-02-2022, 08:22 AM
|
| |
Perhaps let time tell... if a few months from now you figure out that you never pick up the 35, then sell it... unless you need the money now. Then I'd say selling it makes sense.
Same with the 21. It's so small that it's hard to ignore (for me at least), but if you find that with the 20-40 you never reach for it, sell it as well. Unless money is needed (don't eat your lenses, sell the ones you don't see using :lol: )
|
|
Forum: General Talk
08-26-2022, 07:56 AM
|
| |
I also bought a Tokina 24 2.8 that was in all ways (except the name) absolutely identical to the Vivitar/Cosina, and I ended up keeping the Tokina and selling the Cosina here in the forums marketplace... so if it looks familiar... it might even be a re-encounter :)
Those are great lenses, I find. I kept the Tokina because when I took off the Ricoh pin that was in it, I accidentally dropped the tiny aperture plastic ball that keeps the stops in place, so now my Tokina has a clickless aperture and I thought I wouldn't be able to sell it. Since I paid 14 dollars for that Tokina, I thought it wasn't worth selling now! Still have it but with the DA 21 around it doesn't get much use nowadays.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
08-26-2022, 06:33 AM
|
| |
Just like the one I once got from you? :)
|
|
Forum: General Talk
07-23-2022, 07:02 AM
|
| |
Does a re-acquisition count?
I had given away my old Rikenon XR 50 1.4 along with 3-4 other lenses because the aperture blades were stuck wide open, it happened all of a sudden so I'm sure it was a spring that came off or something like that. I gave them to a forum member to practice his lens fixing skills... so when he put the lenses up for sale (cleaned and fixed) I could not resist getting this one back... the bokeh is unique (and can be very bizarre...) and it has given me logs of good pictures over the years. In fact I went to my garden yesterday with it and with the DA 35 Limited and most of the keepers were actually with this lens.
 |
|
Forum: General Talk
07-13-2022, 03:28 PM
|
| |
Not at all photography related... I think I have all I need in terms of photography, for a good while :)
But this guitar amp is something I've wanted for years... pictured on the left side is the Hughes and Kettner Puretone combo I got last week. These were in the mid-$2K range when they came out in the mid-2000s because they were hand wired in Germany, the only Hughes and Kettner amp to be so built. And they still lost money on them, as Hughes and Kettner is more known for their rock players, and this is a non-master "clean" amp (unless you play it really loud, it starts to break up, but it's REALLY loud). The Class A design with two EL34 power tubes is of course very similar to the super expensive Trainwreck Express (found used at over $6K!) but this is much more manageable.
I happened to find it for 549 dollars in very good condition so I am thankful that I was able to buy it. I really think this is a steal - you find Fender Blues Junior combos for that price, and there's absolutely no comparison in quality...
It currently sits next to its companion the Hughes and Kettner Triamp (original) which I have had for many years (on the right). The Triamp I keep for its versatility having 6 distinct footswitchable all-tube sounds, and the new Puretone, for its pristine sound that is a joy to play.
 |
|
Forum: General Talk
06-17-2022, 04:55 AM
|
| |
There are, of course, 2 definite answers to this question... 30mm (Sigma 30mm f/1.4 Art) and 31mm (FA 31mm Limited) ;) My Sigma 30 Art has been keeping me from getting any more 28mm lenses. But I'm on APS-C. For FF users, the FA 31 should be the definite lens in that range.
Oh and I don't get dull images from my M 28 3.5 but of course personal taste varies... of course the bokeh isn't good, but that's not what this lens is for.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-16-2022, 08:24 AM
|
| |
Interestingly, from what I've seen in picture samples, the SMC-F 28mm f/2.8, despite having supposedly the same optical formula, is better wide open, being quite sharp in the center. To me it fixes that aspect (and I have had both the M and A 28/2.8 so I know how annoyingly soft and low contrast they are wide open - which makes them hard to focus).
If I didn't love my Sigma 30 1.4 Art so much I'd have bought an F 28 2.8 by now (I have an M 28 3.5 for when I want that manual lens experience, great lens, sharp from wide open and such wild colors).
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-03-2022, 05:38 AM
|
| |
Nice. I've been considering one of these (the combo version) for some recording. You can find them sometimes for just over 100 bucks (Bugera is Behringer's line of amps, so it's well engineered, no-nonsense and cheap which is what they usually do).
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-02-2022, 12:57 PM
|
| |
Ah yes we've missed you there :) I'm really looking forward to seeing what you come up with. These days I've seen the 645D going for like 1659, that's such a bargain for a medium format camera. MPB has six of them! Maybe I should sell my remaining expensive ($2K) guitar...
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-02-2022, 12:54 PM
|
| |
I hope your recovery is quick and complete!
I've always been curious about the Q7 and Q-S1...
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-02-2022, 10:17 AM
|
| |
Wow, first the 645D and now this, there's no slowing down with you :D
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-02-2022, 10:17 AM
|
| |
Not sure if you have found a name yet...
I was going to say Lady Giocconda... as the slightly wide and cheery lens is a source of happiness usually, when you look at the results from a good sample... but of course this lens is Japanese, not Italian, so the name should be similar... Daiki means shining but it also means large... so I'd say "Dirty Daiki" would be my suggestion... after all she has to impose herself over her jealous harem companions... lol
|
|
Forum: General Talk
01-10-2022, 05:03 PM
|
| |
That should be interesting :D
I know you probably know this... and I know you love your Voigtlanders... they make a nice collection of f0.95 lenses at 10.5mm, 17.5mm, 25mm and 42.5mm...
Speaking of f0.95mm... tried any of the 7Artisan f0.95 lenses in your Fuji system yet?
I live vicariously through your Gear Acquisition Syndrome... :lol:
|
|
Forum: General Talk
01-03-2022, 09:03 AM
|
| |
I hear that's a phenomenal lens...
|
|
Forum: General Talk
12-22-2021, 07:51 AM
|
| |
That's some interestingly looking aperture blades, do they work normally like the ones that look flat?
|
|
Forum: General Talk
12-01-2021, 04:30 PM
|
| |
That is incredibly kind.
The best way to say thank you is to take some beautiful pictures with it!
I've also wanted one of these for years, but thanks to an upswing in finances last year, and a very cheap DA 35 Limited showing up last year, I now have a 1:1 macro, so I wouldn't say I'm a candidate for a donation. I think I have what I need at this point.
Today, my K-S2 showed up. It's not in perfect condition but everything works, and the shutter count is only about 1600. I took some boring shots around the house and opened them up in RawTherapee, and I immediately found them easy to work with, and the colors and contrast are so easy to work with - even perhaps marginally better than the K-S1 files, I think Pentax did some tweaking for the better here. I am going to miss the lush feel of the K-3 and its nice shutter, as the K-S2 is noticeably plastic, and not nearly as nice as the K10D, K20D and K200D (which seem to all be build from the nice plastic material). But still, I'm very happy with it.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
11-19-2021, 06:50 AM
|
| |
I was ok with high ISO actually, even up to 3200, because while not quite as good as my K-S1 at that ISO - and the K-S1 sensor has a tad more noise than the K-50 at 3200 but keeps much more detail. The K-3 is the same way, it keeps a lot of detail and if one can carefully clean up color noise, you can have very good images at high ISO.
But image quality - to me - has nothing to do with high ISO.
I do most of my shooting at low ISO. That is where I couldn't get the sensor output to my liking. It's really really hard to try to put a finger on the reason why. Light blues don't look right and seem to have too much grey in them, dark blues look too strong, reds are too saturated (I think that's a known issue), greens can be ok but also can be a bit too "flat", and so on. Fixing one color seems to ruin other colors, so it's not a case of white balance or a color cast. I know a lot of people love the camera (there's a thread on holding on to it while one lives) so I assume it's just me and my personal taste.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
11-16-2021, 02:38 PM
|
| |
A K-S2 will be coming in, to replace the K-3 that is going out.
I didn't get along with the K-3 sensor, and I tried for almost a year. My fault I'm sure, but time to move on. I need a good camera for kids sports shooting and I use manual focus a lot for that purpose, so AF performance wasn't enough for me to keep the K-3. Basically what I needed was a K-S1 with a better grip... everything else is icing on the cake.
After the 10MP CCD sensor, the 20MP CMOS is my favorite sensor (and it goes to ISO 3200 with quite good performance, better IMHO than K-3). At base ISO it performs super nicely, colors really pop and textures show very well.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
10-14-2021, 01:19 PM
|
| |
There must have been some issue with the listing that prevented people from seeing it? Maybe it was under digital cameras and ebay defaults to film cameras when you type pentax kx?
Every once in a while I look for a KX on ebay, I'd like to have one. But even the ones that say "For parts" can be higher than the price you paid. And that's body only, without the fantastic K 55 1.8!
Even the ones in the mid-100s seem to be in poor condition (despite the description saying otherwise).
|
|
Forum: General Talk
10-13-2021, 06:00 AM
|
| |
Of the lenses I got basically for free over a year ago and had never sent to clean, I kept 3 and sent them to Eric Hendrickson. Just got them back yesterday:
K 50 1.2
M 100 2.8
M 150 3.5
The M 150 3.5 in particular was not in good shape, so much fungus I couldn't shoot with it. But now I can tell it's a pretty sharp lens even wide open, despite reports to the contrary! At least my copy is, so I'm glad I got it cleaned. Last year I had already agreed to give it basically for free to a forum member (it was for 15 dollars if I recall) but because of Covid the other person backed out... now I'm glad he did :)
The K 50 1.2 and M 100 2.8 were known quantities, I have been using them as the bit of fungus they had, did not affect the images, or so it seemed. Let's see if I can tell a difference.
For my standards I paid quite a bit of money for this cleaning (210 dollars plus shipping both ways- more than I paid for either one of my SMC Limiteds!), but I think these particular lenses are worth it.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
10-04-2021, 07:28 AM
|
| |
For 30 USD I would expect a working Rikenon 50 1.7... you were too kind to the seller by not sending it back...
|
