| Review of: Auto-Takumar 55mm F2.2 by Mans Hagberg on Sat March 13, 2021 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 64797
Reviews: 10
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I have used this lens since 1962, but seldom nowadays.
Extremely well built. My camera fell out of the bag and landed on hard ground with the lens taking the shock. For a year or two the focus ring was a bit stiff, but then okay again.
Sharp, I used it for repro work after that incident and was impressed. I used a tripod an a measuring tape to focus correctly and it was spot-on.
As my only lens I felt it was a bit too long and got a 24mm to complement it. I still use that 24mm lens. Also an 105mm that I was less impressed by.
The main drawback is the semi-automatic diagraphm. You cock it separately, and when the shutter is pressed the viewfinder dims to the aperture set. I guess that is a no-problem if you use a digital camera and Live Wiew.
The optical formula is a classic Biotar as per the Zeiss invention by Willi Merté.
I do not look for bokeh and set an "8" a bit offhand.
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| Review of: S-M-C/Super Takumar 24mm F3.5 by Mans Hagberg on Fri June 19, 2020 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 161814
Reviews: 15
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I bought this lens 40 years ago for my Pentax S 1 from 1961. It worked very well. The squarish lens hood makes any outfit look great!
On APS-C it did work. But the (excellent) Sigma 18 - 50 or Sigma 17 -50 zoom that usually sat on my Pentax APS camera was good enough for me and more convenient.
On the K-I it is a really useful wide angle lens. Sharp enough for full views and tolerates some cropping. The link below goes to the Swedish Wikipedia. You can click and see the photo enlarged. In May, 2020, the editors actually commented positively on the quality of the photo.
https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribbingsholm | |
| Review of: SMC Pentax-FA 100mm F3.5 Macro by Mans Hagberg on Fri April 10, 2020 | Rating: 8 | View more reviews | |
Views: 98861
Reviews: 14
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I bought this lens a few years ago after reading the reviews here. It cost very little. A real bargain.
Used for Slow Photography and in reasonably good light it works very well, close up as well as at a distance.
With the K 3 II I have learnt to use a liberal amount of exposure compensation and do the RAW conversion so that it fits this lens. With the K 1 it operates more like other lenses.
The main drawback is the plasticky feeling. And the lifeless manual focusing. Some lenses are a joy to use. Not this one. A third is that the AR treatment is not up to 2020 standards and that the inside is not dead black.
A fourth drawback? Not that I have observed. Compared to the 77 mm Limited lens this one is as sharp, but less forgiving. It needs more care to get the final image right.
Pentax made cost-cutting by using plastic construction and just f/3,5 maximum speed but saw to it that the photograpic results could be fine.
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| Review of: SMC Pentax 28mm F3.5 Shift by Mans Hagberg on Fri March 6, 2020 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 81419
Reviews: 17
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This is a special purpose lens. I bought it to use for architectural and townscape photos on a Pentax K-1.
Initially, I thought that it works best with a tripod. I dislike tripods, so I bought a very light carbon fibre one (Triopo GT-3230 with a B-2 ball head.) And a L-bracket. And a cable release. This outfit usually works just fine. I can compose the picture on Live Screen. Shift as needed. So the handling is easy if you accept an 100 % manual lens with quite a few more adjustments to make than a standard lens.
By now (April 2023) I am learning to use it without a tripod. I hold the K-1 as you used to hold a Rolleiflex. With Live Wiew the exposure usually gets right. Otherwise you can try manual mode and the Pentax green button.
After reading all the reports here I simply use f/8 or f/11 and ISO 100 or 200 to get good sharpness in shifted positions. When I want moving objects (people) to freeze, higher ISO and perhaps wider aperture is needed.
Black and White photos: This lens sports yellow and orange filters built in. With tha K-1 (and many other Pentax digital SLRs) you can choose Black and White for Live View. That makes it easy to visualize the result. I tend to use the yellow filter tto give a somewhat darker sky with white clouds.
Traditionally, architecture photographers leveled their camera very carefully. Then they used shift to frame the whole building and skip a lot of ground. But oftentimes they also tilted the camera ever so lightly up to get slightly converging lines. This works well even now.
The lens is sharp enough at f/8 or f/11 even when shifted. Needs slightly more contrast than some other lenses in RAW development. Extremely well built, mine is 1976 vintage and in top shape. I bought it here in Sweden and had no taxes or postage cost and an option to return it if I did not like it. I kept it and am glad I did.
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| Review of: SMC Pentax-DA 10-17mm F3.5-4.5 Fish-Eye ED [IF] by Mans Hagberg on Sat November 5, 2016 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 306049
Reviews: 101
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When going digital this lens was part of the reason to choose Pentax! I have used it for ten years by now.
Invaluable for photographing rainbows and haloes. Good for cramped interiors i e cars. Sharp enough for most purposes.
I had to learn how the fisheye works. Radial lines are rendered straight. Tangential lines are bent a lot, more the further off-centre they occur. Round objects are rendered round.
By keeping this in mind (and with practise) I find this lens quite useful. In Photoshop CS6 and newer (and some special programs) the pictures can be de-fished easily. After ten years, I often keep just this lens in the bag along with the camera and a standard zoom.
With all cameras up to the K3II metering was no problem. With the K3II overexposure can be a problem in some unevenly lit scenes.
This link is to a photo showing a halo above my medieval parish church.
http://www.atoptics.co.uk/fza126.htm | |
| Review of: SMC Pentax-FA 77mm F1.8 Limited by Mans Hagberg on Mon May 7, 2012 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 438739
Reviews: 107
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I bought this lens when new, it came in silver finish. I am quite pleased with it and use it often. The small size means that it is easy to add to a small camera bag.
One niggly point, the lens shade is somewhat short. All in all, this was an expensive lens when i bought it, felt like buying a luxury item. And it is. Small, perfectly crafted, a joy to use.
2023 addition: It works very well on the K1 camera. This picture (use link) won the Swedish Wikipedia challenge "Wiki Loves Nature" in 2021 with a Natural Reserve and a formation of geese coming in to land:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Vivesholm%2C_strand_p%C3%A5_revelns_insida.jpg/1024px-Vivesholm%2C_strand_p%C3%A5_revelns_insida.jpg
One repair was needed after 12 years of perfect service. The front filter ring came loose, I sent the lens to a dependable serviceman and now it is fine again.
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