My kids and the 70mm limited lens

By PF Staff in Influential Photo Gear on Jan 11, 2013

Hello to all fellow Pentaxians,

I have discovered, like so many users of the Pentax-DA 70mm limited lens, the joy of such a small gem of an optic. Whilst many have waxed lyrical of it's clarity and resolution, I'd like to say how it has made my photographing of my kids a real delight. It has given me the focal length to get close, but also keep my distance so as to not 'interfere' with what they might be doing.

Often the best photos of kids are capturing them while the are doing an activity. Because there is no big zoom pointed at them they tend to be more relaxed and I can capture their real mood and expression. The lens also captures the wonderous colours of skin tones, the bright colours of clothes and of course, the colours from early sun or setting sunlight. What makes it a physical treat is that it is so light that moving around with the camera, rotating from portrait to landscape, panning to capture motion, or just plain holding it and waiting for them to look up and smile at you, is just so much easier than any zoom, or large optic. It is my choice lens for photographing my kids.

You can see from the examples below how the colours, light, and IQ are just wonderful. Jpgs from Lightroom with almost no post processing, custom colour profile using xrite, and Pentax K-r.

When you consider all the great optical qualities and a compact size that adds almost nothing in terms of weight on the camera, it makes holding and composing shots very easy, and brings back the excitement of looking at photos (like it was back in the days when you first opened the envelope after getting a roll of film developed).

Below are images taken with my 70mm limited lens (click the images to enlarge and browse).