Why I like the DA 55300.. and the Rikenon 70-150

This image was taken with the DA 55-300mm lens (150mm f/5 -1/250s, iso3200). It was also shot with the Rikenon-XR 70-150 (150mm, f/4 -1/125s, iso1600). They are shown below - though not necessarily in that order.

•  The Rikenon was focused through the VF, so no precise live-view focusing aid. It was also taken in Av mode so exposure was set with the wide-open lens. SR was set at 150mm. 
•  The DA lens focused itself and found f/5 to be its wide-open choice. It also was in Av mode.  

These were not shot as controlled images and I could have done much better for making them both sharper and closer to identical (e.g. fixed ISO and a tripod). They are also substantially cropped to show the area of most-critical detail; crops were in the same portion of the image field, I didn't cheat and put one on the frame's edge!  So they are not intended to be rigorous, simply what-if one-off hand-held shots to see how they compared. Aren't hyphens fun?  Let's face it: I do not spend my life going around taking test shots; I will grab the camera and get the shot on the fly, and that's what I want to test.  Both used center-weight metering so that matched well - though at f/5 vs f/4 I expected the DA image to be a bit darker.

Given all that, I can only say they compare quite well. In both cases, great isolation on the lonely seed-case, nice background blur, and decent branch detail. A slight color shift, no surprise even with flat grey lighting, as 20 years has seen great changes in lens coatings. Hard to pretend you cannot see which image is which; ISO3200 is great with the K-5 but it isn't an invisible process.

I was not expecting this.

I decided that it would be fun to have an image of the K-5 off kilter, so that I could extract a diagonal image of the Pentax and K-5 logos on a narrow strip image. I took a few shots and brought them onto my computer screen.

  This is what I got. Wait a moment - the camera is perfectly level, I am what's tilted.. and the walls, doorframe, the rest of the universe! The  K-5 orientation sensor is really, really good! For amusement I used Picasa to filter it as a B&W image then used their newer 'neon' filter to add some (yes, very subtle) Pentax-red highlights. Strangely enough, I have to leave Picasa to reverse the mirror-image photo.. I thought all graphics software made since 1980 had the flip routines.


Like so much with the K-5, I expect I can control this - and some day I'll see how.  Since software can rotate a degree at a time it isn't important enough to spend an afternoon on it.

K-5 and pseudo-IR

 

The K-5 has so many features to grow with that it could take a year's full efforts to try them all. Multiple exposures, pre-focus "catch-in" images, time-lapse shots.. and plenty of filtering options. Convert to monochrome and you can choose tone, color-filter effects, hi/low key, and the one shown here that mimics an Infrared (IR) filter. It's a curious effect, and quite strong so that images that look rather ordinary through the viewfinder take on a new drama. This wasn't anything in particular, just cirrus in front of fir trees after all - but I really like the effect!

F550 ups & downs

  While I have generally been quite happy with the little Fuji, it has caught me twice by battery stoppages. I keep a spare in my vest pocket, yet every now and then I take the camera but leave the vest at home. Twice now that has happened, and it's very frustrating. I took a long walk with the camera yesterday, and had a fine time taking pictures of the city and this fine set of pansies - but today I missed a great sunrise when the camera failed to wake up. Drat.

This image is directly from raw; the jpeg blew out the far-right blue bloom. Other than resize this has not been processed.

Sadie with the Tamron 90

  Sadie is having hi-thyroid troubles, and the medication is only now starting to work. This makes her a very easy target for imaging! This was manually focused with the Tamron SP 90/2.8 Macro at f/3.2, cropped only. A very nice lens, and not merely for counting lenses in a bug's eye.



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This was one of our last shots of Sadie - after recovering from the thyroid issue the underlying cancer was revealed.  Rest peacefully, Sadie.

Duncan likes the quiet K-5 shutter

I have finally posted a few shots from the K-5. Yes, it does indeed show off the now-legendary 16Mpixel Sony sensor: this is a straight jpeg, no adjustments but cropped to reduce clutter from the scene. ISO 6400 is an acceptable speed for this camera, especially for simple snaps. Had I really been trying it could be a better image, but this passes the PGE test (Plenty Good Enough!) easily.

dwarf with a chip on his shoulder!

After being abandoned in our back yard, the elements had time to wear away a part of our friendly dwarf. Curious that it would choose his shoulder as the primary point of wear!
Taken with a Sigma 18-200 just before its departure - the budget is not going to allow a lot of duplication for a while, even though the 18-200 gave a good showing on the K-5. Maybe later..

Pentax K-5: so it begins

Pentax K-5, DA18-55wr and DA 35/2.4

Several packages arrived at our house today, heralding a new era in my imaging 'career'.  Lately, 'career' has been more like 'careen' as I hopped from one K-mount camera to another in the past twenty months, attempting to have the best possible camera while paying medical bills.  My wife finally called my bluff and my birthday-present arrived a couple of weeks early (but just in time for our 5th anniversary!).  Now I can't justify looking at sales sites for a few years.. unless one of my lenses happens to fail :^( but we won't let that happen, will we?