what a difference...

a few days (and early holiday sales!) makes.

Last week at this time the primary kit =  κ-01, DA16-45/70, and Sigma 50-150, no backup.
Once the packages arrive it will become κ-5ii, DA21/50/70, and Sigma 105 macro, κ-01 backup!  No doubt a step up, though the wide zoom is now a white DAL 18-55!

Strange days indeed.

The DA50 has arrived; it's quite a nice lens and feels better than most when focusing manually. I had heard that, now I know it! It also focuses rather close relative to other AF primes I have tried.   I'm not certain this can find a place so close to the DA70, but for now it's a nice addition; perhaps the DA35 will turn out to match better with the 21 and 70, or a DA40xs might make a timely appearance.  To look at it another way: with 1/2 stop more light and very good images, will the DA50 allow the 70mm enough room to shine?  

Whatever wins out, for the next few months it will not be allowed to bother me.

DA21 and the II are now here.  First camera tests are promising, I took a photo in deep shade and focus locked nicely with the 50/1.8.  So far so good!  The DA21 has a bit of a reputation as a less-than-razor-sharp lens that does best at closer focus, and this copy seems to be the same.  I shall try some AF adjustments to see how it goes, but razor sharpness does not make an ordinary image into a great one (and software can assist) - so I do not expect this to go badly.  The 21 looks enough like 18mm to be acceptable as the widest lens other than my fisheye 8mm, so the 18-55 can pretty much stay locked to the K-01.

turnovers!

What an interesting few days.  The 50-150 is sold and the funds mutate into the DAs 21/3.2 Limited and Sigma 105/2.8 macro, and the DA16-45 is converted to a DA50 f/1.8!  It's clear from the number of 18-55 and 16-45 lenses in my history that I find these two interchangeable, especially with a good sensor whose ISO talents can compensate for the slower 18-55.

Deals have been too complicated to tell if a net $ gain or loss occurred on all the above, but more gear will depart in the next few months, once the K-5 comes home from the service trip I have planned for it.  The SMC-A 24mm is definitely out of work now that the DA21 is coming to town.


So here is the latest scoreboard:

• primes: 8 fisheye, 21, 50, 70, 105 macro, 400 (8 & 400mm both manual focus)
• zooms: 18-55 + 50-200 WR, 28-90 1:2 macro, 100-300 f/4.5-6.7 (latter two full-frame)
• bodies: κ-5ii, K-01 (white with white 18-55 DAL), K-5 (injured reserve)

the kit reborn?

So the 50-150 f/2.8 is moving on soon*, and the DA40 Limited is gone.  Never thought the 40 would go, but at 770 grams the 50-150 was a risk I chose to take.  A 450-gram Sigma 105 macro is not a lightweight, but 70+105 fast lenses combined will do well with the DA16-45.  Heck, the 70+105+DA50-200WR weighs a bit more but gives me more range, some weather seals and 1:1 macro!  Yes I'm stretching to justify my actions, but it works for me!

Why am I doing this?  The K-5 II is the new goal.  With the K-5 awaiting repairs & the wet season upon us, a II (or praps a IIs) makes sense... if the price becomes right in the next few months.  I could pick up a classic K-5 but the SAFOX X has a few important upgrades I would like to have:

• better AF predictions in continuous-AF mode
• much less light needed for autofocus (-3EV)
• f/2.8 precision (center point) and 
• more decisive focusing in nearly all cases

The gapless-screen update will be quite nice as well.

The K-3 has still more updates, but the 24Mpix sensor does not beat the sweet-16 for low-light imaging so more pixels hold less appeal.  Many of the other features (variable AA simulation, better/easier video, USB3) are good but not wildly relevant to me -- well OK a few shifted buttons would be nice.  A larger screen and faster electronic pipeline sounds like battery-life sacrificed as much as anything else.  And even with sale prices, the K-3 will be at twice the price of the basic II.  But hey, the shopping season approaches: if discounts are in the right places and the house is getting a lot of buying attention, who knows where this will end?

Once my K-5 is fixed it may go on the market... or should the K-01 depart?  Keeping the K-5 makes more sense for identical controls, the K-01 has the interesting video and interval-movie setting - but those are also available on the Q!  Acquiring a brand-new II with three years of warranty feels like a good decision - though a better one would be to swear off all imaging 'upgrades' for six months!
Ha ha very funny... and oh yeah just picked up a white 18-55 for the white K-01 :^p

Today's pile of imaging gear:

• primes: 8 fisheye, 24, 50, 70Ltd, 105 macro, 400 (all manual focus except 70 + 105)
• zooms: DAs 16-45, 18-55, 50-200wr (28-90 & 100-300 for full frame/film)
• bodies: K-01, K-5 (needs repairs), Q with 02 zoom and PK adapter

* first sale fell through, try try again..

Update - the 50-150 went through the 2nd time, and is being replaced by a DA21.  Yes this was not needed thanks to the 16-45.  More shuffling in the works; what a surprise.

Farewell to the Forty.. and ??

I had not intended to let any Limited lenses get away... but that was before the DA16-45 began crowding them out.  I had unsuccessfully marketed the DA70 a couple of times - keeping the 70mm makes much more sense than the DA40 given the 16-45, and the 70mm is slightly faster and nearly as small.  This injection of camera funds helps alleviate my financial remorse over the Sigma 50-150 f/2.8 as well.  I had felt that the 70-150's arrival made the 70mm expendable, but the huge size/weight difference really doesn't make for a fair comparison of the two on 70mm images alone.

So yet again, the kit has shifted.  Maybe at some point a 100-135mm prime will go along with the 16-45 / 70 / ?? for hiking trips (the 50-200WR is great except at the edges, where the 50-150 bests it handily).  I have diopter attachment lenses for decent closeups, but of course a 100mm or 105mm macro would be even better - but after the K-5 has been serviced.  Perhaps I can find a manual lens to fill in for now.

Rumors swirl around a Pentax 20-40mm Limited zoom, which may be WR and/or have DA motor; that would be fun to own, but it definitely will not be a cheap lens!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

And hello 105...
The 50-150 tests are in, and results are clear on several levels - and the truth hurts.  Without doubt it's an amazing lens, sharp right to the edges below f/4, silent focus, plenty of good.  At the same time, that 750+ grams could be used to carry several other items.  One that has stood out as an ideal match is a 100mm± macro lens.  Yes, guilty as charged: I recently sold off a Cosina-made 100/3.5 but it had no focus limiter and focus was loud & crazy.  In this case a Sigma 105mm EX.DG finally came up at a good price, and here it comes now to complement my 16-45 and 70 Limited as a top-notch hiking trio.

This means the 50-150's purpose has lessened, as the less-edgy but far lighter DA50-200WR can reclaim its position as both good telephoto and foul-weather choice.  Yet that makes less sense when attached to a K-01, and my K-5 sits in the moving van awaiting both unpacking and servicing for a few age-related issues.

The easy answer is to trade the 50-150 for an updated K-5 so I'm ready for the wet season.  I'm more convinced now that the II-series has features I would really like, notably the improved AF and crisper screen.  So the Sigma is on the block for cash or a K-5II trade; if I am cashed out I shall await a good post-Thanksgiving fire sale.  As to the II versus IIs debate, I am satisfied that the IIs may be sharper overall but the color moiré is a risk (though a slight one) and my skills are more in play than the AA filter by a long shot.

Now for the silly part: I also have the K-01 on the block.  That's just silly, both because I really enjoy it and also because all of its boxes and manuals are packed for our move and wildly inaccessible!  I shall not be aggressive with the sale or lower the price, so we shall see where that leads.

moving and imaging

I've now reached the point of packing up the home where living minimally will need to serve.  With several items in the kit not receiving much use, some lenses can pack up easily - but others should be more visible.  The challenge of not cramping one's style is now in play!  Worse yet is the risk that, once all is unpacked again, I may have learned to do without what was packed... not a bad thing really, but sobering.

Step one is easy: I really don't need the two full-frame zooms in my APS-C bag right?  Well, one is my only 1:2 closeup option (though I have several 1:3ish that will do), and the other gets me to 300mm.  I'll take the chance and pack them.  The two Limiteds will stay out, as will the DA16-45.

For lighter telephoto and poor weather the DA50-200WR should stay - wait though, that doesn't really matter with the K-01 does it?  The K-5 is being packed as its electronics are in need of service, and that includes SR - so really the 50-150 f/2.8 is as useful for low light as the 50-200 f/4-5.6 is for weather seals.  Ah well the WR lens is pretty small so it can stay, and the SMC-A 24/2.8 and new 8mm fisheye can go in the packing box.

The easy-to-pack items are the SMC-M 50mm f/2 and the 400mm f/6.3 preset; those are very rarely in use and can be done without for a bit.

So for the next month or three this is my mini-kit:
K-01 ghost-camera + DA16-45, 50-200WR and Sigma 50-150 zooms + DA Limiteds 40 and 70

And the Q might as well be easy to reach too, being so small.  As daylight weakens it shows its limitations with the small sensor though.  Were I seeking a small camera again, the Lumix GM-1 looks mighty handy: Q size but m4/3 sensor, and a 12-34mm zoom that would play nicely with the two adapted Limiteds.  Oh yeah, I'm not seeking a small camera... shame on me for speculating so much.

YAKU October '13

So here's the kit as of autumn 2013. The K-5 and K-01 have some new optical company!

The top row is the SMC-A 24mm f/2.8 and new Rokinon 8/3.5 fisheye.  This one replaces the Sigma 15/2.8 fisheye, which was crowded out by the DA16-45 f/4 (center of 2nd row, flanked by DA50-200wr and Quantaray 28-90 1:2 macro).  The third row is the Sigma 50-150/2.8, DA70/2.4 and DA40/2.8 Limiteds, and the Quantaray 100-300.  

The 55-300wr has just been announced; that should be a challenge to keep out of my bag -especially now that the 50-150 has covered the DA50-200wr's territory.  Sure wish the Sigma were rated as weather resistant!

The two Quantarays are full-frame friendly and allow 28-300mm on my Pentax ME/SE film body; the 24mm works for film also, as it was intended!

We'll see what 2014 brings!

 * YAKU = Yet Another Kit Update

Ricoh brings the K-3 to market

The K-3 is quite a dense camera, features galore and more than before!  The K-5 is still all I need and substantially more, but those new specifications are head-turning.  I'm doing my very best to hold with what I have now so its grand opening will not see me in any virtual lines - but it's good news for Pentax and therefore for owners of all K-mount cameras.

another dip in the pool ('dip' is a verb here)

I watched with surprise and disappointment recently as the only 500+ gram lens I'd ever want was being sold in a forum I frequent.  The price dropped a time or two, and nobody jumped on it.  It dropped again, and sat a week.  Taunting me!  :^)

And so, again, I snapped.  I scraped together funds from a few untapped sources and bought a Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8.  This now becomes my most-expensive lens, and easily my heaviest.  It should be worth owning despite the bulk: two stops faster than the DA50-200 and slow 100-300mm zooms, and nearly a speed match for the DA70 Limited.  (I admit that I tried to move that lens first to cushion he blow; it's a hard lens to lose though!)  I already have 67mm filters for the DA16-45 so the 50-150 makes a great pair with it.

I expect that its output will force me to re-evaluate my weight limit on lenses.  Yes I've been a weight wimp, 450 grams / one pound lenses have been the max - but it's my hobby and I play it my way!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

image from wikipedia.com

Double whammy

A day or so later the Samyang/Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 fisheye went on sale, for $60 less than its typical best price.  That one was more likely to be added in my imaging future, and the 'wait' is over.  The 15mm lenses are too close to the DA16-45 to justify, but the 8mm fits nicely in my kit.  In its Pentax iteration it even 

So now I have yet another Pirate lens, one to make me say arrrrgh!