Hin's Tech Corner: January 2009

zpizza Fremont with Pentax DA 21mm f/3.2 limited

2009-01-14 Posted by Hin Man

My family dined out in Zpizza in Fremont last Friday. This place is a a great alternative to Round Table and Pizza Hut since they offer pizza in lighter toppings with less meat. And their variety of toppings and salad are unusually healthy as compared to other places that my family have visited.

My boys and I really enjoyed our 2nd visit to the Zpizza in Fremont and it will become one of our favorite places to go and they have take out delivery that we are yet to try out. The owner of Zpizza in Fremont allowed me to take as many pictures as I desired and after the meal, I showed them a few pictures with my Pentax K20D and Pentax DA 21mm f/3.2 limited, and they are thrilled with the results they requested me to send to them. I will do that later on. This is a small business franchise and I won't charge them for anything. I hope they link back my page if they ever use my pictures for testimonial.

I used Pentax DA 21mm f/3.2 limited for the shooting. I found few pictures off focus a bit under the tungsten lighting and I learned it from others that AF in tungsten may suffer from accuracy under tungsten lighting condition. I will take it as an important learning experience to observe the distance as well as going for manual focus when results seems off in preview.

Santa Fe Shrimp
My boys can't take spice
We substitute with Pesto Sauce

zpizza with Pentax DA 21mm f/3.2 limited

My boy quickly forgot the salad
when pizzas were out

Greek Salad Is Fresh
Quite Good with Pizza

Healthy Chicken Sausage with
Spinach

Pizza with Pear Topping
Absolutely Interesting
Combination that I have encountered
Love It

Impressions & Notes

Zpizza is interesting pizza place in Fremont not to be missed. Service is great and the owner are friendly to picture taking. My kids love dining out occasionally and I love food pictures. I highly recommend dinning out in Zpizza and remember to bring your camera with you and ask permission to take fun shots on your boys and the pizza.
Always ask for permission first for courtesy as a photographer as picture taking may bother privacy of patrons and the restaurant.
Pentax DA 21mm f/3.2 can do reasonably well in close up. Not that it is the best, but its close focusing is surprisingly good.
AF seems to hunt a bit and under tungsten lighting, it may be better off to attempt manual focusing. A lightweight tripod may come in handy though it is more likely to bother people along your path of picture taking. Be courteous with a smile. People understand and may enjoy your enthusiasm with food on the table. With my camera, food do taste better as your visual and photo senses can enhance both the tasting and aroma with the pizza
I forget one important adjustment in the shooting. I forgot to raise the pizza at an angle on the back to create a better view on the pizza.
While DA 21mm is not a close focus lens, it serves the indoor purpose shot on food quite well and the wider view with good bokeh shows interesting background quite well. I leverage the street lighting on the background on some of the pizza shot

Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG 1:1 Macro

2009-01-13 Posted by Hin Man

I am back to the full circle in getting yet another Macro lens. This time is a repeat for the Sigma 105mm f/2.8 1:1 DG Macro. I have the non-DG macro before and I am attracted to its build and color and when I see a used copy with the DG one, I fall for the purchase again.

And since I love my Tamron 90mm f/2.8 1:1 non-Di so much in both macro and portrait in 90mm, I would have a hard time later on in justifying the duplicate purchase. But I have to say the Sigma 105mm is as good as you can get for a Macro that is about $300 dollars. I am a bit disappointed with the change in the storage case. The previous non-DG storage case is way better than the nylon pouch.

I have not fully tested the lens but so far test images have been positive and MF is very easy with this lens. I can hardly pick one over the other in terms of MF. AF is a bit faster in the Tamron. Both have focal limiters and it make tele lens purpose easier. But the turning nob in Tamron is preferred over the Sigma

Test Shots

Pentax DA 35mm f/2.8 1:1 Macro Limited

2009-01-08 Posted by Hin Man

It is my first day with Pentax DA 35mm f/2.8 1:1 Macro Limited and I really like the handling and ease of focusing. Yes, the wider view may get you into some empty space around your shooting objects but I try to find location with interesting color as in purple, green and highlight to enhance the look of the product. I used my red notebook to raise my Praktica MTL5 film camera for product shots

All pictures shot with Pentax K20D and
Pentax DA 35mm f/2.8 1:1 Macro Limited

wrong exposure, forget that I am in M mode

Like the space given with 35mm so that I
can steal the background purple color

Hin's First Camera

Now I need detail on the strangely looking
auto <--> M switching nob
with Super-Lentar 28mm f/2.8 (m42)

I should have got a better view
along with A <--> M switching letter

I was born Pentaxian
I couldn't believe that my
1st SLR camera Praktica MTL5
has a Pentax neck strap

Super Lentar 28mm f/2.8 (m42)

2009-01-06 Posted by Hin Man

I want to share with you a new year purchase of a used M42 lens. I have not a clue of the manufacturer of this lens. It is very cute looking. It cost much less than a SuperTakumar. It is Super-Lentar 28mm f/2.8 in M42 mount.

I like its look with some silver and black color and I think it may go well with the white camera. It is all metal build around and the lens barrel reminds me of SuperTak but the mix of silver and black color make this a charming lens.

super lentar m42 lens with Pentax k20d

super lentar m42 lens

super lentar m42 lens
First day with it seems like a good performer. Even wide open shots seems good in sharpness.

super lentar m42 lens

super lentar m42 lens
I add a +4 for a close up in lunch

super lentar m42 lens
and +4 close-up on flower

super lentar m42 lens
One noted caveat is on its non-circular blades opening in f/5.6

super lentar m42 lens

Impressions & Notes:

A brand name not well known, which I like the most -- I have something nobody has.
Inexpensive lens to get category
Decent sharpness seen in casual test shots
Lens is well built with metal barrel
Very cute lens with distinct silver and black, it will go better with white camera
Wipe open aperture quite sharp but I am NO pixel peeper
Bokeh is found busy on off focus rendering area.
Blades have sharp spikes at middle apertures as in f/5.6, and shooting into sunlight create oddly shaped shadows
Filter size is 58mm, the right size to share accessories with Cosina 55mm f/1.2
Close up is not its strength as minimum focusing distance is about 1.5 feet
A and M auto-aperture toggle is nicely done with a big nob. I found it very convenient to toggle to A for wide open aperture in focusing and then toggle back to M for the actual metering
Av mode can be used to some degree for indoor. In bright daylight, I happen to need to use M mode and stop-down metering for accurate metering
Overall a great value lens to have at probably half the cost of a Super Takumar. I like bigger lens barrel for focusing as in this lens as compared to 49mm tiny lens barrel in Super Takumar 35mm f/3.5 or that in Super Takumar 105mm f/2.8
Focusing ring is bit stiff but I think it will smooth out in repeated operation
A charmer in my book

Hin's Tech Corner