Hin's Photo Corner

I just managed to find this adaptall-2 lens. What attract me most about this lens is its size. I intend to find the Tamron SP 24-48mm but that is a rare lens to find for another time. I have small hand and as show in the above picture, you have a rough idea that this zoom is way smaller than my normal zoom with Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 and Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8. In reality, I am covered very well in my normal zooms along with good primes. The LBA thoughts of trying all the un-tapped adaptall-2 lens lure me to give this a try. The lens is dead cute for its size. Here is another shot of this cute lens next to a salt shaker


When I tried out this zoom lens, I noted that I don't have the 62mm lens hood and I found out flare is very evident in this zoom and I then added my 62mm metal lens hood from eBay store heavystar and add a 62mm sky 1 filter and pictures are much improved with lens hood mounted. I am most fascinated with the close up capability that are up to 1:2.5 in the long end of the zoom in roughly 60mm to 80mm. With the 2x TC mounted, the close up can go up to 1:1.25 which is excellent for a zoom. Though the aperture ranges from f/2.8 in 35mm to f/3.8 in the 80mm end. The AE apertures can still be set for f/2.8 in the 80mm end in Av mode.



When I tested the wider end in f/2.8, sharpness is pretty decent but more use are needed to confirm my finding. The bokeh is very nice on this lens along with good color. I found a lot more over-exposure in f/4.5 and smaller. Most of the time, I find the need to dial in -0.3 to -0.7 Ev compensation. It is kind of odd. Metering seems erratic with this zoom lens in smaller apertures. And in bigger apertures, I find metering more accurate and I don't see the darker image in wider aperture like other lenses that I most often run into with vignette in wide open aperture especially in the corner.







Impressions & Notes

• Size is cute and small
• Color is great on this zoom
• Sharpness very decent in wide aperture
• Weird over-exposure in close up shot when aperture is smaller than f/4.5
• Filter size is 62mm
• Flare is evident without lens hood. When mounted with 62mm lens hood and a 1A sky filter, I find flare better controlled
• Close up in 1:2.5 happens in the 60 to 80mm end, close up are found decent in initial tests
• Overall a very promising small adaptall-2 zoom that I will study more and share with my readers.
  

Related

• All adaptall-2 related articles
• Close up with Tamron 35-80mm f/2.8-3.8 adaptall-2 (01A)
  
• Pentax 1-lens choices
  
• Tamron SP 80-200mm f/2.8 adaptall-2 30A
• Tamron SP 70-210mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 19AH in Gilroy Garden
• Tamron 75-250mm f/3.8-4.5 adaptall-2 104A
  
• Tamron adaptall-2 p/ka adapter
• Hin's Camera Gear

I have been waiting for an opportunity to test out my new used adaptall-2 lens with Tamron SP 80-200mm f/2.8 adaptall-2 30A. It is really a beautiful lens to own. When Oktoberfest in Yahoo! campus was arranged from 4:00pm to 6:00pm. I was all for the event with the 30A zoom. I can't drink any alcohol and beer and wine is not my thing. I felt bored when I got to the festivity. But as soon as I aim my lens at the beer ice chest, Oktoberfest 14th annual mug from Yahoo! and live performance. My enthusiasm was well and alive. Due to the late afternoon, lighting was even but a bit on the dark side, I shot most in f/4.0 to f/5.6 setting. The sharpness and bokeh in the Tamron SP 80-200mm f/2.8 adaptall-2 really did its job wonderful for me. I felt like I have accomplished my task well in finding a manual focus zoom with fast and constant aperture in f/2.8. Bokeh, sharpness and color are quite good in the testing. The lens is a bit on the heavy side. A monopod will come to mind in my next investment.












Impressions & Notes:

• Consistent with my initial impressions, the lens delivers in terms of bokeh, color and sharpness
• Apertures from f/4.0 to f/5.6 in the late evening deliver results that are rich in color and contrast. Bokeh is soft, smooth and seems very pleasant on the green background
• I had a lot of fun shooting live performance in 180mm with a lot of detail in the facial expressions of the performers.
  
• A bit heavy to use it for a longer duration. A monopod is high on my to-buy list to work with this heavy zoom.
• I don't have its default tripod ring collar and I have no idea how to find its original tripod ring. My 3rd party tripod collar for Canon 70-200mm f/4.0 L lens with 66mm diameter seems to fit but a bit tight to close the screw knob.
• Focus and Zoom ring is very pleasing as noted in my initial impressions
• Zoom makes event photography more fun as excitement and flexibility is right in the zooming to frame the shot with great ease and this adaptall-2 zoom does not disappoint for event photo with emphasis in outdoor setting requiring longer reach. And this zoom lens helps greatly with good bokeh and depth to iron out interesting subjects for portraits and candid.
  
• Overall a highly recommended adaptall-2 fast zoom lens worth consideration if 80-200mm f/2.8 in a heavy zoom lens speaks in volume to you.
  

Related

• Tamron 30A and mono-pod
• Licking One's Lens
  
• All adaptall-2 related articles
• Tamron SP 80-200mm f/2.8 adaptall-2 30A
• Tamron SP 70-210mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 19AH in Gilroy Garden
• Tamron 75-250mm f/3.8-4.5 adaptall-2 104A
  
• Tamron adaptall-2 p/ka adapter
• Tokina AT-x SD 80-200mm f/2.8 with 'A'
  
• Hin's Camera Gear

With the color selections from 100 colors, it may become a daunting task to choose a color that fits your style. The color selection from Pentax K-x draws a bunch of unfair criticism from the Pentax community and perhaps the outsiders of Pentax community. I don't understand why is there complaints on addition of choices. I always like choices. Pentax or any other companies and retailers will not hold your hands in sticking with the black body that you dearly love. "No black body, no business with me" would be a silly saying as the black color is one of the four default colors in US and I think the majority will still stick with the black color. But why complain on something that Pentax makes in turning its entry level camera interesting with color choices besides the improvements on its features. It is debatable if the color choices is a business risk to take. If I were Pentax, I will start small like 25 colors with some of the limited edition colors hand picked by Hin and try to draw less criticism from the black only and the so-called enthusiasts and the black-only professionals who treat any change from the norm as childish, teenage and not a good idea.

Perhaps, the toy and carton animation like color edition draws the most criticism but people should note that Pentax plans for 100 limited order for this type of color. My son at 7 was jaw dropping when he sees this camera and I ask him for an honest answer if he wants his Daddy to go for one in Christmas, his answer is a definite NO. But does that make me and my son think less of Pentax, a definite NO for sure. Quite on the contrary, we think more positivelt about Pentax and I feel a proud Daddy to show my son that his Daddy's blog is behind a unique company with bold and out of the box thinking.


Guys, nobody ask you to buy this limited editor of Carton like color and I am sure this will simply run as a hot limited edition item similar to the special edition of Pentax K-m in the white edition that only limit to 1000 copies for purchase.

And many complain on OnlinePhotographer on the display of Pentax K-x in Japan in store

Come on, this is just a display for people to pick up in the K-x in store to get the color appeal. It is not the final packaging. At least I don't believe that Pentax will sell a body wrapped in plastic shell without a manual, CD, charger and the accessories that comes in a sturdy box. Please don't jump in conclusion with our USA buyer experience over how Pentax Japan runs its retail business and marketing deployment and realization for "Be interesting."

I really don't know what to do with my upgrade plan to Pentax K-7. Originally, I was thinking of upgrading my Pentax K20D to Pentax K-7 when Pentax K-7 happens to get close in price to $1K. Now that with the Pentax K-x that comes with white color that I love as a backup and travel light and do it all camera. I am as confused as ever when I come to a purchase decision point that I find myself stuck and not sway one way or the other. I was not expecting the desire for K-x as much as I want an upgrade from K20D to a K-7. Pentax has done its jobs right and I am indecisive in what to get first. I am sure many of my readers and buddies are sharing the same dilemma. And I place a comment on Ned Bunnell's blog post on K-x test shots with this question:

Ned, whatever magic that you and your Pentax great colleagues have done on the high ISO noise, can you think of back-porting the improvement as an option to Pentax K-7 so that we are in full blown of improvements on noise not just on K-x but also on K-7.

It would be odd to see substantial improvement on noise on the entry level camera from Pentax but not on the flagship product with K-7.

I am likely to get K-7 and K-x and it would have been nice if K-7 has the high ISO capability with the K-x.

Just a thought, please forgive me to be straight. We need honest talks and right to the point. Hope you take it positively.

I find it intriguing that Pentax seems to pull out their best performance in noise control into the making of Pentax K-x. Its sample pictures in ISO 3200 and ISO 6400 are very appealing to me to say the least. Unlike certain Full Frame enthusiasts who have been whining their discontent in not having full frame, their story mainly concentrate on the best in noise control which Pentax is not the best option but I would say this -- Pentax K20D are quite good up to ISO 800 with solid performance and very reasonable for shots up to ISO 1600. However, shots beyond ISO 1600 seem to degrade quite drastically subject to the lighting scenes and lens mounted. I did a shooting for staged dance performance and I can attest that many of my shots in ISO 400 to 1600 come out very satisfactory for me and quite a number of keepers and good shots between 1600 to 3200 but it really gets to my comfort zone to shoot anything above ISO 1600 and not worry about noise.



With the coming of Pentax K-x with a Sony Cmos sensor, likely the similar one shared by Nikon latest top models, I am baffled to find much improvements on noise in ISO 3200 to 6400. With K-x, my impressions so far seem to indicate that I can shoot confidently from ISO 1600 to 3200 and not have to worry too much about noise.

What happens to K-7, if I have to give my impressions. It looks as if K-7 is at best in par with K20D and vary slightly both ways in terms of noise. I am not trying to step down on Pentax like RH and others are as Pentax K-7 is really a total revamp with a leap of bold moves with lots of improvement and substantial features on video, level indicator, better frame rates at 5.2 fps, quiet AF and better body overall just to name a few. All improvement really make K-7 a good competitor to Nikon D300 and Canon 50D for me. But the similar noise performance in K-7 seems to give competition reasons to doubt on the wonderful flagship product of Pentax. It would have been a clear winner if K-7 has the noise improvements made in K-x.

I am still undecided as to which camera to get first. Should I get a K-x first and then K-7. Or should I go with K-7 and forget about K-x. I am sophisticated guy who wants the best from Pentax and yet I am a stylish guy who may go out the extra miles to compromise for a smaller and more stylish camera for traveling and backup purpose.

I need to think it through as I don't want to rush into the decision. Patience will reward me for the ultimate dual body system that I need.


Update:

• I have made the purchase of the Pentax K-x White and decided to postpone the purchase decision on K-7 indefinitely.

Related:

• Pentax K-x White Arrival
• Pentax K-x -- Be Interesting
  
• Pentax K-xC plan revealed -- Request to Pentax
• Pentax K-x color section -- Hin's Pick
• Pentax K-7 videos
• Pentax Limited Lenses
• Bharatanayam -- staged dance performance with K20D
  
• Compare DA77mm f/1.8 and Pentax DA* 50-135mm f/2.8 in high ISO
  
• Hin's Camera Gear

I don't have as much traffic as RH blog. I write mainly to share my photography experiences and RH of course reports all problems and issues with his added opinions, measurebation, and spins on various reported issues and problems. He is the ultimate measubator and I am totally not. I respect him as a friend, but I don't agree with him on his untiring work in stepping down on Pentax.

I checked today based on a Mozilla Firefox plugin called Quick Search Status. I have surpassed RH blog by a margin today. It is too early to celebrate until I can confirm my Alexa ranking further. But here are what the plug-in reported to me in my Firefox browsing of my blog and that of RH home page.

Hin's Tech Corner: http://www.techtheman.com

• Google page rank: 0/10 (I have 0 rank, yet to be resolved with Google)
• Alexa rank: 452,745
• mozRank: 4.0

RiceHigh blog: http://ricehigh.blogspot.com

• Google page rank: 3/10
• Alexa rank: 593,690
• mozRank: 3.67

Just a tiny bit of success that I overjoy at the moment. I want to share my enthusiasm with Pentaxian. I can' beat RH in terms of his popularity but at least I can chip in to praise Pentax for what it is good at and the Pentax credits that are long due from its consumers and bloggers who value them fairly. And in my blog, I have included all other Pentaxian blogs that can share a fair view on photography along with Pentax gear, you can see all the Pentaxian blogs update and the list will only get longer as I am going to make more Pentaxians friends to share our concerted efforts in appreciating Pentax gear on a fair basis.

RH has become a friend of mine and I do respect him as a good blogger and a kind friend to me in the blogging community. I was wrong about a month ago trying to wage a war with RHTrashyGreen campaign with trashy and insulting wording wanting to defend Pentax and its community to his onslaught of efforts seemingly stepping down on Pentax gear with issues and with much success in his popularity.

His work in his blog does hold Pentax accountable to all the reported issues and known problems and we should consider that as a plus to certain degree to the Pentax community. We don't need to react with doubts and hate but rather let Pentax reacts to his reports to come out with another k-7 that is better than k-7, another k-x that can be more bold than the current k-x, and perhaps a 645D that an average Joe in us can save up for. Well for the latter, maybe in retirement bidding on impulse on a 645D parts-only-and-as-is and hopping our next generation as in my two boys have gotten a degree close enough to fix it up for HinTheMan in retirement.

RH comments to me in my blog is exceptionally kind as we do share common interest in appreciating some of the Pentax gear in the past such as his Pentax F* 300mm f/4.5, Pentax K100D, and probably many of his precious babies -- the Pentax prime lenses. He is a unique person with a character we may not understand. It is quite difficult to be kind to him and his work but I will do my part to be open and treat him with honor and respect whenever I can. As I learned from his comments, this world can do better with less hatred but with friendship, warmth, and kindness.

And before I end this blog post, I have a YouTube video showing how ugly that a fight can go and I vouch not to fight as in this Hong Kong movie, both superstars in Hong Kong were no longer with us. Instead, I will invite RH to enjoy the movie with me and we can engage our similar and yet very different approach and objectives in blogging with Pentax products.


I invite my readers to be open minded and kind to RiceHigh as he has done that to me and others who are open minded.


Related:

• Quirk Search Status -- FireFox Add-on download
• Approaching 400K Pageviews with Despair -- Hin's Tech Corner
  
• RiceHigh Blog reaching 1 million Page View -- RiceHigh blog
  
• Yoda Meets Pentax -- Swear No More and Bash No More
• Pentax K-x tagged blog posts
• Pentax K-7 tagged blog posts
• Pentax 645N
• Pentax K100D
  
• Hin's Camera Gear
  

I want to follow up on my green efforts in finding practical ways in home remedies with easy to do efforts in making my home energy efficient. In the documentary movie of Inconvenient Truth, I learned about Carbon Dioxide emission and that Coal burning is involved in 50% of the electric power generation in the United States. That alone is a huge cause of carbon dioxide emission from US alone as a responsible country with higher goals to conserve energy and preserve our environment. How can we all chip in to help? In conserving with less electricity usage, not only can we save on our monthly electric bills, we are directly helping to preserve our environment in burning less coal.

As mentioned before in my Going Green in Blogging efforts, one of my set simple goals is to study all energy saving light bulbs available for my family. And I find this wonderful clip that explain plainly in English what Compact Fluorescent CFL Lightbulbs are all about. Most of the material are known and well presented in a easy to remember and understand manner. I would research into the dangerous component that exists in small amount of mercury in those CFL light-bulbs and learn ways to recycle them properly. This clip is well worth seeing with your family

Picture taken with Pentax K100D
Pentax FA 50mm f/1.4

Picture taken
Vivitar 135mm f/2.8 1:2 close-focusing, Komine

Related:

• Inconvenient Truth in Wikipedia
• Going Green in Blogging efforts
• All Green Tech Related Articles
• Hin's Camera Gear
  

What attracts me to try out this adaptall-2 lens with 104A that is a non-SP version of adaptall-2 lenses is the extra focal range that goes to 250mm and the lighter weight. I can't yet figure out as part of the lens barrel is made of plastic though the material is of heavy duty and I still feel strongly that the Tamron adaptall-2 lens is of unusual build quality that are up in par with the other SP adaptall-2 lens that I have a chance to try out. The lens surprises me with positive impressions as it is not well talked about in adaptall-2.org site and which noted it as above average performer. Specifically, I get lured into this with the comment about its lightweight. Speed is quite good in the range of f/3.8 to f/4.5. And guess what, it closely resemble the range in Pentax DA* 60-250mm f/4.0 and it is not too far off in the speed.

Its close focus ratio is 1:3.4 which comes in handy for this zoom. When combined with Tamron SP 01F 2x Teleconverter, it can reach 1:1.7 in magnification ratio in minimum focusing distance of 1.2m or 4 feet. I like the lens starting from 250mm in the push-pull one touch zoom design that goes from 250mm to 75mm and it goes with clear scale of zoom position in 75mm, 90mm, 105mm, 135mm, 180mm and 250mm. All happen to be the critical focal point that will work well with the SR focal length setup on my Pentax K20D.














Initial Impressions & Notes

• Too early to draw conclusions but I am very impressed in its lightweight and wide open aperture performance
• Ease of use and the extra reach to 250mm gets the most attention from me especially when its speed is so close to Pentax DA* 60-250mm f/4.0.
• As said, speed in f/3.8 -4.5 is plenty for this zoom
• I have not tested its close up in 1:3.4 magnification setting
• I find it a charming lens to use in panning car movement at night as it is lightweight and its Tamron adaptall-2 focusing ring wins my heart again in manual focusing that is precise, smooth and allow fast focusing in reaction to scene -- top notch in manual focusing
• Use with 2x adapter does has the problem in losing too much light making it difficult to obtain focus at night. I will re-test the use of 01F TC in day time to draw conclusion
• 500mm test pictures with 01F 2x TC are reasonable but heavy cropping from 250mm test shots yield about similar and close results. I don't have trained eyes to see the advantage. But one thing is for sure, with the 2x TC mounted, you feel more excited in taking the pictures of the moon filling the frame way better than without the TC mounted
• A value lens for sure to be paid attention. My copy is in mint condition.

Related

• Pentax K-x and Tamron 104A
  
• Tamron 104A with Pentax K-x On Clouds and Sun Rays
  
• All adaptall-2 related articles
• Tamron SP 70-210mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 19AH in Gilroy Garden
• Tamron SP 80-200mm f/2.8 adaptall-2 30A
  
• Tamron adaptall-2 p/ka adapter
• Hin's Camera Gear

It is unusual for me to talk about something not related to lenses, cameras and what I have learned in photography. If you are the regular visitors who look for another blog post of camera equipment, you have to bear with me for some minor changes. I am not an environmentalist but as a photographer, I visit Wild Life Refuge and Park with regular tours for visitors like me to get closer to our natural environment. I am extremely thankful to volunteers who spend their valuable time in educating the current and next generation on the importance of conservation of our environment. Be it in conservation of our natural resources and learning to save our environment with use of renewable energy and fuel's alternatives, and urgenct with global climate changes, I am supportive of measures that preserve our natural environment as well as our natural resources.

I am as naive as I can be as I am somewhat confused as to who to listen to and trust for advice, what is true behind the scientific data numbers and what are really at stakes in our environment. What are the simple things that we all as citizens of the earth can do today that we won't regret in the future? What are the odds that if we don't react responsibly today and that our future generation can still enjoy the parks the same way that we enjoy them today with great pictures and videos? I am taking an unusual initiative and step to study and learn as much as I can on environment and include my findings as part of my blogging articles. I want to be informed and make conscious choices in voting on particular environmental issues in California and educate myself and my family to go green in living and pick up our duties in conserving energy usage and find affordable means of transportation and renewable energy. I don't own a Hybrid car such as the Toyota Prius as I find them not as economical as I thought they would be. Is there other alternative that are both safe and cost effective to consider?

Every time that I see a mallard pair, I become the duck-aholic photographer. I shot all these green shots last weekend with Tamron 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro and I can't imagine someday that our environment become hostile to many animals that we can hardly find them in their natural habitats or the trees are no longer as green as they should be




I am studying home simple remedies that are energy efficient and start to find places that I can recycle batteries properly. Some of the studies that I plan to look up

• Solar power panel, is it cost effective? I talked to Sun Solar Power in a presentation in San Mateo, it is not if I plan to live in the residence in less than 5 year time frame, it has to be at least 7 years.
• About energy efficient light bulbs, which are the best. I am dumb founded to find many of my energy light bulbs to fail shorter than the claimed hours, darn it.
• How come an average Japanese person is using 1/2 of energy as compared to average person in US. I am learning about this in http://californiareport.org/ and http://www.kqed.org/news/climatewatch/ with this wonderful article Keeping up with the Sakakis in Japan
• There is so much that we can learn from the Japanese who stay focused in reduction on energy consumption. However, with the onslaught of electronic devices, what are the guidelines to watch for consumer electronics? Do our industry set guidelines for electronic devices.
  
• How truthful is the inconvenient truth documentary that I watched in awe and got aspired from our previous vice president with Al Gore. Youtube clip in next paragraph.
  

I always like to shoot green tree leaves in back-lit scene and the brilliant light shining through the leaves vividly gives me comfort and inspiration for a green initiative that has come alive in my blog. Please join me in paying close attention to our natural environment and make it our daily efforts to think, plan and preserve our environments that we have no regrets in leaving our footprints for the future generations to come.

I am the idiot who sold the Lady Queen in Pentax FA 31mm f/1.8 limited and replaced the Lady Queen with two lens with very different functionality in Sigma 28mm f/1.8 II and Pentax DA 35mm f/2.8 1:1 macro. I bought the Sigma for its fast speed use and the I got my Pentax DA 35mm f/2.8 1:1 macro limited with a good bargain price new with Prodigal2000. Do I miss the Lady Queen. Hell Yes unfortunately. I don't think either of the two replacements can replace the IQ in the 31mm limited. But darn it, I feel much easier in taking out my lens and shoot the lens as a tool as an equal partner and I don't want to give any of my lens any special treatment like others do. I could imagine some of my Pentaxian friends will have a shrink with lock to protect their 31mm limited and they would have a difficult time to take out the lens in traveling. I will always question why one buys a lens that they will worry in scratching and leaving marks rather than enjoy it for what it is good for -- taking pictures. Though I truly miss my Lady Queen for its enormous image quality and superb color, I do find significant comfort and ease of usage with my competent replacements for the 31mm limited

I don't use my Sigma 28mm f/1.8 II quite often as I would love to as I have a tendency to stay with zooms in outings in the weekends and vacation. I busted my prime with 28mm this weekend with Mid-Autumn festival with lanterns and moon cake and a visit to Don Edwards SF Bay Wildlife Refuge for its Shark Day event.











Impressions & Notes

• Though the lens maximum aperture was stated i f/1.8, all shots wide open in my K20D reported as f/1.7
• The lens is not big and has a 58mm filter size. It is not the same as the latest DG or EX Sigma lens, build is all plastic and not of the same quality as in DG and DC Ex lens lineup
• Lens is easy to handle like a 50mm in size. Close up is found decent on flowers but I don't think it has magnification ratio greater than 1:4, likely 1:6.
  
• Flare is noted in extreme lighting when my neighbor lighting shined through the front of my lens. It was possible that I forgot to mount the lens hood.
  
• An overall budget fast prime that do reasonably well at night but nothing in sharpness and color that would stand out like the 31mm limited. Color rendering is better in Pentax 35mm limited and the 31mm limited lenses.
  

Related:

• Sigma 28mm f/1.8 II initial test shots
• Don Edwards SF Bay Wildlife Refuge -- Flickr Set
  
• Pentax FA 31mm f/1.8 limited Purchage
• Pentax FA 31mm f/1.8 limited Test Shots
• Pentax DA 35mm f/2.8 1:1 macro limited
• Sigma 105mm Ex DG 1:1 macro
• Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 macro
  
• Hin's Camera Gear