Hin's Tech Corner

Industar 69 28mm f/2.8 M39/L39 on Sony NEX 5N

2011-12-14T22:45:00.000-08:00

It is not the best lens on the NEX system but likely the thinnest on a tight budget. It is a Russian made Industar 69 28mm f/2/8 pancake in M39 mount

1/30 sec, f/2.8, 28mm, iso 3200, -1 Ev, hand-held, straight jpg, PP in LR3

1/13 sec, f/2.8, 28mm, iso 3200, -1 Ev, hand-held, straight jpg, PP in LR3

1/25 sec, f/2.8, 28mm, iso 3200, -1/3 Ev, hand-held, straight jpg, no PP

More in this flickr set for Industar 69 28mm f/2.8

On the lens, there is a extra ring and I happen to need to take the extra ring out so that I can use my NEX without issue -- I still don't quite know what the extra ring in the rear is used for. It is likely an adapter between M39 to LTM/L39. On the L39 to NEX adapter, I happen to need to re-adjust the three mounting screws in order to align the lens right with focusing scale.

I have to use it more and report back on its performance. So far what attract me most about this lens is the pancake thinness and its small size of a 28mm prime. I am not sure if a 25.5mm filter size or cap will fit, I will report back when I have found the cap and hood size that fit this pancake.

There are other users complaining on infinity focus and requirement of modification. Contrary to what I have heard from others, I can use this lens without any modification except removal of an extra ring on the rear of the lens.

Related:

Pentax Auto 110 70mm f/2.8 on Sony NEX-5N

2011-12-09T17:03:00.000-08:00

I have done few test shots on the 70mm f/2.8 wide open on my Sony NEX-5N. This lens is sharper than both the 18mm and 24mm. But I do see some very weird vignette on one side of the picture when oriented in portrait shooting but it only shows up vignette in very bright sunlight shooting when shutter needs to go to 1/4000 sec in ISO 100. All are shot wide open as I don't yet have any mechanics to stop down.

#1 Off focus shot
to see light ringed bokeh

#2 24 Hour Fitness at night

#3 Hiking Trail -- no vignette in landscape

#4 Portrait with vignette on right side -- some
light adjustment already in PP
Vignette happens in high shutter in 1/3200 sec

#5 Low Shutter shots have no vignette issue

#6 Another Vignette Shot -- no PP
Vignette happens in high shutter in 1/3200 sec

More in this Flickr Set

Beautiful Coffee with Tamron SP 17mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 (51BB)

2011-12-09T15:52:00.000-08:00

I was testing my lens in the coffee shop that I usually go near the farmer market on Sunday morning. And the staff fixed me up with a better looking coffee

#1 My first cup

#2 The staff

He said it in a distance that I needed a better coffee

#3 The unexpected 2nd cup from the wonderful staff

#4 My best looking coffee

It tasted so good and I didn't even know what it is. It was likely a Mocha, I sat there in Bay Coffee not wanting to finish the lovely Mocha with a beautiful face. And the story warmed me up with smile and giggles all weekend. Thank to the wonderful staff of Bay Coffee.

And darn it, I wish I had better picture for the close up. I have sold and bought back my 2nd copy of Tamron SP 17mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 (51BB). I sold the earlier version with 51B that has a built in sets of optical filters and I later regretted it and bought a sibling copy with 51BB. The lens works well with my Sony NEX 5N and the shots above were all taken with my Sony NEX 5N.

Konica Hexanon AR 40mm f/1.8 Pancake on Sony NEX 5N

2011-12-05T16:19:00.000-08:00

I just got my Konica Hexanon AR 40mm f/1.8 pancake. Its size is almost like the Sony E 16mm f/2.8 pancake. However, it is a bit of disappointment as the Konica AR to NEX adapter makes the pancake appeal quickly disappear as soon as I mount the lens on the adapter.

Lens is extended to longest end as it reaches 0.45 meter
minimum focusing point
it should be smaller at infinity focus point

However, the lens is still a reasonable sized and performance is good for its lower cost of ownership. The Olympus Pan F 38mm f/1.8 will be a much smaller setup due to smaller adapter. Image quality may be better in the Olympus Pan F lenses but the cost is probably 3-5 times of the Konica pancake.

I did some casual snapshots in the weekend with Sony NEX 5N. Handling is quite good in the focusing ring. And I have a lens hood fit for the 55mm odd filter size. Wide open shots has a glow but when stopped down to f/2.8 and smaller, the glow don't seem to bother as much. I shot most of the snapshots in f/5.6.

#2

#3
in f/1.8

#4
in 16:9 wide

#5
in 16:9 wide

Impressions & Notes

Lens is small and lightweight. It is similar in size to the Sony 16mm f/2.8 pancake.
Size of the Konica AR to NEX adapter is smaller than other SLR type of adapters but it is still quite big and once the lens is mounted on the adapter, all the pancake appeal will diminish a bit if size is what you are after
In real use in the field, the lens has good performance for its low cost. The one thing I notice is a glow on details when the lens is shot wide open. When I stopped down the lens a bit to f/2.8 and smaller, the glowing edges of fine prints in test pictures seem less obvious
The lens aperture stops are in full stops but I can still engage the aperture in between stops.
I especially like the focusing ring for ease of focusing
A good lens hood is recommended for this lens to have better control over flare

Pentax Auto 110 Pan Focus 18mm f/2.8 on NEX 5N

2011-11-29T11:05:00.000-08:00

Pentax Auto 110 Pan Focus 18mm f/2.8

The Pan Focus 18mm f/2.8 is the 2nd smallest Pentax Auto 110 lenses and it is just as tiny as the 24mm. Its filter size is 30.5mm while the 24mm is smallest with filter size in 25.5mm.

Pentax 110 24mm f/2.8 and Pan Focus 18mm f/2.8

The pan focus likely shares similar optic design to the regular Pentax 110 18mm f/2.8. However, there is one major difference in the Pan Focus lens not having any focus ring. It has subject in focus from about 1.75m or 6 feet to infinity. I see it as a great street shooting which allows one to focus in framing and snap scenes into focus from 6 feet to far away. One can use this rare lens as a quick shooter with Sony NEX 5N.

I used it for night scenes testing. It is not a fair test as I don't have a lens hood mounted and I shoot all photos in Jpg and high ISO in 3200, and without a tripod. I tried to run the lens through the toughest scenes. I have a Rolleiflex/Yashica 30.5mm snap on plastic hood but it won't fit the screw mount on the Pan Focus lens. I will report next how I go about getting good lens hood to for the Pan focus and the 24mm.

All the following test shots are done with 5N:

Hand-held without tripod
ISO 3200
Default JPG in B&W with +1 on Contrast and +1 on Sharpness
Default Matrix metering -- a lot of highlights are blown out and I need to have negative Ev compensation for next trial
No cropping of any kind are performed in the test shots

1/15 sec, f/2.8, 18mm, iso 3200, 0 Ev

1/13 sec, f/2.8, 18mm, iso 3200, 0 Ev

1/40 sec, f/2.8, 18mm, iso 3200, 0 Ev

1/15 sec, f/2.8, 18mm, iso 3200, 0 Ev

Impressions & Notes

Very easy to use as there is no focusing involved.
Anything that is 6 feet to far away can snap into focus
I don't notice severe vignette as the shooting happens in the dark and the black & white settings are especially suiting for the Pentax Auto 110 lens
I have Dynamic Range Optimization (DRO) set to ON but I hardly notice any functionality as I do get many overblown shots in the highlights. I need to re-shoot similar scenes with a tripod and stay in Raw and have DRO set to OFF and perhaps try Jpg with Handheld Twilight (HHT) and see if the new feature in HHT helps in high ISO shooting as in ISO 3200
The lens is small and it is next in size to the Pentax Auto 110 24mm f/2.8 and if this lens is not pocketable, I don't know what other lens is. It is working well with the Sony NEX 5N and I am sure it will be more excellent if there is an added mechanics to stop down the lens from wide open aperture in f/2.8

Sony NEX 5N with Pentax Auto 110 24mm f/2.8

2011-11-23T18:22:00.000-08:00

The tiniest lens that I have ever used

I have recently acquired a set of Pentax Auto 110 lenes with 18mm pan-focus, 20-40mm f/2.8 and 70mm f/2.8 from friend. And I also have a copy of 24mm and 50mm f/2.8. My Sony NEX 5N finally arrived yesterday and I have few test shots with my Pentax auto 110 kit. All test shots are shot with Pentax Auto 24mm f/2.8 wide open.

Pentax Auto 110 to NEX adapter on right -- the thinnest

Sony NEX-5N Test shots with
Pentax Auto 110 24mm f/2.8

#1
The 110 auto lens can do close up
Shot in Rich B&W effect in 5N straight jpg

#2

#3

Impressions & Notes

It is a fun experience as the Pentax Auto 110 24mm f/2.8 is the smallest among the 110 series of lens. Its filter size is 25.5mm.
Corner vignette and softness is seen but not too bad especially if you shoot in b&w. It has a naturally looking vignette in the corners.
Lens are shot wide open as the Pentax Auto 110 to NEX adapter don't have diaphragm control and neither do the Auto 110 lens has any iris. The leaf shutter stays in the Pentax Auto 110 body.
Shots are shot wide open in f/2.8 without option to control the aperture and it may not be desirable if one want to get the best image quality of one's lenses.
The Pentax Auto 110 to NEX adapter is the thinnest adapter that I have seen and if you are after the miniature setup, the Pentax Auto 110 is the smallest setup that one can consider.
The limitation of Pentax Auto 110 lenses when used in NEX 5N lie in the light loss around the corners due to partial coverage of the APS-C sensor and absence of mechanism to stop down the lens aperture.

The Ricoh Love With Ricoh XR-P

2011-11-21T17:29:00.000-08:00

I like to post something that is related to Pentax's mother company Ricoh. It is perhaps not well known to some of us as compared to Pentax in the film days but I have been shooting the Ricoh xr-p for quite a while. While I am still a big fan of Pentax metal film bodies like MX and SuperProgram, I actually sold all of my Pentax film bodies but I keep my Ricoh xr-p as my single 35mm film body

I almost traded it to friend when I wanted to purchase his Pentax auto 110 kit. And here are some recent shots with Ricoh xr-p. I did struggle with scanning at home with my limited Canon Flatbed 8800F scanner.

My tools:

Ricoh xr-p
Vivitar 24mm f/2.8 P/K-AR
Kodak BW400CN
Home scan with low resolution for 1200dpi with Canon 8800F
Dwayne's Photo for film development

I should have tried setting ISO to 200 as I was told by my local film shop that the BW400CN is native in 200 though labelled for 400. Most of the indoor shots come out way underexposed and I have a difficult time to pull up lighting in post processing.

Impressions & Notes

The viewfinder is not as big as the Pentax MX but the display of information as in aperture, shutter, warning of inaccurate shutter in Tv mode really make it a beauty to use with confidence
The Ev compensation and shutter to 1/2000 with mode dials on top is so much better than the tiny buttons toggle on SuperProgram or the like in ME Super
Metering is always a breeze with the Ricoh. I am yet to try its TTL flash
The shutter sound is very different than the Pentax. One may not like it as it has a high pitch noise but I much prefer it over the mechanical shutter in Pentax film bodies. It is quieter for street shooting as the high pitch noise is not as noticeable as the clunk in other film bodies.
The optional hand-grip really helps me in the shooting. The Pentax has a thinner and sturdier bodies in MX or the like, but the optional grip in xr-p wins me over for steady shot with confidence. Most of the shots that I posted are slower than 1/30 second hand-held. The shots in #1 and #2 are in 1/30 and 1/10 sec as it is a no-windows interior room in shot #2.
I have two lemon copies of xr-p and it shows that shutter mechanics break as easy as in any other brands.
The AEL button will light up the optical viewfinder with all the electronic display for shutter and aperture and I find the viewfinder especially good for low light and night time photography with film.
One usual gripe is in the peeling of its leatherette body in the xr-p and my is unusual intact with minor marks on the strap lug.

Yashica Mat 124G -- a lovely TLR

2011-11-05T18:02:00.000-07:00

I have this TLR for over a year by now. It has been a pleasant experience with this classic camera and it is time for a report to share what I get fascinated with this TLR and perhaps note down some difference in experience that I have with the Rolleiflex Automat MX-EVS.

First of all, it has a built-in meter and it is a convenient feature to have. My Yashica works surprisingly well with the built-in meter when I first got it. After halve year of storage, I forget to unload its battery and I got its metering all ruined due to corrosion of battery. I opened up the top waist level finder and it seems like a do-able job to re-wire the metering but so far I have not attempted to fix the broken meter. Instead, I added a Sekonic flashmate L-308S to help with the metering.

The Sekonic light meter works quite well with my Yashica. I tried both b&w and color films on my Yashica Mat 124G and both come out nicely. The Yashinon 80mm f/3.5 is reasonably sharp and has good contrast in the color photos. The next thing that I need to try is to use it more on various films and research if I can use a flash on the Yashica.

Shot with Fuji Acros 100, Sekonic L-308S
The Tech Museum of San Jose

Shot with Fuji Acros 100
metered with original meter

Shot with Fuji Acros 100
metered with Sekonic L-308S

Shot with Fuji Acros 100
metered with Sekonic L-308S

Shot with Kodak Ektar 100
metered with Sekonic L-308S

Shot with Kodak Ektar 100
metered with Sekonic L-308S

Impressions & Notes

The Yashinon 80mm f/3.5 is reasonably sharp and I am well pleased with the results.
The built-in meter is a nice feature to have but mine is unfortunately broken. It is important to remember my lesson to remove the battery when not in operation.
Unlike the Rolleiflex Automat MX-EVS that I had, its focusing screen is easier for me to focus. The ground glass with circular rings along with the magnifier provide me enough detail in good lighting to focus at ease. It takes some practice and it is more difficult for indoor type of lighting. Overall, I think I find focusing easier on the Yashica than my Rolleiflex.
The film rewind is not as refined and controlled as the solid rewind lever in the Rolleiflex. The rewind lever in Yashica does not give you the confidence for long lasting lever. The build quality in Yashica can't match the solid build quality in the Rolleiflex. The build in Yashica is good but not outstanding like the Rolleiflex.
I managed to open up the top portion of its waist level finder and I managed to clean up the internal mirror housing and it can be done with caution. Re-assembly can be tricky and I will try to update this post with links to instructions for cleaning the internal mirror.
It is lightweight and that is the best part about this TLR. With a good neck strap, this TLR is very portable for hours of shooting. You will end your film roll wanting more to continue the shooting. It is very pleasant to carry around for a longer period of shooting time as in a half day of shooting.
I recently use the Yashica with a lightweight tripod and I can frame with more confidence for critical angle and position.
It takes sometime to get used to the reverse orientation in framing but by the time I get to my 3rd roll, I no longer have that awkward feeling in unfamiliar framing withTLR
The Yashica opens up my desire for more square photos in 6x6. It is very addictive in the process.
Scanning at home with a limited flatbed is MUCH easier with 120 films when compared to 135 films
It is unfortunate to note that many Yashica Mat 124G are over-priced in the used market. It used to be in the $100's and now a good copy is frequently bid up to over $200. And it is always a risk on the unknown conditions subject to the mercy and honesty of the seller in the listing. My copy is likely not the norm in the eBay as it is just really in Excellent condition and I was one of those who bid Yashica over $200. Shame on Hin! In my opinion it should be much less as in $150 or so.

Pentax 645 A 55mm f/2.8 Test Shots

2011-10-27T20:32:00.001-07:00

Minimal focusing distance is at 1.5 feet/0.45 meter

#1
A 55mm f/2.8, Fuji Acros 100, 2400 dpi scan

#2
A 55mm f/2.8, Fuji Acros 100, 2400 dpi scan

#3
A 55mm f/2.8, Fuji Acros 100, 2400 dpi scan

#4
A 55mm f/2.8, Kodak Tri-x 400, 2400 dpi scan

reversed in scanning, forget to flip horizontally

#5
A 55mm f/2.8, Kodak Tri-x 400, 2400 dpi scan

reversed in scanning, forget to flip horizontally

Impressions & Notes

Lens is smaller and lighter than my FA 45mm f/2.8
It competes in usage with 45 mm and for landscape I like the wider view in 45. However, it is an odd thing that I do sometime prefer the normal view in this lens for street shooting and on candid with portraits
I find the lens sharp with the test images that I have so far
My lens hood in 58mm size is too deep and I can see vignetting towards corners in some of my test shots.

Rolleiflex Automat MX-EVS

2011-10-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

This is a blog post to wrap up my short experience with my past broken Rolleiflex Automat MX-EVS. It is sad to report that I have sold my Rolleiflex to a new owner.

Taking Lens with Zeiss Opton Tessar 75mm f/3.5

The Rolleiflex has its own characters and charm and it is quite solid in construction and I especially like its film winding crank. Unlike the Yashica, the advancement of film and shutter click can easily be felt.

I got mysterious soft and Holga-like pictures when I tested it with a roll of Ilford Delta 100. Pictures seem to be soft and out of focus all around. I looked through the lens and time the shutter in different settings and initially I couldn't figure out the issues. I discussed the Holga-like and soft pictures with others and I learned a bit about the camera along the way. It is not normal with my copy of Rolleiflex.

I learned it from others that the Zeiss Opton Tessar 75mm f/3.5 lens is quite a sharp lens and my test shots are just not normal. Possible causes of the problems

Taking lens and viewing lens are not in the same focal plane.
The taking lens front element has been reversed by previous ownership or someone did a poor job of re-assembly of the taking lens in a CLA service

And checking at the back of the Tessar lens gives evidence of the later with re-assembly of lens with scratches around the lens retaining ring.

I see the pictorial diagram about Tessar in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessar

According to wikipedia

A Tessar comprises four elements in three groups, one positive crown glass element at the front, one negative flint glass element at the center and a negative plano-concave flint glass element cemented with a positive convex crown glass element at the rear

It is likely that the double-concave element second from left is misplaced or reversed in the previous re-assembly.

Related:

Pentax 645 LS 135mm f/4.0

2011-10-21T19:41:00.000-07:00

Wanting to get a portrait lens, I bought a Pentax 645 LS 135mm f/4.0 LS a while ago to complement my use with the Pentax 645N. And what appeals me most is the use of leaf shutter. According to PDF documentation on leaf shutter in PentaxImaging, the built in leaf shutter on the lens won't work on 35mm full frame bodies with the 645 K adapter. It was my wishful thinking that the leaf shutter might magically work on Pentax digital which has its limitation on 1/180 sec. synch speed.

The lens has a LS setting for 60, 125, 250 and 500 on the lens front. Once engaged in LS setting, one has to cock the LS ring for each shot; otherwise, the curtain will be down and not flip up upon shutter release.

I learn it from other experienced user that the timing of the sync on the body terminal is with the focal plane shutter on the body which is not the same sync timing as the one on the lens. That is why there is a sync terminal(PC socket) on the lens to sync flashes when the lens shutter is in use. There is an accessory which is a hot shoe with a sync cable - the shoe goes into the camera and the sync socket into the lens.

Though I have not used any flash with the lens, the LS lens won't work in TTL mode like other 645 A lens. When leaf shutter is used, I do need to get two accessories like a hot shoe and a sync cable to connect between the hot shoe and the sync contact on the lens. I will go about finding these two items in eBay for future trial

Here are few test shots that I did a while ago with Pentax 645N and Kodak Tri-X 400

Impressions & Notes

The lens has surprising performance for me when I use it like a regular non-LS lens.
I like the handling and small size of this leaf shutter lens. It is not much bigger than the A 75mm f/2.8
It is a good addition when I want to pair this lens with the the 75mm and use this longer focal length for portrait and candid.
I currently don't have the accessories to try out the leaf shutter with a flash. I have been spoiled by digital with instant feedback on flash pictures and easier correction in re-shooting. I doubt I will have a easier time to work without TTL and that I have to use all manual setting on the flash and the lens leaf shutter setting. It is a challenge to be planned and worked out for next report.

Exploratorium with Tamron SP 24-48mm f/3.5-3.8 adaptall-2 (13A)

2011-10-16T18:57:00.000-07:00

1/125 sec, f/6.3, 48mm, iso 160, -0,7 Ev

1/40 sec, f/8.0, 24mm, iso 100, -0.7 Ev

1/15 sec, f/5.6, 48mm, iso 400, -0.7 Ev

in San Jose The Tech Museum Area

1/400 sec, f/7.1, 30mm, iso 100, -0.3 Ev

1/30 sec, f/8.0, 24mm, iso 100, -0.3 Ev

Pentax 645 A 120mm f/4.0 Macro Test Roll

2011-10-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

I am doing some soul searching on my 645N gear. I initially got my 645N and started with only one lens with A 75mm f/2.8 which I love dearly. I later got FA 45mm f/2.8 and A 55mm f/2.8 which I also grown to love. I use more with the 45mm for the wider view but the 55mm gives sharper pictures. And I repeated my past mistakes with LBA, I bought gear too fast and before I know it, I have acquired LS 135 f/4.0 and later with A 120mm f/4.0.

FA 45mm f/2.8 -- #2 to keep
A 55mm f/2.8 -- ? not sure, like its sharper images but it competes with 45
A 75mm f/2.8 -- #1 to keep
LS 135mm f/4.0 -- ? not sure, I love the size and images
A 120mm f/4.0 Macro -- ? not sure, like its macro but I don't shoot enough macro on films

I need to think through for #3 candidate to keep. I know that the 120mm is likely the best candidate to keep but I have least use of macro on films. I am not sure if the 150mm f/3.5 will fit me better as a 3 lens set up in 45, 75, 150. I like the size of the 135 and it is much easier to hand-hold and quite alright for portrait. The LS feature got me into the LBA thinking but I have not put it into real use. And I wonder how my LS 135mm f/4.0 compares with A 150mm f/3.5 in sharpness and handling.

The main reason for trimming is finding enough fund for my digital upgrade for Pentax K-5 as I do more digital than film. But I plan to keep the 645N as digital bodies come and go and the good film body and lens are hard to come by in reasonable price.

I only have about 5 test photos just finished development from Dwayne's photo. I did my scanning last night with my flatbed on Canon 8800F. Most of my test shots are overexposed along with other shots from my A 55mm f/2.8 in a test roll with Fuji Acros 100. I did the post processing in LR.

A 120mm f/4.0 macro, fuji acros 100, 2400 dpi

#2

A 120mm f/4.0 macro, fuji acros 100, 2400 dpi

#3
A 120mm f/4.0 macro, fuji acros 100, 2400 dpi

Impressions & Notes

My test shots are not doing the justice for this wonderful macro lens. All are hand-held test shots and I did it in a rush
The lens is sharp and I think I will get great bokeh and color when I have a chance to try it on color film
The lens is heavier than my other 645 lens that I have used. Though I have not tried it, others have used it to a great extent for portrait use. I have the LS 135mm f/4.0 and I will prefer the LS lens for portrait as it is easier to hand-hold the LS lens.
The focus throw allows great precision while providing ease of focusing. This lens reminds me of the wonderful macro experience with Pentax SMC 100mm f/4.0 1:2 Macro in K-mount

The Tech Museum with Pentax DA 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5 fish-eye

2011-10-05T16:28:00.000-07:00

This lens has grown on usage for my family weekend trips to The Tech Museum of San Jose with Pentax K20D

1/250 sec, f/5.6, 13mm, iso 400, -0.7 Ev, hand-held

#2

1/250 sec, f/5.6, 14mm, iso 400, 0 Ev, hand-held

#3

1/15 sec, f/3.5, 10mm, iso 800, 0 Ev, hand-held

#4

2 sec, f/7.1, 10-14mm, iso 100, 0 Ev, tripod
I zoomed during the long shutter

#5

0.5 sec, f/4.5, 10mm, iso 100, -0.7 Ev, tripod

#6

1/6 sec, f/4.5, 10mm, iso 100, -0.3 Ev, tripod

Impressions & Notes:

Lens gives a wide perspective that works well in the museum
Distortion can be a problem on architecture building but I use it for the fun factor and the wide perspective
The auto white balance indoor on my K20D is not so pleasing and I turn most of my shots into black and white

Meteor

Night Walking Scenes -- Tamron SP 17mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 (51B)

2011-09-30T11:34:00.000-07:00

I seldom use my Tamron SP 17 mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 (51B) on digital and yesterday I brought it out with K20D for my walking routine at night after dinner.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

I have been missing my sold copy of DA 21mm limited and I am finding lesser use gear to help funding purchase of K-5 and re-purchase of 21. I especially love this lens on film and I am tossing in the thought of parting good-bye. And it is difficult to have gear for both film and digital, something have to give.

The last picture does show some flaws in the lens. There are flare seen as blue lights in the middle. I don't have the original lens hood and this lens does not have the usual threads for a normal lens hood. I should have used my hands to help shielding stray lights in the shooting with long exposures.

And it is one of my odd lens that does have 3 built-in internal optical filters that reads 81B, 80B, and Y2 besides the normal setting in a frontal ring. I used the Y2 on b&w film on sky and it works quite well.

One of the gripes on my K20D is on inaccurate auto-white-balance for indoor and low light shooting. In the series, I prefer most of shots to turn to b&w. As for the missing lens hood, I am looking at http://www.lenshoods.co.uk/ that provide free paper lens hood printing.

And I further refined the 5th with a crop focusing on the right view. And I like the changes in color and the cropping.

refined #5

Berkeley Botanical Garden with Vivitar 100mm f/2.8 1:1 Macro

2011-09-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

I have been absent for months in photography. I want to drop by and say Hi to many of you. My family visited Berkeley Botanical Garden last weekend and I picked my gear bag wanting to get myself back to my hobby. The garden is a unique place to visit with all sorts of wonderful plants from different parts of the world.

In the last 6 months, I did not take any pictures other than three wedding photo shooting for my close friends. And the flower shooting becomes a treat in my hiatus from photography.

Impressions & Notes:

I love the color and bokeh from the Kiron lens
The lens is heavier than my previous lens with Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8. While it is good in macro, I find it harder to use as a short tele lens for portrait. I remember my old copy of Tamron and Sigma that I can easily double up for portraits.
I like the built in lens hood as compared to the Sigma 105mm f/2.8.

Related:

Pentax DA 55-300mm f/4.0-5.8 Test Shots

2011-04-25T14:36:00.000-07:00

1/800 sec, f/7.1, 260mm, iso 200

I got the DA zoom as a replacement for my previous zoom with Tamron 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2 zoom. I have been missing my old Tamron zoom for its lightweight, good image quality and surprisingly good close up at 1:2. The DA zoom is priced higher as in two times the cost of Tamron Zoom and it is without the close up in Tamron zoom. In terms of build quality, the Pentax DA zoom is better especially in the zoom ring that is tight and unlike the Tamron zoom, the zoom position pretty much stays in place reliably.

Both zooms share the quality of sharp images and good to use in traveling with single zoom lens that cover the long end needs while my short ends are covered with primes. The DA zoom has another positive advantage in not fringing which I have a difficult time with the Tamron zoom.

1/125 sec, f/6.3, 260mm, iso 200

In terms of value, I think the cheaper Tamron zoom is more a value lens if one can live with occasional fringing. There is no doubt that I miss my old Tamron zoom especially on the quality with its close up photos. When I carry one tele zoom in outing, it is quite ready for both tele and close up needs on flowers.

Golden Gate Bridge in Fog

1/40 sec, f/5.0, 120mm, iso 640

1/250 sec, f/8.0, 107.5mm, iso 400

1/500 sec, f/7.1, 55mm, iso 100

1/100 sec, f/8.0, 150mm, iso 100

1/160 sec, f/6.3, 230mm, iso 320

1/500 sec, f/6.3, 260mm, iso 320

Impressions & Notes

Build quality is better in the Pentax DA zoom than the Tamron zoom especially on the zoom ring
Close up is a disappointment when compared to the Tamron zoom that can go to 1:2.
Fringing is absent in my use with the Pentax DA zoom
Auto Focus is just as slow and noisy if not slower than the Tamron zoom
Quick Shift focus is handy with the Pentax DA zoom
Size is small and compact in the Pentax DA zoom
In terms of value, I favor the Tamron zoom as I do like the close up ability in the Tamron zoom for half the cost of the DA zoom.

Tamron 70-150mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 (20A)

2011-04-02T23:16:00.000-07:00

This is a one touch small zoom lens that I enjoy using for street shooting and portraits. It reminds me very much of my previous favorite manual focus zoom lens with Vivitar/Kiron 70-150mm f/3.8 in both one-touch and 2-touch zoom designs. Though kiron and adaptall zoom appears to have similar designs, they perform a bit differently for me. The close up of the adaptall-2 20A is 1:3 in the 150mm end. Filter size is 49mm and it has a small built in lens hood.

I wish I still have my Kiron zooms to directly compare the two. I have used the 20A for couple of outings and I feel the sharpness and overall performance is good but yet it is not as good as the Kiron zooms that I have used before. I recall getting sharper and better close up pictures from the Kiron zooms. Though I favor the Kiron zooms over than the adaptall-2, the 20A zoom lens is still a good performer that is inexpensive to get.

What I like about the 20A is on its small size, quick zooming, great handling and when used with Tamron adaptall-2 PK-A, I can use 20A like any A lens. The lens has every potential to beat my prior positive experience with Kiron. I am yet to use this zoom lens more and perhaps find a better lens hood to replace the built-in lens hood which I find too small to be effective. In use with K20D, I find the lens work better with -0.7 Ev compensation.

Related:

Vivitar 70-150mm f/3.8 in K-mount -- 1-touch zoom
Vivitar 70-150mm f/3.8 -- 2-touch zoom
Tamron adaptall-2 PK-A adapter
Hin's Camera Gear

Bottomfeeder's Guide to Film Photography, Part 1: Cameras and Lenses

2010-12-11T23:39:00.000-08:00

How To Live Long and Prosper In The Land Of Film Without Going Broke

This is the first of a three-part series on doing film photography on the cheap. No, the emphasis is not going to be on being a Lomo/Holga hero, though you can go that route if it appeals to you. Instead I will be addressing how to get reasonable, even professional results for the least amount of money. The three sections are:

Cameras and lenses (this installment)
Films and processing
Accessories and Hybrid (figital) Process

The Camera
Yes, I know...The Camera is the name of the first book in the Ansel Adams photography series and I, like the master, know that the camera is where it all starts. Photographers have this "thing" about cameras. Sometimes I think many of us fell in love with the gear before we found out that we liked to take photos. Well, that is a separate discussion...Back to talk about film cameras. Needless to say, you can't do film photography without some sort of film camera. For those of you who are new to the idea of film photography here is a short list of the general types of cameras available:

35mm
Medium format (roll film)
Large format (sheet film)

As you may have noticed, the major groups are determined by the the size of the media. Yes, size is important and factors related to size will influence your choice of tool. In simplest terms:

Bigger means better quality
Bigger means bulkier
Bigger means heavier
Bigger means higher cost per exposure
Bigger means more involved technique

That is all I will say about the above. I will leave it to the reader to confirm or refute the generalizations in their own mind. You can go cheap in any of the three categories, though it is easier to go cheap with the smaller formats. If you are new to film, I would suggest that you start with 35mm and work your way up to the big stuff as you learn more about the film medium.

The Core Principle

Before we go any further, here is the central concept and core principal in bottom feeding...

Your best value is in quality gear that is orphaned or out of vogue, but has robust technology

Got that? Given a little thought and research and other people's junk becomes your treasure!

35mm Cameras and Lenses

By far, the best values are manual focus 35mm SLR cameras from the late 1970s on. Think auto exposure with full manual override, electronic shutters, and full feature sets. Think advanced consumer product. Think manual film advance. Think orphaned lens mounts or K-mount (Pentax and many others). Now you might ask why these factors are important and how that makes for value. Here are the answers:

Most of the auto-exposure cameras feature robust electronic shutters and circuitry. These have the advantage of either working very well or not working at all. (Chew on that one a bit.)
Full manual override allows you to take over from the camera when the built in meter is dead wrong
Manual focus means no AF to break
Manual film advance means no drive motors to break
Most use readily available batteries (no mercury cells)
Lenses for orphaned mounts have reduced value in the current market (read disclaimer below)

Now for some specifics:

M, P, and A series Pentax bodies. The P3n/P30n are particularly underpriced despite having robust build and features (http://kmp.bdimitrov.de/bodies/film_P/index.html). The K1000 is a great camera, but is generally overpriced due to its reputation as the ultimate student camera. The KM is better at a much lower price.
Chinon, Ricoh, Cosina/Vivitar. Yes, Yes, Yes!
Minolta. Great values to be found here. Think XG-M or similar.

Any of the above bodies can be bought, often with normal lens attached, for less than $50 in very good to excellent condition. Nikon, Canon, Olympus, and Konica are also good, but come at a premium price. If you have a question about a particular model, see if you can find the manual online (http://www.butkus.org/chinon/ is a great resource. Leave him a donation if his manuals are useful to you.) The camera manufacturers Web sites often have manuals for legacy product as well. The camera's features and specifications are usually listed in the manual.

Lenses are a much trickier proposition. Until this last year (2010), you were pretty safe with almost any lens mount. Most had been orphaned. With the advent of micro 4/3rds digital cameras, the market is heating up for many of these previously orphaned lens mounts. Still though, good deals can be found in the Vivitar and store-brand lines. Many of these cameras were sold with "walk-around" 35mm-80mm zooms of reasonable quality. These are often under-valued in the current market due to limited application on most digital bodies. Also consider that 28mm, 50mm, and 135mm prime lenses are usually very good even when sold as a store brand and are often reasonably priced.

What About 35mm Rangefinders?

Fixed lens 35mm rangefinder cameras are wonderful tools and are often great values as well. Rangefinder cameras are the ultimate for street or club photography. Many have excellent fast optics mated to lightweight compact bodies. Again, the best value is in models made from about 1970 on. Some of the rangefinders from the 1960s are nice, but many will need a fairly complete overhaul before being useful. Think Yashica, Minolta, Canon, Olympus, and Ricoh. Think auto exposure with manual override. Avoid auto-focus. Don't even think about interchangeable lens rangefinder cameras. You can't afford to play in that space.

Medium Format?

While most of the high-value product of interest to us bottom feeders is in the 35mm space, there are some great values to be had in cameras that take 120/220 roll film. Unfortunate, you have to be a bit of an expert to determine a good deal. If you are set on the larger negative, think Yashica Mat 124 twin-lens reflex as a good starting point.

Other (a.k.a. What about...?)

This is going to sound cruel, but if you are tempted by FSU (Former Soviet Union) models such as Zenit, Zorki or Kiev, don't be. Ditto for all but the most recent Chinese stuff. The value is not there. For similar money you can get a Ricoh or a Minolta. I know that from which I speak. I have a Zorki 4K, a Kiev 4A, and a FED-2. I love all three of them, but I am a fanatic and none of the three are as useful as a general photographic tool as my Ricoh XR-2s which was less money that any of them. Ditto for any of the various "toy" cameras such as Lomo and Holga.

Do I Have An Example?

Sure, how about this Ricoh XR-2s from the late 1970s. It features aperture-preferred auto exposure with metered manual, electronically controlled vertical metal shutter (yes, it will work at 1/125s without batteries), exposure compensation, DOF preview, and a full information viewfinder in a robust standard K-mount body. I paid $35 with attached lens for this dependable workhorse.


Ricoh XR-2s next to Gossen Luna-Lux Meter

If I remember correctly, Hin has a Ricoh XRP that he is quite fond of and which is also a value classic. Here is another good candidate:


Pentax Super Program

I think I paid $35 for this body with case in like new condition. The Super Program was almost top-of-line for Pentax in the early 1980s. The only thing better would have been the LX.

Next time, I will reveal the secrets of cheap film!

Addendum:

I forgot to add one essential section...where do you get all this cheap stuff? The answer is, of course, in all of the usual places. These are:

Craigslist: Do a global search by brand name. Don't just look in the photo section
eBay: The obvious one. Be careful and patient. Only bid on items where the seller confirms fully operational status. Never bid more than you really want to pay. Be wary of any seller that counters negative feedback with a pointed attack on the buyer. Be aware of inflated shipping costs. Most cameras can be shipped, insured, anywhere in the U.S. for less than $15.00.
Thrift shops: Goodwill (their web site) often has camera stuff. I was talking to a fellow the other day ago who scored a full Pentax Auto 110 mini-SLR kit with original display box, flash, power winder, and several lenses for $15.00. All items were like new. (Probably not a good example since the Auto 110 is of interest mostly to collectors...film and processing are extremely hard to find.)
Estate and yard/garage sales
Flea markets
Camera shows and swap meets
Camera repair shops and camera stores that cater to pros

That is all. You may leave now!

Magic Tripod, Part II

2010-12-05T20:03:00.000-08:00

The Point of Profound Fulfillment

Not quite, but close. Several days ago, I posted regarding the "magic" tripod (Read it HERE). You know, the one that will fulfill all our desires and cost less than a fancy dinner for two with drinks and dessert. To summarize the previous article, after a few false starts, I found a happy compromise with the Slik Pro 330 DX. While it is a nice tripod and came with a quite serviceable 3-way tilt/pan head, I really wanted something a little lighter and closer to my original vision.
The point of issue was the head. I bought the version with the head because that model was in the store, the price was good, and I do have the occasional need for a head of that design. Unfortunately, the head was 1/3 the weight of the tripod and I wanted a little lighter package.

Off With Its Head!!!

So off came the head. Wow! The 330 DX is really light without its head! You can also buy it that way for just under $85 USD. The weight without head is a little under 2.5 lbs according to data on the Slik Web site (tripod - head = legs only). To my hands, it feels more like 2 lbs. I wanted the total weight to come in at under 3 lbs. So off to I went to the Internets to see what product might fit my needs. (In case you are wondering, I also checked the friendly local camera store to see what offerings they had in stock.)

There Are Really A Lot Of Choices...

Interestingly enough, there is a very crowded field of cheap, light tripod heads. The problem is deciding which one will do the job. Here is my short list of desired features:

Capacity of between 6 and 8 lbs
Less than 0.5 lbs weight
Ball style
Plain camera platform (no quick release)
Base diameter compatible with the 330 DX
Large enough camera platform to fully engage the camera base with a minimum of shifting
Priced less than $60 USD

You might be surprised at my desire for a non-QR style camera platform. My reasoning goes like this:

QR plates and clamps are expensive
QR plates and clamps add extra weight
QR systems are only quick if all your cameras have plates and have them attached when you need them on the tripod
QR plates are not very compatible with camera cases such as those on most of my film cameras
A standard camera platform on a ball head is surprising easy to attach to most cameras

It is that last point that has people scratching their head (the one perched on their body, not the one on the tripod). Take it from me, attaching a camera with a standard platform and a ball head is really slick. The process goes like this:

Loosen the ball head and flop the camera platform over into the vertical slot
Holding the camera in your left hand (if right handed), mate the tripod socket to the mounting screw on the head
Using the right hand, spin the head onto the tripod socket
Snug until firm

Yes, it really is that simple and fast.

Choices, Choices, Choices

As mentioned above, there is a lot of product at the low end, though I finally found several candidates with the top contenders being from Cullman, Velbon, FLM, and Manfrotto. All met my criteria and each would probably have done the job quite nicely. My choice fell to the Manfrotto 494 Mini Ball Head, mostly because I had seen the QR version at the local camera shop and knew the general quality of construction. Here is a photo of the M 494 mounted to the 330 DX:

Slik Pro 330 DX with Manfrotto 494 head attached

As you can see, the M 494 looks to be a nice match on the 330 DX legs. I removed the longer center column segment from the legs for this photo since that is the configuration I will generally be using. Here is a closer view of the head itself:

Manfrotto 494 Ball Head

The M 494 is a pretty tidy unit. The large knob on the left tightens the head, while the smaller knob on the right sets tension on the ball to allow easier adjustment of camera position. Also visible in this photo is the somewhat limited available lateral movement. Some competitors products have a lot more freedom of movement, though in all fairness to the 494, the two vertical slots help make up for this deficiency.

As you can see, the base diameter of the head is a good match to the platform on the Slik. Manfrotto claims a capacity of 8.82 lbs and I see no reason to dispute that figure. The ball locks down securely with minimal effort. Head movement is not as smooth as some of its competitors, but that is a general issue with the lower-end Manfrotto ball heads in general. I would describe the movement as more purposeful than silky.

Do I have any complaints?

Only one. Could someone at Manfrotto please explain to me why the outer margin of the camera platform is smooth with no grip what-so-ever? It is a pain to snug this head to the camera. A small strip of rubber or some knurling would go nicely here. B-M marketing, are you listening? 'Nuff said about that. How about seeing what this baby will do!

What Works And What Doesn't

I figured it would be best to try worst case first. While I bought the 330 DX for use with my 35mm film SLRs, it is not inconceivable that I might have to use it with my heavier gear at some point. Here is the 330 DX with my heaviest kit attached. The K10D with my Vivitar 200/3.5.


Too Much!

The Viv is all metal and glass and is a hefty tool. Notice too that it lacks a much needed tripod ring to balance the load. It does not look too bad in the picture, but in this orientation the lens/camera position sags about 1/4 inch when the hands are removed and the tripod having to support the load. Is the head at fault? Strangely enough, no. The head is holding the load quite nicely. What is hard to see is that the legs are bowing slightly from the poorly balanced load. How about something closer to what I intended for this combo?


Much Better!!

This is a much better match. The Ricoh XR-2s with Tamron Adaptal-2 70-150/3.5 (20A) is not particularly light, but is more in line with the tripod and head's capabilities. You can put this combo in any position with confidence. And finally...

This One Is Just Right!!

This is the actual intended target. A 35mm SLR with normal or wide-angle lens fits quite nicely.

Does this mean that the Slik Pro 330 DX mated to the Manfrotto 494 head is a "no-go" with dSLRs? By no means! I believe that it would be a good match with any of the compact dSLR bodies currently available. A Pentax K-x or K-r would work quite well with this setup as would similar products from Nikon, Canon, Olympus, etc.. The key is to make sure that the load is balanced on the head and that you don't push the limits for capacity. Leave the "Bigma" (Sigma 50-500 f/4.0-6.3) at home and everybody will stay happy!

The Final Analysis

$85 for the legs
$50 for the head
About 3 lbs
8.8 lb capacity
Fits in my backpack

Contentment...

The Magic Tripod

2010-11-30T21:51:00.000-08:00

I Want The Best, But I Am Broke
Those of you who have been active on any of the online photography forums knows that there is a recurring question that keeps popping up. The title usually is something on the order of:

"Best tripod under $$$?"

Where $$$ is usually some number less than $100 USD. Usually those threads bring a flood of responses that broadly fall into two categories. The first group insists that the person should spend many hundreds of dollars on a carbon fiber G---o with an equally expensive head and that they will never regret their once in a lifetime investment. The other extreme sing the praises of extreme off-brand units with names like "Well Good" bought for pennies on eBay or some Internet discount Web site. So the questions that come to my mind are: 1) what drives these requests? and 2) is there a magic tripod formula?

The Point of Magical Convergence
There are three divergent forces at work:

Affordability
Weight
Stability

Some people might also add durability/quality as a fourth consideration. The important thing to consider is that any attempt to reduce price will result in a decrease in stability and/or an increase in weight. Likewise, a decrease in weight will tend to increase price and/or decrease stability and so on. Is it possible to find a tripod that is portable and stable and moderately priced (say under $150 USD or maybe well under that amount)?

My answer to that question is a definite...MAYBE, meaning YES, but with a few qualifications. Everything in life involves compromises, particularly when trying to do things on the cheap. So, let's quickly cut to the chase and look at a few options in the world of high value, low-end tripods.

What I Was Looking For...
What started me down this path was the realization that I was frequently using my fairly heavy, very stable tripod to support fairly light gear. It really looks silly to see a compact 35mm film SLR perched on the same legs and head that I use to support my 4x5 view camera. As a result, I started looking for a lighter unit to use with my smaller film cameras. While I was doing my shopping, it also occurred to me that whatever I found might work pretty well for a compact dSLR with moderate size lens. So the first maxim of tripod compromise...

"Cheap and Light Will Work If You Limit The Load."

In fact, that may well be the only maxim of tripod compromise.

My First Attempt Fails
These were my criteria:

Under $100 USD
Capacity of about 5 lbs
Stable
Light and compact enough for hiking
Suitable for low angle work
Comfortable to use with my 6' 2" frame (bending over too much cramps my style)

My first inclination was to look at travel tripods from various makers. There are some pretty nice choices in that product sector and I would definitely suggest them as great value. Unfortunately the price point for most models was at least twice my $100 target. The next thing I did was to go to the Adorama Web site and check the boxes for my general criteria and have the results ordered by price. Working from the top down, I soon found what I thought would be a good deal at about the $85 USD price point on a unit that appeared to meet all my criteria. Bingo! The order was placed and a few days later the box arrived. Ummmmm...box looks a little small... Enter the second maxim of tripod compromise:

"Stated Capacities are Highly Overstated, Particularly On The Low End Price-wise"

Yep, my new 5 lb capacity tripod was basically suitable for bantam-weight cameras. The QR plate was about the same size of my thumbnail. Back it went to Adorama and I ended up eating the shipping both ways. At this point, I was a little discouraged to the point where I did the unthinkable. I went down to my local camera store to see what they had in stock. So, the third maxim of tripod compromise:

"See It In Person Before You Buy"

This is a good idea in general when buying photo stuff, but doubly important with tripods. I know that this blog is supported by referrals to online retailers, but touch is real. Even with a good recommendation (like mine to follow), you run a risk of disappointment buying sight unseen.

The Magic Tripod
On display was a nicely sturdy tripod priced at $99.99 with three-way pan/tilt head that weighed just a little more than I originally desired. And the winner is...(drum roll)


Slik Pro 330 DX with Pentax K10D Mounted

Yes, that is a full-sized APS-C dSLR mounted. As you can see, this tripod is not particularly spindly. The stated capacity with head is 6.6 lbs and the legs are titanium alloy for relatively light weight (3.1 lbs with QR 3-way pan/tilt head). The Slik Pro 330 DX is a real value standout at this price point. Here is a close up of the head with camera mounted.


Slik Pro 330 DX 3-way Head

Looks pretty nice, eh? Well, it is a pretty nice head, but it has a couple of weak points. The first is that the lever that holds the QR plate onto the head is positioned such that it bumps one's chin. You can see it jutting out to the rear in the photo. The other weak point is that the head is not particularly compact nor is it very light for its stated 6.6 lb capacity.

What about the legs? The flip lever tighteners work well and allow for very fast setup. In case you are wondering, this type of lightweight lever is a potential point of failure in the long run. One of those compromises, I guess. Once extended, the tripod is admirably rigid and resistant to torsion and bowing. The center column extends quite a bit higher, but things are not quite so stable at full extension (another compromise, though a small one). The bottom 2/3rd of the center column are easily removable to provide a much shorter column appropriate for low level work. Yes, you also get three-position angle adjust and the ability to invert the column to get way low to the ground.

Any low points with the legs? Yes, a few. The center column is secured using a twist collar below the leg spider AND a second stop knob on the side of the spider. Both must be tightened to keep the column from moving or rotating. It gets old fast. There also is no provision for spiked feet on this model. This is not a deal killer, but it still would be nice to have as an add-on option. And lastly, I would be remiss if I did not mention that like all rigid, lightweight alloy legs, the 330 DX is prone to vibration.

The Final Target
Now is this the end of the story? No way! It was my desire to truly have my cake and eat it too. I wanted to get the total weight with head down to about 2.5 lbs and have a more compact solution than the 3-way head provides. I also wanted a capacity closer to 8 lbs. Did I attain my goal? As a sneak preview to my next post, here is the 330 DX stripped down for field use!


Slik Pro 330 DX with short center column and compact ball head

More about the above setup in a later post...

BTW...The 330 DX legs are available without head for about $85 USD (hint, hint)

A great video on B&W film development

2010-11-01T17:06:00.000-07:00

Frugal Photorapher

I find this wonderful tutorial while visiting Frugal Photographer for researching film development kit. The video is a good summary of what I have learned from my black and white development class. I actually have not bought any kit yet as I am still debating on the prospect of doing film development at home or not. I currently prefer outsourcing the film development to my local lab with Foto Express in San Jose while doing the printing from a lab that I gain access through a class on B&W darkroom development.

My class on black & white film

I have joined a black and white film development and darkroom class and each week, I get a 2 hour session that I am taught with black and white film development and printing in a darkroom with an enlarger. I have used my Pentax 645N, Yashica Mat-1240G and Ricoh xr-p for most of my film shooting in the class. Included below are a few pictures that I printed in the class with an enlarger.

Fuji Acros 100 in 120 film
with Yashica Mat-124G
scanned by local lab

Kodak T-max 100 with
Ricoh xr-p and Tamron 200mm f/3.5 adaptall-2
developed in HC110

Fuji Acros 100 with
Pentax 645N and A 75mm f/2.8
scanned by Foto Express

Printing in class with enlarger on IlFord Pearl Paper
Orange cast in XP-2 in wet printing

My own scanning with Canon 8800F

While I have a lots of issues in scanning, I generally find myself doing better on 120 films with my own flatbed scanner -- Canon 8800F. In few trials at home with 135 films, my flatbed scanner doesn't seem to produce better results than the low resolution scanning from my local lab. On the contrary, I find better scan on 120 films from both of my 645 and 6x6 TLR cameras while I use my flatbed scanner with Canon. Learning and coping with scanning is still an on-going struggle that I hope that I can learn more from my blogging partner Steve and from other more experienced film shooters.

IlFord xp-2 400 with Pentax 645N, A 75mm f/2.8
Scanned at home with Canon 8800F
Scanned as color negative

Mistakes in Every Steps

You can see many mistakes in my printing and scanning. Black is not always black and white is not always white. I thought I can attribute some of my mistakes to the c41 based film as in IlFord xp-2 but I do run into problems even in traditional black and white film. I am scared of using filters with enlarger as in adding 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 filters on XP-2 films are found needed in printing for better contrast. As soon as I mount a filter with the enlarger in the lab, all the hard work in test strips have to start all over again. It is quite a deep learning curve to master with practice and patience. Sometimes when I get it about right on the film test strips, that is about the end of the 2-hour long class.

Learning & Sharing

There is so much to learn in b&w film photography from taking the photo to the final printing stage in the lab with an enlarger. The experience can be frustrating at times as the process really can involve many mistakes in each step and it teaches me patience and discipline. It is an enriching and rewarding experience to share with others. And there is also the hybrid approach in digitizing film with a film scanner. I hope to share more of my film learning experience along with my blogging partner Steve.

My film crews

From left to right:
Yashica Mat-124G, Pentax 645N and Ricoh xr-p.

A Tale of Three Winders

2010-10-29T18:10:00.000-07:00

Beware the Dreams From One's Youth
You guessed it, this is another discussion of gear that went out of vogue decades ago. When I was in my late twenties, I was shopping for a new SLR camera and boy was the market plush with high quality sophisticated product. I remember going to the local mall camera store (later purchased by Ritz) with the intent of looking at a few cameras and was surprised to find the place packed with people lined up three and four deep at the counter waiting to handle the new wave of electronically controlled automated cameras (this was 1982). To further showcase the camera's capabilities, almost all were mated to very professional-looking power winders. Wow...just like a motor drive!

Now for the benefit of our younger readers who don't remember a time when cameras did not wind themselves (or even when they required film to wind), there was a day when all photographers advanced their film by hand. All, that is, except for the owners of certain professional-level cameras who had the need for and the funds to justify motor-driven cameras. It was quite the status symbol to hold down your finger and burn through a full roll of film in a few seconds. In the middle to late 1970s, camera makers started making motorized winders that did what a true motor drive did, but did so at a somewhat slower rate (< 4 fps). These winders, while still not cheap, were much less expensive than a true motor drive. They were also not made to the same build standards as the pro models, but then again, they did not need to be.

Needless to say, despite the drool hanging from my chin, I had neither the need, nor the funds to buy a power winder back in the day. As sad as that tale may sound, all was not lost, because as time went by, the prices of those cameras and winders came down and I managed to acquire more disposable income. As a result of that happy convergence, I recently scored three power winders to mate with my three cameras of late '70s to early '80s vintage at prices of less than $20 each. They are:

Ricoh XR Winder I for my XR-2s, EX+ from KEH
Ricoh XR Winder II for my XR7 from Adorama-Used
Pentax Winder ME II for my Super Program, EX+ from KEH

All three are fully functional and make a great deal of whirring, snapping, and clacking sounds when furiously pounding out the shots at 2-3 fps. Here are the three, tastefully posed for a formal portrait:

Three Winders sans Camera

Rear to Front: Ricoh XR Winder I, Pentax Winder ME II, and Ricoh XR Winder II

The three are arrayed with the bulkiest unit to the rear. While there is some difference in size, all weigh about the same (almost as much as the camera) with most of the weight being due to 4 AA alkaline batteries. The Pentax unit is the best made of the bunch with much of the grip being cast aluminum. The remainder of the Pentax is high quality plastic. The Ricoh units are plastic clad, but appear to have metal innards. As mentioned above, all three are noisy. Shooting with a power winder is not a stealth activity.

All three winders support both continuous mode and, except for the XR Winder II, a separate single frame mode. With both Ricohs manual shutter/wind operation is possible with the winder attached. With the Pentax, the situation is a little more complicated. There are several pages of cautions in the manual related to proper sequence for manual/powered wind and states where the winder may not operate as expected. Maybe I did not read carefully enough, but looks like there were some lapses in product design.

I Feel So...Empowered!
I guess that is one way to put it. When you put your finger on that button, it is a little like pressing the accelerator on a powerful automobile. Well, sort of...maybe just a little... While it truly does not suit my shooting style, at least I have the benefit of finally having what I wanted way back when. They also look cool when attached to the cameras. Oh, you are wanting to see the winders attached to the cameras? Well, here ya' go...

Three Winders, Suitably Attached


Left to Right: XR-2s w/XR Winder I, XR7 w/XR Winder II, Super Program w/ Winder ME II

It is a little difficult to see from the photo, but the combos are arranged from bulkiest on the left to most svelte on the right. The XR-2s is by far the heaviest and largest of the three cameras (about the same as a Pentax KX) with the Super Program being significantly smaller. The Super Program looks and feels tiny by comparison. The XR7 falls somewhere in between. Strangely, when paired with the winders, the spread is not so wide. The Super Program with winder is still tiny, but weighs about the same as the XR7 with winder. The XR-2s with winder is just a notch heavier than either of the other two.

Well, what about handling? All three winders allow the camera to stand by itself by virtue of the grip or, in the case of the XR Winder II, a small foot that swings from the bottom plate. First place for handling goes to the XR7 with XR Winder II. Despite the lack of a grip, the camera is extremely well-balanced when paired to the winder. Next in line comes the XR-2s with the XR Winder I. The grip on the Winder I fits the hand nicely, with the trigger falling naturally to the finger tip. I would have given it the nod over the Winder II except that the surface of the grip is a little smooth for my liking. A little of the rubbery stuff and it would have been a lot better.

And that brings us to the Pentax Winder ME II. As noted above, the pairing of the Super Program and Winder ME II was the most compact of the bunch. That compactness comes at a price and that price is that the grip is too small and the trigger is positioned poorly. A person with small hands might feel differently about the combo, but from what I can tell, your hand would have to be tiny to be able to have your index finger on the trigger and the rest of your fingers on the grip. This is truly a shame since the Super Program without the winder is easily the best handling camera of the trio, even for people with monster hands. The accessory grip for the Super Program body is one of the best for any camera, any brand, ever.

Ahhhh...Nostalgia...It Ain't What It Used To Be...
Too bad, but finally getting my winders did not yield the degree of fulfillment I was hoping for. Fortunately, they were not expensive and serve to round out the historic aspect of each camera body. I am just happy that I did not stretch my budget to buy one back-in-the-day!

Special Mention And Considerations
BTW...While all three winders are spec'd at 2 fps, the XR Winder II seems to churn at a somewhat brisker pace than the other two with the XR Winder I being the most leisurely. The XR Winder II also takes the prize for easiest battery load and easiest to attach. The Pentax Winder ME II gets a special prize for the most unusual "feature". It has a small slider switch on the grip that MUST be used to sync the grip's trigger with the body's flash mode. Go figure. The Winder ME II also has one additional very cool feature that I was unable to try. It has a port that accepts a cord for tethered release. The optional cord is 5 meters long, but I expect that it might be possible to wire in some sort of intervalometer.

Steve

Goodbye to Pentax K-x White

2010-10-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

It is a sad post to compose as I have always loved my stylish Pentax K-x White. Out of my frustrations with Memory Card Error and Pentax Customer Service during the long repair time, I had resolved to put it up for sale after repair. And I have since sold my beloved white K-x with a stylish red bag. My white K-x is well loved by me and I send the new owner the red bag for free.

To be fair with CRIS and Pentax Customer Service, they did quite a good job in addressing not only the memory card controller issue, they also addressed two cosmetic problems that I reported to them when I sent my K-x in for service. CRIS fixed the broken chrome strip and they replaced the missing red label in the SR logo. Though the wait was long for 5 1/2 weeks, I felt quite satisfied with the repair and have since regained confidence with both CRIS and Pentax. The unexpected longer wait was mostly attributed to back-order of parts from Pentax Japan and it took about 4 weeks for parts delivery from Pentax Japan to CRIS. And I truly hope what happened to me doesn't happen to another Pentax user and that Pentax Japan can take note in improving the back-ordering of parts from Japan to other countries.

Some Farewell Notes On K-x

I absolutely love the white K-x in terms of style. When I see the Pentax K-r with a partial black body, I find the K-x to be more attractive especially on the white color model.
It is a great traveling camera with lighter weight and compact form factor. It works wonder in traveling especially when you mount it with small Pentax limited primes as in 15, 21, 35, 40, 43, 70, 77.
Ever since I got my K-x as a second body, I actually use K-x as my main body and leave my K20D at home. Its high ISO, good image quality, quicker AF makes it a delight to use.
Its clean high ISO images in 1600 to 3200 win it hand down over my K20D.
Price! I don't think one can fault its price for a budget camera that can serve well like its other bigger Pentax brothers in K10D, K20D, K7, K5 and K-r.

On This Matter of Size

2010-10-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

So...Tell Me Again...What Does Small Mean?

Those of us who have been around for a long time (don't call us old) are often a little discouraged by the physical size of current gear. For sure, modern composites and plastics have resulted in extremely light, but very capable equipment, but the bulk is pretty daunting. Back in the day, you could easily slip your OM-1 or Pentax MX mounted to a fast normal lens into your a jacket pocket. Life was simple.

As such, I was feeling pretty smug about my wise choices in vintage gear. My mainstay 35mm SLR for the last several decades has been a Ricoh XR7 mounted to a Pentax-M 50/1.7 normal lens. The combination is light, fast, and very compact. May I also brag that I last replaced the batteries about two years ago and those cells are going strong? That smugness was given a severe jolt this last week when I took delivery of two FSU (Former Soviet Union) rangefinder cameras. Now you can say what you might about my Zorki 4K and Kiev 4AM. They are what they are and my expectations were not particularly high.

While the cameras are interesting in their own right, I was mostly astounded by the physical dimensions of the normal lenses that came with them. Both the LTM Jupiter-8 50/2 and the Contax-mount Helios-103 55/1.7 are absolutely tiny. I felt pretty stupid at that point in that while I have been doing photography since the late 60s, I have never handled or seen an interchangeable lens rangefinder up close. I have owned a couple of fixed lens Japanese rangefinders, but those with faster glass (f/2 and wider) are generally in the same size and weight range as a compact SLR. So here they are for you to compare:

Pentax-M 50/1.7 on the left vs. KMZ Jupiter-8 50/2 on the right

Now the Pentax-M 50/1.7 is one of the most compact normal lenses ever produced by Asahi. (The Super-Takumar 55/1.8 is slightly smaller at about the same weight.) That being said, it looks positively pudgy next to the J-8. I suppose I could have added the Helios-103 50/1.7 to the mix, but it is somewhat taller in its mount and does not convey quite as convincingly that it is actually a little smaller than even the J-8! It is also not a fair comparison since the Helios does not have its own focus helicoid, but instead uses the focus mechanism built in to the camera body.

So, why should this size discrepancy be? The answer that I have read is that these rangefinder camera lenses are not burdened with the bulk and weight associated with the automatic aperture mechanism. More importantly, while the rangefinder optical designs are every bit as sophisticated, the SLR lenses also have to support the long registration distances required by the mirror box. The result is larger elements and more complex designs.

I will be sharing more on my adventures in FSU rangefinder land in future posts. For now, I will have to wait until both cameras get back from the shop. Yep, both had fatal issues that required some attention from the repairman.

Steve

Newest, Most Favorite Gadget: Compact Exposure Meters

2010-10-23T21:05:00.000-07:00

We Love Our Gadgets

Every Photographer loves gadgets. It is a law of nature. The fondness for gadgets is so deep that sometimes our camera bags are referred to as "gadget bags". Now as we all know, the best gadgets are the ones that share two traits:

Those that are useful
Those that we use

Now many photographers are gadget fiends. If something looks potentially useful, they buy it and then try to find a use for it when they get home. While that may represent one extreme, I tend to fall more towards the opposite. I have to be feeling the pain before I start looking for the solution. So it was when I started looking for my newest, most favorite gadget.

The Source of My Pain

As I explained in my first post some weeks ago, I am a fan of older film cameras. I am not really a collector since I pretty much insist that any old camera I pick up be usable and I regularly shoot with all the cameras I own. Now by usable, I mean that most of the cameras features be functional within reason. One of those things that are often broken are the exposure meters on cameras that predate the electronic era. I have a couple of Yashica Lynx rangefinder cameras that date from the early to mid 1960s. While the meters on both cameras react to light, neither is really what I would call functional. I also recently acquired two FSU (Former Soviet Union) rangefinders that never sported a built-in meter. From this small stable of rangefinders grew a persistent pain related to meters.

Now I have a hand-held light meter and a very good one at that. My Gossen Luna Lux is easy to use, accurate, and very sensitive in even the lowest light levels. Unfortunately it is almost the same size as any of the above listed rangefinder cameras. and is hardly pocket-able. I did a little research on smaller meters and soon found that some excellent options exist.

Option 1: Voigtlander VC Meter II

The first option was the quite lovely clip-on VC Meter II made by Cosina/Voigtlander. The VC II is designed to fit on the accessory shoe of vintage rangefinder cameras. It was literally made to do the job that I needed it for and is tastefully styled to be compatible with the task. Small, light, accurate, beautiful! What more could I want? How about a lower price? At just under $200 USD street price, it might make perfect sense when paired to a classic Leitz or Nikon rangefinder body, but I am afraid that it is less of a good match for my Zorki, Kiev, or the pair of Yashicas.

Option 2: Sekonic L-208 Twin Mate

Well, back to the Internet to find what other options are available. It did not take long to discover that Sekonic also makes a compact clip-on meter. The L-208 Twin Mate has a more traditional appearance than the VC II and is not quite as sensitive, but makes up for it with the ability to take both incident and reflected measurements. While it is not obvious from the product shots, the L-208 is really very small and at a little over $100 USD is closer to what I had in mind, price-wise.

And The Final Solution Is?

Still, I was feeling not too wealthy and decided to stop by my friendly local used camera shop (Knight Camera and Repair) to see what Mike Knight had in his magic box. I was hoping to find a Gossen Pilot that I had seen there in the past. The Pilot is a nice unit, but is a selenium meter and not too great in dim light. What I found instead of the Pilot is my "Newest, Most Favorite Gadget". Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the...

Vivitar Model 24 Clip-on Light Meter

Vivitar Model 24 Light Meter Mounted on Yashica Lynx 1000

Yes, the image is monochrome, but it is a vintage item attached to a vintage camera, so a B&W conversion seemed like the obvious thing to do. The model 24 meter was on the shelf for under $20 USD and is in excellent cosmetic and working condition. It has a CdS photocell, is sensitive from EV -1 to EV 24 and supports ASA speeds from 9 to 6400. The only drawback is that it was originally spec'd for use with outlawed PX 675 mercury batteries, but a quick test on Mike's calibrated light source showed that it was essentially accurate using compatible silver cells. Operation is simple...

Flip the lever on the back to the left to power on the meter. The meter stays on until the lever is flipped back to the right.
Point the camera at the subject
Rotate the dial until the needle in the window is centered
Read the correct exposure from the scale

If the Vivitar 24 does not look that small mounted on the top of my Lynx 1000, perhaps this photo of the meter hand-held will be more convincing.

Vivitar 24 Meter Held Between My Two Fingers

While this little meter sits quite comfortably on the top of my Lynx, it is of much more recent vintage than the camera. The Lynx dates from about 1960, while the Vivitar 24 was made in the late 1970s. The manual is available on Mike Butkus' Camera Manual Web site should you ever need one. So, in summary...Yes, it really does satisfy the need. It balances nicely on top of the camera and fits nicely in the pocket and plays nicely with the bank account. What a great find!

Steve

Pentax FA 43mm f/1.9 limited Test Shots

2010-10-19T18:57:00.000-07:00

I have consolidated my DA 40mm f/2.8 limited and FA 50mm f/1.4 into one single prime with Pentax FA 43mm f/1.9 limited. After trimming my DA limited trio with 21, 40 and 70, I am down to 4 limited lens with two DA limited and two FA limited.

15, 35, 43 and 77

and I find the 43mm limited to be a great replacement for my DA 40mm f/2.8 limited. The 40mm limited is an under-rated limited lens but the 43mm stands out in speed and color. I found the 40 limited sharp even wide open but the gain of speed in the 43mm is especially useful in indoor and low light shooting. Though it is not pancake small like the 40mm limited, it is a delight to use with aperture ring and a removable lens hood that is not adding too much bulkiness to the lens. It has a charming factor on its own rights.

When I used it in a weekend in an Art & Wine festival and an indoor night club shooting with Pentax K20D, I was very impressed with its sharpness, color and small form factor like the other limited lens.

A big crop to see the Love Bird in f/5.6

wide open in f/1.9
soft but usable

1/6 sec, f/1.9, iso 800, 43mm, +0.3 Ev, K20D

1/8 sec, f/1.9, iso 800, 43mm, +0.3 Ev, K20D

Impressions & Notes

I find it a good replacement for consolidating my two lens with DA 40mm f/2.8 limited and FA 50mm f/1.4 into one.
Not pancake small like the DA 40mm f/2.8 limited but it actually is small like the 21mm and its lens hood is reasonably good in size and removable. I actually don't mind and find the size quite ideal for both digital and film. It is smaller and more compact than the FA 50mm f/1.4.
It beats the DA limited with an aperture ring and well suited for film bodies as in Pentax MX or my Ricoh xr-p. You can call me old school but I always prefers lens that work with both digital and film bodies.
AF is not as fast as the DA 40mm f/2.8 limited.
In the night club shooting, I had a very difficult time with AF assisted light from flash and it took a second or two to lock on focus. The difficulty had more to do with my K20D
The gain of speed in f/1.9 offers tremendous help to my K20D shooting as I tried to avoid iso 1600 and I shot in iso 800 with f/1.9 for the test shots above. Though wide open maybe soft but I much rather have that option instead of bumping up ISO alone
Lens is very sharp like the 77mm and it is cutter than the 77mm in terms of size. Color rendering is vivid and rich and it lives up to the expectation and positive experience with 77mm limited.
Highly recommended limited lens

Hiking with Tamron SP 500mm f/8.0 adaptall-2 55BB Mirror Lens

2010-10-18T18:16:00.000-07:00

I am finding my mono-pod having an important role in my hiking with heavy and long lens. Our family went to hiking in the same park on both Sunday and Monday. The Monday's hike had a purpose as my wife's lost one of the glass in the hiking trail and my younger boy vividly recall a piece of circular glass on the hiking trail. All pictures taken with Pentax K20D and Tamron SP 500mm f/8.0 adaptall-2 55BB on a mono-pod.

It is easier for me to catch up with my faster family who ran ahead of me searching for the missing glass.

And my older boy has a tendency in avoiding and running away from my camera.

The lens allow me to see farther objects in a good distance as in 50 feet and it allow me to see a view with detail on interesting crop on unnoticed objects in a distance

The doughnut bokeh can be annoying to some and I find it distracting at times but there are few exceptions that I ran into recent shooting. You can see all the donuts bokeh rings about sunset timing and I quite like the doughnut bokeh in the sunset lighting -- very unique.

The off focus rendering can be artistic and I really love my inability to focus on MF on this shot

And I love these two shots of my older boy though they are not perfectly in focus, the off focus rendering is soft and blend in well without the distraction

And I can make a still shot of animals such as a goose in a distance

And close up with this mirror lens quite usable as long as the background is farther away from the subject. When background is too close, I do see harsh bokeh and sometime the doughnut bokeh do happen especially if you look for them.

Impressions & Notes

For readers who have an interest in mirror lens, I will try to sum up the experience and a caution to set the expectation correct

It is important to find the brand that is recommended by trusted sources. I will concentrate on Tamron 55B, 55BB adaptall-2, Sigma cat 400mm f/5.6 and 600mm f/8.0 and Tokina 500mm f/8.0 and perhaps few others
Doughnut bokeh are there. Some can be distracting especially when the background object is at a close distance.
MF is the key thing in getting the shots. The beauty in the mirror lens lies in small size and compact form factor. This misleads me to use it hand-held. However, the best pictures and better keeper ratio does come from the use with mono-pod. With the extra investment, you will enjoy the mirror lens UP a notch or two.
The speed at f/8.0 is not meant for fast moving objects. You will be disappointed when you compare the mirror lens to a good f/5.6 in 400mm in shooting objects in a distance with fast movement.
Lower contrast and flat color on pictures are some of the factors that turn people off from mirror lens. I will have some bragging rights on the Tamron 55BB as the color and contrast are at a different camp when compared to the Vivitar 500mm f/8.0 that I previously owned. Don't cheap out in getting a $80 mirror lens as it is not even worth $8.0 for the shipping fee.
There is no fringing in mirror lens as far as I know
Tamron 55BB is a later version after the 55B. And 55BB doesn't have a tripod mount. I find it alright to use the tripod mount on camera and it is an non-issue when I use my 55BB.
Perhaps more to come when I remember them

Tamron SP 80-200mm f/2.8 adaptall-2 30A and mono-pod

2010-10-14T18:59:00.000-07:00

I have recently grown to love the use of mono-pod for hiking and use with heavier lens. I bought a cheapo Dolica mono-pod and I had purchased also a Manfrotto 3229 and the combo seems to help me to make better use of my heavier gear

I did the shooting on not-so-nice noon setting when the bunnies preferred to hide in the shadows. But I did get more keeper shots with the 30A

Notes & Impressions:

The mono-pod does help in the shooting as I find myself with stability that I don't have before
I don't feel as strained on my hands in the shooting with 30A
Mono-pod is more portable and I find it easier to use over tripod especially in terms of framing the shot.

While the Manfrotto 3229 works well for me, I would have liked to upgrade the mono-pod with better build material and shorter length when collapsed

Fleetweek and Blue Angels Air Show

2010-10-11T17:17:00.000-07:00

It was my first year visiting San Francisco close to Pier 39 for the Fleetweek Air show. My family visited by Bart and we walked from Embarcardero Bart station to Pier 39 area. I should have gone a bit further down to be located in the middle section of the fly path.

I brought along few gear to the airshow:

Pentax K20D as my Pentax K-x is still in repair from CRIS into the 6th week
Pentax F* 300mm f/4.5
Pentax AF 1.7x TC
Tamron SP 70-150mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 20A for casual street shooting
Pentax FA 43mm f/1.9 for Bart station indoor shot
no tripod or mono-pod as it hinder my framing

I set my SR focal length for 100mm for the adaptall-2 70-150 lens and later in the air show shooting, I mounted the F* 300mm f/4.5 with the 1.7x AFA TC but I forgot about resetting SR SR focal length from 100mm to 500mm. All of my shots have the registered 100mm in the EXIF. I think most of my shutter speed is faster than 1/1000 sec and hence the absence of correct SR focal length doen't seem to have an effect.

There were 6 blue angels and most of the time, they have 4 flying very close to each other. They are so fast and loud. I was not in the middle section of their flying path but I did catch some of the shots that I like. It was breathtaking to see how close they fly together in the air show.

Two of them are upside down

They are spectacular to watch as a group or a single solo flight. They have done a marvelous job in the performance

One final shot is done in close distance when the planes fly very close to my location.

Pentax Customer Service

2010-10-04T17:14:00.000-07:00

If you have visited this blog page often, you should note that it is not my style of blog post with negative tone. But I feel obligated to report what happens to my Pentax K-x White that was sent to CRIS for repair under service warranty.

Here is the recap of rough time-line on what happens to my K-x in repair service with CRIS and Pentax USA.

8/21/2010 -- broken at 9 months of beautiful service
8/31/2010 -- shipped out to CRIS with USPS priority
9/2/2010 -- arrival in CRIS
9/8/2010 -- parts back ordered from Japan
10/1/2010 -- parts arrived in CRIS, repair started
ETA unknown in each call
10/11/2010 -- repaired camera arrived at my home from CRIS

I call about once a week and I am calm and as polite as I can be in each calls. If any of you are interested to know which Service rep to avoid, please PM me as I talked to 5 different reps and there is at least one rep to avoid. And in each of steps, I was not given any ETA on the repair. The back-order of parts from Japan to US is likely by ship as it took close to a month to ship from Japan to CRIS.

I call Pentax Service today and see if I can extend my warranty through Adorama recent extended +2 year warranty for $29 but that won't work with Pentax as it needs to be purchased within 90 days from initial purchase.

When I talked to different service representatives, I was confused on who is responsible in stocking parts between Pentax USA and CRIS. As far as I can tell, Pentax USA pretty much relies on CRIS and the history of repairs. And it is my assumption that K-x may not be stocked as heavily as K7 or previous cameras with longer history of repairs.

Summary of Pentax Customer Service:

From what I have gathered, CRIS seems reasonable in repair as long as parts are in CRIS or available in Pentax USA. A usual repair in warranty will take about 4 to 6 weeks. The most problems happen when parts are not stocked properly in USA.
There is no email or any courtesy call and you are pretty much left in the dark.
Absolutely no ETA is given when you approach Pentax Customer Service. A ballpark figure was given for 4 to 6 weeks assuming the parts are available.
If parts are not in CRIS or Pentax USA, it will take about 4 weeks to order from Japan to US. The 4 to 6 weeks repair cycle may become 8 to 10 weeks
I have talked to 5 different representatives and I only feel encouraged by two of the five reps that I have talked to. In general, I don't really get a sense that the customer service is helping me with my problems. It is problem reporting instead of customer care.
If one is serious into buying a non-black color cameras as in Pentax K-x or Pentax K-r, I will caution to think again if you are not living in Japan. Parts ordering from Japan to US are done likely by ship. In my encounter of parts order in CRIS, it took 4 weeks to order parts from Pentax Japan.
If you want to think of a 2nd Pentax body as a backup or traveling body, think again not on K-x but rather a used copy of K10D, K20D or even a K7 as they are more durable to last longer and more dependable as a 2nd body
No extended warranty will help you if you bought the camera used, Pentax service will only service the owner under the invoice. If you have to buy a used camera, make sure you get buy-in with the seller for the remaining warranty usage in case something totally breaks in the warranty period
Your best warranty will be doing your due diligence in getting a good used digital body as in Pentax K10D or Pentax K20D that can go between $300 to $450.

Hiking with Tamron 200mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 04B

2010-09-13T18:19:00.000-07:00

My family did hiking on the same park with Bayfront Park in Palo Alto for two consecutive days and we went on the 2nd time to help my wife looking for her left missing glass fallen off during the hike and we also visited Capitola Art & Wine Festival and had a great time both in the beach and the venues with art display and music events. In both occasions, I had my Pentax K20D with Tamron 200mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 04B and I find the small 200mm very much to my liking for a longer lens that is easy to carry due to its small form factor and smaller size compared to other 200mm that I know. Though it is not fast as in f/2.8, it has plenty to offer as a 200mm lens. This is a non-sp tamron adaptall-2 lens but I don't notice any difference in terms of color and coating.

I absolutely fell in love with the sunset lighting half way through our hiking. My family were ahead of me as I was overwhelmed as usual with the spectacular view that only lasted in minutes before the sun drops below the mountain horizon.

I purposely focused on the branches

I always enjoy running into dog's owner and I always ask for permission to take their dog's pictures. I love dogs and cats and I can't think of a pet that I don't like. But I am sure I will find one. As for Beca's case, it is unique lap dog as she is a lovely female lap for 11 years and she is mellow, kind but very active like a 1 year old. As soon as I learned about the age, I offered my amateur service for free as I would love the dog owner to have more portraits with Beca. And I shot a series with Beca and the photos are on its ways to the owner. They loved the preview of Beca's photos as some of them show a different smile and gesture of Beca. More in this flickr slide-show with Beca. I should have changed lens to the 43mm and had extra for the owner and dog portraits but my family was waiting for me.

This lens works well in music event that allow you to have a compressed view on the performer

And I use this lens to catch up with my family who usually runs ahead of me

Impressions & Notes

This lens is non-sp in the adaptall-2 lens series
I find focusing smooth but harder to obtain focus when I use it on film body. Best use of this lens is on a mono-pod
This is not the sharpest 200mm that I have used but very good in overall performance.
Best character in this lens lie in its small form factor and lightweight
It comes with a built in lens hood
It does have flare issue when aiming directly at the sun but reasonably good otherwise
Color and depth is great in shooting portraits from a distance. The bokeh is lovely at the right setting especially when background objects are farther apart.
Great color and contrast that I get from this lens.

Darkroom Chemistry: Aged to Perfection?

2010-09-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Hin contacted me with an offer to act as an occasional guest blogger for Hin's Tech Corner. At first I was hesitant. After all, this blog is technically oriented with a slant towards Pentax products and who knows more about current Pentax offerings than Hin? And while I have some skills with my dSLR and am an avid photographer, I am sort of an old guy and am really involved more with my collection of vintage equipment and traditional photography. I was not sure just what I could write about, so I asked Hin.

The conversation went something like this:

Steve: Can I talk about film?
Hin: Yes! Talk about film. I like film. I am buying many film cameras!

Steve: Can I talk about old lenses?
Hin: Yes! Talk about old lenses. I like old lenses. I am buying many old lenses!

Steve: Can I talk about darkroom and hybrid (figital) processing?
Hin: Yes! Talk about darkroom. I am taking a darkroom class!

Steve: Can I talk about Large Format (view camera) photography?
Hin: Yes! Please talk about large format! You have a real cool looking view camera!

So, here I am and for my inaugural post I am going to talk about darkroom. More specifically, I am going to talk about darkroom disasters. As I mentioned, I am an old guy and am stuck in my ways. I really like my film cameras and I really like working with film. While I do very little enlarging/wet printing, I do process my own B&W negatives. This is the sad story of artistic expression, human desire, wishful thinking, and how all of these impact good darkroom practice.

So, to set the stage, let me tell you a little bit about my choice of developer. Hot topic, eh? Well, I am particularly fond of a premixed liquid concentrate called Edwal FG-7. This developer has a long and honorable history dating back to at least the late 1970s when I first started using it. Ansel Adams mentioned it in one of his books. It must be good and I can tell you from personal experience that it is good. Here is why I like it:

Easy to use liquid concentrate. You mix up a working solution fresh only when you need it.
One quart is good for about 60 rolls of 35mm film
It is a "compensating" developer meaning that it supports retention of shadow detail while avoiding blocked-out highlights
It provides high acuitance and fine grain (sharp, clear images)
It does all of the above while providing about double the box film speed (ISO)

Cool, huh? It has only one drawback. The concentrate in the bottle tends to go bad with age and exposure to air. This is true of almost all developers, but FG-7 is particularly bad in this regard. Enough of this background, now for the story...

Old Developer and Wishful Thinking
I was out this last weekend at Mount St. Helens and conditions were great for photography. The skies were clear, the clouds were puffy, and the volcano was in full view. I got off several good shots to finish off a roll of Rollei Retro 100 (aka Agfa APX 100) and was very anxious to see the results of my labor. When I got home I loaded up the daylight tank and laid out my processing stuff. Everything was going fine until I started to prepare a working solution from the last couple of ounces of developer in the bottle of FG-7 that I had been nursing for the last year or so. What poured out looked, for lack of a more appropriate public term, disgusting.

When developer goes starts to go bad, it turns to various shades of brown. The darker the color, the worse things are. The color of what came out of the bottle was the color of yesterday's coffee. Hmmmm, I said to myself, I must have forgotten to put a shot of canned air into the bottle to displace the oxygen the last time I used the stuff. Reasoning that it was concentrate and should look concentrated, I went ahead and did the 1:15 dilution to a working solution. That looked better, but still was the color of half-strength cola. It was decision time. I was now out of developer and the replacement bottle was backordered at Freestyle Photo. I really wanted to see my pictures. I carefully formed a rational in my head that went something like this:

"It can't be that bad...it will probably work just fine...I will just add 10% development time and everything will turn out great. This will be sort of a test to see if bad looking developer really is bad."

Is Bad-looking Really Bad?
I can affirm that if developer looks bad, it truly is bad. Even with extra processing time, most of the negatives were painfully thin and underdeveloped. To add additional injury, there apparently was some sort of precipitate that settled on the emulsion that shows on the scans like a thick scattering of fine dust. No, it does not clean off...I tried. Of the 30 exposures on the roll, only two were worth doing anything with. Here is an example of one of the bad ones:

Yes, the reflections and sky looks pretty nice. Too bad that is all there is. There should have been lots of detail in the foliage. Notice all the specks? So the answer is, Bad looking is Bad...Really Bad!

A Shot At Redemption
While most of the roll was ruined, the last several frames were actually not too bad and worth saving. I figure they were in the direct path of the developer as it was poured into the tank and had the benefit of whatever goodness and strength was left. Here is the best of the two after a fair amount of attention in scanning, a fair amount of post-processing in Lightroom and a lot of time spotting the specks from the image.

"Sand Ladder", Windy Ridge, Mount St. Helens

Lessons Learned
While all was not quite lost, I made the following resolutions:

Don't use nasty looking developer
Aliquot the FG-7 into well-sealed smaller containers to allow for better shelf life after opening
Be religious about purging oxygen from partially used bottles of developer concentrate
Don't do testing on images that might be worth having
Order next bottle of developer when the current one is half empty

Note:
My apologies to Hin for being so wordy on my initial post. I also hope he has a good sense of humor regarding him talking me into contributing here! The above "conversation" at the beginning of the article is a complete fabrication on my part.

Pentax K-x Dead with Memory Card Error

2010-08-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

It does not give me the slightest pleasure in reporting my dead Pentax K-x White. It has the persistent memory card error no matter what card that I have put into the camera SD slot. I have tried seven different individual SD memory cards of four different brands in Sandisk Extreme III 4 Gig, PNY Optima SDHC 8 Gig, Transand SDHC 8 Gb and Kingston SDHC 4 Gb. All of the memory cards are working fine in my Pentax K20D.

I call up Pentax Customer Support with toll free number 1(800)877-0155 last Thursday and I was mislead by the representative in waiting for her email instruction. It was likely my fault in not confirming the email twice with her. On 2nd call to Pentax Customer Support today on Monday, I was glad to talk to Matt who was courteous and responsive. Instead of email, Matt outlined the critical information that I need to package my dead Pentax K-x to send in.

Here are the rough steps to follow for servicing my K-x under warranty. The address is actually the physical address of CRIS camera service

Package it for shipment to this address, I will be using USPS priority with $500 insurance

Pentax Service Department
250 North 54 Street,
Chandler, AZ 85226
Provide proof of purchase as in an invoice or email notification on purchase. In my case, I will send in my Paypal invoice with Beach Camera. It is utmost important that the invoice has the name of the owner and the date of purchase for warranty service
Provide a brief note on the problem. I am using this blog page to describe my problems with dead Pentax K-x white in NOT able to read any SDHC memory cards.
Provide contact information as in phone contact and email. I will need to include them in the printout of this blog page

My problem is simply that my Pentax K-x white can't read any memory cards that I have used. The same set of cards work fine on my Pentax K20D in both reading and writing.

It goes as if something get damaged in the card reader in the camera. Matt from Pentax Customer Support offered me the suggestion on camera "reset" and I tried that option but the "Memory Card Error" still persisted. I am in my wit's end on troubleshooting the problem. It appears like a hardware failure.

While I am explaining the problem, there are also two complaints on the physical appearance of my white K-x after nine months of usage. Though it is free from smudges and dirt after months of usage. The white K-x does has its cosmetic problems in having a chrome line worn out easily as you can see in this picture on the chrome line below the shutter release which has lost partially the metallic chrome strip in various spots under the shutter release. And the broken chrome line has become somewhat sharp edges for me to hold the camera.

And another minor cosmetic but critical issue to me is the lost of the red SR label in front. The combination of red SR label is the best recognition of Pentax SR feature that is built into the Pentax body and I really missed that label on my white K-x. I think I lost it after 6 months of usage. The red SR label is at the bottom and it appears as white in the following picture

I truly hope that Pentax Service Department can help me fix my Pentax K-x White and that I get to use it once again without issues. I was informed about 4 weeks of service time and I will send the camera out on August 31, 2010 and I hope my loyal readers cheer me up while my beloved Pentax K-x White is in service.

Update:

8/21/2010 -- broken at 9 months of beautiful service
8/31/2010 -- shipped out to CRIS with USPS priority
9/2/2010 -- arrival in CRIS
9/8/2010 -- parts back ordered from Japan
10/1/2010 -- parts arrived in CRIS, repair started
ETA unknown in each call
10/11/2010 -- repaired camera arrived at my home from CRIS

Rolando Morales Sensational In National Night Out 2010

2010-08-25T19:20:00.001-07:00

I was fortunate to have my neighbor organizing Nation Night Out on August 3, 2010 and it was our 2nd time with Rolando and his band members playing sensational music for the event. Food in potluck style from my dear neighbors were outstanding. I fell for the guppy syndrome in not able to stop eating. But of course, I never forgot capturing those memorable moments with my digital cameras. The outstanding food could wait but not the photos and short video clips. I had two cameras on my shoulder with Pentax K20D and Pentax K-x White.

All videos were shot with Pentax K-x White and
Pentax DA 15mm f/4.0 limited

The music was simply fantastic and Rolando played it along with two of his extraordinary band members on the base guitar and the percussion with hand drums. Rolando music is rhythmic with rich heritage of Latino music and his classical guitar and vocal live performance made the night an enjoyable, enviable and memorable night in Davis Square neighborhood. I couldn't ask for more and I felt short in not having a proper video camcorder clip as I was relying only on the short video clip from my Pentax K-x White. I should have invested in a proper camcorder for future similar events.

I have become an instant fan of the band's music and I have gone to Rolando Morales's website and signed up for his newsletter.

The National Night Out started out on the food tables where my neighbors tried to stomp us with their best recipes and best take out food of different ethicnicity for the party. And they did it with style in decoration and a touch of homey feeling with flowers in a wonderful garden we all enjoyed visiting.

But as the night progressed with dimmer lighting and the food pictures started fading into the wonderful music, my attention and photos all turned to the center stage of musical talents in the event. The performance went with character of deep vocal voice, and the rhythmic beat by the drums and base guitar add dimension to the music. I loved the classical guitar played by Rolando, my heart went mellow with his music and I have since become the fan of his music.

All night shots were taken with Pentax K-x White and
Pentax DA* 50-135mm f/2.8
Many in wide open f/2.8 apertures and
iso 1600 without post processing

And the wonderful music made it truly a memorable night for me and my neighbors. And I actually regretted not buying one of Rolando's music CD on display for sale that night. Thanks to his website on Audio/Video, I can still sample some of Rolando's recent music in MP3. I look forward to visiting one of his live performance events where he has his full band playing.

As everyone started packing for the night and my last photo still pointed towards Rolando where he was packing for his equipment on stage. It was such a romantic night and I would miss it until the next meet up with Rolando and his wonderful music.

Related:

Pentax FA 77mm limited goes insane with Pentax K-x White

2010-08-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

I have recently forced myself to decide few lenses to go. My 70mm and 40mm limited are the ones to go. I am contemplating on 21mm as I like it for street shooting and people shot but I am tempted to try the crazy thing in Tamron 10-24. I wish someone have tried it on Pentax and tell me all about it. I don't trust reviews on test chart and soft this and sharp that. I like user real photo experience. It is not urgent as I love to keep my 21 as long as I can afford it. Having both the 15 and 21 is a blast for wide angle needs. And I have the funkiest liking on 10-17. So my wide angle needs are as complete as I think it is with 15, 21 and 10-17 for the fun factor. But you all know me in wanting to try out the unthinkable in Sigma 10-20 or Tamron 10-24 and swap with the 21. I know I am going backward with Justin.

Now on the 70/77 story. The 77 is insane every time that I use it. I shoot some shots wide open in many instances, it is still a reasonable shot. Fringing seems like a character that happen more in 77mm than the 70mm. But 77 is keen o sharpness and surreal color that make a picture pop over the 70. Its speed in f/1.8 allow me to go insane in indoor shots.

Here are few shots on a Goose feather. After a big crop, I can see the detail and I think it is really sharp. I hate Photography as an exact science like RH measurbation on image quality.

All shots taken with Pentax K-x and Pentax FA 77mm f/1.8 while the wind is blowing quite heavily on a clothing hanging line. Shame on some of the shots that are over exposed

#1 The set up
with cloths drying line and wood clips

A big crop to see the goose feather

#3 California Blue Sky
I shot up into sky and a crop.

And thanks to the wonderful color in 77mm limited with surreal quality not easily found in other lens.

#4 B&W to cater the over-exposure

I like the grain on the wood clip as well as the 3D depth in the shot. Please excuse the over-exposure, my dear k-x is a crying baby with over-exposure. I actually use -1 Ev in some of the shots.

And this cat shot that I have no time to frame the shot. As soon as I open the screen door, I get about two shots with one that look down at the cat and I kneel down next for the head shot and right after the shutter release, he turns and heads upstairs. It is a giant cat.

Again, I love the depth and the soft and very smooth off focus rendering, it helps to isolate the subject of focus greatly though I rush into the shot without much thinking.

#5 Opening screen door

1/40 sec, f/5.6, 77mm, iso 800, 0 Ev

1/60 sec, f/5.6, 77mm, iso 800, 0 Ev

Impressions & Notes

As I have noted before. Color and sharpness is outstanding in FA 77mm f/1.8 limited.
The fast speed in f/1.8 makes the 77mm limited all more of a great value when it comes to indoor and low light type of shooting. The bokeh in wide open is awesome but I do notice light falling off in wide open aperture. Care has be taken in using wide open aperture wisely.
The FA77 and DA 70 limited are not keen on close up. But the sharpness in both lens can help you as a macro lens in cropping huge. In the test shots with the white goose feather, I did a large crop close to 85% crop and it surely looks like a macro shot
Cyan color fringing are noticed in high contrast areas. It is unfortunate and some Pentax folks in community prefer the DA 70 limited because of the frequent fringing. I treat the fringing as a character in the lens as the color from FA 77mm offers surreal quality not matched up by the 70 limited. If fringing is a concern, go with 70 limited which also excels in sharpness and color and it has the quick shift focus that is absent in FA limited lens series.
I thought often about the field of view after crop factor that adds up to roughly 115mm. It is outstanding in half body portraits but one has to zoom with feed. In actual shooting with outdoor portraiture, I actually like my DA* 50-135mm f/2.8 due to the zoom flexibility. But in terms of prime quality, color and sharpness, and compactness, few can match up with the 77mm limited
Among the FA and DA limited, my favorite is the FA 77mm limited for its surreal color, great sharpness, and awesome speed in f/1.8 when I need to push and balance with ISO and hand-holding shutter in demanding situation

Licking One's Lens! What! Really?

2010-08-06T19:25:00.000-07:00

What! Really? Are you out of your mind? That is Grose! At least some Canonian did it in a controversial music video with a Nikon girl licking a Canon lens and camera. I am NOT making this up. I whined in the response to the video but many other of my friends in Pentax community see it as good humor and fun to watch despite the fact that the video ends with a laugh at the brand of lesser known Pentax. I thought about not linking the video here which will bring up the controversy in brand loyalty. But that is not complete reporting if I do that. I want to share a bit of a similar encounter in a lesser scale -- smelling of one's lens displayed in a 24" Dell monitor

I recently visited a co-worker of mine who had his cube filled with beautiful pictures with a lot of outstanding traveling shots in Europe. I was fascinated to say the least. I immediately went to strike conversations with him and everything started normal and well as in every relationship. But the oddness does not come until he talks about his most favorite Nikon lens he has used in those 15+ pictures in his cube. He brought out the Amazon link for Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 ED VR II AF-S lens. "What gives," I asked and he got his glass literally touching his computer monitor with "oh yeah, that is my baby." He then went on to describe his beauty while smelling the lens in front of his 24" monitor. If my co-worker is onto a D700 as his main body, I may have understood him better but with a D300 (not sure with a 's' or not) and with a digital crop, I don't think I see the reasons for his admiration or "Licking his Nikor lens" so to speak.

I checked online and price he paid is actually higher than what is currently quoted and according to my friend, it is worth every penny he has thrown at the lens. I stopped short in asking him how he married to carry a 3.3 pound-er on his D300(s) body around Europe. I don't see the pictures with Hin licking a 3 pound-er lens but rather crying and shaking throughout the trip. My Pentax pancake 70mm f/2.4 limited that I had on my Pentax K-x White didn't even remotely interest him a thing or two in the visit. I am not disappointed but I am curious on the logic in traveling heavy all throughout Europe with a such an heavy gear.

Tamron 80-200mm f/2.8 adaptall-2 30A
is on the back of my K20D

My equivalent of the similar focal-length and speed lens is my Tamron SP 80-200mm f/2.8 adaptall-2 (30A) and Markus has discussed about this lens in an earlier thread. The cost of this MF lens is about 1/10th of the the Canon and Nikon branded equivalent. We miss the AF in this manual primes. Whether my heavy 3+ pound-er can produce 1/10th of the image quality is NOT as important to discuss but rather on the weight and the FOV when used in aps-c sensor in Pentax. With a tripod mounted on this adaptall-2 lens and together with the adaptall-2 p/k-a, it is more like a 3 lb 4 oz (not exact but close enough) weight. When I used it in two event shootings. I can't hand-hold this lens for over 30 minutes of non-stop shooting. I can recall the feeling of sore hands and quite a number non-keeper in the shooting. Due to the weight, it is not my favorite lens at the moment. I need a support system as in a better mono-pod. At the moment, I have a cheesy Dolica mono-pod and I don't think it can work well with this heavy lens plus body. Please bear with me that I am not harassing people and big fan of heavier equipment. We are happy with whatever works for our styles and we can care less of what other people thought of. I hope to stay neutral and not come out as someone who likes to flame with a biased opinion -- which I do have with the Pentax lighter primes and lighter zoom lens. Lighter does not equal to 'better' but it does fit my style of traveling light.

Pentax DA* 50-135/2.8 is smaller and about half the weight of a 70-200/2.8. 60-250/4 is in between the two.

DA* 50-135/2.8: 67mm filters, 765 grams, 76.5x136mm
DA* 60-250/4: 67mm filters, 1040 grams, 82x167.5mm
FA* 80-200/2.8: 77mm filters, 1510 grams, 88x195mm
Sigma 70-200/2.8 HSM II: 77mm filters, 1370 grams , 86.5x184.4mm
Tamron SP 800-200mm f/2.8 adaptall-2 (30A): 77mm filters, 1359 grams, 81.8x173.5mm

The 30A will weigh a bit more with the p/k-a and tripod mount. I have been using a 3rd party tripod mount for a Canon lens that I admire -- the Canon 70-200mm f/4.0 L, the non-usm one which is quite compact when I tried it from my Canon buddy.

I was shooting using both of my 70mm and 77mm limited alternately so that I can come to a conclusion what I miss in the down-sizing of my limited primes, most of these shots are from my 77mm

Pentax DA* 50-135mm f/2.8 next to
Tamron SP 80-200mm f/2.8 adaptall-2 (30A)

Though the SDM issues, I am knocking on wood that it stays as my most favorite Pentax zoom and I don't mind the SDM to be a touch slow as I rather it be slow and ugly than something that weighs more and cost more. The DA* 60-250mm f/4.0 is the next best zoom that Pentax has offered and I truly hope the positive trend gets better in SDM and affordable pricing, and more options in the long end such as 100-300 and 100-400.

With the hoods mounted, they both look unexpectedly bulkier, especially the DA* with a long and deep hood

No way I lick my lens
Not Pentaxian!
Only Moronic Canikon in the Video!

Small is beautifully smart
Worth drooling, do they!

My main traveling crew with 15/35/70 limited in my recent New Zealand trip. My 35mm limited can be replaced with 40mm but I have a sweet spot on flowers and butterflies. What I am trying to get at is that heavy and big does not equal top-notch performance with high price tag. Lighter and compact also does not equal mediocrity. We can care less how others make fun of our gear towards the end in the video.

Xanh Mountain View with Pentax DA 10-17mm fisheye

2010-08-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

Pentax DA 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5 fisheye

After getting Pentax DA 15mm f/4.0 limited and that I have used the new lens quite a bit for the ultra wide angle needs, I question myself if I need Pentax DA 21mm limited and my fisheye lens with Pentax DA 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5. Before I jump into any conclusion, I try to bring it to good use whenever I find the right scene. I am so glad to bring this lens to a group lunch in Xanh in Mountain View, a very classy Vietnamese restaurant that offer buffet lunch with great style and good taste. I was very much indulged in good food but I tried to find time for pictures. The fisheye lens really came through in the tight corners to have 180 degree view at 10mm and it does well with people shots in 16 and 17mm where the distortion is not as severe.

I was late to the table as I spent the extra few minutes of time in shooting the restaurant interior.

Lots of variety of Vietnamese Dishes

Love the spicy soup

Plenty of vegetable dish and brown rice
for the healthy conscious
Meat dish as in spareribs and
lemon grass chicken are hard to resist

And I was surprised with a drink of salty plum soda and it was surprisingly refreshing and good. This place is a must visit if you ever think of lunch in Mountain View Castro street.

Salty Plum Soda
Taste much better than how it looks

17mm is quite alright for people shot
with mild distortion
Wall decoration is interesting with
Painting on girls on Bikes

Service is fast and courteous

And when I left the restaurant, the narrow doorway leading to exit to the garage parking invites the widest angle to savory the good-bye shots to a wonderful experience in Xanh of Mountain View. I have told my boys and wife that I will bring them to this classy restaurant next time we visit Mountain View.

10mm vertical and pointing straight to exit

10mm with focal point at the bottles

step back and focal point at bottle again
at 10mm

Mirchi Cafe with Pentax DA 15mm f/4.0 limited

2010-07-28T18:24:00.000-07:00

I have nothing to do in dinner time when I get fed up with my own cooking. Not that I can't cook, there are times that I want my dinner made by others and be served with some decency after a verrry down day with work. All test shots without PP and straight from K-x in auto-ISO with 100 to 1600 and 3200. No PP on noise.

1/40 sec, f/4.0, 15mm, iso 1600, 0 Ev, Pentax K-x
Wide open in f/4.0

All along, I love my DA 35 for close up and the DA 21 comes close as second in terms of close up. And I thought 4.0 may be a bit slow for indoor shots. The lighting is not the worse kind but dark enough that the shutter is not appropriate in iso 800. I used ISO 1600 on f/4.0 and ISO 3200 on f/5.6. Corners may be soft -- how the hell I know. I don't pixel peep and I don't test lens with charts. I field test them with what I see. It seems alright in indoor.

1/40 sec, f/4.0, 15mm, iso 1250, 0 Ev, Pentax K-x

What I am getting is that the lens seems to do okay for indoor with K-x. Yes, we won't get outstanding pictures in ISO 3200/1600, but the results are quite good to me. The close up in DA 15 limited makes it an interesting candidate to bring along for food shots. And it can cover the interior shots though a bit slow when compared to other limited. Its minimum focusing distance is 0.18m whereas 21 limited is slightly longer in 0.20m.

1/25 sec, f/4.0, 15mm, ISO 1600, 0 Ev

1/40 sec, f/4.0, 15mm, ISO 1250, 0 Ev

On the ice water drink shot above and few of the test shots, there are blue fringes to the left with window lighting but seems odd to me. Later after some more studies of the location, I found that the blue fringing was likely caused by the blue and red neon lights on the front of the Mirchi restaurant.

Color is off in AWB

Chicken Tikka Masala in Mirchi Cafe
Served with Basmati Rice and Naan.

Mirchi Cafe is a restaurant with interesting burgers and pizzas but I am more keen on its Indian/Pakistan mix of rice and naan dish. I finish the rice with the Masala Chicken sauce first. Half of its chicken is left to go. It just shows you how good the mild flavor source is. I am afraid of hot and spicy. Anything mild and medium goes well in my book for favorite food. The lady in the kitchen did it perfectly for me with request to be milder than their default of Masala spicy, someone gorgeous please marry this chef for your life which has great potential for a life journey full of tastes and senses.

Great Chef in Middle behind doorway to Kitchen

A goodbye shot to a wonderful experience in Mirchi Cafe
I recommend the specialty dish with Naan and Rice

Traveling with Pentax K-x and DA limited

2010-07-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

Waihi Beach with DA 15mm limited

HDR, hand-held unfortunately

I have just finished my vacation trip to New Zealand and I will have a more thorough reports on the limited lens and K-x on the trip. The DA 15mm limited is quite outstanding in the trip. I have 15/21/35/70 and a long zoom with Tamron 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6. In hindsight, I could have done it with only 15/35/70-300mm and K-x. The 21mm works better on street shooting, night scenes, portraiture with landscape as background and indoor while the 15mm really takes over in landscape and scenery.

Waihi Beach with DA 15mm limited

Sunset taken with K-x
Tamron 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD

Colomandel Walkway
with DA 15mm f/4.0 limited

Amazing New Zealand Fantail
with Tamron zoom

Colomandel Walkway
with DA 15mm f/4.0 limited

Colomandel Walkway
with DA 15mm f/4.0 limited
with HDR

My crew of lens include 15/21/35/70 limited plus the Tamron zoom. I love the 70mm limited but it is the least used lens in the trip. It just happens that in my trip to NZ, my shots mostly goes for the landscape and hence the less use of 70mm in the trip. The 70mm is sharp and does wonder in portraiture. I tried using the 70mm on sunset photos but I later find the longer zoom to be more flexible. The 70 flare control though good can not match up to the 15mm. The 15 has the crown for best flare control.

All in all, the limited lens are a joy to bring in the trip. Small, compact and big on image quality. And I balance it out with a longer zoom on the Tamron. The DA 55-300mm would have been an excellent choice, so is the Sigma 70-300mm, to mix with limited to round out a focal range of 15 to 300mm in traveling. I need the long zoom as some part of my trip involved butterflies and birds from New Zealand.

Related

Funding Hobby With Affiliates

2010-07-01T08:15:00.001-07:00

I am constantly in struggles in not picking up any of my film cameras. However, they do speak in a silent voice for a photographer for a picture, a stroll in my neighborhood, a story to be told, a poem in the making, a song to be sung and a journey to be discovered. I am in the crossroads in falling in love with digital and films at the same time. And I wish I have the all the time as a full time professional who can fund my hobbies without guilt. Time and Money are the constraints in the hobby.

It is not my Dell, not my Macbook but my Pentax is calling me for actions. But it is expensive to fund my photography hobby as an enthusiast. All the gear, accessories and film processing put a dampen effect on the hobby. I keep asking for practical means others have thought about in funding their hobbies. And I have added three Affiliates marketing banner in my blog page on the sidebar. Please help support this site through your future potential purchases of photography gear and accessories from affiliate banner links with BPPhoto, Adorama and Amazon.

Film is always beautiful and intriguing to me along with my digital gear. I got my first roll of Fuji Superia 200 developed and I am surprised with how good color film can help capture the scene in my weekend hiking trip with my Ricoh xr-p and Cosina 55mm f/1.2.

All shot with Ricoh xr-p and Cosina 55mm f/1.2
in Fuji Superia 200

I thought about giving up on my film gear to cut down on cost. And that includes my Pentax 645N and my 35mm film gear. That will help in cost but likely to suck huge time in my hobby. If you check on my past gear and knowing what I have been through in various control exercises as in three months LBA moratorium in the past, they don't particularly work well for me. I always love trying out something different, be it on film or digital. And I surely love to blog about them in this blog to share my experience with others. I know that gear hunting is not photography and having another lens or another camera won't do a thing in improving my skills in photography. But I see the lame excuse of freedom, excitement and enthusiasm with a strange tool that invites me to explore with pictures and journey to be untold. I do extend my dilemma with my readers and I ask for your help to consider your future potential purchases of photography gear and accessories with affiliate links that you see on this blog. Your help and continued support is very much appreciated.

Related:

Samsung NX5 and NX10

2010-06-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

email from Adorama

I get this in an email promotion as a subscriber and affiliate to Adorama. The email suggests to use

coupon code: S0703101
Offer expires on 7/3/2010

This looks like an awesome deal for a mirror-less APS-C dSLR. My good friend Miserere in EnticingTheLight has a three part reviews starting in SamSung NX10 review part 1 for your reference.

I read about Samsung NX5 and I don't see much reports talking about NX5. I do find a post in www.imaging-resource.com and www.testfreaks.com mentioning about it as a cheaper model to Samsung NX10. Little is known about the actual differences between NX10 and NX5. In my brief searching, one important difference in NX5 is in using a more traditional LCD as compared to the Amoled display screen used in Samsung NX10. Given the current discounted price that I see in Adorama, someone looking serious into Samsung NX10 should also ask around about NX5. This looks to be an exciting beginning time with affordable and outstanding hybrid cameras.

Related Links:

Pentax DA 15mm f/4.0 limited Arrived

2010-06-27T19:36:00.000-07:00

Thin screw mount lens cap --
first in DA limited

Pentax DA 15mm f/4.0 limited is surprisingly small. Those who love the pancake will love the DA 15 in terms of size and compactness. The following is a side by side with the 21mm with hood mounted. It offers the minimum focusing distance of 0.18m which is the shortest among all the DA limited primes. It is very likely that it offers the best close up among DA limited but more tests and use cases are needed to confirm.

And a visual differentiators is the thin metal screw cap. The inner lining seems like dust magnet as it is made of some cloth material like suede similar to other DA limited lens. The manual focusing is much more dampened than the 21mm. AF is a sweet baby. The close up is at 0.18m in the DA 15 as compared to 0.2m in DA 21.

Casual Initial Test Shots

UWA shot at f/4.0 with K20D

Close up in f/4.0 on K20D
close up sharp in center

Winner in center with f/5.0
shot with K20D

Not obvious, but moderate fringes are observed
on white lightings
sure beat the 10-17 on CA/PF
but not the perfect fringe free shot in indoor lighting

works well with K-x built in flash
my sushi lovers in San Dai restaurant

Night shooting in f/4.0 with K-x in
iso 2000 hand-held
This lens has great potential in Night Shooting on
Street Scenes

Shot in f/9.0 with K-x
A bit concerned and surprised on PF with tree
branch on left top corner

A bit slow in indoor use with
dimmer lighting
Shot in f/5.6 with K20D

Very sad to see US team lost in world cup last game

Impressions & Notes

It is too early to draw any conclusions but here are few notes that come to my attentions.
It is surprisingly small. Very close in size to the 21mm limited
The focusing ring is well dampened when I compare it to 21mm limited. Not that I use it in manual focusing but the quick shift focus in DA prime with a dampened focusing ring is a welcome thought.
Close up is very decent and offer better close up than the 21mm limited
A bit concerned on the fringing that I see in daytime in f/9.0 in the corner
Sharpness is great in center. Yet to see corner sharpness.
Handling, size, compactness is good with the 15. Surprisingly good.
The lens cap is one of a kind unique among the DA limited. I like its thin cap design and the screw mount cap will take some time to get used to but I think Pentax design it well for the 15mm.
Outstanding in flare control in shooting into the light. The 21mm is already quite good in both flare control and protection from the square opening of the lens hood but the 15mm is simply outstanding in flare control. The lens hood in 15 limited is pull-out type and hence it doesn't protect the lens as well as the fixed lens hood on the 21mm limited. The lens hood is of a petal shaped hood.
Unlike the 21mm limited, it is much easier to add a filter or a diopter to the lens front as the built in lens hood don't intrude the mounting of a filter. That is not the case in the 21mm where the lens hood is fixed and the only thing one can do is to get a 43mm odd sized filter. And I honestly don't know if a 43mm filter will work well with the built-in lens hood on the 21 limited. On the 15, it is plain and simple just like any front loading lens front and the beauty lies in that the lens hood continues to work for the 15 limited.
The built in hood is great to use and not as flimsy as the DA 35mm. It is of the same kind as in pull in extended hood with a petal design
This will become my night shooter on a street scene. Fringing concerns me but I am hopeful that the fringing that I see is moderate

Hiking with Tamron SP 70-210mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 19AH

2010-06-21T18:40:00.001-07:00

I find the lens a bit too heavy to carry around in hiking purpose. It is a long lens and I feel better balanced when I have it mounted on K20D. The lens does well for me in sharpness and bokeh. The PF/CA is one thing that I still find occasionally in shooting. I recently used it with K-x in weekend hiking trip. I especially like the contrast and bokeh in the close up at the long end in 210mm.

Sunol Wildflower Festival with Pentax K-x

And in the last fall, I used it with Pentax K20D for some fall pictures while visiting Mountain View Shoreline Park.

Fall Color with Pentax K20D

PF in reflection

Pentax DA 70mm f/2.4 limited Test Shots

2010-06-16T19:35:00.001-07:00

I have created my own LBA dilemma in having overlap lens with Pentax FA 77mm f/1.8 limited. I bought the 70mm after the Pentax K-x purchase. Having the trio of DA limited lens in 21/40/70 is great in traveling with compact lens design. The 70mm serves well for portraits and candid shots in event. Its size is more compact than the 77mm limited but not by much when the fixed lens hood is mounted on the 70mm.

Hood is mounted on the 70mm limited

When the hood is mounted, it look closer in size to the 77mm limited. The fixed size lens hood in 70mm seems to double the actual size of the lens. The 70mm is actually quite small in size like the 21mm limited.

Impressions & Notes

The 70mm is closer to half the height of the 77mm when its hood is not mounted. Out of the DA limited lens in 21/35/40/70mm, I find the lens hood in the 70mm the biggest to be used that hide the compactness of the prime. I much prefer the thinner lens hood in the 21 and 40 limited.
Sharpness is pretty in par with 77. At least, that is my impressions. Color is better in the 77mm if I have to find something to talk it down.
The quick shift focus in 70mm wins it hand down for me as compared to the 77mm limited as I do find it great to have the overriding mechanics in quick shift which allow one to minor tune the focus after half-press.
Auto-focus is faster in 70mm than the 77mm. It is noticeably faster in K-x.

Thoughts on Pentax DA 21mm f/3.2 limited In Traveling

2010-06-15T18:30:00.001-07:00

It is my irony that I frequently go for zoom in traveling instead of having primes for less lens change. I have recently pushed myself in bringing two primes in short weekend trips with Pentax DA 21mm f/3.2 limited and Pentax DA 70mm f/2.4 limited. It is a surprise for me that I have gotten used to using the 21mm for both landscape and portraits. I see more in the background. And that is a welcoming thought that I have grown to love with the 21mm. It is a dependable limited pancake in traveling. It is not in the extreme wide angle but I find it very capable and dependable in traveling. I love the color and wonderful flare control that I can depend upon.

Great with portraits to add scenic background
with more to blend in the picture

Decent for street shooting
if emphasis is not on people as I do find
the need to get up close for portraits

Decent for indoor

Quick for indoor snapshot

Get up close in a pinch for portraits

Very dependable flare control
Built in lens hood outstanding

Impressions & Notes

Its close up is at 0.2 meters. Not sure on filter size as I see 43mm on the lens hood. The cap between the 70 and 21 are not interchangeable. Yes, one can still mount a 49mm on the lens but the hood will not fit. The lens hood that comes with the 21mm limited has inner thread that is likely to fit a 43mm filter.
Color is outstanding. I can't say it is the sharpest among all limited lens. It is quite good but I find other limited lens to be sharper than my 21mm.
Flare control is outstanding. I especially love its thin lens hood. The lens hood provides great protection to the lens that I don't find the need to put an optical filter for protection.
I am surprised to find its good use in portraits to blend in with great landscape on the background. You see more in the background.
Great pancake for traveling for sure. It is not an extreme wide angle but it has its pancake uniqueness to be much liked for its excellent build and compactness.

Thoughts on Pentax FA 77mm f/1.8 limited vs DA 70mm f/2.4 limited

2010-06-14T10:15:00.000-07:00

Now I am torn with two outstanding lens that are only used infrequently. I wish I am a photog who can justify keeping both. They are precious prime lens for portraits.

Hood is not mounted on 70mm

Hood is mounted on the 70mm limited

Both lenses extended to the shortest focus distance
at 0.7 meters

Pancake small in the 70mm limited

Beautiful 77mm in silver color

For best value with cheaper cost, the 70mm is a no brain-er to get. If you are tight in budget and that you have the K-x, get the 70mm as f/2.4 is plenty to work with the higher ISO in K-x. If you have the K20D/K7D and that you wants the best in color, get the 77mm. Sharpness to me are outstanding in both of them. I have yet to use more to tell one over the other. My impressions on differentiation on color between the two. In terms of color and contrast, the 77mm wins and it has that magical color rendition in both outdoor and indoor. AF is better in the 70mm and the quick shift focus in the 70mm is a handy plus over the 77mm especially in tricky scene needing manual control. AF in 70mm is noticeably faster with the 70mm.

When it comes to further trimming of my LBA overlap, I will likely keep the 77mm as my copy is from Japan but I digress with the thought in owning all the pancakes from Pentax as that is a unique set of small primes to use. Not that the 77mmm limited is big but the 70mm is really small like the 21mm prime. It is not that noticeable when the hood is mounted on the 70mm. When the hood on 70mm is not mounted, it shows like half the height of the 77mm.

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