Mirchi Cafe with Pentax DA 15mm f/4.0 limited

2010-07-28
Pentax DA 15mm f/4.0 limited on food shots
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.

Pentax DA 15mm f/4.0 limited on food shots1/40 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.

Pentax DA 15mm f/4.0 limited on food shots1/40 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.

Pentax DA 15mm f/4.0 limited on food shots1/25 sec, f/4.0, 15mm, ISO 1600, 0 Ev


Pentax DA 15mm f/4.0 limited on food shots1/40 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.

Pentax DA 15mm f/4.0 limited on food shotsColor is off in AWB

Pentax DA 15mm f/4.0 limited on food shotsChicken 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.

Pentax DA 15mm f/4.0 limited on food shotsGreat Chef in Middle behind doorway to Kitchen


Pentax DA 15mm f/4.0 limited on food shotsA goodbye shot to a wonderful experience in Mirchi Cafe
I recommend the specialty dish with Naan and Rice

4 comments:

Nathan Stitt said...

I am beginning to think that the limited lenses I would most want to have are this 15mm and the 35mm macro. Thank you for the images.

Hin Man said...

Hi Nathan, I find the combo in 15, 35 along with a zoom like 55-300 to be wonderful to have in traveling. I have a cheapo Tamron 70-300mm instead in my New Zealand trip. Of course, there are gaps but I think my three combo in 15,35 and 70-300 to be quite alright in my trip to NZ. I love the 35 for its macro, documentary and candid usage. If you prefer something smaller and that macro is not a priority, the 40mm is a top-notch lens to be considered as it is the smallest pancake and I find it very sharp lens with great bokeh in real usage.

James W said...

I'm thinking of getting the 15mm limited. However it is one of the more expensive Pentax primes.

Already have the FA 50mm so 40mm or 43mm is too close. Thanks for your write up.

Hin Man said...

In my opinion and experience, the 15mm is worth the extra especially when you find the need and frequent use of the lens. The 15 limited is small like a pancake lens. All the limited lens cost more unfortunately and I got some of my limited through buying in the used market. My biggest mistake happened when I sold my 21 after getting 15. It has something to do with guilty feeling. Now in retrospect, the 15 and 21 are very different and both serve a unique usage. The 21 is better suited for street photography while I find the 15 better suited for scenes that need a wider view.

You can pair the 15 or 21 with a good zoom. Such as 15 limited and a Tamron 28-75 or 15mm plus a good Sigma 17-70 or Pentax DA 17-70. I recommend the 15 highly. But the caveat happens to me that it is too wide for street photography and portrait shooting while in traveling. The 21mm limited is better candidate for those normal to wide shooting and the 21 does better on portrait candid shooting.

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Welcome to Hin's Photo Corner, this is my learning blog on photography, blogging and advertising. And I hope you enjoy your visit. For contact, please comment in blog post or email me directly hintheman at gmail.com.

 

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