Hin's Photo Corner: average

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Pentax F 35-135mm f/3.5-4.5

2009-03-04 Posted by Hin Man

I sold this Pentax zoom a little while ago to a forum friend of mine. I only managed to borrow it from buyer for an extra day of test shots before shipping. The focal range appeals to me as it is close to Pentax DA* 50-135mm f/2.8.

In the short time that I used it, I kept thinking of the Pentax DA 50-200mm f/4.5-5.6 or the Pentax FA 28-105mm f/3.2-4.5. While this zoom is faster than the DA zoom, its performance is not as good as the DA zoom for walk around purpose. For one, it is heavy and AF seems slower in this lens. I have used cheaper power zoom as in Pentax FA 28-80mm f/3.5-4.7 and I like the performance of power zoom over this lens. The minimum focusing distance is longer than I get used to, I recall closer to 7 feet making it not ideal for walk around. The close up is in the far end in 135mm end that allow close up to flowers.

Test Shots

Impressions & Notes

Overall not a bad zoom to have but there are better zooms that are lighter for walk around purpose
Size is small but it is heavier than walk around alternatives
Close up quite reasonable for flowers in the 135mm end
AF hunts in indoor setting

Sigma 35-105mm f/3.5-4.5 in K mount

2008-10-21 Posted by Hin Man

I get impressed with this petite zoom mounted along with a used Pentax ME Super body. It is not my intention to get this lens but I have a broken ME Super body to fix and hence the buying of the used body that get mounted with this manual focus zoom from Sigma. I much prefer this Sigma MF zoom than few other consumer AF zooms as the manual focus is lose and allow fast focusing with smooth turn and the zoom lens comes with 1:5 close up. Focal range is good for walk around and I especially like it as a kit's lens for walk around

Test Shots:

Impressions & Notes:

zoom lens quite good for walkaround
I favor this zoom range to 105mm as a kit lens for walk around purpose,
focal range very good for portraits
a good MF lens to practice manual focusing with strength in fast focusing
zoom lens is best in its small size and fast focusing ring
close up in 1:5 is not too impressive, a convenient feature with the zoom but shaprness can be better
very cute MF zoom from Sigma with reasonable good speed in f/3.5-4.5
while tested good in K10D, I think this lens will go well on a film body such as in K1000, Super Program, ME Super and the like

Tamron-F Tele-converter 2x KR MC4 -- 600mm Tamron Lens

2008-07-31 Posted by Hin Man

Conventional wisdom has told us to use TC only with prime. With a 2X TC, it is not advisable to use with a consumer grade lens. With a limited budget, I have to defy the conventional wisdom and get the cheapo TC to a work out

My 600mm rig stands tall and it is hand-holdable in 600mm.
Tamron 70-300 Di LD
Tamron-F 2x KR MC4 TC

The TC has 6 electrical contacts with aperture metering all pass through TC from lens back to body. 'A' metering is available and manual focus at 600mm is still feasible. Some test pictures done with Pentax K10D

70mm perspective without TC

Tamron-F 2x KR MC4 TC, Tamron 70-300 Di LD Test Pictures

300mm without TC

600mm with Tamron 2x TC

Impressions & Notes:

Feasible to hand hold the TC + Tamron lens as walk around as all are pretty lightweight
AF is lost with the TC
No SDM contacts noted in the TC
2 stop loss in metering, effectively 600mm at f/11.00, quite taxing
TC not suitable for shots with movement
SR works quite well though with static objects
Due to manual focus lens, SR focal length can be dialed in correctly for 600mm in the long end.
SR is found to be effective.
Expect better sharpness with use of tripod
Expect better sharpness with use of better lens as a prime

Vivitar 28-210 Macro Zoom Test Shots

2007-12-27 Posted by Hin Man

I sold this lens to another Pentaxian for cheap, roughly $30 just for the lens. And I sold it with a 72mm polarizer and a 72mm UV filter. Though the lens is not very sharp wide open, I can attest that with proper stop down on apertures, it is a reasonable zoom lens for the money.

If you see the lens under $50, I would recommend it as a outdoor zoom lens that one can practice on manual focusing. The lens comes in the heavy side and its minimal focusing length is about 7 to 8 feet on the focal zoom range from 28mm to 200mm and it is not quite usable for indoor shooting. But for outdoor with flower and longer distance to object and the use of 210mm focal length, the zoom is quite usable and the zoom ring is great for manual focusing. One caveat noted with the zoom ring is that it is heavy and can slide zooming in and out without a zoom lock and it may be difficult to use for some situations that need a tilted angle. If you hold it in your hand, that is not an issue but it is impossible to use on a tripod with a tilted angles and remote as you need to hold the zoom ring to prevent it from sliding.

About metering, I use Manual mode with stop down metering in my K100D, with limited testing on the lens, I find the needed adjustment of +0.3Ev to +0.7Ev adjustment on Av aperture and in Manual mode, I adjust the timing to yield the equivalent Ev compensation.

Overall, I would have little complaint about the lens if I buy it again for $50, an inexpensive lens for practicing manual focus.

Pentax M42 Pentacon 50mm f/1.8

2007-09-14 Posted by Hin Man

Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 (M42 mount)

PP in Picasa for heavy shadow to
salvage from flash photo

K100D with Bowers M42 adapter

Thoughts on Takumar Asahi 28-80 Macro

2007-08-17 Posted by Hin Man

I have no more remorse over my impulse purchase of Takumar Asahi 28-80 Macro upon expiration notice from eBay for $37 through the buy-it-now option with J.D.Katz in eBay. And I wish the store owner can stock up on Pentax gear and he is a perfect score eBay vendor on Minota gear. And I for one have given him perfect rating over the purchase. Here are few positive thoughts on the inexpensive lens

Manual focusing is difficult but not as bad as I thought it would be.
Color and Contrast seems to be better than my impressions on DA 18-55 but I certainly miss the AF in the kit's lens over manual focusing.
Sharpness seems better with this zoom than DA 18-55.
The zoom range from 28-80 is much more usable for my causal walk around use with static objects such as flowers and scenery with buildings. I seldom use at 18mm in my kit's len as I don't have the opportunity in traveling landscape scenery and at wide open, I think the kit's len is soft. I find the zoom 28-80 much more versatile in casual street photography.
The lens is on the heavy side though. It is much heavier than the kit's len but better built in my initial impressions.
Focusing ring is wider than that in my DA lens. I find it acceptable in the manual focusing with focus trap technique in moving the focusing ring past the spot with red light for focusing lock. I usually find myself not locking focus the first time reaching the spot. It usually take me three trials in order to get the focus lock and shutter release enabled.

Update: after further exploration with M42 lens such as Pentacon 50mm f/1.8, I find the Takumar focusing ring much harder to tune for focus as compared to older M42 lens. It is wider than the kit's lens but not wide enough for the fine tuning needed in manual focusing. I guess I get what I pay for. On the Takumar, the focusing ring is quite slippery to tune for a stable position. It would have been nice if the ring is wider and not as slippery.
At night time, the manual focusing part is way harder as the lens is slow wide open at f/3.5. But manual focusing is still manageable, not great though.
It is impossible for me to focus off center without using the navigation to shift focus point. I am used to center focus and recompose the shot. I have only managed to do center focus so far with manual focusing method.
Due to fine tunning required in manual focusing, it is much hard to do vertical oriented pictures than horizontal one.
Macro, the lens does macor at 80mm, it surprises me with the Macro in getting a close distance though I don't have the specific on how close I can get, perhaps somewhere less than a feet
Lens Flare: it does happen when I take a shot on purpurse and I have since purchased an inexpensive lens hood to add to my gear along with better front cap.

Picture of Takumar with added lens hood

Picture of Takumar in original purchase
Courtesy from store owner J.D.Katz in eBay

Takumar Asahi 28-80mm Macro Pentax A mount

2007-08-06 Posted by Hin Man

Yeah, I thought I never would fall for LBA (Lens Buying Addiction) as I am running a low budget for my hobby. Maybe too much coffee or something. When I saw my watched item close to expiration in ebay, I click and then somewhat remorse for not doing the proper research. And I fall for this one today getting TAKUMAR ASAHI 28-80mm MACRO from ebay with beautiful pictures form the ebay vendor J.D.Katz in eBay who specializes in Minolta gear. Pictures are courtesy from store owner J.D.Katz.

My first LBA costs me $37 bucks plus shipping and I later find out people complaining about it as a crappy lens. There are threads praising Takumar on the M42 mount version. How would a newbie like me can tell? My bad excuse but still a little bit of remorseful!!! It is coming in a week's time and time will tell. I like to be challenged with inexpensive lens such as the kit's len and the DA 50-200. I bought this lens for the following purposes:

An inexpensive M lens with A for auto aperture so that I don't need to stop down to have proper exposure. I need to venture into the untapped world of Pentax old M lens and M42 lens in the future.
I can't find the equivalent of A 50 mm f/1.7 for a reasonable price to try out the highly regarded M lens and I personally find zoom lens to be easier for me to frame my shot.
I like the range of 28-80mm and it has macro although I don't know the spec for the macro.

Useful Links:

Hin's Photo Corner

Pentax F 35-135mm f/3.5-4.5

Sigma 35-105mm f/3.5-4.5 in K mount

Tamron-F Tele-converter 2x KR MC4 -- 600mm Tamron Lens

Vivitar 28-210 Macro Zoom Test Shots

Pentax M42 Pentacon 50mm f/1.8

Thoughts on Takumar Asahi 28-80 Macro

Takumar Asahi 28-80mm Macro Pentax A mount

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