Are you gearing up for the holidays?
It’s the middle of October, and the holidays are almost upon us. Are you gearing up for holiday photography? Do you have a photographic tradition? Are there shots you recreate each holiday season to create a record of your family and friends through the years? Do you pull out your gear in anticipation of the colorful costumes and the glittering lights? Or do you say Bah Humbug! And drop your gear in a closet until January 2nd? And pull out an unadorned aluminum pole and start The Airing of the Grievances? Or do you go about photographing landscapes and birds and astrotraces and ignore all those people and their annoying calendars? What are your photographic plans for the rest of the season? Vote in this week’s poll, and let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Elsewhere this week, Loyal Site Supporter UncleVanya falls down a rabbit hole and wants all of us to go with him and explain why we take photos; New Member shawnbo takes a look at the SMC Pentax-A 400mm F5.6; and Loyal Site Supporter Scorpio71GR puts the SMC Pentax-FA* 28-70mm F2.8 AL through its paces.
If you’ve been forwarded this newsletter, please take a moment to join the more than 1,400 Pentaxians who have subscribed to our free currated compendium of the hundreds of great images and post shared each week in our Pentax community. Please let us know your thoughts here in the comments and on our Pentax Forums, and have a perfect Pentaxian week!
Threads of the Week:
October 8, 2024 • General Photography • 112 replies • 3262 views
UncleVanya said — A rabbit hole opened up and I fell into it. This video discusses the sharing of photos online and how it has warped our perspective of what a photographer of success is - using Vivian Maier as a counter example. So my question to all of you…Why do you do photography? Read more »
In Praise of the Smartphone Camera
October 12, 2024 • General Photography • 11 replies • 656 views
c.a.m said — Like many other folks, my wife and I headed out the other evening to catch the Northern Lights -- Aurora Borealis. I had been tracking several websites through the day, and figured the sky would be ablaze, considering the projected Kp index of 8.5 - 9. Read more »
October 12, 2024 • Pentax SLR Lens Discussion • 4 replies • 601 views
pres589 said — There's debate about different 50mm prime options for Pentax K mount. I've participated in some, pitting lenses like the Pentax M 50mm f1.4 vs. the f1.7. Or how I've considered my "Sears" Chinon 50mm f1.7 (more on the name later) to be more artistic ...Read more »
Pentaxian User Reviews
Pentax Lenses
SMC Pentax-A 400mm F5.6
Reviewed by New Member shawnbo
Review Date: October 13, 2024 Recommended | Price: $150.00 | Rating: 10
Pros: Build quality, hood, ease of focus, close focus distance, resolution
Cons: Length, PF in high contrast scenes
Sharpness: 9 Aberrations: 5 Bokeh: 7 Handling: 10 Value: 10 Camera Used: K-70
I've wanted this lens since the mid 80s, and finally found an excellent copy for a great price. Initial results are spectacular - it's much easier to focus than expected, and resolution is astounding. Color rendering is typical for A series lenses. It's long, but not overly heavy considering it's focal length. Close focus distance is great at about eight feet. I did experience purple fringing in a bright, extreme contrast scene, as several other reviewers have noted. Overall, I'm very impressed with this vintage glass.
Digital cameras really make this lens come alive with good resolution high ISO sensors. This lens would have been a frustrating, costly beast with ISO 100 transparency film. It's a handheld delight with my K-70 @ ISO 500. I bought this lens primarily to try it for astrophotography but anticipate using it frequently in general use.
SMC Pentax-FA* 28-70mm F2.8 AL
Reviewed by Loyal Site Supporter Scorpio71GR
Review Date: October 12, 2024 Recommended | Price: $285.00 | Rating: 9
Pros: Color rendering, sharpness, contrast, size
Cons: No Internal focus or zoom, 28 not 24mm, heavy for its size
It has been 3 years since the last review so I thought I would add my experience with this lens. This is a lens I really never intended buying. However when a long standing Forum member put a copy up for sale in the Marketplace for a really low price I decided to pull the trigger. I will start with that I do not own the DFA 24-70. That lens is a bit too big for my everyday needs. I have been quite content with the DFA 28-105. I also had a Sigma 24-60 f2.8, but I ended up selling that lens. One might ask why buy this lens in 2024. Well there are a few reasons. One is the 67mm front element versus the 82mm front element of the DFA 24-70. That makes a huge difference when trying to fit multiple lenses into a bag. The other reason may be to experience something different from the current digital lenses that seem to prioritize sharpness over everything else. All of the FA lenses tend to built on compromise. This is true of all of the FA* and FA Limited lenses. Just look at the FA*28-70. First it is 28 not 24mm. Second it lacks internal focus and internal zoom. There is some CA and PF especially at wider apertures. All this is built into the design. I believe one the main reasons was to keep the overall size down. Something Pentax was always known for. 28mm instead of 24mm keeps the lens diameter smaller while still maintaining the constant F2.8 aperture. The lack of internal zoom keeps the lens more compact when it is at its widest focal range. This makes the lens easier to store. Allowing some PF and CA keeps the overall number of elements down along with the weight. In all the lens is one built on compromise.
However there is a reason for all of this and it comes down to the rendering. There is just something different, something special about these FA* and FA Limited lenses. The way colors are rendered, the way the detail comes out, the microconstast and that 3D effect you can get. It is something that can be done with post processing software but these lenses can obtain that naturally. Now this may not be for everyone. Some may find this style is not their thing and want pure sharpness across the entire frame. If that is what you are looking for then this lens is most likely not for you. I have found the sweet spot to be around f6.3 to f8. Shot on the K-1
Pentax Cameras
Pentax KX
Reviewed by New Member joe8
Review Date: October 10, 2024 Recommended | Price: $30.00 | Rating: 10
Pros: great famous camera Cons:1/60 sec. flash sync, but otherwise nothing
Delivery from Japan in good condition. This famous "working horse" of PENTAX was bought at a bargain low price. So I've intended an analogue revival of so many Takumar lenses with VELVIA films. The lenses are worth to be used once again with respect and fun. For butterfies' and insects' macro shootings K-S2 and K-5 are both the better choice, but for landscapes and portraits this wonderful camera without AF gives me the feeling of pure photographic art. Here in Germany analogue photography becomes actually a new trend. my full recommendation with 10 points.
Comment of the Week:
Site Supporter smegsjr on What's the best 1st camera for a photographer? The Best of Pentax Forums Oct 9 Poll: When my granddaughter became interested in photography, I gave her my K100D with a kit lens and a basic overview of how to use it. My advise was to use it and make the mistakes. She still has and uses that camera today (along with much newer equipment) The big advantage with giving a digital over my K1000 (which I learned on) was cost. Film is expensive to process, digital is not. I wanted to give her something that she would use and see the results quickly and make adjustments. There a hundreds of cheap (under $100) DSLRs out there that take great pictures that anyone can start with. You can learn everything on a cheap DSLR including the effects of lenses. In my opinion, you don't need expensive equipment to take great pictures. That 6.1mp camera was once the peak of the digital world.
The Best of Pentax Forums October 16 Poll
The holidays are upon us! Halloween is just two weeks away. Thanksgiving is a month after, and then Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza and Festivus a month after, with the whole holiday season capped off by New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
Are you gearing up for holiday photography? Do you have a photographic tradition? Are there shots you recreate each holiday season to create a record of your family and friends through the years? Do you pull out your gear in anticipation of the colorful costumes and the glittering lights? Or do you say Bah Humbug! And drop your gear in a closet until January 2nd? And pull out an unadorned aluminum pole and start The Airing of the Grievances? Or do you go about photographing landscapes and birds and astrotraces and ignore all those people and their annoying calendars?
What are your photographic plans for the rest of the season? Vote in this week’s poll. And if you have a beautiful or clever tradition, share it with your fellow Pentaxians in the comments!
This poll closes October 22.
And here are the results of last week’s poll:
From the Pentax Forums YouTube Channel
More on the the Pentax 17 half-frame camera : so good I bought one! Here’s a short video showing how to rewind a finished roll of film, then load a new roll.
Weekly Photo Challenges
Posted By: AstroDave, 10-07-24 Thank you Frank (xs400) for choosing my shot looking up in the Aspen Grove as the #677 winner. Let's continue that theme. Show me your shots looking more-or-less straight up. I somewhat forced myself to take some of my examples here. Most of us shoot looking "out" rather than up, unless we are going for birds or airplanes, or into astrophotography. So, please, no sunsets, sunrises, birds, airplanes, or astrophotos this week! The challenge will close at midnight in your time zone on Tuesday, October 15, 2024.
And here’s Site Supporter noelcmn’s submission: The roof of Rosebank Catholic Church with the Bower 8mm Fisheye.
A Walk Down Memory Lane
The 7th most popular thread in the Lens Clubs forum with 1,084,348 views and 4,212 posts over 281 pages is the Soviet Lens Club. On July 4, 2008, Veteran Member Voe said: We have threads/clubs for lenses like M, K, Zeiss so I was thinking why not have a special thread for old Soviet and new Russian lenses? In this posting I would like to start with a close to 50 years old lens based on Carl Zeiss Flektogon optical diagram. Mir-1 is a 37mm f/2.8 lens and was designed to better the Zeiss Flektogon which according Wikipedia the first element in this lens was a disperser meniscus to reduce vignette effects when photographing with an open diaphragm. Obviously the lens was a big success as it won the Grand Prix award at the 1958 Expo in Brussels, which should have been very odd for a communist country to receive considering the Cold War. I acquired this lens from eBay for $20USD which is about 10 times cheaper than what you would pay for a second hand Zeiss Flektogon 35mm f/2.8. As you can see the lens has seen a lot of use, but the glass is in mint condition.
And here’s an image from the most recent post, by amateur dirt farmer pepperberry farm: MIR 38B 65mm f3.5
PentaxForum Front page stories October 9-15:
September "Travel" Contest Finalists Announced
Vote for the overall winner!
By PF Staff in Photo Contests on Oct 15, 2024
After the end of the nomination phase of last month's official Travel photo contest, we're now ready to announce our top 15 finalists! Click on the link below to view the photos in full size and cast your vote in the poll:
Vote for your favorite photo in the poll
As usual for our monthly photo contests, voting closes in a week, and then we'll announce the winners.