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Pentax Is In!

algrove

Well-known member
Someone somewhere maybe on the PentaxForum mentioned he like the 400 for long shots. That might be an option for you.

I got my 300 mainly for distant landscape use, but might carry it more often than I figured since it weighs so little.
 

Chris Giles

New member
Pradeep, I'm liking the 35 FA more than the A right now.

I've a 300mm F4 FA arriving tomorrow, if you're after a 300mm I'll be selling my A version shortly (as long as the FA version is razor sharp like my current version is). Depends on your weight and AF needs of course.

I shot a wedding over the weekend with the Z too. Whilst I really like the image quality the zoom lenses are a little slow to attain focus for me and at 4.5 a little too soft (relative to the primes) so I'll be using primes almost exclusively now.

Good times. I sold my Hasselblad btw, took a few months though and there's a lot of them on ebay at the moment, more than I've ever seen.

That shot with the 35mm FA of my dog I posted was from a deliberate underexposure:
 

Pradeep

Member
Pradeep, I'm liking the 35 FA more than the A right now.

I've a 300mm F4 FA arriving tomorrow, if you're after a 300mm I'll be selling my A version shortly (as long as the FA version is razor sharp like my current version is). Depends on your weight and AF needs of course.

I shot a wedding over the weekend with the Z too. Whilst I really like the image quality the zoom lenses are a little slow to attain focus for me and at 4.5 a little too soft (relative to the primes) so I'll be using primes almost exclusively now.

Good times. I sold my Hasselblad btw, took a few months though and there's a lot of them on ebay at the moment, more than I've ever seen.

That shot with the 35mm FA of my dog I posted was from a deliberate underexposure:
Chris, I think you may be right, the zooms are not tack sharp wide open I am told. The 45-85 I just got is sharp at 45mm but need to stop down at longer lengths.

Unbelievable, how much the shadows can be pulled, your picture demonstrates that once again.

Unlike with Canon, on the Pentax I am metering the entire frame instead of center weighted since it is critical to expose for the highlights. There is little fear of underexposure (usually).

FWIW, I bit the bullet and ordered a 150 2.8 and a 300 5.6 last night from Japan. Former is brand new for $880, latter in 'near mint' condition for $750. This would complete my collection except for an ultra-wide. I am likely to go for a 25mm if I can find one or will wait for them to release a newer version.

After my experience with the 45-55 from Japan I am quite happy to get more stuff from there.

Pradeep
 

Pemihan

Well-known member
That shadow pull looks absolutely unbelievable.... Amazing..

Pradeep, just sent you an email :)

Peter
 

tsjanik

Well-known member
I'm glad you're happy with your choice Pradeep. If I were going to Africa, I'd take the 400mm FA; it's excellent and not very heavy.
A tip I just discovered (perhaps because this is my first use of live view): with the 645Z in live and focus peaking, using the optical DOF preview on the shutter allows you to see the DOF with peaking and no dimming.

Tom
 

Pradeep

Member
I'm glad you're happy with your choice Pradeep. If I were going to Africa, I'd take the 400mm FA; it's excellent and not very heavy.
A tip I just discovered (perhaps because this is my first use of live view): with the 645Z in live and focus peaking, using the optical DOF preview on the shutter allows you to see the DOF with peaking and no dimming.

Tom

Tom, thanks for the tip, I tried something like this last night but wasn't sure what I was looking at. Now it makes sense.

I am not thinking of a long zoom for Africa to get close to the animals but rather a medium length (say around 200mm or so) so I can get an 'animal in habitat' rather than a close and tight portrait. I sold my Canon 600 MkII a few months ago because over the years I've come to realize that my most evocative images are the ones where the animal is smaller in the frame and is a part of the story and not the story in itself.

So, from an MF perspective, 300mm may be just right. I plan to take the 75 2.8, the 150 2.8 and the 300 5.6 to Africa (of course I will also have my Canon gear for the fast action shots). I may throw in the 55mm if I have room.

Here are a couple I took in Kenya and Tanzania. The lions on the airstrip (Canon FF, 70mm)is one of my favorites, nothing screams Africa like lions and nothing illustrates the human/wildlife interaction better than something like this. I also love the buffaloes in the Ngorongoro crater (Sony APS-C, 24mm), again, the majesty of the crater and the wonderful life within is quite evident.

Just my thoughts.

Pradeep
 

Pradeep

Member
Beautiful images Pradeep!

Are you familiar with Andy Bigg's work? I think you'll enjoy it.
Andy Biggs Photo Safaris

Peter
Thanks Peter. Yes, I do love Andy's work, he has been using a Phase One kit lately alongside his Nikon gear.

My favorite wildlife photographers are Frans Lanting and Nick Brandt, the latter particularly has a unique style which he developed using MF film cameras. There are many many others too, like Greg du Toit who are simply amazing.

The thing with all of these people is that that is all they do, take pictures in an environment they have worked hard to become absolutely familiar with. They spend weeks if not months on site and are totally dedicated to their cause. It is no wonder that they are able to achieve the high quality and emotions in their images.

Me, I am at best a weekend photographer with a full time job that keeps me busier than I'd like, but also allows me to indulge in my passion for photography. I am happy if I can take a shot that inspires me to go out and do some more.

Pradeep
 

Nick Devlin

New member
Hey Pradeep!

Great to see the "z" has fired your passion to shoot. Mine too. I've vaguely intended to do a follow-up review, but mostly I'm too busy shooting. I have picked almost every lens bc they are so darn cheap compared to the other systems. I've not bothered with the 90mm bc it is just too big and the VR is silly, imho, and the price is too high. But I would be all over a new 45-90mm, which I think is on the roadmap. The existing 45-85 is, as you say, surprisingly good for the price, but not superb wide-open on the longer end. The 80-160 is very unit-dependent in my experience, though it is never stellar at 160 - much better at 150mm.

I like the 300f5.6 but regret selling the 300FA f4 when I sold the 645D.

The 35mm is superb - I actually slightly prefer the feel of the "A". Version.

And yes, the FA120 macro is the most ridiculous lens for the price.

Cheers!

- N.
 

D&A

Well-known member
Joe,

If I could add a comment or two to your well thought out posting. .Pentax through the years, especially in the 60's, 70's and 80's was a world class designer of optics. In actuality, this family run company was more of an innovator of optics than camera bodies. When they needed to push the limits of performance in certain lens catagories and cost restraints were removed from the designers ability to be innovate, they came up with many optical gems that till today stands with the best of them. Of course most were in the relm of the 35mm format but some extended into their 645 and 67 lens lines.

One early notable lens was the co designed 15mm f3.5 along with Contax and even executed a aspherical and non aspherical version. It was a big hit at an early Photokina.and Pentax at that time rarely mentioned the exotic glass utilized in many of their lenses, as advertising such facts were not their style. Many assumed they were slightly behind the times while other companies touted the exotic glass and construction techniques applied to their lenses in comsumer advertisements. Penatx appeared to be bigger than they were and truly was the little engine that could.

Unlike Leica and Zeiss and some other big name manufacturerrs, resources were limited for this relatively small company and as you explained Joe, cost considerations to reach popular price points took priority in designing lenses and products. From what I understand, their optical engineers had the repsect of many of their counterparts in the industry.

One of the last major harahs of the original company was to market the first mass produced full frame DSLR co developed by Pentax and Contax. This was their effort to enter the digital DSLR fray with a bang since others already had their APS DSLR's for a number of years. Pentax though pulled out of the project at the last minute feeling the camera wouldn't reach financial success and would place a big financial burden on the company while Contax went ahead and released an initial batch of production cameras. The rest is history as they say as to the losses Contax took by also not following Pentax's lead to pull out.

Joe's suggestions and observations about current state of affairs of the Pentax medium format system and lenses are excellent and spot on. Nice write up Joe and excellent advice.

Dave (D&A)
 
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Georg Baumann

Subscriber Member
The eBay seller is located in Japan. ...And with careful and patient shopping, there are lens bargains to be had. That's my two cents.
Hi Joe,

This is something I tried to get my head around. Michiel bought 8 lenses already, before buying the 645z. You say, "with careful shopping" and at the same time you explained rightly so the massive quality variations in the line up. So is that "careful shopping" not a contradiction per se?

There is no way to say what kind of sausage you might have bought before you can test the lens, by then it is too late. Or am I missing something here?

Only case I can see, is if I buy from a local dealer with a right to return a possible sausage after a few days.

Best
G

P.S.
:) Congrats Pradeep
 

Michiel Schierbeek

Well-known member
Georg, I did (globally) test all my lenses on a friend's PentaxD body.
The A LS 75 is supurb. Tested it on my face as well with extra lighting with the leaf shutter and I never saw so many wrinkles before in my face :eek:

Three lenses I bought personally from a Belgium wedding photographer.
A 35/3.5, Fa 45-85, Fa 85-160 (for € 1100,- :thumbup:)
Only the 35 sells for around 650, if not more because I have seen prices rise a lot lately, excluding mailing/import/tax costs already.
They are all good.

I bought the FA 55 from Australia for € 620,-- everything included. It works but I did not test it severly, although this is a relativly new lens designed for the PentaxD, so I don't expect problems.

The other three were really cheap, so if there is a problem I just buy another one. :)
Also one of them is the A version of the 60-180, so I am going to sell it anyway.

So I have been rather careful, I think.

I can buy the Pentax Z from a HongKong based seller onestop-digital.com for €6,867.99 of which I can deduct 2% when I pay by banktransfer and for a few Euros more of that amount I will take the tree year warranty option . The only drawback is that I have to send the camera all the way to HongKong for repair. BTW mailing costs are for free and all import taxes will be refunded immediatly.

So I could be all set for now for € 8.800,-- including the lenses I bought which is less then the body + 55 kitlens in our shops here.
 

Georg Baumann

Subscriber Member
Thanks for the explanations Michiel. OK, if you can check lenses on a friends Pentax, that sounds careful enough.

I must be living behind the moon or something. I just saw in the Sony section that Guy also ordered a Loxia from Hong Kong.

Looks like you Folks get a very special deal there. For people living in Germany, well, it ain't so sweet a deal.

At the moment, this VAT Free guarantee only applies to orders shipped to Australia, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
I would be worried to purchase from Hong Kong to be honest. I was burned before, not from Hong Kong though, with purchasing goods outside Europe. Ordered stuff from OWC for my Mac and kabooom, the UPS man collected a hefty import duty or would not release the goods to me. It would also bother me that I could not get a world wide warranty, instead of shipping to Hong Kong in case something is faulty. I saw the three years option, and I might be too suspicious, but to be safe I would suggest to investigate all this with Pentax directly. Do they recognise this three years warranty upgrade? Is the dealer known to them, stuff like that. This deal with refunding of import taxes is kinda strange to me and raises some red flags. I hope you don't get burned there!!

Well, good luck with all that Michiel! Looking forward to your experiences, which will be very very pleasant with such a fine camera, no doubts! :thumbup:
 

Pradeep

Member
Hey Pradeep!

Great to see the "z" has fired your passion to shoot. Mine too. I've vaguely intended to do a follow-up review, but mostly I'm too busy shooting. I have picked almost every lens bc they are so darn cheap compared to the other systems. I've not bothered with the 90mm bc it is just too big and the VR is silly, imho, and the price is too high. But I would be all over a new 45-90mm, which I think is on the roadmap. The existing 45-85 is, as you say, surprisingly good for the price, but not superb wide-open on the longer end. The 80-160 is very unit-dependent in my experience, though it is never stellar at 160 - much better at 150mm.

I like the 300f5.6 but regret selling the 300FA f4 when I sold the 645D.

The 35mm is superb - I actually slightly prefer the feel of the "A". Version.

And yes, the FA120 macro is the most ridiculous lens for the price.

Cheers!

- N.
Thank you Nick. Yes, I am enjoying this camera a lot. What with the weather getting warmer here in NY it has been a lot of fun.

Thanks Dave, your history of Pentax is very interesting.

I now have six lenses for the Z - selling the Phase helped a lot :)

The 45-85 FA, 55 2.8, 75 FA, 120 FA macro, 150 FA 2.8, and the 300 FA 5.6

The 55 came free with the camera, the 75 and 150 were bought new, the rest in 'near mint' condition used.

Total cost for five lenses $3700

Very happy with the overall performance. The 300 5.6 is ridiculously light, weighs only 775 gm and is about the same dimensions and weight as my Canon 70-200 f4.

Stopped down one from wide open they are all sharp enough for me. What is amazing is the price/performance ratio. When you combine this with the fact that most of them are really light and small (the 75 and 300 are incredibly so), you wonder why everything else in the MF world is so heavy and pricey.
 

Pradeep

Member
Also want to add that my experience with the ebay Japan sellers has been very positive. The guy I bought the 150 2.8 from not only packed it very well but sent me a small hand-written thank you note in an envelope and a small packet of green tea as a gesture of goodwill! How often do you get that from an American vendor? The stuff arrived in less than 4 days too, with free shipping, at a price lower than anything locally.

Cannot beat that.
 

D&A

Well-known member
I once purchased a lens from someone here in the states and included in the parcel were two of those red and white tiny mints wrapped in celephane that one gets free when walking out of a inexpensive dinner type restaurant (as a gesture to say thank yoi for thr purchase). So see, U.S. sellers are generous too...LOL. On second thought I'd rather have the tea :).

Dave (D&A)
 
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