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Fun with the Pentax K5

Rich M

Member
Early morning light.....don't bother me.

(Of course, this is all after he had me up at 4:00am.....I think he heard the Easter rabbit ;) ).



R
 

Armanius

New member
Nice shots Armanius... were you having some issues with focusing? They don't look as sharp as they should to me?

I actually sold the GH2 a month or so ago. Just couldn't love it. For video it's hard to beat, but it just wasn't doing it for me for photography and I felt like I could put the money towards something I would like a whole lot more. For the money I paid for it, I didn't want to have it just sitting around playing second fiddle. I ended up buying a GH1 (mostly for video) because Panasonic was having such a great sale ($350)... but honestly, between the M8 and now the K5, I doubt the GH1 will ever get used to take a photo... LOL... though I won't feel bad about it sitting in my photo cabinet when it only cost $350.
Thanks Amy. I am having problems with the DA15's focus, for sure. I took a few shots in low light, and I was disappointed. At first, I figured that the softness was due to the low shutter speed. But I took a few more during the daylight over the weekend, and I couldn't get any crisp shots. I've played a little bit with the micro adjustment, but I'm going to send the DA15 back.

The second shot was with the FA35, and it seems pretty sharp to me. That was shot at F2. It's a pretty good performer wide open and probably slightly sharper than the FA31 at F1.8. At F2.8, the FA35 gets razor sharp.
 

woodyspedden

New member
Thanks Amy. I am having problems with the DA15's focus, for sure. I took a few shots in low light, and I was disappointed. At first, I figured that the softness was due to the low shutter speed. But I took a few more during the daylight over the weekend, and I couldn't get any crisp shots. I've played a little bit with the micro adjustment, but I'm going to send the DA15 back.

The second shot was with the FA35, and it seems pretty sharp to me. That was shot at F2. It's a pretty good performer wide open and probably slightly sharper than the FA31 at F1.8. At F2.8, the FA35 gets razor sharp.
Armanius

I just received my DA 15 and have no apparent problems with focus so my guess would be a bad copy. I have had my K5 for about two weeks (little time to shoot though as I have been having some back surgeries.) I found that achieving focus consistently was not as easy as expected. However now that I have gotten more experience my hits are improving with each passing day.

I spent a lot of time shuttling lenses back and forth to B&H in New York and my conclusions are that the FA series ( 31, 43 and 77) are the best of the bunch. I got the DA 15 as I needed a wide angle for certain shots. Not the super best lens I have ever used (pretty spoiled by the Nikon 14-24!) but nontheless a useful product. I suspect I will get either the Macro 100 or the standard 200 to deal with those needs but we will see. In the end I want no more than five lenses for all my work.

In general, I must say the K5 is a product that performs well beyond its' price point and I look forward to a long and happy existence together

Woody Spedden
 

benroy

Subscriber Member
I feel the same way about the K-5, Woody...very comfortable and an excellent performer.
My M8 and D700 gear hasn't left the shelf since I picked up the K-5. I think I have gotten around the wide angle situation with the Zeiss ZK lenses...(discontinued, I think, and hard to find). I have found the 35/2.8 macro, 40 Pancake, 50-135/2.8, and 200/2.8 to be keepers...I use them every day, along with the Sigma 70/2.8 macro. The jury is still out on the 100 WR macro...sharp, but very cranky AF.

Roy Benson
 
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ecsh

New member
I went through 3 copies of the 15 myself. At F8 it was very soft still. F4 was a joke. They must really have a hard time with AC on this lens.
Joe
 

Armanius

New member
@Woody - Hope you are recovering well from your back surgery. I have back issues too. Will likely require a double fusion someday, but trying to put that off as long as possible.

Can you elaborate a little bit more about not being able to achieve focus as easily and consistently? Is this in relation to other cameras? Prior to the K5, I never felt the the AF was off in any other camera I've owned/used (Oly E620/510/410, Pany GH2, Oly EP2, Sony NEX, A55).

With the K5, I bought and returned (for different reasons) the DA21, FA43, FA100, Tamron 17-50 and Sigma 17-50. I'm about to return the DA15. The only keeper so far for me is the FA35. Out of all these lenses, I had to do micro adjustments on all but the DA21. Granted that the K5 is the first camera that I've owned which allows for micro adjustments. But I never felt that any of my other cameras (or lenses for other cameras) had auto focus issues.

@ecsh - how is your current copy of the DA15? What does "AC" mean?
 

Sapphie

Member
It is more than slightly concerning that so many people have lens 'issues'. I wonder how you are all judging this? I have not been 100% happy with the 18-135 performance and have had 'soft' image issues but I now think it's a combination of things. My 43mm needed +10 adjustment. My 18-135 ... well I am not sure how to judge the requirement for a zoom but I have recently given it +5 and it seems to be better. Also, the images from this lens benefit from higher sharpening in LR. Anyway, one from today given the "Creamtone" preset in LR:



Lee
 

Armanius

New member
What I found disappointing about the DA15 is that my images are soft even when stopped down from F4 all the way to F9. With the HUGE DOF that one should get by stopping down a super wide lens, the image should be fairly crisp. No such luck for me.

I'm going to give the 18-135 a try. Maybe 18mm is wide enough for me.
 

benroy

Subscriber Member
Early Monday AM tip-toeing through the dewdrops with the 200/2.8.

Roy Benson
 
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ecsh

New member
Armanius
My current copy is acceptable at F4. Not razor sharp, but does sharpen up in PS. Other copies were terrible.
It should have read QC in my post, for quality control.
Joe
 

JMaher

New member
A news lens came today. First obligatory cat photo with my new 70 2.4. At 2.4 1/100 at 6400ISO with no correction or noise reduction other than a little cropping in LR3.



Jim
 

Sapphie

Member
Jim

I recognise that look - if you touch my whiskers for perfect 'bokeh' again, you've had it - a mouse at 3am in the bedroom at the very least.

She looks cross though ... great shot none the less

Lee
 

Sapphie

Member
Hi Rich

Yeah, and yours 'heard' the Easter Bunny ... whether it was true or not, it was worth getting up for your shot, lovely, though it makes me wonder if you keep your k5 by your bedside?

Cats have it sussed, for sure!

Lee
 

woodyspedden

New member
Jono (and others)

I am completing my lens research for the K5 and so far have settled on the DA 15. FA 31. FA 43, and FA 77. I need macro and telephoto so am looking at the WR 100 as a possible solution.

Jono I know you blew both hot and cold on this lens and if I recall your last thoughts were that you would keep it and forego the Zeiss 100 2.0. Are you still feeling that way. What do others who own the lens think?

I have seen some really nice work with the 200 DA (Benroy comes to mind) and would also welcome all comments on this.

I am returning or have already returned the DA 21, DA 40, and SDM 55 as not being ideal for me. So in total I will end up with a five or six lens total kit which is a bit more than I hoped for but the need for longer telephoto makes it a bit of a necessity. My MF kit, the S2, while wonderful currently tops out at 180mm so the K5 should be just the ticket.

Thanks in advance for help and comments

Woody
 

Armanius

New member
What did you not like about the SDM 55? I was thinking about that one (other than the DA70) and possibly re-getting the DA21. The 200 looks intriguing too, particularly after seeing Ashwin's baseball photos.

I initially liked the FA100 a lot, particularly because of its built. It felt nicer than any of the Ltd lenses I've handled so far (DA15, DA21, FA43). I had to do a +4 or 5 with the microadjustment on mine. But I returned it after I got frustrated with the auto focus. Given that it's a macro and the lack of a focus limiter, whenever the AF misses the focus, it runs through the entire focal length. It's slow. And noisy. Probably not any noisier than other screw driven lenses, but given that it's slow, it ends up sounding a whole lot louder.

The FA100 is decently sharp at 2.8. But it gets much better at 3.5 and onwards.

The FA100 has increased in price by $20 since I returned it. Nowhere near the $200 increase for the FA43!

Jono (and others)

I am completing my lens research for the K5 and so far have settled on the DA 15. FA 31. FA 43, and FA 77. I need macro and telephoto so am looking at the WR 100 as a possible solution.

Jono I know you blew both hot and cold on this lens and if I recall your last thoughts were that you would keep it and forego the Zeiss 100 2.0. Are you still feeling that way. What do others who own the lens think?

I have seen some really nice work with the 200 DA (Benroy comes to mind) and would also welcome all comments on this.

I am returning or have already returned the DA 21, DA 40, and SDM 55 as not being ideal for me. So in total I will end up with a five or six lens total kit which is a bit more than I hoped for but the need for longer telephoto makes it a bit of a necessity. My MF kit, the S2, while wonderful currently tops out at 180mm so the K5 should be just the ticket.

Thanks in advance for help and comments

Woody
 
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