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Fun with the Pentax K5

seakayaker

Active member
Deco Japan ~ SAM Asian Art Museum ~ Volunteer Park ~ Capital Hill Neighborhood ~ Seattle, WA



Pentax K5IIs ~ SMC Pentax DA* 55mm F1.4 SDM ~ ISO 400 ~ 1/100 ~ f3.2
 

seakayaker

Active member
Walk in the Rain ~ Volunteer Park ~ Capital Hill Neighborhood ~ Seattle, WA



Pentax K5IIs ~ SMC Pentax DA* 55mm F1.4 SDM ~ ISO 800 ~ 1/100 ~ f2.2
 

seakayaker

Active member
Walk in the Rain ~ Volunteer Park ~ Capital Hill Neighborhood ~ Seattle, WA



Pentax K5IIs ~ SMC Pentax DA* 55mm F1.4 SDM ~ ISO 400 ~ 1/100 ~ f2.8
 

seakayaker

Active member
Walk in the Rain ~ Volunteer Park ~ Capital Hill Neighborhood ~ Seattle, WA



Pentax K5IIs ~ SMC Pentax DA* 55mm F1.4 SDM ~ ISO 400 ~ 1/100 ~ f2.2
 

seakayaker

Active member
Flying Crow in the Ship Canal, Queen Anne Neighborhood, Seattle, WA



Pentax K5IIs ~ SMC Pentax DA* 55mm F1.4 SDM ~ ISO 200 ~ 1/200 ~ f11
 

seakayaker

Active member
Costal Trader waiting to Pass through the Large Lock at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks (Ballard Locks), Ballard Neighborhood, Seattle, WA



Pentax K5IIs ~ SMC Pentax DA* 55mm F1.4 SDM ~ ISO 200 ~ 1/125 ~ f11
 

seakayaker

Active member
Water over the Spill Gates at Hiram M. Chittenden Locks (Ballard Locks), Ballard Neighborhood, Seattle, WA



Pentax K5IIs ~ SMC Pentax DA* 55mm F1.4 SDM ~ ISO 200 ~ 1/100 ~ f11
 

seakayaker

Active member
Skye Belltown ~ View from Denny Way ~ Seattle, WA



Pentax K5IIs ~ SMC Pentax DA* 55mm F1.4 SDM ~ ISO 200 ~ 1/100 ~ f11
 

tsjanik

Well-known member
Gas Works Park & Lake Union, Wallingford Neighborhood, Seattle, WA



Pentax K5IIs ~ SMC FA 31mm F1.8 AL Limited ~ ISO 200 ~ 1/60 ~ f6.3
What a cool looking structure; it's looks to be from a Flash Gordon movie (I assume you're old enough). What are gas works? Natural gas ?
 

seakayaker

Active member
What a cool looking structure; it's looks to be from a Flash Gordon movie (I assume you're old enough). What are gas works? Natural gas ?
A child of the 50's/60's and I am familiar with Flash Gordon. My how far we have come with special effects!

Gas works was a working plant that illuminated the city and surrounding towns for fifty years. It was in operation from 1906 to 1956. More can be read about the history here. The gas was extracted from coal.

....and here.

On the shores of Lake Union opposite downtown Seattle, Gas Works Park was built on the location of a former coal gasification plant. The 19-acre site was acquired by the City for parkland in 1965. Opened to the public ten years later, the park, with its Great Earth Mound summit (constructed from on-site excavated material), was designed for passive uses such as strolling or flying a kite, and community gatherings at various scales. The site offers unrivaled panoramic views of the lake and downtown skyline. The park’s designer, landscape architect Richard Haag, has described his work there as “thinning the forest,” a reflection of how he edited the conglomeration of industrial towers, stacks, pipes, and sheds. A central feature, the boiler house, was converted to a picnic shelter complete with tables and fire grills, while a former exhauster-compressor building was transformed into an open-air play barn, housing a maze of brightly painted machinery for children. This groundbreaking project has been celebrated for its ability to garner public support and shift public perceptions of post-industrial landscapes. It is considered revolutionary for its reclamation of polluted soils using the natural processes of bioremediation. Gas Works Park was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.
 

tsjanik

Well-known member
Thanks Dan; a fascinating history. Too bad other cities haven't done something similar. Buffalo, NY could have saved some of the structures from the massive Bethlehem Steel plant. Oh well, at least they've saved most of the old grain elevators.

Tom
 

seakayaker

Active member
Thanks Dan; a fascinating history. Too bad other cities haven't done something similar. Buffalo, NY could have saved some of the structures from the massive Bethlehem Steel plant. Oh well, at least they've saved most of the old grain elevators.

Tom

Tom, if you get the chance come out and visit our fair city, plenty of interesting places to visit and a wealth of natural beauty. Originally from Boston and moved out here in '96 and have enjoyed it enough that I have stayed.
 

seakayaker

Active member
After a long week and day at work I did not feel like going out so a walk around the garden for a few images. (All taken with the K5IIs with the SMC Pentax DA* 55mm F1.4 SDM lens.)


Rhododendron



Dogwood



Coleus



Japanese Maple



The Rose
 

tsjanik

Well-known member
Very nice Dan. I know I've mentioned the bokeh of your 55mm before, but I'll say it once more: really nice bokeh on that lens.

Tom
 

seakayaker

Active member
Very nice Dan. I know I've mentioned the bokeh of your 55mm before, but I'll say it once more: really nice bokeh on that lens.

Tom

The first two lens I bought were the the 77/1.8 and 31/1.8. I then bought the 55/1.4 because of it weather resistence (WR) rating and really enjoy the lens. The bokeh is wonderful and is an additional bonus.

I have just purchased the D FA 100mm F2.8 WR Macro to have a longer reach, Macro capability, and the (WR) rating. I like to feel comfortable in the mist in rain and not have any excuse not to be outside with a camera.

With a lot of folks leaning to the Sony and Fuji cameras, I find myself leaning towards a K3 with the hopes that Ricoh will produce a Pentax full frame camera in the near future.
 

gandolfi

Subscriber Member
Dan the Seakayaker,

I always look forward to your snaps from Seattle and the perambulations around your garden and the parks.

Great stuff.

Many thanks.

Gandolfi.
 

tsjanik

Well-known member
.......With a lot of folks leaning to the Sony and Fuji cameras, I find myself leaning towards a K3 with the hopes that Ricoh will produce a Pentax full frame camera in the near future.
Lots of us would like to see a full frame Pentax, but Pentax painted themselves into a corner when they stopped production of the FA lenses and switched to DA. So I fear it may be sometime before the full frame body appears, where they would have to compete head on with Canon, Nikon and Sony. Pentax also offers the 645D/Z as a better alternative to full frame.

Tom
 

Paratom

Well-known member
If I see IQ between 5dIII and Pentax K5IIs I am not that sure I really would need a ff Pentax.
What I would wish for are 1 or 2 more faster primes for the K5/K3 with a traditional focal length/FOV.
Specially a fast high quality 35mm equivalent lens, and a fast 50mm equivalent lens. And some lenses with faster AF.

On the other side there is no other brand which offer such nice, small, solid build primes like the Pentax ltd. lenses.
 
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