Thanks for the suggestion Henk. Nice butterfly! 55-300… I’ll need to think about that.
Stan > On May 22, 2021, at 5:06 PM, Henk Terhell <[email protected]> wrote: > > Stan, I don't pretend to have the answers to all of your questions. > However the K3III photo is not just brighter but has stronger contrast as > also the purple is darker. Could be caused by different lenses. Something you > can easily correct in Lightroom I think. > > As for a tele lens for the K3III, I suggest if you haven't done this, try the > fast 55-300 PLM. > I am using this now on the K-1 for semi macro work, because the minimum focus > distance is only 0.95 meter which is not bad at all for a 300 mm lens. > Excellent choice for flowers, butterflies though short for birds. And much > lighter than my Tamron 70-200/2.8 which has exactly the same minimum focus > distance. > Of course this PLM lens needs to be fit on an APS-C but it works only on the > newer bodies which I don't own. > Here as example a butterfly pic which I shot with my new 55-300 PLM under > stormy conditions yesterday: https://flic.kr/p/2kZTo7A > > Henk > > Op 2021-05-22 om 21:55 schreef Stanley Halpin: >> Three parts, skip to #3 if you like. >> [1] = background on my camera stuff; >> [2] = philosophical musings on why do I have this stuff and how am I >> using it; and >> [3] = link to small gallery of shots comparing 3 Pentax bodies, each >> with one of three Pentax macro lenses. Oh, and then >> [4] = my lessons learned and thoughts about what’s next. >> >> [1] My name is Stan and I am a camera equipment addict. Current inventory of >> DSLRs includes 2 @ K-1ii, 1 @ 645Z, and 1 @ K-3iii. I will leave aside the >> GRiii and K-01 and Q-S1 and WG-5 and WG-M1 at this point. >> >> [2] In my defense, I don’t just buy stuff, I use my cameras and I even >> sometimes sell cameras and/or bodies which I am not using. Also, since >> almost forever, I do not like to be in a situation where I am without a >> decent camera. Which mens that, when I travel or when I go out for a day to >> hunt flowers or birds or barns or whatever, I like to have 2 camera bodies >> with me, just in case one stops working. And, yes, I carry spare batteries >> and spare SD cards. >> [Side story. 1998. There I was, in a dugout canoe, being taken across a >> large lagoon in Panama on the way to a native tribal village for a visit and >> likely interesting photos. My reason for the Panama trip was work-related, I >> did not know I would be able to get any time on my own for a side trip like >> this, only took one camera, my relatively new Pz-1p with FA 28-105. A >> alligator/crocodile popped his head up to watch us. I took a quick snap, >> realized that I had just used the last shot on that roll of film. Quickly >> rewound, pulled out another roll, opened the camera back, pulled out the >> used roll, started to put in the fresh roll, the canoe rocked a bit, I put >> my thumb through the cloth shutter curtain. I really really hate it when I >> don’t have a backup with me.] >> >> I think of the K-1 as my main cameras. The 645Z is just very special. I >> bought my first 6456Z a few months before a long trip in Alaska, planning to >> use it to replicate some of Ansel Adam’s views of Denali. I later sold that >> body, primarily because it doesn’t have SR except unless you buy a newer >> lens with SR in the lens. And those newer lenses cost almost as much as the >> body. Then fairly recently bought a used 645Z and 90/2.8 SR lens at a very >> attractive package price. I got the K-3iii a few weeks ago, primarily >> attracted by the stories of super continuous AF, great for moving targets >> like birds in flight. My thought was to sell one of the K-1 bodies, use the >> K-3iii as my “back-up” camera when traveling. With the added advantages of >> good AF and the APS-C crop factor to help on longer shots. >> >> The dilemma. An Azalea bush and a Rhododendron bush or two are flowering in >> our yard. I headed out to do some macro shots of the buds and flowers. First >> thought was to take the 645Z. But wait I have this super new camera, I >> should use that… I have since done a bit of dithering and “test” shots, >> culminating this morning in an evenly lit breeze-free opportunity to do four >> shots (/5.6, /8.0, /11.0, and /16) with each of the following (all at >> ISO100, manually focused): a) 645Z with D FA 90/2.8 Macro ED AW SR; b) >> K-3iii with PK-A 50/2.8 Macro; and c) K-1ii with D FA 100/2.8 Macro WR. >> >> [3] The gallery: >> https://adobe.ly/3fwx4wc >> >> In order these three shots, all at f/8.0, are 645Z, K-3iii, and K-1ii. >> The 4th image shows the set up for the shots. All of these are unprocessed, >> straight from the camera except for a square crop on all in part for >> composition and in part to provide roughly equivalent views of the subject. >> If anybody wants to pixel-peep, compare settings etc, I would be glad to >> share the rest of the set (images shot at /5.6, /11.0, and /16.) >> For those that want more of the gory details, the long edge, before and >> after cropping: 645Z 8256 -> 5824; K-1 7360 -> 4908; K-3 6193 -> 4128 >> >> [4] >> a - I’ve said it before, but I don’t think Pentax has ever made a bad >> Macro lens. >> b - I don’t understand why the K-3 image seems too bright particularly >> in the highlight areas. Maybe it is “more accurate” than the older sensors? >> Maybe I have some random setting set wrongly? Is it a metering thing due to >> using a PK-A lens on this one rather than a D FA as on the others? In any >> case, I prefer the tonality of the other two. >> c - I do miss having a flip-out screen on the K-3iii for composing and >> focusing. >> d - the wonderfulness of the viewfinder on the K-3iii was much hyped >> and acclaimed in Pentax publicity and early reviews. They are right, it is a >> fine viewfinder. >> >> e - But, so what? Do I keep the K-3iii and sell one of the K-1 bodies? >> Ironically, my main usage of the K-3iii APS-C with wonderful viewfinder and >> wonderful tracking AF would be to use this body paired with my DA* 300/4.0 >> and optionally including the DA 1.4x teleconverter. So, a good bird-shooting >> rig. I say “ironically” because the SDM on my 300/4 died a few months ago. >> So I can’t really try out the camera in the way I had intended. >> >> f - I probably should get the 300/4 SDM issue taken care of. I presume >> Precision could do that. However, since I am much more likely to do street >> or macro or landscapes than to do birds-in-flight sort of shooting, and >> since I find i do miss the fold-out screen, and since the out-of-camera look >> of the images from the K-3 are less pleasing to me than the other two, I may >> not wait, but rather just sell the K-3iii. >> >> Any thoughts are welcome as always! >> >> Stan >> -- >> %(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >> follow the directions. > -- > %(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- %(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
