Usually, I don't like to brag. But today, four of my photos made it into the Pentax Photo Gallery. That makes ten photos I have now published in the PPG. And to be honest, that makes me smile.
Feel free to take a look and leave a comment.
vrijdag 1 augustus 2008
woensdag 9 juli 2008
smc Pentax FA 77mm Limited
Yes, this is one of those ‘I have a new toy and I’m happy with it’ posts, I’m afraid.
A couple of days ago I received my smc Pentax FA 77mm F1,8 Limited lens. Now, every new lens is a joy to receive and use of course. But what’s so special about the FA 77? Forums and blogs are full of raving reviews and superlatives. The lens is considered as one of the best lenses in the world. But the thing is, you really can’t tell what’s so special about it, until you have used it.
First off, the FA 77 is a beautiful lens, in my opinion. The dedication and craftsmanship with which it was made, is clearly visible. I own the silver version, and there also is a black version of this lens. I know it’s a matter of taste, but I find that the silver version is not only a classic beauty, but also emanates it’s ‘Limited’ designation superbly and fittingly. Snobby perhaps, but I like this a lot. And I don’t see any real world disadvantage to the silver color. The silver version is considered a bit more obtrusive than the black version, but I think that this is a disadvantage only in some very rare cases where the only thing grabbing a person’s attention would be the silver colored lens instead of the camera or photographer as a whole. I consider this ‘disadvantage’ to be highly theoretically.
Although the FA 77 has some weak points (too small lens hood, and some purple fringing at wide open aperture at harsh contrasts), the image quality is awesome. The pictures taken with the FA 77 often seem to come to life. That is because of the phenomenal rendering of texture and shape that this lens is capable of. And it’s very sharp too. If you don’t know the lens, I stop boring you here. And if you do know the lens, there’s no reason to go either, because you know what you’ve got.
As with a lot of these ‘I have a new toy and I’m happy with it’ posts, the first samples aren’t great photos. That has to grow over time. A quick and dirty sample is here though:
FA 77 Limited @ F5,6 1/90 ISO 400, Pentax K10D. A 100% crop is here too:
A couple of days ago I received my smc Pentax FA 77mm F1,8 Limited lens. Now, every new lens is a joy to receive and use of course. But what’s so special about the FA 77? Forums and blogs are full of raving reviews and superlatives. The lens is considered as one of the best lenses in the world. But the thing is, you really can’t tell what’s so special about it, until you have used it.
First off, the FA 77 is a beautiful lens, in my opinion. The dedication and craftsmanship with which it was made, is clearly visible. I own the silver version, and there also is a black version of this lens. I know it’s a matter of taste, but I find that the silver version is not only a classic beauty, but also emanates it’s ‘Limited’ designation superbly and fittingly. Snobby perhaps, but I like this a lot. And I don’t see any real world disadvantage to the silver color. The silver version is considered a bit more obtrusive than the black version, but I think that this is a disadvantage only in some very rare cases where the only thing grabbing a person’s attention would be the silver colored lens instead of the camera or photographer as a whole. I consider this ‘disadvantage’ to be highly theoretically.
Although the FA 77 has some weak points (too small lens hood, and some purple fringing at wide open aperture at harsh contrasts), the image quality is awesome. The pictures taken with the FA 77 often seem to come to life. That is because of the phenomenal rendering of texture and shape that this lens is capable of. And it’s very sharp too. If you don’t know the lens, I stop boring you here. And if you do know the lens, there’s no reason to go either, because you know what you’ve got.
As with a lot of these ‘I have a new toy and I’m happy with it’ posts, the first samples aren’t great photos. That has to grow over time. A quick and dirty sample is here though:
FA 77 Limited @ F5,6 1/90 ISO 400, Pentax K10D. A 100% crop is here too:
donderdag 19 juni 2008
It doesn't have to be in color
Personally, I like this picture a lot. It shows the delicate form and structure of a flower, the Arum or Aronskelk in Dutch.
I took this photo with the Jupiter-9 lens, a 85mm F2,0 Russian copy of the pre WWII Zeiss Sonnar design. I bought the lens of Ebay and it is still available in new condition. I had to get used to the lens design, because of its aperture ring and preset construction. Nevertheless, the lens is a beauty. And it delivers where it counts: picture quality.
Now, I'm no pixel peeper, so I judge image quality by contrast, color rendition and the illustrous 'bokeh': the rendering of out of focus picture elements. And this is where the Jupiter delivers, imo.
On to the photo itself and the title of this blog entry.
I took this photo with the Jupiter-9 lens, a 85mm F2,0 Russian copy of the pre WWII Zeiss Sonnar design. I bought the lens of Ebay and it is still available in new condition. I had to get used to the lens design, because of its aperture ring and preset construction. Nevertheless, the lens is a beauty. And it delivers where it counts: picture quality.
Now, I'm no pixel peeper, so I judge image quality by contrast, color rendition and the illustrous 'bokeh': the rendering of out of focus picture elements. And this is where the Jupiter delivers, imo.
On to the photo itself and the title of this blog entry.
Off course, I first had a nice color photograph of this flower. But what is it that sets this flower apart from others flowers? Not it's color, but it's shape. That's why I choose the emphasize it's shape instead of it's color. And black and white -or more accurate: monochrome- photography does just that: emphasize graphical paterns, such as shapes and visual rhytm in a photo.
woensdag 18 juni 2008
Red
I stumbled upon a red papaver flower, or Klaproos in Dutch. Sometimes beauty equalls simplicity. The strong primary color of red contrasts beautifully with the subdued green. C&C welcome, off course.
War Memorial
Last week I visited a local War Memorial. My goal was to not only make pretty pictures, but was to make a visual translation of the impressions the Memorial made on me. Inspired by a three part Essay by George Barr on The Luminous Landscape, I try to take my photography to a next level.
Here are some pics I took, all taken with Pentax K10D.
Here are some pics I took, all taken with Pentax K10D.
Abonneren op:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
