Kid shots with FA77

Frankly, my istD / FA77 combo doesn't focus fast enough to capture kids in action. thanks to the large apeature, I find manual focusing with this lens is very easy and enjoyable.

Go Karting

Just took a few shot in-between my own karting session. Since photo is not my main objective, just bring my cheap (and light) Tamron 70-300. It doesn't let me down.

A few portrait shot with Tamron 70-300/4-5.6 LD

All taken on a trip to Ocean Park, Hong Kong a few years back:

K10D Grand Prix Package

Looks nice, but, what for?

I actually hide the brand logo and model no. of my cameras (with black electrical tape). I hate nosy pass-by around to peek which model / brand I am using.

New DA* lens

The 2 new large aperture DA* lens will be available on the market very soon, according to a Japanese site.

I, however, do not have any interest in these 2 lens whatsoever. If I like to use large aperture zooms, I'd been using Nikon now. Sorry Pentax fans, but Nikon has done a very good job in it's full-line of zoom lens. Pentax is very good at prime lens, and very good in the small overall system size, but not the zooms.

More kid shots with FA77/1.8

Really a nice lens. I like it very much.

Bokeh of DA21/3.2

It's actually not bad, for a lens at this focal length and apeature.

Kid shots with FA77/1.8

The image quality of FA77 is very good, giving very pleasure result. However, the focus speed on my istD is quite slow, and cannot lock into correct focus quite often. It's a big problem with kid's shot, so I have to resolve to use MF. Although the f/1.8 make it very easy to MF, I still hope the AF speed problem can be solved in other DSLR models.

A few bird shots with Tamron 70-300/4-5.6 LD

The depth-of-field myth on APS-DSLR

A common question: "how does the depth-of-field on 1.5X crop factor (APS size) compare to full-frame film?"

I don't want to go into the theoretical and mathematical details of depth-of-field. So I will use a Palm program to solve this. The circle-of-confusion used by the program is 30um for full-frame, and 25um for APS-DSLR.

In short, the DOF is affected by: focal length, shooting distance, aperture, and film (sensor) format. So the above question is a tricky question because it has 2 different answer. The DOF on 1.5X DSLR is bigger then 135 full-frame, and it's also smaller. It all depends on how you look at the question.

First, if you are using 'equivalent' lens on your DSLR, shooting at the same position, using the same aperture.... the DOF on DSLR is greater than full-frame film. eg:
full-frame: 75mm lens, f/2, distance=2m
APS-DSLR: 50mm lens, f/2, distance=2m
You will get the same framing and perspective with the above 2 setting. But the DOF with APS-DSLR will be bigger than full-frame 135:
DOF of full-frame: 1.96m to 2.04m, ie. 8cm
DOF of APS-DSLR: 1.92m to 2.08m, ie. 16cm

So, many people say full-frame has more 3D feeling than APS-DSLR. The main reason it the difference in DOF: a shallower DOF gives more 3D feeling.

On the other hand, if you are using SAME LENS, shooting at SAME DISTANCE, than the DOF of APS-DSLR will be shallower than full-frame 135, eg:
full-frame: 50mm, f/2, distance=2m, DOF=1.91m to 2.10m, 19cm
APS-DSLR: 50mm, f/2, distance=2m, DOF=1.92m to 2.08m, 16cm
So if you are going to use the DOF scale on your lens, the DOF on APS-DSLR will be approx. 1/4 stop shallower.

Submit your shutter count

HERE.

Someone has tripped the shutter of istD for over 130,000 times, and still living. Not bad.

Tokina ATX 828 (80-200/2.8)

The old story: there is no large aperture tele-zoom from Pentax, period.

The FA*80-200/2.8 is not only expensive, but not readily available on the market. So I get the Tokina ATX 80-200/2.8 a few years ago, to fulfill my long wish to own an heavy tele-zoom.

Just a few days after I get my ATX 828, I regarded. The lens is very heavy, and I don't really have that strength to bring it out. After owning this lens a few years, I can only a few samples taken with it in my hard-drive.









To be honest, the lens is not bad. But it's not that impressive too.

On the picture quality side, the image is quite soft at f/2.8. sharpness improve at f/4, and not a big problem f/5.6 and beyond. The color is overall a bit pale. This characterist, however, make it a very good portrait lens. Thanks to the 9-blade aperture, the bokeh is also quite nice.

The ATX 828 is very well constructed. It's solid and feels like a tank. The inner focus mechanics is a very nice design, and only a small lens-group move inside the lens when it is focusing.... it's particular usful to the Pentax AF system: the camera body doesn't have to try too hard to move the lens elements, and the overall AF speed is quite nice.

My only complain is the stupid AF/MF switch of the ATX828 - at AF setting, you cannot manual focus the iens (even with the camera body set at MF). You have to switch to MF mode, which is very clumsy: you need to turn to the right position, then pull back the focusing ring. The 'right' position is different everytime, depends on where was your last MF distance. How stupid!! Imagine when you need to fine-tune the camera's AF.... IT SUCKS! Well, you can always put the focusing ring to the MF position, but then the focusing ring will turn with AF, and also slow down the AF speed. The focusing ring is very well located on the lens, and if it turns during AF, it will affect your handling of the lens.

Legendary Bokeh of FA77/1.8

Just test FA77/1.8 at the 64 candle night memorial. Really love the legendary bokeh of this little jewel. (All photos taken with istD, at ISO 3200. Converted to b/w in Photoshop)









The other photos are here.

Kid shot with DA21, again

I have to admit, I really love this lens. Small and handy, fast focusing, very nice image.

The f/3.2 is not a big problem, it's actually only 1/3 stop smaller than a f/2.8, but the f/3.2 in the DA21 is very usable.

Pentax AP 50 anniv.

Reported by DC Watch.

Are the Pentax management still dreaming about their glorious history? Come on, old man! Wake up and put-up something really matches the modern day demand..... PLEASE!

Pentax deal

Pentax finally accepts the buy-out offer from Hoya.

Good news is they will continue the DSLR business with Pentax brand. So there should be no worry of no support in the near future. My biggest concern, however, is that good engineers in the Pentax may depart from the new set-up. 2 areas are specifically important: DSP and the optics design.

Let's hope for the best!

Big head shot with DA21

Kid shots with DA21

Photo Filter in Photoshop

I am still using istD, very slow in saving files, and tehrefore I mainly shot jpeg.

For time to time, I will make mistakes and need to save in Photoshop; just like the following example.

In a MacDonald brithday party for my son's classmate, I was using a diffuser covering my 360 flash and hope to get a better light quality. I was wrong. The power of 360 is too low and unable to override ambient WB. Since I use flash WB, here's the result.



So I apply photo filter in Photoshop CS (found in "image" --> "Adjust" --> "Photo Filter"), setting was cooling filter 82, 25%. Here's the resulting photo.



Not bad. For old guys who started photography in film days, we are easlier to understand photo filter than R-G-B color tunings....

Lizard

Why ISO 3200 + f/1.4

That's why.

All photos taken by istD at ISO3200, with M50/1.4 at f/1.4.







Grainy? maybe. Soft image at f/1.4? Who care. What I need was really: to capture the image!

Understanding Bokeh

Here is a very clear and easy to understand webpage about bokeh.

Bokeh means the out-of-focus appearance, and it's a very important element to render the 3D feeling in a photo.

A shot with M50/1.4

Taken at f/2.8, with istD.

This is a very good lens, sharp and well built.

The Accidental Angle

For most photographic subjects, you have the freedom to choose from infinity numbers of moment and take the photo. In scenery photography you may choose from different weather and different times in a day. In portrait photography you may ask the model to post differently and capture the moment you think best. In wildlife photography you can choose to 'live' in wild and wait for the best moment if you wish to.

For most photographic subjects, you have the freedom to choose from infinity numbers of photographic angles. Move the camera a few inches left or right; Standing or knee down; switch to a different focal length... you can have a different view point to the subject. For some special lens or sheet films, you can also have the liberation of lens movement to alter the perspectives and DOF of the photo.

For most photographic subjects, you will also have certain degree of control on the lighting. You can choose the time-of-day for scenic photos. You can choose the shooting angle or decide to use a fill-flash in portrait. And you have the total control of lighting in studio shots.

It's all different in snap shots.

In my opinion, snap shots is to freeze the sudden moment with a photo: at that moment, at that angle, with that lighting, that everything. Since it's the photography about what's happening, it requires the photographers to have extremely fast response. You have to aim the camera, focus, control the exposure, and press the shutter. Even with modern day automatic cameras, you still have to aim and shoot.

Even thou you have practiced your skills, you still have to train you observation skill. Everything you come-across in your life is from an ACCIDENTIAL ANGLE, and you have to identify what's photo worthy.

At best, you should be able to predict what will happen, and have your cameras all readied when thing happens. In Robert Capa's Famous photo "Death of a Loyalist Soldier", he knew the poor soldier will get shot when the young soldier charged forward, BEFORE the shot in his head - according to an interiew with Robert.

It is so difficult to do snap shot, and therefore it's difficult to get a truly good snap. And that's why I am so fascinated about snap shots. I never been able to produce really good snaps, and that’s what keep pushing me to do it.

My not very successful snaps of accidential angles are here.

Golden Section / 黃金比例

note: an old article written 2 years ago, in Chinese.

在看攝影書時, 構圖一節總少不免提及黃金比例或黃金分割, 教讀者幻想畫面橫直各分三等份如九宮格, 並將主體放在幻想線的交叉點上. 但幾乎所有的攝影書都沒有進一步說明甚麼是黃金比例. 我對黃金分割的建議並不熱衷, 但看多了其他的書本, 有一點的了解, 擬文道出我所知的. 由於看的都不是科班用書, 如此文內容有錯, 請予指正.

首先, 黃金比例嚴格地說是 1:1.618; 亦可說成 0.618:1. 說成三分一, 只是為了簡化. 有龜毛的廠商對此很執著, 賓得就曾出了一個有黃金比例格線的對焦屏, 當中用的是真正的黃金比例而不是1/3.

單從上面的數字看來, 1.618 這數字夠特別, 1:1.618 = 0.618:1 = 1:(0.618+1), 即 a:b = b:(a+b), 數學上實在夠美. 這數字如 pi 一般, 是不盡的, 來源就是一個數字系列: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, ...... 當中每一個數字都是前兩個數字之和. 當這系列一直向上, 每兩個相鄰數字的比例就是1.618! 我試用 Excel 計算, 在第 25 行以後 Excel 便投降了, 算出了的黃金比例值為 1.618033989.

確是一個特別的數字. 但很多數字如圓周率 (3.14159265358979323846264...), 自然對數 (2.718281828...) 等都很特別, 為甚麼 1.618 會被視為黃金比例? 為甚麼數字的遊戲又會跟攝影拉上關係?

那可有點邪門.

原來這樣的一個數字, 廣泛存在於自然界之內. 你肚臍到地面的距離, 跟你的身高的比例, 正是0.618. 你的前臂長度, 正是你手臂全長的 0.618 倍. 腳的長度跟手臂的情形一樣. 在很多不同的生物上, 情形也是一樣, 很多的長度比例也是 1.618是 1.618. 最出名的例子是鸚鵡螺: 那螺旋狀的螺殼相鄰的兩層的半徑比例就是 1.618. 甚至於某一些昆蟲族群中, 雌雄的比例也是 1.618.

這奇怪的現像於文藝復興時期發現, 很多的學者都醉心於這數字, 如達文西就偷了大量的屍體量度各骨骼的比例並發現很多地方都是 1.618. 但人類知其然, 卻不知其所以然, 直至今天, 人類仍不能解釋為甚麼這數字在自然界中是這樣普遍. (會不會 chaos theory 可解釋一二? 我不清楚.)

當時的人認為這數字是天上來的, 並十分推崇. 很多的藝術家, 在其作品中嚴守黃金比例, 作品包括有繪畫, 石像, 建築, 甚至音樂. 我不懂藝術, 就由懂藝術的人來舉證吧.

大抵因為自然界中普遍存在著的關係吧, 人類早習慣了看依照這個比例的東西, 故看見嚴守黃金比例的藝術品都感到舒服. 而今天的攝影書上, 亦都會認為依黃金比例構圖的作品看上去較為舒服而不呆板.

istDS X Combo mono-rail 45

My friend Ken Tam got a made in China 45-camera-to-Canon adaptor, modify for PK mount, and manage to mount his Pentax DSLRs on a Combo 45 camera. He uses it to shot simple product shots with the advantage of lens movement.

What a poorman's digital back!!

Will post some sample shots here later.

Russian Jupitar-9 85/2

@f/2:


This lens is quite soft at large apeature. A wide open, it's really like a soft-lens, which gives a very interesting effect. A friend told me that this lens is designed to behave like that, but I cannot confirm if this is really the design intention or not.

@f/11:


The lens starts to give reasonable sharp image at f/8 or smaller apeature. Even at small apeature, the bokeh is very nice thanks to the 18-blade apeature structure. Having said that, don't expect the sharpness of this lens is comparable to that of the modern lens - it's 'enough' sharp, but it's not razor-sharp.

Color-wise, the lens is a little pale and cool-tone. Will post some sample to exhibit these color characteristic when I can find some.