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Tag Archives: Prime lens

Prime or Zoom Lens

20 May

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These might not be the best pictures to illustrate this point but they do.  I was on the way down to the central building the other evening to take some pictures of an event.  Due to the lighting, the distance between me and the actors, etc. I had to take pictures with fast prime lenses.  On the way down I had the 50mm f/1.8 lens mounted on my K-5 and used it to take the first picture above.

On the way back I happened to have the 21mm f/3.2 lens on the K-5 and used it to take the second picture.  The 21mm lens was probably the best choice for both pictures but I just used the 50mm for the first picture since that is what was quickly available.  It is the nature of those scenes to not last long and I didn’t wish to take the time to change lenses.  Would I have been better off to have had a zoom lens mounted and ready?  Probably, but since I wasn’t using a zoom for the event I didn’t have one with me.  I was traveling light with my camera in hand with the other lens plus extra battery and memory card in vest pockets.

I wasn’t using a zoom lens because my zoom lenses are all slower, bigger, and heavier and I couldn’t use them to get acceptable pictures for the conditions I expected.  By acceptable I mean as good as I could get with my 50mm f/1.8 prime lens.  I had tested them out and found that it was better for me to use the 50mm lens and crop-zoom to get pictures without digital noise in the poor lighting.  The zoom lenses all required a higher ISO which resulted in less detail in the pictures after I removed the noise.

There is another reason that I didn’t switch lenses for the first picture.  I try not to change lenses any more than necessary to lessen the chances of getting dirt in the camera.  I also find that it isn’t the easiest thing to do, change lenses, when I’m walking.  I prefer to do it while sitting next to a flat clean surface to set the lens on.

My world of photography seems to revolve around the issue of what lens should I use.  When going out to take particular pictures under a known environment, I usually can pick the right one.  If the circumstances are unknown I will usually use a general purpose zoom lens, either the 18 – 135mm or the 55 – 300mm depending upon the likelihood of particular subjects … but, not always.  I don’t like the combined weight of a zoom lens on the K-5, so I often just go for a walk with the 21 or 50mm lens on it, or with the NEX-6 with a 35mm lens, which is much lighter, and just photograph what is appropriate for the lens.  This means I will be photographing landscapes and if a fox runs across the field, or a colorful bird lands in a tree, it isn’t photographed.

I really prefer a prime lens due to better speed, higher image quality, quicker response time, and lighter weight.

 
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Posted by on May 20, 2013 in Homewood at Plum Creek, Photography

 

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Yesterday’s Sky

09 May

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We escaped the rains yesterday but had thunderstorms all around.  I noticed the setting sun behind the clouds image as I was coming home from dinner.  I grabbed my NEX-6, still with the 35mm lens on it, and ran across the field to get the picture.  I got it OK but this is a cropped version.  I haven’t missed any shots with it except for distant wildlife.  I think that this effective 52mm focal length is about right for an all-around prime lens for me.

 
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Posted by on May 9, 2013 in Homewood at Plum Creek, Photography

 

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Lenses all in a Row

30 Apr

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A few posts back I mentioned that all pictures should mean something.  I’m sure that the above picture doesn’t mean much to you without an explanation … but it means something to me.  It rained all day yesterday off and on and is forecast to rain until Thursday, so I have been using my time to continue my thoughts about cameras and lenses.  Yesterday I probably took two dozen pictures of those and other rain drops and bubbles using many different lenses on my K-5.  The above was taken with the Pentax 18 – 55mm WR kit lens at the 18mm focal length.  I don’t use that lens much since I haven’t been pleased with it; but since it is my only weather resistant lens (WR), I thought I would check it out under different conditions.  What I figured out is that it is a fair lens at the 18mm focal length up close, is OK for intermediate distances at 35mm, and is worse at 55mm at all distances.  But that’s not what I was really thinking about.  I have been thinking about using my prime lenses a lot more and I was comparing them to each other as well as the kit lens.

I’m seriously thinking about just using Pentax DSLR cameras.  I started out thinking that I would replace my Sony NEX-6 with the Fuji X100s and that led me back to wondering why, since I have the K-5 and quite a few lenses for it.  The X100s is smaller, lighter, more discreet, and a lot more expensive … but maybe I don’t really need it as long as I use my prime lenses on the K-5.  In addition, since I like to leave the 55 – 300mm lens on the K-5 so that it is ready to go quickly, I’m also thinking about getting a Pentax K-30 primarily for use with primes and to back-up my K-5 rather than the Fuji X100s.  The K-30, even though it is less expensive, has a better live view function and better video capability than my K-5 and I’m thinking I might need those capabilities more in the future.

If you have read my blog for a long time you will remember that I have had problems with the weight of the K-5.  At this time I’m not having as much of a problem with the weight especially when I use prime lenses.  I contribute this situation to the excellent ergonomics of the grip.  The X100s doesn’t have a grip, weighs less, is a lot smaller, and has a fixed equivalent 35mm lens.  With a Pentax DSLR I have different focal length options with different prime lenses but a much larger system.  I have decided to try using the prime lenses for a while, especially around people and inside buildings, and then come back and revisit my situation.  In the past I had used an X100 or various micro 4/3 cameras when photographing inside buildings around people and haven’t really used the K-5 that much inside other that at home.  The few times I have used it up close to people they have reacted badly … but maybe they will get accustomed to it.

I have serious doubts as to whether I will make this work unless I give up always having a camera with me (other than the LX7).  I don’t mind using a DSLR camera when I’m deliberately out to take pictures but I haven’t wanted to carry it just in case I see something.  A while back when I had the X100 I would carry it under my jacket.  Will I carry a DSLR instead?  Just to frame the image for you as to how unusual it is to see a DSLR around here … I have never seen anyone else using a DSLR to photograph anything, at any time or place since I moved to Hanover a year and a half ago.  Hmmm, maybe I should just buy an iPhone or iPad mini if I want to blend in.

 
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Posted by on April 30, 2013 in Hanover PA, Homewood at Plum Creek, Photography

 

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Flowering Tree with a 50mm f/1.8 Lens

12 Apr

130411-151648_untitled-EditI’m having fun shooting with the 50mm lens on my K-5.  This is starting to be serious.  I might just continue shooting the majority of my pictures in this mode.  I’m starting to wonder how boring my photography could get if I only used this lens; i.e., take pictures just with it and if the subject doesn’t fit the lens focal length (with some cropping) to move on and find something else to photograph.  Don’t worry, I doubt that would happen, but the majority of my pictures might end up being taken with it.

 
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Posted by on April 12, 2013 in Homewood at Plum Creek, Photography

 

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Morning with a 35mm Lens

11 Apr

I have left a prime lens on my K-5 and lately I have been doing most of my photography with them.  A day or two ago I switched from the 50mm to the 35mm lens.  I have photographed common scenes around the neighborhood to better train my eye to see with the different focal lengths.  I had found the 50mm to be a very good lens and have been anxious to see how the 35mm does.  It’s not as good.  I had to crop the following image but the focal length was OK for these wider scenes.

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But it wasn’t as good for other scenes.  A lot (most) of my photography around here has been of mini-landscapes or smaller details.  This means that I have to crop quite a bit sometimes.  For example, note the picture of the ducks below.

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I had walked across the street to take the picture of the pond in the morning light.  When I turned around to go back to the house I saw these two ducks sitting on the roof.  I know that it is unusual to see Mallards sitting on roofs but we have a lot of them this time of year.  They leave the ponds and make their nests in the foundation plantings around the Villas and then sit on the roofs while observing for predators.  As I walked across the street I took several pictures in case they decided to fly before I got close enough.

I had two problems with the 35mm lens.  First, I had to crop quite a bit to get this picture, and it was the closest one I got.  Even the 50mm wouldn’t have been tight enough but it would have been better.  But it was the second problem that bothered me as much.  I don’t think the lens is as sharp as the 50mm lens.  I haven’t done a side-by-side shot with both lenses to test this, so this is just an impression of mine.  If this is true, it means that for the cases where I might need to crop more with the 35mm lens I wouldn’t be able to do as much.  In the past when I cropped images taken with the 50mm lens, even to 100%, I did not notice this degree of lack of sharpness.  To be sure of this I would have to test both lenses at the same time with the camera on a tripod.  But, for now, I think I will go back to primarily using the 50mm lens.

I really would like to get the Pentax 70mm lens and try it, but that isn’t going to happen … at least for a while.  It is too expensive.

 
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Posted by on April 11, 2013 in Homewood at Plum Creek, Photography

 

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Shapes & Shades of Spring with a 50mm Lens

08 Apr
Click on any picture to cycle through them in the gallery.

I’m hoping to be more deliberate and not just photograph whatever I run across, but before I do that, I wanted to see if I could simplify my set-up.  This afternoon I put a 50mm prime lens on my K-5 along with a shoulder strap and set out to see how well a 50mm lens fits my vision and likely subjects.  I then took a walk and practiced fine-tuning my vision for the 50mm lens.  The above pictures are some of my images from the walk.

Based on these results, as well as some of my thoughts about what I hope to photograph, I plan to primarily use prime lenses with my K-5.  I’m doing this to decrease the weight and size as well as maximize the quality of the images with the simplest set-up.  Using just a prime lens makes it easier to learn to see and fine-tune my vision.

Some might think that I’m trying to fit my images to a particular lens.  That is not true.  I plan to use different prime lenses for different subjects.  While traveling in Ireland I found that I preferred to use prime lenses and that I was able to minimize switching lenses in the field by selecting the most suitable lens based on what I expected to see while touring.  So far, the biggest problem with this approach has been the noise when focusing.  The Pentax prime lenses use the screw drive to move the lens elements and it is noisy.  It could be that mine is particularly noisy but I doubt it.

 
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Posted by on April 8, 2013 in Homewood at Plum Creek, Photography

 

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Light & Simple

16 Mar

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It has been another lousy weather day, so I have been researching lenses and trying to figure out what, if any, additions I need to make to my cameras.  In between reading different lens reviews, etc. I took some pictures to test out how well the NEX-6 handles automatic white balance adjustments with mixed light temperatures.

The above picture is one I took (in color) since I had natural light from the window and a fluorescent light on the right of the picture, with both lighting the scene.  The camera handled it quite well … no problems; so I decided to also see how this particular picture looked in my latest B&W settings.  I’m finding that I like how they work with a wide range of pictures.

Getting back to lenses … I want to get a prime lens or two.  I’m looking for something that is simple, faster than my zoom, useful as a back-up lens to the zoom if it breaks, and is small and light and inexpensive.  I have found in the past that I really like such a prime lens when traveling or touring.  At the moment I’m considering getting the older versions of both the 19mm and the 30mm Sigma lenses.  A newer design will be for sale within about a month but would cost me twice as much.

Another reason for considering this approach towards lenses is “breakage”.  I have been on several trips when one of the others in our group either knocked their lens against a wall or they fell, and in both cases damaged their lens.  I have also been in a situation where dust affected the zoom mechanism and I had to switch to a prime lens.  Always travel with a back-up system.

I also need to make sure that I can handle my camera with one hand.  Normally I don’t need to do this, but if I’m using a walking stick it sure makes it easier.  It also comes in handy when walking on the street and I’m carrying my camera in my hand at my side.  I like to be able to quickly raise the camera and take a picture.  I can easily handle my NEX-6 with one hand, but the lens automatically resets itself to 16mm each time it is turned off and that means I can only take a quick shot with one hand at a 16mm focal length.  The prime lenses would give me alternative focal lengths depending upon the locale.

 
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Posted by on March 16, 2013 in Photography

 

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Trying the Pentax K-01 … Midtown Men

18 Jan

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Midtown Men at the Strand Capital in York, PA
ISO 3200, 40mm, f/2.8, 1/80 sec

A few articles ago I mentioned that I got rid of all of my cameras but one and that I planned to use only my Pentax K-5 … until last night.  I have used my K-5 with no real problems and only two concerns.  I no longer had a backup camera and I no longer had a more discreet camera to use when around people.  A year ago Pentax started selling a new unusual camera … the K-01.  It is a mirror-less camera that uses any Pentax lens they ever made in the K-mount.  No other manufacturer has produced such a camera.  All of the other manufacturers developed a separate line of lenses to fit their mirror-less designs to take advantage of being able to produce smaller lenses.  With the line of small Pentax prime lenses this isn’t necessary.  Pentax also decided to develop a uniquely designed camera and it hasn’t been accepted by the public.  Some find it too different and thus it hasn’t sold well and the price has plummeted.  Noting that I could get one for less than half of the original asking price and that it uses the identical battery, battery charger, and lenses that I have for my K-5 … and included the very small 40mm lens which I don’t have, I started wondering if it might be a good idea to get one so I ordered one.  Since it came right before I was going to see Midtown Men I took it along to see how I liked it.

I figured that I may as well give it the ultimate test.  The theater has a fluctuating camera policy but for this show the only limitation was “no flash.”  Not knowing the policy ahead of time I didn’t want to take my K-5 along with a bag full of lenses and then find I could not take them inside, so I stuck the K-01 in my jacket pocket.  Yes it did fit.  One of the complaints about this camera is that it looks like and feels like a brick.  I didn’t find that to be the case.  It weighs about 115 gm more than my previous X100 but isn’t much different in size when using the 40mm lens.  It also weighs about 180 gm less than my K-5 and is smaller since it doesn’t have the viewfinder hump.  If you have a negative opinion based on what some reviewers have written, I suggest that you compare it to a camera that you are familiar with.  The web site Camerasize.com is a great site to compare the size, weight, etc. of cameras.  You can pick almost any camera made and see how it looks from different views.  Check it out.

From my reviews of the camera I found that the quality of the K-01 images is probably the best that can be had for the price.  I have tried various micro 4/3 size sensor cameras and I didn’t like the IQ at high ISOs.  That is what drove me back to using the Pentax K-5 which, I think, has the best IQ for its size and price of any camera currently sold.

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Strand Capital décor
ISO 1600, 40mm, f/2.8, 1/80 sec.

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Leaving the Strand at night
ISO 6400, 40mm, f/2.8, 1/25 sec.

Would I buy the camera if I didn’t have a selection of Pentax lenses?   Maybe not.  I had no problem with the ergonomics while using the very small 40mm lens but I would only use it with prime lenses since it has no viewfinder and would be hard to hold steady with a long heavy zoom lens.  I like having a viewfinder but can use a LCD to compose my pictures when the sun isn’t a problem and I am only using a small lightweight lens.  It would be nice if the K-01 was smaller but I have decided that its’ size is not an issue for me since I only plan to use it with a short prime lens and I can still fit it in a jacket pocket or small bag.  If you want a true small pocket camera you will have to pay more for lower IQ.  It focuses slower than the K-5 but I didn’t find it to be a problem in these low light situations (I was using the software revision Ver : 1.01).

I think I will keep it because of its low relative cost for another spare battery and charger plus the 40mm lens and a backup camera for my Pentax K-5 system.  In addition I am already familiar with the Pentax system and know what I can and cannot do with the images.  My only doubts arise from the fact that it is sufficient but doesn’t have that mojo that makes me desire to carry and use it.  In addition it is money spent that could be saved for a future camera yet to be designed.  I will probably only use it when I really need something smaller and lighter than the K-5 or when I don’t want to risk losing the K-5 or when I have different prime lenses on both cameras and take both in a bag so that I can shift back and forth without changing lenses.

 
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Posted by on January 18, 2013 in Homewood at Plum Creek, Photography

 

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Photographers Have Options for Reducing Weight

06 Jan

In this past year I have read many blog articles about how some photographers no longer like to carry big heavy DSLRs when they are out walking and/or just shooting for their personal pleasure.  They are suffering from having carried heavy camera bags their whole life.  Their backs are giving out.  All of them are getting older, just like all the rest of us, and it seems that many are making a change in their cameras as they age.  Some replace their big heavy DSLRs with smaller, lighter, mirror-less compact system cameras such as the Sony NEX or Olympus or Panasonic micro 4/3 system cameras while others keep their big DSLRs for their business use, but get lighter cameras for their personal use.  In all the cases that I have read about, they put the emphasis on downsizing the camera; but, I would like to make an observation that there are other variables in the equation for reducing the amount of weight carried.

I speak from experience.  As I started having problems carrying my Pentax K-5 and lenses, and eventually had back surgery, I made the decision to sell my DSLR system and replace it with something lighter.  I tried many micro 4/3 cameras and lenses.  I found they reduced the amount of weight that I was carrying around but they also decreased the quality of my pictures in low light situations and created adverse problems for me with camera ergonomics … a case of arthritic fingers vs. small buttons too close together.  Since I did not like the negative aspects of the downsizing route that I had taken, I went back to a K-5 DSLR camera as well as lenses for it, and sold all of my other cameras.  I decided to make other changes to reduce the weight and increase the quality at the same time.

I agree with many older photographers that it is necessary to reduce the total weight of the gear that we carry with us … it is just a fact of getting older, especially for those of us with back problems.  But I decided to keep the advantages of my DSLR and to reduce the weight in other ways.  I’m in the process of using my heavier, longer zoom lens less and less and using prime lenses more and more.  As I mentioned in my last article, I added a Pentax 21mm prime lens to my set of options.  If I find that I can’t carry my 55 – 300mm zoom lens as much as I did (was on my camera the majority of the time), I will also change what I photograph as well.  It might mean fewer pictures of wildlife.  I hope to primarily use my 21mm, 35mm, and 50mm prime lenses and change the type and style of my photography to fit that choice of lenses.

I haven’t had an opportunity to really try my new 21 mm lens, but I did take one picture with it yesterday when I made a quick trip to a market.

Hanover Market

Hanover Market

The lighting in the market wasn’t the best so the above picture was taken at an ISO of 400, f/4.5, and 1/50 sec with the 21mm lens.  I’m thinking that this lens will make a nice travel lens since it is light-weight, very small (only 1 inch long), and makes for a more discreet camera-lens combination for carrying while touring.  One advantage of the lens is that it also gives me nice depth of field coverage and it crop-zooms fairly well as noted in the following crop from the center of the above picture.

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In addition to having smaller, lighter gear to carry, it also allows me to carry it in a smaller, lighter bag as I make another change.  I have found that having a strap on my camera creates problems.  In the first case I decided that carrying a camera on a strap around my neck or over one shoulder was one of the problems relative to my back pain.  In the second case, I found that the strap attached to the camera lugs also occasionally got in the way of my hands … even when using a wrist strap.  The solution that I’m now trying is neither a neck, or shoulder, or wrist strap.  I have gone back to a system that I tried two years ago in which the camera is attached to my camera bag by a tether.  It is the system as shown in an earlier blog article (click here).  The picture in the article shows my older K-7 camera but the size is the same as my current K-5.  I’m also using the same bag as shown, but I might try some other bags before I deem the one shown as my preference.  It will depend on how many lenses I take with me.

At the beginning of this article I mentioned that all the photographers complaining of the weight of their system only talked about changing cameras … not lenses; but I don’t think that means that they haven’t also changed lenses.  Several photographers have switched from their heavy DSLR cameras to cameras like the Fujifilm X system.  Since these cameras currently don’t have long zoom lenses available yet, it either means that the photographers didn’t use long zoom lenses before or else they have also made a change in focal range as I am trying.

In reality, photography isn’t any different than other aspects of life.  As we get older we have options relative to reducing the burdens on our life.  Photographers can change cameras or they can change lenses, or/and they can change what they photograph.  All of us, photographers or not, will have to make similar changes in our lifestyle to reduce the impacts of our non-sustainable lifestyles.  We will all end up making changes and downsizing.  We will have to cut back and do less with less.  It’s time to make changes while we are able to adapt.

 
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Posted by on January 6, 2013 in Hanover PA, Looking Back to the Future, Photography, Simplicity

 

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Working through the Fog … Prime vs. Zoom Lenses

03 Jan

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I used my 55 – 300mm Pentax zoom lens set at 107.5mm, f/5.6, ISO = 400, and 1/200 sec. to take the above picture.  This was a clear case where I needed the zoom’s focal length to reach across the pond.  The conditions were also such that I didn’t want to be changing lenses while out in the field.  Conditions like this, along with the potential of seeing wildlife, have made this lens one of my favorites except for when it isn’t.

There are many situations when the 55 – 300mm f/4-5.8 zoom is not my preferred lens.  These are when I find it too heavy to carry long distances, when I desire greater image quality such as sharpness, when I desire a faster lens, and when I’m working among people who don’t like to be “shot with a cannon.”  For those times, I prefer to use a prime lens.  I will occasionally use my 18 – 55mm zoom lens, but not often.  I don’t like the quality of the images as well as those taken with a prime lens so I generally only use the 18 – 55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens during inclement weather since it is weather resistant as is my K-5 camera.

But, the decision process of which lens to use is sometimes foggy since I can’t see into the future.  My preference when going out to take pictures is to decide which lens I’ll need before I go and then put it on the camera and not take any other lenses.  I usually manage with my decision, but not always.  I have three prime lenses for the Pentax K-5 … the 21mm f/3.2 (on order), the 35mm f/2.4, and the 50mm f/1.8, which give me effective focal lengths of 31.5, 52.5, & 75mm.  A big difference between Pentax and Nikon or Canon is that Pentax decided to produce small light-weight primes rather than fast primes; therefore, the Pentax primes are lighter and create a more discreet camera-lens combination than its competitors.  I love the smaller, lighter size of the system when using primes, but I still have to decide which one to use.  I try to error on a slightly wider focal length than I think I’ll need since I can then crop-zoom to get the composition desired.

I’m going to change my setup in order to decrease the chances of having the wrong lens with me.  If I know that the odds are high that I might need different lenses, I’m going to start taking a camera bag with an extra lens or two in it.  I have mostly avoided this in the past since I didn’t want to carry any more weight than necessary.  Since my circumstances have changed … my back is doing better and the weight isn’t as much of a problem, and I’m not out in the field for long periods of time any more … I am going to take a bag and multiple lenses.  But, this also means that I need to get familiar with changing lenses while out in the field.  I’ll let you know how it works for me and tell you a little about my bag setup as well as different strap arrangements at some later date.  My desire is to work the kinks out and have my techniques perfected before spring so that I can concentrate on taking pictures.

BTW … if you aren’t using prime lenses, try them.  I really prefer the image quality, the lower weight, and greater ease of carrying a more discreet system.  I’m looking forward to my new 21mm prime lens and will use my primes more than my zooms if I take less wildlife pictures.

 
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Posted by on January 3, 2013 in Homewood at Plum Creek, Photography

 

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