After having this lens for a few days, I haven't had the chance to take a lot of photos with it but a few things I noticed is one, it's really small (more so than the SMC Takumar 28mm f/3.5) and two, it's very sharp, even wide open (f/3.5). Here's some size comparison shots to my other Takumar lenses.

In order of appearance : Super Takumar 135 3.5, Super Takumar 55mm 1.8, SMC Takumar 28mm 3.5 and Super Takumar 35mm 3.5

To make this a complete picket fence happy family, I'll need to adopt the 35mm 2, 50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.9 and the 105mm 2.8.

Super Takumar 35mm 3.5

Super Takumar 35mm 3.5

I did mention she was sharp right? Check out the 100% crop below (unedited).

Nice threads huh?

Took some test photos today at the Fukuyama Port area with the Sun Auto Tele-Zoom 85 - 210mm f/4.8 lens I recently bought . All the photos below are from the camera with no image adjustments, all shot in RAW.

I wasn't expecting much from this lens quality wise so the results were expected, although some shots turned out ok, especially if I were to tweak them in post like I do to all of my photos. Contrast is pretty decent, although sharpness was lacking in all the photos, especially when blown up. Contrasty shots come curtasy of high colour fringing (chromatic aberation), especially seen in the bird photo at 100% crop.

I didn't get a chance to test the bokeh quality (only seen in the fence photo) or play with the different appertures as it was 35 C° with 60% humidity, so I just wanted to go home and sit in the A/C.

So will I be using this lens? Probably not that often or never as it's just not practical, the image quality isn't there and I'm not much of a large tele shooter. So then you may ask, as my wife already has, why the fuck did you buy it? Well, it was 2,100 yen and I like to spend money on things I won't use.

Here's some shots - All taken with the Pentax K10D. Click for a larger image.

f stop - f/4.8 : focal length - 85mm : ISO - 400 : Shutter Speed - 1/3000

100% crop - slight blurring

f stop - f/4.8 : focal length - 210mm : ISO - 400 : Shutter Speed - 1/500

f stop - f/8 : focal length - 85mm : ISO - 400 : Shutter Speed - 1/4000

f stop - f/8 : focal length - 210mm : ISO - 200 : Shutter Speed - 1/90

f stop - f/4.8 : focal length - 85mm : ISO - 200 : Shutter Speed - 1/180

f stop - f/8 : focal length - 85mm : ISO - 400 : Shutter Speed - 1/750

100% crop - Chromatic Aberration

I went to two second hand stores where I live in Fukuyama with a gut feeling I was going to find some lenses. One store, which is right below my apartment had a Super Takumar 135mm f/3.5 with hood and caps at a great price for 3,800 yen (about $35.00 USD). Unfortunately I already have that lens so I didn't make the purchase, if only it was the f/2.8. Next place is a little bigger and had quite a few lenses but only about three in K mount and one M42 which is the lens I bought. I also saw a Pentax K Series prime lens, I think it was the SMC 300mm f/4 going for 14,000 yen ($130.00 USD) which (if the boss lets me) I might pick up.

I can't seem to find any info about this lens or brand, but it's an M42 mount Sun Auto Tele-Zoom 85 - 210mm f/4.8-22 (any aperture for any focal length) which I paid 2,100 yen ($19.50 USD) with front and rear caps and a lens hood. It has the very convenient Manual/Auto switch famous with the Takumar lenses which enables the use of Av mode. The lens seems to be in working order as I took a few test shots in the store but it is missing a small screw on the zoom ring which causes it to very slowly rotate if moved quickly. Once I got back home and cleaned it up, I did realize there was a little hazing or early signs of fungus, but I don't really mind as I doubt I will be using this lens on a regular basis as it's pretty heavy, weighing 800 grams and nearly 2kg mounted on the K10D as it's all metal. The focusing ring is very smooth, is are the aperture blades so for about $20, it was a pretty good deal. Here are some photos of the lens taken with the K10D with the 55mm Super Takumar taken at f/5.6. I'll post some test shots within the week.

Here are some photos of the M42 screw mount Auto Tamron 35mm f/2.8 lens I picked up when holidaying in Australia. It cost me $45.00 AUD at Photo Camera House in Adelaide,located in the central markets. After a few sessions with this lens, I must admit that I really like lens. With my M42 lenses, I only have the Takumar's to compare to so it was surprising how much bigger and heavier the Tamron was compared to my Super Takumar 55mm 1.8, nonetheless, it was nice to have some weight for extra support. The cool thing about this lens is that it has the Auto switch, allowing the lens to be used in Av Mode, allowing greater control of the lens.

This type of lens is hard to find info on, but I did find this review of the Auto Tamron 28mm 2.8 on Jayvee Fernandez blog, A Bugged Life.

*UPDATE* - A Pentax Forums member recommended the site Adaptall-2 about the Tamron Adapt-A-Matic lenses which were replaced by the newer Adaptall lenses. Check out some info on the Tamron 35mm f/2.8.

This is the first time I've taken Tamron out to play all by itself with no backup. It was a friends birthday so a few of us headed to the Fukuyama Art Gallery gardens, drank a few beers, ate some food and played some soccer/football/rugby. After the boys had a kick, the ladies stepped in and had a play. Here's the result with the K10D and the Auto Tamron 35mm f/2.8 screw mount lens.

Overall, the lens was pretty easy to use, even in semi action situations. It's pretty sharp and easy to focus and I really like the 35mm focal range, not too wide, not too tight.

Remember, these photos were taken not completely sober.

Slightly cropped and not too sharp, but that's due to moving subjects and a fixed focus lens...or just me taking bad photos.

Ohh...nice and blurry but adds tension to the story.

About f/11 I think.

Nice for portraits, Naomi here at about f/4.

I've had the Pentax M 50mm 1.7 for about a month now and have had a few chances to use and get the feel of it. Shooting in Kyoto was a lot of fun being a much more dynamic city than where I currently live so obviously shooting opportunities were readily available. Before I went to Kyoto I happened to be looking through some of the Pentaxforums threads about using M lenses on the K10D and this is what I basically learnt;

Switch to M mode

Focus the shot

press the Green button (light meter)

Shoot

So far, this seems to work pretty well and I have no complaints about this lens. It has beautiful, creamy bokeh, it's sharp and easy to focus with.

I have just received my "new" second hand Pentax 50mm 1.7 which I won from ebay Australia. This is my first M lens for my K10D and let's just say i'm pretty excited to get my hands dirty. M lenses without an A setting supposedly have some problems with metering on the K10D but I haven't had a chance to see for myself. Here are some links on the subject;

Pentax Forums - K10D stopped-down metering weirdness

Pentax Forums - k100d stop-down metering problem

Race High's Blog - When the Focusing Screen Lies (for Focusing and Metering)

I'll have a play with this lens over the next few weeks while I'm in Kyoto.

All images taken by ceba1962

As I said in my last post, the Astron 35-70 is one noisy and very lazy lens! In full blown sunlight this lens had a lot of trouble finding a focus point in all AF modes, very, very frustrating. Switching to manual is just as difficult as the focusing ring is pretty thin, therefore difficult to control.

Optically, it's not bad for amateur use and since I don't have a high quality zoom lens to compare it to it's hard for me to judge. Many of my test shots were a little overexposed (lenses fault, of course not mine). The lens isn't very sharp but hard to tell because of the focusing issues. Because the rendered shots are somewhat acceptable it's disappointing that this lens just can't be trusted to perform in the field.

So, will I ever really be using this lens on an outing? No way, the Astron has been banished to the back of my camera closet never to see the light of day again.

35mm, f/11, 1/60, ISO 100

70mm, f/4.5, 1/750, ISO 200

I currently have a few lenses for my Pentax K10D, some are pretty shitty, some O.K and some I really like, but all my lenses are not expensive Limiteds or anything over $250 for that matter, but for me and my level of expertise coupled with a frugal wife, they'll have to do.

What I want to do is spend a day out shooting with a different lens to really see what they're made of and what I can produce with some fairly cheap lenses. My mission here is to understand the lenses I don't use that often before I write them off. The following statements are my experiences with them so far.

Pentax DA 18-55mm f3.5-5.6
Good walk around lens but lacking distance, 18mm is a decent wide angle and the 55mm is O.K for portraits, although not the sharpest at either end. In low light, the lens is too slow for for a good exposure and the AF function searches like a carrier Pigeon without a destination. I find that colour and contrast are a little flat but nothing that can't be fixed in post. I have a 2x Tele Converter which I may attach to this lens and use it as a makeshift macro, maybe giving the lens a new life.

Current usage - Rarely
Project - My friend works at a lab which houses many different insects, I'll beg him to let me go and take some macro shots of his creepies.

Pentax FA 70-200mm f4-5.6
Not the wisest purchase I've made but I'm sure it has a purpose in life. From my limited experience with this lens, it seems that it's only going to perform when full lighting is available, anything less and this lens will fail you like the English Cricket team. It has the power zoom function which I hate, it sounds like a pimped car with hydrolics so I tend to disable it, unless I want to impress a girl. The few times I used this lens was in Osaka when I bought it and I realized it was a pretty shit street lens as I had to stand back about 15 meters to get a decent shot of my brother staring at J Girls.

Current usage - Rarely
Project - Sit on my balcony and shoot anything that dares fly past, it will also let me experiment with high shutter speeds, something that I haven't really toyed with yet.

Astron 35-70mm f3.5/4
This was a pass me down along with the 2x tele converter from my old dad, he used to take macro shots of his orchids and from what I remember it did the job. I don't know where he bought this from but it's pretty hard to find info on Astron lenses, all I know that it was made in Japan. It has a nice zoom range, especially for portraits and may do fine as a basic walk around too. I really can't comment too much on it as I've yet to really use it outside. One thing I do remember (and the main reason that I don't use it) is it's AF is really noisy and searches a long time to find a focus point.

Current usage - None
Project - Put it on the damn camera for once and take some pictures!

SMC Takumar 28mm f3.5
I don't really shoot at 28mm that often so when I do, I just use my FA 28-105 3.2/4. For some reason I don't ever feel the need to shoot that wide as I like to get in close and personal. This 28mm has really nice colour and contrast and looks nice when converted to B&W.

Current usage - Sometimes
Project - Hit the streets of Kyoto during the Winter holidays and test it out.

Super Takumar 135 f3.5
I don't tend to shoot my zoom shot as I said before, I like to get in close to my subjects hence the reason I don't use the 135 too often. On the occasion I have used it, I was taking photos of bridges in the distance but unfortunately it was dusk so I wasn't using the lens to it's full potential.

Current Usage - Sometimes
Project - Go to Tomonoura (a small fishing village near Fukuyama) or to Onomichi City and take some photos from the mountains as well as the local flora.

Lensbaby 2.0
This lens is just fun to use and when you feel in a photographic rut, thats why every now and then I use my Lensbaby and force myself to see the world differently. The problem is, I don't take this lens seriously and I should, therefore I swear on baby jesus that I'll use this lens with the respect it deserves.

Current Usage - Occasionally
Project - Portraits baby, portraits. I'm in Kyoto for a few days and the wife is dressing up as a Maiko for a few hours, should hopefully get some nice shots with the Lensbaby.

So, hopefully after the holidays I'll have a few test results, nothing technical, no numbers, just words and photos.

So i've been pretty busy learning and playing around with my K10D and I must admit i'm pretty happy with the results for only picking up a camera about 6 months ago. Enough self back patting, I still have a lot to learn and understand about photography and I feel that i'm being held back due to my limited lens arsenal. Problem is, I'm not a rich man, not even well off so I need lenses that can offer me quality at a reasonable price.

At the moment I have the Astron 35-70 mm (shit in low light and not enough zoom for a walk-around lens but decent enough in natural light and maybe a good portrait lens). I also have the Pentax kit lens, the 18-55 mm (again, not enough range). The two great things about these lenses though is that they're both 52mm wide and fit the macro filters I have.

I guess I'm looking for a lens that will take me to at least 135mm if not 200mm, just to get some decent zoom shots. Since I'm in Japan, I don't feel comfortable bidding on ebay, not sure why so don't ask but what we do have is Yahoo Auctions and Rakuten which is a new, used and auction shopping portal. Also, Japan is swamped with old and new photographic equipment and those two sites are great for finding some pretty good prices.

After doing some searches on Yahoo Auctions, I found some Takumar lenses from Asahi Pentax. They look like a 100 years old and obviously wouldn't fit on my K10D anyway, but they looked interesting so I did some reasearch. Rumour has it that with a nifty little converter from Pentax, these old school M42 screw mount lenses do actually work with my DSLR. Again, The K10D impresses.

After a few weeks of looking and bidding on Yahoo Auctions, I came across a set which consisted of the following;

Black Asahi Spotmatic - Not working
Silver Asahi Spotmatic - Working
Super Takumar 3.5/135mm - w/lens hood
Super Takumar 1.8/55mm - w/lens hood
SMC Takumar 3.5/28mm - w/lens hood

All lenses had no mold, very few dents & scratches and seemed be in working order. After placing a few bids, I came on top and the above set cost me about 10,000 yen ($85US, $105AUD). I also bought a screw mount converter through Rakuten for about 2,500 yen and a week later I had a whole new photographic world to experiment with.