snik75

<p>Last</p><div></div>

<p>A closer look:</p><div></div>

<p>Those are some cool nature shots, Douglas! I have the opposite of nature shots: the Chicago River, dyed green for St. Patrick's Day. Greener than I was expecting, anyway!</p><div></div>

<p>I always assumed the "Full Frame" model would be priced beyond my budget, at $2,500 or so. At $1,800 to start it still is, but if the price falls like products have in the past, I may end up owning one at some point. I am fairly confident that good film era lenses will hold up just fine.</p>

<p>Javier, "Play Me A Tune" is great. I really like the diagonal line(s) between black and white. Could you crop in to emphasize that a little more? Maybe lose the shadow on the right? Just a thought. Good work, anyway.</p>

<p>And another:</p><div></div>

<p>Harry, I like the lines on #2 a lot. Here's a little seasonal cheer from me:</p><div></div>

<p>I recently swapped my DA70 for an FA77, and feel it was a good choice for me. I never connected with the former lens, and the latter really sparkles. Here's a candid of my daughter with no PP, just nice light in the cafe.</p><div></div>

<p>Doug, I really like those reflections. Hard to believe with a 600mm! Howard, lovely ladies as always.</p><div></div>

<p>Nice colors, Matt! I'll add some more below. I know what you mean about the wifi transfer, I've used a FluCard with my new K3 and it is a clunky process but nice for immediate sharing via social media.</p> <p>Speaking of the K3, I love it. At first I had some adjustment to the buttons, and I still don't have everything perfectly fine-tuned, but it is one hell of a camera. Definite step up from a K5 in some way I can't quite articulate.<br> Javier, good to see you back! Nice slices of LA, as always. Dorus, that water droplet is a remarkable image.</p> <div></div>

<p>I found a Vivitar 2X macro TC at my local thrift shop for $3.50! No A contact, but still. Put my FA43 on it and shot some leaves in my front lawn. These aren't perfect pictures, by any means, but I like the colors and bokeh:</p> <p><img src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5733/21623581702_1988bc46a8_b.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="681" /></p> <p><img src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/573/21448051519_0e307b21ce_b.jpg" alt="" width="681" height="1024" /></p> <p>Those reminded me how much I like shooting with my 43, it has gotten loft in a shuffle of newer lenses. Here's one of my daughter, sans color (courtesy of Nik Silver Efex, I think).</p> <p><img src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5739/21706459896_e2a3722dcc_b.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="681" /></p>

<p>Doug, I wonder about sunscreen in the water. Anyway, it is a nice effect. Duane, those shots are nice, although I see what you mean about tough lighting. Bob, looks like a lovely spot! I just have one to share, some mushrooms in my yard. I needed more DOF but we were in a hurry....</p><div></div>

<p>So many interesting nature shots this week! And people pics too. I revisited the bee location with just my DA 20-40; useful close-up in a pinch! (No crop just levels - its not a macro lens but not bad).</p><div></div>

<p>But Matt, you look so good in selfie! ;-) I was debating the KS-2 vs. K3 for the flip screen, but am pretty happy with the K3 so far. I like that bike shot! Dorus, I love your shots from the other world, even with a K5. ;-) Doug, I like the snake, and Yuri - i really like that landscape! I love that we can see the top of the telephone pole, thank goodness for 14mm.</p>

<p>If you already have a 50/2 lens, you can use that on your DSLR just fine. Only buy the new DA one if you need/want auto focus. With that covered, I would look at the DA 35 if I were you. I like that focal length a lot. Looks similar to a 50 when used on a film body, that's "normal" to me!</p>

<p>Well, there is a market for those lenses even with dead SDM, but the going price will be lower than if its working. And the 16-50's aren't in real high demand right now, even with working SDM I've seen them sell used for around $400. The 50-135 remains a lens that people like a lot.<br> It is possible to convert them to "screw-drive only" by hacking the firmware, and although I would be leery of trying it myself, some people have reported success. KEH also will repair the broken SDM at a rate that some people have reported as reasonable. I suspect it would be more economical to repair or convert before selling, but I don't know for sure.</p>

<p>Last, an example to show from where the "Bokina" nickname comes:</p><div></div>

<p>Next shooting some bees with my old but good Tokina 90mm f/2.5 macro:</p><div></div>

<p>I hope no one will mind if I start us off. I got a K3 and getting to know it has been fun. First, obligatory cat picture:</p><div></div>

<p>What the internet needs is another cat picture:</p><div></div>

<p>With a pomegranate tree in the front yard, my daughter consumed at least 10 whole fruits in the week.</p><div></div>

<p>I took a family trip to California and was pleasantly surprised to find that the DA 20-40 zoom really covered 90% of my needs. I usually take a fast prime and/or a macro along with a more convenient standard zoom, but the F50 macro I brought almost never made it out of my bag. The Limited zoom did well in capturing family snaps as well as the occasional pretty thing that caught my eye.</p><div></div>

<p>I don't know enough about the specific issue to tell you, but for my film camera repairs I always used Eric Hendrickson. He is a former Pentax tech (I think) and now is mostly retired except for repairs he does at home. He does great work with film cameras and is quite reasonable. His website is here:<br> http://www.pentaxs.com/<br> <br />If no one here knows, you may be able to correspond with him and get an idea if he can fix it. With a full CLA (clean, lube adjust) it'll come back purring. Of course, those bodies are pretty cheap now so you could always grab another and hope it works...maybe from KEH.</p>

<p>The DA 70 focuses pretty fast, too. It's not quite as highly rated as the 77, and gives a very different look, I believe (I've not had a 77 before) but it is quite a bit cheaper. You can pick up an SMC version for under $300, which is amazing to me. Neither of those lenses focuses that closely, though, which gave me a little trouble when my kids were that age - can't zoom in just on the eyes or face. The fifties let you get a little closer.</p> <p>But that particular 50/1.7 sounds like it may have had an issue. I don't think I would judge all F and FA lenses by that.</p>

<p>Finally, I used my lens with the longest focal length but physically under 3 inches (DA70), a 2X TC and the PKA --> Q adapter. Results were almost as bad as you might think, handholding a 644mm equivalent lens at 1/160 sec, manual focusing with a small LCD on a moving object, and most of them I just deleted. Like a broken clock, a few were ok (when downsized sufficiently). This one was the best:<br> (Really the trip was about the girls having fun - and THAT mission was accomplished. :-)</p> <div></div>