First Photos from the DA*60-250

The first production units have started to ship in Europe and other parts of the world. We'll start to receive our first units in the US in the next two weeks. Not having had a chance to shoot with this lens, I was pleasantly surprised to see some early sample photos from Richard Day, who lives in the UK. Here's a link to some of his DA*60-250 test photos on Flickr. Here's another series of photos Richard took to show the background blur (bokeh) produced by this lens using some nice tomatoes in the foreground.

Sunday Walk with DA15

Our Sunday walk along the beach in San Clemente was the first time for me to try out a production version of the DA15. I previously posted photos of Harry the Pelican using a pre-production sample of this lens and I'll need to burn through a lot more film (files) of various scenes and subject matter to see if I can discern any differences.

Photos were all shot in RAW with a K20D and processed in CS3 to produce jpegs for posting here on blogger. No adjustments were made to the images, except for the snapshot of my wife. I had to crop this photo, as I shot this quickly by turning and firing and ended up with a falling horizon in the background.

I was really pleased to see that dpreview already posted their review of this lens in the past few days. Being a new lens, I didn't expect to see their review up this quickly. I'm puzzled by one of Andy Westlake's comments about construction and his choice of a zoom lens to compare against a prime, but overall, I thought this review was even handed and well done.

(Note: Click on any thumbnail to see a larger image file)

Op-Ed thoughts by the Spa

After a particularly grueling and long week, it was really nice to get back home for a weekend of relaxation. This morning as I was reading the NY Times and enjoying coffee in my back yard, I realized there were a number of related topics and discussions that occurred this week in the small corner of the world we call photography that is then further segmented by those that have an interest in all things Pentax. So consider this an "op ed" post or collection of thoughts and comments that I will post throughout the weekend. There won't be any order to the comments that I add, and there's no significance to the order in which I post these snippets.
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Having seen a lot of less than complimentary things said about me in the past, which I understand is part of being open and approachable on the internet, I had to laugh this morning when I read this comment by GnusMas on pentaxforums that was in response to a heated exchange on who knew more about a certain upcoming model from Pentax..."Ahh its OK maybe next year you to can buddy up to Ned at the PMA and try to get your very own NDA . I suggest you start building your tomato shot portfolio I hear that's one way into NED's heart. lol." I think the whole point about my love of tomatoes stems from the realization that what tends to typify many Pentax shooters is that they have a pretty balanced life wherein photography is only one of their passions and pursuits. I think we tend to harbor a higher percentage of independent minded shooters who enjoy the pursuit of photography first and are less obsessed with their gear. So GnusMas is right, the way to my heart is to show a balance of passion for life and make sure your love of photography is not at the expense of other priorities including nuturing the relationship with your family and close friends.
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The photo for this post was taken with the K20D and DA15 lens, shot in RAW and processed in-camera to produce a "soft" jpeg.
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Regarding the tempest on pentaxforums about whether Rice High knows more about the upcoming K-model than Yvon Borque, consider this. Just like any other company in high-tech, we have a number of journalists that represent traditional print as well as web, who have signed NDA's and are at various stages of evaluating a new product offering. We've had long standing relationships with these folks, and this is critical in making sure information about a new product is available at the time of announcement. None of this is possible without a great sense of trust by both parties. Therefore, it's a reality that while some people will have knowledge prior to an announce dates, others will have to speculate and I guess that's fine in this new cyber world where rumors tend to create so much buzz that the actual announcement almost becomes a letdown.
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I've never met him, but quite a few of you should cut RiceHigh some slack. I don't always agree with what he says, but he has every right to post his thoughts. He has strong opinions, and is passionate about what he does. Last time I checked, there's no restriction on having a point of view either in print or on-line.
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Mike Johnston had some great things to say about buying a camera in his post this week by not selecting the "T.O.P. Ten Recommended Cameras: #3". His conclusion was "all of these cameras are truly excellent devices that will serve any thoughtful and hardworking photographer very, very well—very well indeed. Pick one and be done." If you haven't read this post, check it out...
T.O.P Ten Recommended Cameras:
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Square sensor and full frame??? Executives in Japan have said we'll release a model this summer that is more advanced than the K20D, and that we have re-started development of the 645D which is expected to be released in 2010. When asked about full frame (meaning 35mm camera body), we commented this would be very difficult in the near future. To those that continue to postulate or argue that the new camera better be full frame, ask yourself what lenses are you planning to use on this hypothetical new full frame body?

As I received a few comments on this, let me clarify my tongue-in-cheek comment. Anyone that is currently using a full frame sensor 35mm camera knows that they exact a high price in terms of the lenses that perform acceptably. Many lenses originally designed for film fall short in terms of distortion control and edge-to-edge sharpness when used with a full frame sensor. I have a good friend who currently shoots high-end weddings in Southern California with a 5D. While he loves the fact he can now use his wide angle lenses, he has quite a few lenses he's shot with for years that he can no longer use.

In our case, if we developed a full frame camera, it's likely that very few of our recent DA lenses (those designed for APS-C) would be able to properly fill the viewing area of this new sensor. And although we have some wonderful FA lenses, like my favorite FA 31mm Limited, I'm not sure even this lens would be up to the optical challenge.

I know that our engineers have studied these issues and would probably not agree totally with my simplistic explanation. However, I think it's important to understand that going to a full frame sensor means not only having to design a brand new camera from ground up, but likely a new line of lenses that meet the more demanding optical requirements.

It's clear that there is a place for full frame cameras, but it currently is a small part of the overall SLR market. Due to the total cost of ownership and increased demands shooting with full frame images, the majority of cameras sold will still use APS-C, 4/3rds type sensors.

Despite some of our desires to always want newer, faster, better technology, I'm not sure that many of us would see a dramatic improvement in our photography if we were given a full frame sensor camera. Personally, I think we've hit the sweet spot with APS-C sensor cameras today. 12-15 megapixels is more than adequate for even your most demanding assignments, we've got far better control of noise, frame rates and processing speeds are sufficient for the majority of work advanced or serious photographers need and all of this is available at very reasonable price points, regardless of your choice of brand.

In closing this train of thought, the whole full frame debate reminds me of the sometimes wine-induced arguments I have with a buddy of mine over the performance of our 5 series BMW's. I always end these discussions by saying if he really, really demands/needs/desires higher performance then shut up and buy an M5 or 7 series. As you'd expect, he's still shooting...uh I mean driving his beautiful 5 series bimmer.
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As RiceHigh aptly points out, any legacy lens would work on a 35mm full frame camera. There's no question about this, the real concern is about the image quality produced by these lens.
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Spring in Connecticut

I flew back to Connecticut this past weekend for a family event and to check in on my 88 year old mother. Being a quick trip, I only packed my K20D and 31mm lens. The weather turned out to be sunny and warm, and I was able to carve out a little free time to try and capture a few photos showing the signs of springs.

Except for the photo of the field of daffodils, all the other photos were taken around my mother's house and land. I tried to find scenes and composition that tested the 31mm's wonderful resolving capabilities. Although I have used this lens more than any other piece of Pentax glass, it continues to surprise me in the way it consistently renders highlights, shadows and color regardless of the scene or lighting.

While I spent most of my time outside, I did take a few photos inside my mother's house to mix in some hand held natural light interiors to juxtapose against the primarily outdoor nature scenes. I haven't photographed many interiors with this lens previously, and was fairly happy with these casual tests especially since they were all shot at f/4.0 and between 1/6 and 1/8 sec.

All photos shot in RAW and converted with CS3 (no adjustments) into jpegs for uploading to Blogger. Double click on the thumbnails for a larger image.

Best Tomato Photo '09

DA*55mm Lens

DA 21mm Limited Lens

At this year's PMA, after speaking with Yvon Bourque about various Pentax photography topics, our conversation turned to another of our passions - growing tomatoes. I thought about our tomato talk today, as I finally got around to planting a few of my favorite heirloom tomatoes.

It seems we have quite a few Pentaxians that are as passionate about growing their own tomatoes as taking photographs. Since many species of tomatoes are as lovely to view, as they are to eat, I'm thinking about having a "Best Tomato Photo '09" contest. For anyone that's tried, photographing tomatoes can be a pretty challenging assignment, requiring precise control of the lighting that falls on the fruit, especially since the waxy or shiny skin can create unattractive hotspots.

The idea for this contest, or challenge, is that you have to shoot the tomato on the vine, showing both the fruit and leaves. You would have to use only natural light, but could employ any type of reflectors or diffusers to balance the lighting. As shooting tomatoes on the vine requires that you balance both the ambient light falling on the fruit, and controlling the shadows that naturally occur under all the leaves, you'll find that setting up the perfect tomato photo is a lot harder than it looks.

I'm thinking that this contest should end in September to allow most folks enough time for their tomatoes to grow to full size. I haven't yet figured out how I'd host the images, nor what the prize for the best tomato photo will be. But I figure there's a little time to work out these details. In the meantime, I hope all you tomato lovers have already started your '09 crop, and if you have any ideas or suggestions about the contest please leave me a comment here on my blog.

Note 1: The contest will be limited to photos taken with any Pentax SLR, and submissions from Pentaxians worldwide will be accepted. Since many of my favorite heirloom tomatoes come from seeds that originated in Europe, and Momotaro is a Japanese variety, it wouldn't make sense to limit this challenge to US growers only.

Note 2: Only one photo will be accepted. The photo must be of an heirloom tomato and you'll have to submit the name of the variety as well.

Best wishes for a warm, sunnny season and happy tomato growing!