Pentax K-1

If you are a loyal Pentax fan, you must feel like a proud parent.  For many years, Pentax fans have to endure one bad news after another.  Pentax was tossed around, first sold to Hoya, and then Ricoh.  All these changes surely hampers product development.  Add to the fact that Pentax came to the digital SLR party quite late and it was not able to carve out a sizeable market share, although many of its DSLRs are very good.  I owned a K-10D and a couple of *ist bodies.  The K-10D was a stand out, but the *ist were too also ran.  Over the years, loyal Pentaxians patiently wait for a full frame body from Pentax, who first teased its fan with the 6MP MZ-D full frame in 2000 photokina, but suffered the same fate as the Contax Digital N, and never made it to market.  Further ptrototypes of the Pentax full frame appeared over the years but it always turned out to be a disappointment and the camera never materialized, until the announcement of the K-1.

In many ways, I admire Pentax as a company but the digital camera market has not been kind to it.  They don't have the resources as the bigger camera companies do, but always managed to introduce interesting products that appeal to photo enthusiasts.  Not the best specced, but balanced and usable at a fair price, like the K-1 full frame.

I expect the K-1 to sell well at this price point.  Many Pentax faithful will upgrade, no doubt, and many others will be drawn to this camera for its low price and good features.  I think Kajiwara-san would be most pleased.

Sunset over Toronto - Pentax-K 28mm f3.5 & Sony A7.

Goodbye, Captain John's

The Jadran, or Captain John's Seafood Restaurant boat, was towed away from its location of 40 years today.  In its hay days as a restaurant, it was a popular place for dining but things turned really bad in its later years and was eventually forced to close few years ago.  The Toronto Port Authority wanted it gone long ago but couldn't find a buyer who could safely move the boat.  At the end, it had to pay to get it towed to Port Colborne to be recycled.

Despite the many people who said the boat was an eye sore, I really didn't mind it.  Over the years, I have had many pictures taken of it, especially the last two years, where my work place is right next to the boat.  I think I will miss its presence.  The dock where it used to be, is already looking empty.

At around 10:30, media and onlookers gather around the boat.

Flanked and pulled by two tugboats, Captain John's was slowly leaving its resting place of 40 years

Quite a few boats gather around to watch this "historical" moment.

Goodbye, Captain John's.  You will be missed.

A Walk Along the Keating Channel

I have been walking to work and back for the last three weeks, instead of biking like I have done for the last 15+ years.  The joints in my upper body is starting to hurt me, so I decided to walk for a month.  It takes about an hour each way.  Many would think this is nuts, but I rather enjoy the walk, except for the first few days when it was really tough.  The best thing is that I can now walk through sections of the of the road that I could not bike to, and this provides more photography opportunities and biking.

Today I decided to walk along the Keating Channel since I have been wanting to photograph it for a long time, but never made it a reality until today.  The south side of the Channel is not open to the public, and the north side borders on Lakeshore Blvd., and I wouldn't suggest anyone to walk the entire length from Cherry street to Don Roadway, as it kind of dangerous on some sections; you have to walk very close to the road, or very close to the channel.  You could get hit by a car, or fall on the channel.

In any case, I did take quite a few pictures along the channel, with the newly acquired Schneider-Kreuznach Radionar 5cm f2.9 lens from the Balda folder camera.  This lens has a good reputation, and I can confirm that it performs admirably, considering how old it is.  The most amazing part is that I didn't even need a hood for the lens, even though it's not coated, and flare was very well controlled, especially when stopped down.  At f2.9, the lens is very sharp at the center, and by f8, the edges are very good and at its best at about f11.  Contrast is a bit on the low side at wider apertures, but the bokeh is lovely.  With a bit of processing, the files come out quite nicely.

All the pictures were taken with the Sony A7 & Schneider-Kreuznach Radionar 5cm f2.9.

P. Angenieux 45mm f2.8 Lens from Tiranty ST280

Got the Tiranty ST280 last week, and the sole reason was for the lens.  I really don't care much if the camera body does not work, but I love French lenses.  All the French lenses I have used produce exquisite and beautiful bokeh, and this 45mm f2.8 is no exception.

I removed the main lens from the ST280, which was quite easy to do, but the aperture and focusing rings are another story.  I decided to just use my Yeenon 18-33mm focus helicoid instead, and it worked out quite well.

Went to Allan Garden yesterday and shot some flowers; wanted to see what the bokeh is like.  When I downloaded the pictures and looked at them on the screen, I was wowed and captivated by how beautiful the bokeh was.  The French sure knows a thing or two how to design lenses that produce mouth watering bokeh.  Wide open, the lens shows some astigmatism on distance objects, but I have not noticed the same effect with close up shots.  The center of the lens is reasonably sharp wide open, but with low contrast.  Stopping down improved sharpness markedly and the astigmatism is gone by about f4, at least at the middle of the frame.  The long edges aren't great even at about f8, but passable.  You will be disappointed if you care about the edge sharpness.  But I think the strength of this lens lies in its gorgeous colour and bokeh rendering.  Seriously, I could lose myself in it.

All lenses below were taken with the Angenieux 45mm f2.8 and Sony A7:

Commlite EOS to E-Mount AF Adapter with Canon 180mm f3.5L Macro

I couldn't get any useful pictures with the Canon EF 85mm f1.2L II, so I will postpone the write up for that lens for a later date, and instead, I will update with the 180mm f3.5L Macro.

The EF 180mm f3.5L macro is the least used lens I have.  I should just as well get rid of it and probably would not miss it, but I know full well I will regret it as soon as I do that.  It's quite a bit better than the Sigma 180mm f3.5 I once had, in terms of build and optics.  Each time I use it, I am not disappointed.  The long working distance is perfect for shooting critters that might  move if they sense you are too close.  The colour and sharpness are outstanding qualities this lens has, not to mention how well it's built.  Unfortunately, this lens does not work well with the Commlite AF adapter.

Unlike the EF 100mm f2.8L Macro, which is a complete disaster on the Commlite adapter, the 180L does work, just not the way you expect it to.  I set the shooting mode to Aperture priority 99% of the time, except when the light is getting low, I would switch to Shutter Speed Priority.  When this lens is mounted on the A7 with the Commlite adapter, the shooting mode does not seem to have an effect, whether set to A or S.  The adapter seems to have a mind of its own and changes the aperture/shutter speed as it saw fit, like the mode dial is on P.  The strange thing is that when the adapter sets the aperture on f4.5, it does not close down when the shutter is pressed, but stayed wide open.  It does, however, support Full Time Manual focus, which is important for macro shooting, and I was able to take some pictures with the lens.

Auto focus wise, let's just say forget about it.  The 180L macro lens already has a very long focus travel distance and the adapter would rack the lens from closes to infinity each time it fails the attempted focus.  It's excruciating to watch the lens struggle.  By the time it finally obtained focus, the cows had already come home.  So, this lens is best used in manual focus mode, and AF is pretty much useless anyway when shooting macro near maximum magnification. Still, it's useful because manual focus is possible.

All pictures below were taken with the Commlite AF adapter on Sony A7 with Canon EF 180mm f3.5.

Shooting with a 100-Year-Old Lens

The 100-year-old lens was removed from a damaged Kodak Premonette Jr, made in 1913. It took me a little while to find the parts to mount it on my Sony A7 and went out for a shoot.

This lens is very tiny and has no aperture or focal length markings on it, but I think it's maximum aperture is somewhere around f11, and the focal length is probably 125mm. With a maximum aperture this small, there are some challenges shooting handheld, even in broad daylight. Thanks to the high ISO capabilities of today's digital cameras, I was able to just set the camera on Shutter Priority and let the camera select the appropriate ISO. You have to admire the patience of the photography forerunners who had to take multi-minute exposures with this camera, and the frustration they had to endure when things moved.

I wasn't expecting stellar performance from this 100-year-old lens, but it still surprised me, considering it age. No, it won't win any sharpness contest, but it's pretty good.  If I enlarge one of the pictures to 8x10, I doubt anyone can tell it from one shot with a modern kit zoom lens.  If anything, I think the distortion correction is even better than the cheap zooms of today.

One thing that I noticed is that the colours are somewhat subdued. It also lacks contrast, and sharpness is just OK, but one needs to understand that this camera was made to be affordable; expectations should be adjusted accordingly :)

Although the lens is recessed and does a pretty good job of shielding the stray light, I do wish I could mount a lens hood on this lens, because flare is still a big problem in many situations. Also, this lens should be used with a tripod to fully extract the performance from it. I suspect that it would perform a bit better if a more stable method of shooting was used.

The lens is no better than even the average quality lens of today, but when you are shooting with a lens this old, you will treat it and shoot it with a totally different mindset.

Lens from Kodak Premonette Jr. that was made in 1913, so it's slightly more than a 100 years old.

Fire Truck Maintenance - Sony A7 & Kodak Premonette Jr. Lens. click for larger.

Morning Walk - Sony A7 & Kodak Premonette Jr. Lens. click for larger.

Bokeh - Sony A7 & Kodak Premonette Jr. Lens.

Gooderham Flatiron - Sony A7 & Kodak Premonette Jr. Lens.

Deep Freeze Continues

The temperature in the Toronto area continues to drop. The forecast for tomorrow morning is -21 Celsius, or around -35c with wind chill. If you are crazy like me, who still bikes in this temperature, please take precaution and dress very warm, with a face mask and warm gloves. If you ride on bike paths, please do not ride if it's icy. I fell twice on my way home today and am still aching. It might be better to take the main roads as they are plowed and salted much quicker than bike paths. Be safe.

Snow, snow everywhere - Canon FD 35mm f2 S.S.C & NEX-6. 

Zeiss Distagon 55mm f1.4 - The Best 55mm Lens in the World?

Since the introduction of the Zeiss Distagon 55mm f1.4 lens, the net is abuzz. Some love it, many question the purpose of such product, and yet others love it but hate the price.  For those who are negative toward the (seemingly) amazing lens, I question why.  If we only produce "good enough" products that most people can afford, the world will be filled with mediocre products. Without these best of the breed products, produced where money is no object, we would not know how far we can go. Sure, most of us will not be able to afford the new lens, but there is a chance that we could afford a used one later on.

The Canon EF 200mm f1.8L is one of the best lenses in the world. It was created to showcase Canon's technical prowess in lens design. Even by today's standards, it's still one of the best, certainly still the world's faster autofocus 200mm lens. I would not have been able to afford it when it was new, but I was able to buy one used. Canon never sold many of these lenses and I am not even sure it they made a profit from this lens, if you factor in the time it took to design and the tools needed to make it. But, I am glad they made it.

Still, many lambasted Zeiss for making such an expensive lens and it won't even autofocus. I am glad they made it a manual focus lens. Every time I think of the EF 200mm f1.8L lens sitting here, and cannot be fixed due to parts shortage, I wish the lens was a manual focus lens; manual focus lenses have a much longer service life. Some of my manual focus lenses are more than 50 years old and they still work wonderfully like the day they were made.

So Zeiss, bring us more lenses that are the best of the best.

Looking South of Yonge Street - Canon 20D IR & Pentax-M 20mm f4 @ f8

Shooting Around the Keating Channel

One of the best things about working downtown, is that I can be a few kilometers away around the lake or any direction (except south) in a just minutes on my bike. I have been taking advantage of this and biking to the Cherry Beach, all around Harborfront, and even back to the Spadina & Queen area occasionally, to visit my wife. Today I decided to do some shooting around the Keating Channel at Cherry St. & Lakeshore Blvd.

The Keating Channel connects Don River to Lake Ontario. It is approximately one kilometer long. Because the mouth of Don River flows into the channel, the water has always been very muddy and dirty. The channel took 8 years to build and was completed in 1922. The channel is not exactly a picturesque scenery, but I want to to takes some pictures anyway, perhaps as a form of documentary.

There are three or four boats like this that always seem to be docked at the channel on the south side - Sony NEX-6 & Carl Zeiss Planar HFT 50mm f1.4. Click for larger.

The big attraction is the Keating Channel Pub & Grill on the south side - Sony NEX-6 & Carl Zeiss Planar HFT 50mm f1.4. Click for larger.

Looking west from Lakeshore Blvd, and you can see the Essroc cement factory - Sony NEX-6 & Carl Zeiss Planar HFT 50mm f1.4. Click for larger.

On the north side of the Channel is Lakeshore Blvd - Sony NEX-6 & Carl Zeiss Planar HFT 50mm f1.4

I don't know what this crane-like thing is. It has always been there as far as I can tell - Sony NEX-6 & Carl Zeiss Planar HFT 50mm f1.4. 

Looking westward and you can see downtown Toronto - Sony NEX-6 & Carl Zeiss Planar HFT 50mm f1.4. 

Music in the City

People who strolled by the Dundas Square this late afternoon were treated with wonderful pan flute music from two musicians performing in the square.  When I came to Canada in the early 80s, the area in the Dundas & Yonge streets were basically rundown buildings that sold clothing, craft and other stuff. The new Dundas Square has revitalized the downtown core and it's now much nicer and more beautiful. The Square is always full of activities. Unlike the Time Square in New York, the Dundas Square is much more relaxed. There are chairs and tables for anyone to sit and enjoy a break. It can be crowded at times, but not crazy like Time Square and you don't see police cars all over the place. It's a wonderful change from the old.

Pan pipe performer - NEX-6 & A. Schacht 100mm f3.3 @ f3.3.

Carl Zeiss Jena Visionar 109mm f1.6 Shoots Tommy Thompson Park

It took me a while, but I finally got the Visionar 109mm f1.6 mounted on the Yeenon Helicoid. This is one big lens with a non-standard filter thread around 77mm, but not quite 77mm.  The same is true for the rear mount; it's not quite 62mm, more like 63mm. I had to file the inside of the 62mm to 52mm step-down ring, and then use JB Kwik to welded it together, just like the 92mm f1.6 lens.

This lens has uneven illumination. One side is slightly darker than the other. This is more apparent when doing post exposure compensation. Although image circle covers the APS-C sensor (and maybe even 35mm full frame), the edge is very soft. This lens is suitable for certain subjects but not others.

I decided to ride my bike to Tommy Thompson Park (sometimes called Leslie Spit) and shoot with this lens but got up too late and by the time I went there, it was already 9:30. Too much light for a fixed aperture f1.6 lens. Consequently, most of the photos were over exposed. Good thing I shot RAW and was able to recover from the over exposure.

This is the bird migratory season and there are thousands, maybe tens of thousands of birds of all kinds there. In fact, Tommy Thompson Park is one of the largest migratory ground for some of the birds. Talked to a birder and he told me few species of birds that were almost endangered have come back in good quantities, and he even saw egrets this year. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to go near the bird nesting ground, but if you have a very long lens, you can still get some good shots. If you have never been to Tommy Thompson Park, you should pay a visit, and go early in the morning. It's open only on weekends and holidays, though people go on weekdays too.

Sailboat - NEX-6 & Carl Zeiss Jena Visionar 109mm f1.6. Click for larger.

Bird Island - NEX-6 & Carl Zeiss Jena Visionar 109mm f1.6. Click for larger.

Reflections - NEX-6 & Carl Zeiss Jena Visionar 109mm f1.6. Click for larger.

Bird Paradise - NEX-6 & Carl Zeiss Jena Visionar 109mm f1.6. Click for larger.

Guarding the nest - NEX-6 & Carl Zeiss Jena Visionar 109mm f1.6.

Schneider-Kreuznach Xenon 50mm f1.9 DKL - Low Light Samples

Many of you already know, that this Schneider-Kreuznach Xenon 50mm f1.9 DKL lens is one of my favourite standard lenses. It's bokeh is delicious and wonderful; its optics superb; and it's one of the most handsome looking lens I have. I felt bad that I haven't used it often enough, so I took it out for some night shots yesterday, as seen below. One of the things I just found out, is that it's flare is very interesting. If you look at the second picture, just under the dark cloud, you will find a flare with star-shape inside a circle. Never seen anything like that before.

Grocery store - NEX-6 & Schneider-Kreuznach Xenon 50mm f1.9 DKL @ f1.9. Click for larger

 

Toronto at Night - NEX-6 & Schneider-Kreuznach Xenon 50mm f1.9 DKL. Click for larger

New Bridgepoint Hospital - NEX-6 & Schneider-Kreuznach Xenon 50mm f1.9 DKL. Click for larger

Fire Station #315

Quite a few historic fire stations in Toronto have very unique architectural designs, and each one is different. This fire station #315 has one of the tallest towers of all the ones I have seen. It's located on College street &  Bellevue Avenue.

Fire Station #315, Toronto - NEX-6 & Voigtlander-Zoomar 36-82mm f2.8.

Graffiti in Toronto

Graffiti is prevalent in most cities, and here in Toronto, graffiti that is not defined as art is considered illegal. Any graffiti appears on the outside of a personal or business property must be removed at the owner's expense. Because of this city by-law, the building right across from where I work has been fighting a losing battle with graffiti "artists". They have been busy removing graffiti on its wall, but usually a few days after the removal of the existing graffiti, another one will replace it.

Graffiti - NEX-6 & Voigtlander Zoomar 36-82mm f2.8 DKL. Click for larger.

Sigma E-Mount 19mm f2.8 Shoots Kensington Market

Personally, I think the Kensington Market in Toronto is a quirky, off-beat place. Many of its buildings are old and run-down, but at the same time, many more are uniquely decorated and colorful. The shops sell a variety of products from second hand bicycles to freshly grown produce with many restaurants, cafes and specialty food stores spread through out the market.  What strikes most first time visitors is the many wonky shop names and interesting painted store fronts. Definitely a great place for photos.

The lens I used for this shoot was the E-Mount Sigma 19mm f2.8. It is the sister lens of the 30mm f2.8, which I am very enamored of. Although the lens is very sharp in the center at f2.8, its corner sharpness is not as good as the 30mm f2.8, even when stopped down. At f8, the corners are acceptably sharp, but not quite up there to the level of the 30mm. The barrel distortion is also quite a bit worse as well, but miles ahead compared to the kit zoom lens at the same focal length and it's quite a bit better than the Sony E-16mm f.28 pancake. I know it's not fair to compare a very wide angle (19mm) to a mini wide (30mm). The design is different. The wider the lens, the more challenges the designers must overcome to achieve a balance of cost vs quality; both material and optical. At $99, it's a very good deal.

Kensington - NEX-6 & Sigma 19mm f2.8. Click for larger.

Truck & the run-down house/shop - NEX-6 & Sigma 19mm f2.8. Click for larger.

What colors - NEX-6 & Sigma 19mm f2.8. Click for larger.

One of the many "painted houses" - NEX-6 & Sigma 19mm f2.8. Click for larger.

Bistro - NEX-6 & Sigma 19mm f2.8. 

Snow, Snow, Snow Everywhere

Yesterday we had the largest snow fall of the year in Toronto with almost 30cm. This created a temporary driving havoc and many schools were closed. The snow and salt truck operators have been very efficient with most streets plowed and cleared and salted within hours. Of course, kids love the snow!

Megan - NEX-6 & Soligor C/D 80-200mm f3.5. Click for larger.

William - NEX-6 & Soligor C/D 80-200mm f3.5. Click for larger.

Canon FD 20mm f2.8 Sample Pictures

When I bought my NEX-6 and the Sony E50mm f1.8 OSS lens, I told my wife that would be all the gear I would buy for this year. She eyed me suspiciously and said, "Yeah sure." She knows me too well. I don't have a good track record on keeping my promise when it comes to buying photographic gear. Just one month into the year, I have already bought the Sigma 19mm and 30mm f2.8 lenses, the Canon nFD 50mm f1.2L, and the latest addition, Canon FD 20mm f2.8. I'd better stop here, or I will be in real trouble!

In typical Canon FD built fashion, the FD 20mm f2.8 is well put together and handles smoothly, despite its age. I had the auto focus version of the 20mm f2.8, which I, and many others, do not like much, and I wonder if its design was derived from the FD version. Both have a 72mm filter thread. At least on the NEX-6, the corner sharpness seems a bit better than the EF version, but I could be mistaken, as I used it on the 1.3x sensor before, and the corners weren't very good even stopped down. Overall, I am happy with the FD version on the NEX-6, however, on my very preliminary two day use.

DVP north at night - NEX-6 & Canon FD 20mm f2.8. Click for larger.

Smart - NEX-6 & Canon FD 20mm f2.8. Click for larger.

Streetcar turning. Shot through windshell - NEX-6 & Canon FD 20mm f2.8. Click for larger.

The yellow building - NEX-6 & Canon FD 20mm f2.8.