Two of my favorite lenses . . . .

[moltogordo]

I'm a Pentax shooter digitally, although I also have a Canon Rebel and a Nikon D50 converted to IR by Lifepixel. I chose Pentax when I went to the darkside because it was backwards compatible and I had a couple of MXs and an LX, and about eight Pentax lenses and a bunch of Tamrons to swap around in my SLR collection.

Two standout pieces of old glass that I rank #2 and #5 on my DSLRs are quite different, and I'm going to show them off here with an image or two from each.

Let's start with #5, the Tokina 400mm F5.6 ATX. It's number five because I don't use it very much. But when I need to, it always delivers. A long telephoto can be an outstanding landscape lens, in situations that are almost impossible with any other lens. Like this shot, taken about half a mile away, on a tripod. Even then, the desert wind was making havoc with the tripod and camera, and of 10 shots, only 3 were not blurred by camera shake. This is the desert area of British Columbia, near Cache Creek. Pentax K10D, Tokina 400mm, 1/1500 sec at f8, ISO 400:




#2 is one that I use a lot. The Pentax-A f2.8 Macro. Its tack sharp, and produces photographs that have a very warm quality, that works very well with the coolish K10D.  Here's a couple of examples of this lens:

Amanita Pantherina, Pentax K10D, Pentax-A Macro f2.8, 1/100th second at f8




Wild Ladyslipper, Hush Lake BC, Pentax K10D, Pentax-A Macro f2.8, 1/60th at f4.5, ISO 400. This was a tough handhold!




Thanks for looking in!  I'll cover #1, #3 and #4 in a later post!

[Stephen]

Excellent shots, especially the use of teles for landscapes.

[truls]

Gord, I think you set a new standard of what images we can show on the forum.
Very good. The first image is just stunning, not easy to capture a scene far away. It is like a painting from an artist. Top composition, the diagonal lines in the mountain works so well, also the texture stands out. Placement of trees are perfect. I bet it would be a fine art framing on the wall. As for lenses, I guess you can make very nice images with any lens, or brand.

[moltogordo]

Thank you very much! I think the fact that I DO paint has influenced my photography a great deal. I find that certain lenses just work for certain applications.