One for Mac
Posted 01/01/2006 - 15:41
Link
Goerge,
My heart's racing, my palms are sweating and my BIN finger is itching!
The only thing I worry about are the US Military satilites which constantly scan the globe looking for terrorist's and their training sites. One peek at me with that rocket launcher and I'm incinerated by a wave of Tomcats.
Now, I'm a brave ol' boy and would normally run the risk gladly, but the porters I'd have to hire (2 at least - one for the lens, and one for the case and tripod-equiped, flat-bed pick-up truck) have young families and belong to the Pentax Porters' Union. They demand doulble time and danger pay when transporting ordinance. And I just won't have enough of the re-mortgaging money left over after buying - to say nothing about SHIPPING - that beautiful beast. I still have to check with Canada Customs but, of course, they're on Holiday.
Soooo, much as I hate the self-control I must exercise, I'll have to leave it to Kim's Collection Shelf and only dream of the glory it could have brought me as a Serious Photographer.
Thank's for the wild ride, Mr. Lazarette!
and Happy New Year!
My heart's racing, my palms are sweating and my BIN finger is itching!
The only thing I worry about are the US Military satilites which constantly scan the globe looking for terrorist's and their training sites. One peek at me with that rocket launcher and I'm incinerated by a wave of Tomcats.
Now, I'm a brave ol' boy and would normally run the risk gladly, but the porters I'd have to hire (2 at least - one for the lens, and one for the case and tripod-equiped, flat-bed pick-up truck) have young families and belong to the Pentax Porters' Union. They demand doulble time and danger pay when transporting ordinance. And I just won't have enough of the re-mortgaging money left over after buying - to say nothing about SHIPPING - that beautiful beast. I still have to check with Canada Customs but, of course, they're on Holiday.
Soooo, much as I hate the self-control I must exercise, I'll have to leave it to Kim's Collection Shelf and only dream of the glory it could have brought me as a Serious Photographer.
Thank's for the wild ride, Mr. Lazarette!
and Happy New Year!
Posted 01/01/2006 - 17:26
Link
Oh, Matt, you disappoint me. I was hoping that you would grab it, test it, and let us all know how it performed. Then, when another appears on Ebay in five years time I'd know whether to buy it.
And there's no need to worry about sherpas or Tomcats. Mount it on a pair of large wheels, and you'll kill two birds with one stone. You'll be able to tow it yourself, behind the SUV, and it's resemblance to a 4.5 Howitzer will soon frighten off the military.
Perhaps you'll change your mind?
G
And there's no need to worry about sherpas or Tomcats. Mount it on a pair of large wheels, and you'll kill two birds with one stone. You'll be able to tow it yourself, behind the SUV, and it's resemblance to a 4.5 Howitzer will soon frighten off the military.
Perhaps you'll change your mind?
G
Keywords: Charming, polite, and generally agreeable.
Posted 01/01/2006 - 20:47
Link
Hi George,
This is a monster of a lens. All Pentax did to market the K version was to change the mount ring from the M42 one (it is a fully manual lens). If it had been the 250-600/5.6, I would have gone for it but this lens will only appeal to the ardent collector and not to users. You asked for a review. Just in case you did decide you wanted it, this came from the Yahoo Spotmatic Forum:
Kim
This is a monster of a lens. All Pentax did to market the K version was to change the mount ring from the M42 one (it is a fully manual lens). If it had been the 250-600/5.6, I would have gone for it but this lens will only appeal to the ardent collector and not to users. You asked for a review. Just in case you did decide you wanted it, this came from the Yahoo Spotmatic Forum:
Quote:
I finally found one of these. All I can say is "What a beast!"
OK, so maybe I have a few more thoughts on it.
First off, I ended up with one that has a K-mount flange so now I
guess I am on the prowl for a screw mount one to legitimize the talk
of it and Vitami-, er never mine.
Seriously though, I never thought of 6.3 as being "fast" but when I
looked through this thing mounted to my ME-Super (Ooops, there I go
again OT) it is suprisingly bright and easy to focus.
I do not expect to be attempting to hand-hold this thing though.
It's HUGE. Here, I took a picture and put it in the Photos section
in the Equipment folder (may be on second page depending on how your
view is sorted). Note the surroundings for a size reference.
I have not yet made any images with it. But I trained it on my
front door from across the house and it was crystal clear and
sharp. I can't wait!
A couple casual observations that I would hope others who have this
lens can comment about:
- focus is not stiff but it is nowhere near as easy to focus as,
say, my 5.6/400. It seemed harder when I didn't have the thing on a
tripod so maybe it's just the sheer size and weight of the thing.
- the Zoom action is free but has several "cammy" spots. As there
are 15 elements in three separate moving groups, I am sure there
actually is a cam of sorts operating the movement inside. I'm just
wondering if it should be noticeable?
The lens itself has clean glass but the body of the lens is well
worn, the mounting flange is damaged where it attaches to the lens,
the lens cap has a hole drilled into it and a screw inserted to hold
a bead chain presumably to prevent the cap from going missing, and
the aluminum case interior is in fair condition while the exterior
is, as the Brits like to say "knackered". I snapped it up for
little relative to it's scarcity so I am hoping to find that
optically it is in good shape.
I will however be doing some repetitions with some 100 pound weights
to get in shape for carrying it around!
ppro
and:I finally found one of these. All I can say is "What a beast!"
OK, so maybe I have a few more thoughts on it.
First off, I ended up with one that has a K-mount flange so now I
guess I am on the prowl for a screw mount one to legitimize the talk
of it and Vitami-, er never mine.
Seriously though, I never thought of 6.3 as being "fast" but when I
looked through this thing mounted to my ME-Super (Ooops, there I go
again OT) it is suprisingly bright and easy to focus.
I do not expect to be attempting to hand-hold this thing though.
It's HUGE. Here, I took a picture and put it in the Photos section
in the Equipment folder (may be on second page depending on how your
view is sorted). Note the surroundings for a size reference.
I have not yet made any images with it. But I trained it on my
front door from across the house and it was crystal clear and
sharp. I can't wait!
A couple casual observations that I would hope others who have this
lens can comment about:
- focus is not stiff but it is nowhere near as easy to focus as,
say, my 5.6/400. It seemed harder when I didn't have the thing on a
tripod so maybe it's just the sheer size and weight of the thing.
- the Zoom action is free but has several "cammy" spots. As there
are 15 elements in three separate moving groups, I am sure there
actually is a cam of sorts operating the movement inside. I'm just
wondering if it should be noticeable?
The lens itself has clean glass but the body of the lens is well
worn, the mounting flange is damaged where it attaches to the lens,
the lens cap has a hole drilled into it and a screw inserted to hold
a bead chain presumably to prevent the cap from going missing, and
the aluminum case interior is in fair condition while the exterior
is, as the Brits like to say "knackered". I snapped it up for
little relative to it's scarcity so I am hoping to find that
optically it is in good shape.
I will however be doing some repetitions with some 100 pound weights
to get in shape for carrying it around!
ppro
Quote:
The balance of the lens on a tripod is not great. I think they did the best
they could but of course past a certain point there's
the mechanisms so it is fairly nose heavy. Notice the leg of the tripod
studiously placed directly under the lens. If not, at
least with this tripod, it would go over in a heartbeat.
As for the water tower, I've shot it a bunch but only casually. Here's a
couple:
From my front yard at the same position as the images made with the 135~600:
http://www.4x4icon.com/3901/thanksgiving_2005/DSC09651.htm
http://www.4x4icon.com/3901/thanksgiving_2005/DSC09650.htm
(links on the bottom of these shots to our home interiors I shot if you're
feeling voyeuristic)
and for my POA site I shot a series of fall views that included the tower:
At the bottom of the drive that goes up to the tower:
http://www.greystonewv.org/fall_2005/DSC09055.htm
From across the valley:
http://www.greystonewv.org/fall_2005/DSC09063.htm
http://www.greystonewv.org/fall_2005/DSC09064.htm
From our front yard at the same position as the images made with the 135~600:
http://www.greystonewv.org/fall_2005/DSC09136.htm
http://www.greystonewv.org/fall_2005/DSC09137.htm
http://www.greystonewv.org/fall_2005/DSC09134.htm
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of
Gary W. Weaver
Sent: Sunday, December 25, 2005 2:45 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Spotmatic] Re: SMC 135~600
Interesting! But I hope we get to see some when the sun comes out again!! I
kept going back to the crop of the tower at 600mm. It's got some potential
with some real light.
I was looking at a pic showing the balance point of this monster - Does it
really balance well??
gar
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]On
Behalf Of Paul M. Provencher
Sent: Saturday, December 24, 2005 8:22 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Spotmatic] Re: SMC 135~600
Totally unscientific testing but I thought some might find these
interesting.
Tilt-All tripod
ME-Super on Auto
135~600 wide open
Shots of two subjects with lens set at 135mm and 600mm
Water Tower is close (well it's several hundred yards away)
Yard with buildings is far away (probably over a mile)
Temperature in the low 50's/high 40's
early afternoon
http://whitemetal.com/pentax/135~600_test/index.htm
I put up full scans of shots at each focal length and sections of
each image. The film was Kodak 400 so it is pretty grainy.
Anyway, just sharing my play. Shots are not intended to have any
artistic merit.
ppro
RegardsThe balance of the lens on a tripod is not great. I think they did the best
they could but of course past a certain point there's
the mechanisms so it is fairly nose heavy. Notice the leg of the tripod
studiously placed directly under the lens. If not, at
least with this tripod, it would go over in a heartbeat.
As for the water tower, I've shot it a bunch but only casually. Here's a
couple:
From my front yard at the same position as the images made with the 135~600:
http://www.4x4icon.com/3901/thanksgiving_2005/DSC09651.htm
http://www.4x4icon.com/3901/thanksgiving_2005/DSC09650.htm
(links on the bottom of these shots to our home interiors I shot if you're
feeling voyeuristic)
and for my POA site I shot a series of fall views that included the tower:
At the bottom of the drive that goes up to the tower:
http://www.greystonewv.org/fall_2005/DSC09055.htm
From across the valley:
http://www.greystonewv.org/fall_2005/DSC09063.htm
http://www.greystonewv.org/fall_2005/DSC09064.htm
From our front yard at the same position as the images made with the 135~600:
http://www.greystonewv.org/fall_2005/DSC09136.htm
http://www.greystonewv.org/fall_2005/DSC09137.htm
http://www.greystonewv.org/fall_2005/DSC09134.htm
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of
Gary W. Weaver
Sent: Sunday, December 25, 2005 2:45 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Spotmatic] Re: SMC 135~600
Interesting! But I hope we get to see some when the sun comes out again!! I
kept going back to the crop of the tower at 600mm. It's got some potential
with some real light.
I was looking at a pic showing the balance point of this monster - Does it
really balance well??
gar
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]On
Behalf Of Paul M. Provencher
Sent: Saturday, December 24, 2005 8:22 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Spotmatic] Re: SMC 135~600
Totally unscientific testing but I thought some might find these
interesting.
Tilt-All tripod
ME-Super on Auto
135~600 wide open
Shots of two subjects with lens set at 135mm and 600mm
Water Tower is close (well it's several hundred yards away)
Yard with buildings is far away (probably over a mile)
Temperature in the low 50's/high 40's
early afternoon
http://whitemetal.com/pentax/135~600_test/index.htm
I put up full scans of shots at each focal length and sections of
each image. The film was Kodak 400 so it is pretty grainy.
Anyway, just sharing my play. Shots are not intended to have any
artistic merit.
ppro
Kim
Posted 01/01/2006 - 22:11
Link
Thanks, Kim,
Very interesting.
I suppose that Asahi are unlikely to have produced such an expensve lens if it was not going to be at least adequately good optically.
Usability is another matter. It's by no means the longest or heaviest K or M42 lens ever made, but I'm sure it's a pig to use. I have an M 400 5.6, and unlike the F*300 it really can't be used without a tripod. This beastie must be much worse.
But don't tell Mac I said that. I live in hope.
G
Very interesting.
I suppose that Asahi are unlikely to have produced such an expensve lens if it was not going to be at least adequately good optically.
Usability is another matter. It's by no means the longest or heaviest K or M42 lens ever made, but I'm sure it's a pig to use. I have an M 400 5.6, and unlike the F*300 it really can't be used without a tripod. This beastie must be much worse.
But don't tell Mac I said that. I live in hope.
G
Keywords: Charming, polite, and generally agreeable.
Posted 01/01/2006 - 22:25
Link
I had the Vivitar 400/5.6 (the early large one with the 77mm filter thread.) It is about the same size as the Pentax one. I found that with practice it was not too bad to handhold. Many of the shots taken in the Falklands on the website were done with this lens and on 100ASA film. It is rather difficult to use a tripod when you are stalking wildlife.
Kim
Kim
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8192 posts
22 years
London
As you gear up for buying into the K-mount system, and given your interest in zoom lenses, I thought you might be interested in this one. I've only ever seen one for sale before, so my advice is to snap it up while you have the chance.
Nothing will give you greater credibility as a photographer.
http://tinyurl.com/8mhg4
George