Three with the K-5IIs and DA*300

I've been out in the garden again........

Here are three shots taken in the garden today with the K-5IIs and DA*300, with the assistance of a monopod. Hope you like, please provide feedback / constructive criticism.

Taking a Rest





Clinging On





Common Blue on Plantain Stem




Thanks for looking!

Regards
David

David - these images really show this camera & lens combination at it's best IMO. I love number 2 - it has so much detail in it. Number 3 I would have said was the best if it had been possible to get the stalk captured as a diagonal but that's with me not knowing any constraints you had here.

Regards
Nigel

Awesome camera/lens combination, David. And no little skill, either.

Thanks to Nigel and Andrew.

On the third one Nigel the stem was lying in the position you see it in the image. I did think of rotating the image to make the stem a diagonal, but it didn't look right, so I left it as it was and did a letterbox crop instead.

Thanks Andrew, I appreciate your feedback as I know you are not a fan of the insect shots! You're right, this lens pairs so well with the K-5IIs and is even better with the K-3. For these shots I also paired it with a 2x TC with the glass removed, but with the aperture contacts in place, this enabled me to get just a little closer without sacrificing any image quality.

Best wishes
David

A good set David. Also the use of the glassless 2x is good advice to those that are not aware of such methods. I'm not raving about my K3. It's a very good camera. I don't have a K5 II as I'm waiting to see what Ricoh do at Photokina. If there's nothing of interest to me then I'll grab a K5 II variant as I now believe it's the best image that Pentax/Ricoh can get from an APS-C sensor.

Best regards

Very nice David, why go out and purchase a macro lens when you can get the above from the 300?

Very nice David

#1 for me. Maybe not the detail, but the best composition.

First class. I prefer 2 and 3 and agreed with the remarks about the diagonal in No.3 but then I read your explanation and trust your judgement on that.
No.1, while excellent, doesn't seem quite as sharp as the other two.
I jumped from the Mark 1 K5 straight to the K3
so I've not experienced the K5 11 which seems to be getting a wonderful press from you guys who use one.
I rate the K5 as good as the K3 for image quality but value the K3 because it allows me to crop more tightly. This is useful as my longest lens is 200mm.
David

PPG: http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/davidtrout

Thank you Gary, Don Alan and David.

The glassless 2x TC is the best £10 I've ever spent on Photography gear, it's also very useful on the Pentax DFA 100 Macro WR as this lens doesn't have an aperture ring. Regards the K-3, I might repeat some shots using the same lens and glassless TC. I suspect the IQ from the K-3 will be slightly better than the K-5IIs for this type of work, whereas the K-5IIs is better for high dynamic range scenes and higher ISO's. I think that the K-3 renders colours and WB better, this is just my personal preference.

I agree to an extent Don, although you can get a more frame filling subject with a macro lens. The advantage of the DA*300 is that you can maintain some distance from the subject and therefore they don't get frightened away as they would if you are closer. For Butterflies this lens is a gem.

Cheers Alan, I was having a hard time with that particular angle of shot as the wind was blowing the grass a good 5 feet back and forth whilst the Bee was clinging onto it. I had to guess with the focussing to an extent.

It is a close call David, I prefer the K-3 for this type of work, but it's more down to personal preference for the colour rendering and extra detail that the K-3 brings. It has a warmer look than the K-5 straight from the camera, I do like this. I also find my K-3 to a slightly more accurate focusser than my K-5IIs. I only notice this with longer lenses such as the DA*300, but when taking pics of birds for example, the K-3 almost always nails the focus on the bird's eye, whereas the K-5IIs is a bit more variable with the same lens. It's not down to lens calibration as I've checked this on both bodies.

Regards
David

What elevates these is the careful use of space in the framing and the complementary backgrounds which don't compete for attention. It might be tempting to advise here tighter crops, as these insects are not very big and there's lots of space available, but that would be wrong I think as the spaciousness is a key aspect, and nicely done.

Thank you Nigel, when taking images of insects / butterflies, the first thought in my mind is always the background. If the subject is too close to background distractions, i.e. anything that can't be blurred out at the chosen aperture, I generally don't bother to take the shot, or if I do it gets discarded.

I'm glad you like the way they are framed as this is also something foremost in my mind when taking the shots. I like to see living things in the context of their surroundings and although the backgrounds are blurred out, there is context in these because of what the insects are clinging to. I've tried to use this in the composition, hopefully it has worked OK.

Best wishes
David