Winter hedgerows are nowhere near as bare as one might think. I put an SMC Pentax-A 135/ 2.8 on my K1 and took it for a walk. This lens produces a really nice bokeh that can vary between soft and a bit dreamy to Trioplan-like bubbles depending on the severity of the light. All of these were taken wide open to capitalise on it.

1 Snowberries are abundant this year and it's easy to see how they got their name.



2 They are peculiar looking things seen close up. Click on it to see a full sized image with all the detail.



3 The alders alongside the brook were covered with immature catkins, making the distant trees look purple.



4 Overhanging beech trees can retain their dried and wrinkled leaves all winter. I tried to get these with the sun behind them but the flare was too much so I had to compromise.



5 These two male blackbirds are likely siblings. Unfortunately, come spring they will quickly become enemies!



6 At least they won't go hungry since this year has furnished lots of fat and juicy berries like these hawthorns.



7 There are a variety of other cherry-like fruits to be found too. Note the quite pleasant bubble bokeh - a more severe version appears later.


8



9 One particular shrub that can be found is Spindle which is an indicator of a very old hedge!



10 As I said, the bokeh can be quite severe but, in its place, with backlighting, I think it is quite acceptable. This tangle of honeysuckle was just as dripping wet as everything around it as the early fog dispersed. The wide aperture rendered the water droplets behind the rim-lit stems as bokeh bubbles - some of which (see the top middle group) produced the most amazing lensed effects of whatever was right behind them!



This lens is rarely seen on here (like its Takumar cousin) but I can heartily recommend either of them.

Wonderful camera still producing wonderful images (I love#2).

Nice capture of what is more often "whirrr - smack - ouch!" as one of them collides with you !

There was an A 20 on Ebay recently. Dunno if it's still there?

Lots of detail and studies of things. Great stuff - and Blackpool will supply any amount of that sort of material. I like it.

Amazing installation and nice shots of it. I think the bright sky got the better of the last one however. Had the exposure been dialed up a few EV it would have given you a longer open shutter time.

Tim. I too have the 400-600 mirror lens but I find mine amazingly sharp (I really must take it out again!).


This was hand held on a K3ii and reported to be 420mm. Putting any sort of convertor on it would be an invitation to a camera shaking hiding I would have thought? On a tripod you would need to use the electronic shutter!

.... you will find it wet from overnight rain and sparkling with low, autumn sunshine reflecting off the leaves. Just the recipe for my 76mm Trioplan. Some people don't like them but I love this lens because of its lovely bright rendering and, of course, the bokeh. This first one was almost straight into the sun and I had to shade the lens, despite a fairly deep hood. Click on it for a bigger image.



The woodland local to me contains a lot of holly. In fact, it's called Hollyberry End. The glossy leaves make perfect reflectors.



A few deciduous leaves got caught up in twigs on a tree trunk providing another autumnal shot against the light.



And with Christmas not far away, how about some actual holly berries?



All taken with a K1 and Meyer Optik 76mm Trioplan wide open at f4.5 and ISO 800. All comments welcomed.

Somebody said ".... photographic excellence ..." up there. This situation is where we run out of suitable superlatives ....
Unprintably good!

I have long looked at 80 - 85mm lenses and then gazed at the forlorn contents of my piggy bank. I make up for my loss with the A Macro f2.8 50mm on the end of the F 1.7x AF adapter. It works a treat - for me at any rate but if anyone wants to donate a real one .... ?