Spad - if you want to see what the Pentax 10-17mm fisheye can do, I've just started a thread (Meeting of Ways (fishy...)) in Your Photos that shows some photos taken yesterday afternoon. Pure coincidence that I'd put the fisheye in the bag when going out for an entirely different purpose!

Steve

Yesterday I went butterfly hunting along the top of a cutting that had been specially seeded with wildflower mix about 10 years ago by way of environmental compensation for the new road which was the reason for the cutting. The camera was the K3, the chosen lens was the DA*300mm + 1.4TC (they are attached so often that I sometimes think of them as a single lens ). Just for fun, and in case the butterflies weren't flying, I slipped the DA10-17mm fisheye into the bag. Well, the butterflies were flying. However, not wanting to waste an opportunity to play with the fisheye, I got it out at the half-way point (actually the furthest extremity of the walk, it was out on one track and back on a parallel one). And here are the results. All at 10mm (i.e. maximum fishiness). The first is looking south towards Weymouth and Portland), the second is looking east, the third is looking north. There was no point in looking west - it's just a major road in a cutting .

And in case you're wondering, the title of the thread is not misleading, the path and road really do meet - but out of shot (head south and downwards in the first picture, the path eventually goes under the road).

Thoughts, comments etc. welcome as usual.

1. Looking south



2. Looking east



3. Looking west



Steve

Rare and lucky to be able to experience it. All that's missing from the pictures is a lark ascending...

Steve

Welcome back to photography!!

It's hard to go wrong when deciding whether to go for a Pentax or Sigma macro lens, they are all optically very good. I've got two Pentax (35mm and 50mm), two Sigma (70mm and 105mm) and one Irix (150mm) macro lenses and choose which to use (with a K3) according to their other attributes (e.g. focal length), not for their optical qualities. So before you take the plunge, it's worth thinking about what you will want to use it for.

In general, the shorter the focal length, the closer you have to be for a given magnification. So for bugs and other things that might run for cover when they see a lens getting close, the longer the focal length the better. 100mm is the most common for that sort of thing, partly due to ready availability and price. But there is always the Irix 150mm (new) and Sigma 180mm (used) if you want to go longer. For bugs in the wild I use the Irix, or if wanting to keep weight down, the Sigma 105mm, both often with Pentax 1.4x teleconverter for added magnification. The shorter focal lengths are used for flowers etc., particularly when indoors - available space often determines focal length (I got the Sigma 70mm specifically for my 'kitchen studio' where 50mm was too short and 105mm too long for the subject matter and the working distance possible on the kitchen work surface).

Autofocus is not an issue for macro as manual focus is necessary for the close distances used for macro (and if you really catch the macro bug, there are focus racks, bellows and other gizmos to help with precise focus). However, if you think you might want to use a macro lens for non-macro purposes - and there is no optical reason why you shouldn't - then autofocus might be useful. And if you're not frightened of being out in wet weather (for macro or other reasons), then weather sealing would also be useful. As far as I'm aware, the only weather sealed options are a WR Pentax 100mm (which has autofocus) and the Irix 150mm (manual focus only).

Fisheye is an interesting complement to macro - from small scale in precise, accurate detail to large scale with deliberate distortion! I have the Pentax 10-17mm fisheye zoom and that is more than good enough for my occasional forays into the world of fisheye. Optically, it is very good. And it has the interesting feature of going from very obviously fisheye at 10mm to much more 'normal' at 17mm, so a bit of a dual purpose lens.

Any questions, please ask. Looking forward to hearing what you decide to get - and seeing some pictures .

Steve

It can be hard to distinguish between short term fluctuations and longer term trends. We used to have lots of starlings. Then they vanished. A few years ago they started to return. Now, starling families are a regular feature of spring and early summer. Similarly, greenfinches became scarce a few years ago but are now back on the bird feeder. In the meantime, herring gulls and magpies have been on the increase locally. And palmate newts have replaced frogs in the garden pond. Why? And what does it all mean? Who knows. But it does add variety to garden photography!

Steve

Plenty of bees in my garden (South Dorset). Butterflies are turning up on their usual schedule. Bee flies arrived at their normal time in April/May. Hover flies are doing their usual thing. And there are ants all over the place.

Steve

"Spring is sprung
The grass is ris
I wonder where the birdies is?

The little birds is on the wing
Ain't that absurd,
The little wing is on the bird!"

I always thought that this little rhyme expressed an obvious truth. How wrong could I be...

Thanks for putting me right!

Steve

That's only in myths and movies. The real spooks were always behind you, floating a foot off the ground and guiding your thoughts... that's why you're now a little hooked, they want you to return ...

A good set of photos, by the way ... whether that's due to the excellent photographic sensibilities of yourself or the spooks !

Steve

First two are lovely .

Last one, the clouds seem over-exposed and the leaning verticals on the right make me feel queasy!

Steve

I hope they were better behaved than the bear...

Steve