I think they would make excellent shots with a longer lens - they are interesting 'poses' and, having tried to get decent shots of pied wagtails in the past, I know how tricky it is (they are very good - like most birds - of being just that little bit too far away...) but if you can get these with 100mm lens then I reckon you might get some great stuff with a 300mm or longer

Regards

Great shots!! I recognise some of those too from the PPG voting area. Sure I would have voted yes to these.

Regards

Many thanks Jack, Neil and Iqbal

Regards

Thanks for the comments everyone - much appreciated. i-Berg there were three lenses used in this lot... first three were DA* 50-135, the bee was DFA 100 and the final two were the DA 35 ltd.

Regards

Hello all. Bit of a mixed bag weather-wise here this weekend for the Bank Holiday, however I managed to get out and about with the camera a bit (as well as having a barbecue in the rain:shock. I noticed that I have taken a disproportionate number of pictures at f2.8 this weekend and here's a handful...

An ear of something:



The aspirational Daisy (inspired by Gareth's earlier post of a few days ago):



One from the crowd:



I was a bit gutted to have forgotten to change the aperture to something smaller when I snapped this bee, but actually I'm quite happy with it...



A red one in the bunch



...and a white one too (slightly dreamier)



Not sure why I took so many pics at f2.8 - probably a combination of poorish light and trying to play with DOF... Whatever the reason, I hope you like these - any C&C welcomed as usual

Regards

Hello Jacques. It depends to a great extent what your budget is I think. A quick look on ebay will reveal that there are hundreds of macro lenses for sale which will fit your k-x; so it comes down to what your requirements are in terms of focal length, auto or manual focus, etc. I suspect that if you buy a pentax lens in decent condition of any era it will give decent results - there are currently listings anywhere from ~£25...

What focal length are you looking for? For small insects and things like that you may well be looking at a focal length of ~100mm...very popular amongst members here are the newer crop of macros in that region - the Tamron, Sigma and Pentax in the region 90mm-105mm. These will be more expensive and probably somewhere around £250-400, you can get older versions of them cheaper, and indeed can find almost anything between the £25-400 bracket.

Alternatively you could also look at extension tubes and/or lens reversing rings which will enable a macro capability with 'standard' lenses.

On the flash front it is a similar story I think. Current flashes can be pricey but third party manufacturers (Metz or Sigma) may well be cheaper, ebay may have some bargains and older versions may well be cheaper still...

Not sure whether that is helpful or not - my best suggestion would be to have a browse on ebay...

Regards

You could check out the Pentax optio 555 - it has an optical viewfinder but is (I think) 5MP - worth checking out it's specs on the web. Don't think it's made anymore but you might find one on ebay for a small handful of pounds...??

Regards

I agree - the 50-135 can give pretty awesome results (IMO) - as can the DFA100 (I use that quite a lot in a 'non-macro' sense).

Nice set - I think the first is my fave - excellent detail on the feathers; number 2 as well although its a shame there's not a smidgeon of more space above his head.

Cheers

Lego!

VW Beetle...
Routemaster bus?