A bit of sunlight from behind right.....f1.4 therefore requiring 1/3000th
ISO 100.

No flash, hood on, tripod. Cēterīs paribus.

Focus difficult with little depth of field.

I'm a management accountant with MBA, but never worked in aviation industry.

It would be easy if every one in business made rational economic decisions, rather than political or just bad, ill-informed decisions.

Things may have worked out a little differently were Charles De Gaulle runways swept more regularly, and/or plane maintence was more regulated and reliable. You will doubtless know more about that.

A past colleague of mine lost his parents in the Tenerife air disaster in 1977. Pilot error has a lot to answer for.

Been reading Chris Weston's Mastering your DSLR...my brain hurts....and have discovered something else to occupy my retirement years....depth of field, hyperfocal distance, focusing techniques,etc etc

Interesting subject.....going slightly off topic...If its fine tomorrow, Stefan I'll try another shot at my azalia, perhaps with infill flash and a UV filter and what the heck....a tripod....that will really worry the neighbours.

Rob

F1.4....1/500, camera set to P, Cēterīs paribus.

Flowering buds at front and rear just out of focus but the centre area just about ok? Need to be very careful when focusing on lowest f setting when there is depth of field of subject?????

Yes, less depth of field.

Rob...PS see if I can do one stopped right down to F1.4. watch this space...the sun is out but low.

Stefan...trying to post some comparative shots in gallery....have a look.

Rob

Stefan...first couple of shots with new DA 55...with comparatives.

Poor light, no flash, green mode, depth of field and landscape settings no filters at all.

First shot with 35-80 zoom...



Second with DA 55...




My first impressions....depth of field much more with DA 55, focusing critical.

Hope this allows more of an objective opinion of the lenses rather than my crap photography skills

Sorry images are big but didn't want to colour anything.

Stefan et al,

It has to be about overall profit....to be more precise, contribution (sales less variable costs) to fixed costs.

If fixed costs are on the increase, eg installation of bladders and general overheads, and volume/value of bookings are down (perhaps put off by the dramatic crash) there comes a point when market forces will influence decisions to continue or wrap it up.

Overall contribution to fixed costs reduces of course as a function of a reduction in demand...eg volume of ticket sales, reduction in number of flights per diem, ticket prices etc, and increases in variable costs, eg fuel, aircraft staffing etc.

Then, when one analyses contribution per unit of scarce resources, decisions are taken to maximise overall profit...ie direct sales to the products/services that maximise the contribution per unit of limiting factor....more overall profit could be made by carrying first class passengers subsonically, as is asserted by Wikipedia.

But what value do you put on losing such a wonderful aircraft as the Speedbird.

Who would be a Chartered Management Accountant in your industry?

Rob

I'll have a better opinion developed over the next couple of weeks. But my initial thoughts are that you already have good zooms and a macro and that you will be impressed with the DA 55's prime lens' performance.

It does exactly what it says on the tin....

http://www.srsmicrosystems.co.uk/1844/Pentax-smc-DA--55mm-F1-4-SDM-Lens----NOW-I...

Fancying a macro now.

I'll post some fotos soon.

Rob

LiMPiNg

Hello and welcome...I too am returning to the stills camera...done more than a bit with video, inc weddings, and christenings. Know more than a bit about rifle scopes...but they are all Nikons.

My old Pentax lenses fit and work well with my DSLR.



Rob

All grounded from what I understand....sad.

"It has been suggested that Concorde was not withdrawn for the reasons usually given, but that during the grounding of Concorde it became apparent to the airlines that they could actually make more revenue carrying their first class passengers subsonically."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde

Rob