Another vote for No. 1. K.

Thanks both. I've often thought about getting the Samyang but didn't know how sharp it is. I've often merged exposures (especially for interiors) using Photomatix Pro although with the K-3iii I've found less need to do that as I can often pull back the highlights from the raw file. I've yet to try pixel shift. I have use also used the shift and merged images when the lens isn't wide enough. The image below is just two images but it worked well.



Fawsley (1): The Four Daughters par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity

This is my second copy of this lens. Optically just as good as the first but cosmetically much nicer. I eventually managed to sell my original one on. On the US Fora I have been doing the "Single in..." challenge. April was month four of using my K-series lenses (so far K28/2, K120/2.8, K50/1.4 and now the shift). Month 5 will see me use one of the first K-series lenses I bought: the 135mm f/2.5. The material below was written for the monthly write-up on the US fora, but I thought some of you might be interested. Note that Chrome users will either have to click through to the photos, or edit their security settings. Firefox users will have no problems.

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Using the shift lens for a month was always going to be a challenge but I had some trips planned and it seemed a good choice. Not only did the trips not materialise, but my motorcycle had to go in for repair (again) leaving me without transport. As a result, I posted some of the worst "safety" shots I've ever posted and if it wasn't for wanting to complete the challenge, they would not have seen the light of day. So, how does one use the shift on a K-3iii? The ideal is this:

1. Set-up tripod.
2. Make sure that the lens is not shifted, the green dot is facing the direction you want to shift and the aperture is wide open.
3. Level the camera using the in-viewfinder levels (these appear to be more accurate than the one on the back screen).
4. Switch to live view, zoom in the view, and focus. I have found that the focus ring goes a bit beyond infinity so mostly I have to back off a tiny bit.
5. Either in live view or normal view, shift the lens.
6. Close down the aperture. I usually use somewhere around f/11.
7. Set the camera to MUP mode.
8. You can use either M or Av. Sometimes, the K-3iii does something funky in Av mode and often you'll need to dial in some negative exposure compensation.
9. Take the photo with either a wired or wireless remote (I use both depending on which one I have with me. If I have forgotten both I can use my phone as a wireless remote).
10. Review and if necessary tweak things and repeat.

Can one use it hand-held? With the K-3iii (and I think the K-1 but I don't have one of those), yes. Similar process to the above but (a) manually turn off SR and so make sure the shutter speed is high enough to reduce camera shake usually by upping the ISO (b) use the green hexagon to confirm focus. As noted above it does seem to go a little past infinity so don't rely on just going to the end of the focus travel (c) once you have the basic composition and exposure sorted, concentrate on the levels in the viewfinder (d) press the shutter very softly (e) take multiple shots so you can pick the one which is actually level.

Being an architecture nerd (especially historic architecture), the shift lens is one I have used quite a bit before. Using it consistently, however, has taught me a few things. Firstly, it is a pretty good lens for other subjects too and is surprisingly good at close-up shots. Secondly, when using it hand-held, turn off the SR. The SR system assumes the centre of the lens is central to the sensor. With a shifted shift lens, it is not. The number of times I wished it was wider (or that I was using a K-1) is surprisingly rare. Often the problem can be got around by taking several pictures with different degrees of shift and merging them in Photoshop. I have often seen people say that the 28mm shift is "useless" on APS-C -- I couldn't disagree more.

The shift lens is a very regular occupant of my camera bag, and will continue to be so. On occasions, though, I might well just use it as a regular 28mm when I don't want to change lenses or carry a second one. (Mostly, I have my K30/2.8 in my bag.) My only gripe / puzzlement is sometimes it seems to have a little bit of distortion but not always. Usually, one can fix it in Lightroom, but on very rare occasions I have found it impossible to fix which has been very annoying.

My biggest regret is not having one of these 35 years ago, although it is much harder to use on film than digital simply because getting the camera absolutely level is much trickier. I've always hated converging verticals in building photos and I spent many years being frustrated by them. The principal reason for getting into large format photography was for architecture.

I'm not especially proud of this months images, but here is a selection of them.



April 01: All Saints par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity



April 03: St Andrew and St Mary par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity



April 07: Kings Cross (1) par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity



April 13: Church at night par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity



April 21: Going going gone! par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity



April 23: military man par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity



April 25: Yashica Mat 124G par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity



April 30: Bluebells in the coppice par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity

Reserved.

Sure is.

One of these?



Sigma 17-70 DC (4) par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity

Let us know what you think. Colour 120 is getting pricey.

I rather like No 4 but I don't think the blank area adds anything. Have you tried a square crop? (NB. I'm a bit obsessed with square crops after I read somewhere that they rarely work... I disagree!)

K.

I rather like No.10. Not sure the technique works in the swan images though, but the waves are quite fun.

Thanks Gareth. As my wife would say, it is a very "Kris" photo!