Every photog crazy bout a tack sharp lens
Chris Feola
Author, Perfecting Equilibrium: For a brief, shining moment Web1 democratized data. Then Web2 came along and made George Orwell look like an optimist. Now Web3 is Perfecting John Nash’s Information Equilibrium.
Gold watch, diamond ring
I ain't missin' not a single thing
Cufflinks, stick pin
When I step out, I'm gonna do you in
They come runnin' just as fast as they can
Foto.Feola.Friday
I was in the Grapevine Historic District this week testing the new Harmon Red 125 film in the Pentax 17 when I ran into my old friend the sidewalk judge. I had the Pentax K-3 III Monochrome with the SMC Pentax-D FA 50mm F2.8 Macro, and I thought it would be fun to take some pictures of him and compare them with SMC Pentax-D FA 50mm F2.8 Macro shots I took when I did the Wide Angle Shootout. Obviously they are in different categories — the 21 is a wide-angle, and the 50 is a portrait lens on the APS-C Monochrome — but both have a reputation for sharpness and are similar speeds. The $1,298 21mm is more than 4 times as expensive as the $300 50mm Macro, however.
So here’s the 21mm shot from the shootout:
And here’s a similar shot from the 50 Macro:
I had the 21mm for a week from Lens Rentals; I ended up sending it back. It’s an excellent lens, but I already have the SMC Pentax-DA 12-24mm F4 ED AL [IF]; the HD Pentax-DA 15mm F4 ED AL Limited; and my all-time favorite lens on any system, the SMC Pentax-M 20mm F4. The 15 and the 20 did very well against the 21mm; buying an expensive lens in a redundant focal length didn’t make much sense.
I bought the 50 Macro to digitize old negatives, but it has proven so good and just outright fun that it has become a Monochrome daily driver, along with the wonderful HD Pentax-DA 55-300mm F4.5-6.3 ED PLM WR RE, and which ever of the 15 Limited and SMC 20 I am feeling that day. Here’s more from the 50. Enjoy!
The detail produced by the Monochrome with the 50 is truly staggering.
And here’s the Monochrome Wide Angle Shoot Out:
Next on Perfecting Equilibrium
Sunday, March 9th — The things that pass for knowledge I can't understand; What’s the point of smart data? Aren’t computers wizardly already? Don’t we all carry the sum of human knowledge in our smartphones? No edifice is stronger than its architecture; computing architecture is still stuck in 1995.