Lunar New Year 2010

This year is the Year of the Tiger according to the Chinese calendar and the Pentax gang took some time off to capture the color and the sights of Chinatown. Here's a sampling of some of my belated Lunar New Year images.

Early Morning At The Beach

My son was at the beach for his triathlon training at dawn and while he was doing his swim to cycle transitions, I briefly slipped away to grab these quick shots with the DA 50-200mm WR on the K-7. Even as the sun was rising off the horizon, I can well imagine air traffic controllers busy directing planes as they made their final approach towards Changi Airport. I particularly like the colors in this shot.

Here a young mother walks hand in hand with her young kids against the backdrop of glistening golden reflections. The boat in the background adds to the depth in this telephoto shot.

My Friend Terence

I don't shoot portraits too much but those times that I do pull it off reasonably well, it's often because I'm fortunate enough to come across someone who exudes a distinct personality. Among the many Pentax users who attend our monthly photo outings it is always a treat to get to shoot my friend Terence. His unique inner personality always seem to shine through whenever I look through the viewfinder.



The first shot was taken at our January outing at Fort Canning Park. I wanted a high key approach and deliberately exposed for the shadows as he was backlit by the strong morning sun. By deliberately overexposing the camera's suggested meter reading, the idea was to lighten his features which helped to highlight his expressive eyes. Shooting a tricky shot like this, it is essential to shoot in RAW to exploit the maximum dynamic range available from the camera. Used the Pentax FA 135mm telephoto on the K-7 for the shot.



The second shot was taken at our recent February outing in Chinatown. The FA 50mm macro lens that I used allowed a little separation of the subject from the background for this mid body shot. Lighting was pretty even and subdued in the open shade which provide a nice overall tonality. As I typically shoot very quickly, I was fortunate to get the shot by the second frame. Had I deliberated a little longer, the background would have been filled with bystanders exiting from the train station nearby which would have ruined the overall shot. All shots uncropped and post processed in Photoshop CS4.

Expressive eyes

The DA 21mm f/3.2 Limited is a lens that made me ponder for a long time whether to get it or not. The maximum aperture isn't that much faster compared to the DA 18-55mm kit lens plus the kit lens goes quite a bit wider. Yes it is smaller and better built but it costs quite a bit more too. With the new DA 15mm f/4 Limited wide angle, the DA 21mm seems to be less prominent in the Pentax blogosphere and discussion forums.



To me it seems almost unthinkable to let go of this lens, which has become one of my favs among my lenses. It's small and compact dimensions means it's always in the bag. Because of its small size, I managed to get up close to shoot a neighbor's cat and my pet chihuahua Pepe. I wanted to catch a wideangle perspective of their expressive eyes. The images were shot with the K-7 and processed in Silver Efex Pro.

Lone Tree

Shooting in the early part of the day can be rewarding as it provides very dramatic images due to the angle of the light. I took this tree at Bedok Reservoir Park just as the sun was rising over the trees by the reservoir. I particularly like the directional quality of the strong side lighting. Shot with an IR modified Pentax *istDL2 with the DA 18-55mm II kit lens.

Goodbye to the trusty FA 100mm f/2.8 Macro

I finally made a tough decision to let go of this workhorse of a lens. A lens that has given me a lot of great images with its characteristic punchy colors has a tough act to follow in the footsteps of the new kid on the block, the DFA 100mm f/2.8 Macro WR.

There's a lot to like the FA version optically but the new DFA scores well in the usability area. The overall lighter weight makes extended shooting easier and the seamless transition from AF to manual focusing with Quick Shift is well worth the money. The new lens's circular aperture blades looks set for even smoother bokeh at wider apertures but it's premature to say how much of a difference until a test is done.

Orchard Road walkabout

2 Jan 2010, a public holiday. What better way to usher in the New Year than an informal mini Pentax user gathering along Orchard Road. Orchard Road has undergone a transformation with new buildings cropping up or existing buildings getting a upgrade to the exterior facade. I've not really ventured much along the Orchard strip for quite a while as it is pretty hard to find time to stroll and window shop nowadays, so it really felt like I was a tourist revisiting after a long hiatus. Somehow there was a sense of familiarity but at the same time everything seemed fresh and new. The turnout for the outing was pretty good and the opportunity to meet fellow photo enthusiasts over the New Year made it a particularly rewarding experience. Shot with the K-7 with either the Sigma 50mm f/2.8 Macro or the FA 135mm f/2.8.


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Shoe addict mantra...




The faces of Pentax...


Alluring...


The bond of laughter...


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Soft, Softer, Softest: the Sears 135mm f/2.8

It's 2010 and I got hold of a cheap manual focus lens recently, the Sears 135mm f/2.8 (Mod No. 202). On first impressions, the lens looks no different from the many manual focus 135mm lenses that were commonplace during the reign of 35mm film. However a closer inspection reveals something different, the presence of a secondary macro ring at the front of the lens in addition to the usual manual focusing ring.

There are 3 click stop settings on the macro ring that introduces varying degrees of softness, much like using a soft focus filter. The soft effect gets more pronounced at wider apertures, the result of uncorrected spherical aberration being introduced. The overall effect is much like the images taken with the discontinued and rare Pentax F/FA Soft 85mm. My Sears was made for Ricoh's K- mount but modded to be an A lens, so shooting using auto exposure is a breeze. What a unique lens because it offers that romantic soft-focus imagery that is occasionally needed.


Normal operation with the macro ring not used.


Turn the macro ring and things start going soft. A glowing halo surrounds the subject.


At the fullest setting, the image might seem like a Gaussian blur adjustment layer was added, but the bananas still retain sharp focus.