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.

A is for Angry Ant, B is for Bee Bokeh

Just last week I was feeling kinda low mentally so to spend time reflecting, I decided to go out and shoot with no specific agenda. Armed with my trusty macro lenses, I took a quiet stroll and shot anything that I thought looked interesting. I guess not expecting any specific subject allowed me to see things a little differently and I came away with two macro shots that I happened to like.

This angry ant was shot using the FA 100mm f/2.8 Macro with my cute little Pentax AF-200FG flash unit in fading light.



The bee bokeh was quite a difficult shot because I had to manually focus the Sigma 50mm f/2.8 Macro on the brisk moving bee perched on very tiny flowers with a hint of a breeze blowing. To top it all, I had some tourists who wanted a quick chat while I was shooting. Shot hand held using available light with the K20D.

Father's Day Weekend Macro

Went out with some fellow Pentax users to shoot some macro shots on the eve of Father's Day. Decided I didn't want to use a flash. All shots with the K20D and the FA 100mm f/2.8 Macro

Rain drops on bonsai

Took this macro using the K20D and the FA 100mm f/2.8 Macro. I really like this shot and it was fortunate I could visualise the shot because the lead was pretty small to begin with.

Some Macros For The New Year

Took these images at the Singapore Botanic Gardens a some days ago.
I particularly like the backlighting of the flowers from the afternoon sun. The Pentax FA 100mm Macro lens that I used here gives a lovely colour rendition and out of focus bokeh. Although a macro lens, it does well as a telephoto, one of the reasons why I like the versatility offered bymacro lenses. Definitely one of my favourite shots.


K20D FA 100mm f/2.8 Macro

The flower from the common ginger plant is pretty eye catching. It's a big flower and pretty easy to shoot. The shot was taken with my manual focus Sigma 90mm macro, a lens that goes to half life size. A very compact lens and quite hard to find but one I like to use if I want to focus manually.


K20D Sigma 90mm f/2.8 Macro

The family of juvenile grasshoppers feasting on a leaf together isn't a common sight. Puts a new meaning to the phrase "family buffet." Shot straight from camera and post processed with Adobe Photoshop CS4.


K20D FA 100mm f/2.8 Macro

Some macros before the new year

With the year coming to an end, just wanted to post a couple of macro shots that I had taken recently. Would have shot more if not for the maddening little gusts of wind that makes focusing macro subjects an added challenge. I like the graphical nature of this silhouette where line predominates.


K20D Sigma 90mm f/2.8 Macro

On the opposite side of things, the delicate colors make these small flowers really stand out. Just like the color rendition from the Pentax macro.


K20D FA 100mm f/2.8 Macro

Pentax Photo Outing Macros

We had our monthly Pentax photo outing just before Christmas. Being the last one for the year, it was to be a photo marathon that started in the morning at the Singapore Botanic Gardens and extending all the way to the evening at different locations around Singapore.





Unfortunately I could only join the group during the morning session of this photo blitz and managed to shoot some of these macro images. All images were shot with the Pentax K20D with a FA 100mm f/2.8 Macro either hand held or with my Mamiya carbon fiber monopod. It was a good time to catch up with my fellow Pentax shooters and to learn some of the different shooting tips and techniques used. All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable time.





Here are some small creatures that I managed to shoot. All shots were taken with available light. For the photo of the little frog, Live View proved to be invaluable. I managed to stay clean and dry and more importantly, had I shot normally, I would have cast a shadow on the subject.

Walkabout with the FA 100mm f/2.8 Macro

Not too long ago, I had in my possession the DFA 50mm f/2.8 Macro as well as the DFA 100mm f/2.8 Macro lenses. Well these two are fine lenses, I didn't particularly like the build quality. So recently through a mutual swap with a couple of my Pentax friends, I replaced the two lenses for the FA 100mm f/2.8 Macro and FA 135mm f/2.8 telephoto lenses.

Ixora


Fern leaf unfolding


I really like the look and build quality of FA lenses and it complements well with the other FA lenses that I already own. The FA 100mm f/2.8 Macro is a much bigger and heavier lens compared to the newer DFA version. It gives excellent sharpness and colour and offers lifesize magnification without the need for additional extension tubes. The FA macros lack the Quick Shift manual focus override but there however a focus limiter to limit the focusing range for this lens.

Small mushrooms


I really like the images from this lens. Here's a couple of shots taken at the Singapore Botanic Gardens with the K20D. It is a lens I would recommend to all Pentax macro shooters.

Vanda Miss Joachim (Singapore's national flower)