Pentax Digital Camera Utility 4 tryout (2)

Some more interesting conversions with a PEF RAW file. Shot during the Garden Festival last year with the K20D and FA 77mm Limited.

Silkypix give pretty pleasant colours of this indoor shot of orchids, Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) renders less colour saturated images. For practical purposes, output from DNG or PEF looks the same if processed through ACR or Silkypix respectively as each software will render according to their respective algorithms. Just for versatility I would opt to shoot with the DNG format. Interestingly, the jpeg straight from the K20D is pretty good too.


Pentax PEF RAW file converted to jpeg by Silkypix


Pentax PEF RAW file to jpeg by ACR 5.4


Pentax PEF RAW file converted to DNG to jpeg by ACR 5.4


Jpeg from RAW+Jpeg straight from K20D

Kampong Buangkok Pentax Outing Part 1

Our monthly Pentax photographic outings have been a good opportunity to catch up with fellow Pentax users and more importantly the opportunity to take pictures together in a congenial atmosphere.





For our March 2009 meet-up, we took the opportunity to visit probably one of the few remaining Malay villages (kampung) left in Singapore. The rapid pace of urbanization of Singapore means that there are few remaining vestiges of the old left untouched. Kampung Buangkok is just one of those places.





Nestled amidst encroaching apartment blocks and private houses, the location is small by most standards but offers a varied mix of the old and eclectic, a treasure trove of photographic opportunities. We had a good turnout and the pleasant weather made for an enjoyable outing.





I have to say I really liked the shots that I took in the short time we were there. I opted for a prime lens combo of the FA 50mm f/2.8 Macro, FA 77mm f/1.8 Limited and the FA 135mm f/2.8 telephoto. I also brought along as I always do the small DA 21mm f/3.2 Limited but opted not to use it. All in a one of the best outings we've had to date.

People Passing By

I just love the shadowy silhouettes as they add dynamic interest to the image and give a nice separation of the foreground and background. The original image already had a pretty limited tonal range but I decided it would look better with a little brown tint reminiscent of the Agfa Viradon that I used to play around in the past.


K20D FA 77mm f/1.8 Limited

A Few More From The Garden Festival

A continuation of flower images that I had taken at the Singapore Garden Festival. All shot with the K20D and the FA 77mm f/1.8 Limited.



The FA 77mm is best known as a portrait lens with it's fast maximum aperture, tele perspective and nice bokeh. Well it has proven to be a nice lens for flowers too. It would have been even better if it could focus a little closer than the current minimum of 0.7m but I guess I'm asking too much from an already excellent lens. Most certainly a lens that should be in every Pentax portrait shooter's bag.

Leaf Study

Liked the shape of the leaf with the naturally occurring holes.
Original image converted to B&W and added my own gold tone.


K20D FA 77mm f/1.8 Limited

Flowers Galore Part II

Finally found the time to go through the images captured on the memory card. More orchids from the Singapore Garden Festival. Just love the bokeh from the lens. All images taken with the K20D and FA 77mm f/1.8 Limited.

Flowers Galore

Went down to the Singapore Garden Festival last week with a friend. Didn't really have enough time to go through the lovely exhibits but managed to take a couple of nice shots of some of the loveliest orchids around.



Set in the Suntec Convention Centre, the show covers two levels of floral and gardening concepts. Taking inspiration from the world renowned RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the exhibits were very innovative aesthetically. Set indoors it certainly offers a welcome break from our warm and tropical weather.



Being indoors, the lighting was a serious challenge. Overall light intensity was low and there were lots of mixed lighting which made white balance selection all the more difficult. Fortunately the K20D's WB control was pretty good and I didn't need to fine-tune anything. All the more amazing considering the shots were all in jpeg.



There were lots of photographers who used flash and/or used a tripod. I hate using on board flash which my opinion would have given an unnatural rendition of the actual colors and result in a flower shot with little modelling. The high ISO ability of the K20D and the use of a fast prime in the guise of the FA 77mm f/1.8 Limited plus built-in Shake Reduction allowed for hand held available light images. To me that's a unique and telling advantage. Overall, I'm quite happy with the results.

An Old Gatepost

Came across this old gatepost and was immediately drawn to the texture and shade of colors, ingredients that make a nice B&W image. Minor post processing using Adobe Lightroom. Taken with the K10D with the FA 77mm f/1.8 Limited.

FA 77mm Limited: A Gem of a Lens

Just a few days ago I had the rare opportunity to pick up a new FA 77mm f1.8 Limited. Rare because over here, Pentax lenses are scarce and not often readily available even at the best stocked photo shops.



For quite a while now, I've been having a little mental debate on which prime AF lens would make a nice portrait lens. Now as we know, in the days of 35mm film, that would mean a short to mid-telephoto focal length typically between 85mm to 135mm. Factoring in the 1.5x crop factor, the current choices available were:

1) DFA 100mm f2.8 Macro
2) FA* 85mm f1.4
3) FA 77mm f1.8 Limited
4) DA 70mm f2.4 Limited
5) FA 50mm f1.4

I would rule out the 50mm and the 100mm. I find the 50mm a little too wide and it doesn't quite give a tele perspective. The plus side its f1.4 aperture allows for a very shallow depth of field and it's a fairly compact lens. Having been a one time owner of the FA 50mm f1.4, I find image quality is a little soft at f1.4 but sharpness gets better stopped down. I'd still recommend the lens because:

i) it's currently the most affordable Pentax AF prime lens
ii) it's a fast lens that's great for shooting available light
iii) you can use it with extension tubes for pretty decent macro
iv) use a teleconverter and you still get a decent and fast combo



As a macro, the DA 100mm is a sharp lens. However in the context of a studio or indoor shoot, the working distance for a head shot can be just a little too long; though this isn't an issue for outdoor candid shots. Secondly, at f2.8, it's the slowest of the lenses under comparison, and obviously a larger aperture would help give better subject isolation from the background. Still it's a good and versatile lens that can do double duty as a macro and telephoto.



The excellent FA* 85mm is a lens I can only dream about. Very expensive and very rare to find but a lens capable of rendering very compelling portraits. This is a great lens but I'm told produced in fairly limited quantities. Have a friend who has one and it is really a beauty.



So it's a toss up between the DA 70mm and the FA 77mm. The DA's distinctive "pancake" design makes for a compact lens. As a lens made for digital, it does away with a manual aperture ring, meaning aperture control is from the body. This is fine except that if you intend to use it with extension tubes or bellows, you're limited to shooting only at the largest aperture. (The DFA macros still retain the aperture rings for this very purpose.) The DA 70mm is newer, lighter, focuses a tad faster but only manages a modest f2.4 maximum aperture.



The older FA77 on the other hand has a image circle designed for traditional 35mm film. It's a little bigger and heavier but maximum aperture is 1 stop faster at f1.8. I think I could be equally happy with either lens though I feel the FA77 has a slight edge due to the larger maximum aperture and image quality wise.



My initial reaction to the pictures shot with the lens is the excellent colour rendition and contrast. At f5.6, the lens is exceedingly sharp. The bokeh is also very pleasant, an important consideration for a portrait lens. This lens isn't cheap but I'm suitably impressed by the build quality and more importantly the image quality to give it the thumbs up.