I haven't taken many wide open shots with the K 50, but the few I have demonstrate it is (1) lacks fine resolving power, but renders in a beautiful, dreamy kind of way; (2) very narrow of depth of field, particularly when shooting with six feet or so; (3) sharpens up dramatically as you stop down — sharp at f2, tack sharp at f2.8, although still dealing with fairly narrow depth of field. For shooting at night in a city I might want a wider lens (the FA 31?), but it of course depends on what you're trying to capture.
Thanks Mary Ann. It was a fun weekend.
Starbursts aren't great. The lens has six rounded aperture blades. If you stop it down enough you can get a little bit of a starburst (with six semi-spikes), but don't expect anything in the league of the SMC DA limiteds. Other potential issue is flare control, which isn't outstanding with this lens.
No, I wouldn't recommend the HD 28-105 for an APS-C camera, particularly if you're planning to stay at APS-C. It's hard for me to compare the HD DFA 28-105 because I've not used it on APS-C. It really makes so much more sense on an FF camera. If you're unhappy for some reason with the FA 24-90 and want to upgrade you should look at some of the APS-C standard zooms, like the DA 16-85 (which is the closest equivalent to the DFA 28-105 on APS-C), the DA 18-135, or the DA 17-70.
I would hazard to guess that the automatic diaphragm mechanism of the lens,which doesn't kick in until f5.6,is in some manner or form broken and is preventing the lens from stopping down automatically past f5.6. If you can still send the lens back to whomever you purchased it from,that would be the thing to do,because you should be able to stop the lens past f5.6 on the K-1. But if you can't send it back,the lens will still work as a soft focus lens (the soft focus affect tends to go away past f5.6).
Thanks,Marc,for your comments. The best forest for getting these kind of light shafts on California's northcoast is the Del Norte Redwoods south of Crescent City. That's about an hour and half drive from where I live.
Thanks. Glad you found it useful.
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