First (usable) photo

[sumx4182]

Lenses came today! Manual focus is tricky and I never realized how much I took macro mode for granted on my superzoom. Here's the result!

Exif: Pentax K-30, SMC Pentax A 50mm f/1.7, 50mm, 1/125s, 800ISO, f/1.7 plus a little exposure correction in PP.

[shoturtle]

Stop down a bit to get the flower more infouce with greater dof. At 1.7 it is really thin.

[sumx4182]

Originally Posted by shoturtle

Stop down a bit to get the flower more infouce with greater dof. At 1.7 it is really thin.

You're right. It was mid-evening, indoors with crappy CF lighting and I was trying to keep ISO low and also, I was intrigued with such an open aperture since it's my first DSLR! You can't help but want to test those limits! I was also trying to get the center of the flower in focus with the petals that were going towards and away from the camera out of focus. Didn't turn out too bad for my first effort!

[sumx4182]

I must admit it's a strange feeling knowing the lens on my brand new camera is as old as me!

[shoturtle]

Macro, tripod is your friend. And the 2 second delay. Keep iso at 100 or 200.

[sumx4182]

Originally Posted by shoturtle

Macro, tripod is your friend. And the 2 second delay. Keep iso at 100 or 200.

I was having some trouble getting focus because I was tending to be too close!

[Frogfish]

To assist in accurate MF you do need to take the 'range' of the VF 'in-focus' indicator into consideration and find out .. for each of your MF lenses .. when turning the focus ring, from which direction focusing is most accurate.

For every one of my lenses there is one direction that gives consistent sharp focus (when the VF 'in-focus' indicator lights up) and one direction that doesn't. You need to know which direction this is for each lens as it does vary.

[sumx4182]

Originally Posted by Frogfish

To assist in accurate MF you do need to take the 'range' of the VF 'in-focus' indicator into consideration and find out .. for each of your MF lenses .. when turning the focus ring, from which direction focusing is most accurate.

For every one of my lenses there is one direction that gives consistent sharp focus (when the VF 'in-focus' indicator lights up) and one direction that doesn't. You need to know which direction this is for each lens as it does vary.

I'll have to keep an eye on that. I hadn't thought of it.

[mole]

Very nice first efforts - great color and composition, and interesting use of DOF. I had a 50mm f1.4 that I could almost never focus accurately. Unlike my K20D, your K-30 has focus peaking - have you tried that method for manual focus?

[sumx4182]

Originally Posted by mole

Very nice first efforts - great color and composition, and interesting use of DOF. I had a 50mm f1.4 that I could almost never focus accurately. Unlike my K20D, your K-30 has focus peaking - have you tried that method for manual focus?

Thansk for the compliments! I did work with the peaking a bit. I actually felt like I was getting better results with the VF. I think the flashing on the peaking was giving me a little trouble because I would get the focus where I wanted it and then it would flash off and since I was handheld, it was possible to lose the focus between it flashing off and flashing back on. I almost wished it was constant. Maybe there's a setting for that. I didn't look too hard cause I was losing good indoor light.