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Best place to buy DA15

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Digi Direct had the the 100 wr better than anyone else a couple of months ago John so you could try there for a 15
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Regards Dean - Capturing Creation
 
Thanks Dean,

Decent price, pretty much the same as Vanbar. B&H would still be about $150 cheaper with the excellent exchange rate at the moment though. I'm undecided as to whether to buy local or not on this one...
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John Cafarella
Melbourne, Australia
 
Yes makes it tough John $150 is a fair difference. Don't know how the did the 100 wr so cheap at the time?
--
Regards Dean - Capturing Creation
 
I got mine there, came in 3 days.

I strongly suggest you grab the DA15 asap -- it will "explode" with the K-r, K-5, K-x and K-7, all available at the same time ....
 
John Cafarella said:
I finally decided it's time to get one, but B&H are out of stock :-(

Any suggestions of where to buy?
Click to expand...
Don't know if you already bought it by now, but I recommend Amazon as a reliable source as well. I've bought lenses (and even a body) from there when I need it ASAP. Always works out well.
 
You are going to love it, John. The more you know about photography the more you will appreciate the absolute magic contained in this lens. Don't be reluctant to shoot straight into the sun with it as well. Gives great starburst effect while retaining a considerable amount of foreground detail.

With the sun over your shoulder, images from it are so rich, they remind me of the old Kodachrome 24.

Sweet spot is somewhere between f-11 and f-16. At these settings, everything will be in focus from your feet (literally) to infinity. I bought it for landscapes, but I have trouble taking it off my camera.
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In the end, the only things that matter are the people we help and the people we hurt. http://pa.photoshelter.com/user/ronkruger
 
Thanks Ron, yeah, I reckon I will love it.

I borrowed a sigma 10-20 for a trip to NZ in May, and even though I found the wide perspective a little daunting, I really enjoyed it.

I didn't much like the rendering of it though compared to the lovely Pentax primes (DA35 and FA77) that I took with me and also found it was really bulky. So when I analysed my favourite pix from the 10-20 and found that they were in the midrange... well the DA15 was a bit of a no-brainer, I just had to wait for finance to accumulate.

I'm surprised when you say the sweet spot is at such a high fnumber though.. I would have thought f5.6 - f8??

@Jimbob, Vanbar has them in stock for a decent price, but the excellent $$ exchange rate just made the difference too hard to ignore.

--
John Cafarella
Melbourne, Australia
 
josswest said:
John Cafarella said:
I finally decided it's time to get one, but B&H are out of stock :-(

Any suggestions of where to buy?
Click to expand...
Don't know if you already bought it by now, but I recommend Amazon as a reliable source as well. I've bought lenses (and even a body) from there when I need it ASAP. Always works out well.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I did try Amazon, price was good, but they didn't allow sale of it to Australia.
Transaction is all done on Adorama.

--
John Cafarella
Melbourne, Australia
 
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Some snaps to help you on your searches (ie, it's worth it) :)

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:) I'm reckon your DA15 shots have been a MAJOR source of income to Pentax! I love the one of your little guy squatting down. It's a great example of the unusual perspective that this lens can bring. No EXIF though... I was curious what f-stop you used on that one, the DOF is quite large.

Like I said before.. I can't wait. Delivery may be as early as Thursday next week.

--
John Cafarella
Melbourne, Australia
 
Judging by your pictures, you'd impress us with just a cell phone camera.

Here's the closest thing I have to wide angle in the last two weeks: my little one showing off his "acorn hats" at 24mm.





Hope you had fun at the fair! I didn't bring my camera this time, it's just too much of a distraction.
 
John Cafarella said:
:) I'm reckon your DA15 shots have been a MAJOR source of income to Pentax! I love the one of your little guy squatting down. It's a great example of the unusual perspective that this lens can bring. No EXIF though... I was curious what f-stop you used on that one, the DOF is quite large.

Like I said before.. I can't wait. Delivery may be as early as Thursday next week.
Click to expand...
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John, that was f/8, 1/800s. One of those 'one handed, put the down cam at a low angle, snap' shots that the DA 15 does so well with.

It's a preternaturally fun lens to shoot. I use it on the K20D, but I imagine it would 'feel' even better on a K-7 or even a K-x. Might spring for a K-r or K-5 just to wed to it. :)

Good luck on your encroaching package. If you're like me, you'll want to take a day off next Thursday and wait outside for the truck :)











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Sometimes, it makes you want to drop what you're doing to just snap randomly. :)

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Mark Ransom said:
Hope you had fun at the fair! I didn't bring my camera this time, it's just too much of a distraction.
Click to expand...
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Nice shot, Mark, and yes we did, but you know how that place is. You almost gotta go once for fun/family/friends, then go again alone for photography, because it's a madhouse place to take photographs - especially if you have any personal obligations (read: kids buggin' you to kit the big slide again. :) )

Another Fair snap for you:

 
John Cafarella said:
I'm surprised when you say the sweet spot is at such a high fnumber though.. I would have thought f5.6 - f8??
Click to expand...
not to speak for Ron, but i don't think he means sweet spot as in highest resolution possible. the clue is in "At these settings, everything will be in focus from your feet (literally) to infinity."

you may suffer diffraction related problems at the smaller apertures he recommended. but, if you like to shoot low and with near elements, you will have a tremendous depth of field.

i use the lens at f13
 
It's arrived!! Just in time for the weekend!

A couple of quick test shots in the office show at infinity it's sharp centre and both sides at f4. At f8, its VERY sharp all over, at full zoom on the K7 screen, thin lines are one or two pixels wide.

I've got a good one!

Good service,packing and fast shipping from Adorama BTW.

--
John Cafarella
Melbourne, Australia
 
Enjoy it.

However, beware of the underexposing on a K-7; you'll need to compensate by some 2/3 to 1 stop. Other than that, it's a gem!

PS. Not a perfect weather in Melbourne to test all DA15's moods (its cloudy with diffused light). Wait some sunny days with lots of highlights and contrasts to experiment with compensations further.
Ta.
John Cafarella said:
John Cafarella wrote:
It's arrived!! Just in time for the weekend!
Click to expand...
 
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