Road Trip w/ 50-135/K3ii

Drove up to Anderson, South Carolina to pick up a tool and on the way back shot some architectural images with the K3ii and the DA* 50-135mm. Drove back through Due West, which is near Level Land, to Abbeville and McCormick to see Greek Revival antebellum mansions.

Now knowing that Ricoh is updating the DA* 16-50mm my mind wandered to what I would want if they also decided to update the 50-135mm. Having the K1 and the FA* 70-200mm, my primary want was that the APS-C lenses should be relatively small and easy to transport. There needs to be a real difference between the two formats. The need to have large, heavy bulbous lenses to ensure edge to edge sharpness and reduced distortion at fast f-stops means I'm willing to compromise on those factors to a degree for the sake of size and weight.

Here are some size (dia.) and weight information.

• DA*50-135 f2.8 67mm 685 g
• DA*60-250 f4 67mm 1040g
• FA*70-200 f2.8 77mm 1755g

What is the sweet spot for APS-C? Should the 50-135mm even be upgraded?

The Old County Court House with the obligatory confederate monument in Anderson, SC

Due West Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, You can generally tell the denomination by the steeple. I don't believe there is any significance to the vulture sitting on top!

Abbeville Main Street United Methodist Church. Notice the difference?

Abbeville, Burt-Stark Mansion. Noted as the location of the last Council of War of cabinet members of the Confederate government in May 2, 1865. Classic antebellum mansion of a square, two story with a four wood column front porch.

Cedar Springs Historic District, Frazier-Pressley House. Built in 1852, this is not a classic Greek Revival antebellum mansion in that it is three-story, stuccoed brick building, with three octagonal elements joined with a connecting hallway. The columns are brick (not the usual wood) also.

Near McCormick, Eaton Hall, 1854. Classic Greek Revival that features a pedimented, two story front portico. Two image panorama. Take away the front porch and this is a simple two story wooden box house that had no plumbing or gas/electricity. So it wouldn't catch fire the kitchens were in another building nearby.

Super photos!

You know how to get the best out of that camera + lens combination.

Excellent photos: very sharp, well exposed and good comp.

Tom W

manual_focus wrote:

Drove up to Anderson, South Carolina to pick up a tool and on the way back shot some architectural images with the K3ii and the DA* 50-135mm. Drove back through Due West, which is near Level Land, to Abbeville and McCormick to see Greek Revival antebellum mansions.

These are beautiful mansions! I wish architects here (in Greece) knew how to biuld buildings like that.

The Presbytarian steeple is enourmous. I would not have guessed had i not read your comment about the vulture. I thought that was a pigeon!

Beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing!

Now knowing that Ricoh is updating the DA* 16-50mm my mind wandered to what I would want if they also decided to update the 50-135mm. Having the K1 and the FA* 70-200mm, my primary want was that the APS-C lenses should be relatively small and easy to transport. There needs to be a real difference between the two formats. The need to have large, heavy bulbous lenses to ensure edge to edge sharpness and reduced distortion at fast f-stops means I'm willing to compromise on those factors to a degree for the sake of size and weight.

i quite agree!

Here are some size (dia.) and weight information.

• DA*50-135 f2.8 67mm 685 g
• DA*60-250 f4 67mm 1040g
• FA*70-200 f2.8 77mm 1755g

What is the sweet spot for APS-C? Should the 50-135mm even be upgraded?

Just the AF motor, nothing else. I've never read anything bad about the optics, and the pictures are always very pleasing. They could call it the Mark ii.

Due West Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, You can generally tell the denomination by the steeple. I don't believe there is any significance to the vulture sitting on top!

manual_focus wrote:

Drove up to Anderson, South Carolina to pick up a tool and on the way back shot some architectural images with the K3ii and the DA* 50-135mm. Drove back through Due West, which is near Level Land, to Abbeville and McCormick to see Greek Revival antebellum mansions.

Very nice captures of interesting landmarks.  I like the Frazier-Pressley house!  I doubt my current kitchen reno will get me there

Now knowing that Ricoh is updating the DA* 16-50mm my mind wandered to what I would want if they also decided to update the 50-135mm. Having the K1 and the FA* 70-200mm, my primary want was that the APS-C lenses should be relatively small and easy to transport. There needs to be a real difference between the two formats. The need to have large, heavy bulbous lenses to ensure edge to edge sharpness and reduced distortion at fast f-stops means I'm willing to compromise on those factors to a degree for the sake of size and weight.

Here are some size (dia.) and weight information.

• DA*50-135 f2.8 67mm 685 g
• DA*60-250 f4 67mm 1040g
• FA*70-200 f2.8 77mm 1755g

What is the sweet spot for APS-C? Should the 50-135mm even be upgraded?

ABSOLUTELY.  New motor - after 2 SDM failures my 50-135 currently works on screw drive.  PLM, DC... whatever works.  Current HD coatings of course.  Rounded aperture blades... can't hurt.  Otherwise... yup, one of my favourite lenses.

And I agree that I do not want anything heavier for APSC, even the 50-135 gets taken out less than my 55-300 because of size/weight.  Ya... I am a lightweight

Doug

hurt.The Old County Court House with the obligatory confederate monument in Anderson, SC

Due West Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, You can generally tell the denomination by the steeple. I don't believe there is any significance to the vulture sitting on top!

Abbeville Main Street United Methodist Church. Notice the difference?

Abbeville, Burt-Stark Mansion. Noted as the location of the last Council of War of cabinet members of the Confederate government in May 2, 1865. Classic antebellum mansion of a square, two story with a four wood column front porch.

Cedar Springs Historic District, Frazier-Pressley House. Built in 1852, this is not a classic Greek Revival antebellum mansion in that it is three-story, stuccoed brick building, with three octagonal elements joined with a connecting hallway. The columns are brick (not the usual wood) also.

Near McCormick, Eaton Hall, 1854. Classic Greek Revival that features a pedimented, two story front portico. Two image panorama. Take away the front porch and this is a simple two story wooden box house that had no plumbing or gas/electricity. So it wouldn't catch fire the kitchens were in another building nearby.

Excellent shots, very sharp. I love that lens, just needs a new motor. I recently bought one in a pawn shop for $150 with a dead motor. Converted to screw drive and works great. A favourite lens!

Ed

I've decided that there's very little I need besides the DA 50-135 and the 31 Limited. On FF and crop, because the zoom is usable in square format. Anything else I would reach for is a special purpose lens.

Optically the lens is great, the autofocus motor (SDM) system is slow and unreliable. What makes it worse, is when the SDM fails the manual focus also fails, making lens useless. Pentax should have taken care of this 8 to10 years ago. The upgrade is way overdue.

dnscott645 wrote:

Optically the lens is great, the autofocus motor (SDM) system is slow and unreliable. What makes it worse, is when the SDM fails the manual focus also fails, making lens useless. Pentax should have taken care of this 8 to10 years ago. The upgrade is way overdue.

Thats odd!, I bought mine in a pawn shop, the SDM was dead, but manual focus worked. I converted it to screw drive and am very very happy with the lens.

Ed

dnscott645 wrote:

Optically the lens is great, the autofocus motor (SDM) system is slow and unreliable. What makes it worse, is when the SDM fails the manual focus also fails, making lens useless. Pentax should have taken care of this 8 to10 years ago. The upgrade is way overdue.

When the SDM failed on mine (twice) the manual focus worked fine.

Doug