Some time ago I went on a buying spree and acquired a number
of old film-era Pentax lenses. I used them one after the other on hikes
with my full-frame K1 until I sent it in for an upgrade. By that time I
had used all the lenses I thought would become my favorites, but I still owed
the rest a test. And so this morning I used the FA* 200mm f/2.8.
This is a very good high-quality lens. The * is Pentax’s indication that
this lens is the very best. However, it isn’t very well suited to the
sort of photography I do at the river. Also, it has a narrower depth of
field at most apertures than I prefer for landscape shots.
I chose the hike alongside the dairy in hopes of getting some
shots of the seabirds that show up after a rain when there are puddles of water
on the ground, and I did find them, but the puddles were too far away for me to
get any good shots of the birds.
Shot 579 shows a man sitting on a tractor talking to a
goose. They seem to be friends because the goose appears to be paying
attention.
Shot 597 and the next couple show some hunters shooting at
something in the trees. I’ve looked into these trees on a number of hikes
and have seen only little tiny birds. On occasion the trees seemed filled
with them. But there were no little birds in them this morning. I
don’t know what the hunters could have been shooting at – unless they were squirrel
hunting. I suppose there could have been squirrels up there, but I have never seen any.
Normally, we would go down from the river levee and through
this copse, but we couldn’t do that with these guys shooting at stuff.
Ben was quite concerned. Jessica was prepared to go down but only if I
insisted. As the shooting went on, Ben and Jessica seemed to like it
least. Duffy didn’t seem to mind it.
In shot 608 and the next couple you can see my sea birds,
but not very closely. A lens longer than 200 mm would have been better
suited to seeing them today.
In shot 616 and the next two you can see a few of the little
birds that normally live (I assume) in the bigger trees in the copse.
In shot 626 you can see a gate shot at a fairly wide-open aperture. This
sort of shot would be close, perhaps, to what people who love this lens would
be looking for.
In shot 640, and you can only tell if you magnify it, but
Jessica is giving me an apprehensive look. She has something in her mouth
and is probably waiting to see if I am going to make her drop it.
Shot 642 shows Ben in very good detail. This is a very
good lens.
The last shot shows someone jogging in the river bed,
something I used to do when I retired here in December 1998.
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