Got a chance to try some test shots finally with my Pentax K-mount adapter on my little NEX camera - this time playing with my old Osawa 28mm F2.8 lens on the NEX3 - I took a walk around my neighborhood late at night to try out some night shots (also something I hadn't really done yet with the NEX). ; I'm pretty happy with the Osawa's performance - other than slight proclivity to flare typical in older lenses, it's pretty sharp across the frame, sharpens very nicely stopped down, and handles well on the NEX. ; About the only thing I have to get used to from film days is recording my lens settings when I shoot (I'm so spoiled by digital recording the lens data in the EXIF, so I don't even think about it until I pull up my EXIF with the converter and get F--. ; Argh!!). So, here's my neighborhood in the wee hours of morning with the NEX3 and Osawa 28mm F2.8 and Pentax K-mount adapter: This is just standing on the sidewalk across the street from my house: This was nearly pitch black to the eye - I decided I wanted to go night for day, and did an ISO1600 exposure for 15 seconds with the lens wide open: A little playground area behind our clubhouse pool - mostly lit from the streetlights around the clubhouse behind me, and the neighbors' houses in the background: I loved the way these trees were catching the residual light from the playground - 15 second exposure, I believe I was stopped down a bit to F8 here: More dark shots - some palm trees above a neighbor's house against a thinly starry sky (we have massive light pollution here in Florida, so stars are rarely seen even on a clear night): Looking across a field that sits at the center of the neighborhood, with all the houses lined up around a lake - the foggy shroud hanging close to the ground is actually the lake, which is obscured under the fog blanket: Some handheld fun using twilight stacking mode - ISO3200 at F2.8 of a night blooming plant: A 10-second exposure at ISO800 using HDR at 1, aperture at F8 - I like using the HDR mode with minimal settings to allow me to expose the bright house as well as the very dark sky, and the 3-frame stacking has the side benefit of reducing or eliminating any noise: This was an unbelievably dark scene - none of this was even visible to the eye - I used the distance scale to estimate focus, stopped down to F8 to increase my chances, exposed at 15 seconds using HDR1 and ISO800...then duplicated the exposure twice and blended in screen mode for a 2-stop push to ISO3200 equivalent: The next day I also brought the Osawa 28mm along while birding so I could snap a few daylight photos with it too - stopped down to F8 in A priority mode at ISO200 - it's a pretty sharp lens: Surprisingly contrasty too, for an older lens. ; Of course, it helps that I know where the lens has been and how it's been treated since 1977 - since I'm the original owner! ; Bringing old 35mm and rangefinder lenses back to life is one of the great pleasures of these mirrorless cameras. ; Besides my Pentax kit, I've picked up some old mid-70's Konica-mount (K/AR) lenses - a 40mm F1.8, 50mm F1.7, and 70-210mm F3.5 - for a grand total of $70. ; And some of this old glass is seriously nice! Any comments, questions, or critique always welcome.
Some awesome shots Justin. ; Is the lens sharper than the kit one? ; I've heard some...things about the two main Sony e-mount zooms.
I'd say the 18-55 is pretty sharp - no issues there for me - it is better stopped down a wee bit, and fine by F6.3 - it's just not real fast. ; I've seen quite a variation on the 16mm - from decently sharp to a soft mess - I didn't bother with that lens for that reason. The Osawa is pretty sharp though - if there's any softness, it's right at F2.8 - it quickly sharpens up even more as it stops down a stop. ; My Pentax 50mm F2 is also pretty sharp from F3.5 on. ; I've recently picked up a Konica 40mm F1.8, Konica 50mm F1.7, Vivitar Series One 28mm F2.8 Komine, Vivitar Series One 70-210mm F3.5 Kiron, Chinon 50mm F1.9, and Chinon 135mm F2.8 (the two Chinons are Pentax K mount, while the others are all Konica mount)...all for $100, along with the Konica and Chinon SLR bodies, flash units, filters, and all the caps, cases, manuals, and boxes. ; Amazing what you can find the old lenses for! ; I can't wait to experiment with all of these to see what might be worthwhile.
