split screen 2.0

Back in April, I ordered a split screen on e-bay and I was having problems with the focus. My pictures were out of focus when the split prism lined up in the view finder. It turns out I had to turn the focus ring away from infinity in order to get the focus confirmation on the K10D.

Well I finally took the time to open it up again. I removed the shim and the focus got worse, having to turn further away from infinity. So I cut one of those sticky pads to size and stuck it on the back of the shim. This improved my focus alot, the prism now line up but is still off a little bit. This whole process took less than five minutes and its cheaper than ordering shims from Pentax.

sakura

Sakura

Blooming Sakura trees is a true sign of spring.  I went to High Park on Wednesday to catch a glimpse.  The Sakura’s has been blooming for the pass week and they’ll probably be gone by next week. Alot of petals are on the ground already.

I used the Albinar 2X Macro TC, Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7 and kit lens.  I was attempting to get some macro shots but it was difficult with the constant breeze and shallow depth of field.

Sakura

Bird in flight!

lens surgery

S-M-C Takumar 200mm f/4

I took apart the S-M-C Takumar 200mm f/4 today because I noticed the “Auto and Manual” switch wasn’t opening the aperture blades when set to “Auto” mode.  The procedure is pretty easy considering I never took a part a lens before and had no instructions.

This is how I disassembled the S-M-C Takumar 200mm f/4. You’ll need those mini screw drivers, both – and +.

1) I set the lens to minimum focus, this will fully extend the lens.  If you don’t do this first, you can’t access the screws.

2) Remove the screws on the focus ring and depth of field scale.

S-M-C Takumar 200mm f/4

3) You should now see a “big screw” that was under the depth of field scale. Unscrew it then remove the screws on the aperture ring.  Be careful not to lose the ball bearing when you slide the aperture ring out. The ball bearing is what makes the aperture ring “click.”

4) Now you should be able to see three larger screws that hold the glass elements piece and the mount piece of the lens together.  I didn’t need to disassemble the glass elements so I left it aside.  From this point on it should be pretty self-explanatory how to take the mount piece apart, if you need to.

5) Putting it back together is exactly the opposite. Just remember to put the ball bearing back and to line up f/4 on the aperture ring to the “big screw” mentioned in step three.

There are more pictures on Flickr.

lightroom 2.0

Adobe Lightroom is the photo managing software I use to organize and post-process my photos. I don’t know about anyone else but Lightroom does everything I want to do and more. But it should be noted that I don’t do major post-processing to my photos. I mostly adjust exposure, play with the tone curve and sharpen. Cropping is something else that I do because I’m not so good at composing my shots, yet.

A few nights ago, I came across a site that has Lightroom tutorials on video! It goes over the basic features and shows you how to process your photos. And if your print your own photos, it shows you how to do that too.

vernal pool outing

Hepatica

Yesterday, I went to a Vernal Pools outing at Hilton Falls with Citizen Scientists and the Ontario Vernal Pool Association. I didn’t get a chance to use my SMC Takumar 200mm f/4 yesterday because it’s simply too long for hiking unless you’re planning to shoot birds. I ended up using the Pentax-DA 18-55mm kit lens the whole day. And I did wish I had a little more focal length. It was really sunny so I had to stand with the sun behind me to get most of the shots. Now my neck is sun burned.

Most wildflowers were not blooming yet, like the Trout Lilly, Trillium and Bellwort. But I did see lots of Bloodroot and Hepatica.

All the shots turned out pretty well. The Hiltons Falls turned out a little blurry because I was hand holding it at 1/10th shutter speed but they’re not that bad. I was attempting to get that moving water look. Most of the flower shots were taken by holding the camera at ground level and hoping the autofocus will focus on the flowers. This worked out pretty well but I wished the flowers were more in focus.

Hilton Falls

Spring Peeper

SMC Takumar 200mm f/4

Red-winged Blackbird

Originally uploaded by z.foto

I purchased a SMC Takumar 200mm f/4 lens in M42 mount yesterday. I decided to take a walk on the Don trail to test the lens. Somehow I ended up walking from Chinatown (the one at Broadview) to the Ontario Science Center, my legs are so sore. Anyways, this is one of the shots I took. It’s a Red-winged Blackbird. I adjusted contrast and cropped a bit. I can’t remember the aperture. It’s either at f/4 or f/8. ISO is at 400 because I forgot to change it! That was kinda stupid. The rest of the pictures are on my Flickr.

So far so good. This is proving to be a good lens like all the reviews I’ve read. I’ll be at a Vernal Pools monitoring session tomorrow so I can test some more. Oh, there is chromatic aberration for back-lit subjects. Most notably purple fringing and some green fringing.

I also found a Pentax billboard! And I thought Pentax doesn’t advertise. It’s at Dundas and Broadview. Just head west towards the bridge and look south.

split screen

My focus screen finally arrived at the post office.  It took all of 3 minutes to exchange the stock pentax screen for the split screen on my K10D, although I got a lot of dust particles on it.  Now I need to get one of those air blower things.  I will try out the new screen next week and report back.  So far I noticed blacking out at around f/3.5 and my focus point indicator (red dot) is off-centre.  By the way, I got it from jinfinance on e-bay.

flower macro

IMGP2069

Originally uploaded by z.foto

I took this at Edwards Gardens in Toronto with the K10D, 50mm f/1.7 and Albinar ADG 2X Macro Teleconverter. The image is not super sharp but it was my first time doing macro. I just think of it as dreamy.  There are more shots on my Flickr.

delivery notice

I got a delivery notice on my door yesterday.  I know what it’s for, the focusing screen I ordered from  e-bay 3 weeks ago.  So, I went to my local post office today to pick it up.  Well, it wasn’t there.  They told me to go back later in the day, I was really hoping to play with it this afternoon.  Looks like I’ll have to wait a few more hours.