New (Old) Lenses

Those of you who have followed me for any length of time, know that one of the reasons I like my Pentax is that they made it easy to mess with old manual focus lenses. I was picking up my camera from a local repair shop and spotted an old Vivitar screwmount 28mm f2.5, that I later learned was manufactured by Tokina and sold under the Vivitar name. Needless to say for $15 including tax I was all over that lens, and have been playing with it a bunch. I now have to say that I LOVE this lens! It is sharp wide open and has good colors and contrast. I think it will be a frequently carried street lens on my older body. Oh did I mention that I bought a K-5? Yep. But more on that later once I have gotten to know the camera!

First a few quick shots out my bedroom window, at f8 IIRC, the lens handled nicely, the only problem was it needs +2 of EV to meter correctly in Av mode. Very weird...

Playing at the U of U in a parking garage stairwell I traverse on the days I work there can be fun despite the funny looks I sometimes get as people walk past. These were all shot wide open, my preferred mode of use.

There is a 60-70's furniture store called "The Green Ant" not sure where the ant picture went, but I still like the shots I did get. I can't get over how sharp this lens is wide open.

Back alleys can be fun, especially when the buildings are not straight.

Ah..... abstracts.....

Though the DOF is not super shallow, it can provide some separation from the background.

 This was taken at a local convention center as an exercise in DOF, with a 28mm focal length thin DOF is not going to be a strong point, but the bokeh is not too bad which is nice.

It is impossible for me to like a lens until I have shot a good sunset with it. So it is official. I LIKE it!