Quote from James Warner on April 8, 2021, 3:30 pm

Quote from Guest on April 7, 2021, 3:32 am

I use the SMC Pentax-M 28mm f2.8 lens for astrophotography. Back in my film days with a K-1000, it was my widest lens and I used it for Milky Way and constellation shots. Today on APS-C (K-3II), I still use it for Milky Way and constellation shots, despite the narrower field of view. To cover a wider swath of the Milky Way, I have done mosaics such as this one: https://www.astrobin.com/1b4518/. Astrotracer makes doing such mosaics really easy. And some constellations fit well in its field of view: https://www.astrobin.com/1tw1q6/B/

FANTASTIC. I just spent a few minutes going through your astrobin. Those examples with the 28mm really show what a skilled photographer can do. I saw that you stopped down to f/4. I might have to try that. I don't get out to dark skies very often though. The next time I go out I am going to try and use my da*300mm. I have seen people do great work with it. Previously I have used my 135mm f2 samyang with great success. The only thing holding me back there is still learning the stacking and editing process, not the gear 😉

 

Thanks for sharing.

Quote from agentlossing on April 8, 2021, 11:52 pm

I bought this lens on a whim a few months ago, and didn't really use it very much. I thought I'd really like the effective focal length on my KP, but realized when I used it that you just don't get the same experience focusing a manual focus lens made for film on a DSLR without a film-era focusing screen. I could always get my focus screen replaced. But I'm about ready to list this lens, I think it and I just aren't meant to be.

Quote from Guest on April 9, 2021, 1:42 am

Quote from agentlossing on April 8, 2021, 11:52 pm

I bought this lens on a whim a few months ago, and didn't really use it very much. I thought I'd really like the effective focal length on my KP, but realized when I used it that you just don't get the same experience focusing a manual focus lens made for film on a DSLR without a film-era focusing screen. I could always get my focus screen replaced. But I'm about ready to list this lens, I think it and I just aren't meant to be.

Sure, it's not the same experience. But even with a manual focus lenses, the camera will show in the viewfinder (and tell you with a beep if you have that turned on) when you have hit focus, at least in the center where a film camera's split-image spot is located. So, at least, you can still get good focus.

In the end, using a digital camera will never feel like using a film camera. They are just too different.

Quote from Guest on April 9, 2021, 1:55 am

Quote from Snappy on April 8, 2021, 3:30 pm

Quote from Guest on April 7, 2021, 3:32 am

I use the SMC Pentax-M 28mm f2.8 lens for astrophotography. Back in my film days with a K-1000, it was my widest lens and I used it for Milky Way and constellation shots. Today on APS-C (K-3II), I still use it for Milky Way and constellation shots, despite the narrower field of view. To cover a wider swath of the Milky Way, I have done mosaics such as this one: https://www.astrobin.com/1b4518/. Astrotracer makes doing such mosaics really easy. And some constellations fit well in its field of view: https://www.astrobin.com/1tw1q6/B/

FANTASTIC. I just spent a few minutes going through your astrobin. Those examples with the 28mm really show what a skilled photographer can do. I saw that you stopped down to f/4. I might have to try that. I don't get out to dark skies very often though. The next time I go out I am going to try and use my da*300mm. I have seen people do great work with it. Previously I have used my 135mm f2 samyang with great success. The only thing holding me back there is still learning the stacking and editing process, not the gear

 

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks.

Yes, stopping down is necessary with all my vintage lenses when I use them for astrophotography. But luckily, Astrotracer means I don't really need faster lenses. (Which I really can't afford right now.)

Re processing, I'm still on the learning curve myself. My current process requires that I jump between several different programs. As an alternative, I am learning Affinity Photo. The latest version does astro-stacking so it is my hope that I can stay in it for almost everything.

Quote from James Warner on April 9, 2021, 2:14 pm

Quote from Guest on April 9, 2021, 1:55 am

Quote from Snappy on April 8, 2021, 3:30 pm

Quote from Guest on April 7, 2021, 3:32 am

I use the SMC Pentax-M 28mm f2.8 lens for astrophotography. Back in my film days with a K-1000, it was my widest lens and I used it for Milky Way and constellation shots. Today on APS-C (K-3II), I still use it for Milky Way and constellation shots, despite the narrower field of view. To cover a wider swath of the Milky Way, I have done mosaics such as this one: https://www.astrobin.com/1b4518/. Astrotracer makes doing such mosaics really easy. And some constellations fit well in its field of view: https://www.astrobin.com/1tw1q6/B/

FANTASTIC. I just spent a few minutes going through your astrobin. Those examples with the 28mm really show what a skilled photographer can do. I saw that you stopped down to f/4. I might have to try that. I don't get out to dark skies very often though. The next time I go out I am going to try and use my da*300mm. I have seen people do great work with it. Previously I have used my 135mm f2 samyang with great success. The only thing holding me back there is still learning the stacking and editing process, not the gear

 

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks.

Yes, stopping down is necessary with all my vintage lenses when I use them for astrophotography. But luckily, Astrotracer means I don't really need faster lenses. (Which I really can't afford right now.)

Re processing, I'm still on the learning curve myself. My current process requires that I jump between several different programs. As an alternative, I am learning Affinity Photo. The latest version does astro-stacking so it is my hope that I can stay in it for almost everything.

That's fantastic. I didn't know that. Right now I'm using DSS and then gimp (now photoshop, caved in and starting paying for it). I played with a trial of another piece of software someone recommended... A fancy stretcher. It worked really well and did what I was doing in gimp in less steps and time. But it's like $100.

Quote from Guest on April 10, 2021, 3:50 am

Quote from Snappy on April 9, 2021, 2:14 pm

Quote from Guest on April 9, 2021, 1:55 am

Quote from Snappy on April 8, 2021, 3:30 pm

Quote from Guest on April 7, 2021, 3:32 am

I use the SMC Pentax-M 28mm f2.8 lens for astrophotography. Back in my film days with a K-1000, it was my widest lens and I used it for Milky Way and constellation shots. Today on APS-C (K-3II), I still use it for Milky Way and constellation shots, despite the narrower field of view. To cover a wider swath of the Milky Way, I have done mosaics such as this one: https://www.astrobin.com/1b4518/. Astrotracer makes doing such mosaics really easy. And some constellations fit well in its field of view: https://www.astrobin.com/1tw1q6/B/

FANTASTIC. I just spent a few minutes going through your astrobin. Those examples with the 28mm really show what a skilled photographer can do. I saw that you stopped down to f/4. I might have to try that. I don't get out to dark skies very often though. The next time I go out I am going to try and use my da*300mm. I have seen people do great work with it. Previously I have used my 135mm f2 samyang with great success. The only thing holding me back there is still learning the stacking and editing process, not the gear

 

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks.

Yes, stopping down is necessary with all my vintage lenses when I use them for astrophotography. But luckily, Astrotracer means I don't really need faster lenses. (Which I really can't afford right now.)

Re processing, I'm still on the learning curve myself. My current process requires that I jump between several different programs. As an alternative, I am learning Affinity Photo. The latest version does astro-stacking so it is my hope that I can stay in it for almost everything.

That's fantastic. I didn't know that. Right now I'm using DSS and then gimp (now photoshop, caved in and starting paying for it). I played with a trial of another piece of software someone recommended... A fancy stretcher. It worked really well and did what I was doing in gimp in less steps and time. But it's like $100.

Affinity Photo is really inexpensive. Normally $50 it was half price when I bought it only a month or so ago. It probably still is half price because that was supposedly "pandemic pricing" and last I checked that's still a thing. (Understatement of the year.)

Serif were and likely still are running a 90-day free trial. I ran the trial and bought the software after two days. I really couldn't believe everything it can do for the price of a week's worth of coffees (really fancy coffees, mind you). GIMP does a lot but not quite that much. I'm not a PS user so I don't know how it compares to that but reviewers who use both claim it gets most of the way there. And it can run many (but apparently not all) PS plugins and can load and save PSD files.

Product specialist James Ritson does most of the online video tutorials (there are many). He is also an astrophotographer, which might be one reason the newest version has features specifically for that. Plus, James has released a pack of macros (like PS actions) as donationware that provide even more functions for processing astrophotos, as well as other macros for more general use. See  https://www.jamesritson.co.uk/resources.html

Quote from agentlossing on May 31, 2022, 9:11 pm

I am back to this thread with my second copy of this lens, heheh. For whatever reason my first didn't do well on the KP (I think mainly just because the APS-C crop magnifies any manual focus inconsistencies plus whatever optical flaws, or "character" the lens possesses. But with the advent of Pentax full frame in my arsenal, I spend another thirty-odd bucks to reacquire one, to go with my M 50mm 1.7!