Pentacon 300mm f4 on Pentax K-10D

Oldhand · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 7:54 am Post subject: Pentacon 300mm f4 on Pentax K-10D

The grandkids have gone home for a few days and I had some time to myself this afternoon.
Took the Pentacon 4/300 for a little walk on the K-10D.
Here are some back yard images.
OH

miran · Joined: 01 Aug 2012 Posts: 1364 Location: Slovenia

Beautiful light. I love them all. Smile

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

Yes, I like them as well. Looked at the pictures again and they are very good, detail shots from a big lens have to be sharp - these are sharp.

Igor · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 9:39 pm Post subject:

#2,3 and the last one are amazingly beautiful ! great job, OH !

Oldhand · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 9:52 pm Post subject:

Thanks everyone.
A strong tripod helps a lot as this is a very heavy lens.
I have often read of Pentacon being not as good as its Meyer predecessors, but this lens is very good indeed.
It renders OOF areas very nicely.
Cheers
OH

Oldhand · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 7:54 am Post subject:

Lousy lighting but another from today.
OH

Gerald · Joined: 25 Mar 2014 Posts: 1196 Location: Brazil

I once almost bought a CZJ 300mm F4 lens, which has weight and size similar to the Pentacon 300mm F4. I was always curious if these lenses can be used handheld, or just on a tripod.

Oldhand · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 10:17 pm Post subject:

Gerald · Joined: 25 Mar 2014 Posts: 1196 Location: Brazil

Thanks for the reply, OH. Very Happy

I think it is hard enough to handhandle a lens that weighs 2kg and has a narrow viewing angle, but perhaps the most difficult is to frame and focus accurately (the focus in your pictures are spot on!) This is where an autofocus lens has the advantage (oops, I should not say this here Laughing

). Moreover, if the subject is dynamic as in pictures of sport, the difficulty becomes almost insurmountable. Nonetheless, in the past many photographers became masters in the art of handling heavy manual-focus telephoto lenses.

As we are at the time of the World Cup, I recalled of a famous photograph taken in 1974 by Domício Pinheiro, a Brazilian photographer who won a national prize because that photo. Pinheiro told that the game was about to finish and he had only one frame left, so he decided he would take a picture of Mirandinha. By a stroke of luck, when Mirandinha kicked the ball, Pinheiro pressed the trigger and captured the exact moment that Mirandinha broke his leg.

I saw this picture full size in a photography exhibition, and I was very impressed by the focus accuracy. Probably Pinheiro was using a manual-focus 400mm lens on a camera without a motor drive. Pinheiro was the only photographer who captured the sad event with Mirandinha.