My yearly photo day at “La Rouge” river.
For some years now i like to go shooting photos along the ” La Rouge” river in Grenville sur-La-Rouge, there is a dirt road that runs along the river that offers beautiful point of views. My favorite time of the year to go is autumn not just because of the beautiful colors of the trees but also because there is often fog early in the morning. So this year is a great year for formation of fog, we have sunny warm days and colder nights without clouds, so i was able to easily plan my visit there.
I was up early so i could be there just before sunrise, it’s about 1h15 minutes drive from my home, it paid off, there was fog in the lower valleys and on the river !
Here is the sunrise i was granted from my early drive, i did use a Graduated ND filter, wish i had a stronger one.
Pentax K-01 with DA*50-135mm, tripod.
I finally got on the dirt road and was happy to see lots of thick fog over the river which gave me more time to shoot before the sun was able to evaporate all that fog.
I zoomed to about 250mm to get that perspective of the fog over the river.
Canon T3i with 70-300mm IS, Tripod.
Island on the river in the morning sun.
Canon T3i with 70-300mm IS, Tripod.
The opposite banks of the river also getting some warm morning light.
Canon T3i with 70-300mm IS, Tripod.
I used a long enough shutter speed to show movement of the fog.
Canon T3i with 15-85mm IS, 1/2 sec. at f/11, Tripod.
I was near the end of the dirt road and the sun was getting higher in the sky and the fog was nearly all gone by now. I suddenly saw this field on my right with steam coming out of those hay bales, i stopped immediately and ran with my gear in the field!
Pentax K-01 with DA*50-135, Tripod.
I tried different lenses and point of view, here i used my 15-85mm at the 20mm setting and used the built-in flash to get some fill-in light in the shadow part of the bale.
Canon T3i with 15-85mm IS, Tripod.
I like the B&W conversion of that shot better than the color one.
Canon T3i with 70-300mm IS, Tripod.
It’s always a joy to shoot photos along that river and i get different opportunities each time i go there, it’s also a good place to see Deer and Turkey Vultures but this i didn’t saw any close enough for my lens. Well maybe next year !
Pentax DFA 100mm/2.8 Macro WR, how it performs in the wild !
I take a lot of close-up and Macro photos in bad weather because it gives a different feeling to the photos but it can be tricky to protect your gear when it’s raining. So when Pentax announced that lens i bought it as soon as it was available… i knew it would be a great lens for a nature photographer !
The DFA 100 Macro WR in it’s natural habitat during a rainy morning.
After 2 years with that lens i decided to share my experience of how it performs in the field. Over the years i have used and owned several Macro lenses, presently i have a kit of 3 Macro lenses:
– Pentax DA 35mm/2.8 Macro Limited
– SMC Macro-Takumar 50mm/4
– Pentax DFA 100mm/2.8 Macro WR
Each have their use and reason to be in my camera bag, when i don’t have enough space to back-up or want a “wider” Macro lens i use the DA35mm Macro Ltd or the Takumar 50mm/4. The DFA 100mm WR is useful when i need more distance from my subjects like insects and frogs or if i want to isolate the subject to eliminate a distracting background. So for me the 100mm Macro is the one that reach for in general when i need a macro lens since it’s the most versatile of the 3.
I use the DFA 100mm Macro WR most of the time on a solid tripod to get as much details as possible in my photos but when i need a view from the ground i use it handheld on my K20D. Since it’s not too big it balances quite well and with the help of shake reduction (SR) i can get sharp photos with a relatively slow shutter speed.
The image quality is a big point when you buy a lens and a Macro lens should deliver excellent photos at most F-stop and this one certainly can, i use it from f/2.8 to f/16 regularly with confidence and if i need more DOF i stop it down to around f/20 and the photos are still good.
When i got it i was a little concerned about the distances scale window that is open without any glass or plastic to stop water… but after over 2 years of hard use in the field in bad weather (rain, freezing rain, snow and around muddy pond shore looking for frogs), the WR seals never failed and i have no fear of using that lens in the same conditions as my DA*50-135.
The lens hood is attached to the body of the lens, the lens extends inside the lens hood as you focus closer and i think it’s a good thing since it offers more protection from the rain on that part of the lens. When you’re at the minimum focusing distance the hood doesn’t protect much the front of the lens from the sun rays and the rain. I’ve never had problem with flare but had some rain on the front lens elements on some occasions but easily cleaned in the field. Pentax probably made that compromise because they know how good is their SP and SMC coatings are ?
The focusing ring is large enough (i would have liked a little larger) and have a good feeling so it’s easy to obtain exact focus and with 8 rounded aperture blades the bokeh is more pleasing and so far the lens delivers beautiful background. The lens also delivers great colors and contrast so even when shooting in RAW the post processing is minimal.
Here is an example of the “bokeh”, taken at the minimum focusing distance of the lens at f/6.3.
The DFA 100mm Macro WR is also very good for taking photos at normal distances, the resulting photos are as good as when used at the Macro settings. I don’t use it often outside close-up and macro but i know that it will give me great results as well.
Old garage taken with the DFA 100 WR at around f/11.
Some last points about that lens:
Some photographer will miss that there is no focus limiter on that lens but for me it’s not a big deal since i don’t use AF very often, and if i need it, the lens have quick shift focus. Another thing is that the lens hood is made of plastic, since the lens is made of metal i would have liked a metal lens hood… sure it would look like a Limited lens with it !
I prefer to use metal built lenses because they feel so good and the built quality is a plus when you use your lenses a lot in bad weather and they can be knocked, sure plastic lenses can also be very tough and durable but those metal one or just pure joy. There is something that is not fun about metal lenses, in winter they are colder than a plastic lens and you can froze your fingers faster when using it, so be careful.
I certainly hope Pentax will update the DFA 50mm Macro to be like the DFA 100mm Macro WR and maybe do a longer lens like a 150mm or a 200mm. If you need a great Macro lens that will give you superb photos and can take abuse and never let you down in bad weather… the DFA 100mm Macro WR is for you.
Some photos taken with that lens for you to enjoy .
ISO 500, 1/15sec. at f/11.
ISO 800, 1/4 sec at f/16.
ISO 100, 0.5 sec. at f/16.
steevemarcoux2 