Photography is about feeling
Last week two things coincided within my photography; I received the new Pentax DFA* 85/1.4 lens and Pentax announced its new APS-C body with a new optical viewfinder.
The Pentax DFA* 85/1.4 lens is an optical masterpiece of the engineers and I have no doubts, this lens will soon score very well in the various test setups of the technical reviews. The new APS-C body includes a newly designed Pentaprism, which is made from so-called "high-refraction" glass for the first time. It is the first time that a manufacturer has used this glass in a camera and it is nice to see that the inventor of the Pentaprism can still make improvements here.
With the further development of the classic pentaprism, Pentax enables us to observe all fine nuances in color, contrast, light and the like in the most optimal way. Much better than a digital viewfinder from a mirrorless system will ever do.
I do not mean to say that digital viewfinders are bad, these viewfinders have the advantage, for example, that you photograph what you see and in theory your exposure is therefore always exactly as you see it in front of you.
The Pentaprism
This type of prism is best known from the viewfinder of SLR cameras. The light from the horizontally lying ground glass is guided through the roof prism to the eyepiece in such a way that the image is viewed upright and upside down. Staying upright (just like on the focusing screen) is achieved by the pentaprism itself, while correcting the left/right swap is taken care of by the roof section.
The camera manufacturer Asahi introduced this roof prism in the 1950s and then went on to use the name “Asahi Pentax” and later “Pentax”, which is derived from the term pentaprism.
Quality is immeasurable
As photographers, we like to convey to our viewers our feelings that we have at the moment of printing. We use our exposure, composition, depth of field and shutter speeds. And when we show our photos, our viewers often react to the indefinable things in our photos; “what a beautiful light”, “beautiful bokeh”, “beautiful colors” and “nice contrast”.
The same things that we as photographers are constantly looking for…
These are just not measurable and they mainly arise from feeling; the feeling we have at the moment we print. The impressions that reach our brain (or heart) via our eye evoke feelings that make us decide whether or not to print.
Perceiving nuances
But Pentax is committed to experiencing photography in its purest form, you see the original light through the optical viewfinder and this enables the photographer to create an image that makes use of all the nuances in the scene. After all, you are presented with an image that is equal to the actual ambiance of your surroundings.
Are these things measurable? No, far from it. But we all know that feeling we have when everything comes together in an image, your heart skips a beat and you know that you have created a perfect image, an image in which you have been able to capture your feeling.
On the road with the Pentax DFA* 85/1.4
In light of the above developments, I started shooting differently with the latest lens from Pentax. I was looking for a location in which light and feeling play an important role. This location became the new one Naturalis Biodiversity Centre. The continuous exhibition is beautifully lit and offers a photographer many opportunities to work with lighting and depth of field.
The Pentax K-1 I shot with also has an optical viewfinder with a whopping 100% coverage; what you see is what you get.
Most pieces in Naturalis are individually lit and stand out nicely against the dark backgrounds, so for a correct exposure you as a photographer have to intervene by, for example, working with spot metering or by underexposing in your multi-surface metering. After a few test images, you quickly have the right settings.
Shooting indoors in a dark environment quickly means that a tripod must be used, but since that is not allowed, the aperture immediately opened to full for me. After all, you have an F1.4 lens in your hand. The first thing that stood out was sharpness, from F1.4 this lens is razor sharp. A pleasure to work with, the certainty that you do not have to worry about the ideal setting over the entire range gives a lot of peace of mind.
The Pentax K-1 and DFA* 85mm
On the K-1, which has a sensor that shows color and contrast nuances well, the 85mm really shows what it is good at. The gradient in sharpness, the colors that also run smoothly in the blur and the lifelike contrast effect ensure a perfect image. As a photographer, you couldn't wish for a better tool to convey your feelings.
This focal length is less suitable for my work as a nature photographer, but if you are a portrait photographer, travel reporter or documentary maker, I would not hesitate for a moment about purchasing this lens; an optical masterpiece.
