Durham Lumiere

Durham Lumiere or Festival of Light is in operation over this weekend., with various displays throughout the city. Probably the most impressive is the "Crown of Light" a son et lumière display at the cathedral, but there's plenty else to see.

Building the cathedral

Lindisfarne Gospels

Elephantastic on Elvet Bridge

Sony NEX 6 Sigma 19mm f2.8 and Zuiko 50mm f1.8 

Sony 55-210 Versus Pentax 75-150 and 200

Pentax 75-150 mm M f4 versus Sony 55-210 at f8

Right

Centre

Top left

Pentax 200 mm M f4  versus Sony 55-210 

Centre 

Top left 

Top right

The Pentax lenses are sharper in the corners and don't suffer from a warm colour cast, but the Sony provides a similar level of sharpness in the centre of the frame and is less prone to chromatic aberration.

The file sizes of the JPGs produced by PS from TIFFs resulting from a Lightroom raw conversion are as follows: -

150 mm

Pentax 75-150  13913

Sony 55-210     13179

200 mm

Pentax 200     12721

Sony 55-210  12037

Suggesting that both Pentax lenses are collecting more data.        

Edit - since writing this I have discovered that my Pentax 200 mm f4 lens is not focusing to infinity. Once I get this sorted I'll do another comparison. 16-8-2015

Pentax K 28mm f3.5 on NEX 6

 I've been intending to carry out a formal test of the Pentax 28mm f3.5 K lens for some while, with the camera on a tripod, and looking at several shots at each aperture etc. Well that hasn't happened, I've been too busy trying to take snaps that will sell.

In the meantime here's a shot taken in Keswick at the weekend. Camera handheld, probably f8 and the image straightened a bit in PS, so not really ideal

Actual pixel crops top left and bottom right.

There is just a smidgen of CA on the top left crop, but it's hardly noticeable, and, given the position of the crops within the frame, pretty sharp; certainly sharp enough for what I need. Not bad for a lens that cost me around £25!

Click for a bigger image, both of these are reduced quality JPGs, but fit for purpose methinks. The crops have default Lightroom sharpening applied in raw conversion, but have not been sharpened in PS.

Sony NEX 6 Pentax K 28mm f3.5

Autumn Colours Durham

Cathedral 

Prebends Bridge

The autumn colours are not quite there as yet, but I suspect that we may lose the leaves before they show at their very best.

NEX 6 Sigma 19mm f2.8 

Fishing Boat Entering Blyth Harbour

Cold but crisp yesterday in Northumberland as a fishing boat motors past the lighthouse at the entry to Blyth harbour.

NEX 6 Sony 55-210 mm