Not Watered Down

Pentax hit a home run with the K series. I am lucky enough to have at least one copy of each -- K1000, KM, KX, and K2. The K2, the highest-end is a very easy-to-use camera with an interesting, non-intuitive, but clever interface. Pentax engineers, when they want, demonstrate that they can provide clever new approaches to camera design. The K2 and MZ-S (especially) exhibit Pentax design innovations.

Without intending to, I managed to capture a roll almost exclusively full of water shots on this outing. Let's take a look.


1/500th, f4. Some of San Francisco's finest outside AT&T Park. Technically not a water shot.


1/125th, f11.


1/1,000th, f2. I took this shot to see if this copy of the Pentax-M f2 exhibits swirling bokeh like my first copy of this lens. It does not. Interesting.

Now the rest of the shots will have water features. I wanted to get the non-water shots taken care of first.


1/8th, f2. Hand-held. Oh yes. Hand-held. The K2 has a fairly light shutter movement for a camera its age, so longer exposures hand-held are possible, given proper conditions.


1/15th, f2, also hand-held.

San Francisco, for a city that never experiences winter, has very few fountains. This is one of them. I can think of maybe five or six in the whole city, that I know of. It would be nice to have more, especially one like Chicago's Buckingham Fountain, but I think here the homeless people would just use them as showers.


1.15th, f8. A bit contrasty. By this point in my walk earlier clouds had begun to break and the light had become a bit harsh for Ilford PanF 50.


1/15th, f4. A good puddle is worth defending.


1/4. f22


1/8th, f16