Up Close & Wide … DA 10-17 Fisheye

I just love close focusing lenses, and in the Pentax lens lineup, there are actually quite a few lenses that possessed this capability. The P-DA 18-55m for one focuses closer than the DA 16-45, while the DA14 can focus almost as close as the D-FA 50mm f/2.8 macro. Nevertheless, there’s one that really amazes me…the DA 10-17 Fisheye!

I don’t own the D-FA 50mm f/2.8 macro because I don’t do copy work and 1:1 scale ratio is not my priority. While it can literally ‘zoom’ into a subject up close, I would prefer to frame my shot to relate the subject to the background. I have seen many prime examples of Sigma 30mm f/1.4 for close up work, especially for food photography. The DA14 (with 90º angle of view) does an equally good (if not better) job, but how about focusing almost 1cm away, at 100º angle of view?

At the longest end of 17mm, the DA 10-17 Fisheye gives you just that. So, what does 100º angle of view do for me? Here goes:

Having the versatility of 10mm to 17mm (zoom range), provides me the flexibility to use it differently,. As you notice, at 17mm I can get away with almost imperceivable barrel distortion. It’s there, but if I compose it correctly, you can’t really see it. When I compose the two shots above, I am very very near to the yellow screwdriver and the lamp.

Using it at 10mm, I have to be careful not to accidentally include my feet in the frame…because it’s a full 180º view! At a wide open aperture of f/3.5, it’s sharp enough, but the real sharpness comes at about f/5.6, which you can fixed it all the way from 10mm to 17mm. Depth of field can be insufficient though if you are using it as a super duper close up lens, hence f/8.0 is a viable choice as long as your shutter speed is fast enough to avoid camera shake. Then again, on K10D and K100D, Shake Reduction works for you!

The DA10-17 helps me to think out of the box, for an otherwise boring shot. It’s highly recommended to have one for every Pentax DSLR owner! Price wise, you’ll be surprised to find that it cost lower than the Tokina version! ‘Nough said.