Another gratuitous, "I am riding a cool motorycle in the epic American Southwest" photo taken with the Pentax Q

The teeny Pentax Q hangs around my neck when I ride, the lens protected by a vented lens hood. When I find myself staring at something like this, with one hand I am able to turn on the camera and grab a shot. And then I look down and realize that I'm really low on gas.

The 03 Fish-Eye does quite well here. There are situations where it's actually nice to have a large depth of field, and the sharpness and contrast and IQ aren't bad at all, esp after twiddling some Lightroom knobs. Even the flare from the sun is well controlled. Overall I struggle with the lens; I struggle with fish-eyes in general. But I'm quite pleased with this one. It's likely to be one that I submit for possible publication.

This is What Riding in the US Desert Southwest is Like

Big land. Even bigger sky. A horizon that stretches for miles. Mountains in the distance that seem so far away, but eventually you get there and you find yourself riding in a chromatic alien landscape of rock and sandstone and scrub and things that are hard to put into words to tell your friends back home.

This photo taken while astride a Victory Cory Ness Cross Country Tour, a great vantage point from which to take in the scenery. Photo taken with the tiny Pentax Q with the 03 Fish Eye lens. Frankly, I've struggled to come to grips with this lens. But I've struggled with all fish eyes, so I shouldn't be surprised. But I think it works well here. In Lightroom, I used the lens correction for the 01 Prime, as there is no 03 Fish-Eye in their database. It's taken some of the fish out, as well as brightened the edges a smidge. Still, even as "big" this photo seems, the real place is much much bigger. Go.

Glen Canyon National Recreational Area, UT

Taken with the Pentax K-5 with the DA 70mm F2.4 Limited @ 1/350s, f/8.0, ISO80.

Capital Reef National Park

Curiosity didn't have to fly all the way to Mars, Southern Utah would have been far enough.

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Where's moto?

On the road to Escalante

Finally, a camera I can hang around my neck again as I ride. Pentax Q FTW. I've added a small lens hood to the 01 Standard Prime lens to help control flare as well as protect the objective element from being scratched as it is jostled around. On a road like this, there's little risk in taking a shot as you ride, and the Q's Image Stabilisation helps.

The rain's all but done for the day, and the road dries as we make our way to Escalante. It's 35 degrees cooler than it was when we left Arizona, and my raincoat is providing a welcome layer of insulation over my fully-perforated jacket. The Victory Cory Ness Cross Country Tour has heated seats, which is nice, but the custom handgrips have eliminated the heated grips. Oh well, it's not that bad. It's been a pretty epic first day for a boy from back East. I've traveled some of these roads before, but it's always a welcome shock to the senses to come out here, the mythical American Southwest.

Zion National Park with a Victory Cory Ness Cross Country Tour

We were heading towards those nasty clouds, so we knew that we had to take pictures now instead of later. We were right, on the other side of the tunnel it was raining mountain lions and prairie dogs.

The K-01 continues to provide excellent IQ for the $, with RAW files that withstand the pushing and pulling needed to get the balance of this photo just right.

This motorcycle journalism gig isn't all sunshine and rainbows...

Taken with the Pentax Q and 03 Fish Eye

...and this is why I bought the Pentax Q...

Via Flickr:
The rugged construction, small form factor, buit-in intervalometer, and interchangeable lenses is what ultimately swayed me to give the Q a chance. The deeply discounted price sealed the deal...