Born in Kyoto, Takeshi Hanatani studied photography by himself, before moving to Canada in 1998. After crossing the country from the west coast to the east coast by car, he lived in the Canadian Rockies, where he became fascinated with bears. His photographic destinations gradually moved north, to places such as Alaska and the northernmost regions of Canada. After becoming a permanent resident of Canada in 2007, he settled down in White Horse in Yukon Territory.
Hanatani has always been searching for a way in which people can live in harmony with other creatures as a part of nature, rather than as an adversary. He continues to pursue his interest in wildlife, capturing images in the harsh, natural environment of the northernmost territories.
This lens is often praised by PENTAX users worldwide as the best lens in PENTAX’s history, along with the smc PENTAX-FA 77mm Limited. After I started using it with the PENTAX K-5 II, I was truly impressed by its enormous imaging power, something you can’t understand just by referring to specifications or numeral values. It produces extremely sharp, clear images. At larger apertures, it creates a moderate bokeh (defocus) effect, while retaining fine details in in-focus areas. At smaller apertures, it delivers well-defined images of distant scenery. When taking pictures with this lens, I often feel that I’m preserving important memories, rather than just recording images.
Since I specialize in wildlife photography, I originally planned to use APS-C-format cameras only. Because I wanted to try this lens at its original angle of view, however, I decided to add a PENTAX K-1 camera body to my camera equipment. In a sense, it might be a challenging lens for me, but I always bring it with me even when I have a standard lens in my camera bag. It’s because I know that I will regret it later if I haven’t brought it along as a backup for critical situations. I’m in complete agreement with fellow photographers that this is a must-have lens for very PENTAX user.
