[Wheatfield]

Oh, the wonderfull stars of the DA15ltd...

Most any lens will do the star burst thing. That's got something to do with the aperture leaves. But he's got something like 12 candles in that scene and no flare at all.
My limited experience with Canon or Nikon says that picture would be a mess from lens flare.

It's a gorgeous picture, BTW.

[philippe]

Most any lens will do the star burst thing. That's got something to do with the aperture leaves. But he's got something like 12 candles in that scene and no flare at all.
My limited experience with Canon or Nikon says that picture would be a mess from lens flare.

It's a gorgeous picture, BTW.

Thanks Wheatfield, 16 candles and one open fire, and perhaps a little to much DA 15 stars, but yes , they liked the picture...

It was a gorgeous castle too, BTW

[Ratmagiclady]

Okay I'll clarify my point, even with Pentax's in body IS you need to have good technique,no? I have seen plenty of examples where people have just let technology to compensate for technique that is just plain sloppy. I can hand hold my Nikon D3s at 1/20th without significant difficulty and still achieve more than acceptable results for 13X19 inch print. Though for serious street work, I use a Leica which is categorically not an option for a photographer of limited income.

Of course you need technique, as mentioned a lot of times In questions of 'which technology is better for this,' ...particularly for the money, and in terms of what's available, SR is *incredibly* useful, particularly compared to bracing against things, which limits your very *point of view,* which is where the photography really happens.

If I can handhold down in the neighborhood of a third-half a second with a 600 dollar camera and any lens I use, that's pretty useful. (that's with a couple-of-generations-ago tech, including high ISO quality,) You're down to subject motion, which is a real concern, of course.

On one hand, the streets haven't gotten particularly darker since film was the only way, but where you've got more practical leeway, the more you can do/get away with. The tech does count, at least to a point. (Past a point, it's not helping you.)

Like I showed in my photo, I do like the fast lens, nice viewfinger, big body thing in film (I find the heft itself very useful for stability,) but that's obviously a massive investment in film bodies that don't have the stabilizing-all-these-little-fast lenses. (I'm always crying out for Pentax to just make a screen *for* fast lenses and MF: it wouldn't be a FF pro body finder, but it'd be darn adequate. There's a better chance of Pentax continuing to increase the other capabilities than Nikon adding in-body SR to those kinds of cameras, or making a full suite of fast primes with the feature.


The K-5 is looking to have sufficient capabilities there: (Past a point, diminishing returns, anyway,) ISO stuff, AF that's not prone to get fooled by strange mixed lighting in lower light, (occasional pain, that, with my K20d, )

With street photography is isn't just about which camera has the best High ISO or which camera has IS or not. If you look at street photography in the 90's people did very well without such things because they learned to use their environment to assist with stabilising themselves when light levels sank. I still use many of the bracing techniques commonly used for cameras without IS and in some cases I simply turn off IS in my K10 or K7. It's takes too long to get it's sh*t together and in street photography a critical moment can pass you by in a fraction of a second.

the reasons why I chose the D3s:
1] the D3s has a HUGE viewfinder it makes details, and facial expression in a scene much clearer.
2] High ISO on the D3s has finely grained noise which at it's highest settings has grain that is reminiscent of Kodak TRi-X in Rodinal.
3] the Noct Nikkor 58mm f/1.2 is a real blast to use on the Nikon D3s, bright viewfinder, manual focusing can be a bit of a pain - but I like a challenge. And it produces nice bokeh, though some people really hate how it renders OOF highlights, I don't care - it's the Noct-Nikkor signature.

All valid, though is it worth, say, five times the price to go to, and *not* have the SR/fast lenses option? (Without maybe, doubtless, spending still more to get it if those fast lenses come from.)

Bummer than MF is a 'challenge,' though, I'd assumed better.
'A bit of a pain,' I can have *that* a lot cheaper, too.



OT:

I always loved the construction of their camera bodies, the lines of the cameras themselves. you don't see that these days, Canon are going all smoothly shaped, Nikon are softening some of the harder edges with curves and Pentax is going for a more angular appearance. Sony are (thankfully) keeping the boxier appearance of the Minolta cameras( I regret never buying a Minolta 7D, I actually really liked that camera) and Leica is sticking to a camera body design that was developed in the 1950s..

The design thing is more fun. My K20d's look has kind of grown on me, but especially with a grip on there, the K-7 came out and I was, 'Now *that's* how a camera's supposed to look. '

As for the Sony's, I liked the A900 for its oddness. (I'm kind of obligated. After all my remarks about general DSLR design, "Eh, just stick like an F3HP finder on there and it'll be OK." Maybe not quite so good, but it *looks* like they did something exactly like that, so I can't dislike it now.
)

[jolepp]

...
(I still want Pentax or someone to make what I call my Ratzeye screen concept: A focusing screen for fast lenses with a meter-not-obstructing ring of microprism focusing aid (Also snappy for fast lenses) around a plain matte center for critical focus and AF confirmation. Then you're *really* cooking. )
...

That sounds like a great idea :-) Would keep spot metering too (and be nostalgic :-)

[eddie1960]

That sounds like a great idea :-) Would keep spot metering too (and be nostalgic :-)

it would be nice, and nostalgic to some degree, but given there are manual lenses still being made/sold (voigtlander, zeiss etc) it makes sense. Of course Pentax no longer makes MF lenses but they certainly use the availabilty of their old product to flog the new, it's be nice if they made it properly usable (and de cripple the bloody mount at the same time)

[Rupert]

I posted in a Nikon Forum recently, regarding SR, and expected to be attacked, but instead found that there was wide agreement that they would love to have SR in their bodies. That should pretty much settle it....at least for my thinking.

Looking ahead to the K5, which I should have in the near future, I am speculating on how much better this would be with the K5 and SR. This shot was taken with my K20D and DA* 50-135 through a Bay Window with the only light being a porch light about 25 feet away. I am sure the K5 would give a much better shot, but I was proud to get this one, and look forward to the K5 and SR!

Handheld 1/10 F2.8 @ 85mm ISO 6400


These little guys come around every night and rob the Squirrel feeders......I hope to get a lot of K5 shots with them in the future.

BTW- Raccoons are like Circus Clowns, and it is just as fun to watch them play in my yard at might as it is to shoot them...they put on some dandy shows...like Bird Bath bathing and Raccoon races....fascinating creatures!

Best Regards!

[eddie1960]

I posted in a Nikon Forum recently, regarding SR, and expected to be attacked, but instead found that there was wide agreement that they would love to have SR in their bodies. That should pretty much settle it....at least for my thinking.

Looking ahead to the K5, which I should have in the near future, I am speculating on how much better this would be with the K5 and SR. This shot was taken with my K20D and DA* 50-135 through a Bay Window with the only light being a porch light about 25 feet away. I am sure the K5 would give a much better shot, but I was proud to get this one, and look forward to the K5 and SR!

Handheld 1/10 F2.8 @ 85mm ISO 6400


These little guys come around every night and rob the Squirrel feeders......I hope to get a lot of K5 shots with them in the future.

BTW- Raccoons are like Circus Clowns, and it is just as fun to watch them play in my yard at might as it is to shoot them...they put on some dandy shows...like Bird Bath bathing and Raccoon races....fascinating creatures!

Best Regards!

nice shot, destructive buggers in my neighbourhood though, I've spent a lot over the years getting them out of my house in winter (one February at 2 am i woke up to one coming through the bedroom dormer roof, when i went outside i saw nothing then this head popped out and threw insulation at me and disappeared again - drove the dog nuts

[jbinpg]

A kid down the street from me had a pet raccoon for a bit when I was growing up. The fact that they are insatiably curious creatures and nocturnal meant that it didn't last long in captivity. It tore apart everything looking for food

[ManuH]

It should be noted that in lens IS is now also available to Pentax through the latest Sigma offerings.

One of the advantage of lens IS is VF stabilization. But that advantage will disappear when the OVF dies in favor of the EVF. Which brings me to an interesting observation: the 3 big electronic giants decided to use in-lens IS in their new mirrorless system. I'm a bit surprised by this choice, especially by Sony which already has patented the technology in their Alpha DSLR line. In fact, only Olympus is sticking to their sensor-shift stabilization in their m4/3 line.

I do hope that Pentax will continue to improve performance of their SR and develop new features like the automatic horizon correction that is unique.

[falconeye]

It should be noted that in lens IS is now also available to Pentax through the latest Sigma offerings.

One of the advantage of lens IS is VF stabilization. But that advantage will disappear when the OVF dies in favor of the EVF. Which brings me to an interesting observation: the 3 big electronic giants decided to use in-lens IS in their new mirrorless system. I'm a bit surprised by this choice, especially by Sony which already has patented the technology in their Alpha DSLR line. In fact, only Olympus is sticking to their sensor-shift stabilization in their m4/3 line.

I do hope that Pentax will continue to improve performance of their SR and develop new features like the automatic horizon correction that is unique.

I believe lens IS with kit lens quality is cheaper than body IS. And can make the body look smaller.

Moreover, Samsung may not possess body IS and lens IS is probably third party together with the lens know how.

[johnmflores]

I don't have a K-5, but I did have a D70, and can share some of my experience switching from Nikon to Pentax....

I too had the D70 + 50/F1.4 combo. The fast lens did help make up for the sensor noise at ISO800 and above. But the challenge then become DOF and keeping the subject in focus. Still, it was a pretty potent combination, and I managed to get some good photos with it

D70, 50mm, 1/80 @ F1.4, ISO800



Still, the newer generation sensors plus Pentax SR has expanded my low-light shooting ability exponentially. With patience and practice I can handhold shots that I could not imagine getting with the D70.

K20d, 70mm (DA70), 1/15 @ F3.2, ISO1600



K-x, 21mm (DA21), 1/15 @ F3.2, ISO3200



So is it worth switching to Pentax for the in-body shake reduction? For me it was, because I could not afford the upgrade to FF Nikon and all of the benefits of the larger sensor. I also did not want the weight and size penalty of moving up the Nikon ladder. And as others have mentioned, Nikon stabilization is only available on a limited number of lenses, none of them the very nice and compact F1.4 that you have.

Look at it this way....if the limit of the D70 was ISO1600, and that was pushing it IMO, the newer sensor in the K-5 and D7000 will probably give you equivalent noise at ISO25600. That's four stops. Add the K-5's IS and that's a 5-6 stop improvement. Nearly night and day.

In the end, the spiritual successor to your D70 50mm F1.4 is a K-5 50mm F1.4.

Best of luck!

[eddie1960]

K-x, 21mm (DA21), 1/15 @ F3.2, ISO3200


Best of luck!

Nice picture of Tommy, never quite the music i expected to hear from one of the original (and only remaining sadly) Ramones. Tommy has been up here a few times recently always a very nice guy (second really only to Joey)

[ManuH]

I believe lens IS with kit lens quality is cheaper than body IS. And can make the body look smaller.

Moreover, Samsung may not possess body IS and lens IS is probably third party together with the lens know how.

Panasonic was the first manufacturer to offer lens IS in *all* their compact line, even the cheapest ones. So I'm not surprised they don't offer sensor IS. The good thing about m4/3 is that Olympus provides that functionality anyway.

Sony probably tried to get the smallest body possible but their kit lens look like a complete mismatch in size. I'm wondering if without lens IS they could make it smaller.

One possible negative for sensor IS on mirrorless cameras is that it may consumes more energy if used in a continuous manner. Noise could be an issue too when recording video.

And as others have mentioned, Nikon stabilization is only available on a limited number of lenses,

Actually if IS is important to someone, Nikon may be the worst system out there. Canon has much more IS lenses available and of course the others have sensor IS.