Originally posted by popellis Don't get me wrong I believe my skills are more of the problem than the gear. But I have to believe that as gear evolves it should be getting easier to use just like any other tool. I usually shoot in jpeg, I would like to use photo's out of the camera versus spending so much time processing images. Is this possible?
Again please do not be to hard on me. I have not had any photographic training
Thanks in advanced for your advise.
Mark
Here's my two duckets worth:
I started photography back in the early 80s or late 70s (fuzzy memory) with my Dad's fully manual Minolta. It was easy, you told the camera the ISO of your film, then chose shutter speed based on activity you were shooting then adjusted the aperture to get a good exposure. Or vice versa, you adjusted the shutter speed to match exposure with your set aperture - and if you were smart you deliberately over and underexposed a bit. This is called bracketing.
It all comes down to exposure. If you don't nail that fairly closely, your images won't "pop."
Bear in mind this all comes with compromises - an overcast day won't give you great contrast. Indoor concerts or events are pretty tricky.
Your K5 is more than enough machine for any of these tasks. I prefer using TAv for most shooting - with center-metering. Pick a good aperture, stopped down for sharpness in most cases, then adjust your shutter speed to keep your ISO in a comfortable range. Outdoors in full sun you might be shooting f8 or f11 with the DA55-300 at 1/750sec or faster to keep an ISO under 200. (In this case you don't need the shake reduction.) If overcast that shutter speed is going to drop to 1/250 - if you're shooting action you'll need to let that ISO float up higher to keep 1/350 or faster.
People indicating post-processing is required is right. Your camera is only so smart, and you're going to do some cropping to isolate or re-compose your image, and adjust your exposure - remember that bracketing, now we can do it in post. I prefer colors neutral in the camera's jpg if I use it, I find the oversaturation doesn't look real and can cause problems with the red channel. So if I need to make the colors pop out a bit more, I do it in post-processing. Frequently a little adjustment to contrast is all it takes, or bumping the black channel. Most of the time I'm using the RAW images and processing in Lightroom.
You'll want to do some focus checks with the lens, too. That should be obvious - if you take close images you'll figure out whether you're hitting your mark.
To be certain there's a lot to learn, but start with the basics. It all goes back to the basics, just like in sports or anything else.