[Rupert]

That silver makes me shiver. I waited a bit B4 springing for the K5 just like I did with the K10, K20, and K7. I never had a problem with any of them and was always happy with the improvements. The K5 has shown the most improvement to date and I am astounded with the low light performance and quick focus. I'm now taking shots I wouldn't consider before. I especially enjoy showing my friend (with a D300) some of my work and hearing him begrudgingly admit He'd be hard pressed to do the same.

Glad you are well pleased with your K5, it is truly amazing. There are many great cameras, the D300 being one of them. I almost bought one a year or so ago, but had no place to park the Forklift that came with it.

More True Stories!......We know you are here, let's hear your tale!
Best Regards!

[luftfluss]

My True Story is a sad True Story... I don't have a K-5.

[Rupert]

By golly, that is a sad story.......but I do see you have the K100D, a fine camera and one of the best cameras Pentax has produced. The IQ is among the best of any camera made.

Is a K5 in your future? If so, you will be thrilled with the newer options and excellent high ISO. Still, it would not get you a better Squirrel shot than the one you posted here....it does however have that "S" on the mode dial, just for shooting Squirrels. Makes it so easy..no matter the light or the circumstance, it will adjust for a handsome Squirrel shot all automatically. Even gives you that nice peanut in the viewfinder when you hit the Info Button...to remind you that Squirrels don't pose for free.

Thanks for dropping in here....and for the fine Squirrel shot.....more True Stories are bound to come along.

Otis is asking for naked stories.....I think he is confused by that old TV show "Six Million Stories in the Naked City"...or whatever it was....long ago. He picks it up on late night cable.....and complains every morning that once again there were no naked girls in the program. Maybe a naked model shooter will tell Otis his True Story here? Should spice up the thread.......

Best Regards!

[rfortson]

I'm loving my K5. I had the K20 for 3 years and loved it. Never gave me any problems and it was just a solid camera, so much so that I hesitated on the K5. Then I started seeing the high ISO shots and I was sold. Now, I have auto ISO set at 6400 and never seem to mind. What noise there is cleans up easily and nicely without losing too much detail.

The AF on the K20 was fine, but I never really pushed it too much. Just for kicks, I took the K5 and DA*200 to a "Dock Dogs" competition (dogs jumping into a pool for distance or height). I used AF-C on the center AF point and high speed burst and let the camera do the work. Although I did miss some shots, (mainly because it was hard for me to keep the center AF point on the dogs), I did get a number of shots where the focus was dead-on.

Check out this sequence of the dog running full speed down the 20 foot ramp getting ready to jump:










And here are some dogs in mid-air:






The hardest part for me was keeping the center AF point on the dog. I could've tried the multiple AF points but didn't think about it. In the past, it just seems to get confused, but I'm not sure I've tried it on the K5.

Bottom line, I'm very pleased with my K5 decision and really enjoy the camera.

[RonHendriks1966]

Check out this sequence of the dog running full speed down the 20 foot ramp getting ready to jump:

And here are some dogs in mid-air:

The hardest part for me was keeping the center AF point on the dog. I could've tried the multiple AF points but didn't think about it. In the past, it just seems to get confused, but I'm not sure I've tried it on the K5.

Boy your camera suffors from front focussing

I do love those digital filters:

[luftfluss]

By golly, that is a sad story.......but I do see you have the K100D, a fine camera and one of the best cameras Pentax has produced. The IQ is among the best of any camera made.

Is a K5 in your future? If so, you will be thrilled with the newer options and excellent high ISO. Still, it would not get you a better Squirrel shot than the one you posted here....it does however have that "S" on the mode dial, just for shooting Squirrels. Makes it so easy..no matter the light or the circumstance, it will adjust for a handsome Squirrel shot all automatically. Even gives you that nice peanut in the viewfinder when you hit the Info Button...to remind you that Squirrels don't pose for free.

Thanks for dropping in here....and for the fine Squirrel shot.....more True Stories are bound to come along.

Otis is asking for naked stories.....I think he is confused by that old TV show "Six Million Stories in the Naked City"...or whatever it was....long ago. He picks it up on late night cable.....and complains every morning that once again there were no naked girls in the program. Maybe a naked model shooter will tell Otis his True Story here? Should spice up the thread.......

Best Regards!

Well, look at that... 2 minutes after you posted, a Happy True Story!

While my True Story may be a little sad, I have no reason to feel sorry for myself. I had a wonderful K100D, then a nice K2000, and now a marvelous K-x... I'd say, though, that the Squirrels prefer the K100D!

I bet Otis is a ham no matter what you point at him!!!

Next year will hopefully be the Year of the K-5 for me. It looks to be an outstanding camera. I'll just keep saying my prayers and I'm sure I'll get one.

[Rupert]

You never know...the power of Squirrel prayer is very strong, so I have heard.

I heard Otis preach a strong sermon on prayer a while back....of course it was for exotic nuts and cold beer, but he could probably put you on the list for a K5.....

Best Regards...another nice Squirrel shot you posted!

Pray Otis! Pray! This guy needs a K5!

[rfortson]

Boy your camera suffors from front focussing

I do love those digital filters:

Ha ha! Actually, I did manage to get my camera to front focus a tad in very low light with just one tungsten bulb. With Live View, it didn't do it. I was able to adjust it out with about 4-5 adjustments, but I put it back to zero since I just never run into that situation.

It was kind of like the K20D hot pixel scare. I tried several "formulas" to see if I could see the problem. I never could and then I realized how silly I was trying to make my camera fail.

All my Pentax cameras have operated well within my expectation, or exceeded expectations on many occasions.

[Col]

My True Story is a sad True Story... I don't have a K-5.

Well I can see why, you've been spending too much money on Squirrel feed! That is one big MFS.

[Rupert]

Col....nothing personal here, and I know you meant well, but Squirrels prefer not to be called "Big" or "Fat" or "Large"........if you must refer to their size, they prefer "Full Figured".

Here is a Full Figured Mama Festus.......lovely isn't she!



"Healthy" is another word that they find acceptable.....




Best Regards!



Next True K5 Story? Please!

[John Cafarella]

My story is that since forever, I've liked taking photos inside and in darkish places without the disruption flash causes.

In the film days I would always be submitting films for development with little notes attached: Please note: this film exposed at ASA1600, please process accordingly

For me, the amount of noise in a shot is very much secondary to capturing a special expression on a face, or that scissor leg jump the guitarist in the band just did, etc.

That doesn't mean that there's no noise in my shots, it just means that the noise that IS there doesn't interfere with the picture.

When the K5 came along, pretty much any concern I had for noise just went away, I had enough "noise headroom" to allow me to bump shutter speeds to what I wouldn't have even considered, which bumped up my keeper rate.

The flip side of the same coin is how much you can lift shadows without penalty when shooting at ISO 80 outside. Shots that would be impossible without blowing highlights can be achieved without bracketing by deliberately underexposing a couple of stops and lifting shadows in pp.

Just a little caution on that though, watch out for PF, it can get a bit out of hand of you go too far.

Out of all the K series DSLRs I've had the K5 is the one that has changed my expectations and shooting methods, and upped my % of keepers the most.

[Rupert]

John, you are exactly right in my view. Noise will not ruin a great capture as long as it is "in control". Most low noise will not show in a print anyhow.

Last evening after the sun went down, I stepped out on my deck and in the low light shot a few Squirrels.....Squirrels move around, and even when still their little mouths are always moving.....eating constantly....the K5 lets you get some speed, the main ingredient in getting a low light shot where there is movement.

The speed in low light......that is where the K5 shines! IQ is good but not better than my K20d in most cases, but that low light speed is what makes the K5 a Game Changer.

1/200 F6.7 @500mm ISO 4,000 The noise here would clean up with a simple click.......and the handsome Squirrel was frozen by the speed.
[IMG] [/IMG]

There are a ton of other features to love about the K5, but speed and low light shooting are at the top of my list.

Best Regards & Thanks for your True Story!

Next......!!!

[woof]

My true story seems likely to come through in pieces. I have previously said that I loved my K10D and failed several times to replace it with a K20D. It is now relatively certain that the K10D is going to be relegated to a backup camera and a training camera for my son.

This is all the more so after a walk on Friday. In the past year I have begun to shoot architecture. Typically, in ideal situations I prefer to shoot at ISO 100 on a tripod. But sometimes this simply is not practical. Specifically, at the university I shoot at, pulling out a tripod indoors tends attract the attention of security in the public spaces. I cannot really say that I blame them, and I hope this does not turn into an opportunity for a rant for someone. To that end, my choice is to not use a tripod and shoot as best I can hand-held. Among other things, I get to practice my technique for those situations where I need to hand-hold.

In addition to shooting on a tripod, I often use exposure blending and HDRI to achieve certain effects. This is especially necessary in certain interiors... examples follow. There are a large number of opportunities that would otherwise simply not be possible. Given that any version of in-camera HDRI is really crap, I need to shoot a minimum of 3 shots, at 1.7 to 2 stops apart.

I also hope I do not start an HDRI rant. I try very hard to make my HDRI reflect reality to a great extent. I am not a fan of "post-apocalyptic sur-reality." So let's stay off that too if we can...

The K-5 makes indoor, hand-held HDRI possible. Firstly, I can take photos at ISO 3200 and they simply look... fine. And secondly, the fps are fast enough that I can accurately line up the shots in post even if I am shaking a little.

10mm, 3 exposures, median exposure at F/9.0, 1/30th @ISO 3200, hand held.



8mm, 3 exposures, median exposure at F/9.0, 1/4th @ISO 3200, hand held. Perspective corrected and scaled in PTLens.



Additional observations include that in mixed lighting the auto WB setting are pretty good and only mild color correction is needed. It tends towards the warm I think as opposed to the cool and I have found it easier to correct towards cool in this situation. So once again... great latitude. The colors themselves are sumptuous and very appealing. I like them very much.

The user settings? Thank you. Thanks you, thank you, thank you. I have an HRDI Tripod (5 shots) and Hand Held (3 shots) not to mention other setting such as theater (museum) mode, etc.

I'll add more as I come across it. For now, I have definitely found a camera with which I can and will grow. Wonderful...

woof!

[Rupert]

Yes, it is a camera that can grow with you.....or you can grow with it. Those shots look great, not overdone at all to my eyes.

More True Stories....please...and another request from Otis.......he seems to think there must be some out there with Naked True Stories. I keep telling him this is not about naked...but he keeps asking. Ed in Georgia......does he shoot with the K5? Whatever....I just want to hear more stories, you can skip the naked part, but a Squirrel shot is always welcome!

Best Regards!


Russ...Loved your Doggie action shots!

[melvis2]

Don't let them boys drool on the computer screen!! ENJOY!