Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
02-07-2012, 09:00 AM   #31
New Member




Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 8
I would just echo the thoughts of others, I'm a big time newbie (4 months experience with my K-r) and when you first pick it up with no understanding of shutter speed, exposure ISO etc, lenses, it's frustrating when you see flat lifeless, dull images.... but i knew immediately that was on me, read up on my camera, and experimented.

For E.G I just pointed and clicked this plant in my front room



clearly the settings aren't right for this environment it's flat and lifeless, it's underexposed.

but with the right settings i took this outside with some lovely contrast and detail, rich colours.



02-07-2012, 09:05 AM   #32
Veteran Member
loco's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Virginia
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 2,846
I would like to second the Understanding Exposure book recommendation. It's fantastic and Peterson presents the info in a very easy to understand way. It was invaluable to me when I was first starting out. Which was just a year ago.

The K-r is a fantastic camera and if you stick with it and develop some patience (I know it's hard), you will likely be rewarded soon. I remember the first time I got an image I was actually proud of. It felt great! It really motivated me to press on and learn and experiment. All you need is one to show you what the camera and you are capable of, and you'll get it if you persevere.
02-07-2012, 09:11 AM   #33
Veteran Member
JinDesu's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: New York City
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 5,638
QuoteOriginally posted by ducdao Quote
The issue here is definitely the photographer, not the camera.

Lens is also not the culprit, you can see stunning pictures taken with a very modest K100D and the kit lens. Check the thread on the kit lens. Of course, better lens helped but not the primary cause.

I don't want to be harsh but I (and majority of us here) can produce better pictures with my 6-year old point and shoot camera.

I suggest the OP to at least read the manual of instructions of the K-r and and the basics of photography.

The K-r is an excellent entry DSLR camera.
Well I'd like to put a caveat - a cruddy lens can take a great picture, but a good lens can make taking a great picture easier. The kit lens is great - better than Canon and Nikon's versions. However, I know that in low light it's soft (soft wide open), it's weaker on the wide end, it lacks contrast when dealing with certain lighting situations (winter, especially, but most lenses suck when shooting snow), and it renders oddly during sunset and sunrise. However, the photographer should find these things out by taking pictures and testing and practicing! Practice on stationary subjects (flowers are nice), and you'll get a better sense of what to do when you take pictures of moving subjects (birds, kids, hippos).
02-07-2012, 11:07 AM   #34
New Member




Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 2
karlito in my eyes you got a problem with white balance, or get a gray card and set up WB manual or try to play with settings. did you took those pictures with flash?

Have you got image stabliisation ON? it's good idea to play with noice reducation settings too.

02-07-2012, 02:06 PM   #35
Pentaxian




Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Nevada
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 2,936
It happened to snow here last night and today is a grey, overcast day so I went out and found some coots. I suspect that at least part of the problem is not focusing issues, but motion blur. You're likely just using too low a shutter speed. I managed to get blurred images this morning by decreasing the shutter speed too low.

I


This shot was taken using the pop-up flash to fill in.

The above images were taken this morning using the DAL 50-200 kit lens.

The K-r with kit lenses will take fine images even in low no light conditions.




These were taken with the DAL 18-55 kit lens. As has been mentioned, some books on proper exposure will help tremendously. Another option could be a photography course at a community college. They're usually inexpensive and you have an instructor who can look at your images, identify the problem, and suggest corrections.

The puffer fish in my previous post were in a local sporting goods store. I don't know what kind they are. I had just got the K-r and was trying it out.
02-07-2012, 04:51 PM   #36
Senior Member




Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: California
Posts: 190
Books and courses are fine, but there is so much on the internet available. Combine written tutorials with videos,
and it should be quite easy to come to terms with photographic concepts. Considering the ease with which one can
go out and take a few snaps at various apertures, shutter speeds & ISO's, upload them to a computer and see the
results almost instantly, there should almost be no reason to not understand the concepts. Here are some of the
more common online results after a search on google:

Photography Tutorials & Tips

Digital Photography Tutorials

Digital Photography Tips and Tutorials

A Beginner's Guide to Simple Photography Concepts: ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed - Tutorials

Photography Tutorials

Then there are dozens if not hundreds of you tube videos.
02-07-2012, 05:10 PM   #37
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
JimJohnson's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Summer:Lake Superior - Michigan Winter:Texas Hill Country
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 2,771
Snow is a tough subject - especially with heavy overcast skies. Here near Lake Superior we have plenty of both in winter, as on World Pentax Day. If you don't have some bright color, think contrast. And B&W is the king of contrast, even with the kit DA L 18-55 lens.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/photo-summer-dreams-31169/


Last edited by JimJohnson; 02-07-2012 at 05:13 PM. Reason: needed link, not insert
02-07-2012, 05:34 PM   #38
Senior Moderator
Loyal Site Supporter
Parallax's Avatar

Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: South Dakota
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 19,325
I suspect the op is long gone.
02-07-2012, 06:02 PM   #39
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
paulh's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: DFW Texas/Ventura County, CA
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 33,091
QuoteOriginally posted by Parallax Quote
I suspect the op is long gone.
Information Overload
02-07-2012, 07:29 PM   #40
Senior Moderator
Loyal Site Supporter
Parallax's Avatar

Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: South Dakota
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 19,325
QuoteOriginally posted by paulh Quote
Information Overload
Or not the answers he was hoping for.
02-11-2012, 05:08 PM   #41
Junior Member
karlito's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 38
Original Poster
a big thank you to every one, for all the information, still have some issues with the images quality,.. can any please post more pic taken with the 18-55 kits lens... also will appreciate any pics taken with the pentax f70-200mm f4-5.6 auto and smc 50mmf1.7 manual... i am still having a lot of focus issues, most images look sharp and in focus in the view finder or live view, but when i look at the end result, it seems out of focus. i have cleaned the sensor..

Attached Images
View Picture EXIF
PENTAX K-r  Photo 
View Picture EXIF
PENTAX K-r  Photo 
View Picture EXIF
PENTAX K-r  Photo 
View Picture EXIF
PENTAX K-r  Photo 
View Picture EXIF
PENTAX K-r  Photo 
02-11-2012, 05:10 PM   #42
Junior Member
karlito's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 38
Original Poster
after cleaning the sensor there has been an improvement in the picture quality, but i still have focus issues, using the autofocus and on a tripod.
02-11-2012, 05:22 PM   #43
Veteran Member
JinDesu's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: New York City
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 5,638
How have you been trying to focus with your manual lenses? Please explain your methods, then I can help give tips. Some people suggest using Catch in Focus (I don't know how to get this setting, if someone else can jump in...) to do manual focus shots - it let's the camera activate the shutter while you rotate the focus ring the moment it feels it is in focus.

For the kit lens, you can check whether or not your camera is acting up in focus or not. Try testing the focus. Set the camera out of focus, then aim at your well lit subject and focus and shoot. Aim for something that you can determine if the camera focusing too much to the front or back, example:



If the camera aim's too much to the front or back, you can see it on the girder. Let us know your results.

The shot of the orange is quite nice. The shot of the leaf shows motion blur and out of focus (the exif shows 1/10s shutter, so definitely motion blur). The shot of the bird is very very nice. So my suggestion is to practice in bright lighting (daylight) as those are helping you get good results. Use Av mode with your kit lens and let the camera choose the shutter. Try to keep your aperture at F4-8 depending on the brightness outside.

One thing about autofocusing - your kit lens is F5.6 on the 40-55mm end, and that is very dark for the camera. Indoors, that would make it tough to autofocus - when you get used to the camera you should start thinking about getting a better lens for indoor use.

Last edited by JinDesu; 02-11-2012 at 05:27 PM.
02-11-2012, 05:23 PM   #44
Veteran Member
loco's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Virginia
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 2,846
I think the bird and snow pics are actually pretty nice!

Since you asked, here are a couple taken with the 18-55. I haven't used it in months, so these are older photos, mostly from when I was just getting into photography last spring/summer.





02-11-2012, 05:23 PM   #45
Junior Member
karlito's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 38
Original Poster
ps the pigeon picture is the best pic i have managed to take on this camera!
Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
camera, image, issues, k-r, kr, pentax, pentax k-r, quality
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
k-5 image quality eastkywildlifeman Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 37 11-21-2011 02:17 AM
Resizing image in photoshop without changing the original image quality LFLee Digital Processing, Software, and Printing 14 09-25-2011 05:18 PM
DSLR and Image Quality trevorgrout Pentax DSLR Discussion 26 03-10-2011 12:47 PM
645D and image quality phonoline Pentax Medium Format 16 02-21-2011 12:24 AM
Question about image quality of the k-7 justtakingpics Pentax DSLR Discussion 18 05-15-2010 05:30 AM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 03:10 AM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top