Here are my first experimental shots taken with my very first new DSLR camera, Pentax K-7 and an older manual lens SMC Pentax-M 1:2 50mm. I still need to learn how to use it properly so any tips/advice would be appreciated.











Peter

[krypticide]

Read read read! Internet makes learning so much easier. I was like you, I jumped straight into a K10D for my first SLR.

[PeterPP]

Any comments?

[Irek J.]

Enjoy your new camera! Some good shots...how do you like the stopped down metering? And I'm also wondering how good the exposure is using it.

[PeterPP]

This is my first time using a dSLR so all this is very new to me. It is definitely very different from using my P&S camera. I still have a lot to learn and the whole stop down metering things, focusing etc. I'm still trying to get used to. But I'm having a blast using it (my birthday gift to myself) and I'm discovering new things to try everytime I pick it up and playing with it!

[Nowhere Matt]

A K-7 is your first digital slr???
I guess we all have to start somewhere. A little like saying, "The first jet I flew was an F-22. Sure I had some experience with single and two engine, propeller driven monoplanes but I really wanted to jump straight in the Raptor and see where it could take me."

Just hackin' on ya. Pay no attention to my jealous mind. Nice flowers.

[knochelbiter]

I think if you want to learn you are doing this exactly right - an expensive, high-end body paired with an older standard lens, manual focus and aperture.

Now, just take those two and go take pictures. Of EVERYTHING. Shoot directly into the sun and try to vary the exposure enough to get clean clouds... take a telephoto picture and see how close you can crop in before the picture looks like crap... take some wide angle shots and try to fit a whole building into the frame by walking a block away and shooting the building from a 45 degree angle... get alot of blurry pictures of jumping dogs and kids and maybe one sharp one where you front-focused accidentally and the dog or kid "fell" into your shot... try setting the lens at f/8 and walking down the street shooting from the hip... try shooting scenery from a moving car at 1/3000... basically take lots of crappy pictures.

Now take this knowledge of what the k7 and M 50mm CAN'T do, the limitations to shooting with just this combo, and use this knowledge to "overcompensate" when you are using other lenses or cameras. Expect less dynamic range, so take that landscape shot when a wisp of cloud goes over the sun. Expect less focal range, so zoom with your legs. Expect less from AF, so prefocus on the finish line... and even as technology gets better, your skill-set from using that manual lens will see you through.

Basically, you want to develop the technique and substance of a Cuban mechanic, making parts for your '59 Cadillac El Dorado out of scrap metal and wire and necessity. Why bother? So that when you are behind the wheel of that shiny new sports car with electronic everything and automatic butt-warmers you can make that thing FLY.

[PeterPP]

Thanks for the great tips/advice! I have been doing just that to get myself more familiar with the whole aspect of the DSLR camera. All this is very new to me but I'm learning it one day at a time with a lot of trial and error.

[Andrew Faires]

Those are some beautiful flowers, and you photographed them very well.

Of all of them, I really like the last three. They seem a bit sharper than the first two and because #3 & #4 are off center, it makes for an interesting composition (imho).

The only advice I can offer is shoot as much as you can. Especially considering the subject matter! And don't hesitate to try different angles and compositions.

[Ash]

Nice start.
I'll echo that reading up on the fundamentals of the exposure triad and lighting would give you a lot of insight as to how to improve your photography.

Enjoy the journey with your new cam.

[tuco]

A K-7 is your first digital slr???
I guess we all have to start somewhere. A little like saying, "The first jet I flew was an F-22. Sure I had some experience with single and two engine, propeller driven monoplanes but I really wanted to jump straight in the Raptor and see where it could take me."

LOL. I'd argue a different analogy. See, I too just got my first DSLR and it too is the K-7. But I have been shooting a Pentax 67, a Rolleicord TLR and a large format 4x5 view camera for years. The K-7 is brainless to shoot. Point and shoot if you want. No need for Raptor photography skills apart from good composition. No need to know how to hand meter a scene and what zones to place your highlights or shadows. Just trial and error it if need be. And no need to know how to balance a flash with the existing ambient light. You just compose and push a button. Not too hard even in manual mode.

I must say these digital cameras don't have much light range. The HDR feature in the K-7 only works on a JPEG and not a RAW. And besides, HDR is only good for tripod shots on objects that don't move whereas I get a 3-exposure HDR in every shot on my Pentax 67 by digital standards. And I even get more on the 4x5 using the zone system doing my own custom developed negatives to expand or compress tones.
.

[JMR]

The images are not bad for a start. Re your photos, one suggestion I have is that you look at your backgrounds carefully, because, whatever is there is part of your image. Out of focus elements constitute shapes and colours that affect the overall look of your images. This is more readily apparent in your flower images. Large areas of black must be viusally weighed and balanced against the rest of the image and not just the main subject, such as your flowers. You will not always be concious of such photographic principles, but if you study the images afterward you will notice themes and patterns and a certain look. Digital, IMHO (even though I hate acronyms) may have some advantages over film, but I find it leads to overproduction of mostly bad images and lots of criticism based not on what was taken, but on what can be done in post production. Anyway enjoy your camera and try to learn from others.

JMR

[redpigeons]

good start
you will pick up quickly .

read this forum a lot .

the best way to learn is to use the camera a lot

I dont think that there is any problem to start with the K-7 .
it has all the auto modes that amateurs might need but it will also let you to grow and learn

[PeterPP]

Thanks for all the comments!