Originally posted by jeff knight Well I don't really disagree with you at all, but the whole "growth" concept is relative to your personal needs and goals.
Perhaps you want to be a world class architectural, sports, or fashion photographer. You want to compete in the real world
and you want access to a wide variety of tools so you can have every competitive advantage. Then indeed your system
could be inhibiting your growth. I can understand that.
However, you could also argue that a photographer can continue to grow creatively with a cheap plastic Holga camera.
Being forced to get by with less has made many a weekend shutterbug into a real artist.
I am often shocked when people tell me, younger photographers especially, that "I can't move forward because I just
don't have the right equipment." This kind of gear-head mentality just holds people back. It's really an atificial ceiling.
Obviously you can't shoot a wedding with a pinhole camera, but you can still work wonders and continually grow as a
photographer with a lot less than a current Pentax system, if you have the will to work and the guts to persistently strive for it.
Very well said Jeff, I couldn't agree more.
Originally posted by Boris As usual, it seems that one has to learn one's tools so as to be able to extract maximum from them.
Yes, the K-7 has to be learned, as all high end cameras do. It's easy to pick out the folks who aren't willing to put in the effort by the comments they make putting down the K-7. All one has to do is look at the results from those who DO take the time to learn it to see what a remarkably capable camera it really is.
Originally posted by RMabo I believe that what confuses persons is the following - taken from the link provided above "The Pentax K-7 measures the highest overall dynamic range but at 2.9 EV delivers almost half a stop less highlight range than the EOS 7D, with little rolloff and therefore harsh clipping."
This means that K-7 has the highest overall dynamic range, but this range gives more details in the shadows than in the higlights compared to the competition. This is simply how the K-7 is adjusted. Differently tweaked, the K-7 could move up the dynamic range to give more headroom in the highlight at the expense of the shadows.
It is simply a choice made by the designers to have more range in the shadows than in the highlights.
Yes, nice shadow detail indeed, and as you say, "a choice made by the designers". It's just a slightly different way of doing things, and some people seem to have a hard time wrapping their heads around it. I don't know why - it's really not that complicated.
Originally posted by emr So should the K-7 be then actually "exposed to the left" instead of right?
No, every digital camera needs to be exposed to the right if you want to utilize the full bit range (tonal range) of the camera. You just have to be careful you don't go to far. A camera that's sensitive in this area just needs extra care, but the results are worth it. And the excellent shadow detail of the K-7 (see above) is easy to pull out of the RAW in post.
Originally posted by Ishpuini For an entry level user who doesn't use PP the Pentax way may not be ideal, but for a camera of the level of the K-7 one should assume a user that can actually use the camera to get the best results, rather than let himself be used by the camera...
Wim
Yes Wim, well said!!
In closing I'll say this - the K-7 is a great camera, and if the K-5 is in the same body as the k-7 it'll be a great camera too. I probably won't buy one, because the things it upgrades don't interest me at all - I manual focus and the K-7's noise levels are just fine IMHO. If DR is improved SIGNIFICANTLY I might be tempted, but really the K-7 does just fine in that regard (once I learned how to get the best out of it), and it's such a pleasurable camera to use I'll probably keep it for many years. But it's nice to see Pentax pushing forward - we should all be applauding that...