[pgamble]

Hi all


Just a part time hobbyist ... and experimenting with a new toy.


As mentioned in my welcome thread, my last Pentax was a K10d which I loved. I did have frustrations with low light and poor contrast focusing. Some of that could have been my lack of ability and other things relating to the two DA kit lenses I had - SMC Pentax-DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL and a 50-200 ... but it not only used to mean missing pictures you'd get crisply with an basic compact or something like an old Canon G4 I had but it also meant that pictures that had been autofocused were often not that crisp.


Way too early to tell properly ... but so far the K3 appears a massive improvement.


Some observations - Whilst it still feels well built, it's nothing like as solid as the K10d was. There is only one latched door (battery) now and none of the opening bits inc the flash appear to have rubber seals on them. That surprised me a little. Maybe Pentax / Ricoh think the K10d was simply over engineered.


The Sigma lens seems a superb compromise between the very expensive DA* type lenses and the kit lenses. It cost me £350 and is the new revision. The 60-250 ... wow ... It will be a while before I feel relaxed with it ... a true thing of beauty ... and startlingly even heavier than my old full frame 75-200 Sigma (see signature).


I've done basic tweaks to U1-U3 settings taking into account things I've read about SR and NR. Basically for U1 everything is switched off with AF-S. For U2, low NR but SR on with AF-S and for U3, AF-C with low NR and SR on.


I took a shot yesterday of my wife all wrapped up in a field (we were trying to find some bird, but very little luck there) ... face partially lit, lots of backlight from the sun .. a little movement of the furry hood edges to her coat ... There was hardly any planning ... had the 60-250 on, zoomed to 88mm, spot meter, F4, 1/125, ISO 200 ... it's beautiful ... stunning bokeh ... perfectly crisp focus on my wife / clothes ... perfectly exposed (program),


What surprised me is that I managed this holding such a heavy lens at such a low speed ... yes SR was on .. but still surprised.


The really big shock though came with a picture of my daughter (in a dull room)... same lens, this time at 68mm, ISO400, somehow did something to switch from P to HyP - not sure how I did that ... not intended ... the camera shot at f4 with a shutter speed of 1/10sec and pop up flash on ! It's so well focused you can see the fine face hair around the cheeks ... I would even have thought that was possible. I wasn't even sure the built in flash would work with the long lens.


Anyway ... as I say ... early days ... but very happy and excited.


Keen to hear anyone else experiences with the same or similar setup ... particularly things to check for.


Best regards


Paul.

[bjdavey]

Hi all


Just a part time hobbyist ... and experimenting with a new toy.


As mentioned in my welcome thread, my last Pentax was a K10d which I loved. I did have frustrations with low light and poor contrast focusing. Some of that could have been my lack of ability and other things relating to the two DA kit lenses I had - SMC Pentax-DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL and a 50-200 ... but it not only used to mean missing pictures you'd get crisply with an basic compact or something like an old Canon G4 I had but it also meant that pictures that had been autofocused were often not that crisp.


Way too early to tell properly ... but so far the K3 appears a massive improvement.


Some observations - Whilst it still feels well built, it's nothing like as solid as the K10d was. There is only one latched door (battery) now and none of the opening bits inc the flash appear to have rubber seals on them. That surprised me a little. Maybe Pentax / Ricoh think the K10d was simply over engineered.


The Sigma lens seems a superb compromise between the very expensive DA* type lenses and the kit lenses. It cost me £350 and is the new revision. The 60-250 ... wow ... It will be a while before I feel relaxed with it ... a true thing of beauty ... and startlingly even heavier than my old full frame 75-200 Sigma (see signature).


I've done basic tweaks to U1-U3 settings taking into account things I've read about SR and NR. Basically for U1 everything is switched off with AF-S. For U2, low NR but SR on with AF-S and for U3, AF-C with low NR and SR on.


I took a shot yesterday of my wife all wrapped up in a field (we were trying to find some bird, but very little luck there) ... face partially lit, lots of backlight from the sun .. a little movement of the furry hood edges to her coat ... There was hardly any planning ... had the 60-250 on, zoomed to 88mm, spot meter, F4, 1/125, ISO 200 ... it's beautiful ... stunning bokeh ... perfectly crisp focus on my wife / clothes ... perfectly exposed (program),


What surprised me is that I managed this holding such a heavy lens at such a low speed ... yes SR was on .. but still surprised.


The really big shock though came with a picture of my daughter (in a dull room)... same lens, this time at 68mm, ISO400, somehow did something to switch from P to HyP - not sure how I did that ... not intended ... the camera shot at f4 with a shutter speed of 1/10sec and pop up flash on ! It's so well focused you can see the fine face hair around the cheeks ... I would even have thought that was possible. I wasn't even sure the built in flash would work with the long lens.


Anyway ... as I say ... early days ... but very happy and excited.


Keen to hear anyone else experiences with the same or similar setup ... particularly things to check for.


Best regards


Paul.

Sounds great - enjoy the camera! It would be nice to see the pics.