[TenZ.NL]

Staff note: This post may contain affiliate links, which means Pentax Forums may earn a small commission if a visitor clicks through and makes a purchase. If you would like to support the forum directly, you may also make a donation here.

---

Thanks for the advice, I did say I wasn't ready to blame the camera yet ......

I know, just saying

[i_trax]

Is the Sigma Art 35mm available in Australia for the Pentax mount? The Sigma website in the US only shows availability for Nikon, Canon and Sigma. Thanks!

yes, I do have one and I love it!

[johnyates]

If you want to assess the sharpness of your camera/lens combination, I suggest that you:
1) use a tripod with mirror lockup / 2 sec self timer
2) carefully focus with live view

[jon404]

Very interested in Na Horuk's comment about how slight vibrations are more apparent at 24 MP than at 16 MP. I wonder where this will go, as we move toward what, 30 MP, 40 MP? Any 645D owners out there hooked up to Steadicam rigs? The good news -- as he said, when the image is scaled down, you just can't tell. And when you have a 24 MP original, you can do a LOT of cropping and then scaling!

IMHO, all this is meaningless for web display, at our low PC screen resolutions. Or for iPhone display where, even at 326 ppi, the screen is so small that slight blurring is not apparent. And -- even for print -- if you output at 300 pixels-per-inch ... you can still get a full-page magazine shot AFTER cropping and then scaling. Not too bad!

And, for those of us who are retired, it's better than Obamacare -- we just don't NEED anything more than 16 MP, for anything. Save that bank account! K-01s forever!

[i_trax]

yes, I do have one and I love it!

there is one for AU$769 posted with full 24 months AU warranty:
Sigma 35mm F1 4 DG HSM ?ART Series? Lens TO Suit Pentax ? Award Winning 085126340612 | eBay

[jon404]

Alternatively, you could get the Pentax DA 35mm f/2.4 AL lens, for $185 from Amazon. I have one, and it is wonderfully sharp, with great color.

[ppeter]

I've Cracked it !!!!!!!

First of all thanks to everyone for their comments and advice as it has helped me to realize where I've been going astray with the K3. It wasn't the camera and it wasn't my lenses, so it only leaves one component .... ME !

And it was all about shutter speed, shutter speed , shutter speed.

With my previous cameras I've always shot in Aperture Mode and was doing same with the K3 , so today a took a few shots in sensitivity mode with iso set to 1000 to increase the shutter speed and the results are quite amazing ......

these were taken with the Sigma DG 150-500 APO HSM - all jpegs straight out the camera.

1
original - http://ppeter.smugmug.com/photos/i-LZKJKQC/0/O/i-LZKJKQC.jpg
150mm f10 1/1600 sec iso 1000

2
original - http://ppeter.smugmug.com/photos/i-C5sQMPJ/0/O/i-C5sQMPJ.jpg
270mm f10 1/1000sec iso 1000

3
original - http://ppeter.smugmug.com/photos/i-SdpsZMT/0/O/i-SdpsZMT.jpg
340mm f10 1/1250 sec iso 1000

Now I'm off to the coast for a few days to enjoy the k3 !

Thanks again... happy new year ...

---

Last edited by ppeter; 12-27-2013 at 01:28 AM. Reason: added lens info

[BeetleStuff]

With my previous cameras I've always shot in Aperture Mode and was doing same with the K3 , so today a took a few shots in sensitivity mode with iso set to 1000 to increase the shutter speed and the results are quite amazing ......

Thanks mate - you sorted it out for me as well.

I have had similar issues with my K3 shots and like you I usually shoot Aperture mode.
I have been following this thread with nothing to add until I also tried Sensitivity mode set the same as you.

The k3 is not as forgiving as my K5 it seems.







.

[jon404]

I read an article about a year ago ... how you have to go to 1/1500 sec or faster to totally end any blurring from the involuntary tremors that ALL hand-held shooters have, no matter how steady you are holding the camera. So our 1/1600 setting meets that mark.

The problem -- for me, anyway -- comes in late afternoon and at sunset. When the light levels go way, way down and there's no way you can get a properly exposed image at any aperture. And when if you crank the ISO up over 800, you start getting too much noise. So then it's a fight to keep the shutter speed as high as possible.

Haven't found any answer for this -- my friends tell me to just go get a smartphone with the teeny lens! But somehow I think that would be even worse.

[jiimaa]

The answer is stop hyperventilating about high ISO. There's nothing wrong in going 3200 or more if you like, it's all in your head.

[SteveB]

That last bird photo looks smeared with NR to me at iso 800. F11 probably wouldn't have given optimum sharpness either.

[Arne Bo]

Thanks all. This is a helpful thread. I used the rule 1/xx mm as shutter speed but didn't get the desired results. By drastically increasing the shutter speed i get a lot better results. The downside is the higher ISO at this dark time of the year. But with time I'll learn how to handle all the noise. (hopefully)

[SteveB]

Thanks all. This is a helpful thread. I used the rule 1/xx mm as shutter speed but didn't get the desired results. By drastically increasing the shutter speed i get a lot better results. The downside is the higher ISO at this dark time of the year. But with time I'll learn how to handle all the noise. (hopefully)

The 1/FL rule of thumb came about in days of FF film, so there's a 1.5 crop factor and the 100% pixel peeping that happens nowadays to contend with, so today's rule of thumb with APS-C probably ought to be twice the speed as a minimum, so 1/(2xFL), more or less cancelling out SR's benefits so we're back to 1/FL using SR. Perhaps

[SyncGuy]

Wait.... Are you printing the photos large regularly or do you and your audience own a 50" monitor?

If none of the above, go ahead and fire at iso6400, my friend...

[CDW]

There are some downsides to simply cranking up the ISO settings. You impact resolution, dynamic range, color sensitivity and tonal range, all negatively. Why bother to own a K3 if you're going to throw away it's benefits.

http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare/Side-by-side/Pentax-K-3___914

A tripod or monopod is a far better solution when the situation allows one. Here's a suggestion for a shake reduction solution that fits in your pocket and combined with the image stabilization in the K3, should get you down to sharp handheld exposures of about a 1/4 second with a wide angle and a bit of care.

You Tube

You Tube