[dlai]

I have two K3 bodies and have used them extensively for forest wildlife photography. Photographing under the canopy often results in a high ISO being required and the K3s were very often working at 6400 ISO with consequent noise issues. I've started using the K1 at up to 12,800 ISO and find the K1 copes remarkably well as shown in the attached image despite the strong skylight.


Shot with DA*300mm lens plus HD 1.4x TC.
ISO 12,800
+ 1.3 stops exposure
Exposure 1/200 f8 (f 8 to bring some of the Lemonwood fruits into focus)
Daylight setting
Noise set to high ISO auto in camera
Processed in PDCU with noise removal using the setting decided by the PDCU
Post processing in Photoshop: some lightening of the bird, mid-tone contrast slider at 15%, sharpened at 50%,1.5 pixels in Smart sharpen/Gaussian blur setting.
The background was selectively darkened to reduce strong backlighting with saturation and contrast reduced.


Forgot to mention: this was taken with the APS crop mode

Attached Images

 

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Last edited by dlai; 06-07-2016 at 04:43 AM.

[Eyewanders]

I have two K3 bodies and have used them extensively for forest wildlife photography. Photographing under the canopy often results in a high ISO being required and the K3s were very often working at 6400 ISO with consequent noise issues. I've started using the K1 at up to 12,800 ISO and find the K1 copes remarkably well as shown in the attached image despite the strong skylight.
.

That looks really quite impressive at such high sensitivity indeed!
And say - looking at your location, have you any fantails or tuis up your sleeve, e.g. image folders?

[Ole]

Very nice capture! And yes, the K-1 is doing great at high ISO. You could probably go even higher than 12800 if needed.

[kenspo]

K-3II and K-1 on high ISO, are different leagues.

[dlai]

That looks really quite impressive at such high sensitivity indeed!
And say - looking at your location, have you any fantails or tuis up your sleeve, e.g. image folders?

Hi, Thanks for your comment.
The Saddleback (Tieke) was photographed at the Zealandia Wildlife Sanctuary, Wellington NZ. I usually look more for the Hihi (Stitchbirds)
Bellbirds (Komako) and Whiteheads as Tui are so numerous that I've pretty well stopped photographing them. Fantails - yes I sometimes get a shot of one that has settled briefly on a branch but otherwise their rapid twists and turns defeat the Pentax autofocus.

[Eyewanders]

Hi, Thanks for your comment.
The Saddleback (Tieke) was photographed at the Zealandia Wildlife Sanctuary, Wellington NZ. I usually look more for the Hihi (Stitchbirds)
Bellbirds (Komako) and Whiteheads as Tui are so numerous that I've pretty well stopped photographing them. Fantails - yes I sometimes get a shot of one that has settled briefly on a branch but otherwise their rapid twists and turns defeat the Pentax autofocus.

Love to see some of your other shots. I know Zealandia well - I lived/work in Welly for most of 2010 (lived up in Brooklyn, but also did quite a bit of travel) and visited there a few times. Hihi I only saw a handful of times (if that) and I learned to recognize Bellbird calls among other. I can certainly understand the fluttering spiral of the fantail being a challenge! They were one of my favorites, but the Tui was the one that spoke to me most, not surprisingly. I thought that sanctuary was really remarkable along with how the birds returned once it began to establish itself. I do miss NZ bird life often!

(actually, the banner in my sig below was taken somewhere near Fairlie with my K-7 at the time while driving down to Otago)

[Simen1]

ISO 12,800
+ 1.3 stops exposure

This is essentially the same as ISO 5000 with more highlight clipping. Using ISO 5000 EV0 will give essentially the same shadow noise, same mid-tones and 1,3 stops less highlight clipping.

[derekkite]

I have two K3 bodies and have used them extensively for forest wildlife photography. Photographing under the canopy often results in a high ISO being required and the K3s were very often working at 6400 ISO with consequent noise issues. I've started using the K1 at up to 12,800 ISO and find the K1 copes remarkably well as shown in the attached image despite the strong skylight.


Shot with DA*300mm lens plus HD 1.4x TC.
ISO 12,800
+ 1.3 stops exposure
Exposure 1/200 f8 (f 8 to bring some of the Lemonwood fruits into focus)
Daylight setting
Noise set to high ISO auto in camera
Processed in PDCU with noise removal using the setting decided by the PDCU
Post processing in Photoshop: some lightening of the bird, mid-tone contrast slider at 15%, sharpened at 50%,1.5 pixels in Smart sharpen/Gaussian blur setting.
The background was selectively darkened to reduce strong backlighting with saturation and contrast reduced.


Forgot to mention: this was taken with the APS crop mode

This is a tough shot with the backlighting. The results are remarkable. That would have been a throwaway with the K3.