Hi from Australia..and help!

Darius4522 · 02-11-2007, 12:33 AM

G'day from Australia. I'm trying to build a reputation for myself as a photo journalist/travel writer, and have had a reasonable degree of success so far since undertaking my first assignment in Vietnam and Cambodia 12 months ago. Because I'm mainly a writer (used to be a journalist and foreign correspondent) I have been using a Panasonic FZ5 because it was "easy" - and have had a number of photos and stories published. But the prestige glossy magazines want better quality than the 5mp Panasonic (although its Leica lens is great), so I have taken a big step forward, and purchased - after lots of research - a Pentax K10D. So far I have been modestly happy with it, although the pics seem to come out a little on the dark side, the AWB sometimes seems a bit off when I use the camera indoors, and finally, the pics don't appear as sharp as they were with the Panasonic - although at the moment I am only shooting highest quality jpgs and not RAW. I would be grateful if anyone could tell me if there are any 'secrets' to tweaking the K10D. This time in 8 weeks I will be in a remote part of Assam, India, on another writing/photo assignment, so I have to put myself through a crash course in getting to know the K10D. I only have 2 lenses so far - Pentax 18-55mm DA and the Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO DG Macro (needed the length for wildlife and I will also be on a riverboat on the Brahmaputra river, which can be up to 25km wide - although hopefully we will generally be relatively close to shore most of the time). I have a basic photo site at Photographer and Journalist in Adelaide Australia . I would welcome any advice from K10D owners. I got the camera because it is robust and weather-proofed (better for the monsoon season in India), has the dust prevention and camera stablization as opposed to lens stabilization. I also had a feeling that the K10D might become a true "classic" - much as the Pentax Spotmatic did many years ago!Please feel free to contact me with advice, either in here or on johnm@adam.com.au

Last edited by Darius4522; 02-11-2007 at 12:40 AM.

Darius4522 · 02-11-2007, 02:05 PM

Colin, I appreciate your advice and I will try what you suggest. Thanks for taking the time to reply. I'm open to all suggestions. Here's an update, Colin. I did as you suggested and moved image tone to bright. The result was great, and much better. Any other K10 tweaking ideas are welcome!

Ole · 02-11-2007, 03:21 PM

I have found that if you set image tone to bright, sharpmess and contrast to +2, and saturation to +1, then you get pics like a "point and shoot", typically no postprocessing necessary.

Since those pics with all that in-camera processing are not suited for postprocessing, I shoot RAW + JPG, and thus have the RAW files intact with none of the above adjustments. If I want to really fine tune the image quality some day I'll start from the RAW version.

Your other issue - white balance indoors. Perhaps you should try to set the white balance manually?

Darius4522 · 02-11-2007, 03:32 PM

Thanks Ole. Tried it, and it helps, although I have left saturation at zero (seemed a bit too coorful even +1). As I say, I'm new and learning in terms of the photo bit..although I am quite capable with the journalist bit! People like you are a great help.

Last edited by Darius4522; 02-11-2007 at 08:08 PM.

02-11-2007, 12:33 AM	#1
Darius4522 Inactive Account Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Adelaide, Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 155	Hi from Australia..and help! G'day from Australia. I'm trying to build a reputation for myself as a photo journalist/travel writer, and have had a reasonable degree of success so far since undertaking my first assignment in Vietnam and Cambodia 12 months ago. Because I'm mainly a writer (used to be a journalist and foreign correspondent) I have been using a Panasonic FZ5 because it was "easy" - and have had a number of photos and stories published. But the prestige glossy magazines want better quality than the 5mp Panasonic (although its Leica lens is great), so I have taken a big step forward, and purchased - after lots of research - a Pentax K10D. So far I have been modestly happy with it, although the pics seem to come out a little on the dark side, the AWB sometimes seems a bit off when I use the camera indoors, and finally, the pics don't appear as sharp as they were with the Panasonic - although at the moment I am only shooting highest quality jpgs and not RAW. I would be grateful if anyone could tell me if there are any 'secrets' to tweaking the K10D. This time in 8 weeks I will be in a remote part of Assam, India, on another writing/photo assignment, so I have to put myself through a crash course in getting to know the K10D. I only have 2 lenses so far - Pentax 18-55mm DA and the Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO DG Macro (needed the length for wildlife and I will also be on a riverboat on the Brahmaputra river, which can be up to 25km wide - although hopefully we will generally be relatively close to shore most of the time). I have a basic photo site at Photographer and Journalist in Adelaide Australia . I would welcome any advice from K10D owners. I got the camera because it is robust and weather-proofed (better for the monsoon season in India), has the dust prevention and camera stablization as opposed to lens stabilization. I also had a feeling that the K10D might become a true "classic" - much as the Pentax Spotmatic did many years ago!Please feel free to contact me with advice, either in here or on johnm@adam.com.au Last edited by Darius4522; 02-11-2007 at 12:40 AM.

02-11-2007, 02:05 PM	#2
Darius4522 Inactive Account Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Adelaide, Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 155 Original Poster	Thanks Colin Colin, I appreciate your advice and I will try what you suggest. Thanks for taking the time to reply. I'm open to all suggestions. Here's an update, Colin. I did as you suggested and moved image tone to bright. The result was great, and much better. Any other K10 tweaking ideas are welcome! Last edited by Darius4522; 02-11-2007 at 02:47 PM.

02-11-2007, 03:32 PM	#4
Darius4522 Inactive Account Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Adelaide, Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 155 Original Poster	Thanks Ole Thanks Ole. Tried it, and it helps, although I have left saturation at zero (seemed a bit too coorful even +1). As I say, I'm new and learning in terms of the photo bit..although I am quite capable with the journalist bit! People like you are a great help. Last edited by Darius4522; 02-11-2007 at 08:08 PM.

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02-11-2007, 03:21 PM	#3
Ole Administrator Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Copenhagen, Denmark Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,408	I have found that if you set image tone to bright, sharpmess and contrast to +2, and saturation to +1, then you get pics like a "point and shoot", typically no postprocessing necessary. Since those pics with all that in-camera processing are not suited for postprocessing, I shoot RAW + JPG, and thus have the RAW files intact with none of the above adjustments. If I want to really fine tune the image quality some day I'll start from the RAW version. Your other issue - white balance indoors. Perhaps you should try to set the white balance manually?