[Hausy]

Hello everyone. I found myself forced into purchasing a "real" camera after my 15 year old son has become a serious competitor at diving, last school year competing at the State level as a H.S. Freshman. Trying to get photos from an iPhone just aren't cutting it. I spent countless hours going back and forth between brands and models. There is so much to consider, what I knew I needed to get the photos I wanted were Frames Per Second and low light abilities since flashes are not allowed at diving events. Everyone that I talked to who has a camera said Canon or Nikon, which seem like great cameras. However I do a lot of hiking in the Mt. Rainier N.P. and if I was going to dump that kind of money into a camera I wanted to be able to use it out in the wilderness too. I started reading about Pentax and their reputation for weather sealing. I read a lot about the K-3 II and that is what I purchased. Talking about my needs with the sales person for the camera to be able to take the diving pictures without the use of a flash I stepped up to the DA* 16-50 and 50-135 lenses and their low f2.8. I made my purchase on Wednesday and yesterday was able to use the camera for both of the intended uses. In the morning we went up to the snow to play in the national park and then I went to my son's practice that afternoon. I spent a lot of money on the entire package but after seeing what the camera can do I am very pleased with my purchase. I can't wait to see the results I get when actually start to know how to use the camera.

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[normhead]

I hope he is going to land in a pool.

Welcome to the forum.....

[Unregistered User 8]

Completely new to "real" photography.

Hi from Australia Hausy. Welcome to the Pentax forums, and some wonderful Pentax equipment !! Your " starter " kit is excellent. Any help you may need with the ins and outs of your new toy will be quickly given by the membership here. Good to have you aboard.

PS. Very good 1st pix from you too.

[Kerrowdown]

Welcome to the forum, good to hear your pleased with your purchase and it's doing what you want.

[BigMackCam]

Hello and welcome aboard - glad you could join us!

As I've just posted in another new member's thread, I'd recommend you start out by learning about exposure - it's the most important aspect of all. I recommend the following book:

https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1...bryan+peterson

Buy the paperback copy rather than the Kindle version, or borrow it from a library. It's an easy and enjoyable introduction that will have you taking well-exposed photos in no time. I bought my copy long after I'd learned about exposure, and I still enjoyed reading it.

Alternatively, for a very quick introduction (though one that may leave you asking lots of questions), take a look at this Cambridge in Colour article on exposure:

Camera Exposure: Aperture, ISO & Shutter Speed

Cambridge in Colour has a lot of good tutorial articles - some of the best, in my view - but there's a lot of information there and it can be easy to get sidetracked or dragged in to reading too much before you've fully understood each section.

If you have questions, don't be afraid to ask. There are lots of knowledgeable people here to help

Looking forward to your involvement!

[pathdoc]

Welcome.

That's a spectacular diving shot, but yeah, the lack of water to give it context makes it a little unsettling - as it is, it looks like he's headed for a faceplant into the lane marker roll!

While we're talking about his diving, you certainly look like you've picked the right gear for the job. The K-3ii's lack of an inbuilt flash notwithstanding, it tends not to contribute much at these sorts of distances anyway, except to give the user a false sense of security that "the [usually pop-up] flash fired, so the pics will be be okay" - I learned the hard way in the film era that no, quite often they won't! (And thus began my lust for ever-higher ISO in film, and eventually an SLR when I found to my disgust that my half-frame compact wouldn't take anything faster than 400.)

(Constructive criticism, or rather critique: a slightly higher shutter speed might have elimited the blurs on hands and feet; consider TAv mode, so you can set the aperture wide open, the shutter speed high for motion-freeze effect - especially if you want to capture the splash as he goes in - and the camera will alter ISO for you to maintain the other settings.)

[smf]

Welcome and best wishes to you and your family.

I enjoyed seeing your photographs.

[Hausy]

Thank you everyone for your welcomes. I have a lot to learn but plan on making photography quite the hobby, which is another reason for picking the K-3ii as it should be a camera I won't grow out of very soon. I signed up today for a digital photography class at the local community college. It starts next week.

[Unregistered User 8]

Thank you everyone for your welcomes. I have a lot to learn but plan on making photography quite the hobby, which is another reason for picking the K-3ii as it should be a camera I won't grow out of very soon. I signed up today for a digital photography class at the local community college. It starts next week.

Your K-3II will serve you very well, as will the photography course. Best of luck to you.

[TER-OR]

You'll have fun learning your new hobby.
You can preset your focus since you're shooting in a single plane. Then you can just switch to manual focus and fire away, without waiting for the focus to lock or worry about it grabbing something in the background.

The other great thing about these cameras is shooting RAW and adjusting in Lightroom or a similar program. It helps with snowy pictures a lot, since they tend to blow highlights or go kind of grey.