[Lowell Goudge]

Forgive me for my ignorance and disbelief.

After perusing through the winners and highly commended for the under 10's - I also looked at the equipment used.

An 8 yr old using a Canon 1ds Mk111, 400mm + teleconvertor with -1 stop dialled in taking a perfectly sharp bird in flight - huh???

There were quite a few in this age bracket using such hardware-what gives??

An another note some incredible shots were made with Canon 350D's which just goes to show that it's not all about the camera and how expensive it is

cheers

D

doesn't every one spoil their kids like this

[Duplo]

I'm not so sure it is all equipment, I think even the pro's need luck, and it is because they are pro's and they spend more time out there, they get lucky more often.

No equipment is just a part of it. the guy behind the camera will pretty much always be the determining factor.
And yes being the right place at th right time is equally important, but to call it luck is not right, I think it is hard work.
Sure they get lucky, but fore some reason they just seem more lucky than most then and consistently produce excellent photos.
And the ability to produce the goods on a consistent basis, is skill to me and not luck.

Just look at the last page of the november issue Outdoor Photography Canada. A photo of a Pileated woodpecker feeding it's young. The photographer just happened on it, didn't plan on shooting woodpeckers, had over slept, missed the sunrise and stopped for a coffee. No where in any of that scenario does the ownership of camera come into play.

Sure, but without the right camera, right lens and the necessary skillset he would have gotten what?
So while he in this incident was lucky to be there...
Havng the gear to get the job done and the skill to use it is every bit as important and has nothing to do with luck IMHO.

[Tom2]

Well, some of those top lenses can still be purchased.

See the Marketplace here for the 400 A* f/2.8, 300 F* 4.5 and the 200mm A* macro.

[Wheatfield]

Well, some of those top lenses can still be purchased.

See the Marketplace here for the 400 A* f/2.8, 300 F* 4.5 and the 200mm A* macro.

Unfortunately, being able to be purchased as a one off from someone on a website doesn't translate well into being available. I know where I can buy a 55 Bel-Air in close to new condition.
This doesn't mean 55 Bel-Airs are generally available, it just means that one person somewhere knows where one is for sale.

People walk into a camera store and want to look at lenses. Or they look on the manufacturers website to see what is available.

If I needed a lens for a job tomorrow and it wasn't on the vendor's 's website, that vendor has just lost a sale.
That might mean he has just lost a camera sale and a lens sale, and in the future, several camera and lens sales.
That might mean he has lost a customer forever.

This is why it is so important for Pentax to start concentrating on higher end cameras and longer focal length lenses. Someone looking for a camera today might buy a K20, but if he is thinking that down the road, that camera isn't going to be enough camera, then that person is going to buy a Nikon or Canon instead.
No upgrade path = lost sales.

[Peter Zack]

Forgive me for my ignorance and disbelief.

After perusing through the winners and highly commended for the under 10's - I also looked at the equipment used.

An 8 yr old using a Canon 1ds Mk111, 400mm + teleconvertor with -1 stop dialled in taking a perfectly sharp bird in flight - huh???

There were quite a few in this age bracket using such hardware-what gives??

An another note some incredible shots were made with Canon 350D's which just goes to show that it's not all about the camera and how expensive it is

cheers

D

I can't find the image you referred to but read a few other young entrants and their comments. No way these were written by the kids themselves. So who took the shots I wonder?

So that means the submission you refer to is based on a lie.

Of course the overall winner wasn't even taken by the photographer (Leopard shot). At least he was honest enough to admit that the camera did everything and was fired with a remote trigger unit while he was probably sleeping at the hotel. Kinda blows the whole contest out the door IMO.

On a note to the posts here and elsewhere that have commented on Pentax's weaknesses.

Anyone that shoots Pentax understands that currently there are some compromises but we work with that. No brand is going to be everything to everyone. We all want better things to be added to the line.

I'm so encouraged by those few leaving Pentax and their enjoyment with dropping periodically to crap on us and the gear we have chosen to continue to use. I don't understand that bitterness or why someone would get such pleasure to post their high 'n mighty opinions. Most who have dropped back in have been gracious and continue to be so. A select few though....

If someone wishes to shoot another platform, more power to them and I wish them all the good fortune and success possible. I hope they receive and enjoy the benefits of whatever they have chosen. I would hope they would wish the same back rather than throw stones.

[kurt]

If someone wishes to shoot another platform, more power to them and I wish them all the good fortune and success possible. I hope they receive and enjoy the benefits of whatever they have chosen. I would hope they would wish the same back rather than throw stones.

Nicely said and fully agree. Let's just enjoy taking photos what ever gear we are using!

.............................. An 8 yr old using a Canon 1ds Mk111, 400mm + teleconvertor with -1 stop dialled in taking a perfectly sharp bird in flight - huh???

There were quite a few in this age bracket using such hardware-what gives??


cheers

D

And some people on this forum complain about the weight of the battery grip.

[MRRiley]

I have to agree that the winning shot being done remotely is a bit of a joke. There is no composition or skill needed there other than being lucky enough to place the camera on the right game trail. Wonder how many shots were taken by the remote setup to get that one "good" shot. And if it had been a handheld shot, few people would have considered it worthy of a win from a compositional standard.

I also agree about 8 year olds with $10K work of camera gear? Somethin fishy there...

[Canada_Rockies]

As an example of being in the right place at the right time with the right equipment ready to go, I show you this shot. Other than the tripod, no equipment other than Pentax was used.

I was actually taking some shots of people tubing the Milk River which borders the Writing on Stone Provincial Park campground, in Southern Alberta, Canada, using the K10D with M 400/5.6 mounted on my A 1.4X-S rear converter, the whole thing mounted on my Manfrotto tripod, when we spotted this little drama on the highest hoodoo on the South side of the river, across from us.

To get the best angle, and see over shrubbery, I ran to an area immediately opposite the scene, climbed up on a picnic table with the rig and got off 15 shots before the magpies drove the buzzard off. This one is my favourite. It is currently my desktop background. The image is in the photo gallery, Nature section, here: https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/images/4039/large/1_TurkeyBuzzard.jpg

[Ron Boggs]

Please don't misconstrue this as tooting my own horn...just need to make a point. I'm not a pro but I've sold/published several hundred images and 6 cover photos. I've had images blown up to full size billboards displayed along a highway outside a zoo etc etc ad nauseum. All were shot with Pentax equipment, including many shot with the 600/4. In no instance did the editor of the magazine or ad agency ask what equipment I shot with. That's only of issue within the photo magazine industry. Field and Stream, In-Fisherman and that type of magazine couldn't care less about branding. They just want images that fit their editorial content.
There is no doubt that within the photo industry the c and n guys hold the bulk of the "talk time." There is also no doubt that outside the photo industry, many Pentax shooters sell their stuff without regard to publicizing what brand they use.
Also note that for decades, Pentax considered medium format as pro and everything else --35mm or digi--was for amateur and semi-pro (that's how Pentax labeled it--don't blame me). So Pentax pros tended to use medium format while n and c pro's used smaller formats.
Perhaps the most influential nature photographer of our time--many levels above the guys we hear about in the photo marketing world--is Robert Glenn Ketchum and he has been devoted to Pentax 6x7 for his world renowned nature photography. The current issue of Outdoor Photographer magazine highlights one of the world's iconic outdoor photographers--Sebastio Selgado from Brazil--who emphasizes Pentax 645 medium format in his past AND CURRENT work.
Neither Ketchum nor Selgado spends much time playing in the photography magazine talk circles, so while photographers only hear about Art Wolf, Arthur Morris, George Lepp etc (all phenomenal photographers by the way), the guys influencing world opinion on outdoor topics are busy reaching the public at large, not just the little niche of us who follow all the photo magazine stuff.
Finally, photography magazines are 100% supported by advertising sales. Since Pentax nearly refuses to buy ads and the other guys buy many pages per month, it's imperative for those mags to publish mostly content shot with their advertisers' products. Can you imagine a magazine selling $100,000 worth of ads to Nikon in a single issue and then running page after page of images with Pentax photo credits and more articles by Pentax shooters than Nikon shooters? That will NEVER happen! (I was senior editor of a full-color glossy magazine back in the mid-90's so I speak from first hand knowledge).
Again, I ain't squat in the photo world, but I'm able to sell just fine in spite of the "Pentax handicap". And don't bother looking for examples in my website. That site is stuff I consider artistic while the stuff the magazines buy tends to be what I consider inartistic--so you won't find it on my site.

[cpopham]

I have to agree that the winning shot being done remotely is a bit of a joke.

On the other hand, last year's winning shot (a close up of an elephant bathing itself) was a masterpiece of composition, lighting, and timing.
When I saw it I was literally frozen to the spot in wonder.

So they do get it right sometimes, and it would probably be unfair to write the whole competition off because of it.

There were a couple of runners up / category winners which were taken remotely last year - including one of a Zebra stampede about to run over the camera. It was rather stunning to be honest.

[MRRiley]

I didn't intend to write off the whole competition... I just think they really blew the winner. I mean seriously, some of the winning photographer's camera's other shots were much better. And it's strange that the banner photo is a runner-up entry, not the overall winner. You'd think if they were that enamored of the winner it would be on the banner.

Btw, reading the description it sounds like last years winning elepahnt shot was taken by hand from inside of a vehicle... not a remote camera (perhaps I misunderstood the point you were making).

I'm not against remotely controlled cameras because many times it is unsafe for the photographer to be in the middle of the action (say in your stampede example) but in these cases the photographer is still actively in charge of the moment of exposure. Motion activated, "snare cameras" however, are nearly totally random. Sometimes they get great shots, but face it, its a big matter of chance. Skill in camera placement and knowledge of the "target" helps a lot, but getting the actual shot is purely random. These kind of shots are fine for documenting animal behavior, but they are hardly notable from an artistic point of view.

Big difference between standing back and pressing a remote control and setting a snare and going to bed.

[*isteve]

Again, I ain't squat in the photo world, but I'm able to sell just fine in spite of the "Pentax handicap". And don't bother looking for examples in my website. That site is stuff I consider artistic while the stuff the magazines buy tends to be what I consider inartistic--so you won't find it on my site.

There are photographers who are confident enough in their ability to work around a cameras handling deficiencies to worry only about the output quality. If this wer not the case, no-one would buy an H3 I assure you. The joy of a 645 or 67 was that you could use large negatives with (almost) the same ease of use as any other SLR, but it was still a bigger beast and greater commitment to use these cameras in the field (especially with the size of some of the lenses required).

Now if I was setting out today to be a sport or wildlife photographer, I would be looking for the camera that would help me out the most, with quality that was good enough, perhaps, for a double page spread. I would almost certainly go for a 1D mk3 with a 600F4 and some shorter stuff. If I had less money then yes, I would probably get a 50D (Canons long glass is certainly cheaper than Nikon's).

But I'm not a sports or wildlife photographer. Like 90% of people who wander into a camera shop I wanted a good, robust allrounder that would work well in a studio (some nice prime glass) and come on a trip for a lot less money.

Of course Pentax dont get many sales from wildlife guys, Canon have the market sewn up, but the questions I have are:

1. If you are an occasional wildlife photographer stuck with a "useless" K20 get a trusty bigma and its amazing what you can do so why worry. You could buy three complete camera and lens kits for the price of one Canon 600F4!

2. Pentax dont currently have the cashflow to make the necessary investment to go for Canon's strongest market. Perhaps in a few years, who knows? Right now they have to spend each penny whey they might earn the most bucks, so they will have to miss a lot of specialist areas but c'est la vie, why complain about it?

Like Mark and Duplo I would happily use 2 cameras if it worked for me, one for the specialist stuff and the Pentax for holidays. Theres no perfect camera, so this seems like a good compromise.

[Jonson PL]

The user Mousehill was in the BBC Wildlife competition last year, where he got special mentioning in certain categories. And remained in field till the final places were assigned. He was recently accepted in a prestigious Dutch wildlife guild.

The year before, Pentax user Yuichi Takasaka, got Highly Commended in the BBC wildlife competition, for shot of hovering hummingbirds using high-speed sync-flash mode. (His shots are in the Portfolio 16, as I remember, can be bought at Amazon e.g.)

The Pro wildlife photographer, Andy Rouse, who has also used Pentax gear, got Specially Commended in the 2006 BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year. His superb shot, can be bought framed (in a limited edition) at his site, for £160.00 GBP. (That shot was with Nikon or Canon though).

World acclaimed photographer Sebastian Salgado, is currently using Pentax 645N for his genesis project, of endangered species :



(He lives up to the old tale, how the best photographers don’t take time to make sites etc. they’re out working)



And one of my favourite wildlife photographers Mattias Klum, did a lot of his work for NGM with Pentax film SLRs.

I hope I get to see the exhibition one day too. I’ve subscribed to BBC Wildlife for a longer period of time, a great magazine. (I can recommend getting the portfolios with winning shots, they contain the info on how the shots were taken, also different settings and values).


Tom, didn’t know that you used to display here, a sweet site :
http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/ic.cgi?a=vp&pr=108909&CGISE...a48707&u=14730
(What does he mean, in this link that he added canvas on the left ?)

The FA* 600/4 ED [IF] can be ordered new from Japan, and so can the FA* 300/2.8 ED [IF].


But I agree, with the current pace of technology; Pentax would be a tougher brand to choice for wildlife and fast pace action. A user on DPr was looking for the FA* 600/4, but ended up buying Canon, as it was so much easier and more convenient to get a hold of.
Though seeing the work from Walter, I was very impressed with the Sigma 500mm/4.5 EX DG. And there is also the Sigma 800mm f5.6 EX DG made in Pentax mount.


Edit :
The trigger cameras that are left out in the bush for weeks, are usually cheaper APS-C crop DSLR. Since these entries can win, then the IQ must be up to notch. They are framed in big sizes.

[Wheatfield]

And one of my favourite wildlife photographers Mattias Klum, did a lot of his work for NGM with Pentax film SLRs.

Good old Mr. Klum is whoring for the Nikon D3 these days.

Nikon Imaging | Nikon Digital SLR Camera: D3