Off to Vegas with K-x

jbrocious · 08-02-2010, 05:08 PM

Hi All... first time poster, long time follower.

My wife and I are heading to Vegas for the first time next week and we are planning on going to the Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, and Zion National Park.

First, any suggestions on other must see sights? We have 1 unplanned day right now.

Second, I am looking at the Tamron 70-300 Di LD since I only have 2 manual primes (50mm and 135mm) along with the 18-55 kit lens. From what I read this is a decent lens for a beginner... Any feedback before I purchase would be appreciated. I'm really buying it for this trip.

Third, I am struggling to get sharp pictures with the Kit lens... with the manual focus primes I am pleased with the results. Any suggestions? I have read through the posts and haven't found a solution. Is it just a poorer quality lens compared to my vintage Pentax lenses?

Last edited by jbrocious; 08-02-2010 at 06:06 PM.

traumaalert · 08-02-2010, 06:12 PM

Check out Bryce Canyon, it's much more beautiful than the Grand Canyon, although the Grand Canyon has it in sheer size. Bryce Canyon is also convenient because you can bring your car in and drive to the different points of interest, in Zion you have to take the shuttle. I took these in Bryce with just my Canon P&S. I would recommened hiking the Narrows in Zion and going to the Emerald Pools. But be careful in the Narrows because you are hiking in a river so if you fall with your camera... It's fried

Marc Sabatella · 08-02-2010, 08:11 PM

Originally posted by jbrocious

Third, I am struggling to get sharp pictures with the Kit lens... with the manual focus primes I am pleased with the results. Any suggestions? I have read through the posts and haven't found a solution. Is it just a poorer quality lens compared to my vintage Pentax lenses?

You'd have to post examples - preferably with EXIF intact - to demonstrate what you are seeing and not happy with. Sure, the kit lens isn't as good as many 50mm primes, but it should still be capable of great pictures.

bymy141 · 08-03-2010, 03:02 AM

It is hard to understand what the problem is with your kitlens without you posting a few examples with their EXIF data (shutter speed, aperture, ISO, AF mode).

For the trip, first of all I agree, Bryce is a better choice over Zion.
Also, it is a lot to cover for 1 day....

At last, my choice would be more to take a wide angle and a close up / macro lens instead of 70-300mm zoom.
I'd go with my DA* 16-50mm and my Tamron 90mm macro. Both f 2.8.

And, if you want a zoom like that, I'd go for the DA 55-300mm instead for its IQ.

Landscape generally is served best with wide angle and there are a lot of details that you might like to shoot (flowers, insects, rocks).

Have a nice trip, Bert

SpecialK · 08-03-2010, 08:25 AM

Originally posted by jbrocious

Hi All... first time poster, long time follower.

My wife and I are heading to Vegas for the first time next week and we are planning on going to the Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, and Zion National Park.

First, any suggestions on other must see sights? We have 1 unplanned day right now.

Here's a recent thread about it.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/general-photography/105577-any-info-about-vegas.html

KxBlaze · 08-03-2010, 10:17 AM

Originally posted by jbrocious

Second, I am looking at the Tamron 70-300 Di LD since I only have 2 manual primes (50mm and 135mm) along with the 18-55 kit lens. From what I read this is a decent lens for a beginner... Any feedback before I purchase would be appreciated. I'm really buying it for this trip.

This lens is pretty sharp, good color rendition, good contrast and cheap. BUT it also has a lot of purple fringing. It can be somewhat controlled by stopping down to F8-F10 but is still there.

All in all I still really like the lens. It is very good at everything but not great and for the $170 new or even less for used it is a very good beginner long zoom.

jbrocious · 08-03-2010, 06:36 PM

thanks for all the replies....

Unfortunately I don't think we'll be able to make it to Bryce on our schedule, so we'll try to make the best of Zion and the Grand Canyon.

I am beginning to see the value of a fast lens. The f2 50mm lens is producing great results for me. I do not have a macro lens of any kind so that may be a need over the zoom. The 135mm manual lens is equal to about 200mm on DSLR (if i understand correctly) and that should do ok for the trip. The kit lens is wide enough at 18mm for my needs (i think).

I did order a lens hood for the kit lens... it may help with the washed out look of some of the photos. Once I some real test photos I'll post them to compare.

libbyh · 08-05-2010, 06:50 AM

jbrocious,

I highly recommend Valley of Fire State Park just north of Hoover Dam as a day outing for photography. If the weather co-operates and you get good lighting, it can make for some stunning photos. See my gallery of photos from vegas at www.libbyandali.com.

Best of luck and happy snapping.

Cheers,
Libby

bdery · 08-05-2010, 07:08 AM

I've been to Vegas two weeks ago... I can give you some pointers from a recent perspective.

1-Going to Grand Canyon : it's 5 hours by road, be aware of that. We booked a plane tour which takes 1 hour to get to the Canyon. However the time at the Canyon was quite short, too short since we loved the place.

2-In Grand Canyon you'll need a wide lens, a tele is not really useful.

3-everywhere you go, bring loads of cold water. It,s amazingly dry and hot.

4-In the Canyon, walking around is a must, bring good walking sandals or shoes.

5-Going to the bottom of the Canyon is about 6 hours on foot. Be aware of that if it's in your plans.

6-In Vegas, the Strip is the only place where there are many photo ops. Most of these happen at night. I personally brought a tripod, and that worked well (long exposures mean that people don't actually show on your photos

.

7-Glitter gulch and the Fremont Streetexperiences are ok, no more. I'm not sure I recommend it.

8-Get to the far side of the Bellagio lake from the Paris at dusk and take amazing pictures of the fountains with the Eiffel tower in the background.

9-Be aware that distances are longer than they appear. Much so.

10-The Harra's chain (Paris, Planet Hollywood, Ceasar's, etc) offers the Buffet of Buffet deal : access to all buffets for 24 hours (not "a day") for 40$ if you're a casino club member. That's a great way to eat for a decent price. There are often lines at buffets however.

11-The monorail is not really worth it usually : getting to and from the station means going through the casinos, and that's often longer than walking on the Strip to cover the same distance.

Here's the gallery of my shots (left side menu gives you access to subfolders):

2010-07 Las Vegas pictures by bdery - Photobucket

**Kerrowdown** · 08-05-2010, 07:25 AM

My recommendation is that you take me with you, maybe to carry the bags.

It sounds like a really great trip, I'm so jealous. enjoy.

**mike.hiran** · 08-05-2010, 12:23 PM

Don't forget about Red Rocks - it's just 15 minutes out of the city, but it's a beautiful place with a nice scenic loop. There are also some great hiking out there with some excellent trails. Check the internets and for some groups that will lead you on a free hike in the morning before it gets too hot - I did that last year and was very happy.

My favorite place in Las Vegas for picture taking was the Springs Reserve. Very interesting architecture, good place to eat and some awesome desert gardens. Here's a flickr set I took -
Springs Reserve

For more modern architecture, I also stumbled upon the Sahara West Library which I found pretty interesting. flickr set: sahara west library in Vegas I'm sure there are other places - maybe there are others that know where else to go.

Ditto on the water thing - you'll need to carry lots of water to be on the safe side.

Also, if you like hamburgers and you haven't been to In&Out Burger, I highly recommend it! Just don't expect to do much in the way of moving quickly for a while after eating there...

Good luck!

Marc Sabatella · 08-10-2010, 09:27 PM

Originally posted by jbrocious

The 135mm manual lens is equal to about 200mm on DSLR (if i understand correctly)

Well, a 135mm lens on your DSLR produces the same field of view as a 200mm would on a film camera. So if you have extensive experience with film and know exactly what field of view a 200mm lens produces, this is useful information. Otherwise, that info is of no value at all. Your 135mm manual lens produces the same FOV as any other 135mm lens on your DSLR - including a zoom lens set to 135. Crop factors are for comparing *cameras*, not lenses.

Russell-Evans · 08-11-2010, 08:01 AM

If you have the time and wan to photograph a little Americana, then spend a few hours shooting here.

35.709948, -114.803779 - Google Maps

Not my photo, but I laughed when I saw this in person.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=35.709948,+-114.803779&oe=utf-8&client=firefox...id=po-23156865

Thank you
Russell

08-02-2010, 05:08 PM	#1
jbrocious New Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Greensburg, PA Photos: Albums Posts: 13	Off to Vegas with K-x Hi All... first time poster, long time follower. My wife and I are heading to Vegas for the first time next week and we are planning on going to the Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, and Zion National Park. First, any suggestions on other must see sights? We have 1 unplanned day right now. Second, I am looking at the Tamron 70-300 Di LD since I only have 2 manual primes (50mm and 135mm) along with the 18-55 kit lens. From what I read this is a decent lens for a beginner... Any feedback before I purchase would be appreciated. I'm really buying it for this trip. Third, I am struggling to get sharp pictures with the Kit lens... with the manual focus primes I am pleased with the results. Any suggestions? I have read through the posts and haven't found a solution. Is it just a poorer quality lens compared to my vintage Pentax lenses? Last edited by jbrocious; 08-02-2010 at 06:06 PM.

08-05-2010, 06:50 AM	#8
libbyh Inactive Account Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Rochester, NY Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 119	VOF State Park jbrocious, I highly recommend Valley of Fire State Park just north of Hoover Dam as a day outing for photography. If the weather co-operates and you get good lighting, it can make for some stunning photos. See my gallery of photos from vegas at www.libbyandali.com. Best of luck and happy snapping. Cheers, Libby

08-11-2010, 08:01 AM	#13
Russell-Evans Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 1,553	If you have the time and wan to photograph a little Americana, then spend a few hours shooting here. 35.709948, -114.803779 - Google Maps Not my photo, but I laughed when I saw this in person. http://maps.google.com/maps?q=35.709948,+-114.803779&oe=utf-8&client=firefox...id=po-23156865 Thank you Russell Last edited by Russell-Evans; 08-11-2010 at 09:20 AM.

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08-02-2010, 06:12 PM	#2
traumaalert Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Florida Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28	Check out Bryce Canyon, it's much more beautiful than the Grand Canyon, although the Grand Canyon has it in sheer size. Bryce Canyon is also convenient because you can bring your car in and drive to the different points of interest, in Zion you have to take the shuttle. I took these in Bryce with just my Canon P&S. I would recommened hiking the Narrows in Zion and going to the Emerald Pools. But be careful in the Narrows because you are hiking in a river so if you fall with your camera... It's fried

08-02-2010, 08:11 PM	#3
Marc Sabatella Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Denver, CO Photos: Gallery Posts: 10,685	Originally posted by jbrocious Third, I am struggling to get sharp pictures with the Kit lens... with the manual focus primes I am pleased with the results. Any suggestions? I have read through the posts and haven't found a solution. Is it just a poorer quality lens compared to my vintage Pentax lenses? You'd have to post examples - preferably with EXIF intact - to demonstrate what you are seeing and not happy with. Sure, the kit lens isn't as good as many 50mm primes, but it should still be capable of great pictures.

08-03-2010, 03:02 AM	#4
bymy141 Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,563	It is hard to understand what the problem is with your kitlens without you posting a few examples with their EXIF data (shutter speed, aperture, ISO, AF mode). For the trip, first of all I agree, Bryce is a better choice over Zion. Also, it is a lot to cover for 1 day.... At last, my choice would be more to take a wide angle and a close up / macro lens instead of 70-300mm zoom. I'd go with my DA* 16-50mm and my Tamron 90mm macro. Both f 2.8. And, if you want a zoom like that, I'd go for the DA 55-300mm instead for its IQ. Landscape generally is served best with wide angle and there are a lot of details that you might like to shoot (flowers, insects, rocks). Have a nice trip, Bert

08-03-2010, 08:25 AM	#5
SpecialK Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: So California Photos: Gallery Posts: 16,480	Originally posted by jbrocious Hi All... first time poster, long time follower. My wife and I are heading to Vegas for the first time next week and we are planning on going to the Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, and Zion National Park. First, any suggestions on other must see sights? We have 1 unplanned day right now. Here's a recent thread about it. https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/general-photography/105577-any-info-about-vegas.html

08-03-2010, 10:17 AM	#6
KxBlaze Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: California Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,602	Originally posted by jbrocious Second, I am looking at the Tamron 70-300 Di LD since I only have 2 manual primes (50mm and 135mm) along with the 18-55 kit lens. From what I read this is a decent lens for a beginner... Any feedback before I purchase would be appreciated. I'm really buying it for this trip. This lens is pretty sharp, good color rendition, good contrast and cheap. BUT it also has a lot of purple fringing. It can be somewhat controlled by stopping down to F8-F10 but is still there. All in all I still really like the lens. It is very good at everything but not great and for the $170 new or even less for used it is a very good beginner long zoom.

08-03-2010, 06:36 PM	#7
jbrocious New Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Greensburg, PA Photos: Albums Posts: 13 Original Poster	thanks for all the replies.... Unfortunately I don't think we'll be able to make it to Bryce on our schedule, so we'll try to make the best of Zion and the Grand Canyon. I am beginning to see the value of a fast lens. The f2 50mm lens is producing great results for me. I do not have a macro lens of any kind so that may be a need over the zoom. The 135mm manual lens is equal to about 200mm on DSLR (if i understand correctly) and that should do ok for the trip. The kit lens is wide enough at 18mm for my needs (i think). I did order a lens hood for the kit lens... it may help with the washed out look of some of the photos. Once I some real test photos I'll post them to compare.

08-05-2010, 07:08 AM	#9
bdery Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Quebec city, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 9,357	I've been to Vegas two weeks ago... I can give you some pointers from a recent perspective. 1-Going to Grand Canyon : it's 5 hours by road, be aware of that. We booked a plane tour which takes 1 hour to get to the Canyon. However the time at the Canyon was quite short, too short since we loved the place. 2-In Grand Canyon you'll need a wide lens, a tele is not really useful. 3-everywhere you go, bring loads of cold water. It,s amazingly dry and hot. 4-In the Canyon, walking around is a must, bring good walking sandals or shoes. 5-Going to the bottom of the Canyon is about 6 hours on foot. Be aware of that if it's in your plans. 6-In Vegas, the Strip is the only place where there are many photo ops. Most of these happen at night. I personally brought a tripod, and that worked well (long exposures mean that people don't actually show on your photos . 7-Glitter gulch and the Fremont Streetexperiences are ok, no more. I'm not sure I recommend it. 8-Get to the far side of the Bellagio lake from the Paris at dusk and take amazing pictures of the fountains with the Eiffel tower in the background. 9-Be aware that distances are longer than they appear. Much so. 10-The Harra's chain (Paris, Planet Hollywood, Ceasar's, etc) offers the Buffet of Buffet deal : access to all buffets for 24 hours (not "a day") for 40$ if you're a casino club member. That's a great way to eat for a decent price. There are often lines at buffets however. 11-The monorail is not really worth it usually : getting to and from the station means going through the casinos, and that's often longer than walking on the Strip to cover the same distance. Here's the gallery of my shots (left side menu gives you access to subfolders): 2010-07 Las Vegas pictures by bdery - Photobucket

08-05-2010, 07:25 AM	#10
Kerrowdown PEG Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Highlands of Scotland... "Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand" - William Blake Photos: Gallery Posts: 57,819	My recommendation is that you take me with you, maybe to carry the bags. It sounds like a really great trip, I'm so jealous. enjoy.

08-05-2010, 12:23 PM	#11
mike.hiran Site Supporter Join Date: May 2007 Location: portland Photos: Albums Posts: 1,491	Don't forget about Red Rocks - it's just 15 minutes out of the city, but it's a beautiful place with a nice scenic loop. There are also some great hiking out there with some excellent trails. Check the internets and for some groups that will lead you on a free hike in the morning before it gets too hot - I did that last year and was very happy. My favorite place in Las Vegas for picture taking was the Springs Reserve. Very interesting architecture, good place to eat and some awesome desert gardens. Here's a flickr set I took - Springs Reserve For more modern architecture, I also stumbled upon the Sahara West Library which I found pretty interesting. flickr set: sahara west library in Vegas I'm sure there are other places - maybe there are others that know where else to go. Ditto on the water thing - you'll need to carry lots of water to be on the safe side. Also, if you like hamburgers and you haven't been to In&Out Burger, I highly recommend it! Just don't expect to do much in the way of moving quickly for a while after eating there... Good luck!

08-10-2010, 09:27 PM	#12
Marc Sabatella Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Denver, CO Photos: Gallery Posts: 10,685	Originally posted by jbrocious The 135mm manual lens is equal to about 200mm on DSLR (if i understand correctly) Well, a 135mm lens on your DSLR produces the same field of view as a 200mm would on a film camera. So if you have extensive experience with film and know exactly what field of view a 200mm lens produces, this is useful information. Otherwise, that info is of no value at all. Your 135mm manual lens produces the same FOV as any other 135mm lens on your DSLR - including a zoom lens set to 135. Crop factors are for comparing cameras, not lenses.