[Arpe]

I'm taking pics at our national rock and roll dances championship. I believe that to aid work flow speed we are probably going to shoot jpegs, I normally shoot raw.

So inside, under fluorescent lighting (I presume), probably fairly high ISO (yet to be determined but probably up to 1600 to help with faster shutter speeds), what settings should I have for jpegs? I've never touched the settings since getting the camera. Latest firmware. I'm not talking exposure settings (Tv, Av or ISO), just sharpness settings I suppose. I'll do a manual white balance. How much sharpness to dial in without showing too much noise?

I never understood the sharpness and fine sharpness difference.

[hcc]

If you intend to use high ISOs with your K-7, I would recommend that:
- you set the highests ISO at 3200;
- you consider if you prefer (or not) to do in-camera High-ISO correction or PP with a dedicated noise reduction software (eg Noiseware); see thread by Adam and the following discussion at https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-dslr-discussion/106600-k-7-high-iso-success.html;

The high ISO correction is worthwhile to minimise PP, but I prefer personally to do PP with Noiseware.

Will you use a flash ? In the negative, a fast prime lens is a must (with a large aperture like f 1.4). In the affirmative, a good flash will hep.

Otherwise I would use your typical settings. For me, these typical settings are P mode, AF-S, Center-focus, 14Mp two stars, ...

Hope that the comments may help....

[kittykat46]

I use "Natural" Picture mode,
For High ISO, 1600 and above I dial down the Sharpness -2 , Contrast -1.
If I use the shots out of camera, I set NR to High.
If not I set NR to OFF and do NR through noiseware - much better.
Take a test shot under the actual lighting to see if AWB can cope - usually very good for the K-7.
If too "cool" , I set one of the Fluorescent lighting WB - there are 3, with different levels of warmness. The K-7 allows you to scroll through different WB and see how the latest shot comes out, so you can select the one which looks best, and save there result as well

[Danny Delcambre]

Setting Speed and Program mode will help you with 100-3200ISO. It will manage for you. And flash wiLl do it for you on P Mode. If other lenses no idea. I have FA 50mm f1.4 with P mode are wonderful in night. If you use AV mode is diffcult to manage and waste time. P mode save your time. Smile

[Arpe]

Crikey - I'd even forgotten that the camera can do noise reduction!

No flash - no time I'd say anyway. I'd rather have no flash as no bouncing will be possible due to being in large hall with high ceiling.

So say at ISO 1600 or 3200, NR- high, sharpness 0, fine sharpness 0? Sound okay?

I have speedy primes, so I'll be eeking the most light I can from those.

I was intending on using TAv, or even manual, as we're inside, under (I presume) the same lighting all night.

I was thinking of "bright" mode, they'll be all dressed up and all that and may prefer a brighter output? Not sure how much difference it actually makes.

@hcc - only 2 stars for jpeg?

@kittykat46 - sharpness -2? Is the high ISO that bad?

Thanks Danny I have the 50/1.4 and it will be in my bag.

[kittykat46]

The K-7's jpeg performance for High-ISO 1600 and above was really underperfoming.
The sensor itself was not bad, as you can see from the RAW output, but in-camera jpeg was disappointing......

[hcc]

With 14 Mp 2 stars, you get already of a lot details with 4 Mb size files. I selected this setting because I do a lot of Hi continuous shooting and I want to do long sequences at 5.2 fps without filling the camera buffer.