[philmorley]

"Pro" is a weird fascination with photography enthusiasts. A select few pros get to do cool artistic stuff like Ben. A few more get to do other interesting largely discretionary work and make money at it. The rest are, y'know, taking pictures of kids on Santa's lap.

Now, please don't be insulted — nothing wrong with that as a vocation, but the requirements for that are way different than those for someone who enjoys taking photographs and wants a high-quality advanced-feature camera body. I imagine that if I were a pro photographer, I'd want something different for work and for pleasure.

For comparison: the standard "pro" computer is a low-powered beige desktop model with onboard graphics and sound, and a 17" low-res LCD. What's so exciting about "pro" equipment?

For me, "advanced amateur" is a much better label than the "prosumer" market term.

re pc sync I use radio transmitters

this is an interesting analogy.

I recently upgraded my 'home' and work machine, home is used for semi pro photography and graphics, work is spatial modelling and mapping. both graphics intensive.

so i research graphics cards, barely any difference for 2d work between a $50 card and $1000, nearly all the $500-$1000 cards are all geared up for 3d games. even the difference for the quattro / firegl pro cards was minimal for 2d (each machine got a $100 card and the extra went into processor & ram). that seems to be an industry driven by gamers / enthusiasts rather than pro users

Phil

[clawhammer]

For the record, I wish the K10 had a PC sync socket, and I'm glad the K20 has one. I had to buy a Nikon AS-15 adapter for my K10.

If you've never tried off-shoe flash, give it a shot. It can be a lot of fun, and the knowledge you gain about controlling light will probably do more to help your overall Image quality than a new camera

[MikePerham]

I see your point, maybe the Mets 58 could be an option for you :
Re: Example images?: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

I don't see that the Metz offers anything that the 540 doesn't ...no one talks about the issues that bother me so I don't know if they apply to the Metz 58 or not. Since I don't have access to one (none of the camera stores in town stock them) I am not going to buy one on spec. Also the 540 has a bit more power, compare them when both are at 50mm ...the Metz only shows a higher rating because it zooms out longer than the Pentax. I like that extra power as it allows one to shoot in rapid sequence. The 540 recycles about as fast as you can shoot when set to 1/2 power or less, or when shooting P-TTL and you are at reasonable distances from your subject.

Mike.

[amoringello]

For those that use radio triggers, is anyone able to get full X-Sync speed for them with the K10D or K20D?
I have the K10D but the best shutter speed I can get without a black bar from the shutter is about 1/125s but usually 1/100s. The X-Sync is supposed to be 1/180 on the K10D and works with wireless (via flash) and hard wired of course. The trasmitter supposedly supports 1/250 for standard shutters (1/1000 for electronic).

I have started hard wiring flashes recently, so X-Sync port would be nice.
Of course I would prefer radio tranmistter, if they would be able to keep up to the full sync speed.

(FYI, I have the Elinchrom Skyports -- as far as I can tell they are garbage. No better than the $30 eBay radio trigers as far as distance and sync speed.)

[Ben_Edict]

(FYI, I have the Elinchrom Skyports -- as far as I can tell they are garbage. No better than the $30 eBay radio trigers as far as distance and sync speed.)

Thanks for that info. I was considering the Skyport, but not now anymore...

Ben