[Spodeworld]

Does Pentax have a mode like this?

Explaining Olympus' Live Composite Mode | Shooting M4/3

Seems very useful for fireworks, light painting, etc. hey

[Megapixelmk]

Yes it does have something similar. Under Multi exposure, set to Composite mode, and set that to bright. This means it will add only bright pixels to subsequent image.
This is also available in interval composite mode, but you are required to have a minimum of 2 seconds between shots. However you need to pre-determine how many shots you will take, whereas I believe you can stop the process at anytime on the Olympus as you see it unfold live on the screen.
It is a fantastic mode for capturing lightning strikes cumulatively, and of course using the interval mode it's great for star trails.
I think Olympus has done it really well and it is a key feature for their om-d cameras

[tokyoscape]

Yes, as mentioned by @Megapixelmk, and this page might be useful as well Pentax K-3 Multi exposure and Interval Composition | Wallace Koopmans Artlog

as for firework show, I perfer to use continuous shooting mode and I will do the blending / masking myself in Photoshop. It take more time on post processing but I have a choice to convert them to timelape video too. Beside that I tried those composit setting before and I found myself haveing to check the camera setting and photo at the end of each sequence everytime. I end up enjoy the live show less. Now I just set it to 6 sec, continuneous shooting and let the camera do its job I won't touch it or even look at it untile the show end.


However multi exposure composit is very handy for daytime long exposure.

[texandrews]

no text, reference only

[biz-engineer]

It's available on K3, K1, K1 II. I guess it's also available on the KP, owners could tell.

[Spodeworld]

@Megapixelmk - sounds interesting...but, any suggestions for timing out fireworks displays? Also, doesn't this run the risk of burnout for say, buildings with lights that might be part of the background?

@tokyoscape - I wonder if you could accomplish that by stacking them in photoshop and using the Lighten mode for anything above the bottom layer (as a starting point)....

[Megapixelmk]

@Megapixelmk - sounds interesting...but, any suggestions for timing out fireworks displays? Also, doesn't this run the risk of burnout for say, buildings with lights that might be part of the background?

I havent used it for fireworks but I guess you wouldnt need need very long exposure times due to the frequency of fireworks, or for that matter many composite images, as the final image would become very cluttered. Re your second point, as I understand the composite modes, the "bright" setting only adds additional bright pixels in each subsequent image. If you change the composite mode to "Additive" you can get over-exposure.

Its been a while since I have used it (on my previous K3) but I remember you have the option of saving all the images during the process, which is great if you dont like your final composite image, but prefer one half way through the process

[tokyoscape]

@tokyoscape - I wonder if you could accomplish that by stacking them in photoshop and using the Lighten mode for anything above the bottom layer (as a starting point)....

Yes, that is what I has always been doing in combination of smart object and masking for both firework and road traffic light trails. But some time the file can get really big an slow down the computer too.