[ogl]

This is relevant how?

On the record: Olympus guy answers on future of Four Thirds DSLRs (video clip) [update: new interview with product manager at Fotopolis] - 1001 Noisy Cameras

[kevinschoenmakers]

Looks good to me. However, I wonder what LR3 would do to it considering greatly improved noise reduction algorithms. Any chance to test with LR3 (or to upload RAW for someone with LR3 to test)?

He did upload a RAW. With LR3 it looks even better

Update:
I added a download link for the original DNG file:
-> 30 MB DNG file

[kevinschoenmakers]

On the record: Olympus guy answers on future of Four Thirds DSLRs (video clip) [update: new interview with product manager at Fotopolis] - 1001 Noisy Cameras

What I meant was that discussing Olympus' 4/3 future is not relevant to this thread.

[falconeye]

You should switch to LR3, much improved IQ (perhaps wait till they ironed out some more bugs).
[...]
Did you change the WB settings?

I used LR2 because most may have an idea how their raws look/looked in it.

• Is K-r intended to replace K-x, will the K-x stay, slowly simple run out of production or shall we soon see a replacement of the K-x (that is more compact than K-r, so probably high resolution 2.7" LCD instead of 3" (preferably of course with focus assist beam))?
• Besides working on high ISO performance, is Pentax also working on ISO below 100 (including increased effective dynamic range within one shot)?
• Wait, probably you over looked my 35 mm F2.4 question, are they going to position that as a price attractive kit lens icw K-r body only? Or also K-5 / K-x? Or just as seperately lens (this last one seems to be the case currently...)?

K-x replaces K-r, K-5 and K-7 will sell side by side for a couple months. So, if you need a camera as small as the K-r, buy it now...


ISO below 100: Besides night shot hdr, which I'll have to research, lower ISO requires a larger full well capacity or an embedded parallel processor on the sensor chip. The latter will come. Both would be researched by Sony, not Pentax.

35mm kit. It sound the logical thing to do but it wasn't announced this way. I'll have to ask.

At the booth of Pentax is shown test print of still life at ISO6400 (from K-5)....
My question - are there good big colours prints from ISO100?

Haven't seen them, but I didn't look for them either. The ISO 6400 comparison print was a small print out.

How about RAW FX?

Asnwered, it's the programmable RAW button. It seems you can activate ISO or HDR bracketing with this button.

I'm looking forward to finding out if K-5 improves on K-7's medium shutter speed vibration issues.

I already said I'm going to look into it.

[Christopher M.W.T]

I used LR2 because most may have an idea how their raws look/looked in it.


K-x replaces K-r, K-5 and K-7 will sell side by side for a couple months. So, if you need a camera as small as the K-r, buy it now...


ISO below 100: Besides night shot hdr, which I'll have to research, lower ISO requires a larger full well capacity or an embedded parallel processor on the sensor chip. The latter will come. Both would be researched by Sony, not Pentax.

35mm kit. It sound the logical thing to do but it wasn't announced this way. I'll have to ask.


Haven't seen them, but I didn't look for them either. The ISO 6400 comparison print was a small print out.


Asnwered, it's the programmable RAW button. It seems you can activate ISO or HDR bracketing with this button.


I already said I'm going to look into it.

Falk have you been able to find anything on

1. Flash sync?

2. Upgraded P-TTL & Flashguns?

Thanks@!

[falconeye]

Jeezz, multiquoting more than 5 messages makes the first one get ignored

Nothing new from Pentax at the show apart from what's been announced already:

Two Optios, the DA L 35mm, DA 18-135mm, K-5, and K-r, right?

Congrats on getting this thread to be #4 on Google! If you'd like a homepage post about any news you might have, just PM me the text you'd like posted. Thanks for the info!

Adam,
you are right, except you missed 2 more things:
- The 645D launch in Europe
- The Pentax DA-1

I didn't hear people talk about other stuff and no signs of an EVIL or FF.

As for the homepage article. I find it a bit hard to compile a News article. After all, I have nothing to say which isn't already in the press material.

But if you have an idea how the material in this thread could be compiled into a frontpage article, I'll be all for it

Thanks for also sharing the RAW file,
I tried some NR with Lightroom 3
first one is with default settings,
that is, 0 Luminance 25 Color NR ; second one is 64 for each

Thanks for the effort. But you know that it is totally useless if you don't provide full size files or 100% crops at least.

Just curious: What would you use high ISO bulb for? (On my K10D even ISO 200 quickly gets useless for super long exposures, so I try to use only ISO 100)

The High ISO bulb beyond ISO 1600 is a non issue, IMHO.

Yes, it IS a useful feature and it isn't to be missed. But it is easily emulated by a simple trick: Shoot RAW at ISO 1600, and boost exposure by +4 stops in the RAW converter. This gives you an effective ISO 25,600 in bulb without much negative effect because the readout noise on these newer Exmor sensors is so small. One must understand that increasing the ISO doesn't convince a single additional photon to enter the lens

Exposure was 1/800s, F/8, ISO6400, which equates to 1/50s, F/8, ISO400. There was plenty of light. In these situations that high ISO performance is great on most cameras.

Yawn. Let's take away 8-10 stops and see how it does, not just in noise but also DR.

I'm not part of the school who thinks that a short exposure time leads to less noise. And Everything below 1/180s is equal length as far as the sensor is concerned anyway. Moreover, the only variable influenced by the exposure time is the accumulated charge due to dark current. But it is so small it doesn't matter except for very long exposures.

Have you had a chance to play with 645D? Did you think that AF was as good as I thought it was going to be??? Just curious.

Yes, I played with it. AF felt "normal" which is a great thing for an MF camera. I would need a dark corner to do some more interesting experiments.

The most fun thing is the 645D's shutter sound. Almost sounds like a crossbow. Or at least like I imagine a crossbow would sound.

[falconeye]

Falk have you been able to find anything on ...

You may not have been aware. But next day I'll be at Photokina is Friday. Right now, I'm meeting some people in Düsseldorf (in my real job).

So, what I post meanwhile are the bits and pieces I receive via mail.

[falconeye]

Anticipating questions about the Pentax DA-1

It is an adapter which adapts most P&S cameras to the Pentax scope oculars, ie., Pentax XF and Pentax XL zoom eyepieces.

That's great news for birding with Pentax scopes. But not an SLR product. I know that the former owner of the most successful online store for Pentax products (tekade) was pushing hard for Pentax to acknowledge that they miss great opportunities in the spotting scope market.

Here is his blog:
http://www.optialo.de/

[fzwo]

I was just about to ask

Your reporting is greatly appreciated, Falk!

And, please, on friday, could you pester them about manual movie controls once more? It's almost trivial to implement, and it makes or breaks a cam for video enthusiasts. SR in conjunction with old manual lenses or FA limiteds is a dream combination for filming - if we can set exposure (and audio levels) manually.

Maybe we should organize a (snail-mail) letter campaign...

[falconeye]

My blog received a comment post which I'd like to share here:

Hello

I dont want to create a new pentaxforums account.

I have been on PK today and it looks like DFS can be disabled completly, you have the "Auto, Yes, No" Modus (non final Firmware)

I switched it of and used bulb for more then 30seconds, next picture in <1sec

I talked to a staff member who confirmed that thethering will be delivered later by firmware (final or later)

@Mehlsack: thanks for the info!

So at least, DFS can be switched off for some ISO settings, maybe even all.

[Col]

Pentax scopes take a standard 1.25" astronomical eyepiece, I know I've got a photoadapter (to T2 mount) in the back of a drawer. Oh and they already have scope to k mount adapters eg PF-CA35

[JoepLX3]

K-x replaces K-r, K-5 and K-7 will sell side by side for a couple months. So, if you need a camera as small as the K-r, buy it now...

I think I understand what you want to say, but then I made some x vs r mistakes...
- The K-r will soon replace the K-x as the bottom entry level DSLR of Pentax
- On the other side the K-7 will not be phased out (directly) by the K-5
- So if anybody wants to buy a brand new DSLR as small as K-x then they have to go buy the K-x now, but soon there will only be K-r in many colors

Correct "translation"?
- Me? I probably like the investment for a better LCD and focus assist beams (as well as other improvements) more than the "ultra" compactness of the K-x. On top of that if K-x is gone soon then also K-r pricing will settle soon, hopefully including 35 mm F2.4 as a kit lens (just bought 2x kit zoom lenses).

35mm kit. It sound the logical thing to do but it wasn't announced this way. I'll have to ask.

Thanks up front, I will keep reading it!!!

ISO below 100: Besides night shot hdr, which I'll have to research, lower ISO requires a larger full well capacity or an embedded parallel processor on the sensor chip. The latter will come. Both would be researched by Sony, not Pentax.

Thanks for info, no urgent need for my side , just technical interest, so this fully satisfied my needs for now.

[gazonk]

- So if anybody wants to buy a brand new small K-x then they have to go buy it now, but soon there will only be K-r in many colors

It's strange if they drop the K-x that quickly, after all the K-m is still present as a low price alternative in some markets.

[Class A]

I'm not part of the school who thinks that a short exposure time leads to less noise. And Everything below 1/180s is equal length as far as the sensor is concerned anyway. Moreover, the only variable influenced by the exposure time is the accumulated charge due to dark current.

I don't quite understand your response.

1. Isn't the real issue that ISO 6400 at 1/800s means 16 times less photons than ISO400 at 1/50? This implies a higher amplification and this in turn will increase noise (the less, the smaller the read-out noise). There is also a decreased SNR (should be 4 times lower) which is unavoidable.
2. Why do you regard everything below 1/180s as equal as far as the sensor is concerned? Did you mix this up with a certain ISO value? Surely, for different shutter speeds below 1/180 the slit size of the shutter will vary and hence the time a particular pixel is exposed to incoming light.
3. exposure time also influences SNR which increases with the square root of exposure time. So naturally, higher-ISO images have worse SNR compared to lower-ISO images with increased exposure time (of course independently of the sensor's high-ISO capabilities).

The most fun thing is the 645D's shutter sound. Almost sounds like a crossbow.

Must be fun shooting it. Does it help to get into a ZEN state of mind while shooting?

[Class A]

My blog received a comment post which I'd like to share here:

Mehlsack: I talked to a staff member who confirmed that thethering will be delivered later by firmware (final or later)

Can Mehlsack please detain said staff member and not release him/her until that announcement has become a reality? Sounds too good to be true!

One thinks Pentax would have announced it for a firmware upgrade as they did for SDXC card support.