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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-23-2019, 04:33 AM
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in my limited experience, battery " life " is very dependent on how you use the camera
in addition to the " factors " listed above, there is another " chimping "
" . . . the habit of checking every photo on the camera display (LCD) immediately after capture . . . "
that takes a toll on battery power, regardless of type of battery
one other factor to consider: how quickly you can shift out a single battery vs. shifting out a number of AA batteries:
I have multiple D 190s, both OEM and third party, and I try to change out the battery kept in the camera body only at home by changing out the battery in the grip in " the field "
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-23-2019, 03:32 AM
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Ricoh/Pentax has done actual tests or 'experimented' and AA lithium with nearly 10 times the life of AA alkaline is a pretty "huge difference". I doubt anyone other than Ricoh or a battery company has bothered to systematically burn through shutter actuations other than with brand new cells in ideal vs. extreme conditions. But anecdotally the relative life expectancy (actuations per charge) reported in the owner's manual corresponds with reality in my experience.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-22-2019, 02:29 AM
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On page 284 of the K50 owner's manual their tests indicate that under "normal conditions" at 23 degrees celsius they report:
AA alkaline batteries: 170 shots
D-LI109: 480 shots
AA NiMh (1900 mAh): 580 shots
AA lithium: 1250 shots
And then of course, other factors like flash usage, auto vs. manual focus, video or live view, etc, will reduce those numbers.
This is about what I've found in my own usage of the K50. Nowadays, I rarely shoot more than 480 shots in a days outing, but I always have a freshly charged spare D-Li109 with me. I prefer not to fumble around with six (or 12) AA cells and disposable lithium, although by far the longest lasting, are not cost effective.
Note that the original Pentax D-Li109 was rated at 1200mAh. There are other brands that make a D-Li109 like DSTE that are rated at 2100mAh or Wasabi Power at 2300mAh.
So to answer your question: if your NiMh is rated at 2460mAh, then theoretically they would last longer than even the best D-Li109 like the Wasabi 2300mAh.
http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/support/man-pdf/k-50.pdf
---------- Post added 08-22-19 at 02:33 AM ----------
Note that NiMh batteries will typically have less voltage than alkaline but higher amperage.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-21-2019, 06:25 PM
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It really depends on the milli amp hour ratings of the batteries and the age and condition of the batteries.
For instance, the Pentax D-LI90 battery is rated at 1860mAh, while Eneloops Pro AA batteries are rated as minimum 1900mAh and up to 2550mAh, but, regular AA batteries may be only 1200mAh.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
01-02-2019, 04:01 PM
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Some thoughts as a Photolab user myself:
- This is to keep in mind, not first: If you have the Elite Version (I think that is what it's called), you can set presets for limited aspects of your process. I rely on this to set some aspects of detail, vibrance, noise reduction, etc. quickly, which I might use for every photo. You might use this to establish a preset that just sets up the FilmPack settings (FilmPack is an essential plugin if you want to really do black and white with DxO) when you are ready to switch over to Black and White (i.e. as a baseline). I actually have one like that. It essentially functions in a similar manner to how it would be if I exported my image over to Silver-Efex.
- That being said, I do a lot of the editing of my images in color, even if I know I am going to be going to black and white. The difference in this case, is that I will focus my color edits where I know things may matter more in a black and white image. For instance, I'll use more contrast, more details, maybe less noise reduction, and use saturation;vibrance; even white balance to facilitate the final black and white. It's amazing how much impact white balance can have on a final black and white image.
- The final image through the color phase will rarely be an image I would want to print in color. Again, this is just an intermediate step. I will usually end this phase with any touching up (dust removal, perspective, ca correction, etc) that is needed.
- After I get through most of what I want to do in color, I will either (a) export to SilverEfex Pro or (b) Use Filmpack to get to DxO's black and white module. I am hopeful at some point SilverEfex will get integrated into Filmpack since DxO now owns the Nik software. In the meantime, I just rely on the Nik Collection I have. I use the .exe file for SilverEfex as a plugin and run a Tiff file into it.
- Exporting to Filmpack usually means I just set a preset that only chooses the default Filmpack black and white module (as opposed to film specific) and then use the Filmpack workspace to work from there. For my process some of the contrast settings I most commonly use when dealing with black and white are part of the preset.
- I do have a workspace that I go into that helps with this and is more worthwhile than presets. I don't batch process really, and when I do I am more likely to use temporary presets than generic ones I can always use. That's just my workflow.
I do tend to prefer using Silver Efex. I have a few presets in there that skew my black and whites into a style I like to use (e.g. color toning, grain, etc). I've not gone that far yet with Filmpack and DxO.
Good luck. I do like having a custom workspace / panel in DxO because I find the different panels get to be a bit messy now that I've used the software and know all the features I use. My custom panel is of similar features as posted previously in the long list. Mine doesn't seem so long, but it does cover pretty much all of that.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
12-24-2018, 11:34 AM
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In other words, the RAW file itself cannot be edited - but it can be used as a basis for editing, and the resulting edits can be saved as some other kind of file: JPG, TIF, etc. You can shoot RAW+JPG and have the camera do the conversion from RAW to a b&w JPG - and/or - you can import the RAW file into your editing software and do the conversion from RAW to b&w yourself. Either way, the RAW file is unchanged, and the b&w edits apply only to a new file.
If you are happy with the b&w JPGs produced by your camera, that's great! And if your camera is set to take monochrome JPGs it offers the additional advantage of being able to preview/review in monochrome on the camera's LED screen. You can also edit the b&w JPG produced by the camera on your computer.
But you will have the potential for a lot more creative control over what the final monochrome looks like if you start with the RAW in your computer editing software and do the conversion there. This is especially true if you need to recover shadow or highlight detail from a high contrast scene. Of course, much depends on the capabilities of your editing software and your skill using the software.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
12-24-2018, 08:28 AM
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A good time to get a book or three on general flash photography technique and study up ....my Guides are freely available also (download from the link in my Sig below), but they have a Pentax system specific angle on things, not really general flash technique and knowledge.
Some general DSLR photography guidebooks will have relevant info on flash use, but I have found mostly those type of books have Canon and Nikon specific equipment examples.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
12-24-2018, 09:53 AM
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I'd say use the Nikon for this time.
Regarding flash use in general, first general rule is avoid pointing it straight at the subjects.
If ceiling is low and neutral white, you can bounce the flash off the ceiling for a more natural look.
Power has to be increased of course, since some of the light goes "wasted" in the reflection (is absorbed by the ceiling & distance is greater - remember that power decreases proportionally to the square of the distance).
I can't say anything about values... If you really want to do this the manual way, do the following:
1. mount flash on the hotshoe and direct flash towards the ceiling (45°, 60° or 75° setting, depending on the venue)
2. put camera in M mode
3. set 1/120s f/4, as you suggested
4. set flash at 1/32 power
5. fire a test shot. Too dark try 1/16 or 1/8 (depending on how many stops you reckon it's underexposed), too light try 1/64 or 1/128 (ditto for overexposure)
6. rinse and repeat until you've found your ballpark figure
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
12-24-2018, 02:09 AM
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Indeed, it basically allows you to apply the same adjustments that are in the camera, but retroactively. You can install it (digital camera utility) from the CD that came with your camera, or if you don't have it, there is a hack if you do a forum search.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
12-24-2018, 08:29 AM
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As has been said raw files will always display in colour by default. Have a look in your raw converter manual. It will explain how to batch convert, if it supports that process.
I would suggest however that batch converting will be a bit of a blunt tool. As you are well aware, tones and contrast are very important for b+w photography, it makes more sense to analyse each picture and adjust accordingly.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
12-23-2018, 04:53 PM
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Raw files will always be in color. You will have to do the B&W conversion yourself (or apply the camera's profile/settings using the Pentax desktop software).
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
10-26-2018, 05:35 AM
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You have several User Modes with which you can save settings.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
10-26-2018, 12:02 PM
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Correct. Page 73 of the manual.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
10-26-2018, 01:58 AM
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No, Pentax does not have this function. :(
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-25-2018, 06:34 AM
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On K3 sometimes I had to click few times to changes format, because two SD cards messing here. For me is not issue, because I don't use it very often. I would buy the fastest SD cards and one configure for JPG and another for RAW. Then you don't have to use button any more.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
07-28-2018, 01:01 PM
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What the Raw/FX button does depends on a couple of settings.
First choose your base format by pressing the INFO button and on the bottom row/second from left of that screen is FILE FORMAT. choose your base preference here.
Next go to the MENU under BUTTON CUSTOMIZATION. In RAW/Fx BUTTON you can choose CANCEL AFTER 1 SHOT or not .
Next highlight the three format changes, one at a time by pressing the down arrow and then the right arrow on each. you can select the format to change to. for example the first "JPEG" you can select the change to JPEG, RAW, RAW+. use the up/down arrow keys, make your selection and press OK. then move on to the next.
I have mine set to change from RAW to JPEG and JPEG to RAW and RAW+ to RAW+ and CANCEL AFTER 1 SHOT UNchecked. I usually have my base format as RAW, so the first press of the RAW/FX changes it to JPEG. It stays like that till I press RAW/FX again or turn the camera off.
A little long winded but I hope it's clear. ;))
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
07-02-2018, 04:15 AM
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It is the default behavior but as 08amczb suggests you can change it
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
07-02-2018, 04:13 AM
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Where you set up the AF button there is an option (AF2 insted of AF1 maybe) to turn off the half press AF action.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-20-2018, 09:34 PM
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The flap has happened to me, but not with a K-3. I would attempt to turn the camera off, and if that did not work I would remove the battery. Then if the battery was charged enough I would place the battery back in the camera and it would usually work properly.
I recall it happened with my K-20D, but not on an ongoing basis.
I had used some off brand batteries with my K-20D, which was my first dslr, and after I discovered they did not hold a charge, I resorted to only Pentax original batteries, which really were reliable.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-20-2018, 04:28 PM
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Your K-3 works a lot like the Nikon and it is not hard to lock/unlock the AF point selection. Assuming you got where you are by setting:- Front dial: AF.C
- Rear dial: 25 point grid (pink) on rear LCD with starting AF point darker red (e.g. Expanded Area AF (M))
The default location for the starting AF point is set using the 4-way controller. If it is at other than center (the default), it is because someone set it to where it is. To get it back to center and lock it there:- Enable (unlock) point selection by pressing (no need to hold) the Change AF Point button at lower right on the camera back (rectangle with four arrows and a center point). The AF grid display on the rear LCD will enlarge. If it gets smaller, press again. The larger size means the selection feature is enabled (unlocked)
- Press the OK button. This will return the starting AF point to center
- Press the Change AF Point button at lower right again to lock the starting point to center. The displayed grid on the rear LCD will be small again.
The above may also be done with the eye to the optical viewfinder. When the Change AF Point button at lower right is pressed an icon similar to the button label will display in the viewfinder. The selected AF point will also show when changed. If the icon is not visible, the point selection feature is locked.
The things to remember:- The Change AF Point button enables/disables point selection. When it is off, the feature is locked.
- Whether point selection is enabled (unlocked) is remembered until it is disabled (locked). This is true even if the camera is turned off and on again. This is not good, IMHO, but I suppose some people like this behavior.
I hope this helps. :)
Steve
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
11-19-2017, 08:48 PM
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I have shot birds with my K-5IIS and K-3II using my Sigma 150-500 DG OS. For birds in flight the shutter speed can fluctuate depending on speed of the birds' actions. For example a blue heron could be gliding by (slow wing movement) and I could shoot it at 800 shutter speed. If a seagull or tern were coming by I would use a 1000 shutter speed due to the speed and slight direction change it may take. The ISO is dependent on the light, and I like to stay under 800, with 400 ISO or below being ideal. An F8 or higher digit aperture (ex. F9, F10) is nice to retain a depth of field for the subject. Using TAV is valuable when on the go shooting birds in flight, so I have used it for that a majority of the time.
While shooting birds on branches for example, I will use a 320 shutter speed, or below if the movement is minimal. The use of F9 or of a higher digit aperture will usually include most of the bird in nice detail. I use TAV for this type situation also and try to stay at or below ISO 800 for this type shooting.
Other settings I use for the shooting types above (K-3II) are AF.C, "Spot" metering, "Spot" AF Point, "1st Frame in Action AF.C" set to "Release-priority", "Action in AF.C Continuous" set to "FPS-Priority", and "Hold AF Status" to "Off".
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
11-20-2017, 03:22 PM
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user 1 "catch the bird" TAV 1/1000 f7 auto iso. SR on AFS single point. Noise Reduction Custom 400-800 2 points. over 3 points. +/- to +0.3.
when I see a bird on tree branch I shot first with this settings . after I change to User 2 "bird with quality"
AV iso 400 f5.6 SR on +/- on front reel. probably the speed will be no too high and many of the pictures will be blurred but if you get a quiet bird the quality will be very good. After that I change to user 3 " BIF" Av ISO 640 or 800 f5.6 SR Off +/- on front reel for quick compensation . if blackground is clear then overexpose if dark underexpose. AFC centrsl point 27 expanded. NR custom as user 1
to use SR on on flight and AfC on static are the best way to ruined pictures.
Sorry bad English.
you can see my pictures and exifs on my flickr as pasorro63
---------- Post added 11-20-2017 at 03:25 PM ----------
In my opinion AFC hold off. if it is On you will hold the background 90% of times.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
11-20-2017, 08:26 AM
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There's quite a bit of discussion of jpeg settings in this thread. IME, high ISO NR and Image Tone (Bright, Landscape, sharpness, contrast, etc) have no effect on the camera's responsiveness. "Lens Correction" however, slows the camera down and should be off for action shots.
Shake Reduction needs to spool up before the shutter is released, otherwise the sensor is in motion and will blur the shot. The K-3 has programming to shut off SR when panning is detected, then restarts when panning stops. Again, if it is cycling while you shoot, you will have motion blur. Pentax clearly intends SR to be off for panning, and action shooting requires high shutter speeds to freeze motion. SR can hurt and is not needed with a high shutter speed, so should be off for birds in flight. (You may want to use it for panning shots like racing, or sports, where a lower shutter speed is used to deliberately show motion blur.) I do not use Horizon Leveling for action shots, for the same reason as SR. I don't want the camera moving the sensor while I am taking a shot. Of course the blur filter should be off for sharpness and speed. There's no reason, nor time, for these sensor features during action shooting.
Confining AF to a single point in AF-C mode prevents the camera from tracking the subject, and a bird in flight moves too quickly to keep a single point directly on its head. Expanded Area must be used to enable the camera's tracking algorithms and Real Time Scene Analysis. With Expanded Area AF, you only need to ensure that the first shot is spot on your intended target, and the camera will step in to ensure that point remains the target, even when it wanders from the center.
Select-area expansion*
Choose one of 27 AF points to focus on the subject, and the K-3 automatically tracks the subject and refocuses on it with the help of the neighboring points, even when it moves away from the initial point
Auto tracking** to trace the subject’s movement in tandem with the new scene analysis system
The PENTAX Real-time Scene Analysis System accurately detects the color, shape and movement of a subject, and keeps monitoring it throughout the imaging process. With the help of this innovative system, the K-3 automatically shifts the AF point to trace the subject’s movement with great speed and precision. Thanks to a wide AF area covered by 27 AF points, it maintains the sharp focus on the subject, even when it’s moving at high speed or when you are using the high-speed continuous shooting mode.
Feature 2?K-3 | RICOH IMAGING
IMO spot metering is best confined to AF-S mode, and used with AE-Lock. Shooting a white bird with spot metering will underexpose, a black bird will overexpose. I suggest Matrix metering and +0.5EV as a default, but may require brightness adjustment in post-processing. I was formerly using Center-Weighted metering, but someone suggested to use Matrix metering to fully enable the camera's 86K RGB sensor and Real Time Scene Analysis for predictive tracking. I believe that advice has merit. (Thanks rawr :))
86,000-pixel RGB light-metering sensor for extra-accurate detection of the subject’s shape and color
An image captured by the K-3’s RGB light-metering sensor with approximately 86,000 pixels resembles a Live View image. Unlike conventional metering sensors which measure the subject’s light level only, it even measures the subject’s primary color and its motion with great precision, then feeds the obtained data instantly to the PENTAX Real-time Scene Analysis System.
Feature 1?K-3 | RICOH IMAGING
I only use Focus Priority for BIF. In sports shooting, a slightly misfocussed shot of a critical goal etc, would be better than nothing, but I delete out-of focus bird shots. I'll probably get a dozen or so in-focus shots as it flies by. Also, I want to ensure that my target is being tracked. If my first shot is on the background clouds or trees, and I am using AF Hold, the camera will track the background instead of the target.
Sorry C_Jones, I am not trying to pick on you or your choices. I just wanted to present my reasoning so people would understand why I choose these settings. I have shot thousands of BIF images. I've spent hours in practice, throwing bread to gulls and ducks and shooting them as they fly around me. I've researched settings to use on the net and tried them in the field. You will not hear me complaining about K-3 tracking, these settings work acceptably well for me. Of course having a lens that can focus with speed and precision like my DA*300 and HD DA 55-300mm PLM helps. Results were less satisfactory with previous versions of the 55-300mm. Then again, how many images of a bird in flight does one need? I usually only keep one or two from each sequence. :cool: I would like to see an improvement in initial focus acquisition speed for the next flagship body.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
12-15-2017, 08:55 AM
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I always stopped at ISO 1600. At 3200, I could get rid of the noise*, but there was a serious decline in dynamic range. The images looked very high contrast and less real. You can see this for yourself by taking the same shot with the K-7 and K-3 at 3200 or 6400. With faster lenses, 1600 is OK inside, depending on your artificial light.
*I use Lightroom 4 and shoot in RAW. I don't know what settings would work for the camera's JPEG processing.
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