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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-15-2018, 08:46 PM
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Wow. Absolutely love this one, Ray. That blue parabola in the sky is just pulling eye in with is deep, saturated color. Amazing.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-02-2018, 08:10 AM
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Dave explained it very well. Except... I cheated and used online calculator: Exposure Calculator to Compare Any Two Camera Exposures
It was definitely an overkill in this case where only aperture was different, but it can be quite useful if shutter speed and iso also differ.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-01-2018, 03:25 PM
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Very nice! Somehow this one looks to me quite a bit like an oil painting, especially when zoomed in on flickr site.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
01-31-2018, 05:29 PM
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I apologize for not being clear. Sadly, it seems to happen often with me. Those pairs of photos are great comparisons. It is just a kid in me was wondering, how much difference would still show after doing very basic processing that is a typical extent of my adjustments: adjusting exposure, black level, and maybe white balance.
By the way - looking at aperture and shutter speed on those boat photos, there is 0.67EV difference between them, with Canon being more exposed - that explains brighter photo (less conservative automatic exposure adjustment in Canon camera?). Pair of photos with grass has 0EV difference, and we can see that results of raw processing are much closer to one another in that case.
---------- Post added 01-31-18 at 07:45 PM ----------
That was brilliant. On behalf of all of the amateurs (or maybe, only this one) - Thank you, Dave!
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
01-30-2018, 08:27 PM
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Fascinating! Now those images look much more alike than before, despite the different color temperatures detected, especially that 'dried grass and trees' photo. Green tint on pentax photos seems to be largely (or entirely?) gone.
Photos with boats have a very different perceived exposure, and interesting enough, I think it is the other way around from out-of-camera jpegs (there, pentax's image was brighter, here, canon's picture is brighter).
I do not quite buy the "no adjustment whatsoever" technique since software ALWAYS applies some per-concieved notion of necessary default adjustments for a given camera, and those can differ between different raw processors, and all of that it is not quite a precise science. Could we have another pair of pictures with boats, this time with exposures adjusted to be about same? Pretty please? In Darktable, I would use that 'droplet' icon for automatic exposure and black level calculation, using whole body of the picture for analysis, and than maybe add some fixed manual adjustment up or down to make picture look 'right', just keeping that fixed amount same for both photos. My guess is that after such adjustment difference between those photos will be quite small.
Thank you, Ray, for entertaining us with this comparison/test!
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
01-30-2018, 07:43 AM
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Interesting test, thank you for taking time to do it, Ray!
I also prefer cannon's photos for their color rendering, and not only because canon's photos are much warmer, but also because pentax's photos show significant green tint when comparing them side-to-side. Pentax looks sharper on one of those 2 photos, but that does not make much difference in visual appeal.
Canon's representation may be less realistic, but it is definitely more appealing (to me, at least).
Reminds me why I never shoot jpeg directly (given a choice). If I was, I would probably shoot with Olympus. Or Fuji. Or maybe Cannon.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
01-29-2018, 08:06 PM
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We do remember, Dave, that valiant act is hard to forget.
I find that first photo to be absolutely stunning. Incredible contrast of field and stormy sky. Thank you.
And ... if any of you reading this are on any kind of restricted calories diet.... I am very, very sorry for the following... :o
Of course those photos were made with K10D. Who said that this camera is bad at 800 (first photo) and hopeless at 1600 (second photo)?. As for lens, this time it is Elicar VHQ 90mm f2.5 macro lens, that back in its time, funny enough, was marketed to dentists... feel the irony?
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Forum: Winners' Showcase
09-08-2017, 08:52 AM
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I would like to nominate this photo
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
09-08-2017, 08:52 AM
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I would like to nominate this photo
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
09-05-2017, 06:04 PM
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Amazing colors, Paul! Absolutely love how they shift one into another.
Wow. Thank you! That photo with the bee, when pulled full screen, is stunning. Being able to see pollen that is stuck on the belly of that bee... is surreal. That is a superb lens, indeed. I like overall character of my Komine very much, but it is overall not nearly as sharp, and purple fringing is noticeable at times as well (although I have seen worse), knocking down sharpness a bit as well. Or maybe it is all just a user error:lol:
Nice! I used to have Kenwood KA-6000 amp, and in addition to being good overall amp, it had best phono stage from any vintage amp I have tried. And that Miracord turntable... it is surprising how good of a parallel one can draw with K10D. Just thing about it. That turntable has idler drive, that is considered to be obsolete technology for many decades, and it was superseded long time ago by belt and direct drive, but still has many proponents to this day that are convinced that idler drive is best for rhythm and PRAT. I have 'Braun' version of same turntable, designed by famous Dieter Rams, but mine unfortunately not only cost me quite a bit, but came to me with only half its internals. It has pretty ringy platter and benefits from platter & top plate dampening (at a cost of reduced 'liveliness' of sound), but it does sound surprisingly good, and put Technics SL-1500 to shame.
Well, to keep subject on that camera we love... yesterday evening I went to the park, and was pretty frustrated by the fact that setting sun was hidden from me by large hills making for dreary lighting, but accidentally brought home quite interesting picture. It is definitely not SOOC, but required only about a minute or 2 of post-processing. Of course, same Vivitar/Komine 70-210mm f2.8-4 lens.Behold... the weeds!
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
09-04-2017, 09:44 AM
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Yes, that amp will do just that. Contact me in private if you want to chat more about it, do not want to clutter this K10D corner with other (irrelevant) hobbies of mine :)
Also, very happy to see another person that appreciates early classical vinyl, I am afraid there are not that many of us now. I have probably about 7 linear feet of classical vinyl records, and that is what I mostly listen to those days (usually digitizing it to temporary copies in dsd128 format as I listen, so that I can play them multiple times without extra wear and tear, but digital copies do not sound quite as good despite all my efforts).
Ooops, I am cluttering this place already. Mea culpa.
A little bit back on topic. Tokina version of that Vivitar 70-210mm lens (2nd version) produced softer and gentler images for me. I am sure that in hands of real master of understated pictures (I am looking at you, Dartmoor Dave) it would be great lens, but I just do not have the touch for it. Here is an example, that I think displays both strengths and weaknesses of that lens.
Non-K10D example of same lens: https://flic.kr/p/Xbr7DV
ChristianRock, if you happened to have a picture made with Pentax-A 70-210mm, I would love to see it.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
09-03-2017, 09:03 PM
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I have to admit to a bit of cheating - I applied some extra sharpening it Darktable to first 2 photos, something I never do; those water droplets were just begging for sharper lines. Being total novice with sharpening tool, have I overdone it?
Still, got to use same lens to shoot at our friends house today and I am very pleased with it - that lens is quite sharp for its focusing distance (and being an old zoom!), and have distinct way of rendering reality that suits me. Got some indoor shots that looked a bit like oil painting, soft gentle pastel colors, sorry, can't post those online. But, there was a cat there, and those I can share :)
It is a keeper, I think. Sharper than Tokina version of same lens that I got before, with better contrast, and I like its color rendering more. It is not 'tack' sharp, and photos taken with this lens are not amenable to much cropping, but it is sharp enough, and it is the best tele-lens that I have tried so far on Pentax.
As for the tube in a photo, you are right, Dave. It is a headphone amp that I have built from the kit offered by Bottlehead, amp model name is 'Crack', and it has upgrade named 'Speedball' installed. I am not sure what they were smoking when those names were invented :) but that amp is a really good one. I was just looking to snap a 'disposable' photo when I was pairing EyeFi card with my tablet, and amp was nearby on a table, making it a convenient subject. And later I just could not bring myself to delete this photo, it turned out way better than expected (well, expectation was essentially zero).
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
09-02-2017, 03:54 PM
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Yesterday received Komine version of Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f2.8 to replace/supplement Tokina version of the same lens, and just had to get a bit wet today and snap some 'macros'...
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
05-06-2017, 03:42 PM
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Awesome photo of burning sky!
Yes, K10D does not require any post-processing to pull amazing colors.
I have been using my K5 IIs a bit more recently, and it is definitely more capable camera, but I miss those CCD colors quite badly. Time to switch back to K10D.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-10-2017, 06:33 AM
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@rayallen, great photos! I especially like the second one, made with Tamron SP 28-80, of a hill/cliff - very 3D-like, almost mesmerizing.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-10-2017, 06:27 AM
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Great! I was really curious about the picture, especially when Dartmoor Dave praised it since I like his style very much.
And... I sorted out my technical problem this morning, and was able to see the picture. It is is truly amazing! Very moody, and very authentic. Looks almost as a painting. Love it. Definitely worth the struggle :p
As for the technical problem itself (it may help somebody else later), it turned out that OpenDNS blocks all content from i.imgsafe.org because somehow it was flagged for mmm ... how do I say it ... questionable adult-oriented content? That is why I have seen nothing for that image. As soon as I switched to non-filtering DNS provider, image showed up.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-09-2017, 07:06 PM
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Oh mine, I did not anticipate that my post will case so much agony. I apologize for that. For some weird unknown technical reason I really see no picture on that post. And that reference to king and his clothing was just an opaque and awkward reference back to ME feeling a fool, not seeing a picture that everybody is praising. But humor sometimes does not work as intended, especially on internet. I do not mind noisy picture, I am not a purist, and not even a good photographer. I just wanted to enjoy the picture, and was curious if everybody else is able to see it, that is it.
Now I will go back to my corner to sulk. No picture for me today. Will try on different computer/network tomorrow, probably should help with this mystery.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-09-2017, 12:12 PM
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Ahem.... am I the only one not seeing the photo?
Or ... the king is actually naked?
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-04-2017, 02:51 PM
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LOL. If that happens, consider manufacturing and selling some kind of a 'lens scratcher' device that will help in properly applying correct scratches in correct places :D
Seriously, can't wait to see more of your landscape photos (with un-scratched ponies in them) made with scratched lens.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-04-2017, 07:20 AM
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I did not think you are really going to do it either, Dave.
This is one of the most interesting and wild experiments in photography I have ever seen.
I have some personal interest in its outcome, because just couple days ago I realized that historically, for some strange reason, the lenses I tend to favor the most are forcing me to use lens hoods, otherwise they result in extremely low contrast and bad flaring (poor old coatings). Vivitar Komine 28mm was like that and I adored it on my m43 cameras. Currently, Helios 44-2 is like that, and while I am not crazy about it's wobble, 'tactile feel' and manual aperture, it has the rendering I like very much. On the other hand, modern lenses with good coatings tend to leave me cold, even good designs, like venerable Panasonic 20mm pancake - it is good lens indeed, miles better than kit zoom, but it still does not have the 'magic' that SOME old lens with old coatings have. I could never pinpoint what that 'magic' was, it was always just the angle of 'like, or not like". Could it be that subconsciously I tend to prefer old, worn coatings (that come on top of good optical design, of course)?????
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-26-2017, 05:09 PM
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K10D, wobbly Helios 44-2 and a roll of old expired film ;)
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-18-2017, 11:09 AM
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I love the light reflected of the water dancing on the hull in the first picture!
K 28 3.5 you say... I need to spend more time with that lens. So far I find that I tend to favor is sibling, K 50mm 1.4 most of the time. Interesting thing is, I also tried the coveted early 8-elements Super-Takumar 50mm 1.4, but so far my impression is that K lens has better IQ. That is counter to what everybody else is saying, I must be doing something wrong...
And, just to keep going with the theme of K10D sensor's fabulous colors, another picture taken with Tak 135mm/3.5
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-17-2017, 04:11 PM
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"Picture in picture" found 2 days ago in my neighborhood
Taken with S-M-C Takumar 135mm f3.5
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-11-2017, 09:41 PM
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Love that green color! And to think that it was shot with kit lens! Pretty amazing.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-10-2017, 09:49 PM
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Hello, another 'obsolete camera owner' here :)
Took me couple weeks to read this whole thread, but it was well worth it. So many great photos! Never knew about dartmoor ponies before, but I positively adore them now, and somehow word 'takumar' is associated in my mind with those ponies having a bad hair day. :D
16 years ago I used to have Sony DSC-F717 and loved it dearly. Then some years later I 'upgraded', and missed rendering of that sony ever since. Yes, it had tiny sensor, resulting in large DOF. Yes, it could not write in raw format, only jpeg/tiff. But images from it for some reason often were quite spectacular. I used to think that this was only because of Zeiss lens. But eventually I found people talking about CCD and its rendering. Which eventually led me here, and motivated me to rescue one K10D from dusty shelf of its previous owner.
And yes, images from K10D do remind me of that good old F717 quite a bit. Except that now I can change 'glass' (yippee - vintage manual focus all the way!). And I can have raw files. And I can use high speed high capacity cards, not those puny 128MB memory sticks. Life is good.
Liked K10D so much that I also got K-3 IIs for indoor shots, where K10D is a little bit underwhelming. But... most of my shooting so far is still with K10D, it is just good enough.
Here are some of the photos I took with it:
Elicar 90mm f2.5 macro lens built by Komine:
S-M-C Takumar 28mm f3.5:
Vivitar 'Series 1' 70-210mm f3.5, 2nd gen built by Tokina:
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