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Forum: Pentax K-70 & KF
05-24-2019, 11:26 AM
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Thanks :) I saw a couple of those, but I've never used a remote with a Pentax camera before (and only barely at all), so I couldn't tell from those if the same advice would apply to any/all brands. I take it there's some sort of common signalling standard, just (wildly) different connector types across brands? I guess that sort of makes sense, even if a common standard would be rather practical. Then again, camera manufacturers don't seem overly fond of common standards :P
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Forum: Pentax K-70 & KF
05-24-2019, 12:46 AM
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Ah, I see. I tried searching, but I guess my search terms were a tad too specific or otherwise off, as I didn't find anything specific. The connector on my K-70 is a 3.5mm jack, so I take it the "C1" connector is a 2.5mm jack? Does that mean that any 2.5mm female to 3.5mm male adapter will work? I get that finding a remote with the right connector will (obviously) be better, but the only options I've found so far are way out of my price range or so basic I might as well use the Pentax app.
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Forum: Pentax K-70 & KF
05-23-2019, 11:57 AM
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I'm looking for an affordable remote, ideally with a timer, and came across the Viltrox JY-710. Looks absolutely perfect, and the price is great too. The listing says it should work for the K-5, K-5II, K-7, K-30, K-50, K10D, K20D, K100D, and K200D with a "C1" connector (looks like a 2.5 or 3.5mm jack?). My question is: does anyone have any idea if this will work with the K-70?
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Forum: Pentax K-70 & KF
08-08-2018, 12:53 AM
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Whoa. That's the kind of shot that really shows off the quality of those lenses. The sharpness! And that bokeh! The color rendition is beautiful too.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
07-31-2018, 05:03 AM
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Through a screen door? So you just focused through it? If so, I'm amazed that these are reasonably sharp. Well done! That must be like a very rudimentary ND filter, i suppose?`:lol:
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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
07-31-2018, 05:01 AM
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I said so in another thread too, but anyhow: congratulations! Looking forward to seeing the camera put to use :D
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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
07-30-2018, 10:59 PM
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Not what I was saying; I was just saying that I would find it interesting to look into how much the server response times suffered under the load from people trying to enter the raffle. Of course I wasn't home for the 3rd thread, and forgot about the fourth, so I didn't try until a few minutes past the time - at which point the server wasn't under any load at all. From what I've seen, that thread didn't even fill up? Suppose I might try again in a month :P
Anyhow, congratulations to the lucky winner!
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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
07-30-2018, 06:15 AM
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... so, you want a single raffle entry thread with no limit on total number of posts, in other words? That would probably work, but it's quite obvious that this is designed to make people visit the forums often, and hopefully make a habit out of it. IMO, a good strategy. I agree that not getting into the raffle would be a bummer, but as was noted above, the ratio of total eligible forum members vs. total raffle entries is less than 2:1. And if there was just a single thread with a post limit of 300, that would seriously disadvantage people in whichever time zones fit the worst with the starting time of that thread. In other words: this is a good solution overall, and obviously leads to more forum activity and energy spent here from users than just leaving it open.
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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
07-30-2018, 04:42 AM
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Whomever first noted that the forum spits out the time until the thread opens when you try to reply: thank you. I would never have gotten in otherwise.
I wrote a quick reply and posted, was told 03:02 until the thread opened. Started a stopwatch at the same time as the page loaded. Clicked "submit reply" from the advanced editor exactly as the stopwatch said 3:02. Got in as #30 first, #37 after a page refresh (guess the times there were close. I could probably have clicked a couple of seconds earlier (considering that the response from the server was sluggish even 3 minutes before), but I didn't want to take the chance of being too early.
Just for fun, I might set up my PC to ping the forum server and log the response times as the next thread opens. Currently the server responds in 122 ms (a bit slow, but likely due to me being in Norway and this server being ... in the US?), but I'm willing to guess that shoots up quite a bit under load. Not to mention the processing needed for the eligibility scripts in the forum software.
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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
07-30-2018, 04:00 AM
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
07-29-2018, 12:07 PM
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I don't know how many shots I've ruined shooting against a bright sky like that, so I definitely know the feeling. All in all, I wouldn't be disappointed with the first ones you posted (but then I usually prefer slightly underexposed shots). Also, framing and capturing small birds is never easy, so kudos for doing it so well! :)
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
07-29-2018, 05:40 AM
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Hm. I agree that the insect looks better, but the chaffinch looks a bit washed-out and pale. Does DxO have radial filters or something similar? Personally, I wouldn't lighten the whole bird (at least not by more than a smidgen), but focus on its eyes/head.Then again, lighting like that can be very difficult to deal with.
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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
07-29-2018, 01:14 AM
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A question as I wasn't around for the previous raffle: the threads say they're limited to one entry per forum member. Is that for the whole raffle, or per thread? The rules as posted aren't clear on this.
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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
07-28-2018, 01:11 PM
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Forum: Pentax K-70 & KF
07-28-2018, 12:13 PM
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Thank you! Everything posted in this thread except for the detail shot from the Ta Prohm temple was shot on a tripod. I guess I wish I could handhold 6-15-second exposures like those city shots - that'd be a good superpower to have :D But alas, I'm only human. I have to say, even using the tripods a grand total of five times, dragging them around two countries for a month was very much worth it. For some shots, you just can't do without one. Would have missed some beautiful sunrises and sunsets, not to mention those city shots (or they would have had a lot more noise, a lot more people, and a lot less character).
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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
07-28-2018, 12:01 AM
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Now that I'm back on my PC, I figured out why I didn't see it: instead of that, there was a banner asking for donations to support the site. Once I dismissed that and refreshed the page, it's there. No wonder I was confused :P
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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
07-27-2018, 03:47 PM
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Ah, now I see. Since I'm on my phone right now I can't see it, but I probably overlooked it before due to how close to fully red it is - it just looks like another UI element. Suppose I should have been here earlier in the month. Anyhow, thanks for clearing that up :)
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
07-27-2018, 03:44 PM
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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
07-27-2018, 02:59 PM
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Am I the only one who doesn't understand at all what "per the "thermometer" at the top of each page" (from the giveaway announcement thread) means? Either it's not showing up for me, or I just don't understand what's being described.
Good to know I haven't missed the chance to enter, though; I've been posting away, pretending like I'm an active forum member (maybe this'll make me one ... oh, I see what you're doing now, you clever rascals!). Well past the 10-post minimum, but now I'm on a roll. I've increased my post count by more than 50% in two days, and I swear none of it's spam.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
07-27-2018, 02:46 PM
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Thank you! As mentioned above, we had a truly excellent guide. He didn't actually point out specific framings or show example shots (other than when we struggled and asked for feedback), but his cues on positioning and angles were invaluable. Made the second day visiting temples (which I haven't yet posted - stay tuned!) much, much easier. I'd definitely recommend his services to anyone ever wanting to visit Siem Reap/Angkor.
On the other hand, it's almost impossible to go there and not take great pictures. There's just too darn much to photograph. And 1000-year-old temples covered in jungle make for good, patient models.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
07-27-2018, 02:15 PM
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The 18-135 can do bokeh too. On my K-70, 24mm, f/4.0.
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Forum: Pentax K-70 & KF
07-27-2018, 01:56 PM
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To be honest, I don't think any of those shots are acceptable. If the HDR mode was worth its salt, it would expose for the highlights (sky in this case) and lift the shadows as that's where the sensor has the most detail. Looking at the HDR ADV, the sky is blown-out and darkened into awfulness, and it's too light to retain much detail in the rest. Even if the sky was mostly white at that time, you can get more detail than that.
If you have access to Lightroom or any version of Adobe Camera Raw (probably other utilities too, those are the only ones I've tried) you can do better with a few quick adjustments. An example:
The first shot (1278) was exposed for the tower (auto exposure, aperture priority IIRC). Second is the best I could do with that in Lightroom - it's okay at small sizes, but there's artefacting in the sky all over, and I've pulled the highlights down as far as they go. That's never good, creates haloing and other weird effects. Third was stopped down to expose the sky correctly. Fourth is that with some adjustments. I could even lift that further if I wanted to, but I prefer the shadowed look (it's more like what it actually looked like).
Not to sound like a snob, but in-camera (or any type of automatic) HDR is rarely worth anything at all. Shoot raw, retouch in post. You'll be happier with your results, and it's honestly not that much work.
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Forum: Pentax K-70 & KF
07-27-2018, 01:23 PM
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Congratulations :) I've been a proud K-70 owner for a few months now, but have only grown prouder with time. This camera punches way, way above its weight class. I've gone from envying my GF her Sony A7sII a lot to ... not at all. Now I just want some better lenses :D
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Forum: Pentax K-70 & KF
07-27-2018, 12:39 PM
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I posted a bunch of these over in the 18-135 thread (here and here), but I did bring another lens with me on my recent trip to Cambodia and Vietnam, so I'll post some stuff from my Tamron 10-24 here. Unlike with the old K-x, I'm actually getting consistently usable results from that lens now. What a change a camera upgrade can make! Before the trip, I was happy with the K-70, but after taking 1650 pictures over the last months, I'm in love. This camera is great.
Angkor Wat sunrise by Valantar, on Flickr
Angkor Wat sunrise by Valantar, on Flickr
Ta Prohm detail by Valantar, on Flickr
Ho Chi Minh City, Nguyen Hue by Valantar, on Flickr
Ho Chi Minh City, Nguyen Hue by Valantar, on Flickr
Ho Chi Minh City, Nguyen Hue by Valantar, on Flickr
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Forum: Pentax K-70 & KF
07-27-2018, 12:16 PM
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I'm by no means an expert, but this approach has always worked for me, even for non-sealed cameras:
Cleaning dirt and grime off a camera or lens housing: using a fluffy microfiber cloth, moist but not wet, wiping in short motions (don't rub/scratch the dirt in!) and shaking out dirt/dust if needed. Rinse, repeat. Literally.
Cleaning dry stuff (like sand, windblown dirt, road dust, so on) off a camera or lens housing: first go at it fiercely with an air blower. If you have a compressor or one of these things, that should work better, but be careful not to force dirt into potential openings like zoom lenses or around buttons (which might make them less responsive/not work at all). After blowing off as much as possible, see above.
Cleaning dust off lenses: air blower. If it sticks, a clean, smooth microfiber cloth or the brush on a lenspen.
Cleaning stains, spots, light salt spray off lenses: air blower, then a large size lenspen. Don't apply pressure, work in a spiral from either the centre out or outside in. Repeat as necessary. The lenspen also has a nice soft brush that's great for clearing off light dust without getting your microfiber cloth out.
Cleaning filters (except for variable ND filters, unless you want a funky "trapped water" effect in your photos): rinse under the sink in lukewarm-to-hot water. After rinsing and air-drying, see above.
I've never had to clean a really grotty front lens element, but I would likely go at it very carefully with a moist, fluffy microfiber cloth (fluffy to pick up dirt well; the smooth ones are good for polishing, not so good for picking up dirt, and it might grind the dirt into the lens' coating) before removing any residue with the lenspen.
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