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Forum: Post Your Photos!
04-15-2024, 08:58 PM
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Not in the options but I was using the Pentax 1.4x adapter. The camera recorded 400mm and f7.1 which didn't take the 1.4x adapter into consideration. My reason for using the 1.4x adapter is the lens isn't as sharp as I like at 500mm so I hoped using the adapter and ~400mm would give better results. The big issue I had is the weight of the lens plus the wind caused the lens to slowly decrease the focal length. In doing so, the focus drifted as well (nothing a little masking tape wouldn't have fixed if I had some...). And I forgot my reading glasses so I had to focus using the "least fuzzy" method as nothing was sharp on the LCD. Even with the planning errors, the weather was nice and I captured photos I'm not embarrassed to share. It was an enjoyable day.
Untitled | jaster131 | Flickr
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
11-18-2023, 07:20 PM
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I've done that but 80% of booting into Windows was to run updates. I had 0 issues but it's 2 operating systems to manage. And it's another $200 for the Windows Pro license. Yes, Windows Home is cheaper but, after years in IT, I can't stand Home as it seems to make management difficult (difficult = not what I do every day so I have to Google the simple stuff).
Currently running on a 2TB NVMe but am watching for a 4TB at the right price (don't need it but if the price is right...). The new laptop will have 2 NVMe drives so space won't be an issue.
And I'm wanting to get away from Windows if for no other reason than to see if I can do it. If I can get 100% away from Windows, then I'm better as an IT person because I'll know another OS better.
---------- Post added 11-19-23 at 02:35 AM ----------
Yeah, looks like it works but the UI is broken.
ICC profiles - ArchWiki
Wayland supports color management through color profiles, but the user interface for managing these profiles is currently not implemented properly. However, you can manually add a color profile through the following steps:Firstly, copy your .icc color profile file to the /usr/share/color/icc/colord/ directory.
Run colormgr get-profiles to obtain the available color profiles, and colormgr get-devices to obtain the IDs of the attached devices.
To assign a color profile to a device, use the command colormgr device-add-profile Device_ID Profile_ID.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
11-16-2023, 01:16 PM
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There's a Flatpak so that is self-contained. I haven't tested it yet but I did install it. Still Python 2 but at least it's contained.
---------- Post added 11-16-23 at 08:22 PM ----------
Yeah, that's a different forum but a clean install of Windows now feels like a Best Buy purchase 10 years ago (step 1 - uninstall useless crap). I setup a Windows 10 virtual machine, installed Simplewall, and watched all the processes wanting internet access.
---------- Post added 11-16-23 at 08:26 PM ----------
What???? Why am I just now learning about this? Every time I import and start going through photos, I'm sitting there grumbling to myself that I have to DEL DEL to get rid of both the blurry RAW and blurry JPG. It's a simple idea that I can't believe isn't a standard feature on photo software.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
04-23-2021, 09:00 PM
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It arrived today. Haven't read the manual and only a few test shots to ensure it's not DOA. One of the primary reasons (excuses?) for the purchase was the K3 II didn't give satisfactory results over ISO 800 (I've been in many low-light scenarios lately). Since the K3 III has ISO 1,600,000 it's got to be better, right? Yeah, absurd quoting unusable figures like that so a quick test was in order. All photos taken with the same lens, f/2.8, varying focal lengths, handheld, auto-focus, and without shake reduction. More photos were taken but these were the best of the impromptu shoot.
Neither Adobe nor ACDSee liked the PEF RAW files so theses are JPG straight from the camera. Mostly... When necessary, the info was removed form Chester's tag and I underexposed on ISO 1600 (added +2/3 stop in post). RAW files are now set to DNG so hopefully that issue is taken care of. Crops are 100% and 99% of the camera settings are exactly how it came out of the box.
More testing is needed but I think ISO 6400 on the K3 III is close to ISO 800 on the K3 II.
Full album here if anyone cares to look at the full sized images.
K3 III Test photos | Flickr
ISO 6400
ISO 6400 - 100% crop
ISO 3200
ISO 3200 crop
ISO 1600 (underexposed so +2/3 stop added in post)
ISO 1600 crop (underexposed so +2/3 stop added in post)
ISO 800
ISO 800 crop
ISO 400
ISO 400 crop
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
11-15-2023, 10:21 PM
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As a person with an IT career and have held Microsoft certifications... I keep moving towards Linux for my personal system (no, I don't recommend it to everyone). I have an AMD Framework 16 on pre-order with the AMD video card. Excited. I'm running Mint Linux (x11 window manager) now but I'm looking to change to something running Wayland. Not Ubuntu but I do have a couple distros I'm testing in virtual machines.
Anyway, I currently own a Sagar gaming laptop (10th gen i7, 32GB RAM, gtx 2070, Windows 11 Pro), Framework 13 (11th gen i7, 64GB RAM, Mint Linux), and Macbook Air M1. My favorite editing process is ACDSee on Windows. View, Manage, RAW processing, non-destructive editing, and destructive editing in one interface. So that's essentially Adobe bridge, Adobe Camera RAW, Adobe Lightroom, and Adobe Photoshop all in one program. Much more streamlined and less intensive on the system (I have the Adobe suite too but rarely open it). However, the "Auto" button in Adobe Camera RAW is so much better than ACDSee and I use it on images I struggle to adjust manually (is that really worth $9.99 / month?). ACDSee 9 on Mac is awful but I received an email stating ACDSee 10 is about to be release. Batch processing which took a couple hours on Windows took overnight on the M1 Mac and still wasn't finished (I believe this was largely OS X throttling while not being actively used - you know, "Macs have awesome battery life" and they weren't lying). Also, the Mac version looks like it's way behind the Windows version so I assume there's performance penalties there too. Written for Windows and poorly ported to Mac?
On Linux... Shotwell, Raw Therapee, Dark Table, UF RAW, GIMP, ... I'm struggling to find something to replace ACDSee. I know, GIMP is awesome but on ACDSee I rarely get to the point of needing the equivalent of GIMP (I try to get it 'right' in camera to minimize editing). I could dual-boot Linux & Windows or create a virtual machine (VirtualBox, KVM, etc.) but I hate doing that for one program.
I've been playing with WinApps this week but it's been buggy. ACDSee will open but crashes so much that I can't rely on it. I killed the Microsoft telemetry and now ACDSee won't open at all (coincidence?). Photoshop isn't opening either. LOL Such is life trying to make something work in an unsupported environment. Finding proper Linux programs would be so much better.
I've seen others here mention they use Linux. What's your process for managing and editing RAW & JPG images?
There's a non-zero chance this is just me trying to do something for the sake of learning. Or being different (I never was a 'cool kid'). Or just being outright difficult. Regardless, I'm at the point of being nearly 100% Linux except my photo editing. Help.
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Forum: General Talk
10-23-2023, 08:33 AM
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O-GPS2 to use for taking star photos. Since I have a K3 III, I don't really need it but get annoyed with Type 3 doubling the work on the shutter (not worried about the extra cycles, it just annoys me). From my experience last week, Type 3 gives the same results as Type 2 + O-GPS2. I still need to go through a bunch of photos but this is by far my favorite. Part of why I like it so much is I never through a moonset would create this much light. And the Milky Way lining up with the moonset was complete luck as it wasn't anything either of us thought to plan for. As far as planning, this week would have been better due to meteor showers peaking.
On the down side, I couldn't see anything through the viewfinder (so much for Pentax having a bright viewfinder... :D) and our truck got into the bottom right corner.
Location: Black Mesa State Park in Oklahoma
K3 III + DA* 11-18mm (shot at 11mm)
Black Mesa Moonset | Moonset at Black Mesa State Park in Okl? | jaster131 | Flickr
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Forum: General Talk
11-20-2022, 08:43 PM
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13.3" USB monitor with a resolution of 2560 x 1600. Pairs well with my Framework laptop. Colors aren't the same but it's close and isn't a glossy screen so that's nice. It was on sale so it's worth the price unless I end up using it more than expected (in that case, a better screen may be warranted). Also, it will give me something small to connect to a Raspberry Pi when needed (like the 2 times a year when it might be helpful).
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Forum: General Talk
05-26-2023, 08:26 PM
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Not complaining about prices when I picked up a 2TB NVME 4.0 for under $200. However, there are reasons they are cheaper aside from tech is always getting cheaper.
In case you really want to know...
SLC (Single-level cell)
MLC (Multiple-level cell - this means 2)
TLC (Triple-level cell)
QLC (Quad-level cell)
A little of this is from memory but that doesn't change the concept.
Let's look at SLC. Memory chips run on 5V and store a single bit per cell. 0 or 1. 0V-3V is considered a 0 and above 3V is considered a 1.
MLC are also 5V but they store 2 bits. 0V-1.25V is 00. Between 1.25V and 2.5V is 01. 2.5V to 3.75V is 10. And above 3.75V is 11.
TLC use one cell to store 3 bits. 000 through 111.
QLC are 0000 through 1111.
So a QLC drive can store four times the data as a SLC drive using the same amount of silicon. This makes QLC drives really cheap. The down side? More error correction and checks are required to make sure the bits are stored and read correctly (the extra work makes the drives slower). Also, any degradation of a single cell means a QLC will have issues long before a SLC.
SLC were (still are?) considered industrial drives for a while but TLC and QLC are the common drives you get from Amazon or in a store. TLC are more reliable and faster. QLC are cheaper.
On May 16, Micron announced a 30TB QLC drive with the performance of a TLC drive while using 232 layers of silicon in the chips. It's amazing any of these drives actually work without shorting out.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
10-26-2018, 06:54 AM
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Another question... How well does the KP and K1 perform with focus tracking?
For basketball, I use spot focus but the K3 II loses focus often (could be me getting the spot off or the lens). Then it takes a couple seconds to regain focus. Usually I give up and compose another shot.
Money is an issue but Adorama has financing... 6 months on a KP and 1 year on the K1 so payments are about the same. Not in a hurry to get into payments but I assume early pay off is an option if I have most of the money on hand.
Weight isn't an issue. I'm using a K3 II with extended battery grip and a Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8. Hand shooting through two consecutive college basketball games. Yes, lighter is good but I'm already using a heavy setup. I added the grip because my wrist hurt from shooting vertical much more than the extra weight bothers me.
I guess I should share some photos... Here's the last game I shot in February. There's a few other games posted for those who are interested.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/jaster131/51B081 |
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Forum: General Talk
04-26-2023, 08:38 PM
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Synology DS1522+ because my DS1515+ has decided to kick the bucket again. Since it controls the security cameras, we decided to replace it (it's working now but will fail again in a few days). I replaced a surface mount transistor in Jan 2022 which controls the power state (failed transistor = permanently off). Couldn't buy just one transistor so I have 19 spares to try again (most places sold 100 packs). My soldering iron was too big so the early failure is likely due to excessive heat from using the wrong tools (smaller iron will arrive tomorrow). If I can fix the old one again, I guess I'll raid some old drives and find a use for it...
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
02-27-2023, 08:22 PM
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I've been wanting to get the camera out but it's still in the bag. A nice 70 degree F day and sunny. The 14 year old dog wanted to enjoy the weather instead of coming inside so I grabbed my phone and took some photos.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
12-24-2022, 03:55 PM
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 | Thematic Cats!
Posted By
jspi |
Replies: 2,077
Views: 114,207
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Forum: General Talk
10-08-2022, 09:36 PM
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2 shocks and 2 struts for the wife's car. Not going well... Shock sleeve is rusted to the spindle and there's not enough room for the angle grinder. Dremel proved to be very slow work and I got tired and quite for the night. If the other side seems this bad, I'll take it to the shop and pay them to do it.
Also got fork seals, fork oil, and Shock Sox to hopefully delay this work for a while (oem seals lasted 9 years so I shouldn't complain). Probably not getting that done this weekend. Probably not getting the oil and brake fluid changed either. Commuter vehicles get priority.
And maybe next weekend I'll get to go take photos somewhere. Missed the bigfoot convention last weekend which was only a couple hours from home (found out about it today). That could have been a fun weekend getaway and interesting conversation.
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Forum: General Talk
09-23-2022, 11:59 AM
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Aside from getting rid of the squirrels, the best suggestions I've come across are deterrents (moth balls, essential oils, etc.) under the hood or Honda part # 4019-2317. The second option is a capsaicin infused tape but it is expensive. Not sure if you have to completely cover the wiring harness with the tape or just run a strip lengthwise.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
09-20-2022, 08:09 AM
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I have an idea but don't want to spend $50 on a glass print plus other supplies to test it. Since I haven't ordered any glass prints, I don't know what to expect.
So, my idea is to order a glass print of the photo below. Then build a box to hold the print and add something like a LED rope light along the skyline to light up the sunset. Maybe cut some masking to keep the light from bleeding through into the bottom part. I have a few ideas how to light it but don't know if glass print allow for light to come through. I've seen some mention adhesive backing which obviously wouldn't work. For now, I'm looking at FractureMe.com but am open to suggestions (US based companies - don't care to wait for oversea delivery).
Kentucky lake | Shortly after sunset on Kentucky lake | jaster131 | Flickr
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
09-20-2022, 03:25 PM
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Possibly, that will depend on the LED strips I'm able to get. Might need to point the light away from the glass and have it reflect off some aluminum foil or reflector tape. The video just wrapped LEDs around the frame and that seemed to work for the astro photos (there was frosted plexiglass between the lights & film). That would probably work for mine but I'm wanting to light the sky without lighting the lake. Specifically light the sunset colors. Light bleed will happen and that's fine but I'm hoping to accent the sunset... Just like real life. Probably won't work like I want but could turn out nice anyway.
---------- Post added 09-20-22 at 10:28 PM ----------
Right, that's why I was asking. Didn't know if I was the only one who thought of this (obviously not considering the link posted earlier). I just didn't know if glass prints typically had some backing that would prevent back lighting. Something like a mirror finish to reflect room light back through the glass? Or if the inks were typically too opaque to pass back lights. Without having a glass print to exam, I'm making a lot of assumptions...
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
07-29-2022, 07:49 PM
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| | Thematic Cats!
Posted By
jspi |
Replies: 2,077
Views: 114,207
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Forum: Lens Clubs
07-08-2022, 08:54 PM
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There's a small chain of pizza restaurants named Mellow Mushroom. It's a good place to eat although there's no typical pizzas on the menu (Holy Shiitake, Great White, Kosmic Kharma, ...). This was a piece of art which they had outside the restaurant which I found interesting.
Untitled | jaster131 | Flickr
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Forum: General Talk
07-01-2022, 12:04 PM
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Back in March Adorama had the Ricoh 1.4x teleconverter on sale so I ordered one even though it was back ordered (no ETA). Used the Adorama store credit card. Yesterday they called me because the card approval expired so I asked them to run it again which they tried but it failed. Had to cancel the order and create a new order (they adjusted the price to match the sale price). A bit of a pain but I have the 1.4x teleconverter on the way. Now I know not to use the store card for back ordered items.
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Forum: General Talk
06-07-2022, 01:43 PM
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Living on a gravel road means the rear tire slings small rocks and crud onto the swingarm and rear shock which leads to rust. So I finally got around to replacing the chain guard with a tire hugger. Never used one before but it should keep things cleaner and minimize rust. Install went well except for that one bolt... There's always that one bolt. :lol:
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Forum: General Talk
05-24-2022, 07:52 PM
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A couple 90° valve stems and a Pirelli Scorpion Trail II front tire. it recently hit me that the tire came on the bike (2012) and I quickly put on 8,000 miles but life changes and I haven't ridden much for the past several years. With gas over $4/gallon it's time to start taking the bike (60-70mpg) to work instead of the truck (16mpg). Once the rain stops, I need to find some road grooves to test tracking. Rear tire is under 5 years old but I'll get one to match the front if I like the way it handles. Old motorcycle cover had started leaking so I picked up a new one too. And an adjustable clutch lever is on order with a new clutch switch (failed switch prevents starting in gear with the clutch pulled).
Motorcycles and photography are competing hobbies. Except when I can use the bike to get to photography destination.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
05-19-2022, 08:28 PM
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| | Thematic Cats!
Posted By
jspi |
Replies: 2,077
Views: 114,207
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Had a company picnic today so I thought I'd take the camera and grab some photos. So last night I grabbed the 43mm Limited to put on the camera and grabbed this photo. Chewie was staring off into the distance but the noise of the auto-focus motor got her attention and she looked at the camera. As far as the company picnic, I got a call and had to go fix a client instead of getting free food. That's the way it usually happens so I'm used to it.
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