Forum: Sold Items
03-07-2016, 10:47 AM
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I still don't understand why this lens is so hard to sell. I have had two, bought and sold the first one and missed it so much that I bought another one. Amazing lens. Free bump
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-26-2014, 11:14 AM
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The only reasons to use the 18-135 is either to save money or space in a travel bag or being in a position where you can't change lenses, or, as pointed out above, you need to save weight.
No matter what it's most ardent defenders say, (ahem), it is a kit lens. It's IQ and light-gathering abilities simply cannot compete with the better lenses. One need only look at samples posted right here on this site to confirm that. It amazes me sometimes what some people will hold up as "great results" from the 18-135 that are obviously less than stellar. Have I seen some good shots with it? Absolutely. Is that the Norm? No. There have been some excellent, even award-winning shots with the lowly 18-55, too, but you're unlikely to get reliably great shots from either.
Many will say that's where skill comes into it, and they are not entirely wrong, but if it was only about skill, then why do most pros spend so much on the very best lenses available? Because better lenses "get out of your way" and allow you to just focus on capturing the shot instead of having to work around the limitations of the lens. Doing that can be a fun diversion or exercise every once in a while, but it gets old if you have to do it all the time.
Having said that, the 18-135 certainly has it's place. If any of the those first four scenarios apply to you, then it may be a great choice.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
09-27-2014, 02:29 PM
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In another thread a user commented that the DA*300 with HD1.4x combo did not AF-C well so I decided to do an AF test with K-3 this morning at a nearby bike path to check continuous Af with subjects advancing toward camera at good clip.
Tried a few combinations and found these to have best results for this appplication:
AF-C, Spot, First Shot Focus Priority, Continuous Action -Focus Priority, Hold Status Off
Lenses tried - Bigma 50-500, DA*300, DA*300+ HD 1.4x TC
Exposure mode used: TAv, f8, 1/500 (In retrospect should have used faster shutter speed as I think overall IQ suffered a bit from motion blur)
Overall the Bigma yielded most % in-focus shots in continuous bursts.
Both the DA*300 alone and with the 1.4x HD TC yielded similar % in focus shots, a bit lower than the Bigma.
I suspect this may be due to the SDM motor not reacting as fast to AF commands from the K-3 as the Sigma HSM system.
The DA*300 alone or with the 1.4 would sometimes lose a shot or two focus in a sequence, where the Bigma was more consistent.
Most common loss of focus was as the riders got closest the DA*300 with or without the 1.4x , perhaps as the changes required were just too big for the SDM to keep up with.
The naked DA*300 yielded the sharpest photos, while adding the 1.4x gave a small drop in IQ, with the Bigma close behind.
All combos seem usable for this application on a sunny day, as the light drops the DA*300 alone will be best option.
Here are representative sequences.
Bigma @500mm 44 shot sequence, all in focus (not all frames fit in the LR4 display window.)
DA*300 33 shot sequence, 2 shots out of focus after it picked up the cyclist.
DA*300 + HD1.4x 46 shot sequence, 6 shots out of focus.
I used a monopod to help keep the lens pointed accurately, I am sure some mis-focus was due to my moving off the target in spot mode.
I tested 9 point center bias and 9 point auto, but sometimes the focus would lock on another nearby object, it worked best if I tried to keep the cyclist in the center.
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Forum: Photographic Technique
08-08-2014, 11:43 PM
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At wedding in the church where you are a long way from the couple and the minister is in the shot and you are using a wide apature and therefore shallow depth of field is a good case in point for this problem.
I zoom in far tighter than I want for the shot and with the back button set to focus and continuous on , focus then zoom out and I find that works 95 % of the time.
I have shot dozens of weddings with 2 x k 5 bodies and assorted lenses and there are always a few that are out. If thy are critical add some grain and b/w them and often that will make them acceptable.
It's surprising that what we think is a reject image due to your problem the couple are happy to accept. I normally dump them out of professional pride but for a collage page in a album where they are small images they often also can be usable.
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Forum: Photographic Technique
08-08-2014, 02:33 PM
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You can also focus on the torso. It's usually in the same focus plane as the face and it's a larger and sometimes more contrasty AF target.
Regards,
--Anders.
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Forum: General Photography
05-14-2014, 02:12 AM
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The sad thing is that person is largely right.
Digital is killing the craft of photography.
There was a time when it was not guaranteed that pictures would turn out. It took skill to get more than a few pictures that showed anything.
Beginners would start to get exposures right, then focus, then composition. By the time you could see good photographs they had learned a whole lot about handling a camera.
These days everybody is used to pointing a digital camera in the general direction of something interesting and being able to frame it on the rear screen. The shutter releases and they get a picture, it always turns out sharp, it always turns out well exposed, and it always shows what they wanted in the frame.
With digital, everyone can successfully take a picture. So why would they think it takes any skill.
If cars did what cameras do, you would sit in a car and it would drive you, you would do nothing except tell it where to take you, automatic everything.
Sure those of us who know what we are doing use manual, but most photographers in this site and the rest of the world want automatic exposure, automatic focus, automatic shake reduction.
The only thing left to any skill might be where the camera is pointed, but there are photographers take 700 images in a day rejecting 690 that were not pointed at something interesting and discovering quite by chance that 10 were.
This is the photography of monkeys.
I would suggest that in more than 99% of photographs taken today (im talking generally and not on this site) that look good, there is zero skill. Who can blame people for thinking the camera is the reason for the good photograph. What we face is, when someone looks at a well composed and well exposed image, viewers think "I could do that with my Iphone"
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Forum: Photographic Technique
09-13-2013, 05:00 PM
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So you have calibrated your lenses for front and back focus, however your are still getting shots that appear out of focus. You go back and spend hours re-calibrating every one of your lenses, maybe even send them off to Pentax to calibrate, but you still end up with the shots that are front or back focused.
Well I'm here to help with a little trick on how to configure your K5/K7 to get more of your shots in focus more often.
The problem here is not that your lenses are not calibrated correctly. The problem here would not be fixed by going to a Canon 5D mkiii, D800, OMD EM1, or whatever else may be crossing your mind. The problem here is that from the time you lock focus to the time your press the shutter either you or your subject may have moved. Even when you fully depress that shutter you may have moved the camera just enough to loose focus. This is obviously more important for when precision focusing can make or break the shot. This also assumes that you are not experiencing camera shake, but true focus issues. There is a way to over come this!
First off, we are going to go into your cameras shooting menu and scroll over to page 5 where "Button Customization" lives
next, select AF Button and set it to "Enable AF" this is on by default. af button by LK_335, on Flickr
Then go back to the button customization menu and go down to "shutter button half press", we are going to change this to off half by LK_335, on Flickr
almost done. go to the side of your camera and flick the switch over to "C". AFC by LK_335, on Flickr
Finally, we are going to set your "AF" mode switch to SEL.
So what does this accomplish?
First off by being in SEL mode for autofocus you can now choose which auto focus point you are using in the view finder. Your going to select this with the 4 way pad on the back to keep your AF point right over whatever you want to be in sharpest focus.
Second, by having the camera in constant AF mode, your camera will do whatever it can to keep whatever is under that AF point in focus. So the AF motor will constantly be hunting, you will notice you only need to move a fraction of an inch for the camera's AF to start working. But your target is still sharp as a button.
I guess a skipped a step, you need to also keep your thumb held down on that AF button on the back. the second you release that button, AF stops!
The other bonus of this method is that if your shooting on a tripod, you can set your focus, hit the AF button to lock, then you can adjust your exposure and do whatever without fear that by pressing the shutter your camera may freak out and change focus on you.
This is invaluable not only for moving targets but for stationary ones too, because even though that lime on your desk isn't moving, you are when your holding your camera. So let the camera do the work and keep that focus locked!
Quotes from other pages regarding this method:
"Doing so allows you to set the camera to continuous-servo AF (AF-C) mode permanently, while still being able to get the benefit of focus-lock like you do in single-servo (AF-S) mode. This means that at any time, you can switch between a focus/recompose/shoot style of photography (portraits and landscapes) and continuous subject tracking (sports & wildlife) without having to change camera switches or menu settings."
"To emulate single-servo mode (focus/recompose/shoot)
Place the active AF point on your subject
Press the AF-On button to acquire focus
Release the AF-On button to lock focus
Recompose and shoot
To focus continuously on a moving subject
Place the active AF point on the subject
Press the AF-On button
Keep the AF-On button pressed to track focus while simultaneously pressing the shutter release"
K3 Setup for AF button focusing!
you've asked for it! Now you got it. It's incredibly easy!
Go into your shooting menu, page 4.
Select Button Customization
AF Button - AF2
Then, hold down the "AF Mode" button on the side of your camera, use the front dial to select "AF.C, use the rear dial to select "SEL-1". Thats it your done!
For bonus points, use the different SEL settings to allow the focus to track across the frame. Very handy in sport situations. ie: SEL-3 will lock onto where your focus point is entered, then track it as it moves. Very useful.
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
03-14-2014, 12:30 PM
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I wouldn't pay money for these things.
I agree with those that suggest to "throw away the tupperware".
Have you tried bouncing the flash off walls and ceilings?
This can produce extremely soft light.
You have to make sure, though, that no direct light from the flash hits your subject. The "Black Foamie Thing" is what you need.
If you prefer a modifier, I believe the WingLight is one of the most convincing constructions since it establishes a relatively large light source and uses bounced light as well. I recreated a DIY WingLight for myself and it works very well, producing light similar to a 50cmx50cm softbox.
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
07-13-2012, 05:14 PM
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I see, I thought you meant the 1:1 image from the macro lens didn't fill the viewfinder in that it was vignetted, while you meant the magnification wasn't high enough. A 200mm or 100mm macro lens set at 1:1 magnification would give you exactly the same results as your 35mm macro lens.
Your viewfinder shows you what the sensor sees & the sensor is 23.6mm wide. You can estimate the magnification you need by dividing the sensor width by the subject width; for a 5mm water droplet, mag = 23.6/5 ~ 4.7x would fill the screen with droplet.
These estimates needn't be precise so it can be useful to think in terms of inches. The sensor is roughly 1" wide; a magnification of 2x would cover an area 1/2" wide, 4x would cover 1/4" etc.
Dave in Iowa
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Forum: General Talk
01-01-2012, 08:36 PM
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It's nice to make resolutions like checking every time, but you know how long most of us keep up with resolutions. Get a heavier duty strap. They're cheap insurance. If you really want safe, there are slash proof camera security straps. One saved my camera last year in Mexico, when a robber cut through my strap and tried to run off with the camera.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
12-18-2011, 11:37 AM
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Could you explain? I had exactly the same question when I saw the linked chorus photo at high ISO. I'm getting more noise than that at 800 iso in some of my shots.
On a shot like this you have whites from the ice and boards which would tend to under expose the players. I had a similar shot the other day with a dark bird surrounded by snow, and I had blown low lights, or noise with no detail in the dark sections. That I understand, it is a matter of choosing sometimes which details you wouldn't mind blown. Some blown highlights in the snow would have given me more detail on the bird. There are limits to the dynamic range of the sensor.
But at a given iso level, why would some shots have more noise than others? What factors other than iso level would give you more noise? Is the difference due to the lowered dynamic range of the sensor at high sensitivity levels, where being off on the exposure is evidenced by noise?
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
11-07-2011, 03:38 PM
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So do a lot of people. That's why we have so many threads on the subject already.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-26-2011, 01:31 PM
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It has nothing to do with photography.
It's the thrill of the hunt. The modern world is a world of CONSUMErs.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-18-2010, 07:08 PM
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You know, maybe this has something to do with them wanting to sell you some lenses?;)
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