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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-14-2010, 09:56 PM
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i will admit, its tempting but given my history, I need the build quality of the k5 more than I need the autofocus of the d7000. It is very well speced and pretty tempting but they are basically similar cameras, d7000 being cheaper but not cheaper enough. I need to say this though. I chose the k20d over the d90 or spending more money for the d300 because I could get more camera, lenses and accessories for my money. At that time a FA 50mm f/1.4 was between $160 and $200; right now on amazon its $360. I love pentax and the quality of gear I receive but its becoming less attractive to stay a pentax customer. Beat the competition if you're going to price like the competition, not come close.
Why do I shoot pentax? Ergonomics, weather sealing, quality of lenses available, bang for my buck and probably a little because I like being in a niche rather than the mainstream. That said, those factors are becoming less important as the cost of pentax gear gets insane.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
06-02-2010, 08:53 AM
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I think its likely the software you are using to proccess. What I would do is shoot jpeg until you are comfortable with the camera.
I originally came to this thread because it was ironic (most complaints about pentax exposure is that it under exposes).
There are a few things definantly wrong here.
ISO 1600 is way too sensitive for daylight. Seeing as your in program mode it should have brought the shutter speed way down. Sometimes when I get strange results, I press the green button and magically its fixed. For me, the cause is i've often bumped one of the wheels which switches you into a different mode. For me, i've got it setup to switch to either Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority.
Anyway, if you're just starting out with this camera (i own a k20d and it was my first DSLR too, coming from a canon s2is) i would shoot jpeg in program mode. Set ISO to auto and give it a range of 200-800 (i use expanded DR so 200 is my lowest). Also make sure your review mode shows the histogram. This is much more important than seeing the photo in full view. The histogram will show you the frequency of a brightness value for all three colors of the chip. What does this mean for you? The world! A well exposed picture will generally have a bell curve with all three colors about the same (it'll never be perfect). What you need to look for is the shape of the histogram, if its leaning left (towards dark) the picture might be under exposed (this is where you need to look at the picture as you may just have a lot of dark areas). If its leaning to the right, its likely over exposed (unless of course you just have a lot of bright things). The solution is that exposure compensation wheel. If its under exposed, bump up the exposure compensation. If its over exposed, go the other way. This is the beauty of program mode! Also, if you just get too far out of range or the scene changes or you go somewhere else, just move it back to 0. You can view exposure compensation in the top LCD.
Additionally, it'll help you check white balance. If one color is dominant over the others, that generally tells me something is off in my white balance. Also, if you just don't get a lot of stuff showing up on the histogram, that indicates a white balance issue.
Hope you are enjoying the new camera. For what its worth, I keep my exposure compensation dialed up to +1.0 all the time. Something else to consider, RAW requires proccessing. If you don't do anything with a RAW it looks awful and might look over exposed. For me, nothing beats adobe lightroom. 3 was just released but if you can find 2 for cheap its more than sufficient. Most of my best photos look awful when coming straight from the camera because RAW doesn't start with many adjustments. Often time bumping up the black just a little bit will bring a picture to life.
Good luck! My final advice is to read the manual, if my post doesn't make sense, i'd read the manual and then try again. If it still doesn't make sense well, thats because i'm a worse writer than I am a photographer :D
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
05-12-2010, 09:05 AM
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This is exactly what i'm looking for. I started a search yesterday for a camera to be used making documentaries with my wife. To get to the interchangeable lens (and yes that includes the same companies SLR lenses) you're looking at around 3,000 bucks minimum. I was considering SLR video but I'm just not sure if its "there" yet. Plus something like the Sony fx7 or panasonic hmc150 + underwater housing (yes i'm looking to make those kind of movies :rolleyes: ) for cheaper.
Another complaint i've found on film making forums is that the DSLR form is not the best for film making. My personal analogy would be this....consider a hammer. The hammer we know is great for its intended purpose. Now imagine a hammer that instead of having the hammer head at the end of the handle its in the middle. Yes, it would still work as a hammer but would be awkward and not as effective.
The real benefit of a camcorder is the incredible zoom. Imagine a Pentax camcorder with 3 1/3" sensors and the ability to use K mount lenses. The crop factor would give you incredible reach! Pentax has the R & D mostly done, couldn't hurt to try to shake things up? Doesn't even need to be 3 chip (the RED one isn't)
If Pentax made a professional looking (not handy cam) camcorder with high definition, good frame rates (at least 30p and 24p if not 60p), the ability to use K mount lenses and around 1500 to 2000 bucks I would be all over that. Imagine the image quality using already good lenses but only the center of them. Those old long primes would be incredibly valuable now. Also an underwater housing for around the same price as the camera =)
Perhaps a co-venture with samsung or sony? I don't think Pentax is ever likely to do so but its not such a bad idea. To be honest, I can't really think of a video camera that's been marketed as "rugged". Could appeal to people who want Pentax dslr's for their weather sealing. Plus another item that could bring in new customers who would also buy your lenses, how does that hurt?
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