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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
05-17-2015, 07:31 AM
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Shooting raw has its benefits to be sure.Light room..cost of Photoshop can be a lot if you buy it outright. Most people don't need the full Photoshop though.
Some of the alternative raw editors are
Lightroom. The gold standard workflow and raw program. $10 a month bundled with Photoshop on subscription. (Free if you torrent an older version that Adobe has abandoned. Legality is a grey zone though)
RAW Therapee. A very good raw converter with a lot of tools available.
Scarab is supposed to be good although I have not tried it personally. The older version is free while the newer version is paid €29
There is always the UFRaw plugin if you want to keep everything within the gimp
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
05-01-2014, 08:15 PM
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After talking to the Pentax Canada rep this past weekend here in Edmonton at a local trade show, I am inclined to believe that Pentax will bring out a FF camera within the next year or so. Sooner rather than later. When talking about the 645Z and the fact that Pentax dropped 13 new lenses at announcement, that it must bode well for the "mythical full frame" everyone has been waiting for. He replied that he could conceivably see such a camera being released in the next year, and 'if' they were going to do that, they would have to release at least 3 new lenses to go with it to start with. That would be because the FF lenses that Pentax offers won't stand up to a high resolution FF sensor and they don't currently offer the standard zooms 24-70 and 70-200.
The fact that he didn't outright say no to what I asked, along with the release of so many lenses for the 645Z (which no one expected) Makes me believe there may be a chance yet for a 35mm sensor yet.
---------- Post added 05-01-2014 at 09:27 PM ----------
Umm, actually it 'should' be the best image quality under $10k for a digital camera. I have seen nothing to suggest that for pure image quality that it will even come close to 8x10 film, of which there are a dozen fantastic cameras available under $10k. Yes it will probably beat a 35mm sensor in fine detail and colour, which is again better than an APSC sensor, but nothing as of yet can beat large format film.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-12-2012, 01:53 PM
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Don't bother then. If you were to compare the K5 viewfinder to the viewfinder on any FF camera you will be very disappointed in the viewfinder on the K5.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
08-25-2012, 04:06 PM
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Actually for $2799 you get a 5DmkII AND a 24-105L lens (a $1400 value for only $800 in the kit) So yes, at least in Canada you CAN get a full frame camera AND a very good lens for under $2800! (that would be buying a system wouldn't it?) For Pentax to beat that kind of deal, they would have to jump several generations in technology and put out an equivalent or better camera than either the 5DmkIII or D800 for that low price to lure buyers. Anything less and it will probably fall flat on its face sales wise. Not to mention they would need to announce, then produce an entire stable of lenses (at least 6), and accessories to go with it at the same time, which would be near impossible.
So am I holding my breath for an announcement at Photokina? Nope, just getting ready for the next FF rumour thread which should start the day AFTER Photokina.....
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
07-01-2012, 04:33 PM
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What? Another Pentax Full Frame thread?
When will everyone figure out that Pentax will NEVER, EVER bring out a full frame camera? They simply do not have the market share, or lenses in their lineup to do so. Doing so would be too huge a capital risk for them. It's hard enough for Canon & Nikon to put out a new FF DSLR every 3 years, so Pentax will never be able to afford the risk and the R&D. People will not drop their D800/5d MKiii and all their top glass to switch to Pentax no matter how cheap Ricoh could produce them. The market for it would be so small it would be suicide to invest in the R&D for the price point they would need to sell it for as we all know Pentaxians, at least many in this forum, are shall we say....thrifty. (ie. cheap)
If you want full frame, just suck it up and buy either Canon or Nikon. Stop whining about the size. If you really want a small FF then buy a Leica M9-P and strip your bank account in the process. Sure it's price, but it's small, and small costs money.
Why don't the mods shut down there repeated threads anyways? This thread says the exact same thing the last dozen full frame threads have.
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
10-19-2011, 05:52 PM
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Spoken like a true fanboy. I have used my 5dmkII at ISO3200, and still had better IQ and less noise than my K7 at ISO640. The K5 may be a good camera, but looking at the RAW files head to head, there is no comparison. Even at ISO6400 the 5D wins, and I have yet to see any issues with banding (and I had a K10d, I know what banding is) The 5D has comparable noise, just a tad less than the k5, but also more detail due to less NR being applied to the RAW file. Sadly the K5, and any APSC sensor will lose against a full frame anyday. They almost got there, but this new ff sensor will most likely blow away any gains APSC made against FF. Now if Ricoh does right and turns the R&D department loose and lets them develop products the public have been asking for they may (hopefully) be on the right track and can become a major player again.
We have yet to see what the new 1Dx will do as far as IQ, yes they didn't produce the 36mp monster that was rumoured, but the 1Dx will most likely beat the 645D in every category except resolution. So except in very large prints I doubt anyone will see any measurable difference. The 1Dx will do it faster, cheaper, and with a huge lens selection (the 645 still only has 2 lenses in the lineup right?)
And I have an answer for the "pure IQ the 645D provides" I can do it in one word ..... Hasselblad
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
10-19-2011, 06:50 AM
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I for one could not wait any longer. The 5d mkII hit the sub $2000 price point and bang, I am now a Canonite. I started using it the second night of Western Canada Fashion Week, and was blown away by the image quality, even on a 2 year old camera, especially against my K7. one of the other official shooters was using a K5 right next to me, and while people talk about the k5 image quality, it still does not compare to the 5d mkII.
Once you go full frame, it's hard to go back. I have already sold all my Pentax gear, and am waiting on Paypal to release the funds so I can buy even more lenses!!
With the announcement of the 1D X, Pentax has fallen even farther behind. If they do bring one out, I hope for everyones sake it's a good one, or I fear Pentax would be crushed. It's bad enough they brought out the Q, a camera that the local store clerks try not to sell (and that is not a good thing for Pentax)
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-25-2011, 08:08 PM
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Thanks for the replies.
I went and tested the lenses in question on a K5 at the store, just freehand, no tripod with the same result. It's the same with all my Sigma lenses. The Pentax ones do it also, just not nearly so bad. Again my old GX10 has far less of an issue with this. There is very little shift using that body. I would assume it would be the same with a K10d as they are the same camera internally.
With the attached pic, you can see the shift with my 70-200mm Sigma. The green dots show the points of sharpest focus. Quite a variable. This is at 5 feet so you can extrapolate how bad it can get at say 20 feet or more. The 70-200 is a more graphic example of how much shift there is.
A link to the full rez copy so you can pixel peep.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5062/5760076711_0fe5616fa9_o.jpg
Because the lenses seem to shift much more on the newer bodies I am figuring they most likely need to be re-chipped. On the GX10, when I zoom in or out, and press the focus button, they creep just a little making a small correction, whereas on the K7 and K5 they do not.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-23-2011, 12:31 PM
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I am pretty rigorous in my testing. Focus chart 5 feet @ 45 degrees to the sensor. Camera on tripod with everything leveled and aligned with lasers. I defocus the lens then focus the camera and trigger the camera via remote. I do this 3 times then check the fine focus on the computer before making any adjustments, then do it again and again till it's "perfect"
Here is the issue yesterday, this issue has shown its face before, but here is the most recent example. The first is shot at 60mm@f9 The point of focus is her eye, but it is the hair at the back of her head and flowers behind her head that are in focus. The second again the focus is on her face, but the post about a foot and a half behind the models head is in better focus (but not perfect). Shot at 37mm@f3.2
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-23-2011, 10:58 AM
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I hope someone can help me with this as I am at my wits end.
I have a K7 and seem to be having serious focusing issues. back and front. As an example using my Sigma 24-60 f2.8, indoors I have the microadjustment set at -4 @35mm, Using it outdoors yesterday I and needed to push it to +10 and even that wasn't enough to get things completely in focus.
I seem to be having this issue with all of my lenses. Some more, some less. All the zooms have focus shift when I change focal lengths from front focus as the short end to back focus at the long end. I know this and can adjust in the studio, but now that summer is here I need to be able to work both outside and inside, and move from one location to another.
I never had this issue with my GX10, but no matter what I do the K7 just doesn't want to play nice.
Any thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
05-04-2011, 05:29 PM
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It wouldn't be any bigger, or better. All it will be is a camera with interchangeable lenses and crappy IQ. I know it will be small, but there is a point of diminishing returns.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-26-2011, 05:46 PM
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If it was in line with the competition like the upcoming replacements for the D700 and the 5D MKII.......no.
I would spend $5800 on TWO of them!
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-24-2011, 01:39 PM
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Emphasis on the "just" ;)
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-24-2011, 01:38 PM
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-24-2011, 07:15 AM
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What is the point of announcing they are going to announce 2 new cameras? Do they think it's going to make people dreaming of full frame stick with the brand a little longer?
"the new product is suppose to be ”more important” than a regular point and shoot camera." That doesn't take much, point & shoots are a dime a dozen.
I wish the photo were not so blown out, and maybe had something in the frame to show scale, another camera, cigarettes, a pen, anything. Without a point of reference this thing could be very small or fairly large.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
03-20-2011, 04:22 PM
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
03-03-2011, 10:21 AM
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Only 7 days? The website says 30, either way it's not permanent.
The Gimp is probably the best free software out there. It works very well and offers a lot more than acdsee. Another would be Picasa. It's quite popular, but pretty basic. If you need a workflow solution you could try Bibble lite, it's cheap but pretty good.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
03-03-2011, 06:15 AM
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Why not just download the 30 day trial till you find the disk. Failing that, there are other free/cheap editing software available.
I assume you had to register before, They won't just let you download and install by logging in? I don't use acdsee so I don't know how their downloads work.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-19-2011, 03:34 PM
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Sadly I think you are right, EVILs seem to be the way things are going. I understand that smaller is desirable for many, but pros will always (hopefully) demand an OVF in their cameras. I know that OLY has burned a lot of their high end users to the point there are not many pro Olympus users anymore. Bringing out a M4/3rds camera would just add insult to injury. (lenses are expensive to replace) Canon survived the changing of their mount in the 80's, Olympus wouldn't. They are just too small a player.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-19-2011, 03:15 PM
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I've run about 250 shots through one. I try out all the new cameras that come into the shop so I can help the customer with their selection. While a nice little camera, I was not impressed with the IQ. 16mp is too much for such a small sensor. I never tried the video so can't say anything to that. I also know 2 people who had bought one and promptly returned them and bought a proper DSLR.
It's a decent camera, and it's very good for those who find size to be a premium worth paying for.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-19-2011, 09:37 AM
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I just feel that EVIL is going in the wrong direction. 4/3rds and m4/3rds are dead as far as pro level cameras are concerned. The only ones using it are Olympus and Panasonic. While the E5 is a good advanced camera, the DR falls short of what is needed for a good portrait or landscape camera. Even OLY says it will be the last pro series camera with 4/3rds.
While you feel the IQ is good enough, many (including myself) feel the IQ suffers because of the sensor size. EVILs are getting into that point and shoot territory that I have no interest in. I value IQ over size and weight. I have no problem carrying 5 pounds of camera and lens all day (my 8x10 field camera is over 10 pounds!). Even the best OLY, the E5 has pretty bad chroma noise at ISO800, and is unusable at 1600. (Shooting RAW no added NR). I won't even discuss the depth of field issues.
This is the beauty of the free market, there are lots of choices for everyone. If EVIL suits your style then enjoy. An EVIL will never work for me as I want better IQ and I hate EVFs with a passion. I feel Pentax would be better served producing a full frame camera than an EVIL. I know that smaller cameras like the 4/3rds sell very well in Japan, but I live in Canada and let's face it, the Japanese can be a little.......odd at times ;)
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-18-2011, 07:30 AM
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I have no interest in an EVIL camera no matter the sensor size, even if it was full frame, and especially if it used a dead format like 4/3rds.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
02-07-2011, 09:49 PM
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There is a reason they are called UPS, if you say it phonetically it sounds like oops. So when you do a trace with UPS, the result is usually OOPS, we lost it, or OOPS we broke it ;)
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-16-2011, 03:07 PM
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Why don't you shut up as all you are doing is showing your ignorance. I've done the test, and here is the result.
This was done at ISO 1600, GX10 on the left (same sensor and RAW output as the K10d) and the K7 on the right (100% crops), shot RAW and converted using ACR default. As you can see, the GX10 actually has less noise and more DR than the K7. And before you bitch, the gx10 image is a little soft due to being slightly out of focus, but that doesn't affect the noise output.
It's you fanboys who are misinformed. You hate to be told that your 4 year old camera can take just as good a pic, and maybe better than the newer model. All APS-C sensored cameras will give approximately the same RAW output at a given ISO up to ISO 1600, the newer models just do it faster and with more bells and whistles. Beyond ISO1600, the design of the sensor and how the manufacturer cooks the RAW output has a lot to do with how "noisy" the RAW file will look.
Want more proof?
From DXO Mark. Note at ISO 1600 the K10D has less S/N ratio than the K7, and the K20d is better than both the K10d and the K7. The only time the K7 is better than the K10d in noise is above 1600 because the K10d doesn't go any higher.
Then let's also look at DR, the K10d at ISO1600 has almost a full stop more DR than the K7 and about 2 stops more at ISO100.
The K7 is a better camera in just about every respect that the K10d except for IQ, and we all know that is because of the sensor chosen in that model. The new sensor in the K5 is revolutionary, just like the one in the K10d was. It took till now for APS-C to make a huge jump in IQ in the K5 and D7000. I suspect that for the next few years while we will see improvements in camera design we may only see incremental changes in IQ and not quantum leaps.
Ok now that I have shown you the truth you fanboys can start flaming. It seems that is what you are best at.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
01-16-2011, 08:23 AM
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Having used all those cameras I will say you would be correct with that assumption. The only high end camera that the K5/K7 can touch in AF is the 5d mkII, but even Canonites complain how slow the AF is on it.
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