Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 
Log in or register to remove ads.

Showing results 1 to 25 of 144 Search:
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 03-07-2010, 08:18 AM  
Poll: Pentax K-x mirror slap and/or SR blur problem
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 100
Views: 53,347
rawr, I thought you might feel great satisfaction to learn that I returned my Nikon D90!

I found two stuck pixels on the sensor. So I sent the camera back to Newegg for replacement, but they're out of stock so I got a refund. This has turned out to be a good thing, actually, because now Amazon has the instant rebate thing going again, so I bought the D90 + a 70-300mm lens, at a great price, and then got 200 bucks off!

Interesting how things work out :p

As for the D90, other than the bad pixels the only other thing that bothers me is that the manual says a custom white balance needs the entire frame filled with the reference. I found that you don't need to use the entire frame, but it's still not the small center area of the Pentax or even Canon uses. But I can live with that. So, as long as I get a good sensor I'll be keeping the D90.

It's amazing how quiet the focus is on those AF-S lenses.
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 02-26-2010, 07:51 AM  
Poll: Pentax K-x mirror slap and/or SR blur problem
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 100
Views: 53,347
I can’t believe this Nikon! It’ll clear the table but it won’t do the dishes! WTF?? Well, I guess I’ll keep it anyways because it does give good back rubs. :p

I’m really liking the extra reach of the Nikon’s 18-105mm kit lens over the 18-55mm that came with the K-x. I’ve only got the one lens, but at this point I don’t feel like I need another general purpose lens to make up for the lost reach (for now.) The D90 is bigger, heavier, more expensive, has worse menu layout, proprietary battery, lousy software package...but it works and it works well.


Anyways...some bad new from DPR. The OP’s K-x still has some problem even after Pentax “fixed” it.

Repair did not help - it is official now: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review


That is exactly the situation I didn’t want to live through. The OP didn’t say what he was going to do next.

Well, as I now feel vindicated in my decision to switch, my obsessive compulsiveness can finally let this go. Good luck to the 33% of K-x owners with the problem...I hope Pentax comes out with a solution for you.
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 02-25-2010, 02:25 PM  
Poll: Pentax K-x mirror slap and/or SR blur problem
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 100
Views: 53,347
There’s a thread over at DPR that should be interesting. A poster is supposed to receive his K-x today after being sent back to Pentax to have the shake problem repaired. Hopefully, Pentax can resolve this issue and he'll post some positive results some time today. Here’s the thread...

My K-x coming back from repairs: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review


As for me...I just took my first pics with my new Nikon D90 and they're great!
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 02-16-2010, 12:01 PM  
I want K-x but mirror slap...:(
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 43
Views: 7,169
Whether real, imagined, defect, or design flaw...whatever it is, it's not my problem anymore.

And as I am no longer a Pentax owner, good day to you all.
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 02-15-2010, 09:27 AM  
I want K-x but mirror slap...:(
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 43
Views: 7,169
You're right. However, I’ve decided to switch for a couple of other reasons. First, I’ve decided that optical IS is better because it helps with framing, autofocus, and probably spot metering as well. Second, I noticed a strange color banding problem. Look at the following 100% crops of a take-out menu that I’ve been using to test the shake problem…



Ignore the 1/30s and 1/60s crops. Do you see the bands of yellow in the 1/250s crop? Those don’t exist in the original. I’ve noticed this in other images as well.

So, if the shake issue was the only thing bothering me, then I might stick it out and work with Pentax to get it fixed. But with this odd banding issue and my view on the IS…I’ll just be happier going with a different system.
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 02-15-2010, 07:33 AM  
I want K-x but mirror slap...:(
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 43
Views: 7,169
But how can you tell if there's anything wrong with the image if you don't have a control image, taken at the same aperture but at a much higher shutter speed, to show you what it SHOULD look like?

Looking at reduced-size images will never show you anything. My concern is about making 11x14 prints of cropped images. That's going to be a problem if the images aren't sharp. And regardless of whether the problem is widespread, or exists in just a few samples, the one thing I know for sure is that my K-x cannot take sharp images in the 1/60s range.
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 02-15-2010, 06:52 AM  
I want K-x but mirror slap...:(
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 43
Views: 7,169
The problem appears to be that the mirror is jostling the sensor, either through its physical movement, or possibly due to electrical noise or the release mechanism. Whatever the reason, the sensor is moving...and Nikon doesn't use moving sensors in their dSLRs.
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 02-14-2010, 05:34 PM  
I want K-x but mirror slap...:(
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 43
Views: 7,169
I've done a lot of testing on this and I've decided to get rid of my K-x and get a Nikon instead.

Apparently Pentax Canada says they've never heard of the problem, and Pentax US hasn't answered my email on the issue. So right now no one knows if Pentax is aware of the problem.

This is going to be more hassle than I want to deal with so I'm just getting out. And I decided that optical IS is better than sensor based because you get the stabilized view through the viewfinder, and that stabilized view assists the camera's autofocus. So I'm going to be putting my K-x on craigslist and hope that I can get most of my money back.
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 02-13-2010, 09:11 AM  
Pentax K-x Shutter Speed, ISO, Low Light..
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 4
Views: 4,228
If you're in AUTO PICT mode then the camera might be selecting Night Scene Portrait, which is an issue that was already raised.

I suggesting trying the Kids Scene mode. Set the camera to SCN, and press the INFO button to get to the Control Panel. The Scene options should be the top left. With Scene highlighted, move the E-dial until "Kids" appears. Then just half-press the shutter to get out of there and go take some pictures.
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 02-12-2010, 05:01 PM  
Polarizers and IR's
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 35
Views: 8,156
Well here's an interesting development. I received a second response to my question to Pentax.

I had send a message to Pentax asking about metering with a polarizer on their their digital SLRs. I received this reply...




But just now I received another message, which was made as a response to the Dorian B.'s message...



So as Ben Edict had noted, Pentax also raised a concern about the autofocus system. Personally, bright sun isn't the only time I've used my polarizer. It works well to cut reflections in water, and when you're trying to photograph Koi, you need all the light you can get. So I still say it's best to get a circular polarizer with an SLR.
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 02-12-2010, 12:05 PM  
Polarizers and IR's
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 35
Views: 8,156
Pentax has confirmed that both linear and circular polarizer work properly with Pentax digital SLRs.

As I'm not a filter dealer, I can't be 100% certain, but as far as I know only B+W makes a multi-coated linear filter. The 58mm is about 88 bucks, while their 58mm circ. pol. is 92 bucks.

So unless you have a B+W Linear MRC filter, you're missing reduced reflections, and the best possible light transmission.
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 02-12-2010, 10:51 AM  
Help with self portrait without remote, using timer
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 8
Views: 5,895
With the K-x you don't need to go into manual focus if you change the setting of the AF button.

Open the Menu and go to Custom 2. Change the "10. AF/AE-L Button" setting to "3 Cancel AF."

Half-press to focus on the tripod to set the focus distance. Release the shutter and mount the camera. When you go to actually press the shutter, hold down the AF button. This will bypass the AF function of the shutter.

I second the suggestion of getting a remote. However, do note that, by default, autofocus does not operate with the remote. That would be #11 in the Custom menu :)
Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing 02-12-2010, 10:23 AM  
Shooting JPEG, Converting to RAW?
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 9
Views: 3,548
LMAO!! Classic! :p

Before messing with RAW you should...
1. Understand what RAW is
2. Understand the processes that the camera performs on RAW to produce an image.
2. Have a reason for wanting to take control over a particular process.

Until you've got these, there's very little to be gained by messing with RAW.
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 02-12-2010, 10:16 AM  
How do you manage too much light?
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 14
Views: 2,052
Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing 02-12-2010, 08:54 AM  
JPEG vs RAW image comparison
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 64
Views: 12,822
Yes, you have full control over the process. RAW data hasn’t been processed at all. That’s why it’s called RAW data. “RAW” isn’t an acronym for anything…it means exactly what it implies…unprocessed data. You can use software such a Rawnalyze to view the individual channels.


It can be considered the same. It is generally accepted that ISO adjustments in the camera are better than in software because the gain is applied to the analog signal, which is more accurate than applying it to a digitized signal, and the gain isn't applied to read noise, which is unavoidable in software. However, in a camera such as the K-x, which has low read noise, you can increase exposure by 3 stops before the addition of read noise and quantization noise affects the image noticeably.

This is an example of a low light image, so there's lots of shot noise. In a low light image, shot noise tends to overwhelm read and quantization noise. When there's plenty of light, the signal itself is high enough to overwhelm read and quanization noise. So you get similar results up to EC +3. Beyond that, the read noise and quantization noise start to have a larger effect, due to their larger contribution to the signal.



There's no question about it. See above.


That not relevant. Some editors, such as Raw Therapee, will not only convert the image to 16-bit while processing, but will also convert to the CIE Lab color space before performing operations that change colors. In other software, simply convert to 16-bit before processing. Having 16-bits for processing is important. Having a 16-bit image...not so much.
Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing 02-12-2010, 07:25 AM  
JPEG vs RAW image comparison
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 64
Views: 12,822
An important thing to realize is that a RAW processor has computer power to do its job, whereas a camera has a weak camera processor. Computational complexity is an important consideration in designing cameras, because you can’t use algorithms that take a few minutes to process. You’ll never see RL Deconvolution as a sharpening option on a camera, ‘cause who wants to wait a half-hour to take another picture?

The first step is demosaicing of the RAW data. That’s the process of combining and converting the individual red, green, and blue pixels of the sensor, into a bitmapped image where each pixel has a red, green, and blue component. Some RAW processors allow to you select different demosaicing algorithms, which may even have parameters to adjust. A scene may respond better to one method over another. See a comparison here…
Comparison of various RAW demosaicing methods

Then next thing is exposure adjustments. It’s like making ISO adjustments. Exposure adjustments are performed by applying a factor to the RAW data…pretty much the same thing that the camera would have done had you used a higher or lower ISO. That’s why it can only be done in RAW. Since increasing ISO increases noise, you want to get exposure as close as possible, and then use the exposure adjustment for that final tweaking.

Typically, RAW processors have been used to perform trickery on RAW files, such as highlight/shadow compression, but now cameras are offering those options as well. Still, RAW processors tend to have more adjustments within those functions than a camera does.

At this point you have a bitmapped image, and the rest of the processing isn’t RAW specific.

Camera sensors are linear devices, but our eyes aren’t. So a gamma correction will be applied to the image. Demosaiced images are soft by default due to having been demosaiced (images from Sigma’s Foveon X3 sensor don’t have this problem.) So some sharpening always has to be applied. Some features do better without sharpening, such as sky and clouds, so masking them off before sharpening the rest of the image is usually a good idea. A person editing an image can do this...a camera can't.

And again, because cameras don’t see the way we do, other adjustments must be made to arrive at an image that appears the way we remember, such as contrast and color shifts.
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 02-11-2010, 02:36 PM  
Why Turn Shake Reduction Off?
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 36
Views: 8,827
Yes it does.
Forum: Photographic Technique 02-11-2010, 01:22 PM  
"Seeing" in B&W
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 9
Views: 2,221
I love B&W! You can make crappy pics look like they're supposed to be good pics...like this!



I use Photoshop Elements 5 because I'm too cheap to upgrade. (:p) Its B&W function provides 6 B&W styles to select from...and they differ by quite a bit. So I usually wait until I'm back at the computer to mess with a B&W conversion.
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 02-11-2010, 09:52 AM  
Show Us Your Best K-X shots
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 1,231
Views: 279,840
That goes back to the opening question of lesson one from my favorite site to recommend to people, which is, “It’s a beautiful photograph, but do you know WHY it’s beautiful?” It’s basic composition. The framing of the image is usually rectangular. Strong lines in the image that aren’t perfectly vertical or horizontal will create triangles. Triangles that don’t follow the rules of composition look ugly. Horizons that are off by just a bit create wide but low triangles, which don’t look very nice. Horizons that are purposes shifted by large amounts to provide an effect will usually enhance an image.

In the Garry Winogrand (the one I presume you’re referring to) the triangles work to lead your eye around the photograph. Your eyes start off centered but then move to the right, following the downward slope. The incomplete man at the end suggests to your eyes to keep looking and the contrast between dark and light draws you upward. Another triangle draws the eye towards the left along the top. Once again, the contrast between light and dark draws your eye to the fellow at the end of the bench, where the process starts again. Your eye is drawn to cruise around the photograph, which gives the image a sense of being a living scene. There are other strong lines that you may not even realize…the row of legs and heads will pull your eye one way or the other as you loop around, adding interest to the living scene. It's a great photograph.

Here’s that site I was referring to…
Classroom - MorgueFile
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 02-11-2010, 08:05 AM  
Do you find the KX autofocus speed abit slow compared to its competitors?
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 24
Views: 5,091
Oh you mean like AF-A does.
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 02-10-2010, 11:40 PM  
Polarizers and IR's
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 35
Views: 8,156
I apologize to Snydly for not having provided a description of the correct shooting angle with the crystal clear clarity, pinpoint precision, wondrous wit, and salient succinctness of the description that Jewelltrail will be providing in his very next post.

I can hardly wait to bask in glow of his enlightened wisdom…
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 02-10-2010, 09:57 PM  
Polarizers and IR's
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 35
Views: 8,156
Right. So my statement applies only "when the sun is directly overhead"...and at no other time...hence my clarification of "when the sun is directly overhead." If the sun isn't directly overhead at noon, then it doesn't apply, right? So what's the problem?

The idea behind my description is to allow a person to easily visualize what's meant by "90 degrees from the light source," which would otherwise require a more complex explanation. I really don't think there's a need to tailor my answer for each of Earth's 7 billion inhabitants.
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 02-10-2010, 09:22 PM  
Polarizers and IR's
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 35
Views: 8,156
So?

..........
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 02-10-2010, 09:16 PM  
Show Us Your Best K-X shots
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 1,231
Views: 279,840
It happens. Here are some more great photographs and comments along the same vein. It's amusing.

The Online Photographer: Great Photographers on the Internet
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 02-10-2010, 07:59 PM  
Polarizers and IR's
Posted By Graystar
Replies: 35
Views: 8,156
A circular polarizer is a linear polarizer with something added that has nothing to do with polarization.

On SLR cameras use a circular polarizer.

The spot is suppose to point at the light source. Draw an imaginary line from the center of the lens and through the spot. Now turn the polarizer until that line points at your light source. Your polarizer is aligned.

The polarizer works best at 90 degrees from the light source. So at high noon, when the sun is directly overhead, you'll get the largest effect by pointing your camera anywhere along the horizon. At sunset, you'll get the greatest effect by pointing the camera north, south, at the ground, or directly overhead.

As for what you should see...that depends on what you're looking at. You should see foliage brighten up and reflections disappear. The sky should become more blue, and clouds better defined. You should be able to see through glass and water when reflections were previously blocking your view.

Here's a very good article on polarizers...
http://archive.popphoto.com/pdfs/2002/0902/Polarizer.pdf
Search took 0.01 seconds | Showing results 1 to 25 of 144

 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 08:06 PM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top