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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests 11-02-2011, 09:14 PM  
Gateway Arch Shadow
Posted By mccamp82
Replies: 1
Views: 873
Gateway Arch Shadow, Saint Louis, MO
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 02-16-2011, 07:37 AM  
No more tests! just pictures
Posted By mccamp82
Replies: 8,063
Views: 1,465,961
Thanks, Tommot



Blue hour is a time of twilight when the sky is very blue. Here is the wikipedia entry: Blue hour - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and here is a nice website that will calculate specific times for Blue Hours around the world: http://www.bluehoursite.com/
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 02-15-2011, 09:32 PM  
No more tests! just pictures
Posted By mccamp82
Replies: 8,063
Views: 1,465,961
This is one of the first shots I had the pleasure of taking with my new K5. Absolutely love this camera. No stains, and so far, I haven't noticed any focusing issues. I can't find one thing to NOT like about this camera.

Image info:
Dallas, TX right after "blue hour" (i missed it by about 15 minutes or so)
ISO 80
Shutter Speed 8 seconds
Aperture f8.0
Shot RAW and converted in Adobe Camera Raw and PP in Photoshop CS4
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 02-15-2011, 02:24 PM  
Some general K5 questions
Posted By mccamp82
Replies: 5
Views: 3,220
The way I understand it is that when they are all three flashing it is because the camera metering system is telling you that the image will be underexposed (even if the actual photo you take looks ok to you). The flashing of all three is letting you know that you can change either of the three settings in order to expose correctly. I've seen this when i was in TAv mode and did not have my Auto ISO setting set high enough. I had it cut off at 3200, but with the aperture and shutter set the way I had it, the ISO still needed to be higher to expose correctly, but it would not raise because my settings would not allow it. I changed the Auto ISO to 6400 and the flashing stopped. In manual mode, it will not flash because it is letting you be the judge of the exposure you want and will not warn you.

I hope this helps.
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 02-15-2011, 08:57 AM  
Anyone using the Expanded Dynamic Range feature on your K5?
Posted By mccamp82
Replies: 16
Views: 10,253
I appreciate all of the replies....they have been very helpful and informative. I'm glad to hear I had at least a little bit of a clear understanding of what was happening in the camera when D-Range is turned on. I will undoubtedly leave the D-Range features off when shooting RAW, and may possibly use them if I need to use JPEG in a contrasty scene (which rarely happens).

Thanks again!
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 02-14-2011, 10:19 PM  
Anyone using the Expanded Dynamic Range feature on your K5?
Posted By mccamp82
Replies: 16
Views: 10,253
According to dpreview, it does affect RAW, but i think this may be a mistake.

From dpreview's K5 review:
"The K-5 features a highlight expansion function which applies to both JPEG and RAW; shadow expansion can also be applied to the camera's JPEG output. With Highlight correction activated ISO 160 becomes the minimum sensitivity setting, and the tone curve is flatter in the highlights giving an extra stop or so of highlight range. If you compare the K-5's dynamic range curve with hghlight correction turned on against the Nikon D7000's default output, you can see that they match almost exactly. Since the two cameras share closely-related sensors, this strongly suggests that the Nikon is essentially performing an equivalent to highlight correction by default. The noise floor of both cameras is low enough to do so without any serious penalty in noise levels, and for this reason we'd recommending keeping highlight protection activated on the K-5."
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 02-14-2011, 08:22 PM  
Anyone using the Expanded Dynamic Range feature on your K5?
Posted By mccamp82
Replies: 16
Views: 10,253
Thanks, BetaPhoto....

I believe I found the thread you were referring to: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5-forum/130190-low-light-160-200...fferences.html

It is mostly a bunch of speculating, but the original poster's dilemma is very interesting. When he turned D-Range highlight correction on, ISO set to 160, it actually did the opposite of what one would think. ISO 200, without D-Range turned on had less highlight clipping. Basically, the dynamic range seems much lower in the highlights with D-Range turned on.

Of course, this is mostly speculation, and no one could really give a good explanation. But it does make me, at least for now, lean towards leaving the D-Range Highlight Correction turned off. If needed, I will lower the EV a bit to avoid clipping and depend on my RAW editing abilities to make up for it in post production.

Also, I did some more searching around the forum and other websites. There are virtually no threads about the D-Range for the K5, but I've seen a few others in regards to the K7 and the Kx. In these threads, posters claim that the D-Range feature does not effect RAW images, but will not automatically default back to the lower ISO setting when shooting RAW. But on DPReview's K5 review, it says the D-Range settings to affect the RAW files. My intuition makes be think that DPReview is probably incorrect about this. Since I am an avid RAW shooter, I will probably just leave the D-Range off unless I need to shoot JPEG in a very high-contrast situation.

If anyone would care to shed some more light, please do.

Thanks again.
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 02-14-2011, 03:10 PM  
Some general K5 questions
Posted By mccamp82
Replies: 5
Views: 3,220
I just started a thread about this topic (probably while you were posting your thread) incase you'd like to follow it. I got a little more detailed with my question so if anyone answers, itmay of interest to you.


https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5-forum/133189-anyone-using-expa...e-your-k5.html

Regards,

Ches
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 02-14-2011, 02:49 PM  
Anyone using the Expanded Dynamic Range feature on your K5?
Posted By mccamp82
Replies: 16
Views: 10,253
I just got my K5 and have been playing around with different settings. I was just wondering if anyone had any insight on the Expanded Dynamic Range feature. The review at DPReview suggested leaving the highlight correction on, but I really have a hard time letting go of that ISO80 ability

Highlight correction causes the lowest ISO to be 160. I don't really understand why this is necessary. My concern would be that dynamic range would be lessened by doing this. This forum has a few posts about the K5 at ISO 80 having the best dynamic range available in an APSC sensor. Why would anyone want to sacrifice this in order to have the highlight correction turned on? Is it because the camera is, in a way, using ISO 80, underexposing a little to avoid clipping highlights, then processing the image in the camera to correct it for exposure while leaving the highlight areas underexposed. Or something similar? Would it be similar to me doing my own version of underexposing a little, then going in to Adobe camera RAW and raising the fill light to expose the shadows areas, and using recovery to keep the highlights under control? My big questions are: Who is using this feature? Is it worth giving up the low ISO abilities to salvage highlights?

Secondly, what is the Shadow Correction feature actually doing? I couldn’t find an explanation in the manual. There are 3 settings to choose from and this feature does not affect the ISO range. Is it recommended?

My main concern is that I’d like to preserve the high dynamic range capabilities of this camera and was wondering if using these features would actually help in that area, or if it actually sacrificed dynamic range in order to avoid certain areas being clipped. In other words, if my highlights clip at ISO 80 without the highlight correction feature turned on, will the image still have more dynamic range than if I took the same photo, Highlight correction turned on, ISO upped to 160? If so, it seems to me that the highlight correction feature is not necessary. I can underexpose the image slightly, and use the RAW editor to bring back the shadows. Am I correct in this thinking?

I hope this isn’t too much of a newbie question. The K5 is so much more of a beast than my K200d….a much steeper learning curve. I really want to make the most of what this camera can do, so I greatly appreciate the feedback.

Best Regards,

Ches
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 02-07-2011, 12:08 PM  
K5 in shanghai?
Posted By mccamp82
Replies: 8
Views: 3,101
....go ahead and get my K5 here in the US. In fact, I just ordered it from B&H and added the 2 year extended warranty for $19.95. I will be returning to the US every few months, so if something goes wrong and I need to get it fixed, I'll bring it back to the US and have it done here. I'll just keep my K200d as a backup so I won't be without a camera if the K5 messes up.

Thanks for the help.
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 02-03-2011, 04:54 PM  
K5 in shanghai?
Posted By mccamp82
Replies: 8
Views: 3,101
Just to clarify: A) If I buy my camera in the US, it may or may not be cheaper, and it will not be covered by warranty in China. That being said, can I still ship the camera back to the US to have it fixed under warranty if needed? Or B) if I wait and buy my camera in Shanghai, it may or may not be cheaper, but will it be covered under a Chinese warranty? I'll be living in Shanghai for at least 2 years, so if there is a valid Pentax warranty available in China, i think I will probably wait and purchase there.

Thanks again for all the help!
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 02-02-2011, 03:21 PM  
K5 in shanghai?
Posted By mccamp82
Replies: 8
Views: 3,101
Thanks, Octav. That's good to hear. I do have some Chinese friends and I have managed to do a fairly decent job of mapping things in Shanghai. Could you get me that address when you get a chance? I appreciate the help.
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 02-02-2011, 08:39 AM  
K5 in shanghai?
Posted By mccamp82
Replies: 8
Views: 3,101
Thanks for the response. I did a google translate and figured out there are quite a few retailers for Pentax in Shanghai. It would be really nice to buy it in person, but I'm mostly concerned about warranty. Does anyone have experience with the Pentax International Warranty?

Thanks
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 02-01-2011, 05:00 PM  
K5 in shanghai?
Posted By mccamp82
Replies: 8
Views: 3,101
hello all,

I'll be moving to Shanghai in April and was wondering if anyone had any advice on where to buy a K5. I am trying to decide if I should purchase one before I move from the US, or wait until I get to China. I'm not exactly sure how Internet purchasing would work in China. I'd like to make sure I can retain the warranty in case I get a "lemon". If I purchase from, say B&H before I move, then find out i receive a bad camera, will I still be able to return it under warranty if I am no longer in the US? Are there any reputable dealers in Shanghai that will give me an authorized warranty? Does anyone have experience in this type of scenario? I'm dying to get my K5, but if it will be better for me to wait until i move, that is not a problem.

Thanks for the help and I apologize for the newby question.

Regards
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 10-24-2010, 04:22 PM  
K200D D-Range Feature
Posted By mccamp82
Replies: 3
Views: 3,338
Thanks, Col.....exactly what I needed to know. I'll be avoiding the D-range from now on.



Haha.....yes I am.....but I'll be glued to the TV for every game of the World Series. Can't wait to see my Rangers dominate the Giants. I just wish i could make it to a game to take some pics......standing-room-only tickets are $450 though.....that'd be a nice lens or two so I'll pass ;)

Thanks again.
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 10-23-2010, 06:14 PM  
K200D D-Range Feature
Posted By mccamp82
Replies: 3
Views: 3,338
Do any of you use the D-Range feature on your K200Ds? Or any other camera? I have had my camera for a couple of years now and was recently reading back over the dpreview on the K200D just for fun and came across the paragraph on the D-Range feature. According to dpreview, D-Range really helped preserve some details in the highlights of a contrasty photo. But the review wasn't clear about what exactly it is doing and also didnt mention anything about whether shooting RAW vs. jpeg had anything to do with it. I usually shoot RAW and convert in ACR......does it make sense for me to use the D-Range feature when i shoot in RAW? I am usually a stickler about keeping my ISO as low as possible, and D-Range forces me to use ISO 200 as a minimum. This is not ideal in noise regards, but if it extends my dynamic range enough to warrant it, I may consider using it more often. I work a lot, so often I only get to go out shooting in on lunch breaks or after work and this usually means I run in to a lot of high contrast scenarios. I hate clipped highlights so if I can avoid this effectivly while shooting RAW, I'm interested.

Please post any of your comments/advice on the D-Range feature. I did a search through the forum, but it turned up mostly convoluted discussion that didn't really answer my questions or shed much light.

Any help is much appreciated.

P.S......off subject....I'm a new member, so I guess this can me by introduction post. Very glad to be here. I've been a reader for a couple of months now and really enjoy it. I've learned a lot and this forum is the reason I decided to stick it out with Pentax even though all of my friends shoot Canikon and share lenses with each other. I decided to suck it up and take pride in the fact that I am in a rare group of photographers. To signify my decision to stay with the brand, I just ordered my first prime lens (SMCP-FA 50mm f/1.4) and couldnt be happier about it.

Thanks for the help...I look forward to being more invloved in the forum.
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 10-21-2010, 05:47 PM  
I am a pro shooter and here is why I am so excited for my K-5 to get here tomorrow
Posted By mccamp82
Replies: 102
Views: 28,287
This is my first forum post as well.....been lurking for quite a while, and I'm glad to finally have a reason to post. I've learned so much here and really enjoy the personalities of all the members.

I just wanted to piggy back on @!ex's thread that I too got in to digital photography for doing HDR. I decided to get my first DSLR for the sake of shooting RAW and for AEB capabilities. When researching cameras (which grew into a whole new hobby on its own :)) I kept going back and fourth between Canon and Pentax. I never considered Nikon because their entry-level DSLRs do not have an Auto-Bracket feature. In fact i read recently that the new D7000 didnt originally have AEB in the specs but was added last minute because HDR enthusiasts complained (that may be a ruomor). So I was left with Canon and Pentax (i never considered any other brands). Canon had AEB, but what sold me was the Pentax had built in shake-reduction and the weather sealed body of the K200d was much more appealing than the hollow plasticky body of the entry level Canons and Nikons. I got my camera when the Canon XSi and Nikon D60 were in the same category. Everything i read on Pentax was great. I didn't know enough back then to realize that Pentax was a smaller, less popular company. I just saw it listed in Consumer Reports and it had an excellent rating....and I knew my uncle had a Pentax. Anyway.....I'm getting way off subject......Pentax is a great camera for HDR photography. The AEB, low-ISO image quality, colors, and DR have been completely satisfactory for me. I'm often amazed how much detail i can pull out in RAW conversion. I've actuallykinda moved away from HDR lately as I've become more and more addicted to this hobby. I'm constantly trying new techniques and practicing my PP skills. But HDR is something I will continue to work on in the future.

All this to say....I'll admit, I was considering jumping ship this year. I've really enjoyed my K200d and have no regrets in buying it. But in the time I've had it, I've learned that many of my friends shoot with Canons and Nikons. I've always taken some pride in being the odd man out but with Pentax its not quite as enjoyable. Reason being that all of my friends can share lenses and accessories and rent lenses at local camera shops while I'm stuck having to buy all my own, usually un-tested. I was very close to selling everything (which at this point is the K200D, Kit Lens, Tamron 18-250, and corded shutter release) and moving to the Nikon D7000. But now that the K-5 and K-r are out and I've seen so many stunning sample shots, I've made up my mind for sure that I will be sticking with Pentax in definitely. I can still maintain the small bit of pride I get from being unique, but even better I can no longer have any excuses for not getting excellent image quality in my photos. My only excuse will be user error, which will only inspire me to practice more.

So to seal the deal and confirm that I will continue on as a proud Pentaxian, I finally bought my first prime lens! I'm extremely excited. I've been wanting the FA 50mm 1.4 for a long time but have been putting it off because i was thinking of moving to another brand. It feels so great to make this decision and be able to enjoy my camera even more. I'm so pumped about being able to use my camera at lower ISOs in darker conditions as well as getting some nice silky bokeh. And I'm planning to upgrade to K-5 in early 2011 after bonus/Christmas money rolls in.

Also, @!ex, your photos are beautiful. I like your style of HDR.....very subtle and doesnt have that overly haloed tonemapping look to it. Very good skills. I added you as a contact on flickr (mccamp82)......my HDRs look novice compared to yours so please feel free leave a tip/comment/critique if you care to......I know I have a lot of learning to do so it would be much apprecaited.
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