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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
12-14-2014, 10:33 PM
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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
12-09-2014, 09:23 PM
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-24-2011, 10:32 PM
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AF/AE-L is also configurable. I set mine to AE-L in all modes. This locks exposure when you press it, so it doesn't re-meter if you pan away. I use it in funny exposure scenarios, in sort-of a screwed up version of the zone system. In very contrasty scenes I pick a shadowed spot, and lock exposure there, then recompose. It takes a little screwing around to figure out which shadow to use, though.
I have green set to "optical preview", because I use a couple of old K, M and M42 lenses. This stops the lens down and lets you take an accurate meter / focus of the shot you will actually get. When using the old lenses (aperture ring lenses without a chip) in manual mode, the AV+/- button (up on the top of the camera) becomes like an automode setting. It stops down, meters, and sets the shutter as though you were in aperture priority mode. I do this to get close to correct exposure then chimp and fiddle from there.
In manual mode with electronically controlled apertures (newer lenses), AV+/- lets you switch between changing aperture and shutter speed. In Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority mode, it switches between changing the dominant setting (aperture or shutter) and changing the exposure bias. That EV+ or - value. Basically, lets you over or underexpose an image a little. I tend to shoot mine a little over in camera, then bring them back down in post. Google 'expose to the right' for a better explanation of why this is a good thing in many cases.
Also... GO RTFM! All of this is explained in that little book you got. *glare*
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
08-23-2011, 07:27 PM
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Wandered out to the airshow, and shot about 1000 frames... That burst to get the flybys kinda burns them fast.
Anyway, this is the business end of an A-10 warthog. That's a 30mm Gatling gun, perfectly capable of sawing tanks in half. I see a funny whale creature, though. >.>;
I like seeing faces, and warping things into what they aren't. :)
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-21-2011, 09:59 PM
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I've gotten away with a few "dirt cheap" by skulking around secondhand shops, pawn shops, and craigslist...
I paid, for instance, $$25 for my M 50 f1.7, which is really one of my favorite lenses. If you want deals, you're gonna have to be vigilant, know what you're looking for, and pound the seedier parts of the street. OTOH, if you're going to buy new lenses, Pentax seems to run a little higher than their counterparts. They also seem to run better quality... (Except the SDM).
Another note - I've found I like my aperture-ringed lenses for one very specific purpose - Video mode. There's no way to manually change exposure mid-shot if you're using an all electronic lens. I have an old tokina zoom that I've taken the detent pin out of, so the aperture ring shifts smoothly. That's my video lens.
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Forum: General Talk
05-15-2011, 11:32 PM
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We're expecting more in the way of homeless people and kids smoking pot than security... Oh, and it's on the site of an old mental hospital. >.> |
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-15-2011, 06:02 PM
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You could probably use photo paper and an infocus projector to mock something like that up...
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Forum: General Talk
05-15-2011, 06:01 PM
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All the windows are broken... >.>;
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Forum: General Talk
05-15-2011, 03:13 PM
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Some good stuff there occasionally. I've found an Olympus OM-1 and some excellent Zuiko's there too...
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Forum: General Talk
05-15-2011, 12:21 PM
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definitely going shooting!
Just learned there's an abandoned mega-church in my town. Pastor was "co-mingling" church and personal funds, went away for a while. Community abandoned the place. I have a new 12-24 that needs some exercise... so here goes!
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Forum: Pentax K-r
05-15-2011, 11:37 AM
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My thought is you already have the 18-55mm focal length covered. The pentax kit lens, when properly lit (so you can stop to 5.6 or 8), is actually perfectly usable. And you're going to need the same lighting with any of the zooms you mentioned - none of them are particularly fast. The all-in-one lenses often have to make a lot of compromises, optically, to make such a long zoom. Which lens to get really depends on what you want to shoot...
Sounds like you're looking for a telephoto. The 55-300 has a sterling reputation round these parts. I'd recommend looking in that direction. That would give you, between 2 lenses, 18-300 with no gaps. Alternatively, you could look for a fast prime lens - that would give you more low-light and indoor ability. Something like a DA40 2.8 ltd, or the FA50 1.4. Those would be a little long for indoor... might consider wider.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
05-15-2011, 11:26 AM
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The little slot and driver can end up misaligned, I suppose... try just wiggling to focus and see if things snap in to place?
Also, with the lens off, turn the focus ring. Watch the drive slot on the back end of the lens - does that turn? Does the focus ring turn without resistance?
If all that is fine, the problem is with the camera. I've never encountered this... but maybe others have?
*ETA*
Another thought - the camera will refuse to move anything if it doesn't sense an autofocus lens attached. Given that it whines, it's probably detecting one... but it's possible that the lens contacts might be going bad.
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Forum: Photo Critique
05-15-2011, 09:02 AM
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The rule of thirds doesn't mean you should leave 1/3 of your picture empty... it means you should put important elements near the 1/3 lines. See the cropped image I posted above - the left eye ended up at a 3rd's crossing point. Zero in on exactly what your subject is, and fill the frame with that.
Another thing to think about is camera angle. You shot from over head, and at kind-of a wonky angle. It gives the photo a fun, playful mood. In general, though, shooting from above eye level makes your subject appear smaller and more vulnerable, while below eye level makes your subject loom over the viewer. Use those effects to your advantage.
For portraits, though, it often works very well to have one eye exactly on the center line. It's an old portrait technique from back when portraits were painted... Another composition idea to think about.
Editing - I do all exposure and color correction in Lightroom, then export to photoshop for my fine manipulation and airbrushing. I think most shooters on the forum do that. If you're not ready to spend that money (and I don't think I'm allowed to advocate piracy here... >.>; ) then the GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a good choice as well. You'll need the GIMP itself, and the raw image package found here. GIMP is free, so... :)
The truth about digital imaging is that every picture needs at least basic sharpening. The data is there, but it needs a little push to not look fuzzy.
Actually, I was having fun editing - haven't done a portrait in a while. A new version, fixed some things I missed the first go through.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-15-2011, 12:19 AM
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Ayup.
We spent the better part of last week recovering data from a medical office that thought that...
We have em on a tape drive system now.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
05-15-2011, 12:05 AM
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Dunno about the K, but I love my f28 2.8. It's a beautiful lens. I don't really use MF except on my M and K lenses... and I wouldn't really want to with the F28. The ring is small, no pressure, and it's usually behind a lens hood anyway. The lens is capable of stunning results, though.
Only thing I'd really point out is the price seems a tad high... Ebay on the 28's seems to float around $200 right now.
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Forum: General Talk
05-14-2011, 11:59 PM
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Thanks!
I think I can get along with this lens... :D
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Forum: Photo Critique
05-14-2011, 11:11 PM
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While it's not bad, there's a few things... :)
The highlight on his forehead bugs me a bit, but those often bug me more than they irritate others. This is flashed, right?
Focus - the sharpest point of focus isn't his eyes. It looks more like it's on his vest. You want to focus to the eyes in a portrait, usually.
And finally, a little bit of retouching goes a long way. :)
The ivy on the left is kinda wasted space. There's nothing really interesting there. Fill the frame with the subject.
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Forum: General Talk
05-14-2011, 10:36 PM
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:)
I just got my 12-24, and I'm very excited. Shot a sunset, mostly to test... but planning an Urb-Ex trip on Monday to give it a real push.
I also found an old Focal tripod (with ballhead) at good will the other day. The thing is.... there's a busted leg lock. I've got epoxy residue all over my fingers right now, waiting for it all to dry. It's a horrible amalgamation of epoxy, zip ties and little metal braces... We shall see. For $12, it was worth a try. Much more sturdy than my other tripod. You could beat a horse to death with this thing. Not that one should do such a thing...
I also bought a bicycle this week, since the weather's getting nicer. An old used Schwinn something-or-other hybrid. Think road-bike frame and wheels with mountain bike bars, breaks, gears and pedals. I can ride it and take the train to work. God, I feel so urban... Gotta go do something angry and conservative to keep my rep up. >.>;
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Forum: Photo Critique
05-14-2011, 10:41 AM
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hm... I'll have to try that. I think that could work pretty well.
Yeah... I went back and stared at them a bit, and decided the second was way overdone. Reprocessed it to be less... radioactive.
Thanks!
:)
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Forum: Photo Critique
05-13-2011, 09:13 PM
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For not terribly much money you can get some cheap radio triggers and some all-manual flashes. Put diffusers/stofens on them (for the bare bulb effect) and light the room. Unless you're gonna piss off the others in the lobby...
It works better in smaller spaces, but it's certainly doable. Attached pic is 2 cheap flashes (Viv 285HV and YN560) and some Cowboy Studio radio triggers...
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Forum: Photo Critique
05-13-2011, 08:55 PM
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Brand new used DA 12-24mm f4 arrived in the mail yesterday... Been itching to use it, and on the way home the sunset was perfect.
Photos, though... always need critiquing. Love to hear em. :) *ETA* Added a second shot from the same time, edited a bit brighter... which works better? I think it might be too bright, or too contrasty...
PS: Note about this lens... watch your hood. If it's off by even a little bit....
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
04-12-2011, 08:15 PM
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There are a number of tools that can be used to recover images from corrupted filesystems, or deleted images. I've used the "helix" tool suite in the past, but I think that's pay service now. There are some free ones out there... if anyone has a suggestion for those, I'd also be interested to hear them. If you can find an old free distro of Helix, it does indeed have a deleted file recovery tool, and can be pointed at a flash drive. That said, it's not magic. If the data has been both deleted AND over-written, you're SOL.
Once you've gotten whatever you can off the card, try re-formatting... but I'd be loathe to trust a failing card much. This is why I buy smaller capacity cards - if I shoot a bunch of 2 - 4 gig cards, I'm less vulnerable to a single card failure. I also dump all my shots to a computer at first chance, even if I don't process them for a bit longer afterwards. An ounce of prevention won't get you arrested, unlike some other ounces... >.>;
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
04-11-2011, 08:13 PM
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Punchbowl falls is only 2 miles in... :)
And in the summers, you can swim at the bottom!
I kinda forgot to stretch before starting, so right about now I'm sympathizing with the generation ahead of me... >.>;
Thanks!
Most of the rocks were pointy enough that they grabbed your boot, but I did take one nasty slip at a creek crossing. Really really really wouldn't want to fall, though.
Also thanks!
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
04-10-2011, 10:11 PM
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Dragged the camera on a backpacking trip. Only splattered with mud once, but the lens kept fogging up... Made it 10 miles in, but then we hit snow and had to hike back to 8 miles to find a camp site. If you're in Oregon, there's really no excuse not to do this hike. Barely 40 minutes out of Portland, and some of the most beautiful scenery you'll ever see. Start early, and the trails are nearly empty...
These are basically just WB'd and sharpened, but there's a few I plan to go back and spend more time on, as well as a few unprocessed panoramas.
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Forum: Pentax K-r
03-13-2011, 12:41 AM
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The question is... what are you going to use it for?
In the end, I find I set all my flashes manually. I don't use TTL. To that end, I have a Viv 285HV, and a YN560 which both work quite well. The Viv also has an auto mode, but it's non-TTL. Still very usable, if you don't feel like chimping the exposure.
That said, there is a bit of "get what you pay for". These cheap flashes typically output considerably under their rated power, and they often have weird little design issues that will slowly drive you mad.
Only review I can find is this one - https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-camera-field-accessories/49880-dig...ed-tested.html
Doesn't look terrible, but it certainly has limitations. No manual mode means if you do decide to do off-camera lighting (and this is the reason to have speedlight, IMHO) you're very limited.I'd go for a cheap manual flash (YN460, 462, etc) and a cheap radio trigger (PT-04, either from ebay or Cowboy Studios...).
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