|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-08-2017, 04:58 PM
|
| |
OP again. Having spent a lot of time reading this forum's lens reviews and the great suggestions from everyone, I seem to have got to a conclusion:-
24-50 f4 A
I really prefer 24mm to 28mm and this strikes a great balance compared to the pricer wider fixed focal length offerings. Quality wise, the A seems a bit better than the M. I know I said primes, but the 24-50 seems to get the best reviews of all the short zooms and bests most of the moderately priced primes.
50 f1.4 M
Gives me low light capability within the lens set, without the cost of a 1.2.
135 f3.5 M
In for its size and price - I have already picked up a minty one for $40.
But all this reading has led me to covert more lenses - I'm in a downward spiral. I can see myself adding the following two lens which seem to be rated highly without costing the earth:-
28 f3.5 K
100 f2.8 A
So there we are, thanks to the community for helping me through the Pentax MF maze.
|
|
Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
12-07-2017, 06:14 PM
|
| |
Thanks everyone for your input!
After extensive testing today I have determined that its the Sigma lens. It's sharp as hell at f4
Some side info: I was shooting reptiles in our hands so I couldn't use OCF as I normally would so that might explain the probable question of "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SHOOTING AT 1600?!?!" I was using continuous video lights that weren't quite up to the task.
I am really happy now that I've figured this out.
The K-1 is on the way too so that should help with my low light performance and ISO handling in theory and will allow me to use my much superior 70-200 lens in closer quarters than I currently can.
Thanks again everyone!
|
|
Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
11-26-2017, 03:11 PM
|
| |
Hello fellow Pentaxian,
pixls.us, which is a website for Free/Open Source Photography, is maintaining a database of raw files for most camera, that developers can pick into for testing their software or tailor some functions to the cameras. Some Pentax camera are still missing raw files (see their Raw Samples Wanted page). It would be very helpful if some of you could provide DNG and PEF test shot for each crop size (APS-C/FF/Square) under CC0 licensing. Beside the Pentax 645Z and 645D model which is completely missing, other model has non-CC0 samples, so they're still asking for them. See this page for a list of missing CC0 samples.
Thanks a lot to those who will agree to upload some files. If you've uploaded files for a requested body, it would be nice to announce it there, to avoid duplicates.
|
|
Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
11-12-2017, 06:47 PM
|
| |
Just FYI I went the EBay route and sold the K-5iis for $340 and the 55-300 for $87.
Seems pretty fair to me. I have to pay the fees but way less frustratin I think.
|
|
Forum: Lens Clubs
11-11-2017, 09:19 PM
|
| |
More luck today, Tawney Frogmouths. I've been after these for some time. (K3 Bigma)
1\ Mum (Mom)
2\ Dad
3\ The kids.
|
|
Forum: General Photography
10-31-2017, 02:28 PM
|
| |
While I haven't used capture one, Photoshop provides a lot of manual controls (including CA corrections and lens profiles), so you can develop your files just about any way you see fit. So, to me, making a blanket statement like that implies user error or lack of experience. Perhaps capture one is easier, and more automated, though, as Photoshop can definitely be a hassle at times.
|
|
Forum: Lens Clubs
10-26-2017, 05:58 AM
|
| |
Ripening Magnolia seed pod
[DFA 100/2.8 Macro & K-3]
 |
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
10-15-2017, 07:27 AM
|
| |
There probably is no "safe" level of radiation but that does not imply that every incremental exposure to thoriated Takumars (or air travel or bananas) is "dangerous". Unless you believe that getting less radiation exposure is more dangerous (don't laugh because some people do believe that), the worst case scenario is a linear dose effect in which each added unit of exposure brings an added chance of cancer. It's then a matter of using the copious data on the likely coefficient of that linear effect and the likely dose from the proposed activity (i.e., using a hot lens some hours per year). As the data from the article cited by dcshooter shows, the dose from these lenses is quite modest even compared to background radiation.
BTW, if you actually intend to "avoid the beta and gamma rays the best you can", then leave Moab Utah because the geology of the area makes it susceptible to high radon-levels (which do have documented dangers from exposure) and Moab's higher altitude (and latitude) increases resident's exposure to cosmic rays.
I think we all agree about the importance of managing risk but society's current fixation on safety seems to be creating it's own category of danger.
|
|
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
07-24-2017, 05:12 AM
|
| |
The differences between silicon's sensitivity as measured in amps/watt versus electrons/photon (quantum efficiency) have nothing to do with the sun or the light source. It is a direct consequence of the energy per photon. Blue and UV light packs much more energy per photon than red or infrared light but the quantum nature of semiconductors means that one absorbed photon excites one electron regardless of how energetic the photon was. Put another way, a watt of deep red light has almost twice as many photons per second as a watt of deep blue light which seems to induce a greater output (higher amps/watt sensitivity) even if red photons have a much lower chance of exciting the silicon (low quantum efficiency).
(Perhaps you are thinking of all the calculations of light intensity as measured in lux , lumens, candelas, etc. which are tied to a human vision color spectrum model such that watt-for-watt green light has about 10X the lumens of blue light).
|
|
Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
09-18-2017, 06:21 PM
|
| |
Dear All,
As a K1 user and a developer, I don't like the Ricoh Image Sync app so I developed a new one, named Pentax Photo Sync, now you can download it from Apple Store now.
PentaxPhotoSync on the App Store
Update 10/1/2017
The app is also available on Android now.
Update 3/26/2018
The newer release will be coming soon...
Android:
-Trigger the media rescan after completing download, so you will see the photo immediately from the system album app after downloading from the camera.
-Background transfer.
-Keep the screen on when using remote control.
-Automatically connected to the camera's WiFi last connected.
-You may pickup the download directory manually from the settings page.
Fixed:
-The bug that data is not synchronized when EV changed to 0.5.
IOS:
-Keep the screen on when remote control.
-Keep the screen on when downloading photos to avoid downloading abort.
If you can help us to test the last version app and give us feedback before we release to the public, please feel free to register as a tester via Photo Sync App Tester Registration
Read more at: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/190-pentax-k-1/352815-alternative-choice...#ixzz5Aosq2luu
Pentax Photo Sync - Android Apps on Google Play
Here is what you can get from this app.
1. Transfer photos more faster
The new optimized UI let you quickly find the photos to be transferred, more efficient and up to 50% transfer speed than the original APP.
2. Record the location
Even if the camera does not support GPS, you can also pick up the location before transfer your photos from the camera to download.
3. Quickly overview the camera information and share camera WIFI with others
Support model
Tested on the following models
-
PENTAX K-1
GRII
-
Theoretically supports all Pentax WIFI models.
|
|
Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
09-12-2017, 02:20 PM
|
| |
We all love film... but it's gotten more and more expensive to shoot and develop. Not to mention the work of scanning it, unless we pay someone to do it, and even then it doesn't look a lot like what it would if we had printed it with an enlarger lens...
I guess film emulations (both presets and home brewed) are the next best thing. How do you go about getting a more film-like look from some of your pictures?
I have a couple of approaches... I use HaldClut film emulations in RawTherapee sometimes, it even enhances pictures that I don't intend for the viewer to see as a film picture - just as a good picture. But sometimes I do try to make it, I guess, a bit more nostalgic, like in this shot, where I used the Agfa APX 25 preset from HaldClut:
 Delightful Morning Sun by ChristianRock, on Flickr
Another approach I took a while back was to create some presets in Corel Aftershot Pro, messing a lot with colors, contrast and curves, until I found something that looked like it was made on slide film, but not emulating a specific film. Just a bit of that "70s vibe" I guess. When I switched computers I had to ditch Corel Aftershot Pro - they no longer support some of features I used a lot in version 1, like Vignette (!!!), I guess they want you to pay to go to a newer version of the software. But I heard horror stories about AP 2 and 3 crashing all the time. So I just switched completely to RawTherapee, where i have yet to create the same kind of preset to make my pictures more film-like. Having HaldClut which already has great presets is probably keeping me from investing time on it...
Here's an example of what I did with Aftershot Pro and my "home brewed film emulation".
 No Parking by ChristianRock, on Flickr
I've also used Nik Analog Fx Pro 2 in the past with good results, but lately I've just been using RawTherapee - much more convenient and I think the HaldClut package is just as good as Nik's stuff... except for all the film dirt and imperfections - which I don't use anyway.
So, do you have a similar approach to your photography and try to emulate what you used to get with film? How do you do it? Let's get a discussion started :)
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-07-2017, 01:19 PM
|
| |
1. I can't believe the amount of negative comments about this. Stay at home and don't buy it, I wish you'd keep your trash talk away from here please.
2. I'm getting one as soon as the K-mount version comes out.
|
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
08-27-2017, 07:30 AM
|
| |
Very nice Brian, great info. Actually I should have said: "for these tapered barrel chinons" in terms of tomioka attribution.
I've just added to that mflenses thread to include the tamron derivation of the "tapereds".
The length of the optical block will be the same if my 35mm identifies with Luis' tamron 35mm lenses (as best as I could measure it given the recessed front element).
|
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
08-15-2017, 08:50 PM
|
| |
Nobody likes a quitter, come on start buying more, peer pressure Ronald, peer pressure.
|
|
Forum: Pentax Compact Cameras
08-14-2017, 01:49 AM
|
| |
These are some of the photos taken by my wife during Carnival in Venice 20 years ago. In Venice we were surrounded by hundreds of professionals laden with SLRs and best lenses money can buy; still – despite being shot with a Pentax Zoom 105-R compact film camera universally recognized as purely amateur piece of equipment - the photos are not inferior to the results of the professionals’ coverage of the event I saw later.
Best
Jarek
|
|
Forum: Lens Clubs
07-28-2017, 01:11 PM
|
| |
Well, I have to confess, I'm hard on it: it stays set up out on the porch most of the time. I don't let it get too much sun, keep it out of the precipitation, cover it in bad weather (and bring it in when things get really nasty) and discourage wasps from building nests in the hood. This is partly just laziness but I also don't want to be in a "Oh (insert expletive!), there's an Eagle in the tree--I'd better set up the 600 & tripod!" situation but-- especially at my age--every tripod mount/dismount is a hazardous adventure for the lens (and me). Then, too, my feeling is that, here in Baltimore, a lens case is just a fungus farm. Still, fresh air is no guarantee against fungus (just ask the oak ;)) and then there's pollen and dust etc. so, yeah, a cla every so often seems like a good idea. Gotta say though, the thing is built: it's got some dings but no wear issues at all.
|
|
Forum: Lens Clubs
07-28-2017, 09:59 AM
|
| |
| |
|
Forum: Lens Clubs
07-28-2017, 11:42 AM
|
| |
But, seriously, the F*600 does seem to be performing really well after dcshooter's cla:
 |
|
Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
07-26-2017, 04:27 AM
|
| |
If people are in doubt I think they should check the 'Post Processing Challenge' threads that exist here, definite proof of taking a raw pic and salvaging it for a more passable entry. We all make mistakes on the shoot day, stuff up on the ol' histogram or are short on time, PP can turn a meh into something quite pleasing indeed.
|
|
Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
07-07-2017, 01:59 PM
|
| |
I believe you mean purrformance.
|
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
06-14-2017, 05:57 AM
|
| |
Mmm... I have, and used my F*300/4.5 for a year or two before getting the DFA 150-450...... lots of stuff written, pictures posted etc . However I have, and still use my 300 from time to time.... mostly due to it's smaller size (travellong OS etc) .... however I use the 150-450 all the time and don't give the 300 a second thought ..... I also don't have any issues with the 150-450's size from a carrying and shooting perspective. It is definately a harder lens to get results from than the 300..... mostly because your at 450mm a lot.... and it's light transmittance is a stop or so down on the 300.... the money pain only lasted for a short while..... I do like the fl flexabilty mostly... I don't consider the zoom at 300 better then the F*/DA 300... fwiw
I have found having the 150-450 on the camera versus the 300 sees me taking more tele landscape shots and more "bird enviromental" shots.....
Bokeh of the zoom can at times be a bit busy..... good light with the 450 at 450mm can still allow a lot of cropping.... this is a K-1 image at 450mm (iso 2000).... 1/3 crop (12mp)...prints to 24"x24" really nicely on canvas at 150dpi... what more can one want?
Focus on the 150-450 will definately be a step up....
|
|
Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
06-07-2017, 08:36 AM
|
| |
I have scanned some old Family Photos to upload to my 'Family Tree' so i can show a few here -----
My Dad on May 6th Jubilee day 1935, My Parent's Wedding, my Sister who died 1936 age 6 months before I was born, My 'Pop' ( Grandad on Mum's side ) we used to stand outside the Air-Raid Shelter watching the Germans V the British in the sky until we got 'Told Off '
|
|
Forum: General Photography
05-24-2017, 01:53 AM
|
| |
Somebody took this shot of me on a recent wedding I was shooting.
Obviously I was enjoying myself.
As to Kerrodowns comment from another thread quoted below. :) :) I was no where near the buffet table. :D
|
|
Forum: Video Recording and Processing
04-07-2017, 11:11 AM
|
| |
It would not. The 645Z sensor will be doing a TON of line skipping. There's no way that sensor is able to read out the whole sensor at least 24 times a second. Too much data, too much heat, too much of everything. And lets not forget the jell-o effect if it goes through all the lines. And that's before processing the data. So there'll be a few rather small pixels capturing the light, with lots of space to the next pixel that you'll see on screen. It will not look good.
Full sensor readout (as in reading every pixel in the recorded area, and then scaling down the image) requires a very fast sensor (and even then, you might be seeing lots of jell-o), that doesn't heat up too much despite all the work it has to do. It's really hard, and not many sensors can do it. And you need a beefy processor that is capable of processing all the data and scaling it down to the resolution you want to record at. The tech exists, but it might not be available to Pentax, and even if it were, it may not be cheap. For something that mostly only benefits the handful videographers out there it's not reasonable to bump up the price for all cameras.
However I do would like to see it too, but with an option of switching between line skipping and full sensor readout. If you're shooting lots of fast movements, maybe shoot handheld, Greengrass style, you'll pick line skipping. It gives you faster readout speeds, and thus less to no jell-o. That the resolution isn't so good, and there are jagged lines etc. no one will pick up on. Then if you're shooting very slow things, not much movement, resolution and image quality becomes much more important, and there wouldn't be much jell-o anyway, you'll switch to full sensor readout.
You're also talking about 4:3... the issue is that DSLRs don't use 4:3 sensors, they use 3:2.
|
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-17-2017, 02:13 PM
|
| |
The simplest, cheapest and probably the strongest method is to to use a Helicoil.Try googling Helicoil and if you don't believe you are capable of DYI'ing this yourself any engineering company or even a motor mechanic would be capable of doing this simple fix.
Glenn
|
