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Forum: Lens Sample Photo Archive
10-09-2013, 10:24 AM
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Forum: General Talk
01-11-2017, 10:24 PM
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For me Falk lumo, mikeSF, JSherman, Adam, and even though i don't agree with what he says a lot of the time, monochrome. I wish i wouldve met him during my stint in St Louis,he is a really friendly guy.
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Forum: Pentax KP
03-16-2017, 09:48 AM
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I took the KP out to the local pond to see how it handles continuous autofocus.
I was hindered by 2 facts:
1) I am not very good at this type of shooting. I just don't do it very often.
2) I was using the HD 55-300mm. Not the new PLM one which is supposedly fast. This lens is very "pedestrian" (putting it mildly) when it comes to AF performance. If I were to do this more often, I would definitely step up to the 150-450 or the 70-200.
Having said that, it actually worked out pretty well :) In fact, I think it tracks better than both my K-1 and K-3II.
I used Sel 9, Focus Priority, Hold Medium.
As you can see below, the camera held up pretty well. I missed critical focus on the eye in some instances, but I think that is more technique on my part and lens selection.
 IMGP0166 by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
 IMGP0167 by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
 IMGP0178 by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
 IMGP0232 by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
 IMGP0238 by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
 IMGP0240 by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
 IMGP0310 by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
 IMGP0311 by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
 IMGP0312 by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
 IMGP0313 by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
 IMGP0314 by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
 IMGP0315 by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
 IMGP0316 by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
 IMGP0317 by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
 IMGP0318 by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
06-19-2017, 11:38 AM
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Here are a couple from Oahu a few months ago using the KP and processing via Raw Therapee then Lightroom (the second one is probably a bit oversaturated with the greens...I was playing with a Velvia preset and I am not sure if I like the results...both were shot with the 16-85mm):
 IMGP1018-2 by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
 IMGP1020-1 by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
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Forum: Ricoh GR
07-07-2020, 02:45 PM
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I have been lusting for this camera ever since handling one in the BIC camera store in Tokyo last year. I finally scored one for a good price over at fredmiranda, and it included 3 OEM batteries :)
I took it on a roadtrip up the California coast this past weekend. And, to challenge myself, it is the ONLY camera I took.
Pros:
- Even though I only shoot raw, the files definitely have more of a "film like" quality than any other digital camera I have ever used. It does have strong vignetting which may add to that. Of course this is correctable in post, but it is something to be mindful of.
- My friends commented "what kind of pictures do you expect to get out of that?" LOL, they are used to me carrying around a lot of "big cameras", and they were implying that they didn't think I could get high quality pictures with such a compact camera. It is definitely stealth and is a big plus.
- Lens is super sharp, like really sharp. It allows nice cropability.
- 28mm equivalent focal length is very versatile, more so than 35mm.
- Autofocus in lowlight, single, was actually not as bad I thought it would be (with the latest firmware).
- In body SR is definitely a plus.
- The touch screen is really responsive. I use it to focus and release shutter with one touch, and it (mostly) works very well.
- Macro mode lets you get really close and definitely adds versatility (but more in the cons section).
Cons:
- No articulating rear screen. This makes getting those really low level shots (like an inch or 2 above the ground) much more challenging than it ought to be.
- I used this a lot on the beach in midday, and I was basically guessing at my composition. I had the screen on full brightness, but wasn't quite enough.
- No flash. This would be really nice to have due to the leaf shutter so you can sync at really high shutter speed. This comes in handy to get a nice fill flash in the day time, and also the catch light in the eyes.
- Macro mode autofocus is, in a word, bad. This is double true in low light. Also true when you use the touch screen to focus. However, it does improve a little bit when I used the half-shutter press to focus as opposed to the touch screen.
Here are some pics:
- One of the shots where an articulating screen would have really come in handy
 GR000264_Edit by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
- Majestic 9 pound beast (i just now noticed the head peering over the rocks, I totally should have cloned that out)
 GR000299_Edit by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
- Used the built-in ND filter, shot at f16 to try to bring the shutter speed as low as possible and get the swirling water
 GR000282_Edit by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
- Shot into the sun, no ghosting (reminds me of the DA 15mm LTD)
 GR000373_Edit by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
- Beautiful landscapes, horrible harsh lighting
 GR000377_Edit by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
- Harsh lighting
 GR000402_Edit by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
- Used VSCO Afga film simulator
 GR000404_Edit by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
- Sharp, sharp
 GR000393_Edit by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
- Smooth bokeh from a wide angle (have to get really close to your subject)
 GR000418_Edit by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
- Don't worry, the Elephant Seals are not dead...they are just huuuuge and rest a lot! This is one where I used the 50mm in camera crop. As you can see, the lens is sharp enough that you still get a lot of nice detail even after the crop
 GR000431_Edit by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
So, in summary, this is a really hard camera to describe. People that say "oh just use a phone it is the same thing", nope, absolutely not. The resolution and lens on this thing is just way more than you can hope to get from a phone. Same thing with the smooth bokeh (if you get close to your subject).
You really have to know how to work the 28mm equivalent focal length. It is great for non-human close-ups. For humans, it is awesome for environmental portraits.
No camera is perfect. I would 100% sacrifice a bit more camera volume for pop-up flash and an articulating screen. Those two additions would send this camera into the stratosphere.
Having said that, i would only want those additions if it were to remain pocketable. I have had a Fuji X100F, which is the previous model, and it was big enough to discourage me from taking it everywhere. Also, the Fuji interface sucks the fun out of photography (of course that is subjective and only my opinion).
This may sound strange, but here is my summary:
I would not want this to be my only camera. But if I absolutely had to have only one camera, this one would be it.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
11-11-2013, 03:41 PM
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What if someone wants to actually autofocus AND not carry 4-5 lenses?
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-30-2013, 04:05 PM
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Forum: Ricoh GR
04-19-2019, 08:27 PM
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Hi Paul!
If you are a fan of Pentax, and like the 28mm focal length, then the GR III is an absolute no brainer. It is pretty much the least pretentious camera out there. And if you are a fan of Pentax, then you wont mind the AF. That is not a slight in anyway, it is just understanding the tool's limitations and using the it's strengths.
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Forum: Ricoh GR
04-19-2019, 05:30 PM
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So i am vacationing in Tokyo and they have AWESOME camera stores. They even have full lines of Pentax products on display to view and play with :)
Anyway, i have always been interested in the Ricoh GR line. But in America there is no where to actually handle one.
I spent an entire 5 minutes playing around with the GR III, so take this with a grain of salt :P
I can see why this thing has such a passionate fan base. It feels very sturdy and it is very compact.
I was disappointed in how easy it is to remove the ring outside of the lens. I can see that it would be easy to lose.
For being a wide angle, it really has gorgeous bokeh, if you get close to your subject. And man, it really does focus close.
The lens is shaaaarp from edge to edge wide open.
The touch screen is very responsive.
As for autofocus, when it locks on, it is very quick and it stays stuck. However, if it misses, and hunts, it really slows things. It just racks back and forth. And it does it slowly.
The troubling part is that the store was very well lit and not dark. Perhaps it being fluorescent lights made a difference?
I do wish it had a tilting screen. I think it would still be plenty pocketable with the few millimeters required to add one.
Having said all of that, i am seriously considering getting one. It is just so discreet and the b&w pics from the new flickr GRIII group look so luscious.
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Forum: Lens Sample Photo Archive
12-06-2012, 12:06 PM
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My tiny contribution...i really need to get out and shoot this lens more. But it is kind of an awkward focal length on an APS-C camera (at least for me...if you specialize in portraits, this probably would be ideal).
IMGP8142_DxO by Kenneth Marks, on Flickr
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
06-20-2017, 10:48 PM
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-25-2017, 08:28 PM
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This is such a very useful focal range. I take about 75% of my shots with the 15-30mm. This + DA35mm LTD + 55-300mm is all anyone could want (perhaps sprinkle in a 55mm or 70mm if you are a portrait shooter).
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
08-25-2017, 10:13 AM
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Unfortunately, these are the compromises you have to make. No one system is perfect. If I had my choice, I would want a Pentax body with Fuji lenses....but that aint happening lol.
You just have invest in a system that checks MOST of your boxes.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
08-01-2017, 03:51 PM
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Yea, I agree...that camera is a beast in a very compact body. Pictures don't do its small size justice.
The only problem with that camera is Ricoh didn't put it in enough people's faces.
Actually, the same can be said about the K-1. The only way you can get a feel for how much more compact the K-1 is compared to the D810 is if you go to a store and handle both. The problem is almost no store carries the K-1.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
09-08-2017, 03:53 PM
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Hmmm,..I am not sure that is a great example. The guy's face is not in focus, but his forward shoulder is :confused:
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
08-27-2017, 12:54 PM
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Not at all...
I definitely think there is a future market for k-1/D850/5dmk4.
Obviously there is a smartphone market.
It is the in-between market which is being under-served by camera makers. The $300-$800 market that consists of folks that want better pics than they can get from smart phones, but do not get better results with their Rebels/D3400s because they do not know how to (or don't want to spend the time to learn) fine tune their camera's jpeg engine. They do not want to spend 10/month on Adobe CC or troll thru youtube learning how to set their camera. So they get frustrated with their cheap, space consuming DSLR and it collects dust, while they go back to their smartphones to tale pictures.
I know a few people like that personally. I offer to help them, but as soon as I talk about using faster or slower apertures they have already lost interest.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
08-25-2017, 12:25 PM
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1) There is the cellphone crowd that are happy looking at 8" images and just want to press a single button to add a filter and share. There are billions of these people.
2) There are the new parents/kids recital/high school sports/travel photographers where a cell phone isn't cutting it and do not want to use an over sharpened, over saturated filtered. This is the group that would be best served if camera companies focused in on software development and mobile solutions. They want an easier solution than tweeking and re-tweeking the cameras JPEG engines, but dont want to come home after a long day at work and sit in front of a computer screen for processing.
3) The gear heads and the manual control guys that agonize over every pixel.
There will always be a market for the #3 group. Heck you can still by a 8x10" field camera brand new, along with sheet film, all the development chemicals and darkroom equipment.
I think the problem is that camera companies (and message board gear heads) often think that groups 1 and 2 are the same. But in reality, they are very distinct. They want better than cell phone, and better than Instagram filters. But do not have the money for a full frame camera, and do not have the patience or time to fiddle with every RAW exposure.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
08-02-2017, 11:16 AM
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I had one for a while...it is a very pretty lens. But it is not as compact as you may think (it has almost the same exact volume as a 31mm limited).
I think it does a fine job for replacing the DA 21/35/40mm limiteds. But I did not find it a great all-in-one solution.
I acquired a 16-85mm and I was much more satisfied. Yes, it is bigger...but I needed nothing else on a recent trip to Hawaii.
Of course, ymmv.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
07-06-2017, 01:56 PM
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When I hear statements such as "practically most", my ears (or in this case my eyes perk up).
Is that 60%? 75%? 45%?
What source are you using for your assumption?
Additionally, Canon has newer 1.4 and 2X TCs which work very well with that lens, and there are also newer lenses available from Sigma and Tamron that go to 600mm, which more than make up for the 6 MP difference between the 5D mk IV and the K-1/D810.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
07-06-2017, 08:54 PM
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The 5D mark IV has 30.4MP at 7fps, which is double the resolution of the K-1 in crop mode...additionally, like I said there is the 3rd party options which go to 600mm.
Of course there are countless threads of this very discussion with folks that actully own these cameras as well as know the specs should the OP wish to do a quick Google search.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
07-06-2017, 12:20 PM
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If you can afford it, the 5D Mark IV is a pretty awesome for both speed and resolution.
That paired with the Canon 100-400L mk II is a great birding/wildlife combo.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
07-05-2017, 10:02 PM
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
07-05-2017, 04:21 PM
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Actions speak louder than words...this was taken from an interview last year at photokina:
"Mr. Saiki seems to be in a bullish mood, buoyed by the market response to the K-1. ‘The reaction to the K-1 has been beyond our expectations,’ he says: ‘not only in terms of sales but also in the words we’re hearing from users. We believe we can revive Pentax as the leading company for DSLRs. We’ve had lots of feedback from non Pentax users, who wanted to be able to enjoy our FA Limited lenses. That’s nice feedback to have.’ "
That was last September. Since then they have released precisely 0 lenses for APS-C and for full frame.
Any momentum they may have had with the K-1 release has certainly slowed.
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Forum: General Photography
07-05-2017, 11:15 AM
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I will provide some pics when I get around to processing (I am notoriously late with processing my pics. I sit at a computer 8+ hours a day at work I hate sitting in front of a screen at home).
I went to Miami for a few days and a cruise (stops at Cuba and the Bahamas).
I brought along my K-1, 15-30mm, DA 50mm, FA 77mm, and DFA* 70-200mm.
The 15-30mm was by far my most used lens. I say about 85% of my shots were with it. I took a few portraits and street scenes with the 77mm and I did an Everglades fan boat tour which i used the 70-200mm :) I used my 50mm for a few shots, but I could have easily left it home and not missed anything. If I didn't take the Everglades tour, I would've been plenty happy with just the 15-30mm and the 77mm.
I invested in a Think Tank Airport Express (the backpack, not the roller). It fit all my gear with plenty of room to spare, along with my kindle, and toiletries.
The backpack is nice and comfy to wear...although if I wasn't such a big guy it all would have been quite heavy to lug around.
I think my dream travel kit would be a K-1 + DFA WR 17-35mm f3.5-f5.6 + 43mm +77mm.
The 15-30mm is awesome, and I do like the fact that it goes to 15mm, which is wiiiide. But I would sacrifice some width and speed so I can get a smaller package (plus being able to use screw in filters would be nice).
But, that is a small complaint. Overall, I was very happy with the way the camera and lenses performed. Sure a smaller and lighter kit would be nice for travel, but I am completely spoiled by the wide exposure latitude that the K-1 provides.
Also a big thumbs up for the Think Tank Airport Express. Having a nice, comfortable back pack makes carrying a larger kit much more comfortable and less of a hassle. It is pricey, but worth it in my opinion.
Which brings me to something else I have learned. You get much more bang for your buck investing in nice "carrying equipment" (backpack or carrying bag, shoulder strap, wrist strap) than you do a nice lens or camera. This is because if you spend more on comfortable, well fitting "carrying equipment" you are MUCH more likely to take your camera with you and not leave it at home.
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