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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
12-26-2013, 02:10 PM
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Thanks for another dose of helpful input, Na Horuk.
I should have been more specific; in fact I am very much of the same mindset you expressed above - staring at my monitor for hours on end does not fit comfortably into my idea of hobby photography. As you said, that sort of attention is best reserved for photos bound for an actual 'client' of some sort. With that in mind, my interest in software HDR is as a back-up plan for time-sensitive shoots when the in-cam HDR lag is a problem (e.g. I am standing outside on a winter night, or trying to shoot something transient like a sunset, etc) - otherwise, I am quite satisfied with the balance of quality and convenience that in-cam HDR provides, and have no intention of abandoning it altogether. Besides, exposure bracketing is useful in its own right, e.g. I can just use the best-exposed frame and scrap the rest. Also, I haven't used the SCN Night-time HDR feature - I will make a note of it.
The HDR software I've tried offers auto-alignment, thankfully - otherwise it would be hopeless, since, as I said, I am confined to hand-held shooting for the time being.
The 2-sec timer is also helpful, though for some reason I seem to get better hand-held results without it... hard to explain but it's somehow easier to press the shutter release at the moment when I am holding steady, as opposed to trying to be steady when the timer triggers it for me... it might make more sense by analogy with a sniper rifle - I don't think a 2-sec timer would be desirable there :p Of course, all of this applies only if you're actually holding the camera, etc.
Thanks yet again.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
12-21-2013, 03:21 PM
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Thanks very much for the helpful comments, Na Horuk.
What you're saying makes perfect sense - the fact that I can shoot a burst of JPEGs with no lag shows that the SD card is performing well. I think I was ignoring the obvious because I wanted there to be an easy fix. Moreover, considering that HDR processing is a pretty demanding task, I guess I can't reasonably expect the on-board chip on a budget camera to compute it very quickly.
You're also right to point out that a fast SD card is a decent investment in its own right, but since I won't see a major improvement with this one issue, it's not urgent. I am probably better off learning to use exposure bracketing & software HDR, and perhaps getting a tripod as you suggest. For the time being, I think it's my technique that needs upgrading, and thankfully that's mostly free :lol:
Thanks again,
K-rock
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
12-21-2013, 01:53 PM
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I have been shooting with the K-r for a couple of years now and am mostly happy with it... however:
I rely heavily on the in-camera HDR feature, which in my case disables the camera for 10-15 seconds (!) for processing each frame. I only shoot hand-held, and the processing lag forces me to re-compose each time (in order to take multiple 'identical' frames for redundancy), or else to try holding still for the duration of processing - an irritating handicap in either case.
My 'technique' deserves a good deal of criticism, but I have been fairly successful in getting what I want out of it, apart from this lag issue. I could certainly switch to bracketing + software HDR, but then I can't accurately preview my results in-camera.
Processing is quite fast with simple settings, i.e. burst shooting of simple JPEGs does not cause much lag, however certain filters (distortion & fringing correction, etc) do lag noticeably (more than a second or two) as well.
I am inclined to scapegoat the garden-variety SDHC card I am using - a 32GB Transcend Class 10 (~18Mb/s write). I have the notion that the lag is affected mainly by the low speed of the card, and perhaps (?) also by its large capacity. I'm inclined to splurge on something like a Sandisk Extreme Pro 8GB (~95Mb/s). It would be a waste, however, if the lag turned out to be a limitation of the K-r itself, which I am unaware of.
If anyone has dealt with similar issues, and particularly if they have resolved them with an SD card upgrade, I would be very grateful to hear about it.
Thanks in advance,
K-rock
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Forum: Pentax K-r
06-12-2011, 05:33 PM
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Great thread, I check back often for inspiration. Here are a few of mine - I've modified them aesthetically a fair bit in Lightroom, but no sharpening or NR as far as I can remember.
The bird is @ 300mm with an FA 100-300 4.7-5.8 ($60 CAD second-hand... score!); the others are with the 18-55 DA-L @18mm and 35mm, respectively.
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
06-10-2011, 06:54 PM
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Greetings, PF, new member here!
Got myself a K-r about six weeks ago; so far I've taken over 2k shots but that addictive burst mode is partly to blame :p
My Flickr page (which I just minted): K-rock a.k.a. 1and1make1
Glad to be along for the ride, hope to learn lots.
PS: Canon and Nikon suck :p (just kidding)
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