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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-03-2011, 05:10 AM
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And I do have other cameras, including a low end Canon DSLR and a Sony point-and-press, but I had grand ideas with the baby pictures - I imagined they might be blown up one day. But for now, they wanted them e-mailed around. Got to give the people what they want!
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-03-2011, 05:05 AM
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Cheers also, tibbitts, colbyt, and icejam. I actually have Flickr and Picassa accounts, and do use also.
As for why a K5 - the simple reason is that I was made redundant, and with a lot of my payment having to go on rent, bills etc., I had a lump sum to spend on something to cheer me up. I had indeed been researching DSLRs of a lower capability for the previous year, and even then hadn't quite got the cash to spare, so I seized the opportunity to treat myself, upgrade, and give myself a camera that I could learn on, grow into, and which I wouldn't need to upgrade in a year or two's time.
I am aware it's over-specced, but if I won the lottery, I wouldn't still drive around in a Ford Fiesta, but probably treat myself to something a little more capable, even if I still drove roughly the same routes! It's all about possibilities!
And I will clarify that my question was only about this particular instance, with my somewhat technophonic family (without online photo-sharing applications) all clamouring for my photos to send around to their friends etc., and me just needing to sort that issue asap. I would have snapped them on my phone, and done it that way, but none of them have a camera phone, so what can I do? So I was just curious about the quality system itself, and also find it useful knowing how others shoot.
More generally, I do indeed plan to be shooting on varying quality levels, blowing up, and printing shots. I am piled high with books from the K5 ebook to 'Understanding Exposure', and got plenty of time to read them!
I am also aware that there are many great photographers using a less specced kit than me, and who will always get better shots from it. I just took the chance to future-proof myself, and that's what's great about this forum - there's very little passing judgement. Just a job lot of very helpful people - hopefully all making everyone else better photographers!
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-03-2011, 04:50 AM
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That's really useful, asp1880. I actually had started doing comparison shots a few weeks ago, and am slowly working my way round the camera. I had got stuck on the star system, and a layman's explanation like that is really helpful.
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
08-03-2011, 04:29 AM
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Can't recommend them enough, Fredericus. And the price on their K5 was as cheap as anywhere I'd found online. He even relaxed the price jump on the body + kit which had happened the day before, and sold it to me for the previous price.
Didn't make me feel like an idiot for asking amateur questions, either!
As for the K5, what an unbelievable camera - so far, I can't put it down. I just like holding it, even when I'm not snapping.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-02-2011, 02:08 PM
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You're not wrong there, GDRoth. Once my bank account recovers from the K5, more memory and some hard drives are next on my list!
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-02-2011, 11:42 AM
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Thanks cats_five, though I'm on a Mac, so have set up a workflow in Automator that does batch resizing at one click. I followed previous advice and set to 800 pixels, and the images now seem to be anywhere between 95 - 125KB.
Saying that, however, trying to attach five of them to an e-mail in yahoo has crashed my mail system twice now. I went for an hour long run after attaching five of those to an e-mail, and it still hadn't made any progress when I got back! Think that might be a computer/yahoo issue, though - solve one problem, and face another.
A related question - I find that on a holiday where I take at least 250 snaps, coming back and uploading those is a serious drain on my computer's memory. For general holiday snaps, with no plans to print or blow up the shots, what quality should I be using? How much does the photo quality suffer as you go down in stars? I can't find any guide which provides me with any context as regards those stars - it's a reverse Spinal Tap (amp up to 11) situation - what is * as compared to *** etc.? Can anyone point me to an explanation of this?
Much appreciated as always...
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-02-2011, 07:52 AM
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Thanks both, just what I needed to know.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-02-2011, 03:32 AM
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Hi, I recently took a load of photos of my sister's newborn baby, and she wants me to send them to people via e-mail. I am a new owner of a K5, and I haven't got to grips yet with what quality level and resolution I need to be set on if I just want to e-mail shots around and upload to flickr etc.
So I need to resize before putting the shots on to my computer. What image size (as in star system) and resolution should I be looking for, assuming no print requirement?
Also, when resizing images in camera, is there a way to check all images and resize in one go, rather than doing each image separately? I know how to do the latter, but am looking for a way to do the former.
Thanks in advance for your much-needed advice...
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
08-02-2011, 02:57 AM
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Thanks for all your support and good advice. I compared prices at LCE and SRS, and decided to go down to SRS. I told them as I purchased the K5 + kit, and 35mm f/2.4 lens, that I had been helpfully sent their way by this forum, and the guy was seriously gushing about the users. As well as being seriously helpful - I suppose as you would be when faced with a customer about to part with £1000+! - they were very friendly, so thanks again for the tip.
Now to work out how to use this beast!
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-28-2011, 04:15 AM
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Thanks for the flash pointers too. I reckon I wouldn't be able to stretch my budget at the moment for something I wouldn't know my requirements for. So will keep these models in mind for when I decide I need one.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-28-2011, 03:29 AM
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Thanks again for the very helpful responses. So it sounds like the Tamron 17-50/2.8 or kit lens would be best as starters. One of my concerns, I hasten to add, is that my budget has been created through a redundancy, and so I am all too aware that I wouldn't actually be able to do buy this without those circumstances. So part of me is trying to take advantage of that fact by trying to get hold of the best available kit for the budget I've allocated myself, as I don't anticipate being able to upgrade for a long time after this. I'd read about people getting rid of the kit lens quickly to get something better, which is where my reservations came from. However, I acknowledge these people are likely to be pros or experienced amateurs, neither of which category I would put myself in, so I will definitely reappraise.
One thing about the Tamron is I assume it wouldn't be weather-proofed? I do actually travel with my camera, often to SE Asia (though nothing on the cards immediately): things like moisture and rainy seasons are an issue, and the need to try to minimise any potential damage therein did play a part in steering me towards Pentax initially. So are there any other lens options in the 18-55 range that are weather-proofed?
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-27-2011, 02:36 AM
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This is great advice, and lightning fast too. I am going to look into the Tamron then. I had heard it mentioned before, but assumed it was a Canon fit. Keep them coming, though, as I will add all suggestions to my long list of considerations for the future.
Thanks for the flash suggestion too - any recommendations there?
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-26-2011, 06:27 PM
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Hi all, what a great forum this is - as such, I am sure this question has been asked a million times before, but can't find anything specific to my circumstances, so thought I'd put it out there in a new thread.
I've spent the last six months or so researching and deciding on which DSLR to upgrade to, and have made the firm decision now to go for the K5. That part of my mind is made up, and a recent circumstance has given me a budget to just about allow it. I have opted for body only, as a lot of the feedback on the kit lens hasn't been great. I would rather get a good lens I can get started with straight away while I have a budget, but was wondering what anyone would recommend. I like nature and landscape shooting, and my aim is to do more, and I am going to roadtest my rig at a wedding in a few weeks' time. But generally I want a first lens to be suitable for everyday general use first of all, with some flexibility to do more interesting outdoor and nature stuff in time. Another area I am keen to move into is food photography.
I'm thinking either the DA 70mm F/2.4, or the FA 50mm F/1.4. This is based on a lot of research, but on something (lenses) which I know nothing about, nor have had to grapple with in previous cameras. I have had various conversations (with photographer friends and shop assistants), as well as stayed up to stupid hours (as now) reading online.
Any suggestions as to which way I should go? Are these suitable lenses? I would like to keep it around £400, if possible. Their are other lenses I would like, but as they drift past £450, I am putting the breaks on for now. My budget for the camera and lens lies in the region of £1200.
I would love any suggestions, or even just assurances that these aren't completely stupid choices I'm making.
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
05-26-2011, 06:11 PM
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Hi, my name is Tim, and I am about to become a new member of the Pentax owner club. In my quest on the high street to actually try some out, I can sense already that you are possibly a minority bunch (is hard work finding any shops that actually stock Pentax cameras), but (from the quality of the DSLRs I've eventually tracked down and played around with) also a very wise and discerning group!
I've decided to buy a K5 - what an amazing camera for its range. I was almost set on a Nikon D7000, and am extremely glad I at the very last minute decided to try out some Pentax models before taking the plunge.
I am taking a long-planned step-up into the world of the DSLR. A recent redundancy has left me with the time on my hands required to finally take the plunge, and am just waiting for my redundancy cheque to supply the other missing cog - the cash! Within about a week I will own my first Pentax, and can't wait! This forum looks great, and I have learnt plenty already, and look forward to learning way more once I've got the camera...
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