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Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals
12-30-2013, 07:13 AM
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There's a few technical challenges of APS-C that neither skills nor talent can overcome:- Lower inherent noise of FF
- Shallower depth-of-field inherent with FF.
- FF is less demanding or in need of premium glass due to it's lower pixel density for the same number of megapickles(!).
- Possibility of producing larger prints with FF due to greater number of megapickles for the same pixel density compared to APS-C.
As an example, the 36mp FF Nikon D800 actually has a slightly *lower* pixel density than a Pentax K5.
Conversely, if the increased pixel density of the 24mp Pentax K3 still produces good image quality, that same density in FF would yield 56mp....think about the cropping latitude that would give you.
Will FF make any of us a better photographer overnight? Of course not.....but it certainly opens up more possibilities.
Terry
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Forum: Visitors' Center
11-04-2013, 04:46 AM
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Forum: Lens Clubs
08-20-2013, 01:10 PM
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Finally I get to be part of the Sigma Club :D,I wanted a new wide angle lens for car shows & I opted for 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 DG & found a nice virtually unused lens on ebay & got it for
£320 & im very very happy & a massive improvement over my standard k-r 18-55mm lens.
Here's some of my best pics I took at my first car show @ The BMW Festival (UK)
P.s please don't slate me as im no pro & are still learning, but tips are very welcome.
Cheers
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
08-19-2013, 06:05 PM
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Actually for portraits in side you will need a lens somewhere between 50mm and 85mm in focal length. This corresponds to the 85mm to 135mm typically used for portraits using a 35mm film camera.
Shorter than 50mm focal length lenses can be used but they tend to distort the person's features because you have to get close to the subject for the head and shoulders to fill the frame.
Longer than 85mm focal length lenses can also be used but they tens to flatten a person's features because you are father away from the subject for the head and shoulder to till the frame.
You will also be looking for a lens with a large maximum aperture. Something like f1.4, 1.7 or 2.0 . You can use this aperture to provide a shallow depth of field in the photo or to cope with the low indoor light allowing a faster shutter speed.
If you are looking for a low cost lens, you could look for for an SMC Pentax-A 50mm f1.4, 1.7, or 2.0 . This lens would be manual focus. If you wanted auto focus you could buy a Pentax-F or -FA 50mm f1.4 or 1.7. If you wanted Pentax's latest portrait lens then go for the smc Pentax-DA* 55mm f1.4 .
Regards
Chris
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
12-21-2012, 06:40 AM
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I think there's some benefit even with an f/2.8 lens -- from my testing, the stock screen gives a DOF similar to f/3.5 or so.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
06-13-2012, 05:54 PM
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Even this is not crucial - any trapped dog hairs and dust will not affect your shots, only continually bug you every time you look through the viewfinder. Until you get used to them. The other trick is realising that there is a separate release catch for the shim(s).
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
04-05-2012, 10:17 AM
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Wanted to post an update and share my thoughts on the S-Type screen from focusingscreens.com which is a genuine Canon ee-s screen that was cut down to fit my Pentax K7.
Shipment was fast as many others have mentioned which is always nice. The packaging was professional and more than adequate.
As for the install. It took me a while to feel comfortable working that close to the mirror and to figure out how the release latches and placement worked for the screen and shims. I cut a piece of paper into a triangle shape and just rested it between the focusing screen and the mirror to protect it a little.
The provided tweezers were adequate for the job but I in hindsight I think the best tool would be tweezers with wider prongs that would better grip the small tab on the focusing screen itself.
My first install went smoothly and I kept the original shim in. On my first install I noticed a lot of little fibers and dust on the focusing screen through the viewfinder. On all my subsequent installs I held the focusing screen up to a light and blew all the visible dust off with a giotto rocket blower which worked very well.
Testing the first try with the original shim I found that the focus was front focusing so I replaced the original metal shim with the supplied thicker 0.25 shim. The kit came with the 0.25 and three 0.15 shims. After testing the focus with just the 0.25 shim I found that I had just a bit of back focus.
I decided to try each combination of 0.15 shims to see what results it gave me. By this time I was comfortable enough working with the install and removal that it was only taking a few seconds to replace shims.
I found that, as expected, one 0.15 shim was giving me back focus, and three of them for a total of 0.45 was giving me front focus.
I settled on using two of the 0.15 shims for a total of 0.30mm. I found the focus to be very accurate. I would have liked to try 0.35mm just to be sure, but realistically, at f1.4 the DOF is just so thin I believe user error would be giving me more variation or difference than a 0.05mm shim change!
So after that long winded explanation, I want to highly recommend this screen! Its such a pleasure to focus with. Certainly a huge and noticeable improvement over the stock screen. Like many others have mentioned, I enjoy the cleanness of the screen over having focusing aids cluttering the view. My screen has the Pentax AF brackets engraved which I enjoy because they are very subtle yet provide nice indicators marking approximate rule of thirds areas. The focusinscreens.com engraving is very faint at lower apertures f1.4-f2.8 and then become increasingly noticeable. Unlike the original screen, the marks show up as light instead of dark lines which means you can see them easier when the viewfinder dims.
The single and only drawback one could argue for this focusing screen would be that it will be darker at the higher apertures (f4 and up). When I get home later I will try and post some viewfinder pics showing the difference.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. It serves as a great endorsement for this excellent focuins screen. I absolutely love this focusing screen. It does everything I need a focusing screen to do! I highly recommend anyone out there with manual lenses or who enjoys manual focusing to get this screen!
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
12-19-2011, 03:45 PM
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Just received my focusing screen and WOW! I can manually focus way more accurately and faster than before, particularly with my Tenpa 1.36x enlarger. It's almost as fast as autofocus for stationary objects, so call me impressed!
It's just amazing what it did for my Vivitar (Samyang) 85mm F1.4 lens. I can actually hit focus where I want repeatedly now, even at F1.4. Now my K5 is just perfect for my uses and as easy to focus as my Sony NEX with focus peaking.
Really, a must-have for fast glass!
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
12-10-2011, 10:27 AM
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I've used it with my Sigma 100-300/4 and it worked great, just as well as with shorter lenses. With a 1.4 TC, it was a tad darker, but still not a problem.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
12-10-2011, 05:38 AM
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I've tried it with a 300mm f5.6 mirror lens. With the stock screen focus was hit-and-miss at times even with a magnifier fitted. With the ee-s manual focus is much easier. The only problem is that the field of view is darker with this screen on a f5.6 lens. With a f2.8/4 lens this will not be much of a problem.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
12-09-2011, 04:07 PM
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I had to do exactly the same on my K-7. No big deal, swapping the shim is as easy as changing the screen, once you figure out the shim holding latch release. The Ee-s is much easier to manually focus with all lenses, the only drawback is that with slow lenses the field of view is noticeably darker. Also the bright focus point markings are much less distractive than the black lines of the stock screen.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
11-24-2011, 05:22 PM
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No, it doesn't. Sorry, Mychael, but the Katzeye is nowhere near as capable as the s-screen when it comes to MFing with fast lenses. It just can't discern the focus plane precisely enough with the really wide apertures.
I had the Katzeye first, and while it's much better than the stock screen, and I really like the idea of a split-screen, in execution is just plain doesn't do the job the s-screen does. Plus, the Katzeye will cause incorrect metering, the s-screen doesn't.
Don't mean to rain on your parade, Mychael, I'm just speaking from my experience.:(
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
11-08-2011, 06:25 AM
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If you don't succed at focusingscreen.com, try :
Pentax Division
National Parts Administrator
3500 N. Windsor Dr. Suite-400
Aurora, CO 80011
Ph. (720)988-2653
Fax (303)799-9213
E-Mail: lynn.badillo@wildernestlogistics.com
They were very kind. The price is $0.72 /shim. But you have to pay handling and shipping, it was $8 to USA.
77240.M02200A - 0.10mm
77240.M02200B - 0.15mm
77240.M02200C - 0.20mm
77240.M02200D - 0.25mm
77240.M02200E - 0.30mm
77240.M02200F - 0.35mm
77240.M02200G - 0.40mm
77240.M02200H - 0.45mm
77240.M02200I - 0.50mm
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
10-19-2011, 03:06 PM
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I actually tried a dual split in my (now sold) K7, some time ago (after trying two or three "single" splits, one of them I even cut myself from a MZ-m screen)... Frankly, I kept it maybe 2 days, and it went off to be replaced by the infamous ME-60 blank screen, which was a joy to use with its virginal nakedness, but still did not help focusing (same f/2 limit as the stock screen).
First problem in my case is that I do mainly portraits, and splits are nearly useless on faces (really hard to judge perfect focus on an eye using splits, IMO). For landscapes, cityscapes, or macro work, splits are really neat (and maybe better than the EE-S), but faces? Eeeerk. I focused faster and more accurately using the stock screen!
Second problem is that I'm addicted to fast lenses, and the slightest recomposition can really throw your focus off when using the sigma 30/1.4 or even the FA50/1.4, so a split is, again, of no help here (or they should make a two splits screen, one split on each 1/3rd line).
That, and they don't help stop-down metering at all, so using legacy lenses stays a major pain (and all your lenses meter differently)...
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
10-19-2011, 09:42 AM
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I would have bought the plain screen had it been available, but I ended up with the AF area markings and I'm glad I did. They are completely unobtrusive, as they are etched clear, not black, in fact sometimes they all but disappear. I have been using them as compositional "reminders."
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
10-17-2011, 04:19 AM
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I had the Ec-B in the D700 and later used an Ec-S there. Now I got myself a K3 and Ec-S screen for the K5 and will stick with the latter one. Really nice, as expected.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
09-27-2011, 06:15 PM
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OK, I couldn't wait and went ahead and installed it. It did require a re-calibration from what my Katzeye had, which surprised me a bit since I thought I'd read that shouldn't be the case. Of course, my Katzeye could have been mis-calibrated. I had some genuine Pentax shims so I used one of those instead of the plastic ones supplied with the new screen. I got lucky and my first guess for the shim-size was correct so that went quickly.
Guys, this thing is all they say it is. Night and day difference from the Katzeye, which means it's that much better than the stocker. One thing I noticed right off was that the +1 EV Comp I had dialed in needed to go bye-bye. This screen allows much more accurate metering. I tried the DA*55 first at 1.7. The hair-thin DoF can easily be seen now. Man, this thing is awesome! I went through all the FA Ltds just to play with 'em. Even with their relatively short focus throws, MF is much, much easier now. Tomorrow, I'll get out the Zeiss' and really let this thing shine.
dlacouture deserves all the credit for singing the praises of this screen. I'm SO glad he started this thread!:)
Edit: I forgot to mention, don't let the AF area markings that focusingscreens.com puts on bother you. They are barely even visible. In fact, sometimes they aren't visible. I'm actually kinda glad they're there because they serve as unobtrusive compositional aids.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
09-27-2011, 11:20 AM
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OK, I just received it. That was incredibly fast from Taiwan, 5 days including a weekend. I'm not going to install it until I get some other cleaning supplies that I ordered elsewhere, but I must say that it is impressive the stuff that they send with it. Shims, 2 sets of tweezers, including some nice large metal ones (and some plastic, screen-specific ones), and some latex finger gloves (or, really small condoms). Screen itself is in what appears to be the original Canon acrylic flip-top box. So far, I'm more impressed with what I received than I was when I got my Katz-Eye.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
05-06-2011, 11:49 AM
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Thats pretty close to what I did.
I did take some pictures so heres some of those.
I did use a cd marker to draw an X on both the original and the Canon screen and then place them like on the pictures to center them and draw around it.
Step 3 is were I went a different way.
I took an old piece of board and made a small recess that fits the entire Canon screen. Then used a fine saw and sawed thru the board + the screen.
After I was done I still had to file it down to a perfect fit.
Then I removed the tape and cleaned it using soap and finally CRC Electronic Cleaner. That eats up everything without leaving a trace and works well for other things like sticky apartureblades or dirty filters :)
Dont think a rocketblower will be enough but try that first.
Finally I went out and took some pictures :)
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
05-06-2011, 10:46 AM
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I had severe problems with over and under exposure using my Katzeye but I did use a Katzeye for Kx modified to fit my K-5.
If I use TAv with Auto ISO I got huge overexposed images but if I use AV with Auto ISO it seemed to work well. This is only when I have light from front.
I havnt tested this very well. Just something I noticed and then changed to AV.
I have just enjoyed taking pictures with a clean viewfinder that shows a nice dof. Its so much easier to get the picture I want on the first try. Finding the perfect focus is also much much easier then with the Katzeye Split focus screen.
The brightness... cant really comment on that. Dont think its possible to really see the difference without having 2 cameras one with each screen and test them next to eachother.
I dont really care. Its a joy to take pictures now. I love it!
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
05-06-2011, 05:15 AM
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Thank you dlacouture!
Got my screen today and after some work got it to fit nicely in my K-5
It is truly a wonderful screen compared to the default or my Katzeye.
Really nice focusing without the clutter and with a good narrow DOF.
I ended up using a 0.10 mm shim compared to 0.40mm standard.
It even works great with my Tam SP 60-300mm. In the 300mm that is f5.4.
Perfect timing too. It has rained for a week but today spring arrived, again, hopefully to stay and develope :)
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
05-04-2011, 07:58 AM
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I ordered mine and will pick it up tomorrow.
Now I use a Katzeye with optibright and I really dont like it.
With some lenses I have to set it to -2 or even more to not get overexposed images and others I have to set to +1 or so. it also varies a lot if I have the light in my back, sideway or front. Much of this is probably user errors since Im fairly new at this but the problem is severe with some lenses and not at all with others. My SMC Tak 85mm f1.8 works perfectly all the time with no compensation at all while my Kiron 105mm f2.8 overexposes a lot. The standard K-5 screen workes much better and I hope the EE-S will be even better + show better DOF + not have any marks in the way of my compositioning.
The Katzeye's center focusing aid is often in the way so getting a perfectly clean screen will be marvelous.
Besides.... This Canon screen costs almost nothing compared to a Katzeye screen.. Absolutely worth a try and if it, for some reason, doesnt work Ill go back to the standard screen.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
05-03-2011, 07:04 AM
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Thanks Anthony, let us know what he says.
I've got an EC-A screen right now, and while it's better than the stock screen for accuracy, my composition has suffered since I'm always focusing in the center microprism.
The S type screen looks perfect, better DOF than stock or EC-A, minimal effects to metering (including spot), and no focus aids that make composition less intuitive.
Questions to the OP, you mentioned concentric circles on the screen, are these at all visible in the VF? Also, does not having a center area defined in the VF cause you any trouble with determining where the spot meter and AF confirmation point are located?
Thanks for starting this thread! :)
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
05-02-2011, 05:27 AM
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I have written to focusingscreen.com to ask whether they can produce a K5 screen with the Canon type S focusing screen and hopefully they can. They are using this particular screen for other cameras and they should be able to do it for K5, I hope.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
05-02-2011, 04:38 AM
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dlacouture,
Congratulations. Since I switched from Canon, I have been looking for someone to do this because I have used the Canon type S focusing screens for many years. Now that I am using the K5 with the stock screen, I understand the major differences. I am still using a K 135f2.5 lens which I modified for my previous Canon 5D and its aperture lever had been removed. So, when I now use it on my K5, and stop it down pass f5.6, the screen is not only dark but has a funny hazy look which never happened on my former 5D with the Ee-s focusing screen. The Canon type S focusing screen will remain totally transparent in dark situation or even when you stop down the lens pass f5.6. The other fantastic benefit of using this type S screen is the ability to tell whether your AF lens focuses correctly because, if it's in focus, you can actually see it even for lenses at f1.4.
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