|
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-10-2018, 08:39 AM
|
| |
Thanks for replying. What you mentioned makes sense.
I guess in the processing chip they only had to input instructions on how focusing works in regard to contrast detect and no need to input any instructions in regards to phase detect af.
I wish Pentax release a new mirrorless body with next generation Sensor and chip. The k-01 is a great camera (ignoring it's looks) !
|
|
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-10-2018, 05:40 AM
|
| |
Thanks for replying
I doubt it as all three bodies focus hunt for around half to 1 second while it's comparitively faster on k-01. Amongst the three k3 locks focus fastest so I doubt it's size of the sensor
|
|
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-10-2018, 04:06 AM
|
| |
Over the past few years I have purchased a few used pentax bodies - namely K3, K50, KS1 and quite recently the K-01.
Now my query is in regard to autofocusing while using live view. Now all of the above mentioned cameras use contrast detect autofocus in live view. Before continuing let me mention amongst the above mentioned camera bodies K3 is supposed to the most powerful with semi pro features. The K-01 is the oldest amongst the lot [came out in 2012] followed by K-3 and K-50 which came out in 2013 and finally K-S1 which came out in 2014. The K-01 is not a dslr but I believe all cameras use the process when it comes to live view autofocusing. Also there is no mirror flap clicking pics with the K-01. Now I recently had purchased the k-01 and to my surprise focused faster and less silently as compared to the above mentioned dslrs. I used a pentax da 50mm f1.8 lens and focused on a well lit bunch of flowers on a vase. I also shot some pics of objects in dim light . In both cases The older technology based K-01 focused faster than the newer K-3, K50 and K-S1. Its not like k-0l has any special advantages as far as a lens is concerned as it uses the KAF mount and a dslr lens focuses faster on it. Anyone care to explain what is the secret recipe which lets K-01 focus faster as compared to other bodies?
|
|
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
10-18-2014, 06:59 AM
|
| |
Dont know if you already took a decision to buy the K50 but here's my opinion. As far as I am concerned the K-x is still a very good camera though it came out 5 years ago. If it works fine and gives you no problems use it.
and if printing on a large sheet is your reason for upgrading rest assured the k-x will give you good prints. dont go by megapixel myth that more megapixel means sharper higher resolution prints. if that be true lots of compacts which come out with 20 or 24 megapixels should in theory give you better prints in large size. in good old days when aps-c sensor based dslrs newly came out most had resolutions below 6 mp but they were able to take out larger prints and the reason was the sensors had great pixel density which ensure tonnes of detail got captured even in a low resolution and when printed not much detail was lost! Its said 6mp is the maximum resolution possible to be captured using an aps-s sensor but what camera manufacturers started doing was to implement complex interpolation algorithms and try increase resolution to 10, 12,16 ans 20 mp. as they realised to sell new cameras bigger the megapixel better it will sell
so dont assume just because the k50 has 4 mp extra resolution it will be in anyway superior to the k-x is concerned as far as IQ is concerned. It might ofcourse be superior to the k-x in other aspects such as faster af, full hd video, extra feature sets but if its these things which matter upgrade but if its iq you can stick to the k-x
and may i also suggest consider buying some used manual lenses of pentax such as the 50mm f1.7 or 1.4. they dont cost much and trust me the pics you will clicke with them will be far superior to ones you get with the kit lens or the superzoom you have with you.
|
|
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
10-18-2014, 06:41 AM
|
| |
I've had the K10D for almost 4 years now. Purchased it used from a used camera dealer. Amongst ccd based pentax bodies I have this one and the K100ds. I like the rendering of pics using a ccd sensor as against new gen cmos sensor. I also like how highlight recovery is much easier and looks more natural with ccd sensors compared to new cmos sensors
between k10d and k100ds i prefer the latter because its much lighter and i somehow am happy handling 6mp images. quick to edit and one doesnt notice any major difference when viewed through a computer monitor.
|
|
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
10-18-2014, 06:22 AM
|
| |
Its sad they are ignoring such an important feature which is like standard even in the cheapest mirrorless compacts olympus or panasonic
hope good sense prevails and they start treating video more seriously
---------- Post added 10-18-14 at 02:23 PM ----------
I have checked out lots of videos shot with the k-x and admit the video is great coming from a camera which only shoots semi hd and no manual controls
---------- Post added 10-18-14 at 02:24 PM ----------
me too!!
---------- Post added 10-18-14 at 02:27 PM ----------
it could be they have realised unless its some really pioneering feature in video implementation they wont bother even trying and not compete with likes of Nikons and canons who superdominate the market!
though i did point out an important feature which not many out there have implemented which is a real sensor based image stabiliser (as against an electronic one) which doesnt crop video from sides could be really useful for lots of indy filmmakers who cant afford expensive stabilisers and who avoid using cameras which crop videos due to electronic image stabilisation
---------- Post added 10-18-14 at 02:29 PM ----------
You have a point regarding battery drain. I also feel in long run probably the sensor based stabilisation might just break down due to physical wear and tear. regarding audio its sad the k-x doesnt allow external mics and only work around to avoid capturing noise of the IS is to use an external recorder and sync in post
|
|
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
10-17-2014, 02:00 AM
|
| |
Hi All!
Apologies for opening a topic about a camera which came out approximately 5 years ago.
Anyway it was in regard to its video capability.
I found out that the K-x inspite of not giving any manual controls, using outdated mjpeg codec for encoding the video is one of the rare dslrs which actually seems to be using the image stabiliser physically while shooting video as against an electronic stabiliser. I am sure most of you are aware that apart from Pentax, the sony slt series, olympus pen series (mirrorless compact system cameras) provide sensor based image stabilisation while shooting video. A common thing is when you shoot video with image stabilisation these cameras provide only electronic stabilisation (with exception of the em5). The problem with electronic stabilisation is the crop factor. As electronic stabilisation seems to need to crop of the edges of the sensor in order for it to work they tend to cut of the sides of the video thereby reducing the fov of the lens. This becomes a problem especially while shooting with ultrawides or wide angle lens as you dont get the entire wide view when electronic stabilisation is on. To my knowledge in Bodies like the K-01, K30 (correct me if I am wrong on this) and in almost all of the sony slt series (I have the a37) the sides are cut by default whether you use the stabilisation or not and in case of the pen series the sides dont get cut if image stabilisation is disabled (but thats a different issue then) but in regard to the K-x the sides dont get while shooting with image stabilisation on. So it seems to be an advantage if one is looking for an affordable image stabilised video capable dslr which doesnt crop when IS is enabled. Very useful for those wanting to shoot quick stabilised videos without a tripod while retaining full wide angle view while shooting with a wide or ultrawide.
Another very interesting thing I found out is the k-x allows you to magnify live view in video mode (before recording ofcourse). This is very useful if one is using manual lenses and want to check focus. Strangely this feature is absent in most dslrs and mirrorless compact systems (I cant do it on the slt a37 or any of the pen series including em5 but this can be done with the nex series though but then they dont provide is)
Another thing I found out is the live view though a bit laggy at times seems to give a bit more detail while using magnification alongwith manual lenses. I tend to use fast primes like the pentax 50mm 1.4 and 1.7 and while using them on mirrorless bodies such as the nex 5n or em5 I tend to use focus assist (magnification) to magnify portion I want to check focus for but in both models inspite of using 9.5x magnification (the nex 5n) and 14 x magnification (em5) images tend to be very soft while using fast primes such as the pentax 50mm 1.4 and 1.7 but funnily when same lenses are loaded onto the k-x and seen at even around 5x I get to see more detail and sharpness of object and focusing seems to be more accurate. Sadly when you magnify to say 10x you see lots of grainy image due to the very low res k-x screen but never the less at 5x it tends to show a little bit more detail while using fast primes compared to newer dslrs. I am able to nail more accurate focus.
Finally the k-x though using the outdated mjpeg codec seems to encode video at a higher bit rate (35942 kilobits per second or 4.38 megabytes per second) when shot at HD (1280 x 720). Just for sake of comparison The EM5 at its highest settings (1920 x 1080 50i) shoots it at around 11560 kilo bits per second. I might be wrong but I think more bit rate means a little more detail is preserved of the image in the video
Anyway I wasnt using the k-x for a long time but planning on playing around with one of my old favorites from pentax just to experiment more with the IS
Anyway my intention for starting this topic was to tell all that just because newer technologies come out and you get supposedly better cameras one shouldnt write off the older models as they still pack one or two features which might be missing in the newer ones and so if any of you are planning on disposing of your older k-x bodies you might wanna just reconsider.
Thank you for taking time to read this!
|
|
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
10-04-2014, 10:18 AM
|
| |
Hi All!
Recently I went to dpreview.com to read reviews about a few older models of pentax dslrs and came across that of a K-01. While going through the specs I found out the k-01 sensor has a primary color filter in place of a regular anti aliasing filter. I want to know whether this is similar to the ones used in bodies like the Fuji x series and the E-M5. My understanding is primary color filters by being 'weak' tend to give you sharper images (at risk of a little moire in some cases) and improved color. My query is whether the K-01 has a similar filter like this one which gives you sharper images or is it an inferior one?
|
|
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
09-18-2014, 04:28 AM
|
| |
Thank you for posting a reply
The recommended shutter speed I got was 1/125 at iso 800 so I guess i didnt require a tripod. Plus the SR in pentax bodies is good upto 1/15 shutter speed (atleast for me when I hold the camera as still as possible)
K-x live view with magnification is difficult to use handheld plus the live view image is a downscaled version of the sensor's actual resolution and creates false edges which look sharp but when clicked the image appears a bit soft
Its possible the white balancing under tungsten lighting might screw up the camera's focus. will look into it and change white balance and see if it affects focus confirmation
---------- Post added 09-18-14 at 12:35 PM ----------
Thank you for posting a reply
Its interesting to know the af system is designed for f4 but I must mention when I use the da 50mm f1.8 the af works fine and I have managed to get sharp results in relatively low light conditions
so changing a focusing screen as far as focus confirmation is concerned wont have much of a benefit, thanks for pointing that out.
Can you please explain a bit more about the edge method?
---------- Post added 09-18-14 at 12:42 PM ----------
Thank you for posting a reply
I have a k200d body and apart from higher megapixel and better af it more or less shares same features as the k100d
anyway same problem while trying to shoot in low light
I have tried shooting with a tripod and its same under f1.2 (incase u assumed the focusing was affected due to shallow depth of field and handheld shake)
---------- Post added 09-18-14 at 12:50 PM ----------
Thank you for posting a reply
Its quite possible due to the focus sensitivity on the pdaf sensor towards f5.6 might be reason why fast primes might not be focusing accurately
The stock screen which comes along with the camera bodies have microprisms which ensure to a certain extent even narrow aperture lenses appear bright in thye viewfinder and when you mount a fast prime the viewfinder displays dof of lens at an aperture of f3.5 or something close to that. I could see this when the bokeh of the f1.2 appears very different when seen thru the viewfinder and when actually clicked
I have tried a cheap chinese viewfinder magnifier attachment but hasnt solved my problem
was planning on going for a split prism screen or the more expensive katzeye but there is still the issue of the viewfinder view still been small for aps-c bodies as compared to film camera bodies which had larger pentaprisms and viewfinder and made manual focusing a breeze
---------- Post added 09-18-14 at 12:51 PM ----------
Thank you for posting a reply
will look into this item certainly
---------- Post added 09-18-14 at 12:55 PM ----------
thank you for posting a reply
i am considering trying out that one and hope and hope its not the same as the chinese one i bought sometime back
not planning on going for the new models as money is limited
u r right it takes talent and skill to get precise focus using manual lenses on older pentax aps-c bodies
i have considered changing focusing screen with a split prism screen but the viewfinder is still small and I think I will have trouble viewing if the prism display in the viewfinder has fully turned into sharp focus as compared to older film bodies with split prisms which were easy to view at
---------- Post added 09-18-14 at 12:59 PM ----------
I prefer the k100d's sensor (ccd) compared to the new cmos sensors on pentax bodies. One thing is the good highlight recovery and 'film like' output you get on the k100d's sensor while the new cmos sensors give out a more digital like look to the pic. Ofcourse under high isos the cmos sensors have a major edge but I rarely go above iso 800 so not an issue for me
i think its very hard to get a sharp non blurry pic at 0.5 second with the k100d. The least I have managed to go is 1/15 (after many tries).
|
|
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
09-17-2014, 06:40 AM
|
| |
Hi All
I have with me the following pentax camera bodies - k100ds, k200d, k10d, k-x
I like to do low light photography using a pentax-m 50mm f1.4 and f1.2. Now this combination works in bright daylight conditions and I am able to get accurate focus most of the time. But when I use this under low light conditions it doesn work fine all the time. Say I am in a dimly lit street I look for some object within the focal distance which has some light falling on it. after a few seconds the camera confirms its in focus and i click it but when I look at the pic I can clearly see its not in focus. I also tweaked focus using debug/secret menu and tried various settings but most of the times it doesnt focus right. I was wondering whether I need to replace the existing focusing screen (which is the standard matte finish screen which comes in all pentax bodies) and replace it with a ground glass or split prism screen in order for more light to get through and focus confirm to work right in low light condition. else do i need to do something else?
replies appreciated and thank you for your time
|
|
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-17-2013, 10:31 AM
|
| |
Jim - My mistake! I got a bit confused when I posted my reply! Ofcourse the kx does have the markings but what they dont have are the focus indicator lights/markings. Another reason why i think I said that was the markings on my kx are very light and hardly visible most of the time that I stopped noticing them plus I shoot most of the pics using live view that i rarely use the viewfinder! Anyways thanks for pointing out the error! cheers!
|
|
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-17-2013, 08:36 AM
|
| |
a late discovery i just made is that under debug mode when you have set af mode to 1 [both horizontal and vertical points enabled] and the af dial is set to sel you can toggle the af points to your choice! I was under the impression that unlike the k-x and k110d's debug mode which let you select the af point, the k10d didnt allow you to do so [when manual lenses are mounted on them]. it wont if af mode is set to 0 but when set to 1 it does! well this has solved my problem to a great extent as now i can compose off centre shots and use the left or right af points for focus confirmation.
Jim - i use the same method to set my viewfinder diopter. I Keep the lens out of focus and adjust diopter till the view finder marking appear sharpest. this method is ofcourse not useful with cameras such as the kx which dont have any viewfinder markings on them! anyways thanks for the reply
|
|
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-16-2013, 11:34 PM
|
| |
Hey all! Thank you for quick replies! Nice to know this forum has active participants!
Paul - My problem is while using manual lenses such as the pentax 50mm 1.2 or 1.7. The 'AF' I am referring to is actually the focus confirmation centre dot you get while using manual lenses. Regarding your point about the differences in white balance settings I am yet to try it but will do so soon!
Adam - I doubt my pentax 50mm 1.7 or 1.2 are faulty as pics look super sharp when shot using focus confirmation its only the off-centre portion of the pics which appear to be out of focus even though when i view through the viewfinder they appear to in focus and unfortunately the k10d doesnt give any focus confirmation when clicking images off centre or away from the focus confirmation area [which is in the centre of the viewfinder]
smigol - Well although I used a computer monitor to demonstrate my point I must mention that I also tried the same with coarse fabric or the carpet where you get some etchings or markings or straight lines when seen through the viewfinder but they too appeared to be out of focus. My diopter has been calibrated to my eyesight. I will check out the pktether software and see if it helps. The option of moving af settings seems interesting.
stevebrot - Your point about the dof of the stock screen designed for f4 makes sense as when I use the pentax 50mm 1.2 or 1.7 at widest aperture the off centre portion is out of focus but when I use it at f4 and above the focus accuracy is much better! I will certainly consider going in for katz eye focus screen as lots of pics i shoot are at wide apertures.
|
|
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-16-2013, 10:00 PM
|
| |
I recently got a K10D for myself from ebay. It has firmware 1.10
I prefer using manual lenses on my Pentax bodies and so I mounted a 50mm 1.7 & 1.2 on the K10D. As expected there were some focusing issues and so I went to debug mode and calibrated af area 1 with a number of 40+ and getting very sharp focus on the part where camera is focused and I get the focus confirmation signal.
Now when I shoot pics where subject matter is not in centre of the pic and is instead on the sides outside of the focus confirmation region I tend to get out of focus shots, even though I can see through the viewfinder the image seems to be in very sharp focus. I went to debug mode and increased and decreased the numbers but no luck its always out of focus. My viewfinder's dioptre has been calibrated perfectly so I doubt it's that.
I have uploaded two pics to illustrate the problem, they can be seen at the end of the post.
I shot the top right corner of my computer screen [my way of judging focus was to see strong 'etchings' or moire like patterns appearing in viewfinder to confirm its in sharp focus]
I want to know if any of you experience a problem like this and if yes whats the work around to it?
I also want to know is it true if you use lenses with very wide apertures such as pentax 1.2 the pentaprism + viewfinder on the k10d might not be able to handle the large amount of light passing through that it shows image in focus when in fact its out of focus?
|
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-21-2012, 02:53 AM
|
| |
To answer your original question in this topic - Yes the K5 is far superior to the K7 as far as low light is concerned and will certainly solve your low light problems. Having 'fast glass' depends on your needs. If you are planning to do low light hand held photography then having a fast lens helps. When using manual prime lenses from film era then you better be good at judging focus through the viewfinder under low light conditions as its quite hard to do it. A major advantage which manual primes give you is that they have distance scales on them which will be quite useful for low light photography. Some of the old wide angle primes of pentax and third party manufacturers are very expensive and some of them priced higher than what they were when originally released! So be prepared to part with a good chunk of money if you are planning on buying a fast wide angle prime from ebay! Pentax made 2-3 ultra wide angle primes such as the 20mm f2 [which is priced higher in ebay than its original price] while third party manufacturers such as Sigma and Tamron also made some ultra wide angle primes in the film days. As far as glass is concerned the quality of pentax is far superior to the third party! Samyang makes some really good fisheye and ultra wide angle primes and are sort of affordable if you can get a used one! If nothing else stick with the pentax 16-45 f4. You can make up for the slow speed of the lens with higher iso in the K5
|
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-12-2012, 12:39 PM
|
| |
Lol what you said is funny and this particular lens costs somewhere between the pizza and good dinner so I thought hard about it and came here to the forum to ask about it! Its quite possible this is a frankenstein where someone placed a pentax k mount bayonet onto the rear or it could be a fake!
Thats interesting to know that welmy discontinued after 1958. This could very well be a frankenstein or a fake. Unfortunately the lens costs around 17 pounds + 3 pounds p&p and is above 10$ price.
*update someone bought the lens from ebay and is no longer for sale so I never got to try this out!
|
|
Forum: Pentax K-01
03-12-2012, 11:34 AM
|
| |
I feel its stupid on part of Pentax to not have an evf or a slot to fit it on on the k-01. I have tried some of the mirrorless systems in recent times such as the panasonic g2, gf1, samsung nx10, nx100, nex3, oly epl2 and the only ones I liked in this lot were the g2 and nx10 and you guessed the reason why, both had an evf which is very useful in many situations such as in very bright sunlight. But one important thing I would like to mention is that in almost all of these systems its a pain to view the scene during low light situations such as night time where you can hardly see anything at all throiugh the evf or lcd.
|
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-12-2012, 04:31 AM
|
| |
I came across this lens on ebay called welmy 28mm mc f2.5 for pentax k mount. I ran a search on google and surprisingly didnt see any specific search results in regard to it. Usually when I run a search on any pentax lens I usually get a search result related to pentaxforums.com but funnily not for this lens. I was wondering if any of you have heard of this lens or tried it.
|
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-21-2012, 04:44 PM
|
| |
Hi
I recently purchased a Samsung nx10 + 18-55mm nx mount lens. I wish to use my pentax legacy and da lens on this mount. In ebay two kinds of adapters are being sold for using pentax lens on nx mount. One is for the old legacy lenses and the other is for da lenses. The guys advertising the legacy lens adapter mention that its not suitable for da lens. I want to know whether the adapter for pentax da lens can also be used for legacy lenses or do I need to buy both of the adapters?
Also I wish to know whether any of you have used pentax lenses on nx bodies and would appreciate if you shared your experiences while using them.
Thanks in advance
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-08-2012, 07:47 AM
|
| |
inspite of having dslr aps-c sensors most mirrorless cameras are categorised as 'compact' systems. So its not a k-5 replacement as the k-5 is a dslr while k-01 is mirrorless though its sensor is based on the k5
the k-01 has been released to more compete with panasonic's g series, sony's nex and samsung's nx series than with dslrs [including their own]
|
|
Forum: Pentax Full Frame
02-08-2012, 07:41 AM
|
| |
i was merely talking from point of view of cost and i feel ccd ff sensors might work out cheaper over cmos especially when u outsource them. its another thing when u manufacture them but pentax doesnt make sensors and creating a ff sensor from scratch will cost them a lot of money and time. by the way i dont use live view most of the time and prefer good old seeing through the viewfinder way to capture my pics. Finally video in all dslrs has tonnes of problems and any serious professional will just simply go in for pro grade camcorders which give better quality results over dslrs. ff sensor isos from ccd are very good compared to those from aps-c especially at high levels
|
|
Forum: Pentax Full Frame
02-08-2012, 07:24 AM
|
| |
almost every major dslr manufacturer has a full frame body under their line and so it makes sense for pentax to also jump into it and let more pentax lens owners to consider buying a body so that they can use it. Its possible pentax will not manufacture the sensor and instead chose to buy it. They could go the ff ccd route and source cheap kodak ff sensors or go in for the more expensive sony sensors but this will effect their pricing. If they go in for cheap old technology kodak sensors they might be able to offer a cheaper body compared to other expensive ff bodies in the market today.
|
|
Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals
02-07-2012, 01:59 AM
|
| |
There was a time when I was keen on owning a full frame body. But then they were too expensive [and still are] and I continued to shoot using aps-c sensor based cameras and invested in a lot of gear in it plus I learnt a lot using these systems. Now I have got so used to shooting with it I somehow dont wanna switch over to a full frame body and adopt a new shooting style and invest in new gear and start all over again.
|
|
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-06-2012, 04:28 PM
|
| |
although i have been tempted to go in for a focus screen for my k-x i feel its auto focusing is quite adequate and gives sharp focus under medium to bright light. for low light i usually use live view
|
