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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
04-23-2015, 02:12 PM
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
06-27-2014, 07:09 PM
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Tough one. If I was asked which was my favourite out of the two for landscape I would say 645D every day of the week. The tonality is better in my view and I like having the 4 x 3 perspective without having to crop. The one thing that would make me go for the D800 and was probably the reason why I often used it more often than the 645D over the last year is practicality.
If you want to shoot really really wide the options are either to stitch multiple frames or to spend thousands on the DA 25 with the 645D. For DR, the D800 beats the 645D but not my a huge amount, you can still push a lot of detail from shadows.
If you are thinking about getting the 645D, it might be worth holding off until the release of D810. Either buy the D810 or grab a bargain d800/e as people rush to get the latest thing.
It's a close one for me between the two, but the Nikon is more practical and if you lose your tripod and have a shot you don't want to miss and you can get it with ISO 3200, Only one of the two cameras is going to be able to do that.
The Z has opened up things for me as the changes add practicality. I'm not a sprayer, but when handholding faster continuous shooting can help get more keepers in the sequence in my experience.
Both the Nikon and the 645D are incredible cameras, and the files just look better on the 645D than the D800's. Which is most important? having a set of useful focal length lenses - EG 16 - 35; 24 - 70; 70 - 200. The easiest way to get these is with 24 x 36 FF. It's really whether the 'look' of the files outweighs the practicality for you.
Hope that helps - it may ask more questions than it answers. If I could get the same levels of lenses with the 645D then I would never have got the Nikon. The longer glass for 645 is both slower and heavier.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
02-26-2014, 07:10 PM
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To add more to what has already been shared (RAW, Manual mode) I'd also lock in a white balance -- don't let that auto either.
Also consider the potential for Parallax effect in your panorama and either get a tripod with a nodal slider (I use a cheap macro rail in place of the slider) or carefully angle the camera while hand holding with the point of rotation at the tip of the camera lens to mitigate this effect.
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Forum: Photo Critique
02-21-2014, 06:11 AM
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Hello Andre, Welcome to the Forum!
Fine in-flight shot of one of the most beautiful and deadly aircraft ever made! The B+W conversion looks perfect, like it was taken in the 1940's.
A very young Christian Bale calls the Mustang 'Cadillac of the skies' several times in 'Empire Of The Sun', whenever the P51's go roaring by.
Glad to have you join us on PF, hope to see more photos,
Ron
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-04-2014, 08:17 AM
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OP I love you. Pretty sure we could get you a K-5 II and later a K-3 if enough people gather. I'm also pretty sure you're the first in a while who has managed to get anything out of the firmware.
After you find a way to hack K-30s I suggest a Kickstarter campaign for additional cameras.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-15-2014, 11:55 AM
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Filters do matter. With B&W film you aren't going to be adjusting colour channels later to get the complexion right.
As Ansel Adams says about photographing men - "The use of a greenish filter (#11 or #13) will tend to give more vigorous flesh tones, most noticeable in the lips and ruddy or sunburned skin".
Women don't need more vigorous skin tones, usually less, which calls for a yellow, orange, or red filter, depending on how the sitter prefers to look. Too far red and they will look featureless and pallid.
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
02-14-2014, 07:13 PM
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It's not all one way, I think. The old adage is that the camera you have with you is the one that takes the shot. There are plenty of pics I've taken which I would not have got with an FF camera. In most cases the reason is that a big camera and lens would have put off people or, simply, I would not have been lugging a big camera around in the first place. Technically, yes, an FF camera might well have produced a finer image but realistically, no - because there would haven been no image to begin with. There is also the question of stability and smearing with high-res sensors. Would I get a better landscape shot with a D800E than with a Ricoh GR? Most likely if a tripod was used. But quick shooting handheld on the street? Quite likely not at ordinary ISOs, I'd guess. This is one reason I've hesitated over the K3. Its high resolution means that careful technique is needed to prevent smearing, at least from what I've read. But the need for that care over each shot in turn limits what the K3 can do compared to a K5.
There are also other considerations, perhaps artistic, however. Someone can have a very fine and very expensive large-sensor system but still end up in a rut with it. Trying out different and perhaps smaller cameras from time to time can present new challenges and get the juices flowing again.
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
02-14-2014, 04:36 PM
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Thanks for your replies. It matters not whether I agree or disagree.
Each to their own and it's horses for courses really.
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
02-06-2014, 05:28 PM
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I agree. But it must be because this is a gear forum. I wonder if it is like that in other gear forums. But one forum I visit people post pictures from all kinds of cameras. Big ones, small ones, old ones and new ones from all sorts of brands. Rarely does the gear matter there. It is more about the pictures you are taking. I like that.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
01-28-2014, 02:34 PM
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Yes. Unless "Owning Too Many Cats and their Associated Vet Bills" counts as a hobby.
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Forum: Photo Critique
02-05-2014, 09:23 AM
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I'm sure the shop has a lot of visually compelling items including colors.
Unfortunately I'm failing to grasp exactly what the subject of this photograph is.
The lighting is erratic, so it's hard to determine what matters in the frame. The asymmetrical framing includes the mailbox and some other thing on the left which seems so random and distracting. If the goal was to capture one painted door vs an unpainted door, perhaps you could have simply closed both a little more to make the entry more enticing. Beyond the ceramic horse (which has flash-glare on it that should be cloned away), the remainder of the store's interior is too poorly lighted to let the viewer clearly see additional items of interest. The choice of a too-wide focal length makes viewing the interior even more challenging. And not using a tripod at this slow shutter speed makes everything a little fuzzy as well.
To me the idea of shooting this store is a good one. A serious photograph requires preparation of one's tools, any associated people who can help you, and the actual site itself. Fortunately, since you live there, I would think it is relatively easy to coordinate a better, more intentional session for shooting the interior with the shop's owner. I'd recommend setting up interior lights that will evenly illuminate the cool stuff there in a complementary color. I'd also work on lighting the entry way to make the interior inviting to the eye, so the viewer would want to step into such a neat place. Also take a broom to the floor.
Hope this helps.
M
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
01-30-2014, 02:30 AM
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That is $20,685.85 US Dollars. I can handle the 85 cents - any more than that my wife would kill me.
:cool:
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
12-24-2013, 04:44 AM
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I shoot with Pentax because of the glass. At this point I have some really nice lenses that work well for the things I use them for and I have no particular desire to flip them and try to purchase equivalents in some other system. Some lenses (DA15 anyone?) have few equivalents in other systems, not because they are fast, but because they aren't.
In addition, I do like small size for when I am hiking/traveling. I appreciate weather sealing. Pentax ergonomics are great, although they are also what I am used to, so when I pick up my brother's D7000 and feel irritated by the interface -- nothing wrong with it, it's just different. In body image stabilization does work and is awfully nice to have. I don't care that my cameras say Pentax on them. I am not an advertisement for a brand. If people ask me what I shoot, I tell them, but the reality is that the camera is not the reason why you get good photos (or don't). You just want a piece of gear that you can use effortlessly to capture the vision you see.
(Obligatory DA 15 limited photo)
Flying Towards the Sunrise (Re-edit) by Vincent1825, on Flickr
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
12-08-2013, 11:59 AM
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I think "old school" in photographic terms means:
1. You know how to use all the modes on your camera, including manual
2. You don't have it in auto mode all (or any of) the time
3. You don't use the "spray and pray" technique
4. You buy your camera based on what it can give you for the money you pay, not because it has a name on it you'll blindy put your faith in (while using it always in auto mode)
So, yes, I'd take old-school as a compliment.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
12-12-2013, 10:35 AM
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I bought my first camera almost two years ago. It was the K-r. At that time I had absolutely no knowledge about photography, but after a quick research, K-r turned out to be the best bang for the buck (compared to nikon 3100/canon 1100D).
After about a year of shooting, I decided to upgrade and then I had a little dilemma in my head, whether I should change my "religion" or not.
Because I've found myself to be a prime shooter, I decided to stay a Pentaxian :) (because Pentax makes some really nice prime lenses, if somebody didn't know). So I got myself a K5IIs and I've been a very happy user ever since :)
I never really cared about market shares, other people opinions, etc. That is not what photography is about :)
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
11-11-2013, 08:04 PM
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I have the DA 25mm myself and it's a great lens. Very expensive but I wouldn't give it up for landscape and architecture work. Your first sentence said, "So I really need a lens wider than the 28mm eq. of the 35A that I currently have." If that's true, there is only one lens option right now -- the DA 25mm. You have a processing option via stitching, but you may or may not want to put up with that. If no to stitching, then the only two questions are can you afford the 25mm, and how long are you prepared to wait for the zoom?
For myself, I never make plans based on vaporware unless some kind of credible info indicates that a new product is truly imminent (i.e. within a handful of weeks). None of us are getting any younger, and I generally like to spend my time making work, not playing what-if with the vendors. :) The 645D lens roadmap is very non-specific, and Pentax / Ricoh have been somewhat late to market with the few lenses that have come from it. There's no real reason to believe the additional lenses on the roadmap have been shelved, but also no reason to believe they're coming at any particular time. If it was me, I'd get the tools available now that let me do my work now, and worry about whatever new stuff happens later, whenever it finally comes...
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