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Forum: Travel, Events, and Groups
09-08-2011, 07:02 PM
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Forum: Travel, Events, and Groups
09-08-2011, 02:36 AM
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
10-02-2009, 11:29 AM
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Maybe am totally off with this question. But how do you turn "noise reduction " on on a K10D? I went to the settings and the only two options are "off" and "turn noise reduction off at low speeds" does this mean that noise reduction is not active if I am shooting 800ISO but at 1/100 of a sec?
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-11-2008, 03:11 PM
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THANK YOU.
1) I was a bit panicky. This is my first digital camera ( I've had 2 previous film Pentax cameras, but never a dSLR). Though I am still going through what seems to me as rather weird learning curve... I am quite enamored of my new camera.
2) Somehow the blotches in the pics aren't as severe as yesterday. Last night I ran a test I found online( where you shoot a light colored surface.. camera out of focus..et all) . I could clearly see 3 grains of dust and the residue mentioned above. So, yeah I think need some wet cleaning.
I will probably NOT take it to the store that suggested using compressed air. Fortunately for me there are 2 other camera stores in town. One of which, I am told , is very Pentax friendly.
I will be sure to aquire one of these Rocket blowers too.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-10-2008, 06:54 PM
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well crap.
I feel quite stupid. How can I be sure I didnt damage it? I mean This is but the second time I used anything to clean the camera so if compressed air damaged it then it was instantaneous?
I assume pentax has a 12 month warranty . But the camera was bought from Beachcamera ( online store). I doubt their warranty pertains to anything more than DOA.
Is there a test I can do? could this be just condensation( I mean the CCD is NOT directly exposed after all, only the surface "glass") ...
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-10-2008, 06:10 PM
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I have been taking a lot of digital pictures this summer with my new k10d ( i got it for xmas). Though I use changed lenses quite a few times, I seldom do it in the open or in the car to avoid getting dust in the camera, and the auto cleaning had been doing a good job so far.
A couple of weeks ago there seemed to be a piece of dust shooting up on my shot that just would not go away. No biggie, it was bound to happen eventually. So I got a a blower ( one of those compressed air canisters sold at a local camera store), used the clean ccd feature and gave it a few quick puffs. dust gone.
But what I noticed ( today actually) was that i had a grouping of .. "spots"... not dust more like "wet stains" if that makes sense. I am afraid that I may have hosed the camera while trying to blow it out. :(
Obviously, the sensor cleaning is not going to take care of this and more compressed air may just worsen the problem. is there a way/ reasonable service .. I can look for to clean my camera sensor? This may be something i got myself into, but I would hope nothing so serious that it will permanently handicap the performance of my new camera :(.
Thank you all for all you advice
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Forum: Photographic Technique
08-03-2008, 12:22 AM
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This may bee somewhat of a noob question from someone who is somwhat experienced with photography.
Lately I have gotten into photographing buildings and other architectural structures. It seems that despite my efforts many ( not all) of my shots come out somewhat tilted tilted. It is something I easily correct with cropping in PS, since I am shooting digital i really do hate losing up to 10% of my pixels for something I should have been able to do while composing the shot on the field.
The shots and hand held and for the most part I am standing on level ground, looking up. Many times I even line up the markings in the view screen to some sort of horizon reference So I am quite surprised to find that buildings in my shot seem to be leaning one way or the other. could anyone here share any suggestions or experience they have.. it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
05-03-2008, 03:56 PM
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BBear,
I was trying to be graphical about it in order to simplify, but I guess it backfired.
What I meant by "( + )" was in reference to the focus screen on the K10D which kinda looks like this [ [ ( + ) ] ] .
So to reiterate, now when I focus I consider the ENTIRE AREA as subject to scrutiny by the camera, rather than just the red box. If there is a part within THAT area that has higher contrast, for example.. I know the camera may err in it's focus.
If you look at the example photos posted earlier, when the red box appeared, it was somewhat on the bar code of the rear most box. Intuitively this made sense to me after all , that's what I wanted in focus, right? What I didn't consider was that either the shadow and/or part of the front box also fell withing the center focus area "( + )". So what the camera was doing, naturally, was picking the front most subject within that particular area which means it selected the the edge of the front most box to focus on... and then signaled that it had chosen its focal plane with flashing the red dot, which though the view finder was dead on the bar code of the rear box ( so of course I thought i was focused on the rear box.. .I mean, it made sense at the time).
CROPS
Attachment 11675
Attachment 11676
(placement of "( + )" was done in Photoshop , of course, and it's approximate.. but you can see what I mean.
In my attached example, the camera "BACKFOCUSED" though not really... I mean I can tell WHY it did it. The back lit wings of the gargoyle provided a higher area of contrast than the snout of the gargoyle. So even tho the "red dot" fell on the nose of the gargoyle the camera was looking for the highest contrast edge...thus it focused on the shoulder/wing area, which as you can see turned out to be dead on. In the other shot, for example, I moved closer and tilted so that the face of the gargoyle covered the whole "( + )" (I had to get the body in because I could get any closer with my lens) area and you can clearly see the camera focused ON THE FACE/BODY this time. It's kind of a bummer that the focus segment is so large, but at least it is consistent so it is easy to work with.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
05-01-2008, 10:32 PM
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Following up:
I posted this in another thread.. but just in case it helps some future Pentax user...
Jeffkrol,
you were right.
For the longest time I was thinking that where the red box lit up that was EXACTLY the point where the camera was focused on. With new mindset I took the same photos again, using center focus, this time taking into account that the focus would be the "point" of HIGHEST CONTRAST between the "( + )" rather than where the red box popped up. I haven't tested long distances. BUT for the 1-12' range it was DEAD ON 100% of the time, with BOTH my DSC-A series and DA-series lenses. Also Manually focusing or using AF-S mode worked equally well. :)
Some subjects were harder than others, of course. But I know that it's because some subject's point of highest contrast are harder to find than another's. Also... MIND THE SHADOWS!!!
It now also stands to reason why it's HARDER "hit focus" using wider lenses.. simply ... there is more STUFF between the "( + )" area thus more possibility to confuse the camera... but really not that much of a problem in MF.
THANK YOU ALL for all your help in helping me understand my camera and making it seem a bit more predictable.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
05-01-2008, 10:31 PM
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Jeffkrol,
you were right.
For the longest time I was thinking that where the red box lit up that was EXACTLY the point where the camera was focused on. With new mindset I took the same photos again, using center focus, this time taking into account that the focus would be the "point" of HIGHEST CONTRAST between the "( + )" rather than where the red box popped up. I haven't tested long distances. BUT for the 1-12' range it was DEAD ON 100% of the time, with BOTH my DSC-A series and DA-series lenses. Also Manually focusing or using AF-S mode worked equally well. :)
Some subjects were harder than others, of course. But I know that it's because some subject's point of highest contrast are harder to find than another's. Also... MIND THE SHADOWS!!!
It now also stands to reason why it's HARDER "hit focus" using wider lenses.. simply ... there is more STUFF between the "( + )" area thus more possibility to confuse the camera... but really not that much of a problem in MF.
THANK YOU ALL for all your help in helping me understand my camera and making it seem a bit more predictable.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
05-01-2008, 10:12 PM
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those are amazing... were you using A K10D? :)
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
05-01-2008, 09:48 PM
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nice shot. It looks like it was taken under low light conditions. What sensitivity setting were you on?
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-29-2008, 12:23 PM
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I am inclined to believe you are right, jeff. Alas, no simple fix for that. MAybe now that I know this I can compensate better. I will run some more tests tonight.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-29-2008, 10:21 AM
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BBear.. yeah this thread got split ... sorry.
So what you are saying is that I need to adjust the diopter?
I tried that a while ago, when it seemed that when things looked focused through the lens ( when i was using purely manual focusing) yet it would take blurry picture. I played around with the diopter settings and all that happenned was that the image through the viewfinder would ALWAYS seem out of focus and so would the read out info in the view finder. So I figured it wasnt the dioter for sure.
I dunno why , but it seems dificult to gauge focus with this digital by eye( as oposed to my film camera) .. it just doesnt seem like either A) I can see clearly enough OR B) that what seems fairly in focus is actually slightly blurred at 100% enlagement on the screen. Anyway, that's why I am using the "beep"/ focus indicator to improve the focus in my pics.
Thats why i started looking into BF/FF issues. I can get some what decent exposures, by COMPENSATING for the focus distance error . I would just hope I would be able to TRUST the read outsof my equiptment. I mean if this is how a digital camera operates , fine. If it's my error.. I would like to know what I AM doing wrong ( what I have to do different from film) .. BUT if it's the camera... I would like it taken care of, since it still under warranty.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-29-2008, 09:12 AM
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Bbear,
Wouldnt that offcet of AF point sbe considered a defect in the camera tho?
The way I am reading what you are saying is that: though the camera "red square", the center-focus point indicator was in the middle of the box on the left, the actual AF point was on the box on the right. in other words, the camera focuses correctly, but it indicates where it's focusing wrong.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-29-2008, 07:52 AM
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And sorry, I meant microprism focusing screen, not split prism. Anyway, in the K1000 days that was very helpful .
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-29-2008, 07:51 AM
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Jeff,
I am using centerpoint AF. What do you mean by "AF point and brackets are not totally coinciding on many bodies"? I did the test several times last night. there was one ocassion with this lens that the photo came out as expected. Which weirded me out. You may have something there... but I dont understand the term "AF point and brackets"
I know (or at least think) that the other lenses i own dont show this because of their deeper DOF, which is why I cant test them this way and thus be able to know if this is a matter of the camera body or incompatibility of the lens to the camera.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-28-2008, 10:21 PM
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Geekybiker...
Thanks for the link. The test was very helpful and it seems I may have somewhat of a front focus issue. :(
It only seems to occur on my SMC-A 50/f2.0 prime lens tho, but this may be because my other lenses don't me to get such shallow DOF. Or Could it be because the k10d doest work that well with old manual lenses. A friend of mine said something about digital SLR not liking lenses NOT made specifically for digital cameras ( she uses a
After running the test ... I did a modified test of my own... these are my results:
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-28-2008, 09:26 PM
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BBear,
The beep/ focus indicator "work" as plan.. I hear the beep ...shortly after (tho sometimes it takes some hunting when I am usining my manual lens) the green hexagon focus indactor goes on, and the picture snaps ( using the technique called "focus trapping") This using A-series lens, which is a lens I used to use with my K1000. However what is happening with this lens is that I get some front focusing. That is even though it says I am focused on somethingam actually focused about 1-2" in front. Essentially if I am using very shallow DOF I am totally off.
I guess I am following the beep because it's kinda hard to tell through the lenss if I am focused or not. I missed the split prism screen my old k1000 had.
My AF lenses either work fine or if they are not working then I can barely tell because the widest apperture I get in any of them is f3.5/4.5( at 50mm) so by this point i have such a deep DOF is difficult to test for back or front focusing.
I want to know if it's fomething with the actual K10d body that i have to have serviced or if digitals dont like the old manual lenses ( even though they "work" with each other)
Attachment 11486
Attachment 11487
Hopefully these samples will make clear what I mean. I could not take similar samples with my DA lenses because off their DEEP DOF. In other words at that distance between the boxes, they are BOTH sharp.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-28-2008, 07:08 PM
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Ok...
I had posted a thread earlier today about some strange focusing issues I've been having...
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-dslr-discussion/26191-backfocus-frontfocus-k10d.html
I got an interesting test to determine weather my K10d back/front focusing. I somewhat loosely followed the instructions on this test and found out that my camera was Front Focusing by some degree. Knowing that May have not achieved 100% accuracy in the parameters of my test, I decided to simplify the procedure but taking a picture of the barcodes of TWO separate boxes, one of them being in front by the estimated distance ( about and 1.0-1.5") my previous test had indicated that the camera was front focusing. Sure enough though I focused on the BACK box, the front box was dead sharp, while the back one was slightly blury.
Damn! I was running in my mind about all that I now needed to do to get the camera serviced ... when I decided to test another lens.
Originally, I was using a 50mm prime f2.0 A-Series lens ( it's the only fast prime and its shallow DOF really alloead to see any BF/FF issues with the camera) At the same time I remember that a friend had told me that manual camera lenses aren't all that kosher with digital SLRs . I had dismissed that idea since she shoots with a Nikon and i really wasn't sure if it was brand thing) I decided to run BOTH tests again with my 18-55/ f3.5-5.6 kit DA-Series kit lens. I've never had any focus problems with this lens' AF, that I could notice...but then again , even at f 3.5 I just cant get that shallow of a DOF with that lens to accurately run the test.
OK, so the question is... do non DA lenses cause BF/FF issues in an of themselves, or if I found out that my camera was FF'ing with an A-series lens then it's doing the same with all lenses?
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-28-2008, 09:37 AM
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I became the proud owner of a Pentax K10d in Janurary, my first DIGITALL SLR. Being experienced in regular SLRs but totally new to digital photography I just can't tell which "quirks" are due to the camera and which are due to my inexperience (or even to "unrealistic" expectations)
That being said, I would like to know if there is a good and standard way to TEST for back/front focusing problems. Tho I am sure experience will tell, I would like to be certain while I still have the chance to get it taken care of under the Pentax warranty.
I have heard that some of the earlier K10d revisions had back focusing problems; checking the revision # on my camera I found it to be 2.1 ( which is newer than rev.1.1 which was reported to have the backfocus problem, but much older than the current revision 8.1)
NOTE: If I do have any focusing issues, they don't seem obvious (or at least obvious to me), and I admit the way I've been testing the camera is often worse case scenario: aperture fully open, or close to it..sometimes,but not often, and trying to focus on a specific detail.. Such as a lose thread of yarn, a wick, the beak of a mounted bird, etc.
Again, I really haven't had any obvious misfocusings, but sometimes when I try to "test the envelope" as mentioned above I just cant measure the results consistently. If I am focusing on a candle wick that's a couple inches in front of a birthday card (or other high contrast object) and I hear the "beep" an see the focus indicator light up... I take the picture and sometimes I get the WICK in perfect focus sometimes it's the card...again.. Am working with a very small DOF here ON PURPOSE.
As always, thanks advance for sharing your Pentax wisdom :)
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-21-2008, 08:14 AM
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Simple answer is your CAR is longer than your Depth of Field (DOF). You have to take that into account when taking your picture. If you were taking apicture of a face, for example, it would be simple as you ( or the auto focus) would focus on the nose ..preferably the cheek bone... or some other part of the face... even if your DOF was, for example, 4-8" @ f/2 it would seem like the whole head is infocus. Cameras are wonderful, but they cant tell WHAT you are photographing. So, if you used the same APPERTURE as you did for photographing a face.. will will get the SAME DOF...(in the previous example (4-8") everything out of that range will begin to blur... and a car is much bigger than 8" ....
so what you want is an apperture setting with a DOF of roughly 1/2 the size the car. focus the camera at some "center" point within the car. The car should then be in sharp focus... while the background will remain blurry .
hope this helps
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
04-19-2008, 05:32 PM
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In preparation for the nice spring/summer weather am looking to buy a camera bag so I can take my equipment along when I go on trips/ hiking/etc as well as storing all my camera stuff in one nice neat place.
I am considering between the Tamrac Expedition 4 ( or maybe the expedition 5 if I can get a deal) or the Tamrac Adventure 7.
I like the Expedition series because they seem to provide ample storage in a compact , well organized space and they DEFINITELY seem like it would able to store all my gear. In addition I like the tripod carrying system , but that's not a deal breaker or maker for me...
Downside : the expedition series LOOKS somewhat conspicuous ( I would rather not announce that I may have expensive camera equipment on me... IF I can avoid it) Also, i find it amazing it doesn't seem to have a built in side mesh or something to hold a water bottle, you have to buy this attachment separately). Most importantly .. though I don't have much experience with this... it is NOT top loading so it would seem that in order to get my camera out I would always have to find a place to lay the bag down? Despite all this I would probably be quite satisfied with the bag if it holds all my equipment neatly, but I want to make the best informed decision I can.
I started considering the Adventure 7. Though it doesn't have the tripod carrying system , it seems more stealthy; I don't know if I would be able to sling it, but at least it's top loading... so that may help take the camera out more quickly if I had to and the backpack/mesh area could come in handy. I would probably opt for this one but I just cant figure out, comparatively, how much gear it could hold from the descriptions given at the Tamrac/ sellers site ::sighs::
Does anyone here OWN A TAMRAC ADVENTURE 7? Would you say it could hold the following simultaneously: (one Pentax k10d with attached 3.5" lens) , (one 5.5" lens), (one 2.5" lens) (another 3.5"lens) and a 560FGz flash unit? I know for a fact the Expedition series will hold all this but would opt for the Adventure if it had the same hauling capacity.
Also.. is it difficult to take out the camera from the Adventure 7 WHILE STANDING ?
Thanks all....
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-13-2008, 05:04 PM
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I think Canada Rockies is right.. I probably am dealing with a hair thin DOF.. I tend to do things the CHALLENGING way.. but with my K1000 never had any problems with it... and keep in mind back then I havd to wait till an elargement to figure out if I didn't focus enough.
Still that tip abut using AF with manual lenses works nicely. One related question.. Setting the camera to AF S while using a manual lens wont harm the camera ( AF drive or what not), will it?
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-13-2008, 01:43 PM
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Ken T
That tip was amazing! Everything works super!! ( even in low light since, again I am going by the "focus indicator"
Thank you so much!
This question may be accademic now. But are digigital cameras just less fogiving than fil when it comes to focus?
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