Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
04-08-2013, 02:24 PM
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I haven't tried Eneloops in my K-30 yet. But in my old K2000 (i.e., K-m) they were useless, sometimes not even holding enough power to keep the clock going.
I've found that lithium disposable batteries last so much longer than anything else that they're worth the money.
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Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
03-11-2013, 09:32 AM
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UPDATE: it turns out that the Sigma flash is compatible with the K-30.
After contacting Sigma, they asked me to send in sample photos, and eventually to send the flash in for them to check it. They found that the consistent under-exposure was not due to mis-communication between the camera and the flash unit, but because there was an internal component loose (the thing that senses when the diffuser card is pulled out), and fixing this allows the flash to work again.
I haven't tested all of the features yet with the K-30, but at least for basic operations, it seems to be working OK now.
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Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
02-07-2013, 12:33 PM
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Maybe I just got a bum copy of the lens (and mine wasn't WR, but I think the optics are the same). But I absolutely hated that lens. It was very, very soft, and had poor contrast. I eventually gave the thing away.
I replaced the two kit lenses I originally had (the 18-55 and this 50-200) with the 18-135 WR, and the 80-320. Both of these lenses are far superior to the original kit lenses, especially the 50-200. The 80-320, despite being much longer, is still much sharper, and with much better contrast.
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Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
01-07-2013, 10:57 AM
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I don't know anything about Malaysia (other than that they host an F1 race). But maybe it would be helpful to point out that the AA adapter for the K-30 is exactly the same one for other Pentax DSLRs. If you find one for K-R, etc., it will work in his K-30.
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Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
01-06-2013, 10:28 AM
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Since this is a more specific topic than this thread, but I'd really like to discuss it further, I've moved it into its own thread here.
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Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
01-06-2013, 10:12 AM
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I tried this advice myself, since I'd experience the exact same problem. Sigma's advice doesn't work (at least not very well), but it gave me a clue that helped me get to a better result (even if it's not to the level of "works" imho, since it's completely defeating any automatic function from the flash).
You'll note that the flash has its own manual ISO adjustment. I found that if you adjust this value way down (like to 50), you can then use the camera's ISO setting to affect the exposure. So having set the flash at 50, cranking the camera up from 50, to 100, 200, 400, etc., gives increasingly brighter exposures: the flash is still relying on the manually-entered values, giving you the freedom to adjust the camera.
I don't think this is a good solution, since it's a pretty blunt instrument to deal with, and rather inconvenient -- not at all what I expect given what I paid for the flash itself. But it does allow for us to take flash-illuminated photos.
Given the right situation and equipment, a better solution to this is probably to just take the flash off the camera altogether, and use the built-in flash (dialed way down to -2) as a trigger for the Sigma flash as a remote slave. But that requires a flash stand as well (not to mention the opportunity to set it up!), and a layout of the shot that will allow for it. (I moved this topic out of a general flash discussion, so it can get better attention) |
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
01-05-2013, 08:38 PM
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Hmmm. I installed the software that came with my K-30, and it's Silkypix v3. How did you wind up with something newer? Or are we talking about two different things?
EDIT: I just found the answer to my own question. The DCU software is for K-5II (amongst others), while Silkypix is for K-30, K-01, and others. Apparently Pentax has two lines of software, each intended for use with different cameras.
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Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
01-03-2013, 06:51 PM
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Well, I suspect that we all understand now what the camera is actually doing, and we're just debating semantics. ;)
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Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
01-03-2013, 06:03 PM
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Well that's odd. I just took a photo of my screen, you can plainly see that it's 10x10, as with my quote from the manual. |
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
01-03-2013, 12:52 PM
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Does this work with any version of Silkypix, or just the ancient back-level version that is shipped with the camera?
The disc with the camera comes with version 3, but Silkypix is actually up to version 5 or something. I wonder if Pentax is still using a prehistoric version of the software, while just keeping its internal database of camera and lens data updated.
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Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
01-03-2013, 11:50 AM
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The AF points are completely independent (and different) between the viewfinder (i.e., PDAF) and liveview (i.e., CDAF).
In PDAF, there are 11 points that you can select manually, or allow the computer to choose one from amongst all 11, or just the central 5. The selection can be made with the D-pad arrow keys, or with the front and back dials, depending on the mode.
In CDAF, the entire frame is divided into 100 sectors (a 10x10 grid). According to p.104 of the manual:
In other words, you can specify a 2x2 or 4x4 or 6x6 area of the frame for the CDAF to consider when focusing.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
11-14-2012, 02:42 PM
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Mostly I don't like these through-the window shots. But on your first one here, the colors are fantastic. The sky color is echoed in the hood reflection, and the golden sunset (rise?) is echoed in the road's yellow line, but perpendicular. I like it.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
11-14-2012, 11:29 AM
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Taken a year ago on the Blue Ridge Parkway, with a K-2000 (that I'm hoping to replace with a K-30 for Christmas) and 18-55mm lens.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
11-09-2012, 02:19 PM
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I really like the bridges. On the first shot, I would have tried to adjust the tone mapping to create a greater contrast between the pine needles and the wood of the bridge. As it is, it first looks as if the lower left quadrant is just blurry, but it's really just the different texture of the pine.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
09-28-2012, 01:13 PM
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Pentax recently released the K-30, a clear improvement over its predecessor, and likely a standard-setter for that market segment. I think this is the problem.
The K-5II, as the new Pentax DSLR flagship, would be expected to be an unambiguously better camera than their prosumer model. But it's not. There are a number of features in which the K-30 is actually superior to its big brother: Prime M processor, focus peaking, video codec. I think it's simply a matter of "your flagship should showcase everything that is the best Pentax can offer". If they can make a better feature, why not put it into the top-of-the-line?
Of course, you may put different values onto the features, so K-5II might be better for *you*. Personally, I don't care a whit for anything with the word "video" in it, but accurate focus is something that's been a difficulty for me (whether that's because of me or the equipment is an open question, but additional assistance can't be bad), so I sorely miss the focus peaking feature. The point is, it's not clear that any given photographer, given his personal priorities, would choose the K-5II over the K-30; and that makes it a questionable standard bearer.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
07-27-2012, 11:24 AM
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I have that same exact hummingbird feeder. Yet somehow, my photos don't look like that...:o
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
07-26-2012, 05:48 PM
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...
I'm looking at my K2000, which according to everything I've read is exactly the same camera as the K-m.
On my camera, if I bring up the menu, on the very first page of settings, 6th item down (or next to the bottom, if you prefer), is "RAW file format", which I have set to DNG. But it offers a choice of that or PEF.
From DPReview: Quote: Image formats • JPEG (Conforms to Exif 2.21), (Best, Better, Good)
• Compressed RAW ( PEF )
• Non-compressed RAW ( DNG ) |
Forum: Post Your Photos!
07-26-2012, 02:36 PM
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
07-26-2012, 11:19 AM
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Nice clarity in its eyes, and I'm glad you were able to carry the DOF through the rest of its face.
A couple thoughts: - Lighting from the top of the frame to illuminate the face better might have been cool.
- Even though you shot the picture from this orientation, it might work better to view it from a 180-degree rotation, with the bug facing downward.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
07-26-2012, 09:15 AM
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To the best of my recollection, on my K2000 the PEFs were just marginally smaller than the DNGs, not enough to drive any decision. So it may be that - On the K2000, the RAW data is compressed into the DNG
- On the K2000, the RAW data is not compressed into the PEF
- I'm misremembering the behavior completely
But in the end, I do think the question is moot, because it's my understanding that PEF is going away and that DNG is the sole RAW format supported.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
07-26-2012, 06:07 AM
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On the K-m (or the K-2000, which I have, and is the same exact camera), you have a choice of .PEF and .DNG. As stevewig says, you should choose .DNG; I'm not aware of any benefit of PEF over DNG, and if I understood the reviews, the K-30 no longer even supports PEF, it's DNG or JPG.
DNG, standing for "Digital NeGative", is a standard RAW format defined by Adobe for exactly this purpose. Since it's a standard, everybody supports it, so you can be much more confident that your images will be readable in the future.
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Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
07-25-2012, 02:02 PM
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I've got a WG-1 for adventure outings when I don't dare bring a SLR. I've actually become rather fond of it, despite the fact that there's zero control over actual aperture and shutter speed. But the battery life for the Li batteries is great, and they're cheap to get a couple spares. In particular, though, I've been impressed with the camera's macro mode.
Here's a sample.
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Forum: Pentax Compact Cameras
07-25-2012, 07:53 AM
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It's not a mini, it's a standard size SD card. It takes SD or SDHC; I don't think it takes SDXC. I use a 16GB SDHC card in mine; I think the SDHC spec allows for up to 32GB.
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Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
07-24-2012, 06:57 AM
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I've been asking myself this very question since I read the first reviews of the K-30. I think I'm coming down on the side of the K-30.
For several years I've been shooting with a K2000. My biggest complaint (given the market segment the camera is in) is the AF system. It seems like the K-30 distinguishes itself from the K-5 in exactly this area, with improvements to the PD and CD algorithms, and also with focus peaking (I'm really looking forward to using that).
On the other hand, the biggest things that would draw me to the K-5 are the top LCD the 14-bit RAW format.
Also, for plain old usability, I'm not excited about the K-30's battery life. I haven't had the opportunity to hold one yet, but I'm actually concerned that it might be too light. Having some mass affords a bit of shake resistance.
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
07-24-2012, 06:42 AM
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I'm a newbie here, but I've been a Pentax shooter for years. I guess with all the Nikanon folks around, we need a place to call our own.
I've got a K2000, and am eagerly looking forward to the K-30, although I'm actually deciding between the K-30 itself or the now-cheaper K-5. But I'm leaning toward the K-30 because of its improved AF and focus peaking, since sharpness of focus has been one of my problems.
I started with the two kit lenses (the 18-55 and the 50-200). But after I got my first prime (a Sigma 30mm f/1.4), it puts those zooms to shame, particularly the 50-200 which I really dislike.
Aside from the dSLR, I've also got a WG-01. I need something for adventure, and I don't want to bring the dSLR on the mountain bike, or in the water.
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