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Forum: Travel, Events, and Groups
1 Day Ago
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Some days the (nearly) perfect shot just presents itself to you.
I don't recall if I have mentioned here my JustBirds.photo site. I was running out of local species but have a list of common ones that I just don't have a good photo of. It was, of all places, in Zealandia on Friday that I came across one on the list in a pretty great setting. A Dunnock may be boringly introduced, but it is a bird many of us see all the time in less interesting surroundings.
 KP241148 by zkarj, on Flickr
And sometimes you don't realise the photo you have until you get home. I had not realised this Toutouwai was staring straight down the lens at the time! I had also never noticed the 'eyebrows' they have.
 KP241166 by zkarj, on Flickr
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Forum: General Photography
2 Days Ago
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Here you go: not my best image, but the effect was quite a surprise.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
4 Days Ago
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Again a lovely picture of a dog! Two kittens born on March 3, 2008, picture is from April 25, 2008. Just a split second they sat together like this and my Samsung GX-10 with the Samsung 18-55 did me proud. Left is Caramel and right is Afters (the last to be born from the quartet).
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
4 Days Ago
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Pschlute knows I am particularly fond of his dog's pictures, so it is with yours. And cats... well a lot of pictures I took from 2008 onwards are to do with cats, my particular bunch that is....
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Forum: Vintage Cameras and Equipment
5 Days Ago
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Yes, really.
Thread closed.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
6 Days Ago
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An interesting comparison but I long ago decided just to use them and develop a feeling for each - whether I liked it or not from the feel and the results. I know from my experience that the 1.7 is hard to beat in terms of cost, size and image quality but the 1.4 can also be very good, even wide open.
Given sample variation and precision in focusing a valid comparison is very, very hard to do.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-15-2024, 08:17 AM
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Negatives and slides look great with any of the Pentax 50mm lenses,
including the budget SMC (K) or -M 50/2 lenses, or the XR Rikenon 50/2.
Fortunately film cameras don't do histograms.
Better is the enemy of good.
Chris
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-14-2024, 06:38 AM
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This thread prompted me to get my M 50/2.0 out for an impromptu portrait session with Rudy.
Pentax really didn't make a bad 50 in that era.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-14-2024, 05:04 AM
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Wow, the rendering style of the f/2 is so much nicer than the others with warmer, richer colours and more dimensionality. It stands out a mile compared to the rest and reminds me of exactly why I got rid of the M 50mm/1.7 and kept the 2.0.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-14-2024, 03:56 AM
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Is it me or is it... I am always quite sensitive to colours. Of this bunch the M50mm2 @f2 I like the colour very much. The flower pot (or whatever it is) the black squares are really black, with all the other pictures it is a bit greyish, not black, might also be the contrast. But the colour of the flower pot is better than in all the others and so are the flowers near the stump and the little spots on it better as the colour goes.
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Forum: General Photography
04-11-2024, 11:06 PM
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That’s a good example of when the light and atmosphere play nicely to give noticeable separation, @GUB. :). It’s what I try to look for too.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-11-2024, 05:59 AM
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Thanks for this discussion. The various points raised here are all good.
Variation between lens samples can indeed have more impact than differences between lens models. Unfortunately I am not able to buy several copies of each!
I did have the books at different distances in the full frame images, though not in the small crops presented.
Some lenses will indeed perform better on APS-C than FF, because the outer edges of the image circle, where IQ is typically worse, will not impact the result.
Some lenses will perform better on film than digital, because film is not sensitive to the angle of the light hitting it, whereas a digital sensor is.
Some lenses will perform better on one sensor than another because the sensor thickness stack varies between manufacturers and formats. This is why many M-mount lenses work poorly on digital, so much so that a company exists in order to sell expensive modifications to the sensor stack on your camera.
My data points are only presented for what they're worth. Hopefully useful when combined with other comparisons by other photographers. These are mostly performed for my own learning and then, since I've done the work, I choose to share. This is not the only test I did to determine my own personal preference. And I only performed this comparison after shooting with the lenses for some months. Well, two of them anyway. The comparison results conformed to my experience.
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Forum: Travel, Events, and Groups
04-10-2024, 01:09 AM
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If I see a competition for "indoor photography" I'm gonna submit this. I was in my house when I took it.
 KP240750 by zkarj, on Flickr
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-05-2024, 11:43 PM
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The Zeiss seems to be as amazing as its rep. But I am sure that individual lenses of the same make, especially after years of use, will vary more between themselves than the difference shown between these three.
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Forum: Travel, Events, and Groups
03-26-2024, 01:43 AM
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You get it all here on the Kiwi thread - aircraft, astro, birds, philosophy, poetry and a truely impressive lens collection :)
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Forum: Travel, Events, and Groups
03-25-2024, 10:12 PM
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Shades of Margaret Mahy...:lol:
Down the back of the chair
Our car is slow to start and go. We can’t afford a new one.
Now if you please, Dad’s lost the keys. We’re facing rack and ruin.
No car, no work! No work no pay!
We’re getting poorer day by day.
No wonder Dad is turning grey.
The morning is a blue one.
Nothing but dockets in his pockets.
Raging with despair
Dad acts appalled! Though nearly bald
He tries to tear his hair.
But Mary who is barely two
Said "Dad should do what I would do
I lose a lot, but I find a few
Down the back of the chair."
He’s patted himself, and searched the shelf. He’s hunted here and there,
So now he’ll kneel and try to feel right down the back of the chair.
Oh it seemed to grin as his hand went in.
He felt a tingling in his skin.
What will a troubled father win
From down the back of the chair?
Some hairy string and a diamond ring
Were down the back of the chair,
Pineapple peel and a conger eel
Were down the back of the chair
A sip, a sup, a sop, a song. A spider seven inches long,
No wonder that it smells so strong
Down the back of the chair.
A packet of pins and one of the twins
Down the back of the chair.
A pan, a fan that belonged to Gran
Down the back of the chair …
A crumb, a comb, a clown, a cap
A pirate with a treasure map,
A dragon trying to take a nap
Down the back of the chair.
A cake, a drake, a smiling snake,
Down the back of the chair
A string of pearls, a lion with curls
Down the back of the chair
A skink, a skunk, a skate, a ski,
A couple of elephants drinking tea
The Olympus Shumar oh golly gee,
Down the back of the chair.
But what is this? Oh bliss! Oh bliss!
(Down the back of the chair).
The long lost will of Uncle Bill
(Down the back of the chair).
His money box all crammed with cash
Tangled up in a scarlet sash
There’s pleasure, treasure, toys and trash
Down the back of the chair.
"I've found my dreams," our father beams.
(Down the back of the chair).
"At last I see how life can be.
(Down the back of the chair).
Forget the keys! We're poor no more
Just call a taxi to the door."
A taxi shot out with a roar
From down the back of the chair.
The chair, the chair, the challenging chair,
The champion chair, the cheerful chair,
The charming chair, the children’s chair,
The chopped and chipped but chosen chair
To think our fortune waited there
Down the back of the chair.
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Forum: General Photography
03-20-2024, 01:55 PM
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Years ago when first into Pentax digital I used some UV filters, took them off and seen the difference, haven't used them since. Maybe very expensive filters may work a little better, but why risk possibly ruining a great photo. If I ever take a great photo I'll know I gave it every chance to be great with the lens I was using.
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Forum: Travel, Events, and Groups
03-15-2024, 10:56 PM
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There was an airshow at the Caroline Bay Rock Hop this afternoon. I was at home, but grabbed the K-3 III, slammed the 55-300 PLM onto the camera, switched to my U2 settings (birds in flight, high speed continuous autofocus) and enjoyed the show. It is fair to say the K-3 III does ok in this mode - 443 images later, all handheld. The flightpaths came past our place several times, so I got some images I was happy enough with. Not what I usually shoot, so those of you who specialise in this - please be gentle. I was impressed how well the K-3 III and 55-300 PLM combo worked in this situation.
If I had remembered the airshow was on I would have had the 250-600 on the gimbal on the tripod, which would have led to a different set of images :)
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
03-15-2024, 02:06 PM
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Thanks one and all as always great advice. Will continue to soldier on, ain't this photo stuff fin.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-14-2024, 07:29 PM
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Milkweed seed, have many images of them.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-13-2024, 07:49 PM
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
03-11-2024, 07:03 PM
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JPEG is too much faffing about before one presses the shutter release.
Too many variations to choose from in my opinion. Clarity, sharpness settings also brightness and natural , cloudy and landscape , HDR to mention as well and many more that I have forgotten about along time ago.
It’s all a load of bollocks, just shoot raw in manual mode and think about it later, if the exposure is good and focus is where needed, then one can do wonders with a raw file, flat and uninspiring it may seem at first but it will open up a whole lot more when developed.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-08-2024, 03:07 AM
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May I suggest a different subject to compare the K1 images with the K10d?
There is a clear difference when comparing skin tones between the two.
Not even taking into account I am an admirer of the K10d body I prefer the images made with the K10d.
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Forum: Travel, Events, and Groups
02-29-2024, 10:41 PM
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I wish we had that type of water around here... the flat type. Beautiful shots.
I often apply some de-hazing to backgrounds when they aren't so much layered as just there. If I have a shot of an aircraft at Wellington Airport, often the most prominent part of the background is distant hills, but there is mostly just that lot of hills, not layer upon layer behind. I find the stark difference between the deep colours of the foreground and the washed out colours of the background to look icky, so I de-haze it somewhat.
For landscape shots, I agree it makes a positive difference, as in this one.
 K5111570 by zkarj, on Flickr
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