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Forum: Winners' Showcase
03-13-2016, 10:50 AM
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I like this because it is taking a the subject and making it a little bit of an abstract approach with a nice contrast in lines and patterns.
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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
01-31-2016, 04:10 PM
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One of the best features of the K3 is the focus button on the back of the camera for sports and action pictures. Set up the camera through the menus to use the back focus button instead of the shutter button, but do practice! I can can remember trying to capture a cheer leading stunt and keept focusing during the event. As the cheer leader flipped up through the air, and moved down in the frame, the camera started progressively focused on the back wall. It took me a couple of events to realize that if they don't move towards or away from you changing their position in the focus area, you can just focus once and then capture the vertical movement. But it does have to be more natural (and like anything else, practice!).
here was a picture from the middle of the sequence of the flip of a stunt group.
 rs_IMGP4044 by Kevin Gorman, on Flickr
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
03-01-2015, 05:06 PM
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JeldyMT, one thing that can also make a difference without any other changes is how you're doing focusing as well as actual lighting conditions. In indoor sports sometimes the lighting is so bad that at best I'll be some where about half that speed just because it takes a while to focus in poor lighting.
Some additional ideas is to use the back focus, and only occasionally press it.
In short, I'd think "efficiency" and depending on what the lighting and conditions are, the more features one can turn off on the camera (especially focus and exposure calculations) the more the work can go into the frame rate.
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
01-12-2015, 11:55 AM
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(sorry about old news, I didn't see any date....)
Still, Blondy's friend once ate my "Tesla S", which is why I can't show that off either.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
01-07-2015, 09:49 AM
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When I pre-ordered my K3 last October, I did so with the idea that I would be able to learn it and be comfortable with it to be able to really help record my daughter's final year in her competitive "career" in her last year of high school. The last season has just started with a couple of preliminary events already having passed in December.
Imagine my dismay when for the first competition for the season when setting up the camera at the event that it wouldn't start. Two fresh batteries and the camera was deader then a door knob. I had last used the camera to format the data cards in the camera the night before and had not noticed any issues. In a panic, I went to the only Pentax dealer in Michigan and was praying that they might think of something I didn't (or maybe had a AC power adapter in case there really was a problem with my batteries). They were great, but couldn't help (and by-the-way, at the time I ordered the camera, they did not carry the Pentax line, I think this camera model prompted them to do that).
What opportunity lost! I have missed 3 events and the chance to show off a good friend's Nikon 7000 because it had to be sent in for repairs. I feel bad for the store but I call their repair guy almost every other day, I just feel so naked without the camera! It just eats me up! Not to mention being able to supply the local paper with some of those pictures.
While I still don't have the camera, I was very worried about any potential costs. I showed the local store my paperwork, and the camera basically failed 1 day less than 1 month out of warranty from the date I received the camera from NY. I will learn more about it's issues after I get it back, but was told that the "motherboard" needed to be replaced at an approximate cost of $400!
I feel so lucky/blessed that when "pestering" the store today I found out that Ricoh will honor it as a warranty item! I realize that not everyone's experience will be similar, or their situation would be similar to mine. But it is a tremendous relief to know that in that good will/gesture on Ricoh's behalf that I think we can feel that it is good to know that they do stand behind their products! (Could it be something with the first batch of cameras since it was pre-ordered?)
---------- Post added 01-07-15 at 11:55 AM ----------
Just so you know, the following are a couple of examples I took last season. I think I showed off the only other parent who had a daughter on the team with the K3. He has a gen 2 Canon 5D and I think the K3 has a faster frame rate, and better ISO sensitivity and is a quarter of the cost!
 [url=https://flic.kr/p/jTiG61]
 [url=https://flic.kr/p/iXuWmP]
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
11-21-2014, 10:00 AM
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For me, there's one Pentax feature that no one else has (please correct me if I'm wrong) is "TAv" setting exposure. I believe the "program setting" on the Nikon is similar to the the older "program setting" on the old Canon EA1 (from the 1980's) in that if you adjust the aperture, the shutter speed is moved in the opposite direction. Since to me creative control is always focused on shutter and aperture, TAv mode automatically adjusts the ISO. To me it's a dream setup for any kind of action (and use the back focus button and you'll be able to zoom in on a subject on a stage, use spot focus and with the front and rear dials just concentrate on the composition and DOF). In that case I think you'll have your expert friends contemplating a switch.
So in a nutshell, investigate the handling very closely, that's what will really make the difference.
The downside might be to consider video capabilities. I think the difference isn't too great, at least between the Pentax and Nikon "C" cameras (Canons usually comes out on tops from reviews I have read). But I didn't get my K3 for video (there's plenty of parents who do that at my kid's events). To me some video is just enough.
Oh, yea. One more thing: Internal stabilization vs external: besides saving money on lenses, knowing that any lens that gets attached to the Pentax (at least for me) was a great plus (another thing that I think the conikon crowd might get jealous with). And as far as that goes, from the review on the image quality of the K3, the following was written up (see: Review: Pentax K-3 - General Image Quality | PentaxForums.com Reviews. The point is:
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Forum: General Photography
11-19-2014, 06:09 PM
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I think both pictures turned out well! Sometimes it just seems like the more you know, the more you fret but in the end it's all good!
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Forum: General Photography
11-05-2014, 10:37 AM
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I would take a little issue with this. I would always look for something to compose around, but some of the best shots you can get are with sun at odd angles, but then use a fill flash to remove harsh shadows. By those angles, I'd almost say anywhere from directly side to directly in front of the camera. I almost have liked group shots with sun almost directly in front of me (not sunset obviously, but towards mid-day) and with a fill flash, hair and clothing highlights can add a lot of "snap" to a photo.
Just make sure the lens hood blocks out direct sun interference.
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
08-08-2014, 09:27 AM
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I like the tonal ranges in this, especially the way that the cloud shapes were highlighted: it keeps it interesting. The loneliness of the poor bent tree is emphasized by the parallel lines converging off in the way distance giving the illusion that even they won't ever meet. And the way that tree dominates the foreground, but never takes over keeping to the edges really leaves the eye searching. Nice composition.
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
08-08-2014, 09:16 AM
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Really enjoy this picture, one of the best in terms of tonal range, and it's the perfect illustration of rules of thirds in that it really keeps the eye wandering around absorbing details around the peripheral areas of the picture.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
12-23-2013, 06:33 PM
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I have also just received my K3, and am enjoying it. The last SLR I had was a Canon AE1 which I would gladly have stuck with Canon had the lenses I had on that body been forward compatible with new Canon equipment. But they weren't which allowed me to look at things as completely starting all over (although I had a series of very early adopter first generation of Digital cameras from Minolta which still work but just don't have the lens capabilities).
I'd always look that the situation you have (or are intending to be in) to have an idea of what you are after. I see people are recording a Sigma 70-200 f2.8, but I looked for and am quite pleased with the Tameron "equivalent" which to me makes more sense for a Pentax body since I didn't feel like paying for an extra image stabilizer in the lens itself.
I do some photography with high school cheerleaders and it's indoor competitive season, and the lighting tends to be florescent, so to me while I don't have to worry about weather sealing indoors, poor lighting is something I am still trying to work around. I am amazed at how different the faster lens is in terms of the amount of light it gathers compared to the smaller 18-135 that I got with the camera. I like that lens, but compared to the faster bigger lens, I feel like I'm able to get much better shots just because at the same f stop of the bigger lens I think I'm pushing a couple of faster speeds on the shutter speed.
The bottom line to me is lens speed for this, but I don't want to crop everything from a prime, so a fast zoom still makes sense for me.
Here's an example of what I can capture, and remember they're moving pretty fast when they do this stuff
(F3.5, 1/400, 70mm):
a_IMGP0860 by kjg48359, on Flickr
But what it really comes down for me (at least) is that it you should have in mind what your after, then pick the tool. Otherwise if all you have is a hammer that everything will look like a nail. Over time, the lenses that make the most sense will become apparent. I look at it as a whole system that will be built up over time.
(but then again, the "best camera in the world" for you is the one you have with you at that moment)
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