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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
11-07-2014, 09:50 AM
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The above post hit the nail on the head. I haven't met anyone in person who has experienced the mirror flop, and I have only experienced the flash delay when using the pop-up flash (which I only use to test for the delay - I use hot-shoe flashes or remote triggers).
I love the K-3. Of course, I loved the K-5 as well, but I prefer where all the buttons are on the K-3.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
11-05-2014, 02:59 PM
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I enabled the option as soon as I got my K-3 and have never changed it. The same with all my previous Pentax DSLRs. I use everything from old Taks to new DAs. It definitely seems like a silly option to me as well, unless it does something to the contacts on the lens mount that shuts them of when no lens contacts are present or some other crazy thing.
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
10-28-2014, 12:53 PM
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I agree with everything that has already been said. I have bought all sorts of things via ebay, I've been using it since it first started back in the dial-up days. Seller feedback is a great tool, you can read it and decide for yourself if it's worth it to you. Even the comments on negative feedback help one understand the issue (a common reason for negative feedback on overseas sellers is slow shipping - everything takes a while from overseas).
Specifically to expired film - how the film was stored, how expired it is, the specific type/brand, and a whole host of other things will change that rolls properties. Remember that regardless of how it was stored, it will be thrown, kicked, heated, cooled, and who knows what else during shipping, which will further change the way that film turns out.
To summarize: Can you trust great deals on ebay? Sure - most of the time.
Will your great deal on expired film produce the results you want? - Maybe, it depends on the film and whether or not you're looking for random results.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
10-27-2014, 04:02 PM
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When I am walking around covering a wedding or other event - no. When I'm taking pictures for myself/just for fun it's about 50/50.
I never wear the camera around my neck, I wear it slung under my shoulder (like a woman's purse) and almost always have a hand on it. I have never had the settings on the K-3 change on me whether the camera is on or off, but I could see it happening if it was around the neck and one was to jog or even walk briskly. Although, when I'm covering a wedding I usually have another camera around my neck, and I can't ever remember switching to that camera and having the settings be different from the last time I used the camera.
Maybe your strap has too much slack and is bouncing more than usual?
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
10-20-2014, 09:06 AM
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Check it on the X sync mode. Go to your flash settings and change them around. Push the down arrow on the four way controller - with the lightning bolt - try the flash on the first option, then other options.
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
10-17-2014, 11:37 AM
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Many news photographers shoot JPG because it's faster to transfer the images from the camera to their agencies. Many people don't prefer to manipulate their images after taking the photo, not just casual users, but working photographers as well. Many people who like the way Pentax cameras process the images prefer to shoot in a format that preserves that processing - RAW does not.
Perhaps YOU have no reason to shoot JPG/TIFF/etc. but there are many people out there working full time as photographers who find many reasons to do so.
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
10-17-2014, 10:46 AM
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The advantages of TIFF specific to Pentax:
TIFF is a "lossless" format that includes things like digital filters and color profiles. Example: When I switch the camera to B&W, the RAW file is saved as a bland color image that I have to convert to B&W - same if you use portrait, landscape, bright, etc. TIFF files will be saved with the camera's processing settings. I like it because I love the ability to fine-tune those presets to my preferences.
General TIFF not specific to Pentax:
JPG is compressed, TIFF is not. Editing a JPG in photoshop, then saving re-compresses it, which will lose quality over a few editing sessions. TIFF will not suffer this loss.
As far as printing goes, this is dependent on your lab - some labs print better from TIFF, some don't even allow it. I use two labs, one does better with TIFF, the other does better with up-sampled JPG.
The disadvantage to TIFF is it's a huge file, much bigger than a DNG
Also worth mentioning: If you use Lightroom, and choose to edit a file in photoshop from lightroom, lightroom renders the images as a TIFF, then saves it as a TIFF when you close photoshop and return to lightroom.
A good way to incorporate TIFF into your workflow is to use it instead of JPG when you want to write the camera's color profile/processing (noise reduction etc.)/digital filters/white balance to the file, basically just like it does with JPG, but yielding a file that you can edit without having to worry about losing quality from saving.
Do pros use TIFF? Out of hundreds of stringer jobs, I've only had three companies ask me for TIFF. I use TIFF more for my own creative purposes than I do for paying jobs.
If you use a send-out lab to print your photos, and they allow TIFF, I highly suggest you get an image printed from a JPG and a TIFF, make it the same image, and compare to see if there is an advantage to be gained from that specific lab. Many of the better labs can tell you if they print better from TIFF than JPG if you email them and ask, but it never hurts to see the results yourself.
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
10-11-2014, 06:13 AM
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I use the yn560-ii, and as far as I can tell there is no way to shut off the red light. I shut the beep and the auto sleep off and that works fine for me. If the red light bothers you, try electrical tape over it. This is assuming you are talking about the button on the back. If there is a light on the front, it's because you're in a mode other than M, which is not the best for using a trigger - it's for wireless slave (it flashes when it sees another flash).
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
09-19-2014, 07:32 AM
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Hit the nail on the head right there.
Even when using multi af points, the camera still chooses only one to use, and I am not completely sure what makes it choose. I've put my camera on a tripod and hit the AF button and watched the red box appear in a different location every time I pushed that button - even when nothing in the scene has changed.
If you were using a single AF point, I think you would have gotten more consistent results.
---------- Post added 09-19-14 at 07:40 AM ----------
Face detect AF is indirectly connected to exposure. If the camera is set to lock AE point to AF point, then the metering will prioritize based on the AF point, which is linked to face detect if that feature is turned on.
Whether face detect is off or on seems to have no effect on center focus point or selective focus point, but only on auto focus point modes.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
09-17-2014, 07:36 AM
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ISO 8,000
K-3 at night
Samsung 50-200mm
f/4.5, 1/30s
I don't know why they use these creepy red lights in this city, but I think it looks pretty neat.
No de-noising software used. DNG exported to JPG via Lightroom 3.6 (noise reduction set to 0, sharpening bumped +25) Down-sampled to 6mp to fit in in my uploads folder here, since I can't figure out how to link from my onedrive.
Sorry for the logo in the corner there, I tried posting this through Microsoft onedrive first (without success) and it added it automatically.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
09-08-2014, 10:36 AM
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The K-3 is currently my favorite digital camera, and the one I use the most at work and on my off time. I wouldn't trade it for anything out there so far.
I don't understand why digital cameras can't have a flash meter though, it seems like it would be such a simple software thing.
The only thing I don't like about the K-3 is it seems to be TOO good for many of the cheaper DA lenses. I find myself relying on the old SMC-A's at work which sucks because I really like the K-3's auto focusing abilities.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
09-06-2014, 08:25 AM
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I have always loved the way Pentax renders images. The options to fine-tune the color modes to my preferences are amazing, and I have dialed in my K-3 exactly how I want every image to look. It's a wonderful feature that I fell in love with a long time ago.
However, in the lightroom import dialog the thumbnail has that beautiful Pentax look, but after hitting the import button I am staring at the same flat images that come off every camera. The black and whites are now bland color, the beautiful colors are muted, and I have to do all this work to bring everything back to what those images looked like in camera.
I know I can shoot in JPG, or in-camera convert the RAW to JPG and then import, but I don't want to.
Is there any way to get Lightroom to just take the camera's advice when importing?
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-30-2014, 08:09 AM
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Today, many people call themselves photographers. Many of those people use phones, some of them use point and shoot, and many use entry-level dslrs. Many of these people that call themselves photographers will buy a camera, their pictures won't get enough likes on instagram, so they'll buy a different camera hoping it will help. They'll eventually list all their camera gear on craigslist and proclaim that they have "retired" from photography and move on to something else. These people buy more cameras than the average working photographer.
I make a living taking pictures and selling prints. Although I bought a K-3, I've been making more money on my photos than I spend on cameras or lenses. That's how I pay the bills, by spending less and making more.
To ask a corporation to cater to the "professional" market is asking them to sell one camera per person every three to five years - they would go out of business! OF COURSE their target market is wanna-be hipsters with rich parents who will buy a camera because it makes them look more unique. These cameras, much like the Canon Rebel line and the Nikon D7186982349862394623 plastic hunks, are designed to be bought en masse by people who will most likely put them on a shelf to impress their friends - it's actually really cool that companies are giving these bodies the capability to produce nice images in the first place.
What was Ricoh thinking? They were thinking "Let's make a camera that people will buy to impress their friends by using an outlandish design, but let's give it the capability to actually make a good image."
I don't know why everyone is complaining, if they want to spend money trying a new marketing strategy in this new, and really stupid, camera economy it shows, at the very least, that they have enough money to blow on an attempt that has a good chance of completely failing. It tells me that Ricoh has some extra cash, and won't be closing the doors any time soon.
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Forum: General Photography
08-26-2014, 08:08 AM
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What is "Higher" is debatable though. Is a "better" attitude towards nudity feeling more blasé or more prudish?
The point of my post is that people should stop complaining that their post got reported because:
1)This forum is private property subject to the owners' rules/opinions/whims and
2)In order to thrive, rules must be agreeable to the greater majority.
If you think this community should strive for something "higher", in MY opinion, something higher is a GREATER appreciation for nudity as an artistic concept that has been in man for as long as we can find evidence of our existence. YOUR opinion sounds like you would like to see more censorship. So, when the "water settles" your opinion and my opinion meet somewhere in the middle.
Water doesn't settle to the lowest level, it settles to the AVERAGE level. A community CANNOT thrive if striving for "something a little higher" because those who create the "higher" standards are doing so based on THEIR opinions. That's a hierarchy, not a community.
It's strange that although, fundamentally, our posts echo sentiments, you choose to quote me out of context and make it seem like I was speaking AGAINST the censorship when I was, in fact, AGREEING with it.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
08-26-2014, 07:58 AM
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My name is Royce and I have been on a lifelong journey to learn to take a good photo. My first DLSR was a used Pentax K-x with kit lens. Since purchasing that camera the world of photography has opened up to me in a profound way. Today, I work as a photography teacher for developmentally delayed students for a program called TAPS, and donate my spare time taking photos of the shelter animals to promote adoption here in Ukiah California.
If I win this lens, not only will my personal and philanthropic photography benefit, but year after year under-privileged students will get the chance to not only use this lens, but also get to show the photos taken with it to the local community, as all of my students get the chance to walk around with that white K-x that made me fall in love with Pentax DSLRs.
Attached is an image taken with a Pentax K-3 and the 50-200 Samsung at the Mendocino Animal Shelter in their "colony room" where cats learn to socialize to improve their chances of being adopted.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
08-21-2014, 03:07 PM
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Just tested my K-3. Here are my results:
In burst mode - shoots continuously with no lag. I get a ton of frames and can capture clear frames of a friend doing a kickflip on a skateboard.
In single shot mode - no lag with shutter button focusing OFF (I use the back button).
If I hold the focus button down while firing in semi-auto (one press, one image) I will occasionally get shutter lag if I change composition or when my subject moves.
When the pop-up flash is up, there is considerable lag between shots.
When using radio triggers to pop off-camera flash, this lag is not present.
In green mode, tav, av, and tv - the same results as above were found.
I have instant review turned off - this might cause your lag (OP didn't mention whether instant review was used).
In all cases, I was shooting in RAW. I HAVE found intense buffering issues when shooting in JPG with digital filters applied. These do not effect the performance of the camera until I try to review the images on the lcd screen. I have to wait longer than I would like.
I also have shake reduction, and just about every other thing, like lens correction, highlight correction, etc. - turned off. I don't know if any of that would cause lag.
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Forum: General Photography
08-15-2014, 11:03 AM
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It's easy to forget that forums, like this one, are still private property. Freedom of speech and expression do not exist here, it is up to the discretion of the owner and his assigns. If people complain, the forum owner can choose to ignore or cater to those complaints.
What offends one can be wonderful to another, but communities, like water, need to settle to a medium level in order to survive - it's just nature. Those that wish to push those boundaries must accept that some will be offended and push back.
And, to those who have had content deleted, flagged, or otherwise hated - take it instead as a compliment. Provoking an emotional response is one part of what makes a great photograph, regardless of what that response is, the greater the emotion felt, the more successful the image was.
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
06-28-2014, 01:11 PM
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I would buy a Pentax version of the Fuji X, regardless of the price if I could use my existing lenses - full frame or not.
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Forum: Photo Critique
06-28-2014, 10:22 AM
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Razor sharp! And at 1/10s! What lighting setup did you use? It almost looks like backlighting, but the spill is so narrow.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
06-13-2014, 05:26 PM
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Using the AA batteries makes all the difference. Rechargeables are the worst. They work good when they are brand new, but quickly wear down. Try some decent non-rechargeables and you should have better results. I have always had a terrible time with rechargeables.
I would bet money that if you used the pentax style battery in your grip it would work flawlessly.
As a final test, take the battery out of the camera and place it in the grip - no AA's anywhere. See if it works - if so, it's your AA's. The K-3 is VERY picky about AA's.
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Forum: Weekly Photo Challenges
06-13-2014, 02:54 PM
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This is Joker, a half-Siamese cat. His hobbies include sleeping in seemingly uncomfortable positions and breaking his toys. This is one of an increasing number of images I capture on my volunteer days in the local animal shelter.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
06-13-2014, 02:41 PM
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Have you tried taking the battery out of the camera and only inserting the grip battery?
I have a 3rd party grip, so my experience may be colored, however: when I set the meter to use the grip battery first, the charge lasts about half the time. The meter will read empty and the camera will shut off, but if I take the battery from the grip and put it in the camera it reads at around half power.
I haven't had any issues other than that, but here are some usual battery issues you'll run into with two batteries and grips:
One battery may have bad cells: The camera will choose the better of the two batteries regardless of the setting you give it if it feels the "juice" is more reliable.
One or more contacts on your grip may be bad/dirty/bent/otherwise not making a good connection: You can test this by battery in grip but none in camera. Each one of those pins does something different, so if one is buggered the grip will still function, just not ALL functions. If no battery in camera but battery in grip works, this is not your problem.
Grips use power: You'll drain your battery faster with a grip, it takes power to monitor those buttons and dials for actions.
Grip+battery does not = twice the battery life: Since the grip takes power, you don't double your shooting time, it's more like 1.5 times ish, maybe a bit more.
Non-Pentax batteries will react differently: So will non-Pentax grips for that matter.
Try those things and post the results. Also, make sure you have the most up-to-date firmware on your camera and good luck!
P.S. I don't want to say Adam is wrong or weird, but my batteries NEVER last months. Three days if I'm lazy! (I use my camera every day, not only for work but for play as well)
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Forum: General Photography
06-06-2014, 11:34 AM
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This is a debate that should only be happening in the journalistic fields. Has any commercial or full-time portrait photographer ever pondered this question? I try to get my pictures right in camera as much as possible, but that's for me. It helps me learn, understand, and create with my long-time favorite tool, the camera.
However:
Post processing is nothing new, as has been said a million times. Photoshop is new as a software, but not as a concept. What about the oil paints used on negatives from the film days? William Mortensen did everything from painting realistic looking backdrops (akin to green screen or other background replacements in photoshop) to painting the background and details directly on his film. Abe Lincoln commonly had photographs of his head placed on other peoples' bodies to make himself look taller in photos. There was no photoshop then.
You might not like the look of digitally processed images (I don't) but that's part of digital photography. If you think post-processing tips are unique to digital, you are simply wrong.
Is it right? That depends on what you are trying to do. If your objective is to produce a stunning image, then there are no rules for how you get there. You could create the whole thing in photoshop and not use a camera. If your objective is to accurately show a piece of history, then you should probably stick to the basic bar in lightroom.
This should not be a debate or question. If you disagree with post processing an image then logically you must also disagree with lighting modifiers and backdrops, there is no difference in changing the scene you are looking at with tools than changing the image you are looking at with a program, except the program is usually cheaper.
Complainers in contests are worthless. I didn't win, you don't hear me crying. Those who try to justify why they lost a contest have learned nothing, that's sad for them. The only helpful criticism is destructive criticism.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 Photo Contest
04-29-2014, 10:48 AM
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Vintage lens on modern camera: always a good time!
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
04-10-2014, 04:13 PM
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If you have a hardware store nearby, ask if they have "spring stock", it's basically a thin piece of flat metal. Get the thinnest gage they carry, slide that between the battery and compartment, twist with your wrist (this makes tension between the compartment and battery) and pull. The more you twist, the more tension. This may put a scratch on your battery and compartment if you're not careful, but it won't actually cause any damage.
Make sure you pull slowly - pulling fast WILL gouge the plastic of the battery and the compartment.
You may need to try several times - just pull slow, and try adding different amounts of tension (by twisting your wrist)
If the hardware store does not sell spring stock, you can usually find a spring gauge at hardware or sometimes auto parts stores - you should spend around $2 for spring stock, but spring gauges are around $12
This method works because the edges of the spring stock are pointed, they "dig" into the plastic when you twist your wrist, and since spring stock is wider than tweezers or similar devices, it has the least chance of "gouging" the soft plastic.
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