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Forum: Pentax K-70 & KF
1 Day Ago
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I , like many other k70 users , have been frustrated by the lack of a dedicated L bracket for the k70 .
I have spent a lot of time looking , also contacting manufacturers and receiving polite responses from customer services saying they don't make a specific one for the k70 but their generic universal model blah blah should fit .
I liked the look and the colour of the orange 3 legged thing Ellie L bracket but not the £70 price tag for something that in their words " should fit"
So being on a tight budget I looked around and found the universal L brackets from Nisi , they have drawings and measurements on their website and I figured out that one the models the NLP-C (G) was probably suitable , and at £29 worth a shot .
I bought one and I'm really pleased with it , it's adjustable in that there is a long slot on the base for mounting to the cameras screwthread , and the vertical part is also slotted for front to back movement .
It's not perfect when flipping the screen out fully but it's workable , and for £29 I'm very happy with it .
Comes with an Allen key that's held under the bracket by 2 magnets but its not super secure so I've put it in a pocket on my camera bag to avoid losing it somewhere in a field !
Will attach some pics below . Excuse poor handheld phone shots , have a wrist injury so difficult to operate phone whilst using good hand to hold camera !
I'm not connected or affiliated in any way , just thought I'd share that it seems to fit OK , for my use anyway .
Quick Release Universal Adjustable L Plate - NiSi UK - NiSi Optics, NiSi Filters |
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Forum: Post-Processing Articles
2 Days Ago
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Here's my assessment based on what I've used:
Photoshop/Lightroom/Bridge (You get them all together with an Adobe Photography plan). Pros: Low upfront cost, capable editing and cataloguing can do most things. Cons: Ongoing subscription cost, Lightroom isn't as capable as alternatives in some areas. Import process rather than file browsing is not all that intuitive for new users. (Adobe Bridge may be your option if you can't get your head around how Lightroom works)
DxO Photolab. Pros: Only have to pay once. Much better noise reduction than Lightroom, reasonable cataloguing, control points and lines can offer more effective and faster selective lighting than LR. Extensive lens corrections. Cons: Expensive upfront cost for Elite Edition (watch out for sales though), some useful features only available with additional FilmPack addon. Cataloguing is not as good as LR.
RawTherapee: Pros: Free, capable range of raw processing options. Cons: can be complicated to learn how to use all the options.
Corel Paintshop Pro: Pros: Reasonably priced, pay only once, can do most things Photoshop can do, much lighter footprint than Photoshop, basic cataloguing. Cons: Awful raw processing (may have improved, but was terrible last time I checked). Annoying ads encouraging you to upgrade.
Gimp: Pros: Free, can do many of the things Photoshop can do. Cons: Need a separate raw editor.
I haven't really used Topaz or On1 to evaluate them, although last time I took at look at Topaz it seemed quite bloated in terms of disk space usage compared to DxO Photolab.
There's no right answer what software you should use, and all come with free trials, so I'd suggest you try them all out before you decide whether to spend any money.
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
04-11-2024, 02:09 AM
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If you are a very serious birder, the Pentax 150-450mm is about the only choice for a Pentax camera owner, (You could consider second-hand Pentax 560mm telephoto, or second-and Sigma 50-500 if you can them). Although, beware of the minimum focus distance of the Pentax 560mm !!
I used a Pentax 55-300mm PLM on a Pentax KP for quite a while, and if the bird wasn't too far away, that was okay. And many people here use the Pentax 300mm prime with excellent results.
But when I changed over to the 150-450mm, I knew I had found what I was looking for. Just wish I had done it 3-4 years sooner (I am getting older by the day!!!)
That said - BEWARE: if you are slight of build, you will find the 150-450mm a heavy load to carry. And expensive. But for a serious Pentax birder it must be the lens of choice, provided you can cope with its weight.
I suggest you review the images and discussions in these two threads:
Post your HD PENTAX-D FA 150-450mm F4.5-5.6 ED DC AW pictures! - Page 237 - PentaxForums.com
300mm plus Lens Club: discuss your long lenses - Page 2724 - PentaxForums.com
In the second thread it is not always clear which lens has been used.
But certainly, become familiar with your new camera for 2-4 months before going too crazy about what to buy next in the way of expensive lenses. And read through the relevant forums here in Pentax Forums. If there is such a thing as a Pentax Camera club in your area, look to visiting it and see what other Pentax owners are doing. Same goes for bird photography clubs.
Do you intend to travel by car, or rail/plane? If by car, fine (in relation to the 150-450mm). If by rail, bus or air, it may be challenging to travel with the 150-450mm.
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
04-10-2024, 02:00 PM
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I would say aim for a telelens of 300mm (or longer).
The 55-300 F4.5 - F6.3 PLM is a nice starter lens. Not only for birds, but it is also a nice, compact tele zoom lens to complement your standard lens for travel for more distant subjects ...Still a walkaround lens.
But there is better for birds like 400..500mm and with more bright aperture like F4 (or even F2.8 if you want break the bank)
Better, but also more expensive and heavier , hence harder to handle, like tripod support needed. A 500mm lens of 3kg is not a lens for traveling light....so these are less universal or less multipurpose than the 55-300.
So I would say aim for these >300mm only if you gained some experience with above 55-300mm and learn what matters to improve..
Note that even with a telelens you need to get close enough to fill the frame as birds are often small, and birds are also quite agile so you need fast shutter like 1/500 ....1/1500 and hence enough light...
If you can find secondhand Sigma x...400 or x...500mm (quite some variants), as production stopped hence often attractive priced ...
Pentax 300mm (prime, not zoom) and 150-450mmm are also very nice but pricier options.
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
04-10-2024, 11:12 AM
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Welcome from Newfoundland.
There are great K-70 and general photo threads here for you. I might add (I get no cut!) that the K-70 e-book is pretty good and dirt cheap. Covers everything in the manual in less dense and compressed form. I think you'll fine your kit great for travel. For birding, in the wild anyway (unless you have some sort of close blind setup) you'll probably want at least the 55-300 PLM. It's not all that expensive.And you seem to have the right idea that it's usually better to spend cash on gaining experience(s) and skills rather than buying more and more gear and passing up on too much of the former.
TRUE birders (not me) use hugely expensive 450s, of course! And $5K SWAROVSKI spotting scopes/binocs or even more expensive glass! Some birders here in St. John's drove 1700 km each way and took 2 ferry rides across the Straits of Belle Isle to see one of your birds--a brown something or other I seem to remember--that blew over here possibly from your very own back yard last spring! Took them like 2 and a half days just to get a sighting report in their notebooks!
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Forum: Lens Clubs
5 Days Ago
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DA* 300mm
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Forum: Lens Clubs
5 Days Ago
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-15-2024, 07:20 PM
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Sigma 50-500 @ 500mm with the K3 MKiii. This was straight out the camera, transferred to my phone with Image Sync. I did crop and downsize it on my phone to make the file smaller. I am still getting the processing part.
2024 Eclipse by Michael, on Flickr
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-14-2024, 09:21 AM
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I managed to grab this hawk circling overhead with a DSLR and a manual focus lens from the 70s, which you're not supposed to be able to do.
Common Buzzard by Jason Doss
Pentax K-1 mII and Pentax-M 400mm f5.6 at f13, 1/3000s, and ISO 800
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-14-2024, 09:14 AM
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-12-2024, 07:00 AM
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-11-2024, 07:23 AM
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-10-2024, 11:22 PM
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I know, like me, you're getting a little bored of seeing eclipse photos here and there, but I had to post that one... :o
It's cool to see the kind of radiance that comes out with increased clarity in some photos with a greater exposure.
La couronne solaire / The Solar Corona
Frelighsburg, Québec, CANADA
2024.04.08 - 15h26m34s
La couronne solaire / The Solar Corona |
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-08-2024, 09:27 PM
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We were lucky enough here to be in the totality zone in southern Québec, CANADA, and also have good weather to shoot that event... it was crazy !
This is what the total solar eclipse allows us to see, like the corona and its chromosphere in the red prominences along the limb. The corona temperature is around 2 million degrees!
(Full crop 1:1)
Éclipse solaire totale du 8 avril 2024 / April 8th 2024 Total Solar Eclipse
#pentaxk3mkiii pentax_fa250600 #TotalEclipse2024 #eclipse2024
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-04-2024, 04:19 AM
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-03-2024, 09:10 PM
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K1mii Pentax SMC 500mmx2 1/1600@F16 ISO 6400. Quite a lot of crop
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-03-2024, 08:40 PM
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Pentax K1mMC 500mmx2 1/1600@F8 ISO 200. Quite a bit of crop
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-03-2024, 03:18 PM
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-02-2024, 12:14 PM
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K3-III with HD DA 55-300. Kept waiting for the mob to begin, but the crows (and few blue jays) just came and went. Guess they were just letting the eagle know that they know where it is and that it was unwelcome in the neighborhood.
Bob
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-01-2024, 09:00 PM
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Another Little Wattlebird shot.
This one using the K-3 Mark III and Sigma 18-300.
For those that like to make comparisons between lenses, compare this shot with # 40834 and #40811.
These shots aren't exactly the same conditions, but not too different. If your browser doesn't give you direct access to basic exif data, here it is...
#40834, D-FA 150-450, 1/400s, f/10.0, 310mm, ISO 320
#40811, DA* 300, 1/500s, f/9.0, 300mm, ISO 400
and below, Sigma 18-300, 1/640s, f/6.3, 300mm, ISO 400
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-01-2024, 08:51 AM
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DFA 150-450
European green woodpecker
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-01-2024, 07:05 AM
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-01-2024, 05:11 AM
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Forum: Lens Clubs
03-31-2024, 10:58 AM
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You get one bigma, then another one pops up.
The screw drive AF is the big difference with this one, noisy, clunking to and fro. But seems reasonably on it so far. It will take time to get a clear impression/verdict vs the HSM of the other one.
The avocets have been back at Burton Mere for a couple of weeks. I missed the ruddy shelducks, I was creeping around to get a better view through the branches when an egyptian goose took exception and chased them away.
Big ~ 1:1 crops on the avocets.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
03-31-2024, 04:58 AM
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