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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
11-22-2008, 06:04 AM
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The camera I had before the K10 had "live view" and an electronic vf, which was not great, but I found myself using the vf 90% of the time despite it being so ummm awful (that was polite). When I went shopping for a new camera, a really good vf was high on the list, and the k10's clobbered anything remotely near its price. I am planning on finding an angle finder in the future for when I'm using the camera on a tripod for macro work. I can hold the k10 steadier at eyelevel than out at arm's length (or anywhere away from my body) - it's not exactly the lightest machine on the block. If it had lv, I really doubt I'd use it.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
10-02-2008, 08:53 AM
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There is a very good online tutorial for PPL (and other things Pentax) at PENTAX digiich
I've found it very helpful. I think PPL tutorials begin around tutorial no 24. (Don't take my word for it though - check it out)
Not sure why nothing seems to respond when you play with the settings... I really like PPL. I'll look at mine more carefully to see what you might be doing, and see what I come up with. (Not right now though. It's almost 2am and I'm needing sleep.) I usually just batch process the pef files, saving the jpegs to a subfolder of the one the pefs are in (called xxxx jpegs - how original!) using the "auto process" mode. Set it going before dinner if you have any number to process - it can take a while! Then I examine the ones I want to work with and process them manually to tweak them up. I apprecaite the "look and feel" I get from PPL, and I'd rather spend the $$ saved by not having to buy other software on another lens or other hardware.
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
09-11-2008, 09:43 AM
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Welcome - another Victorian! Lorne and its hinterland is wonderful - spent much of my childhood in the area. Still get down there a few times a year from Melbourne or Mt Doran (35 km south east of Ballarat.) Looking forward to seeing some of your photos.
oops, I see you're from Lorne, NSW - not Victoria! Still, can't hold that against you ;-) We can't all live in Victoria now, can we? Looking forward to reading your posts and seeing what Lorne, NSW looks like. Your photos might even persuade me to go there to see the "other" Lorne!
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-20-2008, 07:22 AM
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I don't think there's a reason NOT to buy the K10. If you're going into jungles etc, the weatherproofing is going to be good for you. Remember not all lenses are weatherproofed. Quite a few of the Pentax ones are. Not many 3rd party ones are. (none that I know of!) The K10 will satisfy any serious photographer. It will do more than most users would dream of. Rather like people thinking they need the latest version of MS Word for their offices. 99% of regular users know about 10% of what the program will do. The K10 will give you plenty of room to extend your talents.
The thing you will have to decide is whether it is going to be comfortable for you. Does it fit your hands well? Can you reach all the buttons easily? Can you see through the viewfinder? Can you read the lettering on it, and on the screens?
It's a great camera. It will do everything you would want it to do (from what you have said) and it offers more at the price than anything else on the market now. The only reason NOT to buy it is:
a. you don't really need it, or
b. you couldn't use it comfortably it because of the way YOU are made.
And we're all different! Thank goodness.
(I like mine more and more as I go along!)
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-16-2008, 06:33 AM
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I always use centre focus. I see auto focus as an aid to focussing. Focus, reframe, shoot. Spot meterinig is also often engaged. One of the reasons I chose the K10 as my digital slr is because everything does NOT have to be set up for auto everything operation. I find the auto everything is too often mess up everything mode and the subject has gone by the time you find this out. These auto features can help out, but Pentax has wisely made them easily over-ridden. The bottom line is the camera was designed by photographers, who know how to drive a manual camera to get the best out of it - but can be set up for grandma or grandpa to use at the church picnic without developing brain strain. (hmm... I'm about to be a grandpa again so no offence intended to the gramps of the forum)
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Forum: Photographic Technique
08-14-2008, 07:35 AM
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No-one has to "do" anything with their photos. What painter thinks about what they will "do" with a painting before they start it? Not many. They have a general idea - sometimes - of what they are trying to achieve, and enjoy the journey, and maybe the end product. My wife was an artist (quite a few successful exhibitions - pretty serious about it) and she could sketch something out before I set my camera up.. and then would work on her sketches for months after, building the work up. The process is often more important than the end product. I'm a pianist. I can work for years - yes, years - on a piece of music, and still be unsatisfied with its performance - not to the point of beating myself up over it - but always, always, there's something new to be discovered in a piece of good music. The music can always be played with a different light in it, or on it. It's one reason why we listen to others playing the music we do... "What are you going to do with that performance?" is a question that makes as much sense as "What are you going to do with all those photos?" I think you have to participate in these activities to understand the why.
It's really about why - not what in the end.
I've been taking photos for about 40 years now.. I have lots!! And I really love getting out an old album to revisit the places and people that might not be with us any more. It's about finding the feelings you had of the moments you've captured, even if they are not great technically. If you can share them with those whowere with you at the time - it's wonderful!
Why is a better question than what.
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Forum: Photographic Technique
08-14-2008, 02:58 AM
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Thanks Citro. That makes perfect sense - but not in all the contexts I've seen it used on this board and other photography related boards. Perhaps others think it means something else. .. though I think your explanation is right.
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Forum: Photographic Technique
08-14-2008, 01:56 AM
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I hope this hasn't been answered a zillion times before, but I have a simple question. I hope it's in the right place.
drum roll......
What is this "camera IQ" that so many people refer to? Every camera here seems to have it.. it seems quite fashionable even. Maybe it's really subtle, like having Piaget gracing the face of your watch...
I know my K10 thinks it's smarter than me sometimes, but it's easily tamed. Hmmm... come to think of it a lot of things think they're smarter than me, actually. I just pretend to be incompetent. It helps, you know. But I really would like an answer to the question, please, someone, 'cause I really don't know it!
Thanks
Daryl.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-13-2008, 08:42 AM
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You are quite right, Marc ;-) It was a tongue in cheek remark when saying I might need to buy an M6... just being a bit crusty... In fact I do use my K10 in M mode quite often. Sometimes I find it easier than trying to sus out what the camera is doing, then having to work out how to over-ride it quickly. That comes from using film slr's (even 2 1/4 inch folding Zeiss cameras!) before the days of built in meters. Really, each mode on offer has its own time to shine, and I'm glad they're all available. It's one of the reasons I chose the K10. I really like having the front and rear "wheels" controlling aperture and shutter speeds in the M mode. It makes exposure compensation so easy! The green button is a brilliant little thing. I love it! Gives you an instant starting point to work from in tricky situations.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-13-2008, 07:38 AM
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Some of these posts have made me chuckle out loud, and I thank you all for lightening up my evening. But there is a genuine issue in here.
To me, the manual is not that well written. The questions here boil down to: how do I get the exposure right - and in focus - when my subject is in different light to the background?
This problem is easily solved if you focus manually. Take a spot reading of your subject, focus manually on it, then reframe. Then your golden haired special one will be exposed properly even if she/he is standing in front of a dark tunnel - even if only half their face is on the edge of the frame.
If you like to use the auto focus on the dslr, then, you need to focus on the subject, then, using spot metering, press the ae-l button while the camera is focussed on the subject. .. this will record and hold the reading for about 30 seconds (this time can be customised if you scour the menu system). While the reading is being held for this 30 seconds or so, you have time to refocus ( just to make sure it's right!) and, holding the shutter half way down to keep the focus locked, do your reframing to put the prefocussed subject on the edge of the frame at the edge of the dark tunnel. That way the subject will be in focus and correctly exposed.
There are other ways of getting the focus and exposure onto the same day in tricky situations, using ev compensation and other arcane things, if you really like to take 64 steps to cover a yard. By then, your subject will have walked off. Or flown away. Or died of boredom.
It's just another example of all this automation making life far more complicated than it needs to be! (Maybe I should buy a Leica M6... manual everything!)
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-13-2008, 07:04 AM
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I leave it off on my K10D, and use it manually whenever I change a lens. Just in case! I must buy one of those rocket thingies... they sound like fun!
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
08-09-2008, 06:49 AM
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This is what I like about this board... I discover others are interested in things I like too... and we're all learning new things along the way with good humour. I just hope that when I get to Boston next, I'll be able to board the Constitution as she sets sail!
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
08-02-2008, 07:23 AM
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Nice work. Reminds me of my visit to Canberra... standing outside freezing, lining up a shot of the fountain in the middle of Lake Burley Griffin just before 10pm... tripod set up, everything framed properly, sorted out the exposure - great shot in the making... about to release the shutter, and... clunk. The lights illuminating the fountain went out and the fountain stopped. No-one told me it was turned off at 10pm each night. I had to return to Melbourne the next day.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
08-02-2008, 06:35 AM
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I've just done a bit of research on this... seems that the guide I was speaking to wasn't entirely accurate... Last time the Constitution was under full sail was in 1997, to mark her 200th birthday.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
08-02-2008, 06:23 AM
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I was of the understanding that this ship does sail at least once a year - that it has to in order to stay on as a commissioned ship in the US navy. Speaking with a guide in 2006, I was told that it is still commissioned, which is quite amazing. It goes out into the Charles river on Independence day annually. I hope the guide I was speaking to knew what he was talking about!
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
07-14-2008, 12:42 AM
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Personally, I prefer the before images, and I think nulla has hit the issue on the head, so to speak. (post #12)
I find I treat digital images like slide film, exposing for the highlights (once they're gone, they really are gone!) and giving the shadows a gentle nudge post shooting if really necessary. I find I need to treat images for display on a monitor differently to those I intend to print. There's a huge difference between what you can do with an image relying on reflected light (a print) as opposed to a "backlit" (is that the right word? - I think my meaning is clear) image on the screen.
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Forum: Pentax Compact Cameras
07-11-2008, 08:03 AM
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I still use my Fuji 5600 when I need something quiet. I can turn off all its beeps and the zoom is very quiet. I'm looking at finding something flat that will go into my shirt pocket easily. And really quiet!
I don't see many people choosing a Pentax p&s here as a backup...
For film... I'm finding I'm not using my Olympus Stylus (brilliant camera, but noisy), Olympus XA or Rollei 35 (a legend!) as much as I used to... though I dusted them off this afternoon...
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Forum: General Talk
05-31-2008, 06:44 AM
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I still remember that my dad was 34 for about 12 years ina row... he honestly didn't know - he was so interested in what he was doing all the time!
Last week, while standing in a queue to buy movie tickets, my youngest daughter (she's 25) asked me, quite seriously, "Hey dad, does your senior's card ever expire?" I love her to bits!
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Forum: General Talk
05-31-2008, 06:37 AM
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Hey Steve... come on, 52 isn't old at all! We're just warming up! Getting into stride.
Daryl
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Forum: Pentax Compact Cameras
05-16-2008, 08:24 AM
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I don't regard them as the ultimate point and shoot, and they are "different" but once you've actually used one for a bit the good sense of their design shines through. They just take a bit of getting used to. They have character! Mine is still going strong after more than 30 years - and it's been dropped on concrete (minor dent in the top now) and serviced once in all that time. It is just built to last forever!
Being able to use flash at any speed means they are great for fill in work. You can use any flash on them - heck, sometimes the flash is bigger than the camera! You don't have to put up with a tiddlywink flash that comes with so many point and shoots. It all works well - and there's nothing wrong with Zeiss optics. I've used a 35 to cover the outdoors parts of a wedding when the light was so hard I had to use subtle fill flash, and my Nikon reflex with its focal plane shutter wasn't good at that.
Having said all that, if you want a film p&s to look first and last at the Olympus Stylus/Epic.
Plain, simple, incredibly easy to use, inexpensive, lots of "bang for the buck." ...
Daryl
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Forum: Pentax Compact Cameras
05-15-2008, 07:25 AM
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If you don't want to spend large amounts of money, I can thoroughly recommend the Olympus Stylus/Epic. Great optics for the money, splashproof - certainly no problems using it this side of the Flood. The clamshell design gives it great protection and is an easy shape to slip into a pocket - no protrusions at all. This is a great asset for a real "point and shoot." If you feel like it you can set it to spot focus (very accurate) and spot meter. But you don't have to - it works well on fully auto everything. You can even have it kick in the flash to correct the "white balance" (though I don't think they call it that - this is made for people who use film and let the printer sort out those matters). How "pointy and shooty" is that?!
The Konicas mentioned are brilliant, so are the Canonets, they're just not as easy to slip in your pocket, nor as well sealed. The Olympus XA is great, but it's getting old, and the shutter releases on them are prone to being a bit cranky now. If you want something with class, find a Rollei 35. Almost indestructible. But completely manual. Superb optics. Used thoughtfully, it's a real classic gem - but not what I'd call a point and shoot.
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
05-14-2008, 07:17 AM
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This is just great. Love it.
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Forum: Photographic Technique
05-14-2008, 01:03 AM
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Yes, PW... I follow its activities, but have not been able to make it to any of their "meets." I live between Glen Iris (have a unit there), and Mt Doran (35 km SE of Ballarat) where our home is, and am in Geelong every second Wednesday!
Daryl
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
05-14-2008, 12:55 AM
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Hi all,
After about 4 weeks of annoying every camera shop in Melbourne (probably) trying out Nikon Canon, Sony, the best was found last! A small independent shop listened to what I liked to do with my photography and pulled out the K10D. Love at first sight! It feels like a camera should! The last reflexes I used (still have them) are Olympus OM cameras and lenses. I didn't want all those "scene modes" - far too complicated for me!
Looking forward to listening to others and sharing ideas and photos. I see there are quite a few new Aussies new today. Wow.
cheers
Daryl
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
05-13-2008, 10:03 PM
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Wow... amazing what's there when you get up close. Great colour. I need a really good macro next. Reminder to self.. start saving!
There's so much to find right in our own back yards!
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