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Forum: Post Your Photos!
01-26-2010, 09:16 AM
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Very nice! The architecture there is beautiful, as well as the scenery.
I wonder if you could chalk up your "sinking like a stone" to a change in your density in the last 10 years? Even losing 5 or 10 lbs of weight can be enough to make you float *alot* lower in the water.
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Forum: Travel, Events, and Groups
01-04-2010, 02:01 AM
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Came upon a group of shinjuku girls when out taking in the sights. I had my camera with me and was in full obnoxious tourist mode, but I have to admit I was much too surprised to actually get any shots off. I guess not alot of cool subcultures made it into the tiny town I taught English in, aside from those damn bozokuza motorcycle kids -- grrrr!
It's something to see, that's for sure.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
01-04-2010, 01:51 AM
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I've got this same decision coming up in a little while...
1. I really don't see much difference in the posted image quality photos...
2. I was planning on the K-7, but almost everything I've heard about the K-X has been really positive...
3. Except the lack of two dials for exposure/ISO, that might be a problem...
4. But probably not a $500 problem...
5. And I mostly shoot in Av, with the exposure set on a scene-by-scene basis, not shot-by-shot, so really, it won't slow me down...
6. Except if suddenly the scene got bright and I had a chance to bump the ISO down, maybe someone hits the indoor lights...
7. Or the sun dropped below the horizon all of a sudden like a Monty Python cartoon...
8. That would be weird...
Yeah, this isn't working either. I'll just manhandle both of them and pick the one I like better by touch.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
10-31-2009, 06:04 PM
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Thanks, MeFirst! That's a beautiful shade of blue...
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Forum: Lens Clubs
10-23-2009, 05:57 PM
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Industrial scenery in the rain is all I have lately...
(135mm 3.5 preset on K10D)
(28mm 3.5 Super-Takumar on K10D)
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Forum: General Talk
10-19-2009, 02:53 PM
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Hi all,
I've had my K10D for almost 2 years now and it's one of the better investments that I've made in my life. I recommended Pentax to my girlfriend (who was just getting into photography) who bought a K200D from a brick-and-mortar and a 50-135 from a forum member here (who shall remain nameless). I told her to buy here because all my transactions had been positive and fair...
Long story short, this forum member kind of screwed her over. The lens came with a dying SDM motor, no lens hood or caps, and no warranty card. The seller didn't want to give her a refund. She said she HAD the warranty card, but repeated emails couldn't persuade her to part with it. As of now, no emails are being returned. Caveat emptor, I guess.
So she sent the lens to Pentax Canada for repair out of warranty, and she got the quote today. Comes out to slightly more than $400 CAD.
We just moved to a new city, and she's going to school next year. We don't have the money for this, but at the same time, she's already sunk 750 bucks into a lens she can't use.
So she's a little burnt. Got a nice camera, bought a nice lens, wanted to take some pretty pictures. Now she's on the hook for more than a 1200 CAD for a lens with no lens hood or caps, a 6-month Pentax Canada warranty and a possibly chronic SDM failure problem that may or may not return.
It's been 6 months and that camera hasn't left the shelf.
Now she's a trifle turned off photography in general, and I feel like a jerk who gave her crappy advice.
Well, I'm not trying to make this a "whine and complain" thread - I know that trying to wring sympathy out of the internet is a futile gesture :).
But honestly, what do I do?
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
09-10-2009, 10:40 PM
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Thanks all.
I'm enjoying the nice weather now, and waiting to see exactly how grey it gets during the monsoon season... good chance to see how waterproof the k10d really is....
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
09-10-2009, 03:08 PM
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These are fantastic, I went through every one of them and then onto your portfolio... now stewing in a brew of envy and appreciation.
Well done!
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
09-10-2009, 02:57 PM
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Moved to Vancouver last week after living in Edmonton for 5 years, and what a world of difference a fourteen-hour drive makes! Still getting used to things, but so far my girlfriend and I really, really like it here. Beautiful scenery, quick public transit, cheap, tasty food, a sushi restaurant on every corner, what's not to like?
Oh, besides the rain...
Someone told me that the secret to surviving the rainy winters here is thinking of them as "spooky" rather than "gloomy", to try and emphasize that Twin Peaks mystique so you don't go crazy. With this in mind I've desaturated these and lowered the clarity in Lightroom a little bit... comments appreciated.
All with Takumars 3.5/28mm and 1.4/50mm.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
08-19-2009, 11:46 AM
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Predatory! I like this one very much.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
07-31-2009, 11:25 AM
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I'm at work now so can't say for sure, but I seem to recall that it reduced the min. focus from 9 feet to 2 or 3 feet...
Actually, I found it pretty easy to use with the 200mm 3.5. It's a preset, though, so it was fairly easy to focus wide open and then stop down a half-stop or full stop. I tried the same thing with the Tele-Takumar 400mm 5.6 and things seemed ALOT darker, even outside during daytime.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
07-30-2009, 03:03 PM
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I use the smallest extension tube to get around the minimum focus issue...
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
07-22-2009, 02:42 PM
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I think if you want to learn you are doing this exactly right - an expensive, high-end body paired with an older standard lens, manual focus and aperture.
Now, just take those two and go take pictures. Of EVERYTHING. Shoot directly into the sun and try to vary the exposure enough to get clean clouds... take a telephoto picture and see how close you can crop in before the picture looks like crap... take some wide angle shots and try to fit a whole building into the frame by walking a block away and shooting the building from a 45 degree angle... get alot of blurry pictures of jumping dogs and kids and maybe one sharp one where you front-focused accidentally and the dog or kid "fell" into your shot... try setting the lens at f/8 and walking down the street shooting from the hip... try shooting scenery from a moving car at 1/3000... basically take lots of crappy pictures.
Now take this knowledge of what the k7 and M 50mm CAN'T do, the limitations to shooting with just this combo, and use this knowledge to "overcompensate" when you are using other lenses or cameras. Expect less dynamic range, so take that landscape shot when a wisp of cloud goes over the sun. Expect less focal range, so zoom with your legs. Expect less from AF, so prefocus on the finish line... and even as technology gets better, your skill-set from using that manual lens will see you through.
Basically, you want to develop the technique and substance of a Cuban mechanic, making parts for your '59 Cadillac El Dorado out of scrap metal and wire and necessity. Why bother? So that when you are behind the wheel of that shiny new sports car with electronic everything and automatic butt-warmers you can make that thing FLY. :D
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
07-22-2009, 01:25 PM
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I believe - and if I am wrong someone please correct me - that this is because the aperture on the Taks is fully manual. The aperture on the K- and M- series is manual too, but the aperture is held wide-open until the shot is taken. The super primitive nature of the takumars means that you can set the camera to Av mode, focus wide open, then stop down the lens just before shooting and get a (relatively) accurate exposure.
Side note: If you short out the contacts on the body of your camera (by taping a piece of aluminum foil over them, or wire - see other threads for how-to) you won't need to compensate with eV anymore - the exposure should be pretty dang accurate.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
07-22-2009, 11:49 AM
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Those are fantastic shots. I can't imagine how much of an improvement the K7 autofocus is going to be over my old K10D. Now if only I had some AF lenses...
I believe "Mike from Canada" is from Canada.
We don't have a national bird in Canada because picking just one would hurt the feelings of the other birds...
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
07-22-2009, 11:37 AM
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I believe number 1 is my favorite, by the way. Good framing, as Mischivo said.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
07-22-2009, 11:36 AM
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Although they seem to meter perfectly wide-open, all of my Takumars need to be at EV+1 to EV+1.5 when stopped down. If I forget to do this when shooting I can post-process, adding extra contrast to compensate for the underexposure.
These quibbles aside, I've been extremely happy with my Taks, and I suspect you will be as well! Ignoring their image quality, they're just plain fun to use.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
07-10-2009, 01:35 PM
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Oh, Natural Ice! Beer of the impoverished, the itinerant, and the not-so-choosy... brings back memories.
I like the red in these shots, it has a wonderful Kodachrome sort of quality.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
07-08-2009, 11:24 AM
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Those last 5 are all incredible! You can practically smell the clean air in the shot of the barn, and feel the sense of distance.
Great work all around.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
07-08-2009, 11:16 AM
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The colors are really great in these, very nice atmosphere.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
07-08-2009, 11:01 AM
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Thanks, Andi.
I regret trying to "clear" the yellowing out of the 50mm/1.4 when I first got it, now my favorite feature. Forgive me, kind and compassionate Takumar gods!
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Forum: Lens Clubs
07-07-2009, 07:28 PM
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Super-Takumar 50mm/1.4, K10d
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
07-06-2009, 11:36 AM
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Those are absolutely amazing shots! Is that the celluar structure of their little chitony bodies you can see? DAMN.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
07-02-2009, 10:45 AM
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Well, you're right, any lens could have taken that shot.
But then what would I collect on eBay? Action figures? Leave me my illusions, man!
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Forum: Lens Clubs
07-01-2009, 04:16 PM
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I dunno what it is... but I LIKE it!
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