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Forum: Pentax Price Watch
11-29-2014, 08:44 AM
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
10-10-2014, 06:55 AM
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You're right but bear in mind that FF usually have one stop high iso advantage, so it evens out. If you're buying 18-35mm/1.8 because you want the lowlight capability and dont need APSC advantages, consider FF since 28-75/2.8 can be had for $250 used, and it's lighter!
I keep thinking to buy the 18-35 (to run dual body with D600/85mm) but I remind myself that I might as well save up a bit longer and buy another D600.
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
10-09-2014, 07:02 AM
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Haven't had time to watch the video yet (at work now), but what I get from your post is that the ISO of crop cameras generally reported lower than it actually is, in order to produce a brighter image? Even if this is true, in practical means it just means the APSC sensor has a work harder to match the FF sensor. That actually makes the comparison easier, rather than if they were honest with it. Imagine if your table is true, and ISO 100 in FF doesnt produce the same brightness as ISO 100 in APSC? Would be so chaotic trying to compare then. Unintended benefit :p
If 70-200/2.8, ISO 100 on FF and 50-135/2.8 ISO 100 on APSC = same shutter speed, then I'd say they have equal light gathering capability for practical purposes |
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
10-09-2014, 06:47 AM
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Only that fuji has outpentaxed pentax in that department (creative lens designs) in recent days :/ I think the last exciting one we got was DA 15. But I think pentax is on a good streak at the moment, and it can only get better :) I have hope.
Yeah I agree with that on DA 50-135. I don't think Pentax ever claimed that it's equivalent to 70-200/2.8 in DOF though, only that it's FOV equivalent to a 70-200. Also, for $1300 in FF you can only buy a f/4 version with SR, so it's not like the price is not competitive. I think it's a missed opportunity though because body SR is supposed to make the price of lenses cheaper!
If you decide to forgo SR you have more options though: (Tamron 70-200, Sigma 70-200, Nikon 70-200/2.8 v1/v2) for $700-800!! You can also pay some more dough and get 70-200/2.8 with SR :) Options are good
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
10-02-2014, 05:17 AM
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Did anyone ever asked if he has an apprentice? It always worries me that we're all so dependent on him.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
09-29-2014, 12:53 PM
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Rather than one K-5ii I recommend you rent these and couple them; this way you'll have doubles / backups for most of the focal range needed to cover a wedding.
LensRentals.com - Rent a Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM A1 for Pentax
LensRentals.com - Rent a Pentax K-30
And if they'll pay for it, rent one of these two to cover the tele end (I managed to do wedding tele with the DA 50-200 for quite a while so they're not absolutely necessary; the DA 50-200 is totally useless in a church though, and barely usable with a flash on most reception venues). If you can rent one of them, dont need to bring your 50-200.
LensRentals.com - Rent a Pentax SMC FA 77mm f/1.8 Limited
http://www.lensrentals.com/rent/pentax/lenses/pentax-smc-da-50-135mm-f2.8-ed-sdm
Rent a day before you go so you can test everything for focusing errors, etc.Bring extra batteries, you can't have too many.
Also I totally agree with everything jatrax said above. If you're going to do it anyway, make sure that your friends expect nothing out of it, and make it clear that you've never done it before, give full disclaimer.
It will be less risky to pay a local establish wedding tog for the price of your flight (assuming they were going to pay for your ticket!)
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
09-29-2014, 07:34 AM
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To start doing portrait you dont need a flash, just a willing model. The reason you want flash is for controlling light. Controlling light can be done in many ways. Natural light or flash can all be controlled. If you're on low budget, start with shooting in a shaded area with a directional light source, like an apartment with a big sun-facing window, or a porch.
If you're serious about getting better, first of all I recommend to get a 50-70mm lens that can go down to at least f/2.8. Then buy a flash after that. To use flash during daytime you'll often need an ND filter as well so you can keep your shutter speed down (you can only use up to 1/180 when you use flash, unless you use HSS which drastically reduce your flash power).
If you want to save money, get the yongnuo 560 http://www.amazon.ca/Yongnuo-YN-560-Speedlight-Flash-Nikon/dp/B0079M711S The advantage of the yongnuo compared to pentax is the lightning fast recharge (it can shoot at full power every 2.5 secons, compared to 6 seconds for the 540).
I have version 1 which doesnt have the lcd, it is my favourite manual flash as it's very straightforward and easy to use.
To buy cheap ND filter, go to maxsaver Hoya Filter, Kenko Filter items in B W Filter store on eBay! There have been claims that they're not legitimate, but I dont really care as all filters I buy from them have been excellent quality. No degradation or color cast. I cant afford buying them through stores that are guaranteed to be legit anyway, so it's not like I have a choice :D
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Forum: Photographic Technique
09-29-2014, 05:25 AM
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You need good amount of light to get fast AF, + maintain good shutter speed when children are running around. Decouple AF from the half press and use the AF button, only AF when necessary. Shorter focal length is more forgiving for focus, but also more intrusive to their play. I find 50mm to be the sweet spot, and use a 28-75 zoom for good measure.
I find the best pictures happen when they are relatively static and having fun though, the running around pictures usually end up becoming flavor shots, but not the best ones. This means the same usual tricks apply as shooting normal portraits.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
09-10-2014, 10:24 AM
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Want to share my experience as well. I feel the comfort of using a camera is less dictated by its total weight, but by the balance of the whole setup. One my my favourite combo is K10D + Grip + DA 40. I find it much more comfortable than without grip. I think it's worth exploring how the camera feels with the grip, since it makes the experience nicer with certain lenses (even small ones). Maybe check it out in the store and see if it's to your liking.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
09-24-2014, 06:38 AM
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I believe not. None of their Pentax lens is currently in production, and they havent produced any of their new designs in Pentax mount.
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
09-17-2014, 07:37 PM
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5Dii is a rather old tech now, but it's amazing that K-3 smokes it in low light as it was the standard in wedding photography just a couple years ago.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-15-2014, 07:47 AM
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Except that 16-45mm will actually be faster than this lens except at 16mm... it's kind of a sidegrade.
It better be as good as it can get, or it will be hard to justify this lens. At least it's WR I guess.
I'm actually more interested in the "large diameter zoom"; The article stats it will probably be a 70-200, FF incoming?
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
08-14-2014, 06:58 AM
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That third photo shows that you have an eight elements version; the other versions dont portrude nearly as much. FWIW mine is totally yellowed as well.
Love my eight elements. The contrast and bite wide open is amazing.
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Forum: Pentax Price Watch
07-17-2014, 10:27 AM
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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/799850493/strapshot-ev1-for-mirrorless-...-and-four-thir
Cotton Carrier is currently running a kickstarter promotion and many of their items are sold on discount through this promotion. They're trying to create a new type of hub with a reduced profile, but supposedly it will work fine on normal slrs as well.
I have been using the full vest + belt hoslter for a year now and have nothing but good things to say about it. It frees up both your hands and with the tether there's no risk of falling down. I also find the hub less intrusive than similar solutions like the Blackrapids. No problem actually putting the camera down on the table and worry about the strap dangling somewhere.
No affiliation with the company, just trying to help the project (so my order of 4 hubs will actually become reality and I dont have to switch the hubs between cameras anymore)
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
07-10-2014, 11:29 AM
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His / her point is that as people's eyes and perceptions to real physical objects also vary wildly, so there isn't anything crazy about the fact that different displays are calibrated differently. It's just a fact of life that an increasingly digital world has to deal with.
If your response to it is that "physical is the only true way", then it's fine, nothing wrong with it. Nothing wrong with mee's opinion either. In the end of the day both are just ideas on how art can be viewed acceptably. How you want to treat and present your own art is in the end, up to your choosing.
After all, didn't Mona Lisa become so popular through reproduction of the original art? Isn't that subject to lots of variations as well? By your definition the only one true way to view the Mona Lisa is by visiting her. Any other way is not "true" and any emotional response you get by seeing these non-true-Mona-Lisas are false.
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Forum: Pentax K-01
06-26-2014, 06:23 PM
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Dont you find that a beautiful sight? :lol: I mean the camera of course :o
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
06-25-2014, 07:26 PM
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Thanks for the writeup Pal, however from my experience, and for my purposes, they're basically the same. I've actually tried it side by side numerous times. I shoot portraits with 50mm at f/2 APSC, and 75mm/2.8 on FF, seconds apart from each other; aside from the obvious difference in rendering between lenses, the images look indistinguishable to me. You mentioned the 50mm on APSC being able to open up further, but the 75mm/2.8 on FF can zoom to 28mm... or to 200mm depending on which zoom you choose!
Any other reason why they might not be "fully equivalent" isnt really relevant to me. I noticed in your write up you mentioned that DOF is secondary, to me DOF and BG blurriness is primary as it really makes or breaks the image. ISO and shutter speed is what secondary to me, as long as shutter is fast enough and the image is noise-free enough, it's good enough.
I understand what you're writing on how technically these two formats cannot be equal the way I think they are, but for my purposes my formula works. We just use our cameras very differently I think.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
06-19-2014, 01:37 PM
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You'll regret going 14 mm if what you're looking is wide angle for architecture or landscape. The samyang is a good Lens but 8 or even 10 mm is significantly wider than 14mm.
If you want to try it, but a used one so it doesn't depreciate much when you resell it.
For a first SLR I actually highly recommend buying new, unless you are confident you can check all the functions before leaving a positive feedback for the seller
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
06-19-2014, 04:45 PM
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Yeah, that's exactly why I am quite impressed with the Canon's existence. It readily beats both Tamron and Sigma: it's not a bad lens, its a first party lens, It has IS, STM, and its cheap! I dont think any other manufacturer has claim to anything similar. Thanks to this lens "Cheap UWA" is not a silly idea anymore. If the lens is garbage I wouldn't be so impressed, but reviews and the sample shots suggest that it's not.
It's no DA 15 or Nikon 14-24, but it's a very welcome lens for photography. Wide angles are not something that you have to scour used markets for in order to get consumer level prices anymore.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
05-27-2014, 12:43 PM
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I recommend to just buy one and see what works best for you. There's no one size fit all. People diss the 40mm focal length but I find it almost perfect for my use, and the xs version is so cheap there's no reason to not own it at least to try :)
The 21 and 15 is on my to buy list however, someday
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Forum: Lens Clubs
08-26-2009, 11:15 PM
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Very nice.. amazing colors :)
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
01-18-2011, 12:09 PM
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The 18-55 WR is a good lens to start with and it's better to buy it than not when you buy a K-5. It gives you access to a fully WR kit and is basically the cheapest WR lens available anywhere. If you end up not using it for its WR properties and want something better like the DA 16-45/16-50, you can always sell the WR kit for no loss (current market price for a used copy is >$70)
The 18-135 is a good balance between size, focal range, and having WR. The quality itself is as you said, pretty good, but other lenses costing $440 are better that (pentax primes such as FA 43 or DA 35 macro comes to mind). It is pretty much the only choice if you want WR in that zoom range though, so that's one thing to keep in mind.
My suggestion is to go 18-55 kit and figure out what you want after that. Go with the 18-135 only if you like to go travelling. For a starter kit, I'd probably get the 18-55, and later get a prime, a flash, or a super wide angle (in that order).
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
06-01-2011, 02:19 PM
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Well I haven't posted much lately, but I thought I should at least show why... I've recently joined the daddy club :D Here's some shots of the my little bugger, Aidan Lo (that I've actually managed to find time to process, anyway). It shows that he's getting fatter and fatter!
Expect more pictures... :D Here's more of what's already done if anyone's interested: Flickriver: aidan_andi_aya's photosets |
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
10-21-2013, 10:33 AM
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Hopefully the repair costs are minimal!
I think if we collect these sort of images we can create a photography horror house :D
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