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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
06-09-2020, 12:24 AM
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Haha, good question! I'll have to say good timing (or luck?) - I was experimenting with double exposures using the seed head so the camera was pretty well set up to take advantage. World have preferred F13 or F16 for a little more DOF but that's less important than getting a shot I suppose!
---------- Post added 06-09-20 at 12:27 AM ----------
Thank you!
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Forum: Winners' Showcase
05-01-2020, 01:09 PM
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I would like to nominate this photo
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
05-01-2020, 12:49 PM
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I had planned to go out and photograph the bluebells but got waylaid in a lovely bank full of wildflowers, ferns and bugs. Generally dandelion seedheads are done to death but I thought this single seed trying to escape was worth a shot.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-20-2017, 02:03 PM
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So I went and did a little more playing. Again, this shot was LV on a tripod, 2sec timer. Is this acceptable sharpness from this lens i.e. am I just expecting too much? I applied one step of sharpening in PSP but there seem to be strange red block artifacts around the bright scaffolding areas? Is this moire from the lack of an AA filter or something else? Also a heck of a lot of purple fringe!
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-20-2017, 06:10 AM
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Ok, thanks for all the opinions! I'm going to go try some other tests but - assuming I focus in LV using MF then it's still poor - there gotta be some problem. I guess I was thinking that this kind of combo should be able to take sharp pictures in a variety of situations - when I give it LITERALLY every help in the book to get something good and it's still poor I am a bit miffed. I'm going to go sit in a corner, try the same scene with my camera phone and cry if it gives better results, which it probably will do.
Serves me right for buying myself a Christmas present and not donating the money to the poor I suppose...
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-19-2017, 03:22 PM
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All these images were taken with LV focusing. So how do I go about adjusting the focus? I know there is a setting within the camera but it just has a sliding scale, no reference to an image or anything. So do I just go one click at a time, go back and take another image, upload it to a computer, go back and add another click etc.? That sounds like a ridiculously laborious process!
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-19-2017, 02:51 PM
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Here is the sigma on the K-50 - it's better but still not as good as the kit lens.
---------- Post added 12-19-17 at 02:56 PM ----------
Posted! I've heard others complain that the kit 18-55mm is sharper than this lens but I thought it couldn't possibly be true. But so far I can't get anything acceptable out of it. I've used LV, focus peaking, the quick shift manual focus on the lens and there just isn't a sweet spot. But my other point is - on both cameras I set up on the tripod, focused using LV with identical settings, and the cheapo K-50 did a far better job than the K-3. I'm beginning to think the camera is defective...
---------- Post added 12-19-17 at 02:57 PM ----------
SR off on both cameras, learned that a while ago.
---------- Post added 12-19-17 at 03:02 PM ----------
I'm worried that the AF on this camera is defective as I don't think it has performed as well as my K-50 with a variety of lenses, which just slotted on to that camera and worked flawlessly. And in this test the K-50/18-55 locked on solid as a rock. Surely a camera that's three times the price shouldn't have a bunch of issues a £300 camera avoids?
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-19-2017, 02:48 PM
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100% crop centre. You can see it's awful! The brighter image is the K-50/Kit
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-19-2017, 02:45 PM
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100% crops, slightly less contrasty one is the sigma/K3, brighter one K-50
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-19-2017, 02:36 PM
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Here is the worst image...
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-19-2017, 01:57 PM
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Hi Guys, thanks for the feedback. Here is the k-3/Sigma image. I used Live view and centre-point focus, ISO100, F/3.5 @18mm (to give a reasonable comparison with the 18-55 at a similar focal distance)
Is there any point posting a photo when the maximum file size is 1MB? Surely any fine detail and the tiny size renders subjective judgment impossible considering it's a 25MB JPEG originally?
---------- Post added 12-19-17 at 02:02 PM ----------
Here is the worst one...
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-19-2017, 08:59 AM
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Hi all,
So in the spirit of Christmas I bought myself (!) the Sigma 10-20mm F/3.5 to go on my K3-II. I've had a few shots through it out and about and it seemed pretty disappointing so I tried a head to head with my old K-50 and a kit 18-55mm lens, and them swapped lenses and repeated at F/3.5, F/5.6 and F/8.
Each time I had the cameras on a solid tripod at ISO 100 and with a 2sec timer, at 18mm, RAW. I used the centre AF point.
Now I know there are still a bunch of variables but without fail, the images coming off the K3/Sigma combo were horrible, blurry like they were actually out of focus, and consistently much worse than the little K50 with its £100 kit lens.
Swapping over, the Sigma was able to do better on the K50 but it still, in my opinion was bettered by the kit lens. The best picture of the lot was probably the kit lens on the K3.
What's going on here? Is it a crap lens, is there a known issue with this lens on the K3II? Do I need to do something else to get anywhere near the performance of a cheapo kit lens (which considering the Sigma is marketed as a premium EX lens seems pretty poor).
Or is there an issue with my K3II? I haven't been very impressed with it generally over the K-50 - I was, perhaps naively expecting a significant boost in detail and resolution but most things look pretty average to be honest with other lenses.
Sorry for the long post but I'm pretty bummed and considering junking Pentax altogether if this is what the images off a 'flagship' £1000 body come out like.
Cheers
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
08-01-2017, 10:24 AM
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OK, thanks for all your help people. I'll keep my eye on it. It was the combination of these things - mainly the apparently poor SR in comparison with my K-50 that got me worried. As victormeldrew said, I gotta get some proper photos out of it at slow shutter and see how well it copes. Should be better than the K-50, no?
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
08-01-2017, 12:57 AM
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Thanks guys! There are plenty of photos on the link to our blog, but I'll post some of my faves up here. See you all soon!
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
08-01-2017, 12:24 AM
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Hi all,
I'm new here and just bought a second-hand K-3ii after a while with my trusty K-50. I'm concerned about the SR mechanism on the K-3ii for a couple of reasons: first, in live view the stabilisation seems very patchy (yes, it's turned on!): e.g. panning the camera, it will stick and then jerk across to catch up. Minor wobbles don't seem very well damped, especially compared to the K-50 which smoothes out high frequency movement well. I can hear the familiar grinding of the mechanism, however. The K-3ii system should be more advanced, no?
Secondly, the 'dust removal' function should use the SR mechanism to vibrate the sensor if I'm right? On the K-50 there is an audible noise and felt vibration; on the K-3ii I hear or feel nothing. Does it use a similar system or should I be contacting the seller with these problems?
Cheers,
Chris :)
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
08-01-2017, 12:14 AM
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Hi all,
Just a quickie to say hello! I'm an amateur based in East Kent, UK. I've been using a K-50 for the last couple of years and just upgraded to a K-3ii. The K-50 has done spectacularly well - it survived bouncing around in a handlebar bag for 2000 miles of a cycling around SE Asia recently and gave me some good shots (although typically I missed 10 even better ones for every good one)! I even managed to get the screen fixed in Hanoi after dropping it - wish finding spares for my bike had been as easy.
Anyway, good to be on here and hopefully learn more!
Chris Burn
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