|
Forum: Pentax Q
02-02-2020, 02:51 AM
|
| |
Detail of the recently restored Bartholdi Fountain in the Place des Terreaux, Lyon. Taken with the 06 zoom, processed in camera using the unicolor bold.digital filter.
The fountain is made of hammered lead, dark and shiny, unlike bronze. I only wish I could capture the sound...
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
01-01-2020, 04:21 AM
|
| |
Happy New Year everyone! My New Year's Resolution is to tackle my LLBA (Long Lens Buying Addiction) by rekindling my interest in digiscoping.
I tested my Q7/01 and PF65 spotting scope.a year ago, but haven't been out in the field with it yet.
Are there any current threads on this forum on the subject? I can only find relatively old ones.
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
12-05-2019, 06:31 AM
|
| |
Thank you! Out of the three lenses on show, I can't help being drawn to the 08. The IQ is amazing...
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
12-03-2019, 03:28 PM
|
| |
If I had brought my K1 with this range of focal lengths, I would have been asked to leave the bag at the door. Q7 with 01 prime, 08 and 06 zooms slipped in unchallenged.
The Gibbs family fortune came from a near monopoly in the trade of guano from Peru. As a music hall song of the time put it "William Gibbs made his dibs, selling the turds of foreign birds"
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
11-06-2019, 04:05 AM
|
| |
I thought I'd have a go at winding my Q7 up to ISO6400 too. 06 zoom wide open. Focus is more of an issue than noise, I'd say.
Michael Bowes of The Vapors, in full flow.
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
08-09-2018, 01:29 AM
|
| |
Continuing the theme of Q getting into venues that prohibit "professional" cameras, the venue for the recent European Gymnastics championships had a "30cm" rule. That was a relaxation of their usual rule, which prohibits all cameras with interchangable lenses. Next time I go, I'm taking the XG-1. That'll confuse them.....
Leonie Meier of Switzerland on the floor. Q7 and 02 wide open:
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
07-31-2018, 08:28 AM
|
| |
Thanks kwb, they are both fine. I went for the big hands around small camera approach.
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
07-30-2018, 08:25 AM
|
| |
We could have done with a roof! I have never been so wet on a shoot, not even under an Icelandic waterfall!
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
07-29-2018, 03:11 AM
|
| |
A ban on "professional" cameras is quite common at festivals and major concerts. My Q7 can always get in, but then you have to work within the system parameters.
Q7 and 06 Zoom, wide open, stage lighting. Heavy rain, no viewfinder, constant pushing and shoving from those wanting the view I've got.
Haze removal slider hard over, nothing left.
British singer Paloma Faith plays on through a downpour at Towcester Racecourse:
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
07-25-2018, 02:25 AM
|
| |
In anticipation of the lunar eclipse, I tried out my Q7 and 01 prime as a digiscoping camera. I am fortunate enough to have both the Pentax XF fixed focal length eyepieces, the 8.5mm and 12mm, which are threaded to accept stepping rings.
You can use any telescope in theory, but I have used my PF65ED-II spotting scope here with the XF8.5mm. There is a bit of CA to deal with in Photoshop, which a superior eyepiece like the XW14 or XW10 probably wouldn't add.
The image is not cropped.
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
06-21-2018, 05:53 AM
|
| |
Rotary shovel and conveyors. Q7 and 06 lens:
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
06-17-2018, 08:50 AM
|
| |
| |
|
Forum: Pentax Q
05-14-2018, 11:46 PM
|
| |
Normally, I would prefer my 01 prime over all my Q-system lenses, but my copy is bright yellow. It can catch the eye whilst street shooting. No such issues with my black 02...
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
03-16-2018, 09:11 PM
|
| |
01 prime in its element. Available light, wide open. Q7 at ISO1600:
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
02-08-2018, 04:15 AM
|
| |
I've had good results with an A135/2.8 @f4, but another interesting (and low-cost) option is the M75-150/4 zoom.
See my post #1222 on the thread "The "reach" of the Q" thread for some samples.
More interesting still is the wonderful SMC Pentax-D FA 100/2.8 @ f4. The extra sharpness would easily compensate for any cropping.
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
01-01-2018, 12:31 PM
|
| |
This is a shot of the overwintering gull colony in Lodmoor, taken in the evening Golden Hour. The lens is the lowly A70-210 f/4, which cost me less than £12, on the genuine Pentax adapter. I'm at the softer end of the zoom range, about 200mm (the zoom creeps a bit), but the equivalent focal length is over 900mm.
The birds stand dutifully still in the water, which helps, but to get 1/500th @f/8, ISO has gone up to 500 on my Q7.
Normally, the combination of a soft(ish) zoom and high ISO would not be a good one.
In PP, I have used the second version of Franzis' Denoise, which has removed the noise very well, though at the expense of some fine detail.
I have no fear of high ISO with my K-S2 - none whatsoever - but I've always been a bit wary of taking my Q7 out of "film range" (ISO100 - 400). It's early days for the Q7/Denoise pairing, but I appear to be able to get good results up to ISO800 or ISO1000. The push/pull zoom also seems to add a bit of "pop".
Does anyone else have a favoured solution to "push" the Q family into high ISO territory?
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
10-28-2017, 02:46 PM
|
| |
"Flower Tree" by the Korean artist Jeong Hwa Cho, within an hour of sunrise. Q7 and 08 Wide Zoom:
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
10-27-2017, 08:21 AM
|
| |
Boy did I offend the gods when I suggested that many museums were over-lit. A couple of days later here I am making a pilgrimage to the Musée Lumière, Lyon, and the place is about as well-lit as the inside of my suitcase. Step forward Q7 and 01 prime...
The Lumière brothers once manufactured millions of photographic plates here including, as early as 1903, the very first "autochromes" . The factory was demolished in the late '60s to make way for an urban renewal project which never materialised.
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
10-24-2017, 12:30 PM
|
| |
There is a trend in European museums to allow photography without flash. The downside of this is that the curators feel that they have to over-illuminate the works, often with LED lights. In the case of paintings, shadows from the frames, plus WB issues, make for a tricky subject. Detail, rather than the full subject, has to be selected to avoid the worst of the shadows. Stained glass is easier to capture in its glory.
The Coronation of the Virgin by the Maestro Santa Clara de Palencia (late 15th Century) was largely in daylight. The image of St George and the Dragon (Grasset & Begule, 1889) was backlit. Q7 and 01 prime:
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
10-22-2017, 02:37 PM
|
| |
The perceived wisdom with Q lenses is to shoot wide open, or half a stop down from wide open.
Does that still hold true if you are subsequently going to rely on a shift lens effect to straighten things up? This lady's garland is sharper than her olive branch...surely there was enough DOF from the 01 prime?
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
10-09-2017, 11:50 AM
|
| |
Yes. The rear focusing group has to come out, as it is the main offender in this IF lens. I think there are similar threads here concerning problems with a milky blue cast when using third-party adapters. It seems to be the same type of problem.
FYI, my post #5624 was before painting. The Tokina's original internal finish is grey by comparison to Pentax. Two coats of blackboard paint make a genuine difference, to my eyes at least. If I were doing it again, I'd use a specialist astronomy black.
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
10-08-2017, 03:36 PM
|
| |
Here's a few lessons from earlier today:
Repainting the inner barrel of my Tokina 400mm SD AT-X should have been done when I first bought it. The improvement in contrast is noticeable.
I should have upgraded my tripod years ago. Carbon fibre is far better at absorbing vibration than aluminium.
You can never have enough batteries. The screen needs to stay on throughout as you go through the focus/stop down cycle, or the egret will wander out of the DOF...
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
09-30-2017, 01:31 PM
|
| |
An obliging heron stood stock-still and let me get this shot from nearly 100m away. Q7, Tokina 400mm SD AT-X at f/11 on genuine K/Q adapter.
Kitchen sink PP: fringe reduction, CA, contrast/black level, saturation, sharpness, etc., etc., but only cropped for portrait.
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
09-23-2017, 01:13 PM
|
| |
This is a centre crop from the A135/2.8 on its own. I think that confirms prime + crop is the way to go:
|
|
Forum: Pentax Q
09-12-2017, 04:47 AM
|
| |
The A-series 135mm/2.8 only has four elements in it, the same number as the Teleplus. Putting them together produces a FF equivalent of about 900mm on Q7.
I'm never going to be able to afford an FA* 600mm, so this is what I plan to use for extreme telephoto work, especially from the car window.
In good light, stopped down 2 stops, the result is well worth the modest outlay. CA, contrast, black level and saturation need to be looked at in PP.
There is some wind blur in this test shot, which makes it difficult to be sure, but I think the option of using the A135 alone and cropping might turn out to be sharper still.
|
