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Forum: General Photography
4 Days Ago
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What a terrific piece, Robin. Thoughtful and lucid, succinct and precise.
You make an interesting point about the incidental benefit of such a lens for focusing:
"A lens with bite has other beneficial properties. It's easier to achieve manual focus since the subject snaps crisply into focus. Autofocus mechanisms similarly benefit, especially those based on contrast detection."
That's a good point. I hadn't thought of that.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
4 Days Ago
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See this page from the PF review of the K-30: Pentax K-30 Review - Movie/Video Mode | PentaxForums.com Reviews
As for the microphone, it says,
"The K-30 has a built-in monaural microphone, unlike the K-01 and K-5, which both offered stereo mics. Also unlike those two cameras, it does not include an input jack for external microphones. The microphone recording level can be set in five increments through the INFO menu or the Movie section of the main menu. It can also be adjusted during recording." |
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
5 Days Ago
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High ISO performance, far inferior AF, compared to the K-3iii. Those are the main things. Those things matter when shooting wildlife or sport, but might not matter much for other uses. Compared to the KF, the K-5 or K-3/K-3ii lack the high ISO performance and flippy screen, but have a number of advantages.
You have plenty of other good AF options to cover 21mm on APS-C. Starting with your DFA 21! You should also consider:
- DA 20-40 f2.8-4 Ltd. Compact, lovely colours, nice rendering, beautifully built. Has a lot of field curvature.
- DA 16-85.
- DA 12-24.
If you don't care about the smaller battery, noisy shutter, way inferior AF, inferior metering, single card slot, no top LCD, unavailability of a grip, less solid construction, slower burst rate, lack of 4k video, and other missing features, or the extra money for the K3iii isn't worth it, the KF will do fine. There won't be much difference in IQ. And you get a flippy screen. If you buy new you might get a deal on bundling with a DA 20-40 or DA 16-85.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
04-08-2024, 03:34 PM
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Thanks for pointing this out. I guess I really meant the Info screen, which is where the OP was looking for the setting. I'm not sure that it's a setting that can be assigned to the info screen. It could be saved as part of a user mode though (e.g. for portraits).
And thanks again for sharing all your investigations of this feature @Kobie.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
04-05-2024, 03:02 PM
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Perhaps he meant that it's better to make decisions about what to delete and what to keep looking at them on a computer screen rather than on the small screen on the camera. Also, in case you have deleted images by accident or have second thoughts, if you have deleted them on the card and keep using the card they may become unrecoverable.
But, like you, I usually do a preliminary in-camera cull of the one that are way out of focus or otherwise irredeemably flawed.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
04-04-2024, 02:51 PM
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That sounds interesting!
Most of us who like to photograph birds in flight (BIF) and other moving wildlife have preferred default settings, which we save to a user mode. Then when the moment arises you just need to switch the mode dial to the relevant user mode (User1 for me). I'd suggest you try this for your K-70. (BTW, what lens are you using on the K-70?)
Working out your preferred settings is a matter of trial and error. And it depends on the camera and lens you are using. My current preference for the KP is:
- Tv (shutter priority) mode with a shutter speed of 1/1600th second (for focal lengths of 300mm or 420mm on APS-C). You might get away with slower speeds for a large slow bird like a pelican, but more often you might need to go to 1/2000th or faster.
- Floating ISO, because as others have said, the price of a sufficiently fast shutter speed is often a high ISO. The upper limit depends on the camera. With the K-70, I'd suggest 6400. In good light you could go higher
- Aperture wide open. As Peter (@K2 to K50; ) said, you generally don't need to stop down the aperture (e.g. f8, f11) because the subject will be at a sufficient distance to give adequate depth of field at wide apertures. But with some low end lenses, you might need to do so because the resolution is not good enough unless you do.
- I leave shake reduction on, but I don't think it matters much at high shutter speeds. In fact with entry level cameras it might be better turned off.
- AF.C, AF Auto 27 points, focus priority, action in AF.C Auto, AF Hold medium.
- Continuous shooting H.
- RAW only. (I process with DxO Photolab, which does a good job.)
There are plenty of different preferences for these settings. You need to experiment to see what works best for you.
For these albatross, I used 1/1000th or 1/1250th (with a 300mm lens), but I wish I had used a faster speed.
By contrast, for this Yellow-billed Spoonbill (at 420mm), I used 1/2500th and it was better, although even faster would not have been overkill.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
04-04-2024, 01:55 AM
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In theory that's right, as the write speed of the K-3iii seems to max at around 90 Mb/s, even for slot 1, whereas the React Plus is rated at 260Mb/s. In theory, therefore, many lower-rated cards (90Mb/s or so) will do. But in practice, people have found that they get much faster writes from faster cards. See Anyone really measured the UHS-II write speed in the camera? - PentaxForums.com particularly posts #51 and #64.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
04-02-2024, 08:38 PM
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It depends on the camera you are using. There's no point paying more for a card that has faster write speed than the camera is capable of. Yes, it might be future proof if you later get a camera with a faster speed, but unless that is imminent, it's better to upgrade the cards if and when you get the new camera. Today's fast cards will be more affordable then.
I have used different brands. Samsung (Korea) and Kingston (Taiwan) cards are good value. I use a couple of Kingston Canvas React Plus cards for slot #1 in my K-3iii. They are fast enough (claimed 300mb/s read; 260mb/s write) for the camera and no problem so far. I only use slot #2 as a spillover backup so use older cards for that.
Personally I prefer to have a couple of smaller capacity cards than one big one - if one fails, you still have the other. Even 32gb is plenty for me.
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Forum: Pentax KP
03-31-2024, 01:58 AM
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Banksia woodland walk. KP + DFA 100mm f2.8 macro WR.
Saw Banksia
Milkmaids
Insects on Austral Grass-tree flower
The last of these are Long-nosed Lycid beetles.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-28-2024, 02:18 PM
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No. Even assuming it can be fixed (and it looks to me like damage from being dropped, and might not be fixable), it would cost more than getting a replacement.
That's a very good lens.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-24-2024, 02:04 PM
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That is, with the TC. Without the TC it's the point where it goes from f5.6 to f6.3.
If the PLM is struggling to focus when the maximum aperture is f6.3 (in poor light), going back to 260 or 270mm where it's f5.6 often does the trick. I think it's to do with the sensitivity of the AF points in the camera.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-24-2024, 02:06 AM
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Great samples with each lens Sandy. Good argument for the 150-450, although I gather that it is beyond the OP's budget.
Superb Fairy-wren with banding on both legs - I've never seen that before. I wonder what the study is. This chap doesn't look fazed anyway.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-23-2024, 06:35 PM
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I got a K-3 after the K-30 (near twin of the K-50) and it was a significant upgrade. Flagship models like that have a solid feel about them and many worthwhile extras over the entry models (quiet shutter, bigger battery, better dust removal, P-Line settings and many other things). The only thing I'd say is that to get fast enough shutter speeds for birds (at least 1/640th and for birds in flight at least 1/1250th) when the light isn't great, you often need to push the ISO to 6400 or even more. The high-ISO performance of the K-3 (I tried to keep it to 3200 max) was surpassed with the KP and later models which can reliably go to 6400 and sometimes beyond with fairly clean images. For that reason I wouldn't rule out a K-70/KF as an affordable future upgrade from your K-50.
@Joetitch mentioned software - I'd agree. Even free programs like RawTherapee and DarkTable are very capable. All the images I posted above were shot in RAW and processed (I use DxO PhotoLab and sometimes Nik Color Efex as well) - it can make a big difference to the finished image. Recent programs (Topaz and PhotoLab are examples) are using AI for better noise reduction, and some for sharpening, and it's improving all the time. There's a learning curve with software but it's well worth it. Plenty of helpful tutorials on YouTube.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-23-2024, 04:27 PM
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You've got a lot of good advice already. I'll just add my own experience. I have the Sigma AF 400mm f5.6 tele macro (said to be the best of the third party AF 400mm f5.6 lenses in K mount), FA*300mm f4.5 and DA 55-300mm f4.5-6.3. I also have two teleconverters, the Kenko 1.5x pz and Pentax HD DA 1.4x. I have previously had the Pentax DA L 55-300mm f4-5.8 and Sigma 170-500 APO. (I've got samples from each in albums on my Flickr stream: Des?s albums | Flickr)
Every option is a compromise, trading off price, weight, bulk, aperture, AF speed quality and noise, reach, flexibility, resolution, IQ and aberrations. That's why there are so many different answers.
The FA*300 is a fine lens and relatively compact and light weight. It works well with the 1.4x TC, although it is 420mm f6.7 wide open with the TC. The screw driven AF is a bit slow and noisy, but it is reliable. A number of users have had problems with the SDM AF on the DA*300. If Pentax ever upgrade the DA*300 with HD coatings and better AF I would be all over it.
The Sigma 400 is a bit bulkier and heavier, but still fairly portable at about 1.4kg. The Bigmas and the like are over 2kg, and that's a big difference.
I don't see the DA 55-300 PLM and the longer primes as alternatives. You should get the 55-300 regardless of whether you get another long lens. It's a terrific walkaround lens. If you have a good copy and use it within its limitations (don't expect high res images of a duck 50m away), it's one of the gems of the Pentax lineup.
As others have said, it works with the TC, but you need good light (not under dense tree cover). I'd disagree with those who say you don't gain anything with a TC on a camera with a 24mp sensor, but it's not a magic bullet.
I'd just float one other point. The K-50 is a good camera, but for wildlife you will get some worthwhile gains from upgrading to a more recent body - better AF, more pixels for cropping, better high-ISO and (with more advanced models) more bit depth, better metering, quiet shutter, faster burst rate, etc. Think about that as a possible upgrade too.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
03-19-2024, 02:16 PM
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Satin Bowerbird (female). K-3iii + FA*300mm f4.5
Explored 18 March 2024 #216 |
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Forum: Pentax KP
03-18-2024, 08:33 PM
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
03-18-2024, 02:37 PM
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Satin Bowerbird (female). K-3iii + FA*300mm f4.5. We had never seen them here until last year.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
03-18-2024, 02:16 PM
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Here's a thought, Peter. When you were a kid, was B&W the budget option? My family used B&W film before colour became affordable, and I remember being amazed at the colour slides my cousins had. Perhaps that idea stuck?
Thanks very much indeed Chris.
Great series Matt. The pano is brilliant.
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Forum: Pentax KP
03-18-2024, 02:07 PM
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There's a case for each of these. You need to do the feature comparison and see which matters most to you.To some extent this depends on your photography interests.
Some examples:
- The KP and KF have the accelerator unit which helps a lot with high-ISO. Shooting wildlife (where you need a fast shutter speed), or in low light, high-ISO performance is a big advantage. Having had a K-3 and now having a KP, ISO 3200 or 6400 is significantly better on the KP. (The KF should be similar.)
- On the other hand if you are shooting low-ISO landscape, the K-5iis would be fine. Many people love it as a landscape camera.
- The KP (like the K-5 and K-3) has a quiet shutter, unlike the KF.
- If you shoot macro in the field, or otherwise at high or low angles, the tilt screen on the KP or the flippy screen on the KF is a big plus. The flippy screen is handy if shooting vertically.
- A moveable screen is an advantage when shooting on a tripod - you can tilt or flip it to see better in bright light.
- K-3ii has a built-in GPS, if that's of use, but no popup flash (unlike the K-5, K-3, KP and KF).
- The third wheel on the KP is very useful.
- The K-5iis or K-3 has a bigger battery, two card slots and a top LCD display - are those things useful to you?
- KP has better metering and better AF than the KF. (I notice a big difference between my KP and K-S2, which is pretty similar to the KF.)
- You can get a battery grip for the K-5, K-3 or KP, but not the KF.
- K-5 series doesn't support KAF4 lenses, such as the DA 55-300mm f4.5-6.3 PLM. It can autofocus, but can't control the aperture, so you can only shoot wide open.
- Shake Reduction gets better on each generation. The KP is better than the K-3.
- Consider the size and weight of each model.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
03-18-2024, 01:59 AM
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Thanks very much Peter. Favoured by fortuitous framing foliage.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
03-17-2024, 03:28 PM
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Satin Bowerbird (female). K-3iii + FA*300mm f4.5
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
03-17-2024, 03:28 PM
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Satin Bowerbird (female). K-3iii + FA*300mm f4.5
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
03-12-2024, 02:32 PM
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Here's a cheaper and simpler option: Product Description ? JJC You can get a kit with or without the LED light. You don't need a stand and all that palaver.
There was a thread here some time ago in which someone had used this successfully with a Pentax APS-C DSLR and, IIRC, a 50mm macro lens as you are proposing.
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