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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
1 Day Ago
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It was due to the more consistent MTF performance across the whole APS-C frame that I obtained the FA 35 mm f/2 as a standard prime for my KP and I have not been disappointed.
Philip
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
2 Days Ago
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This might depend on how you view your images:- perhaps consider cropping. The image quality of the limited lenses is so good that even a half crop of the frame (one quarter of the area) would still give a 6 MP image from a K-3iii, which will look good on screen or in a 12-inch print. If that would be OK for you, then get the 21 mm limited lens (i.e. close to the GR's focal length) and crop in PP, as far as the equivalent of 40 mm if needed.
Philip
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
2 Days Ago
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Several years ago I took this picture of a group of four trees in a park and entered it in a local club competition, giving it the title: "Is Four An Odd Number?". Fortunately, the visiting judge liked the image (and the title) and gave it a good score!
Philip
---------- Post added 08-12-22 at 03:53 AM ----------
P.S. Great story about the taxi driver! Thanks Clackers.
Philip
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Forum: Pentax KP
5 Days Ago
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I was fortunate to obtain a relatively cheap Pentax refurbished black KP several years ago, and I like it so much that I exchanged my K-70 for another KP, a silver one, during the end-of-line bargain period.
I like the tilt screen but I agree - the articulated screen was occasionally more useful, e.g. when the camera is used in portrait orientation. The grips are also useful and it's good to have the choice - I have the medium grip on one camera for use with the DA Limited primes, and the large grip on the other for the compact DA zooms - the 18-135 or 55-300 PLM.
Philip
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
08-07-2022, 11:36 PM
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Mono of same church as in my previous post:
Philip
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
08-07-2022, 05:35 AM
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A village church in Hertfordshire. Pentax KP + DA 18-135.
Philip
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Forum: General Photography
08-06-2022, 03:03 PM
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There are many good points about why B&W already in this thread. I just thought it might be worth mentioning that my interest in converting digital colour images to mono was piqued several years ago when I downloaded Nik Silver Efex Pro (when it was free), and saw some of the many possible interpretations in its presets. I still use it as a plug-in to PaintShop Pro.
Philip
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Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals
07-21-2022, 10:49 AM
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I would stay with Pentax simply for their build quality and image quality of the DA Limited lenses. They are named Limited but their screw drive is not a limitation.
Philip
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
07-16-2022, 12:00 PM
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Amazing photographs!
To me it looks like much of the creativity here is in seeing and capturing the images - two of the key talents of good photographers.
Philip
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Forum: Pentax Compact Cameras
07-09-2022, 05:44 AM
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A Hertfordshire Church
1. Churchyard Entrance:
2. Resting Place for the Living:
3. Resting Place for the Departed:
4. The Church:
5. The Clock Tower:
[ Pentax MX-1 colour images converted in Nik Silver Efex Pro.]
Any comments welcome.
Philip
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Forum: Pentax Compact Cameras
07-04-2022, 02:55 AM
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For most photography I use my Pentax KP, but I still use my K-5IIs and my MX-1 - all are still good cameras. Here is a recent image from the MX-1:
Philip
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
06-29-2022, 10:55 PM
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Whipsnade Church
This is the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene in the small village of Whipsnade in Bedfordshire, the village which also has Whipsnade Zoo, the largest wild animal conservation park in the UK.
Each image is a 3-shot composite of images captured with a Pentax KP + the HD DA 35mm Limited lens.
Philip
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
06-25-2022, 09:51 AM
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QUOTE:
A lot of people regard it as a "kit lens". However, I feel like the lens is a surprisingly high-quality lens and an excellent walkabout lens that shows that we don't always need to use super-expensive lenses to achieve really solid results. Even with something more demanding such as night photography, where you really need sharpness and detail because, well, it's dark.
+1 Ken
Yes, for many types of walk-about photography, the wide apertures characteristic of the expensive lenses are not needed where f/5.6 to f/11 on the D-FA 28-105 will give high quality (aka really solid!) results.
Philip
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
06-25-2022, 02:53 AM
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The D-FA 28-105 is fine for me as a one-lens kit with my KP, as I rarely do wide-angle. Its edge-to-edge image quality is great on APS-C, as it is cropping the central 2/3 of the already excellent full-frame image. On the few occasions I do want a wider shot, I'm happy to stitch a few overlapping images in PP.
Philip
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
06-19-2022, 12:45 AM
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Canal Narrowboat
[Pentax D-FA 28-105 WR]
Philip
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
06-15-2022, 11:46 PM
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You're welcome, Max. I can understand your way of working. I often go out with just one of the DA Limited primes on the camera and one in my pocket (e.g. 40 + 70) - in my case because I enjoy using my Pentax DSLR but I also like it to be compact!
Philip
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
06-15-2022, 11:10 PM
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#8? - How can the Moon appear so large in an ultra-wide image?
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
06-14-2022, 10:55 PM
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Max, if you still have a slight interest or curiosity about zooms, you might consider the HD Pentax-D FA 28-105mm f/3.5-5.6 ED DC WR. It is a highly rated full-frame lens, giving excellent performance on APS-C which "sees" only the central 2/3 of its image circle, where generally lenses perform best. The range on APS-C is equivalent to standard (normal) just into medium telephoto, and it is also at its best in the range that pleases you. It has the advantages of the Pentax HD lens coating, weather sealing, fast, quiet and accurate DC autofocus, plus it is well-built and quite compact for a zoom, weighing less than the total of your three recent primes (DA 40, DA 50 + D-FA 100). There are downsides of course - it loses the wide apertures of the latter and the close-focus of the 100 - nevertheless, it is a highly competent general purpose zoom on APS-C for someone not needing wide angle focal lengths.
https://tinyurl.com/mwxz4k8a
Philip
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
06-10-2022, 01:34 AM
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The difference is probably due to the exposure - K-3ii 1/500s and f/7.1; and K20D 1/640s and f/8. This could be due to the centre-weighted metering - the bright white house is closer to the centre of the frame in the K20D composition, which would reduce that camera's exposure settings.
Philip
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
06-03-2022, 11:27 PM
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+1
Some individuals seem to forget that others also matter - individually, collectively, and to the Pentax company. Pentaxians constitute a relatively small community of smaller groups of individuals with various different aspirations, capabilities, and needs. Regarding any individual's opposition and/or indifference to the positives of a movable screen, consider an example in just one aspect - there will be a group of other photographers whose physical limitations make it difficult or impractical for them to crouch or lie down (and then get up again), and/or to carry more than one camera body and lens, and/or to carry a tripod, and/or simultaneously to manipulate two hand-held devices (camera + smartphone). Pentaxians here and elsewhere have also provided examples of other aspects in which they find a movable screen of benefit to their photography - e.g. macro, astro, street and landscape. A significant number of all these photographers, despite being committed to Pentax, and even though much of their photography is probably done and enjoyed using the OVF, have stated the lack of a movable screen as a reason for not buying the K-3iii. Pentax cannot afford to lose customers this way - yet presumably most Pentaxians would want the company to continue.
Philip
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
06-02-2022, 01:01 AM
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In Pentax Principle #5 we read - "We respect and value the photographic experiences of our users and view this as an invaluable asset. We want to share all the inspiring experiences of our users, from the hardware to the shooting processes, creating and viewing the images."
Pentax gave their users the opportunity to experience a movable rear screen, and not only in their lower level models, long before the production of the K-3iii. It is clear that a significant number of Pentaxians understand and appreciate the extra photographic opportunities, and convenience in ease of use, for several quite different genres of photography, which are offered by the inclusion of a movable rear screen.
It makes one wonder, did Pentax take notice of their own Principle #5 - did they actually find out about, respect and value the experiences of their users "from the hardware to the shooting processes" when designing their only flagship APS-C DSLR?
Philip
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-22-2022, 06:24 AM
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Hello, Mike.
In your first paragraph, I wonder if "The idea behind the 'Natural' category is no enhancement of any parameters..." Is actually the case. The raw data is very bland when converted to an image without parameters, so perhaps 'Flat' is the closer Custom Image style to having no enhancement, as Pentax seem to suggest on the Ricoh web site?
Your second paragraph suggests that selecting the 'Natural' category then increasing contrast, saturation, and sharpening, makes it resemble the default 'Bright' settings. "Resemble" is possibly the case but they are not the same. If you set those parameters (i.e. +1) in 'Natural', and alternate the rear screen view with default 'Bright', the colour wheel changes. In particular 'Bright' tends more towards the greens and, for my personal taste I try to avoid what are sometimes described as "radioactive greens!"', while keeping other colours slightly more saturated than in default 'Natural'.
Cheers.
Philip
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-20-2022, 10:13 AM
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Lowell, I think you are describing the D-Range settings, which I mentioned in my previous post.
Philip
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-20-2022, 09:33 AM
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Returning to the original point (and ignoring the raw/JPEG discussion):- I don't know the workings of the K-3iii but, if it is similar to a KP, a good starting point for JPEG images might be to set the "Natural" Custom Image, with Saturation, Contrast and Fine Sharpening all changed to +1. To help protect highlights and shadows, I usually use the D-Range settings, with ISO no less than 200. If you haven't yet done so, learn how to use the Histogram, which will help you decide whether any exposure compensation (+ or -) might be needed to improve the image. Hopefully, this post might encourage some K-3iii users to suggest other camera settings for your JPEGs.
Philip
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