Re: *IST-D / DS High speed action!
On Fri, Feb 24, 2006 at 11:26:48PM -0800, Bruce Dayton wrote: Hello Jens, One thing really surprises me - why would anyone ask for your advice concerning sports photography? You know, that's the question I was asking myself. Then, when I saw the example photographs he posted, which supposedly showed what was wrong with the behaviour of the D, all I saw was an example of someone who didn't know how to use the camera appropriately. But, as we see here quite often, it's the people who don't actually do sports photography/digital photography with old lenses/whatever who are the experts in the subject, and who know far more about it than those of us who actually have a lot of relevant experience. Oh, well. I guess if you want a camera that relieves you of the awful responsibility of actually having to think about what you are doing you should just buy whatever Ken Rockwell is recommending today. But then who do you blame when your pictures still end up like crap?
Re: *IST-D / DS High speed action!
I mostly shoot action (cycling, Cyclocross in particular), here's my humble thoughts. 1) If you know the sport well enough you prefocus to where you expect action then you track your subject. This doesn't seem to be a Pentax only thing, I've watched plenty of professional photographers from Seattle area newspapers out there with Canons and Nikons with 70-200mm f/2.8 glass doing the exact same thing that I do with my lowly Pentax ist D with my slow lenses. They find a spot, prefocus, track, take a burst of shots and review (I'll get to that part later). And get this, I saw some guy who works for the Seattle Times manually pre-focusing his Nikon D2X...BLASPHEMY! Anyway, I had more misfocused shots with my D100 than I've ever had with the D. Enough said. 2) Higher FPS would be nice...but it's not a requirement for good action shots. I never really noticed the .5 FPS hit that I took by switching to the D from the D100 On the subject of knowing where things will occur: Cyclists/cars/runners/etc follow courses and football/soccer/basketball/hockey/etc players follow something around the playing field don't they? Try following that...unless you want to be taking photos of the goalie scratching his behind. 3) Find me one action photographer that wastes his space with raw files. They require lots of extra time to process. Most action photographers I know shoot action with jpg. I agree, write time is slow, I hope they made it better in the new D. 4) 5) Noise processing is a pretty easy thing to automate, I bet most photographers do it no matter what camera they use. 6) I don't have a single AF lens with a faster f stop than 3.2. Guess I can't shoot action anymore :-( 7) Damn, I wonder if there was ever a time when Nikon and Canon users had to use less than 10 mega pixels...oh wait One of the more prolific cycling photographers (www.grahamwatson.com) uses a D2X and a D2H, I wonder how ever he survives with 4.1 megapixels? I use the medium setting on the D all the time for extra space and faster write speed seeing how the biggest size I offer to my customers is a 8x10. 8) I agree it is annoying to not be able to review images after they've been shot at a respectable speed. I shoot with a big card and review shots between laps which seems to work well for what I do. But still I still think it's an improvement over my SP 500 although not as good as the D100 9) Here's the technique that was taught to me by a professional (w/Canon equipment): Find a spot Find the right angle Take a shot before the action arrives to check histogram etc... Correct and lock exposure Wait for action Problem solved 10) Yeah, I was annoyed by that too, I liked it on the D100 but I don't think I've missed it enough to not suggest the camera. I don't shoot professionally (although I tell the IRS I'm a business, which means I claim to be somewhat professional). I got it because I was dissatisfied with my D100 (metering sucked, battery life sucked, controls sucked, AF was horrible, etc) and I wanted to be able to use my Pentax lenses. I think knowledge of the sport and how to photograph it is far more important than the camera. Today, the D acts like it is, 3 year old technology. It's time for a replacement, but I won't get rid of the D anytime soon. It's just too nice of a camera to sell. I'll agree the D is not the best camera for action, but it's features don't preclude it from being good at it. David Jens Bladt wrote: Ten reasons for recommending the *ist D for action photography: 1: AF is slow, compared to the competition. Focusing in low light will require 2-4 secs (according to dpreview tests). You may use MF, and save time experimenting with AF. Enjoy using old, lovely, smooth MF lenses. 2: Frames pr. second is just 2.5 (competition features 4-8.3 FPS). You may use single shot mode. Make sure to plan each shot carefully and try not to think too much about the athletes moving in a surprising way - you know the sports and can foresee everything that will occur. 3: Write speed is 8 secs for 1 RAW file (36-37 secs for a 5 shot RAW burst, 14 secs for a JPEG burst). This gives you plenty of time for talking to you colleagues and for drinking coffee or smoking cigarettes. 5: Relatively high noise at ISO 1600-3200. This will give you many entertaing hours, using Neat Image and other nice computer applications in the comfort of you home. 6: Availability of new, fast (F:1.4-2.8) lenses is very limited. Use every Monday, checking ebay for discontinued FA F.2.8 lenses. This is really entertaining - much more enjoyable than the actal photographing. 7: Only 6MP leaves very little space for after-cropping. Enjoy the art of cropping the images while shooting. 8: Reviewing pix is relatively slow - and must await the rather long writing times. It's more fun taking chances. It's more exiting to check the images at home, later on. 9: No immediate histogram
Re: Wide angle primes.
Thanks for the advice I think i'm going to put in an offer for the FA35 f/2 FA28 and the FA20 f/2.8 This is purely speculation of course but I wonder how the trio above would work on the new dslr ? Rgds Patrick
RE: *IST-D / DS High speed action!
I never blamed anybody or anything. I was declineing from recommending the *ist D for action photography. To someone who was obvioulsy not very experienced in this field (otherwise he wouldn't have asked, now would he?). So, I naturally presumed he did not have a lot of experience or knowledge about action photography. I have based my recommendation (or lack of the same) on: 1) My experience from using this camera for almost 30.000 shots of different kinds. 2) The specs of this camera is not impressive compared to that of some alternative choises, featuring faster everything (Write Speed, Auto Focus, FPS). 3) The fact that no sports photographer I have ever heard of is using this camera supports this. That's reasonably sane advice, I think. I wasn't offering advice regarding the personal shooting styles, skills of the craft etc. These skills etc. will / or will not be present no matter what camera is used, right? And I know, that whatever attempts I have ever made to shoot action photograps with the *ist D, was never very rewarding. The *ist D simply doesn't perform fast enough in my opinion. I wouldn't recommend it for this kind of work! I'd use something a little faster. Others are of course most welcome to advice differently. Regards Jens Bladt http://www.jensbladt.dk -Oprindelig meddelelse- Fra: John Francis [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sendt: 25. februar 2006 09:35 Til: pentax-discuss@pdml.net Emne: Re: *IST-D / DS High speed action! On Fri, Feb 24, 2006 at 11:26:48PM -0800, Bruce Dayton wrote: Hello Jens, One thing really surprises me - why would anyone ask for your advice concerning sports photography? You know, that's the question I was asking myself. Then, when I saw the example photographs he posted, which supposedly showed what was wrong with the behaviour of the D, all I saw was an example of someone who didn't know how to use the camera appropriately. But, as we see here quite often, it's the people who don't actually do sports photography/digital photography with old lenses/whatever who are the experts in the subject, and who know far more about it than those of us who actually have a lot of relevant experience. Oh, well. I guess if you want a camera that relieves you of the awful responsibility of actually having to think about what you are doing you should just buy whatever Ken Rockwell is recommending today. But then who do you blame when your pictures still end up like crap? -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 268.0.0/268 - Release Date: 02/23/2006 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 268.1.0/269 - Release Date: 02/24/2006
RE: *IST-D / DS High speed action!
If IRC the guy was taking about shooting skaters. They hardly follow many predictable patterns. I was envisioning photographing at very close range -. not at a distance, using AF and Wide Angle Zooms. Shooting the skaters as they jump and turn in the air, running and jumping over different obstacles etc. This requires three things IMO: Speed, speed and speed! Features that were never very impressively supported by Pentax. Regards Jens Bladt http://www.jensbladt.dk -Oprindelig meddelelse- Fra: David [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sendt: 25. februar 2006 09:37 Til: pentax-discuss@pdml.net Emne: Re: *IST-D / DS High speed action! I mostly shoot action (cycling, Cyclocross in particular), here's my humble thoughts. 1) If you know the sport well enough you prefocus to where you expect action then you track your subject. This doesn't seem to be a Pentax only thing, I've watched plenty of professional photographers from Seattle area newspapers out there with Canons and Nikons with 70-200mm f/2.8 glass doing the exact same thing that I do with my lowly Pentax ist D with my slow lenses. They find a spot, prefocus, track, take a burst of shots and review (I'll get to that part later). And get this, I saw some guy who works for the Seattle Times manually pre-focusing his Nikon D2X...BLASPHEMY! Anyway, I had more misfocused shots with my D100 than I've ever had with the D. Enough said. 2) Higher FPS would be nice...but it's not a requirement for good action shots. I never really noticed the .5 FPS hit that I took by switching to the D from the D100 On the subject of knowing where things will occur: Cyclists/cars/runners/etc follow courses and football/soccer/basketball/hockey/etc players follow something around the playing field don't they? Try following that...unless you want to be taking photos of the goalie scratching his behind. 3) Find me one action photographer that wastes his space with raw files. They require lots of extra time to process. Most action photographers I know shoot action with jpg. I agree, write time is slow, I hope they made it better in the new D. 4) 5) Noise processing is a pretty easy thing to automate, I bet most photographers do it no matter what camera they use. 6) I don't have a single AF lens with a faster f stop than 3.2. Guess I can't shoot action anymore :-( 7) Damn, I wonder if there was ever a time when Nikon and Canon users had to use less than 10 mega pixels...oh wait One of the more prolific cycling photographers (www.grahamwatson.com) uses a D2X and a D2H, I wonder how ever he survives with 4.1 megapixels? I use the medium setting on the D all the time for extra space and faster write speed seeing how the biggest size I offer to my customers is a 8x10. 8) I agree it is annoying to not be able to review images after they've been shot at a respectable speed. I shoot with a big card and review shots between laps which seems to work well for what I do. But still I still think it's an improvement over my SP 500 although not as good as the D100 9) Here's the technique that was taught to me by a professional (w/Canon equipment): Find a spot Find the right angle Take a shot before the action arrives to check histogram etc... Correct and lock exposure Wait for action Problem solved 10) Yeah, I was annoyed by that too, I liked it on the D100 but I don't think I've missed it enough to not suggest the camera. I don't shoot professionally (although I tell the IRS I'm a business, which means I claim to be somewhat professional). I got it because I was dissatisfied with my D100 (metering sucked, battery life sucked, controls sucked, AF was horrible, etc) and I wanted to be able to use my Pentax lenses. I think knowledge of the sport and how to photograph it is far more important than the camera. Today, the D acts like it is, 3 year old technology. It's time for a replacement, but I won't get rid of the D anytime soon. It's just too nice of a camera to sell. I'll agree the D is not the best camera for action, but it's features don't preclude it from being good at it. David Jens Bladt wrote: Ten reasons for recommending the *ist D for action photography: 1: AF is slow, compared to the competition. Focusing in low light will require 2-4 secs (according to dpreview tests). You may use MF, and save time experimenting with AF. Enjoy using old, lovely, smooth MF lenses. 2: Frames pr. second is just 2.5 (competition features 4-8.3 FPS). You may use single shot mode. Make sure to plan each shot carefully and try not to think too much about the athletes moving in a surprising way - you know the sports and can foresee everything that will occur. 3: Write speed is 8 secs for 1 RAW file (36-37 secs for a 5 shot RAW burst, 14 secs for a JPEG burst). This gives you plenty of time for talking to you colleagues and for drinking coffee or smoking cigarettes. 5: Relatively high noise at ISO 1600-3200. This will give you many entertaing hours, using
Re: Wide angle primes.
The FA20. 28 and 35 work great on the current DSLRs. No reason to imagine that they'll do any worse on the new body when it comes available! Godfrey On Feb 25, 2006, at 1:04 AM, Patrick Genovese wrote: Thanks for the advice I think i'm going to put in an offer for the FA35 f/2 FA28 and the FA20 f/2.8 This is purely speculation of course but I wonder how the trio above would work on the new dslr ?
Re: *IST-D / DS High speed action!
On 24/2/06, Bruce Dayton, discombobulated, unleashed: I guess if someone said, I want the equipment to do all the work for me and don't really need any skill or knowledge of what I am shooting, so what equipment is best? For them, then sure, the top end Canon or Nikon is easy to recommend. Come on Bruce - do you really believe that? Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ || (O) | People, Places, Pastiche ||=|http://www.cottysnaps.com _
Re: DA lenses on FF
What about DA18-55 ? -- Thibouille -- *ist-D,Z1,SFXn,SuperA,KX,MX, P30t and KR-10x ...
Re: *IST-D / DS High speed action!
My wide zooms all have shorter focus ring throws so they focus alot faster than my long zooms. Anyway, a 24 mm lens at f/8 will have everything in focus from 4 feet to infinity. So focus speed isn't a problem. If you wanted high FPS so you don't miss a shot you can buy a video camera and get a FPS that'll make Nikon and Canon users green with envy. Or you can use the D's 2.5 FPS effectively and end up with photos that are just as good. The D's buffer speed does suck by today's standard but action photographers survived with 36 exposures before they had to change rolls of film for a long time, I think its possible to live with it. Jens Bladt wrote: If IRC the guy was taking about shooting skaters. They hardly follow many predictable patterns. I was envisioning photographing at very close range -. not at a distance, using AF and Wide Angle Zooms. Shooting the skaters as they jump and turn in the air, running and jumping over different obstacles etc. This requires three things IMO: Speed, speed and speed! Features that were never very impressively supported by Pentax. Regards Jens Bladt http://www.jensbladt.dk -Oprindelig meddelelse- Fra: David [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sendt: 25. februar 2006 09:37 Til: pentax-discuss@pdml.net Emne: Re: *IST-D / DS High speed action! I mostly shoot action (cycling, Cyclocross in particular), here's my humble thoughts. 1) If you know the sport well enough you prefocus to where you expect action then you track your subject. This doesn't seem to be a Pentax only thing, I've watched plenty of professional photographers from Seattle area newspapers out there with Canons and Nikons with 70-200mm f/2.8 glass doing the exact same thing that I do with my lowly Pentax ist D with my slow lenses. They find a spot, prefocus, track, take a burst of shots and review (I'll get to that part later). And get this, I saw some guy who works for the Seattle Times manually pre-focusing his Nikon D2X...BLASPHEMY! Anyway, I had more misfocused shots with my D100 than I've ever had with the D. Enough said. 2) Higher FPS would be nice...but it's not a requirement for good action shots. I never really noticed the .5 FPS hit that I took by switching to the D from the D100 On the subject of knowing where things will occur: Cyclists/cars/runners/etc follow courses and football/soccer/basketball/hockey/etc players follow something around the playing field don't they? Try following that...unless you want to be taking photos of the goalie scratching his behind. 3) Find me one action photographer that wastes his space with raw files. They require lots of extra time to process. Most action photographers I know shoot action with jpg. I agree, write time is slow, I hope they made it better in the new D. 4) 5) Noise processing is a pretty easy thing to automate, I bet most photographers do it no matter what camera they use. 6) I don't have a single AF lens with a faster f stop than 3.2. Guess I can't shoot action anymore :-( 7) Damn, I wonder if there was ever a time when Nikon and Canon users had to use less than 10 mega pixels...oh wait One of the more prolific cycling photographers (www.grahamwatson.com) uses a D2X and a D2H, I wonder how ever he survives with 4.1 megapixels? I use the medium setting on the D all the time for extra space and faster write speed seeing how the biggest size I offer to my customers is a 8x10. 8) I agree it is annoying to not be able to review images after they've been shot at a respectable speed. I shoot with a big card and review shots between laps which seems to work well for what I do. But still I still think it's an improvement over my SP 500 although not as good as the D100 9) Here's the technique that was taught to me by a professional (w/Canon equipment): Find a spot Find the right angle Take a shot before the action arrives to check histogram etc... Correct and lock exposure Wait for action Problem solved 10) Yeah, I was annoyed by that too, I liked it on the D100 but I don't think I've missed it enough to not suggest the camera. I don't shoot professionally (although I tell the IRS I'm a business, which means I claim to be somewhat professional). I got it because I was dissatisfied with my D100 (metering sucked, battery life sucked, controls sucked, AF was horrible, etc) and I wanted to be able to use my Pentax lenses. I think knowledge of the sport and how to photograph it is far more important than the camera. Today, the D acts like it is, 3 year old technology. It's time for a replacement, but I won't get rid of the D anytime soon. It's just too nice of a camera to sell. I'll agree the D is not the best camera for action, but it's features don't preclude it from being good at it. David Jens Bladt wrote: Ten reasons for recommending the *ist D for action photography: 1: AF is slow, compared to the competition. Focusing in low light will require 2-4 secs (according to dpreview tests). You may
Re: Samsung announces GX-L1
Boris Liberman wrote: Hi! I think Shel wrote this: OK, here's a question to those who may be interested, brought about by the thread about the name of the new Pentax Give that the Samsung and the Pentax are the same camera, given the opportunity to buy either, would you choose the Pentax or the Samsung name, and under what circumstances, i.e., if one were less expensive than the other. Then what's the point? Unless there's some market split, where one will only be marketed in the Far East, or only in the U.S. or only in the UK...why two companies making the very same camera with different badges? Who gains what? keith whaley Shel, if two cameras you ask about are *exactly* the same, then I'd choose the one which is cheaper. However, if they are *exactly* the same, it is unlikely that one would be cheaper than the other. Otherwise, I would probably prefer Pentax. It evidently says certain things about my character, but then again, I am me ;-). Generally, I care much less about the camera and much more about the optic attached to it. Boris
Printing myself my photos ...
I'd like to print myself my photos but I really dunno anything (mostly) to what is needed. A printer obviously, but which one? There is no way I can afford a R2400 which costs about the same as my camera. Any other cheap solution but still good enough? -- Thibouille -- *ist-D,Z1,SFXn,SuperA,KX,MX, P30t and KR-10x ...
Re: what's the name of the new Pentax 10MP camera?
When someone asks me what kind of camera I have, I just reply: Three grand, because let's face it, that's ultimately what every Joe wants to know. Now that's practical. Not sure I'd recommend that. You could be talking to a thief, or be overheard by one, you know. Better to say something like, Oh, just some old thing I dragged out of the closet. A few years ago a friend of mine was talking to the bell captain at a hotel where he had stopped in to look around for possible interesting photo locations. They got to talking about cameras, and he showed the bell captain his Leica gear from inside his camera bag. They talked a bit longer, and then he left and walked home. As he unlocked the door of his apartment he was hit over the head with some sort of club and came to to find himself tied up and some guy ransacking his apartment. All of his camera gear and a bunch of other stuff was taken, and it took him hours to get someone's attention and get free. He recognized the thief as someone he'd noticed hanging out in the hotel lobby. Not only did he lose all his camera gear and some other valuable things, he had problems for several years from where he was hit on the head. He died, and I've never been sure the head injury wasn't a contributing factor. With camera gear as expensive as it has gotten, you can't be too careful who you let know its value. Interesting tale. I normally walk around with $45,000 worth of TV gear hung over my shoulder. I'm 6' 5 tall and weigh 210. In 15 years I have had zillions of people comment on how expensive-looking the kit is. I have never once had a problem. Of course, that is not to say that it could easily happen. There are numerous documented cases of violent theft here in the UK. As a normal part of my work, I risk assess continually. If I think there's any possibility of unwanted attention, there are a host of security measures I call on. Things that are incredibly simple, like parking with the rear of the vehicle to the wall, so kit is not 'on display' when getting it out / putting away. The camera weighs 26 lbs and I would not hesitate to use it as a weapon in the event of an attempted robbery. That's filming kit, and there is no such thing as 'low-profile' with it. I appreciate that stills kit is a different kettle of worms ;-) and i certainly do take appropriate measures when out and about. My quip about three grand was intended to be humourous, and it would not be my normal desired opening line when accosted by a measurebator (q.v. Ken Rockwell), but amongst a Sunday afternoon crowd at a family kite flying festival, it's not a problem. In a bustling urban centre with hordes of hooded youth about, my priorities are adapted accordingly. For instance, with stills, I have several types of bags, one of which is a canvas shoulder sack, the kind that students might carry books in. It fits a camera and lens combo (even the size of Canon's offerings!) just right, and means that while walking about, no attention is drawn. Camera out of bag, snaps taken, camera in bag, move on. On the whole, photogs are a very aware lot, good at using their eyes and taking in what's going on around them. i think most on this list would register unwanted attention and act accordingly, discretion the better part of valour. As to value of gear, anything hung around a neck or a shoulder that has a lens and glitters is going to be of some value, usually several hundreds of units of any given currency. If it is going to be passed off as something dragged out of the closet, then it has got to look like it. I don't care how you dress up a camera, whether it's taping up the logo or hiding it in a canvas bag or even caking it in mud (!) but a camera is a camera. To a dope fiend it is worth a good hit after it has been hawked in a pub for a fraction of its real used value. My intention is to avoid letting the dope fiend see it, let alone get access to it Saturday morning musings over ;-) Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ || (O) | People, Places, Pastiche ||=|http://www.cottysnaps.com _
Re: what's the name of the new Pentax 10MP camera?
Adam Maas wrote: How the heck to you pronouce *ist? Pentax is easy to say, *ist isn't (I normally just call it an ist, but that asterisk is a little confusing) According to Pentax, it should be pronounced ist. But I reckon any pronunciation is fair game, given how silly it is... :-) S
Re: what's the name of the new Pentax 10MP camera?
On 25/2/06, Cotty, discombobulated, unleashed: Of course, that is not to say that it could easily happen. ...that it couldn't easily happen. I hate double negs ! Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ || (O) | People, Places, Pastiche ||=|http://www.cottysnaps.com _
Re: More pics of the new stuff
- Original Message - From: mike wilson [EMAIL PROTECTED] Not tracking AF versus single try? Your wording is better than mine:-) Jostein
Re: More pics of the new stuff
- Original Message - From: Pål Jensen [EMAIL PROTECTED] The AF point selector is the pad on the back. You set multi point or singe point on the sliding lever on the right. I wouldn't call that a point selector. It's basically the same as on the 645NII. In user manual lingo (for Ryan g), it is a selection between wide and narrow AF area. One can hardly argue that to be a multi point AF. Jostein
Re: DA lenses on FF
Looks like it's fine past 24mm. I've just checked it through the view finder though. Thibouille wrote: What about DA18-55 ? -- Thibouille -- *ist-D,Z1,SFXn,SuperA,KX,MX, P30t and KR-10x ... .
Re: Curious
If you stick to your line of reasoning, you will be a happy man, Larry. Any surprise will be a positive one...:-) Seriously, I think Pentax has gathered more momentum now. Jostein - Original Message - From: Larry Levy [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: pentax-discuss@pdml.net Sent: Friday, February 24, 2006 8:11 PM Subject: Curious Pentax has us all on tenterhooks by the way they are introducing the new version of the D. I'm curious as to why we would expect anything faster than we are getting from them. In October 2001, Pentax announced the cancellation of their full frame DSLR. That announcement mentioned the production of a different DSLR which wound up being the *ist D. In October 2002, Pentax alluded to introducing a DSLR in 2003. In February 2003, Pentax actually announced the *ist D with an expected launch date of June/July 2003. They showed a prototype in March 2003. In May 2003, Pentax announced the delay in availability from June 2003 to August 2003. In August 2003, they released the specifications. Digital Photography Review posted its review of the D in October 2003, fully two years after Pentax first indicated its existence. If past is prologue, why should we have expected anything faster? Larry in Dallas
Re: On lens road map
- Original Message - From: Dario Bonazza [EMAIL PROTECTED] My guess is only the D-FA for the 645D will have aperture ring, while all others (being DA) won't. The operation of the aperture lever in the 645 system is the other way round from the K-mount lever. Maybe this design is more precise. Jostein
Re: DA lenses on FF
Looks like it's fine past 24mm. I've just checked it through the view finder though. Thibouille wrote: What about DA18-55 ? Thanks for checking ;) -- Thibouille -- *ist-D,Z1,SFXn,SuperA,KX,MX, P30t and KR-10x ...
Re: Samsung announces GX-L1
keith_whaley wrote: Then what's the point? Unless there's some market split, where one will only be marketed in the Far East, or only in the U.S. or only in the UK...why two companies making the very same camera with different badges? Because buying a rebadged Pentax is the easiest quickest way for Samsung to have two DSLR's to sell. Because selling them to Samsung is the easiest quickest way for Pentax to sell a lot of their DSLR's. After this launch period, it is quite possible that the two companies wll choose different specs to offer in their cameras, starting differentiating their lines. That will be second step. Who gains what? Samsung enters the DSLR market having an appealing camera line to sell with no RD cost. Samsung can sell electronic components to Pentax. Pentax increases sales, because Samsung can sell a lot of camera stuff to consumer electronics stores, together with plasma TV's, cellphones, hard-disks, microwave ovens, etc. (for Pentax, it's harder to be successful, having just cameras to sell). Pentax can buy electronic components from Samsung at fair prices. Both companies reduce costs and increase sales, and shareholders are happy. Dario
Re: EBay Scam Continued (Need More Help)
Boris Liberman wrote: Hi! Look in your PayPal profile. The Logo service is an option you have to provide you eekBay UN/PSSWD for. Just sounds like you need to update this part of your profile with the new info. When an eekBay or PayPal message addresses you by you _Full Name_ it is most likely legit. I'm Don Sanderson here and everywhere else on the internet. Only PP and EB know my full name with middle name, initials, suffix, etc. That's how I know spoofs, etc. at a glance. If it's to Dear [EMAIL PROTECTED] it's bogus! Don, et al, I should mention this I suppose. Most recently I got my credit card updated. The one which is connected with my PayPal acct. Basically, nothing changed except the 3 digit number on the back and expiration date. So, naturally, I went into my PayPal acct and updated it. It naturally worked. I mean, PayPal indicated that they accept my update. The next day... The next day I received the standard eBay/PayPal scam like dear such and such, your whatever account has been blocked by our security system; please click to our favorite link here and enter your credentials so that we can steal them... I am very much unamused. Boris PayPal frequently tells customers that if they have any question about an email from them being authentic, they should access the PayPal site using their browser and typing in the URL. Then, access My PayPal (or whatever it's called) and then check your incoming mail messages there. If the email you got in your inbox was indeed from them, it would also be in the PayPal incoming email folder on their site. If it's NOT there, the original email you got in your inbox is a fake... I invariably, and I mean *always* use [EMAIL PROTECTED] as an address to forward questionable mail to. And they have never failed to tell me the status of what they find. If there's any question at all, this is the best tool you could use. Further, none of the correspondences has *ever* been from PayPal! They've all been phishing attempts. Odd, isn't it? keith whaley
Size of new 10MP body
Interesting - I just stuck a 16-45 on my DS body and waved it around until I got approximately the same perspective as the press-release photo of the new 10MP body. Looks like it's going to be a fair bit bigger - I reckon maybe 40% more volume. I wonder what they'll use the room for? S
Re: Samsung announces GX-L1
And: Pentax can sell quite a bit more of their older model (money coming in) without the Pentax brand (not having old tech from 3 years ago on their face). Nice rentability, really ;) One told me Nikon do the same with Fuji. Older bodies go Fuji (which adds it own electronic/sensor components). -- Thibouille -- *ist-D,Z1,SFXn,SuperA,KX,MX, P30t and KR-10x ...
Re: Samsung announces GX-L1
Dario Bonazza wrote: keith_whaley wrote: Then what's the point? Unless there's some market split, where one will only be marketed in the Far East, or only in the U.S. or only in the UK...why two companies making the very same camera with different badges? Because buying a rebadged Pentax is the easiest quickest way for Samsung to have two DSLR's to sell. Because selling them to Samsung is the easiest quickest way for Pentax to sell a lot of their DSLR's. After this launch period, it is quite possible that the two companies wll choose different specs to offer in their cameras, starting differentiating their lines. That will be second step. Who gains what? Samsung enters the DSLR market having an appealing camera line to sell with no RD cost. Samsung can sell electronic components to Pentax. Pentax increases sales, because Samsung can sell a lot of camera stuff to consumer electronics stores, together with plasma TV's, cellphones, hard-disks, microwave ovens, etc. (for Pentax, it's harder to be successful, having just cameras to sell). Pentax can buy electronic components from Samsung at fair prices. Both companies reduce costs and increase sales, and shareholders are happy. Dario A serious question, and an honest and believable answer! What more could I ask? Many thanks, Dario. That makes a lot of sense and it does answer the questions I had! keith whaley
Re: Pentax A*600 F5.6
Just to sicken you as much as it sickened me, this appeared on eekBay. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pentax-A-600mm-f5-6-ED-IF-Professional-Telephoto-Lens_W0QQitemZ7593539978QQcategoryZ4688QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem I pressed the BIN button to discover someone had beaten me to it by 20 seconds. G. There is another available in Germany for approx 5 times the price at the moment. - Original Message - From: Jay Taylor [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: pentax-discuss@pdml.net Sent: Friday, February 24, 2006 5:19 AM Subject: WTB: Pentax A*600 F5.6 PDMLer's , I am looking for the Pentax A 600 f5.6 telephoto lens. By chance that someone here might have one they are willing to part with please contact me off the list. Thanks, JayT
Re: Size of new 10MP body
Steve Jolly wrote on 25.02.06 12:09: Interesting - I just stuck a 16-45 on my DS body and waved it around until I got approximately the same perspective as the press-release photo of the new 10MP body. Looks like it's going to be a fair bit bigger - I reckon maybe 40% more volume. I wonder what they'll use the room for? We all hope for something exciting under bigger cover ;-) Who knows? Maybe SR image stabilisation? No matter what, it will be undoubtely much higher spec camera than original *istD was. -- Balance is the ultimate good... Best Regards Sylwek
PESO: Steve
A profile. The venerable K 85/1.8 on the *istD. f1.8 @ 1/60th, ISO 400. http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=4159763
Re: Printing myself my photos ...
The Epson 1800 will print very nice images up to 13 x19. It's about half the price of the 2400. The 2400 will outperform it on matte paper, but the 1800 is actually a bit better for glossy with less bronzing. I've heard that it also prints quite nicely on Epson Premium Lustre or Premium Semigloss. And you still get the advantage of Epson's great paper profiles. Paul On Feb 25, 2006, at 5:30 AM, Thibouille wrote: I'd like to print myself my photos but I really dunno anything (mostly) to what is needed. A printer obviously, but which one? There is no way I can afford a R2400 which costs about the same as my camera. Any other cheap solution but still good enough? -- Thibouille -- *ist-D,Z1,SFXn,SuperA,KX,MX, P30t and KR-10x ...
Re: Size of new 10MP body
If they shot the camera with a relatively long lens, say a 135, the body would appear larger in respect to the lens than it would through the naked eye. Your experiment is inconclusive at best. Paul On Feb 25, 2006, at 6:09 AM, Steve Jolly wrote: Interesting - I just stuck a 16-45 on my DS body and waved it around until I got approximately the same perspective as the press-release photo of the new 10MP body. Looks like it's going to be a fair bit bigger - I reckon maybe 40% more volume. I wonder what they'll use the room for? S
Re: *IST-D / DS High speed action!
- Original Message - From: Jens Bladt Subject: RE: *IST-D / DS High speed action! If IRC the guy was taking about shooting skaters. They hardly follow many predictable patterns. I was envisioning photographing at very close range -. not at a distance, using AF and Wide Angle Zooms. Shooting the skaters as they jump and turn in the air, running and jumping over different obstacles etc. This requires three things IMO: Speed, speed and speed! Features that were never very impressively supported by Pentax. Regards People have been photographing girly skating for a lot longer than digital cameras have been around. Shooting any kind of sports requires two things: Knowledge of what you are shooting and fast reflexes. What you want is a camera that will allow incompetence behind it. William Robb
Re: PESO - Action!
- Original Message - From: John Coyle Subject: Re: PESO - Action! You do realise, Bill and the others who posted in this thread that you're all missing the point completely? Unless you have 17 shots each side of the action, you just aren't cutting it! :-) The fact that you got the _one_ well-framed, in-focus, dead sharp shot at the peak of the action means you must have been lucky, because you're just playing at being photographers without a Canon or a Nikon! Well, that's what the consensus would appear to be from recent discussions... My experience shooting sports is limited. I've shot some football, baseball, motorcross and motorcycle racing, fencing, and basketball. What my limited experience tells me is that a high speed drive combined with a trigger happy photographer will garner you a whole bnch of pictures that show just before and just after the peak of the action. Knowing the sport, and knowing when to push the button will give you a lot more good pictures, and fewer frames to delete. YMMV, that's just what I have discovered works for me. William Robb
Re: Size of new 10MP body
- Original Message - From: Steve Jolly Subject: Size of new 10MP body Interesting - I just stuck a 16-45 on my DS body and waved it around until I got approximately the same perspective as the press-release photo of the new 10MP body. Looks like it's going to be a fair bit bigger - I reckon maybe 40% more volume. I wonder what they'll use the room for? Every camera gets a bit of Jimmy Hoffa. William Robb
Re: what's the name of the new Pentax 10MP camera?
Cotty [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The camera weighs 26 lbs and I would not hesitate to use it as a weapon in the event of an attempted robbery. And he's just referring to the Canon 1D-II here ;-) -- Mark Roberts Photography and writing www.robertstech.com
Re: PESO: Steve
Hi! A profile. The venerable K 85/1.8 on the *istD. f1.8 @ 1/60th, ISO 400. http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=4159763 Steady, absolutely Steady. I've no choice but to say that I somewhat envy you, Paul ;-). Boris
Re: PESO: Steve
Thanks Boris. Actually im more impressed with the sharpness of the K85 wide open than I am with the absence of discernible camera shake. Paul On Feb 25, 2006, at 8:02 AM, Boris Liberman wrote: Hi! A profile. The venerable K 85/1.8 on the *istD. f1.8 @ 1/60th, ISO 400. http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=4159763 Steady, absolutely Steady. I've no choice but to say that I somewhat envy you, Paul ;-). Boris
Re: Pentax A*600 F5.6
Just to sicken you as much as it sickened me, this appeared on eekBay. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pentax-A-600mm-f5-6-ED-IF-Professional-Telephoto-Lens_W0QQitemZ7593539978QQcategoryZ4688QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Wow !!! That's quite a price. I pressed the BIN button to discover someone had beaten me to it by 20 seconds. G. I feel your pain. g Fred
Re: what's the name of the new Pentax 10MP camera?
On Feb 25, 2006, at 5:36 AM, Cotty wrote: Interesting tale. I normally walk around with $45,000 worth of TV gear hung over my shoulder. I'm 6' 5 tall and weigh 210. In 15 years I have had zillions of people comment on how expensive-looking the kit is. I have never once had a problem. Of course, that is not to say that it could easily happen. There are numerous documented cases of violent theft here in the UK. As a normal part of my work, I risk assess continually. If I think there's any possibility of unwanted attention, there are a host of security measures I call on. Things that are incredibly simple, like parking with the rear of the vehicle to the wall, so kit is not 'on display' when getting it out / putting away. The camera weighs 26 lbs and I would not hesitate to use it as a weapon in the event of an attempted robbery. That's filming kit, and there is no such thing as 'low-profile' with it. I appreciate that stills kit is a different kettle of worms ;-) and i certainly do take appropriate measures when out and about. For one thing, if a thief did steal all that TV gear it would not be easy to sell as compared to still camera gear. As you say, a thief can sell a still camera in a local pub. Not so likely with pro video gear. Thieves are usually pretty stupid people. Years ago I worked in a camera shop and we were hit by thieves one night. They came in through a side window on an alley. They tried to open the cash register and couldn't get it open, so they threw it out the window into the alley, which did open it. Of course the day's receipts were taken out at the end of the day and there was nothing in it but a few dollars in change. They grabbed cameras, lenses, etc., seemingly at random, leaving some expensive items and taking some awfully cheap stuff like Zenit SLR cameras.Anyway, two days later the mastermind was caught trying to sell cameras out of a big burlap sack in the restaurant just around the corner from our shop!! The restaurant owner called us and we called the cops. We got most of the stuff back none the worse for wear. About camera bags. I have one friend who keeps his expensive gear in a diaper bag on the back seat of his car, complete with a couple diapers sticking out. He used tea to partially stain the diapers. He never locks the car. Another keeps his Leica gear in a woman's sewing case. He made a false top out of cardboard and glued spools of thread and other parephernalia to it. That lies on top of the cameras, and the lid of the sewing case stays open. Again, on the back seat of the car, car never locked. Neither of these guys has ever had anything stolen. Bob
Re: Microdrive report
Thibouille wrote: Thgouht I would tell ya what I think about my microdrive, maybe some will find that it'll be useful. I'll have to wait for the SD card version ;-) S
Re: Pentax A*600 F5.6
On Feb 25, 2006, at 8:32 AM, Fred wrote: Just to sicken you as much as it sickened me, this appeared on eekBay. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pentax-A-600mm-f5-6-ED-IF-Professional- Telephoto- Lens_W0QQitemZ7593539978QQcategoryZ4688QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZV iewItem Wow !!! That's quite a price. I pressed the BIN button to discover someone had beaten me to it by 20 seconds. G. I feel your pain. g Watch and see if the lens doesn't turn up on eBay again. Maybe the seller realized that his BIN was way too low and had a friend buy the lens. I've seen that sort of thing happen. Bob
Re: what's the name of the new Pentax 10MP camera?
- Original Message - From: Bob Shell [EMAIL PROTECTED] [creative camera hides snipped] Neither of these guys has ever had anything stolen. Car theft is must be a very common crime where those guys live...:-) Jostein
Re: Samsung announces GX-L1
Have you noticed that the GX-1L specs differ from what would be expected from a pure *istDL2 clone? Designed to enable easy viewing of images in all lighting conditions, the GX 1L features a large, 2.5-inch LCD monitor (210,000 pixels) and a bright, high-magnification pentaprism viewfinder offering a 96-percent field view. Yes, pentaprism. That's *istDS2, not DL2, isn't it? A very different body. So maybe Samsung is already mixing and matching Pentax features, ne? Bertil BTW, could the D2 have a larger sensor? Just cramming more pixels on the same sized silicon doesn't increse quality, does it? Just dreaming of greater use of my vintage lenses ;-)
Re: It's here (was: Another pre-PMA rumour...)
Even though I doubt I'll want to spend the money on either new DSLR anytime soon, I'm just pleased to see Pentax moving forward. This especially applies to new lenses, that I might buy. I do think it's funny that they have so many lenses around normal. An d now I can think longingly about the D645. g Steven Desjardins Department of Chemistry Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA 24450 (540) 458-8873 FAX: (540) 458-8878 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Samsung announces GX-L1
Italian press release is more detailed than the international one and says pentamirror, magnification 0,85x and 96% FOV. Apart from the 96% vs. 95% FOV (it can just be a different rounding), 0,85x says pentamirror, pentamirror says pentamirror, and pentamirror says *istDL2, not DS2. Umfortunately, using pentaprism (or, sometimes, pentaprism type viewfinder) when its actually a pentamirror is common practice among manufacturers who want their products to look better than they are. Dario - Original Message - From: Bertil Holmberg [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: pentax-discuss@pdml.net Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2006 3:15 PM Subject: Re: Samsung announces GX-L1 Have you noticed that the GX-1L specs differ from what would be expected from a pure *istDL2 clone? Designed to enable easy viewing of images in all lighting conditions, the GX 1L features a large, 2.5-inch LCD monitor (210,000 pixels) and a bright, high-magnification pentaprism viewfinder offering a 96-percent field view. Yes, pentaprism. That's *istDS2, not DL2, isn't it? A very different body. So maybe Samsung is already mixing and matching Pentax features, ne? Bertil BTW, could the D2 have a larger sensor? Just cramming more pixels on the same sized silicon doesn't increse quality, does it? Just dreaming of greater use of my vintage lenses ;-)
Re: Size of new 10MP body
- Original Message - From: Steve Jolly [EMAIL PROTECTED] Interesting - I just stuck a 16-45 on my DS body and waved it around until I got approximately the same perspective as the press-release photo of the new 10MP body. Looks like it's going to be a fair bit bigger - I reckon maybe 40% more volume. I wonder what they'll use the room for? It definitely is larger than the *istD Pål
Oy vey, Jens - was *IST-D / DS High speed action!
Alright, I've had to momentarily de-lurk again because I cannot stand it when misinformation persists. It drove me crazy with you can't hand-hold a Pentax 67 and now it's this. Jens, I e-mailed you off-list to correct some misapprehensions you had. Instead of taking that information in, you've continued to post outright lies, over and over again. Since you're not taking the hint and are continuing to insist that what you say is true, I am compelled to make this public. 1: AF is slow, compared to the competition. Focusing in low light will require 2-4 secs (according to dpreview tests). You may use MF, and save time experimenting with AF. Enjoy using old, lovely, smooth MF lenses. Low light shooting -- during skating? During baseball? At what event are you discussing? The lighting is at these events is very high contrast, an environment in which the Pentax AF excels. Yes, it is very poor for shooting in a bar. Oh well. No one plays sports in a bar. In addition, numerous people have described the proper way to shoot sports to you. In the specific case of skating, you watch the warm up, decide what you want to shoot from the routine, make your notes (mental or otherwise), and pick your shooting position accordingly. 2: Frames pr. second is just 2.5 (competition features 4-8.3 FPS). You may use single shot mode. Make sure to plan each shot carefully and try not to think too much about the athletes moving in a surprising way - you know the sports and can foresee everything that will occur. This is condescending. Have you known any sports photographers who shoot more than a couple of shots in a burst? They don't machine-gun by mashing down the shutter button, they shoot and then shoot again and shoot again, in rapid succession, PICKING each shot, not allowing luck to determine whether or not they get the image. Shutter button response is probably the most important factor here, and the Nikon guys at the ballgames constantly complain about how much quicker their F3 was for actually getting the shot off. 3: Write speed is 8 secs for 1 RAW file (36-37 secs for a 5 shot RAW burst, 14 secs for a JPEG burst). This gives you plenty of time for talking to you colleagues and for drinking coffee or smoking cigarettes. I just fired with my DS2 -- I shot 5 raw files, filled the buffer and then was able to shoot again after two seconds. TWO. Not THIRTY-SEVEN. But, as everyone has pointed out, not only do sports pros shoot jpegs (because when the hell will the process the raw files? In the car? The paper needs them immediately!), they shoot 6MP or lower jpegs because the images are going in the newspaper. Set to jpg, the DS2 can fire off a burst of 9 and then shoot again after about one second. 6: Availability of new, fast (F:1.4-2.8) lenses is very limited. Use every Monday, checking ebay for discontinued FA F.2.8 lenses. This is really entertaining - much more enjoyable than the actal photographing. I explained to you in no uncertain terms that the lens Pentax is missing that kills them for modern, night-game, digital baseball is a 400mm f2.8 with AF. 7: Only 6MP leaves very little space for after-cropping. Enjoy the art of cropping the images while shooting. Again, you are not speaking about sports pros. 8: Reviewing pix is relatively slow - and must await the rather long writing times. It's more fun taking chances. It's more exiting to check the images at home, later on. Uh, have you ever seen a pro checking the little LCD during an event? It's always in the lulls between plays/innings/skaters. They have instant review turned off to save battery power. 9: No immediate histogram available. Enjoy your ability to judge the exposure in advance, using the +/- settings. I turned on the instant histogram in my DS2 in custom settings. Then I turned it off in favor of the blinking blown out highlights warning, which made more sense when photographing teams wearing white. 10:No flashing overexposure warning available for fast checking exposure. (Same comment as above). Oh, uh, right. You know why Nikon sucks for sports? Because the F3 is manual focus and only uses film! Modern pros demand digital! I will commence re-lurking now. -Aaron
Re: Samsung announces GX-L1
I forgot to tell you that the marketing manager for Samsung DSLR cameras in Italy is the former marketing manager at Pentax Italy (just fired for reducing costs), and he knows well Pentax products and the difference between pentaprism and pentamirror. If he writes pentamirror and 0.85x magnification, I trust him. Dario - Original Message - From: Dario Bonazza [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: pentax-discuss@pdml.net Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2006 3:26 PM Subject: Re: Samsung announces GX-L1 Italian press release is more detailed than the international one and says pentamirror, magnification 0,85x and 96% FOV. Apart from the 96% vs. 95% FOV (it can just be a different rounding), 0,85x says pentamirror, pentamirror says pentamirror, and pentamirror says *istDL2, not DS2. Umfortunately, using pentaprism (or, sometimes, pentaprism type viewfinder) when its actually a pentamirror is common practice among manufacturers who want their products to look better than they are. Dario - Original Message - From: Bertil Holmberg [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: pentax-discuss@pdml.net Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2006 3:15 PM Subject: Re: Samsung announces GX-L1 Have you noticed that the GX-1L specs differ from what would be expected from a pure *istDL2 clone? Designed to enable easy viewing of images in all lighting conditions, the GX 1L features a large, 2.5-inch LCD monitor (210,000 pixels) and a bright, high-magnification pentaprism viewfinder offering a 96-percent field view. Yes, pentaprism. That's *istDS2, not DL2, isn't it? A very different body. So maybe Samsung is already mixing and matching Pentax features, ne? Bertil BTW, could the D2 have a larger sensor? Just cramming more pixels on the same sized silicon doesn't increse quality, does it? Just dreaming of greater use of my vintage lenses ;-)
Re: Samsung announces GX-L1
And a last idle thought: will Samsung also sell the 645D? I bet not, but... that's intriguing. Dario
Re: PESO - Action!
Wow, the Arizona Diamondbacks will sign ANYONE these days. -Aaron p.s. nice shot.
RE: Most compact DSLR
Wonder what the crop factor is on this one. Definitely not full frame ;-) Tim Mostly harmless (just plain Norwegian) Never underestimate the power of stupidity in large crowds (Very freely after Arthur C. Clarke, or some other clever guy) -Original Message- From: Marco Alpert [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 24. februar 2006 08:33 To: Pentax List Subject: Most compact DSLR Looks like Canon's got us beat again: http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/static/present/eos1_14l.jpg -Marco
the Green Button Kludge and the DS2
Is the DS2 the only one of the new DSLRs that has changed the legendary Green Button Kludge? I remember using a non-updated DS and hating how I had to meter with my old M lenses, but the DS2 behaves differently -- not perfect, but better. Does the DS firmware upgrade add the same functionality to the DS? With a non-A lens on the DS2, metering is activated by hitting DOF preview on the collar around the shutter button. If you're in aperture priority, it sets the shutter speed. If you're in manual mode, it tells you how many stops over or under you are. It operates a lot like a Spotmatic with the addition of aperture priority. -Aaron
Re: what's the name of the new Pentax 10MP camera?
- Original Message - From: Bob Shell [EMAIL PROTECTED] [creative camera hides snipped] Neither of these guys has ever had anything stolen. I wrote: Car theft is must be a very common crime where those guys live...:-) Duh. Spoiled joke... That should have been UNcommon, of course. Oh well... Just ignore the nutty norwegian...:-) Jostein
RE: the Green Button Kludge and the DS2
The firmware upgrade on the DS allows shooting in the same manner. Shel [Original Message] From: Aaron Reynolds Is the DS2 the only one of the new DSLRs that has changed the legendary Green Button Kludge? I remember using a non-updated DS and hating how I had to meter with my old M lenses, but the DS2 behaves differently -- not perfect, but better. Does the DS firmware upgrade add the same functionality to the DS?
Re: the Green Button Kludge and the DS2
The D green button sets the shutter speed when you're in manual mode. To me, this is quite simple, and becomes an unconscious action. Just spent a couple days shooting with the K85. Fun. Paul On Feb 25, 2006, at 10:17 AM, Aaron Reynolds wrote: Is the DS2 the only one of the new DSLRs that has changed the legendary Green Button Kludge? I remember using a non-updated DS and hating how I had to meter with my old M lenses, but the DS2 behaves differently -- not perfect, but better. Does the DS firmware upgrade add the same functionality to the DS? With a non-A lens on the DS2, metering is activated by hitting DOF preview on the collar around the shutter button. If you're in aperture priority, it sets the shutter speed. If you're in manual mode, it tells you how many stops over or under you are. It operates a lot like a Spotmatic with the addition of aperture priority. -Aaron
Re: PESO - Action!
- Original Message - From: John Coyle Subject: Re: PESO - Action! you must have been lucky, because you're just playing at being photographers without a Canon or a Nikon! And your point is.g Well, that's what the consensus would appear to be from recent discussions... My experience shooting sports is limited. I've shot some football, baseball, motorcross and motorcycle racing, fencing, and basketball. What my limited experience tells me is that a high speed drive combined with a trigger happy photographer will garner you a whole bnch of pictures that show just before and just after the peak of the action. Agree here Bill. The on site companies that shoot a bazillion frames to get one good one are out numbered by folks like moi, focus, frame, wait, shoot relax,:-) Knowing the sport, and knowing when to push the button will give you a lot more good pictures, and fewer frames to delete. I'd rather get the one good frame than spend half my day chimping and deleting. YMMV, that's just what I have discovered works for me. William Robb
Anti-Shake?
From Dpreview: I hope that again, this hasn't been reported before, but a German Pentax dealer (www.tekade.de) lists the new camera with the features - 10 Megapixel - Shake reduction - improved AF to be available after the Photokina in Cologne.
RE: *IST-D / DS High speed action!
So, it seems some (even professionals) prefer using fast AF, some prefer auto AF-tracking - from AF point to AF point (Contax), others prefer using MF, and some even prefer shooting in manual mode, when is comes to photographing action like skating and skaters. It seems that almost anything goes. The really difficult part, however, seem to be handling the legal issues. This quite interesting article is about just that: http://www.geartekcorporation.com/texts/essay_skatermom.html Perhaps I should not recommend shooting skaters at all - except perhaps for (professional) adult ice skating and similar events. Regards Jens
Re: Anti-Shake?
Pål Jensen wrote on 25.02.06 16:51: I hope that again, this hasn't been reported before, but a German Pentax dealer (www.tekade.de) lists the new camera with the features - 10 Megapixel - Shake reduction - improved AF to be available after the Photokina in Cologne. Holy! That would be cool. I hope it is true. Tekade.de is one of the biggest and most reputable German dealers of Pentax so they can be right. I think all will be clear when we see back of D2 on PMA... -- Balance is the ultimate good... Best Regards Sylwek
Re: Size of new 10MP body
Paul Stenquist wrote: If they shot the camera with a relatively long lens, say a 135, the body would appear larger in respect to the lens than it would through the naked eye. Your experiment is inconclusive at best. Depends how far away you hold the camera, of course. And I was mostly going by the size of the lens mount when the camera was in the correct orientation - focal length won't make a huge difference there. S
FA 85 f1.4 - Reasonable price ?
A local pentax dealer offered me an FA85 f1.4 what would be a reasonable price for it. The price at which he has offered it seems a bit on the high side but I may be mistaken. The lens is new plus full warranty etc etc.. Regards Patrick Genovese
Re: Anti-Shake?
Sylwester Pietrzyk wrote: Pål Jensen wrote on 25.02.06 16:51: I hope that again, this hasn't been reported before, but a German Pentax dealer (www.tekade.de) lists the new camera with the features - 10 Megapixel - Shake reduction - improved AF to be available after the Photokina in Cologne. Holy! That would be cool. I hope it is true. Tekade.de is one of the biggest and most reputable German dealers of Pentax so they can be right. I also think so :-) I think all will be clear when we see back of D2 on PMA... If they don't tape it. Could SR (this is the official Pentax name for AS/IS) be one of the disguised features of the 645D? Dario
Re: Anti-Shake?
On 2/25/06 10:51 AM, Pål Jensen, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I hope that again, this hasn't been reported before, but a German Pentax dealer (www.tekade.de) lists the new camera with the features - 10 Megapixel - Shake reduction - improved AF to be available after the Photokina in Cologne. I like (tend) to believe it. In Japanese sites, 10mp was correctly predicted and SR is also being predicted. I have two Canon IS zooms and bought this mostly out of curiosity. Despite the arguments that skilful photographers won't need it (which is probably true), IS saved me a lot of otherwise cull pics. When the subjects stops in viewfinder, it gives a lot of confidence too. So, if the choice is given, I am all for the RS/IS, provided that there won't be too much cost addition. The fact that it is a body mounted system is interesting as it will make ALL k-mount lenses RS compatible, unlike other makes for which you have to pay for each lens which has it. It has to be proven but it was adopted by KM and I understand that it worked surprisingly well. Now, Sony took it away :-) and I am sure that the next Sony DSLRs will have it. Besides, Pentax already adopted it for their PS digital. I suppose that installing it on (much) smaller sensors might be a lot different from that on larger and heavier sensors, but I am sure Pentax already figured it out (Well, KM did it already). I am not quite sure yet if Pentax 10mp sensor is the same as the one used for Nikon D200 (CCD). Rumour says that it could be a CMOS. But if it's Sony's, it must have been developed in conjunction with Nikon who usually have the exclusive license for the first year. Then anyone can modify it, and the fall release of Pentax model makes sense. However, D200 has been plagued by banding noise and noise in higher ISO. I saw many examples of this problem and they are fairly prevalent. OTOH, some users might be too fussy because many of the noise issues are only visible in 1:1 or larger pixel peep. It should be noted that both N/C publicly stated that the 1:1 pixel peeping would eventually cost the consumers. C's RD executive, in his interview, said that the photos have to be ultimately enjoyed in printed form. I do not mind the banding noise of D200 but N has not exceeded the high ISO performance of C's CMOS. I hope Pentax somehow dealt with it. BTW, C's 30D stayed at 8.2mp without going any higher, which I appreciated. It is not Canon-like, but they are also saying that the higher pixel pitch has already exceeded the resolving capability of (some of) their Non EF-S lenses. 5D is not a do-all solution either, seeing some of the samples. Also, shooting 10mp in RAW will significantly increase the file size, which affects on everything storage media and the computer capability etc. I hope the mp race will have a pause and makers concentrate more on improving the existing sensor. Re Pentax lens road map, obviously, more compact system package seems to be their philosophy, but I do not think they abandoned so called FF. Both Pentax and Nikon said that, if FF becomes what the market demands, they will certainly consider it. I guess it won't be too difficult to go FF as long as the sensor price comes down. But the lens lineup has to be revised for the true FF digital. I cannot see that Pentax completely abandon former FA lenses (for 35mm film format) particularly on tele end. If I exercise the wishful thinking, they are probably revamping all lens lines to conform to digital requirement (more/better coating and tweaked optical formula etc) which is DFA on normal to tele end. They might also be taking this opportunity to reduce the mfg cost while maintaining the optical performance, much like they did for the macro lenses (which means more plastic :-). I just cannot imagine that Pentax simply discontinue FA type lenses. There must be something happening. The capacity of the lens factory in Vietnam has been vamped up by 160% and come into stream by this fall. Cheers, Ken
Storage card and battery
Hi folks, So, the next Pentax DSLR appears to be in the D200 or 30D segment. I suppose that 10mp sensor and other bells/whistles will generally require more battery power. Things I appreciate in the current Pentax DSLRs are the use of SD cards and AA batteries. I admire Pentax opted for AA batteries without forcing the users to buy expensive proprietary Li-Ion cells (and it's convenient of course). Can anyone predict what's going to happen on the battery of the next 10mp DSLR ? Any expert on this? They might go back to CF cards though. Ken
Re: Anti-Shake?
I have been thinking this over. Always dangerous. Without SR I am not sure I would buy the 10 mp camera. It would depend on whether the increase in resolution offsets the increase in noise -- for my shooting. Also, there would undoubtedly be a camera with SR following on in two or three years, and I would want it. I cannot buy a new DSLR every two or three years. Without SR, I might skip this generation of the D. With SR I would want it. (Having the funds to buy it is a different matter.) Having SR would mean that it would be less necessary to use higher ISOs, so the higher noise would become less of an issue. Also, the fact that Pentax is not bringing out fast primes would be less of an issue. So I hope the rumor is true. Joe
Re: Anti-Shake?
Dario Bonazza wrote on 25.02.06 17:43: If they don't tape it. Could SR (this is the official Pentax name for AS/IS) be one of the disguised features of the 645D? Who knows? That would be the only MF camera with image stabilisation. They can do it. -- Balance is the ultimate good... Best Regards Sylwek
Re: Storage card and battery
K.Takeshita wrote: Hi folks, So, the next Pentax DSLR appears to be in the D200 or 30D segment. I suppose that 10mp sensor and other bells/whistles will generally require more battery power. Things I appreciate in the current Pentax DSLRs are the use of SD cards and AA batteries. I admire Pentax opted for AA batteries without forcing the users to buy expensive proprietary Li-Ion cells (and it's convenient of course). Can anyone predict what's going to happen on the battery of the next 10mp DSLR ? Any expert on this? They might go back to CF cards though. Ken I'd bet on CF cards, as the D used them as well, and while you can get a SD-CF adaptor, the reverse is not true. -Adam
Re: Anti-Shake?
- Original Message - From: Joseph Tainter [EMAIL PROTECTED] Without SR I am not sure I would buy the 10 mp camera. I would not buy it without SR. In fact I do not own a digital camera and a camera need a another feature than simply digotal in order to tempt me. I'm happy with film. Mind you, if someone stole all my gear I would certainly not buy film cameras to replace it. With SR I would want it. (Having the funds to buy it is a different matter.) Having SR would mean that it would be less necessary to use higher ISOs, so the higher noise would become less of an issue. Also, the fact that Pentax is not bringing out fast primes would be less of an issue. Not to mention the fact all your lenses becomes IS lenses. This is terrific plus for everyone with long lenses as this is where you really need the feature. Also the cost of new super telephotos are astronomical. A 600/4 lens becomes the equivalent of a 900/4 IS lens without spending $12000 with this camera. If you indeed use it with the fast Pentax that exist it will push the boundaries of hand held photography even further. Pål
RE: *IST-D / DS High speed action!
Even shooting professional events, you have to agree to a laundry list of usage limitations. I may sell my baseball photographs to newspapers, magazines or books for editorial purposes. I may not sell posters, individual prints, or images for advertising without making financial arrangements with both MLB and the MLBPA (the players' union). If they request any of my images, I must sell them to MLB or the baseball team at a set rate. There are a lot more limitations... if I can find one of last year's press passes I'll scan the back and put it up on my site. -Aaron -Original Message- From: Jens Bladt [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subj: RE: *IST-D / DS High speed action! Date: Sat Feb 25, 2006 11:26 am Size: 632 bytes To: pentax-discuss@pdml.net http://www.geartekcorporation.com/texts/essay_skatermom.html Perhaps I should not recommend shooting skaters at all - except perhaps for (professional) adult ice skating and similar events.
Re: Anti-Shake?
Pål Jensen wrote: If you indeed use it with the fast Pentax that exist it will push the boundaries of hand held photography even further. Pentax will have to throw in a free Charles Atlas Dynamic Tension course with each body.
Re: FA 85 f1.4 - Reasonable price ?
I think BH gets $800. Paul On Feb 25, 2006, at 11:42 AM, Patrick Genovese wrote: A local pentax dealer offered me an FA85 f1.4 what would be a reasonable price for it. The price at which he has offered it seems a bit on the high side but I may be mistaken. The lens is new plus full warranty etc etc.. Regards Patrick Genovese
10 MP Pentax D2 versus 10 MP Sony DCS-R1?
I use the *ist D and like it very much; my only significant complaints about the camera are the APS-C size sensor with only 6 MP. So I was intrigued to learn about the D2, which would give me more pixels. Of course I accept that Pentax will never give me a full frame sensor. ;-) But I was also intrigued by the Sony DSC-R1 with Carl Zeiss 24-120mm (equivalent on 35mm film) f/2.8-4/8 zoom lens. I don't ever go wider than 24mm (*ist D: 15mm) and longer than 105mm (*ist D: 70mm), so this focal length range would suit me very well, and I only rarely shoot macro. The Carl Zeiss lens of the DSC-R1 has also gained universally very good to excellent reviews, including one from Godfrey DiGiorgi on this list. It seems to me that the bridge or ZLR camera has finally come of age. No sensor cleaning or dust problems. No time wasted changing lenses. A waist-level viewfinder and enlarged view for precise manual focusing. Live preview via the LCD or electronic viewfinder. So can someone tell me, why do I need to spend more money on a 10 MP Pentax D2 when I can sell my Pentax *ist D and Sigma 15-30mm and 24-70mm EX lenses on eBay and buy a 10 MP Sony DSC-R1 plus a couple of 1 GB memory sticks with the money? Colin ___ Yahoo! Messenger - NEW crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with voicemail http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
Re: Storage card and battery
Den 25. feb. 2006 kl. 18.22 skrev Adam Maas: K.Takeshita wrote: Hi folks, So, the next Pentax DSLR appears to be in the D200 or 30D segment. I suppose that 10mp sensor and other bells/whistles will generally require more battery power. Things I appreciate in the current Pentax DSLRs are the use of SD cards and AA batteries. I admire Pentax opted for AA batteries without forcing the users to buy expensive proprietary Li-Ion cells (and it's convenient of course). Can anyone predict what's going to happen on the battery of the next 10mp DSLR ? Any expert on this? They might go back to CF cards though. Ken I'd bet on CF cards, as the D used them as well, and while you can get a SD-CF adaptor, the reverse is not true. -Adam With 8 GB of CF cards I hope you are right... DagT
Re: Printing myself my photos ...
What Paul said. The Epson R800 is also supposed to be an excellent printer if you don't need the 13 paper gate. Another possible, if your print volume is modest and A4 or US Standard size paper is enough, is the HP 8450. This printer is often available for under $200 and produces extremely good BW and color work (it includes a grayscale inkset as standard). HP inks and paper are somewhat pricey, but I've found it an easy printer to do a lot of smaller work, and the HP Premium Plus glossy paper in particular is also rated as 100 years archival with their inks. Using the HP to print BW with Epson papers produces a slightly warm tone print, which is also pretty nice. Godfrey On Feb 25, 2006, at 4:31 AM, Paul Stenquist wrote: The Epson 1800 will print very nice images up to 13 x19. It's about half the price of the 2400. The 2400 will outperform it on matte paper, but the 1800 is actually a bit better for glossy with less bronzing. I've heard that it also prints quite nicely on Epson Premium Lustre or Premium Semigloss. And you still get the advantage of Epson's great paper profiles. On Feb 25, 2006, at 5:30 AM, Thibouille wrote: I'd like to print myself my photos but I really dunno anything (mostly) to what is needed. A printer obviously, but which one? There is no way I can afford a R2400 which costs about the same as my camera. Any other cheap solution but still good enough?
Re: 10 MP Pentax D2 versus 10 MP Sony DCS-R1?
Why? 1. Because you want a bigger buffer than 2 RAW files (Showstopper for me considering the D's 4 RAW files was a limit I bumped into regularly) 2. You want to shoot with fast glass. The f2.8-4 lens isn't fast enough for much of my work (I shoot a lot with a 50 at f2 or f1.8) 3. You need more reach than 120mm (I do shoot past that) 4. You need a real viewfinder (EVF's are a step downwards from the poor viewfinders in most non-Pentax DSLR's. 5. You need a more featureful flash system. The R1 is a nice camera, but it's not what I need, or even close. -Adam Colin J wrote: I use the *ist D and like it very much; my only significant complaints about the camera are the APS-C size sensor with only 6 MP. So I was intrigued to learn about the D2, which would give me more pixels. Of course I accept that Pentax will never give me a full frame sensor. ;-) But I was also intrigued by the Sony DSC-R1 with Carl Zeiss 24-120mm (equivalent on 35mm film) f/2.8-4/8 zoom lens. I don't ever go wider than 24mm (*ist D: 15mm) and longer than 105mm (*ist D: 70mm), so this focal length range would suit me very well, and I only rarely shoot macro. The Carl Zeiss lens of the DSC-R1 has also gained universally very good to excellent reviews, including one from Godfrey DiGiorgi on this list. It seems to me that the bridge or ZLR camera has finally come of age. No sensor cleaning or dust problems. No time wasted changing lenses. A waist-level viewfinder and enlarged view for precise manual focusing. Live preview via the LCD or electronic viewfinder. So can someone tell me, why do I need to spend more money on a 10 MP Pentax D2 when I can sell my Pentax *ist D and Sigma 15-30mm and 24-70mm EX lenses on eBay and buy a 10 MP Sony DSC-R1 plus a couple of 1 GB memory sticks with the money? Colin ___ Yahoo! Messenger - NEW crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with voicemail http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
Re: 10 MP Pentax D2 versus 10 MP Sony DCS-R1?
On Feb 25, 2006, at 12:48 PM, Colin J wrote: So can someone tell me, why do I need to spend more money on a 10 MP Pentax D2 when I can sell my Pentax *ist D and Sigma 15-30mm and 24-70mm EX lenses on eBay and buy a 10 MP Sony DSC-R1 plus a couple of 1 GB memory sticks with the money? We can't possibly know until we see the D2. I suppose Ken Rockwell could put together a virtual comparison review after reading the brochures. I came very close to purchasing a Panasonic/Leica ZLR (the one that's 8MP and covers something like a 28-400 equivalent at f2.8-4 or something insane like that), but it was very slow to fire and had the serious limitation of a maximum ISO of 400. Too bad, really. -Aaron
Re: Anti-Shake?
On Feb 25, 2006, at 11:52 AM, K.Takeshita wrote: Despite the arguments that skilful photographers won't need it (which is probably true), IS saved me a lot of otherwise cull pics. I think it really depends on what you're shooting. I wouldn't go without my monopod to a baseball game because my arms would get tired from holding the damned camera up, and the shutter speeds are fast enough (because of the movement of the players and the ball) that I don't know how much of a difference anti-shake would make, but I really do appreciate the anti-shake mechanism in my little point and shoot, because I don't have to bring a monopod to shoot in a dark-ish location with a pocketable camera. I would be very entertained by a camera not too much bigger than the DS with an anti-shake mechanism combined with some small lenses. -Aaron
Re: *IST-D / DS High speed action!
Hi everyone, I never thought my post would trigger such a flame war. Just for the record I am not a pro sports photographer nor do I aspire to be one it is just that certain types of sports interest me from a photographic perspective. I also just so happens that I have contacts in the right sporting circles that can grant me the permission to shoot the action up close. Given the cost of doing this with film I was seriously considering an D/DS enablement. In the light of the recent announcements from Pentax I think I will be waiting for the new D. In the mean time I have been shooting some of this stuff with my MZ-S some of the comments posted here are quite valid and from hands on experience I rapidly learning that understanding what's going to happen anticipating the action is way more important than the specs of your equipment. This was amply proven to me when a friend showed me some of his motocross slides taken a while back. Tack sharp great timing and perfectly exposed upon seeing them I asked what he used to take the shots. My old banger he said, that's what he calls his battered fm2a. He went on to explain how he anticipates the action by carefully by observing the bike's behaviour, speed and riding styles of different riders. What have I learn't? Observe, think hard, shoot less and plan ahead. I intend to try to put some of his advice into practise next shoot and see if my success rate improves. Regards Patrick
Re: Anti-Shake?
On 2/25/06 12:14 PM, Joseph Tainter, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I cannot buy a new DSLR every two or three years. This very true. I guess this trend was purposely amplified by Canon (marketing). There is no doubt that they have technical prowess (at least for now) and they certainly know how to use it. Canon was the only one who has been revising/updating models almost every 6 months, let alone 2~3 years. They have been doing this for their entry/mid models, not for their top ends. In fact, this was their deliberate strategy (I am not criticizing them, but just telling the facts :-) to leave the competitions behind. For example, in their stockholders meeting last year, they presented the state of their technological advantage and emphasized the proto-less development (I may have posted this before). What this means is that they were restructuring the engineering process so that they could eliminate the prototyping stage, thus considerably shortening the time required from the product conception to the actual market release. However, lately, this strategy is beginning to backfire as customers complain various problems and too short a product cycle. Every time they buy Rebel or 10D/20D/30D etc, they knew that their equipment will become obsolete within a few months. Pentax product cycle was not particularly slow or fast, although they started late and got dragged by Canon's practice. Nikon took 3 years from D100 to D200. It appears that Canon is finally slowing down. FF market is not well embraced yet except for PJ and amateur enthusiast (in Japan, only 25% of DSLR users want the FF), and the bulk of the market is in APS sized sensors. Here, the mp race for example appears to be slowing down and the technology seems to be embarking on the maturing stage. Film technology had matured long time ago, and the product cycle of the camera/lens was much longer. This enabled mfrs to produce much desirable bodies that could be kept for years. Nikon's D200 appears to be in this category. Today, the DSLR product cycle is too short and nobody is investing in producing durable and pleasure-to-own cameras, yet they do so on their high-ends which do not change for much longer time. So, you can see how Canon see the bulk of the market and create sustainable demands. Hope this will begin to change so that we will see more durable and desirable camera body, and I certainly hope that the next Pentax DSLR is one such camera. Well, if anybody would be conscious (and conscientious :-) about it, it has to be Pentax :-). Ken
Eekbay fun
Ebay fun never ends. This M 2/50mm is an F2.8 because its aperture ring was left set to 2.8 by a previous owner: http://cgi.ebay.com/Pentax-M-SMC-50mm-lens-1-2-f2-8_W0QQitemZ7592670228QQcategoryZ4688QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem And the price... Dario
Re: the Green Button Kludge and the DS2
Aaron. The green button pretty much is a DOF switch as far as i can tell. I can see the lens stoping down in the finder. Like the old spotties only a lot more expensive.g Dave On Feb 25, 2006, at 10:17 AM, Aaron Reynolds wrote: Is the DS2 the only one of the new DSLRs that has changed the legendary Green Button Kludge? I remember using a non-updated DS and hating how I had to meter with my old M lenses, but the DS2 behaves differently -- not perfect, but better. Does the DS firmware upgrade add the same functionality to the DS? With a non-A lens on the DS2, metering is activated by hitting DOF preview on the collar around the shutter button. If you're in aperture priority, it sets the shutter speed. If you're in manual mode, it tells you how many stops over or under you are. It operates a lot like a Spotmatic with the addition of aperture priority. -Aaron
Re: the Green Button Kludge and the DS2
I'm not sure I understand you. On my DS, now with firmware rev 2 installed, with an M/K-mount lens mounted and the camera in Manual exposure mode: - Touching the shutter release or tugging the DoF preview lever activates the metering system. - The AE-Lock button performs the function of the D's Green button.. It briefly stops down the iris and sets the shutter speed complement to the currently set aperture. - Using the DoF preview will show you the difference in EV between the currently set manual exposure and what the meter is seeing. The DoF Preview button does not set the shutter speed, only the AE-Lock button (or the thumbwheel...) does that. Does the DS2 operate differently from this? This is how the DS has always operated. Godfrey On Feb 25, 2006, at 7:17 AM, Aaron Reynolds wrote: Is the DS2 the only one of the new DSLRs that has changed the legendary Green Button Kludge? I remember using a non-updated DS and hating how I had to meter with my old M lenses, but the DS2 behaves differently -- not perfect, but better. Does the DS firmware upgrade add the same functionality to the DS? With a non-A lens on the DS2, metering is activated by hitting DOF preview on the collar around the shutter button. If you're in aperture priority, it sets the shutter speed. If you're in manual mode, it tells you how many stops over or under you are. It operates a lot like a Spotmatic with the addition of aperture priority. -Aaron
Re: what's the name of the new Pentax 10MP camera?
Bob Shell [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: They grabbed cameras, lenses, etc., seemingly at random, leaving some expensive items and taking some awfully cheap stuff like Zenit SLR cameras. I once had the tape deck stolen out of my car while it was parked in my garage one night. No big deal - it was a cheap tape deck and I just replaced it, as I had been meaning to do for weeks, with the top-of-the-line Nakamichi TD500... which had been sitting on a shelf next to the car while the thief went to all the effort of removing the junk unit from the dashboard. -- Mark Roberts Photography and writing www.robertstech.com
Re: 10 MP Pentax D2 versus 10 MP Sony DCS-R1?
Hi! I use the *ist D and like it very much; my only significant complaints about the camera are the APS-C size sensor with only 6 MP. So I was intrigued to learn about the D2, which would give me more pixels. Of course I accept that Pentax will never give me a full frame sensor. ;-) I'd say Pentax might give you and us too the full frame sensor once Pentax decides it is good for Pentax. Which I think will eventually happen, yet Pentax will probably be the last one to adopt Full Frame. But I was also intrigued by the Sony DSC-R1 with Carl Zeiss 24-120mm (equivalent on 35mm film) f/2.8-4/8 zoom lens. I don't ever go wider than 24mm (*ist D: 15mm) and longer than 105mm (*ist D: 70mm), so this focal length range would suit me very well, and I only rarely shoot macro. The Carl Zeiss lens of the DSC-R1 has also gained universally very good to excellent reviews, including one from Godfrey DiGiorgi on this list. A friend of mine, actually a co-worker decided to buy this very Sony camera instead of his initial idea to buy Pentax. It seems to me that the bridge or ZLR camera has finally come of age. No sensor cleaning or dust problems. No time wasted changing lenses. A waist-level viewfinder and enlarged view for precise manual focusing. Live preview via the LCD or electronic viewfinder. I am afraid you're just a bit wrong here... The ZLR camera is not dust/water proof. The zoom action is, well, zoom action - it might suck in some dust particles. The real bitch kind of problem will be when you'd start spotting dust particles on your photographs. Otherwise, yes, you're probably right. So can someone tell me, why do I need to spend more money on a 10 MP Pentax D2 when I can sell my Pentax *ist D and Sigma 15-30mm and 24-70mm EX lenses on eBay and buy a 10 MP Sony DSC-R1 plus a couple of 1 GB memory sticks with the money? No, no-one can *really* tell why do you need to keep Pentax and refrain from buying Sony. It is your call. I personally say - if you see that Sony camera suits you - go for it. I suggest you go to a store and ask a clerk there to let you play with Sony... I mean, really, there is no any compelling reason to stay with any brand ... It is your style of photography, your budget and your choice... For now, I stay with Pentax, because, well two reasons: 1. I like the quality of end result - prints that my Pentax gear gives me. 2. I've invested some time and money in my Pentax gear... You know the bus stop syndrome... Though recently I've found that selling Pentax gear is not at all difficult ;-). Boris
Re: FA 85 f1.4 - Reasonable price ?
That's not to bad the price this dealer is asking is just a little bit higher than that but hey this is europe and prices here tend to be a bit higher than the US maybe if I haggle a bit I can get a better price. I seen some of you guys wax lyrical about it is this lens really that good ? Regards Patrick Genovese
Re: Anti-Shake?
Aaron Reynolds [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Feb 25, 2006, at 11:52 AM, K.Takeshita wrote: Despite the arguments that skilful photographers won't need it (which is probably true), IS saved me a lot of otherwise cull pics. I think it really depends on what you're shooting. I wouldn't go without my monopod to a baseball game because my arms would get tired from holding the damned camera up, and the shutter speeds are fast enough (because of the movement of the players and the ball) that I don't know how much of a difference anti-shake would make, but I really do appreciate the anti-shake mechanism in my little point and shoot, because I don't have to bring a monopod to shoot in a dark-ish location with a pocketable camera. I would be very entertained by a camera not too much bigger than the DS with an anti-shake mechanism combined with some small lenses. I think a big advantage of anti-shake would be the fact that shooting at a lower shutter speed allows you to close down the aperture for greater depth of field. In some sports shooting, especially with very long lenses, this would be very, very useful indeed. I'm pretty confident that the new DSLR will have in-camera image stabilization. But I'm also pretty sure it won't be on the market in time for my annual Mid-Ohio Superbike shoot! :( -- Mark Roberts Photography and writing www.robertstech.com
Re: the Green Button Kludge and the DS2
On Feb 25, 2006, at 1:06 PM, Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote: - Using the DoF preview will show you the difference in EV between the currently set manual exposure and what the meter is seeing. The DoF Preview button does not set the shutter speed, only the AE-Lock button (or the thumbwheel...) does that. Does the DS2 operate differently from this? This is how the DS has always operated. When set to aperture priority, tugging the DOF preview sets the shutter speed as well. When set to manual, it works as you describe. -Aaron
Re: 10 MP Pentax D2 versus 10 MP Sony DCS-R1?
On Feb 25, 2006, at 1:07 PM, Boris Liberman wrote: I'd say Pentax might give you and us too the full frame sensor once Pentax decides it is good for Pentax. Which I think will eventually happen, yet Pentax will probably be the last one to adopt Full Frame. I doubt that Pentax will ever go full frame. The continued development of DA lenses seems to suggest that APS-C will be the largest sensor unless you go medium format. I'm not complaining. I'm good with that, and expect that continued development of this size sensor will lead to outstanding performance.
Re: *IST-D / DS High speed action!
On Sat, Feb 25, 2006 at 10:25:26AM +0100, Jens Bladt wrote: I never blamed anybody or anything. I was declineing from recommending the *ist D for action photography. If that was all you were doing - merely pointing out that there were other, better solutions available for that task, I don't think you would have found much disagreement. But you didn't say the D isn't the best choice for action shots; you went far beyond that, claiming that the D was totally unsuitable for that kind of photography.
Re: *IST-D / DS High speed action!
On Feb 25, 2006, at 10:01 AM, Patrick Genovese wrote: I never thought my post would trigger such a flame war. Anything posted to the PDML is capable of triggering a flame war. In the mean time I have been shooting some of this stuff with my MZ-S some of the comments posted here are quite valid and from hands on experience I rapidly learning that understanding what's going to happen anticipating the action is way more important than the specs of your equipment. Exactly. What have I learn't? Observe, think hard, shoot less and plan ahead. I intend to try to put some of his advice into practise next shoot and see if my success rate improves. Good solid plan. You'll do well. For the record, I have some very nice sets of action photographs taken of motorcycle road racing made over the years with a Leica M, a Mamiya 1000S, and a Sony F707. None of these cameras is what I'd consider to be a speed demon ... The *ist D and *ist DS puts all of them to shame in shot-to-shot speed, AF performance, and sequence capabilities. The Leica M was quicker responding to the shutter, which was helpful, but was harder to focus quickly with a 90mm lens. Godfrey
Re: what's the name of the new Pentax 10MP camera?
On Feb 25, 2006, at 1:08 PM, Mark Roberts wrote: I once had the tape deck stolen out of my car while it was parked in my garage one night. No big deal - it was a cheap tape deck and I just replaced it, as I had been meaning to do for weeks, with the top-of-the-line Nakamichi TD500... which had been sitting on a shelf next to the car while the thief went to all the effort of removing the junk unit from the dashboard. My uncle drove a 1970s Skoda. He would leave the windows rolled down and the keys in the ignition and thieves would steal the tape deck. Eventually the frame rusted out and the car fell onto its own wheels while driving. I hear new Skodas are much nicer. -Aaron
Re: *IST-D / DS High speed action!
On Sat, Feb 25, 2006 at 12:37:04AM -0800, David wrote: I mostly shoot action (cycling, Cyclocross in particular), here's my humble thoughts. . . . . 3) Find me one action photographer that wastes his space with raw files. They require lots of extra time to process. Most action photographers I know shoot action with jpg. This s the one point where I would disagree with you. Almost all the action photographers I know from my times in the media room at motor races shoot RAW. Who do you think is buying those 12GB CF cards?
Re: the Green Button Kludge and the DS2
Aaron Reynolds wrote: On Feb 25, 2006, at 1:06 PM, Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote: - Using the DoF preview will show you the difference in EV between the currently set manual exposure and what the meter is seeing. The DoF Preview button does not set the shutter speed, only the AE-Lock button (or the thumbwheel...) does that. Does the DS2 operate differently from this? This is how the DS has always operated. When set to aperture priority, tugging the DOF preview sets the shutter speed as well. When set to manual, it works as you describe. -Aaron So you actually get aperture priority, instead of it just metering wide open in Av as on the D? Nice. Very Nice. -Adam
Re: 10 MP Pentax D2 versus 10 MP Sony DCS-R1?
Boris Liberman [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'd say Pentax might give you and us too the full frame sensor once Pentax decides it is good for Pentax. Which I think will eventually happen, yet Pentax will probably be the last one to adopt Full Frame. They will go full frame when full frame sensors become a commodity item the way PAS-C sensors have. Not for a while, bit it'll happen eventually (especially when we start to see more point-and-shoot cameras with APS-C sensors). They Pentax will sadly report that all those DA lenses we bought won't be usable on a full frame camera and, gosh darn it, we're just going to have to buy more new lenses ;-) -- Mark Roberts Photography and writing www.robertstech.com
Re: *IST-D / DS High speed action!
On Feb 25, 2006, at 1:17 PM, Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote: For the record, I have some very nice sets of action photographs taken of motorcycle road racing made over the years with a Leica M, a Mamiya 1000S, and a Sony F707. None of these cameras is what I'd consider to be a speed demon ... Hell, I have some great baseball stuff from 2004 that I shot with my 67. Now THAT is a slow-ass camera (and no histogram, even if you look in the custom functions). -Aaron
Re: Storage card and battery
On Feb 25, 2006, at 9:50 AM, DagT wrote: Things I appreciate in the current Pentax DSLRs are the use of SD cards and AA batteries. I admire Pentax opted for AA batteries without forcing the users to buy expensive proprietary Li-Ion cells (and it's convenient of course). Can anyone predict what's going to happen on the battery of the next 10mp DSLR ? Any expert on this? - I don't find anything wrong with the supposedly expensive proprietary Li-Ion batteries in my Canon, Konica Minolta, Panasonic and Sony cameras. They work extremely well, extremely efficiently. Third party alternatives with the same or better performance as the originals are available for 1/6 to 1/2 the price, depending upon the battery. My two spare batteries for the Canon 10D cost me $9 apiece, the one for the Sony cost me $20. The real advantage is ease of use (no fumbling with multiple cells and orientation) and very long, reliable shelf life without having to maintain them much like I do with the NiHi rechargeable AAs. The Sony in particular uses an Info- Lithium battery which is used by about a bazillion camcorders so they're everywhere batteries are available. This battery has logic in it to report its charge state, so the camera also has superbly accurate status information read out in the viewfinder, something which is impossible to achieve with standard AA cells. - That said, the CRV3 and AA cells in the Pentax work just fine. I've never had an in the field emergency with any of my cameras ... that's what a couple of spares and an automotive compatible charger are around to take care of ... so the fact that they are the most easily found batteries is pretty much irrelevant. They also have enough power to handle a lot of exposures without any worries, should easily power the new camera without any problems. I doubt that Pentax will change this particular aspect of the design as I don't see any particular reason for them to do so. They might go back to CF cards though. I'd bet on CF cards, as the D used them as well, and while you can get a SD-CF adaptor, the reverse is not true. With 8 GB of CF cards I hope you are right... I have 5 Gbytes of SD and 8 Gbytes of CF storage cards, an SD-CF adapter. And a 40G storage tank that has slots to take either directly. I think I'm set. ;-) Ideally, they'll put both slots in the camera. But it's not important. I doubt they'll go to something dumb, like a different card format. Godfrey
Re: Steve
Paul, well captured - exposure/focus, but I'd either crop off some of the top of his head (to totally eliminate the background over his head) or give the top more room from the top edge. To me it looks like a mistake to have his head framed that way. My $.02 Kenneth Waller - Original Message - From: Paul Stenquist [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: PESO: Steve A profile. The venerable K 85/1.8 on the *istD. f1.8 @ 1/60th, ISO 400. http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=4159763
Re: *IST-D / DS High speed action!
On Sat, Feb 25, 2006 at 12:37:04AM -0800, David wrote: 6) I don't have a single AF lens with a faster f stop than 3.2. Guess I can't shoot action anymore :-( That's the most ridiculous complaint in the diatribe (although, I admit, there's some pretty tough competition). Once you get out beyond 100mm, it's hard to find anybody with a lens that's faster than f2.8 I think I've seen some of them listed at BH, but I've never seen one in the field. I've seen lots of 300m/f2.8 and 400mm/f2.8 lenses (and 600mm/f4), but nothing faster than f2.8 For shorter focal lengths it's very common to see the 80-200 and 28-80 zooms, most of which again are only f2.8. In fact I probably see as many of the great Canon 35-350 superzoom, and that's not even f2.8. Then, of course, there's the really short stuff - 12-24/f4 zooms seem very popular with APS-C sensors. And that's just the big-budget, full-time professional shooters. Among the part time, advanced amateur or semi-pro guys there's a good scattering of 100-300/f4, 80-400/f5.6, and the like. And I still like my 250-600, even though it's only f5.6
Re: *IST-D / DS High speed action!
On Feb 25, 2006, at 1:17 PM, Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote: For the record, I have some very nice sets of action photographs taken of motorcycle road racing made over the years with a Leica M, a Mamiya 1000S, and a Sony F707. None of these cameras is what I'd consider to be a speed demon ... Hell, I have some great baseball stuff from 2004 that I shot with my 67. Now THAT is a slow-ass camera (and no histogram, even if you look in the custom functions). -Aaron I'v seen those.:-)They are very nice. Dave
Re: the Green Button Kludge and the DS2
On Feb 25, 2006, at 10:16 AM, Aaron Reynolds wrote: - Using the DoF preview will show you the difference in EV between the currently set manual exposure and what the meter is seeing. The DoF Preview button does not set the shutter speed, only the AE- Lock button (or the thumbwheel...) does that. Does the DS2 operate differently from this? This is how the DS has always operated. When set to aperture priority, tugging the DOF preview sets the shutter speed as well. When set to manual, it works as you describe. What I see: With the DS and firmware rev 2, when set to aperture priority with an M/K-mount lens, the iris will not close down to the set aperture. Tugging the DOF preview lever sounds like it's actuating the mechanism but it isn't (verify by looking in the lens). The shutter speed will be set as complement to the lens with the iris wide open, but it floats until the time of actual exposure. If the DS2 actually operates the iris mechanism in Av mode with these lenses, that is indeed different behavior, a worthwhile change. I'd suggest looking in the lens and checking. Godfrey
Re: Printing myself my photos ...
Interesting. I really do not have 450 euros for a R1800 :( What about 1290S ? R800 would a good alternative. A pity those A3 printers are so expensive :'( -- Thibouille -- *ist-D,Z1,SFXn,SuperA,KX,MX, P30t and KR-10x ...
