Re: K-7 - check ricehigh blog, folks... photos and specs...
So - what are the perceived strengths weaknesses? Strengths, as I see them: o Metal body shell o 4-channel sensor readout (faster; lower noise) o High-ISO performance (I've only got a K10D ..) o 100% viewfinder (0.92X) o 1/8000 top speed o 5+ fps, 14-frame buffer (40 frame for JPEG) o More dedicated controls o 3 640x480 rear screen o Multi-Pattern metering (assuming the firmware is good) o Faster, more accurate AF (ditto) o Battery Grip can accept AAs. Weakness: o Only 1/180 flash sync? The Pz-1p managed 1/250. o Doesn't (apparently) share batteries with the K10D Don't care: o Live View o Low-temperature operation (how do the batteries do?) o Movie mode (only 720p, though) o In-camera image manipulation (including HDR) I hate to say it, but *YAWN*... Just about every improvement to this camera over the K20D that I can see is due to the 720p HD video capability. Faster sensor readout, larger and higher resolution rear screen, faster AF, better (possibly dual?) batteries, etc. I think still cameras and video cameras have requirements different enough to have different form factors, so it's a square-peg trying to fit into a round hole. ... that said it'll probalby sell like hotcakes (seeing as how I don't really give a sh*t). To each their own, but to me the best thing about this camera is that it will cause the K20D prices (with roughly identical IQ and operating qualities for the way I shoot) to drop. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, PPSEL-IA* * Research Associate, Vibrations and Acoustics Laboratory * * Mechanical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Lens repair advice sought
Hey guys. I've got a DA* 16-50mm that's got a loose front element where the hood snaps on. I suspect something in one of the helical screws might be worn or broken. Any thoughts on how much a repair like that might cost and where to send it? Thanks -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, PPSEL-IA* * Research Associate, Vibrations and Acoustics Laboratory * * Mechanical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Lens repair advice sought
On Fri, 15 May 2009, Paul Stenquist wrote: Are you sure the front element is loose rather than just the hood retainer ring? The hood ring of my DA*16-50 is a bit loose, but the front element is solid. Look carefully. Paul I've removed the hood, and the final element is still a bit loose. In fact, occasionally, it will click when transitioning somewhere between 20 to 28mm. Is this a $50 repair, or a $500 repair? -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, PPSEL-IA* * Research Associate, Vibrations and Acoustics Laboratory * * Mechanical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Trading resolution for depth of field
On Tue, 7 Apr 2009, Paul Stenquist wrote: This is a simple issue. Bob is speaking of perceived depth of filed on a viewed print. JCO is speaking of critical depth of field in respect to the ability of a given lens to resolve detail. Both are correct, but each is discussing an entirely different matter. Let it go. ... but as I'm sure we will discover, only one is correct. ;-) -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, PPSEL-IA* * Research Associate, Vibrations and Acoustics Laboratory * * Mechanical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: histograms
On Fri, 27 Feb 2009, Ken Waller wrote: Better still if you look at the individual R G B channels ! Kenneth Waller http://www.tinyurl.com/272u2f ... and for some shots, a log-histogram. Think full moon taking up 10% of a frame's area. no idea if the moon's exposed correctly, completely blown out, or underexposed. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, PPSEL-IA* * Research Associate, Vibrations and Acoustics Laboratory * * Mechanical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Amusing square-format dSLR rumor
JC O'Connell As you wish, JC. AS YOU WISSHHH! :) -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, PPSEL-IA* * Research Associate, Vibrations and Acoustics Laboratory * * Mechanical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Amusing square-format dSLR rumor
Oh, c'mon now. Next thing you'll be telling us that a square is a rhombus, or a trapezoid. I (somewhat) hate adding to this pedantism, but a square can be accurately called - A rectangle with equal-length sides - A rhombus with 90 degree corners - A trapezoid that has (the required) two parallel sides, as well as two more (optionally) parallel sides.[1] [1] Possibly not, as sometimes, the definition of a trapezoid requires *exactly* two parallel sides, not *at least* two parallel sides. Characteristics being sufficient does not mean necessary nor vice versa. :-) -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, PPSEL-IA* * Research Associate, Vibrations and Acoustics Laboratory * * Mechanical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: FF pentax DSLR
Pentax has offer camera systems that keep up with the photo marketplace, not just their own current lens lineups... Oh, God bugger a moose. Mmmm Moose... :) -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, PPSEL-IA* * Research Associate, Vibrations and Acoustics Laboratory * * Mechanical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
RE: *ist DS storage question
I've had some experience with NiMH and a good battery charger with my -DS although no Eneloops (yet). I've had two different batches of cheap, no-name batt (Powerizer?), and a couple sets of Energizer. I've got a LaCross BC-900 charger so I can accurately see how they perform and charge/discharge them correctly. Bottom line is that the camera (at least the -DS) is *VERY* dependent on battery voltage. It will crap out and refuse to operate once the loaded voltage goes too low... where too low is NOT the 1.0Vpc that is typically used to measure cell capacity, and loaded is the relatively large current the electronics draw when the camera is turned on. Look at the second plot in the link you sent. If the camera says any battery less than 1.2V is dead, then no-name will have 800mAH and Eneloop 1400mAH. In fact, if the threshold is anything more than 1.1V, the higher (under load) voltage of the Eneloops will be superior to the no-name. Most electric devices crap out WAY before the minimum threshold voltage of a dead NiMH cell... the only time you get the rated capacity is under testing on the bench, or using devices that don't shut off (flashlights, etc). Oh, and the continual trickle charge is not necessarily the best way to keep batteries in good health. It can grow metalized whiskers within the cell and shows up as voltage depression... effectively reduced capacity. -Cory On Tue, 6 Jan 2009, JC OConnell wrote: never mind, I looked it up myself, as you can see, even sanyo's own regular nimh batteries have far superior capacity on a full charge than their own eneloopes: http://www.eneloop.info/home/performance-details/capacity.html So what does this mean, well if you use your batteries within a couple months of charging the eneloops will run out of energy quicker than regular nimh batteries. the only advantage of using eneloops is if you charge and then dont use for two months or more. By then the self discharge of the regular nimh will have equalized to the the lower capacity of the eneloops have in the first place when fully charged. So, unless you actully wait 2 months to use the eneloops after charging, they are inferior, not superior to regular nimh for what a battery does which is store ususable energy. JC O'Connell hifis...@gate.net -Original Message- From: pdml-boun...@pdml.net [mailto:pdml-boun...@pdml.net] On Behalf Of JC OConnell Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2009 8:45 PM To: 'Pentax-Discuss Mail List' Subject: RE: *ist DS storage question yup, far superior if you value charging but not using your batteries for months later. BTW, do these eneloops have as much capacity in mAH as other nimh batteries or not? JC O'Connell hifis...@gate.net -Original Message- From: pdml-boun...@pdml.net [mailto:pdml-boun...@pdml.net] On Behalf Of Bruce Walker Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2009 6:50 PM To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List Subject: Re: *ist DS storage question Brian Walters wrote: Re rechargeable batteries. It's been said before here but worth repeating that Sanyo Eneloops are far superior to most other rechargeables. Uh, oh. Fire in the hole! :-) -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, PPSEL-IA* * Research Associate, Vibrations and Acoustics Laboratory * * Mechanical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: PESO - Lake Louise redux
OK... I finally dug up the slide, and found a method of transferring it to the digital realm. Using a moldy-old Asahi Pentax Bellows II slide copier and a yellowed 50/1.4, I got this transfer: http://filebox.ece.vt.edu/~papenfuss/imgp9826_1024x768.jpg (full-sized 1.4MB here) http://filebox.ece.vt.edu/~papenfuss/imgp9826.jpg Again, quality is rather craptacular, but for glacier comparison, it might be useful. It was taken in mid-June, 1986. Of course now that I look at them all, I can't see much of a difference. It's barely a glacier anyway, and difficult to discern from just the regular snowfields. Oh well... -Cory On Mon, 8 Dec 2008, ann sanfedele wrote: Ok I found one slide - not the sharpest for sure, but for examining glaciation it should work -- http://annsan.smugmug.com/gallery/4796533_saNpx#433183950_CqCKP-A-LB I'm going to dig up the Athabasca Glacier pix... from 1976 and then 1992 (and they were both in the Spring - wait, no, maybe I have one from 1989 too, in the fall anyway... intersting to make comparissons... I'm only showing this fuzzy thingy for the sake of the environment ann -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, PPSEL-IA* * Research Associate, Vibrations and Acoustics Laboratory * * Mechanical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: PESO: My Sorry Lake Louise
On Mon, 8 Dec 2008, ann sanfedele wrote: I was comparing the two for the amount of glaciation left ... made me think I should dig out my 1976 shot from the same angle... I was there in June of that year, so the comparison for that purpose to Jack's is more apt... But the startling glacier receding shots of mine are comparing 1976 with 1992 at the Athabasca Glacier at Jasper. Does anyone have a recent shot of it to share? ann I must admit, I was considering digging out my 1986 shot to check the same thing. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, PPSEL-IA* * Research Associate, Vibrations and Acoustics Laboratory * * Mechanical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: FS Friday: GPS receiver(s)
On Fri, 22 Aug 2008, Paul Sorenson wrote: Depends a lot upon what GPS unit he's relying upon. I certainly wouldn't try it with my Garmin Etrex. ;} OTOH, a friend, to whom I give instrument dual instruction occasionally, has an auto-pilot coupled Garmin, certified for vertical guidance, installed in his Comanche. You can let the electronics shoot an approach down to 200 ft and it's right on the money. -p That's the difference right there. A WAAS VNAV-certified GPS has a specific approach programmed into it relative to the GPS-derived altitude solution. That's a whole different beast than comparing indicated pressure-derived altitude to just general GPS-derived altitude while in cruise. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, PPSEL-IA* * Research Associate, Vibrations and Acoustics Laboratory * * Mechanical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: FS Friday: GPS receiver(s)
That's also the way to set up the pressure altimeter in a GPS receiver. Here's a decent article about GPS satellite-based altitude: http://gpsinformation.net/main/altitude.htm I love the last line: Those who use GPS altitude to aid in landing their small plane should have their insurance policies paid up at all times. As a pilot, I've heard lots of other pilots questioning the discrepancy between the altimeter and GPS. It's two main factors... the difference between the mathematical model of the earth the GPS uses (not spherical) being one, but the non-standard pressure lapse rate with altitude. That's primarily due to non-standard temperature, but can be affected by other things such as windshear with winds aloft. Of course the GPS must also support manually entering the current barometric altimeter setting or else the resulting barometric reading is crap. (e.g. standard day is 29.92 inHg, but good-weather high might be 30.30 inHg) Pilots deal with this more often then most hikers since they often fly higher than most hikers, and also fly through weather systems (rather than hikers waiting for weather systems to pass them). One interesting tidbit that's taught to pilots in Alaska and Canada but not in the rest of the US deals with cold-weather compass errors. Consider a pilot beginning a long descent to an airport at low elevation, but there's high terrain along the way. The colder the weather is from standard (e.g. arctic conditions) and the higher the terrain is above the airport, the more inaccurate the pressure altimeter is relative to *true* (i.e. not hitting the rocks) altitude shown on aeronautical charts. Most of the times it's not an issue, but it can be under the right circumstances. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, PPSEL-IA* * Research Associate, Vibrations and Acoustics Laboratory * * Mechanical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: PESO: Cool Down
Is that high-speed sync flash? Seems impossible with straight flash. -Cory On Sat, 2 Aug 2008, Paul Stenquist wrote: The light was hot and overhead, but the moment was too good to miss. I was able to squash some of the hard light with flash fill: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=7628515size=lg Paul I've tried posting this several times. I hope they don't all show up:-) -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, PPSEL-IA* * Research Associate, Vibrations and Acoustics Laboratory * * Mechanical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
RE: The Big Picture
In which case you would expect white balls. Black ones would be expected to heat the water up. I've heard that the additive to many plastics that make them UV-stable is black. A friend of mine just bought a used modular plastic dock for their house on the lake. The friggin' thing is impossible to walk on in the sunlight because it get so hot (black for UV reasons). -Cory * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, PPSEL-IA* * Research Associate, Vibrations and Acoustics Laboratory * * Mechanical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Tired of Correcting Auto Focus
On Fri, 6 Jun 2008, Gonz wrote: Speaking of split screen focusing aids, look at this ebay listing: http://tinyurl.com/3goxz7 They even give you finger condoms! I've seen the cheaper ones on ebay (finally!), but haven't seen the justification for replacing the one I made myself from filing down a full-sized screen. This one has a diagonal split prism though, so I might just go for it. My old P30T had diagonal and always though it was the most useful orientation for a split prism (either a H or V line in subject will work). -Cory * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, PPSEL-IA* * Research Associate, Vibrations and Acoustics Laboratory * * Mechanical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Zenitar 16mm PK
On Mon, 3 Mar 2008, Charles Robinson wrote: On Mar 3, 2008, at 17:06, Timber wrote: Charles Robinson wrote: Zenitar 16mm Could you share your opinion about this lens? I am planning to buy one MC Zenitar f2.8 16mm and any comment would be welcomed. The best would be if you can link some PEF files with this lens :D I have no PEF files with it, sorry. I REALLY loved this lens when I used it on film. I became less-than- excited about it on Digital. I kept reading over and over how many people enjoyed it, and I just wasn't feeling the excitement. But I decided to try it out more and more often, just to see if I was missing something. After about a year of fiddling around with it, I *do* get in the mood to grab it every now and then to capture a tight spot. Most of the bendy photos on this page are from the Zenitar http://charles.robinsontwins.org/photos/2008/kitchen_wall/ And when I'm in a small space like a two-seat airplane, it's handy for self-portraits: http://charles.robinsontwins.org/photos/2008/SanFrancisco/pages/page_79.html So it's gone from being a lens I LOVE to a lens which is convenient from time to time. I no longer want to get rid of it, like I was planning on doing about a year ago. -Charles I got this lens for my -DS after reading all about it online. I agree that it's not quite as exciting as a fisheye with the 1.5x crop. It's more like a regular ultra-wide with bad barrel distortion. Since it's the fastest wide I've got however, I tend to use it for that when light's low. Besides, with the panotools, it's not too hard to convert from fisheye to rectilinear if you can't handle it for a shot. It's fairly heavy, has a somewhat exposed front element, and has a tendency to flare in bad situations. Since nobody provided a PEF, I've got one available. This one was taken in pretty challenging conditions of flat lighting under a canopy. You can see some flare and CA where the bright sky goes through the canopy. I've also included the same image converted to a rectilinear projection via panotools. This was probably taken about f/8. http://filebox.ece.vt.edu/~papenfuss/imgp1714_small.jpg http://filebox.ece.vt.edu/~papenfuss/imgp1714.jpg http://filebox.ece.vt.edu/~papenfuss/imgp1714_rectilinear.jpg http://filebox.ece.vt.edu/~papenfuss/imgp1714.pef.zip Cheers, -Cory * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: OT: ROTFLMAO
Bah... If there were snakes like that around my place the photo in the story would be me holding up a snake with thousands of shotgun pellets lodged in it's head. My family's protection at my home trumps your endangered species... Now.. lets see if we can find a python recipe online somewhere... I think they taste like chicken :) -Cory * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Lunar Eclipse Picture
Excellent! We had clouds for the entire duration of the eclipse. Of course, later on, after it was over, we had clear skies. Grrr. Yeah, I was all set up with 400/5.6 + 2x, but throughout the totality we were also overcast in totality. I got a couple minute window about halfway back through a hole in the clouds. All I got was this snapshot: http://computing.ece.vt.edu/~papenfuss/imgp8603_small.jpg Barely distinguishable from a normal moon. :( -Cory * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Meal preparation under way...
Must have: Full K-Mount support. Didn't think you gave a sh*t about this, Will. * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: PESO: Ahhhh...
Beer is on my mind this weekend. A friend and I conducted a beer tasting last evening (a church auction item), focusing on British beers. Alas all of them were bottled, except for my homebrew. Today, I cooked up a new batch of bitter, and it is now in the fermenter. Nothing like a good homebrew. I brewed up a batch of American imperial toasted oatmeal stout this weekend. It had just shy of 19 pounds of grain for a 5-gallon batch... should be sweet and finish at about 11% ABV. Cheers, -Cory * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Pentax presentation - K20D feature (serious comment this time)
I'd like a camera that uses UTC correctly. Just like a computer (runnsing and OS other than Microsoft), I should be able to set the clock to UTC and specify which timezone I'm in. Setting hardware clocks to timezone-specific values is stupid for anything other than non-mobile objects. Between travelling and daylight-savings time, it's ugly to keep track in post-processing. -Cory On Fri, 25 Jan 2008, Stan Halpin wrote: Commenting on my own comment... (Is that like mumbling to yourself?) Anyway, now that we have the flexible file naming, what I want next is the ability to write to the Location field in the IPTC file. stan On Jan 24, 2008, at 11:48 PM, Stan Halpin wrote: Haven't seen anybody comment yet on the one feature many of us have asked for - in camera customizable file names. If I am on vacation, moving from small town to small town around Lago di Garda, I know that I will just have time to dump the files onto a portable drive that evening and it will be a real pain to reconstruct where I was when, I would probably use that feature often. It wasn'tclear ow flexible the feature was, but they did show a full a-z virtual keyboard... stan -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Popular Photography posts K20D first looks
On Thu, 24 Jan 2008, Thibouille wrote: They advertise 230.000 but it seems Pentax doesn't count the same way as others so we'll have to wait for reviews or first hand experience to know exactly. One of the links said 230k, but said that each location had individual RGB pixels. Kinda like Foveon in reverse. Probably necessary to get the wide viewing angle, but I'm sure it makes it looks really high-res. -Cory * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Popular Photography posts K20D first looks
I bet there's no aperture simulator though. Very impressive camera. If it had that, I'd pay to upgrade tomorrow. Without it, I'll still have to think about it. -Cory * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: OT: The modern world confuses me
As a sometimes Linux user, I agree with Cory re The Gimp. Cinepaint does do 16 bit editing but it has that Gimp interface :-( That *OLD* Gimp interface. It's got GTK-1.x interface as opposed to the Gimpe 2.x stuff with the newer. Less irritating to use and less clunky. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: OT: The modern world confuses me
Oh, it is possible, but I seriously doubt you were using anything particularly close to a commonly-available X Server. Probably running Matrox cards with proprietary X Servers (which would be necessary to get colour management in X) or possibly a commercial X distribution in its entirety. I'm primarily speaking about any base Linux distro running stock X servers. Maybe so on the proprietary X-server, but regular xorg and xfree86 support color management. About the only thing the OS needs to do is load the VGCT gamma ramp... there are utilities that will do that in X... *with* multiple heads. The other bits of color management are simply providing a means to reference a specific one at the application level. X doesn't support that, but the applications that support color management (like Cinepaint) do. With that, you can soft-proof for you printer on your calibrated monitor, etc. It's tedious, but not a whole lot moreso than just the need to understand profiles and what they do (and *don't*) mean. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Christmas Spirit
little. Cold single malt is a better experience than room temperature scotch. IMMHO... Heathen. :) -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Rechargeable batteries and chargers
I find the Energizer rechargeables to be terrible at holding a charge. (I've tried some Duracells, too, but they appear to be even worse). They're so bad that I too switched to using Energizer Lithiums, but that brings its own set of problems. In my *ist D the initial drain when I first switch the camera on after three days of non-use is so high that the battery voltage drops, causing the *ist D to register 'half power'. I also get that indication (and, in some cases, the 'low battery' indicator) quite often during shooting sessions. I rarely had those kind of problems when I was using my old Ray-O-Vac rechargeables (although in those days I had the battery grip mounted, with batteries in it and in the camera), so when about ten days ago I saw 2500mAh Ray-O-Vacs in the local hardware store I picked up a set to try them out. So far they have been problem free, so I may well pick up another pack or two and switch back to rechargeables. You must have a bad cell in your set of Energizers. I've been using a set of 2500's very happily now... a few hundred shots from them a month after charging them. I've got a LaCrosse BC-900 charger so I can cycle them and see how much they *actually* provide. Highly recommended. One set of 4 batteries I bought had 3 good, and 1 that would only get up to about 1/2 the capacity of others... even after a number of charge/discharge cycles to bring them up. Must be bad quality control on that one. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: OT: The modern world confuses me
Even if you start with an 8 bit image, it's best to make it 16 bit before making any adjustments--that way, you're not clamping values at each step. The original point was, there's no way to do this in Gimp. There is software that does do it on linux now. I would expect gimp to have it soon. As an avid Linux user, I can say that Gimp blows chunks. Completely useless for any serious photographic editing. No color more than 8 bits, and no color management. I recently bought an old DTP-92 which works with Argyll color management under linux. Hopefully I'll be able to run a full calibrated workflow now with Cinepaint, lprof, and Argyll. Since I don't do any more editing than RAW conversion with WB, levels, and curves, Cinepaint should be adequate. Linux is *very* immature WRT color management (and thus by definition realy photo editing). -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: OT: The modern world confuses me
On Sun, 23 Dec 2007, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The agency I worked at in he eighties had a mix of Macs and Power Computing clones. The clones were always problematic, and they eventually ended up on the trash heap. it was Apple's idea to license the op sys to clones. It didn't work, and they went back to being exclusive. Looking at the stock price and the market penetration, I'd say it was a very good choice. Paul -- Original message -- From: Polyhead [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Sat, 22 Dec 2007 21:07:06 + I was a pretty big mac guy at the time of the clones. As I recall they primarily killed the clones because they were losing their shirt by the clones cannibalizing their marketshare. Clones were very price-competitive with PC's at the time especially on the high-end. Apple's high-end machines have always been priced very high (and generally not perform to match the price). They've always made their money on hardware, not software but their software is what makes them unique. As far as the incompatibilities, that's the way PCs in general are when you don't have control over both the hardware and software. Look at winders. I'm still anxiously watching to see how the Hackintosh stuff pans out. (running MacOS-X on non-Apple PC's). -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: OT: The modern world confuses me
snip very interesting insider's look at Apple history Apple hardware today is the best it's ever been and a good value for dollar. The fact that you can use it to run three operating systems (Mac OS X, Linux and Windows), all with screaming performance and high reliability, makes it unique in todays computer market. Mac OS X today is a very strong, robust, richly featured operating system, designed and implemented for at least a twenty year development life. I basically stopped being a mac person when I started playing with Linux and realized I could have a real OS that performed really well on inexpensive hardware I could assemble myself. I was tired of being jerked around with my powermac (7100) having been promised an updated OS and having it get delayed and ultimately cancelled. When OSX finally came out, I'd moved to generic white box PC's. Anymore, I find the proprietary OS's (Windows AND MacOS-X) confining anyway. Having played with the MacOS-X recently, it's definately very nice I really like NeXTStep, and love what it's become. I see absolutely no point to the hackintosh stuff. It was *easy* to run Mac OS X on generic Intel PC boxes when we were building it ... I was directly involved in that project from 1999 to 2004, in various capacities ... and to anyone with good engineering skills it would not be difficult to backwards engineer it and make it run. But why buy into substandard hardware and suffer all the crap that buying cheap-ass PC junk implies? Not all PCs are junk. If one is handy, spec'ing out a machine and building it from quality components can result in a machine that has better performance than anything from Apple. Lots of effort, and you lose the best part of MacOS (shit just *working*!). Besides, Apple will fight a commercial effort of this sort tooth and nail, and they have the financial resources to smash it flat. Godfrey My tinfoil-hat part of me hopes they figure a way to leverage the hardware-agnostic ability of MacOS to smash the steaming pile of shit that is Windows. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Watch that white balance, folks!
On Fri, 21 Dec 2007, Mark Roberts wrote: Ken Waller wrote: White balance is such a basic part of a digital workflow, it makes me think the the originator of the image must be a newby. Very likely. It also looked to me as if the photo had been shot as a JPEG (probably on automatic white balance), and to many JPEG shooters, white balance *isn't* a basic part of their digital workflow. ... and if you shoot JPEG, it really *has* to be. That's one of the main reasons I shoot RAW for pretty much everything. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: PESO - A view of Denali
Very impressive shot. Did you win the lottery to drive into the park? How long were you there before you got a clear shot? I gotta get back there to try to see it clear sometime... -Cory On Thu, 20 Dec 2007, Ken Waller wrote: Please check out http://mypeoplepc.com/members/kwaller/offwallphoto/id2.html Taken with PZ1P, 70-210mm SCMP F, Velvia @ 50. Comments appreciated. Kenneth Waller http://www.tinyurl.com/272u2f . -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Interesting DSLR comparison at dpreview.com
On Sat, 15 Dec 2007, David J Brooks wrote: On Dec 15, 2007 2:25 PM, Thibouille [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Boris, I really think some reviews (rare ones) are truely useful, complete and objective as one can be. However DpReview (notthe onl site of course but it is very good example) typically proves the guys running it are either incompetent (which I beleive) are a lot more interested in the revenues the site generates (also the case for DpR). I decided their reviews are useless as reviews a long time ago. They're good at enumerating and comparing published specifications between different brands/models, but that's about it. Their choices on test shots are rather poor (JPEG? Kit lens?), although this recent one appears to use a good prime and RAW. According to them, *EVERY* camera they review is a must-buy, great camera. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: 50mm bokeh (was - Re: f1.8)
I've found that for shots without harsh lighting that will cause flare, the K50/1.4 performs well wide-open, with a nice bokeh. It's not so good at flare-prone shots (e.g. photo of city lights at night flying from above) Here's one of mumsy in overcast forrest conditions in Alaska... IIRC it was either f/1.4 or f/2 http://filebox.ece.vt.edu/~papenfuss/0709-20_19_58-imgp2227.jpg -Cory On Wed, 7 Nov 2007, Cotty wrote: Sorry - resent with better subject. Speaking of bokeh on 50mm's - I've just enabled myself with a K50mm f1.4 - anyone know if this lens is a decent performer? I intend to use it on a 2x crop camera, so effective FOV will be about the same as a 100mm lens on 35mm film. Probably used pretty wide open. Any comments? Not you Peter. -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Creating photo website in linux
I use this: http://www.armandocaro.net/software/ It's pretty slick in that all you have to do is run it in a directory of photos, and it'll generate everything more or less automatically. Also, it makes flat HTML files, rather than automated php, database, etc, etc really simple/fast to host. -Cory On Mon, 5 Nov 2007, Bran Everseeking wrote: Any one have a program that they love and adore for the purpose of creating a photo gallery website under Linux? Once upon a time I would do code in a text editor but I have grown dumb and lazy. Bran -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: More stream power
On Tue, 6 Nov 2007, Bill Owens wrote: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=200851nseq=10 Not my photo, but a classic steam locomotive built at the Norfolk and Western shops in Roanoke, VA. It was built in 1950 and was arguably the most efficient steam engine ever built. Bill Very classy. I'm somewhat ignorant of the locomotive evolution, but the railyard of Roanoke, VA is still clearly visible from the air still. I fly over it occasionally, and the multitude of tracks in the switchyard is rather impressive. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: PESO - The Barmaid
Did you read the enjoyable beer article in the NYT last week? http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/24/dining/24pour.html?_r=1oref=slogin Very encouraging to read of the double-digit growth in the craft beer market in the US. Really tremendous opportunity to bring good beer to the general public. Although I've only been homebrewing for a bit over two years, I've got many dozens of sucessful batches I've enjoyed in that time. Although I haven't done the true cask ale, my kegerator is set to 50 degrees F, and carbonation is low for pretty much everything except the Weissbier. On tap now: - Bavarian Weiss - Imperial American IPA (clone of Stone IPA) - American Rye pale ale - Export Scottish Ale - Oatmeal molasses imperial sweet stout Secondary fermenting: - Strong Scottish Ale - American harvest holiday ale (pumpkin, corn, rye, and spices) - Hard apple cider Primary fermenting: - Dry American west-coast stout - German-style extra-special-bitter Cheers (*HIC*), -Cory :) -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Halloween and the Curse of Cheap Glass
To my eyes it looks as though the bear shot is focussed on the dandelions in front of the bears; the animals themselves look a little soft (photographically, not physically!). Yes, the focus is a bit off... MF beast. Had to shoot wide-open due to hand-holding out the truck window. One *more* situation where I lusted after the anti-shake not present in my -DS. :) -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Halloween and the Curse of Cheap Glass
On Fri, 26 Oct 2007, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Thanks Dave. I had the K at one time as well. It was quite good but wouldn't focus close enough to shoot birds. When the D came out, I figured I should sell it and buy an A. That gave me both much closer focus and full auto metering. I think I sold the K for $300 and bought the A for $400. Not a bad exchange. Paul -- Original message -- A good lens for the money, to be sure. I've got a Takumar version of it that pulled this off last summer: http://filebox.ece.vt.edu/~papenfuss/imgp7713.jpg I'd like to get a decent doubler to do another moonshot. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Halloween and the Curse of Cheap Glass
On Fri, 26 Oct 2007, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Excellent. Hope there was a fence between you and that critter. With film, you're still a little short for moon shots with the 400 and a 2X converter. You'd have a pretty heavy crop. A 600 and a 2X would get you in the ballpark. Paul Actually, no there was no fence, it was a real sow brown bear with cub, alongside the road to Haines, Alaska. There were some idiots in a car in front of us who'd gotten out of the car, but the one I was in was running and in gear. When I looked at the lens focussing ring, her eyeballs indicated 70 feet away. :) -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Next move from Pentax: hints about sensor for next camera(s)
Oh, possibly. But the point is that two megapixels *alone* won't do anything - there has to be more to it. Lower noise would count :) I don't expect Pentax to go full-frame yet but I certainly hope they don't try to cram more than 10 MP into an APS-C sensor. A 1.2-1.3 crop would suit me fine. I don't remember the particular of the comment, but I thought at one point someone had said that the cropped lenses (DA, etc) could probably cover a 1.3 crop. Maybe not with SR? The flip side is that with a 1.2/1.3 crop, FF lenses could still definately utilize SR. With a true FF, they may not be able to... especially on long focal length. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Next move from Pentax: anyone in the know (even under NDA) ?
On Tue, 16 Oct 2007, Gonz wrote: emacs. unless i absolutely have to send a doc, then MS word. If someone *requires* a Word doc, I'll embed a TIF of my LaTeX document into Word. Word is used as the wrong tool for so many jobs it's incredible. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Katz Eye Split prism screen
On Tue, 16 Oct 2007, P. J. Alling wrote: It probably interfers with spot metering more than anything else. Steve Desjardins wrote: While I'm think of it, does anyone have one of these? I seem to remember that is created some metering problems, but I'm not sure where I heard this. http://www.katzeyeoptics.com/item--Katz-Eye-Focusing-Screen-for-the-Pentax-K10D--prod_K10D.html ... and stop-down metering with old lenses. -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Next move from Pentax: anyone in the know (even under NDA) ?
On Tue, 16 Oct 2007, Adam Maas wrote: Actually it's just ingrained muscle memory, years of having to use vi while maintaining services on Unix machines means that the basic editing commands are pretty much automatic. vi is ideal for that use, it's lightweight and everything has it. I still :wq on a regular basis in just about every other editor/word processor. If you want punishment, use emacs. All the weight of Word, none of the Eye Candy. The way I think of it is that emacs is so configurable in so many ways, that it's impossible to configure it at all. Besides, Lisp has a dribbling lisp of parenthesis... Vi is evil, and I often wish I'd had to learn it. :) -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Next move from Pentax: anyone in the know (even under NDA)?
On Tue, 16 Oct 2007, Steve Desjardins wrote: Let's see: 1. Word Processing software 2. Political orientations 3. Sci Fi quotes 4. Some discussion of DSLR design. 5. Some name calling Yep, typical PDML thread. VBG DAMN! My email client ordered them wrong so you beat me to it! -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Next move from Pentax: anyone in the know (even under NDA) ?
Wow. Impressive thread. Let me know if I missed any controversies: - WR vs. JCO AND WR+JCO vs PDML. - Sensor sizes defying physical laws - Whether Pentax will ever release a FF-DSLR - Canikon vs. Pentax - Emacs vs. VI - Firefox vs. Internet Exploiter - Policitcal conservatism vs. liberalism. - Mac vs. PC. - A fish pun thread What'd I miss? -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Next move from Pentax: anyone in the know (even under NDA) ?
That's 2.3 stops to 100%. On Mon, 15 Oct 2007, Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote: The active photosite area in the K10D sensor is around 20-30% of the chip area. There's a long ways to go before we get anywhere near a 100% efficient collector surface... G On Oct 15, 2007, at 7:55 AM, Bob Sullivan wrote: The critical question I have for this sensor arguement is what portion the chip is actively engaged in light gathering. 75%, 85%, 95%? I think you guys are dancing around the issue without addressing it. We can all agree that no sensor can gather 110% of the light falling on it. So what is technology at today? -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: First Try with Astro Photography
Do you have an example of such an elaborate photograph somewhere online? Sounds pretty nifty. -Cory On Tue, 4 Sep 2007, Bob Blakely wrote: Interesting. The chromatic aberration produced by the lens can clearly be seen. This would not have been evident if the moon were properly exposed - but then you wouldn't have recorded any of the sisters. For stars, nebulae, etc. (not the moon) at high magnification: The following requires a properly aligned equatorial mount with sidereal tracking, a ref converter with as much magnification as you can get and the entire night in a dark area. I: put on a green filter, focus, take many exposures, put on a red filter, focus, take many exposures, put on a blue filter, focus, take many exposures, then I triple size each of them. then I register stack each color separately, then I import them into Photoshop, then I zero the red the blue in the green image, then I zero the green the blue in the red image, then I zero the red the green in the blue image, I do this because the filters aren't perfect... Then I combine them, Then I balance them for white on the brightest star - unless I want to accentuate something. It's a lot of work, takes an unbelievable amount of time, but carefully done, it kills the chromatic aberration, reduces noise, sharpens the image and brings out things that would not otherwise be seen. There's probably a much better way to do this, and astronomers out there can probably help, but this does work. Regards, Bob... Life isn't like a box of chocolates . . it's more like a jar of jalapenos. What you do today, might burn your butt tomorrow. - Original Message - From: Beaker [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi Group- Took a stab at astrophotography last night. First try overexposed the moon, but got the Pleiades. Then found a good exposure for the moon. Stopped while I was still ahead... It was prime focus with a Stellarvue AT1010. (80 mm, f/6 acromat, and Pentax K100D) http://www.flickr.com/photos/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/1314752257/in/ set-72157594414463840/ -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: I Hate My *ist D - Eclipse Photos
On Thu, 30 Aug 2007, Brian Walters wrote: Hi Cory Thanks - I use Linux as well (dual boot with win XP) but compiling from source is something I've never quite come to grips with. I always tend to get masses of errors and missing dependencies. Both Irfanview and Studioline allow the user to tweak the dcraw settings. I'm not quite sure how they relate to what you have done but I'll give it a try. With the dcraw command-line, the settings are probably the -k and -b options. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Viewfinder Free Zone
On Wed, 29 Aug 2007, David Savage wrote: On 8/29/07, Cory Papenfuss [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On of my favorite fisheye self-portraits. http://filebox.ece.vt.edu/~papenfuss/PESO/7/ Definately viewfinder-free. That's a good un' alright. FE's are good for that. Cheers, Dave Thanks. The only thing I *don't* like about it is that there's no way to know if I'm actually flying (which I was), or posing on the ramp on the ground. Oh well, I know the truth. :) -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: I Hate My *ist D - Eclipse Photos
On Tue, 28 Aug 2007, Tom C wrote: Thanks. Maybe I'll call them and see what it will cost. While I can believe my 3 year old *ist D has a problem I can't believe the crap that came out of the *ist DS. http://photo.net/photodb/presentation.tcl?presentation_id=355761 The first is ISO 800 f/1.8 for 6 seconds. The second is a straight up Milky Way shot, ISO 800, f/1.8, 20 seconds. I'm wondering if this might not be an irfanview conversion problem with these (PC with Photoshop crashed). Tom C. There are two possible reasons that I can think of for what I see here... 1: Irfanview is based on dcraw for its RAW conversion. I've had issues with dcraw in doing starry-night conversions because of the way it decides on the white point. By default, I think it chooses the white point at the luminosity of the 99th percentile of the photo. Thus, by default, 1% of the pixels are blown out. I've changed that setting on my version of it a few times to make it 99.9th or 99.99th percentile for star photos. Works great. 2: The problem with star photos and the DSLRs is that the histogram cannot be set to logrithmic. When over 99% of the pixels are *SUPPOSED* to be black, you cannot tell if the 1% that are white are anywhere near exposed properly because the don't even show up on the histogram. It looks like you might have a combination of the two. Try the RAW conversion again, but make sure it doesn't add a bunch of brightness to it. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: I Hate My *ist D - Eclipse Photos
I hate my *ist D. I stayed up until 5:15 AM taking eclipse photos. The first several within 20 minutes of when the eclipse started look OK, though that was not the fabulous part of the evening(morning). However, the camera quickly became noisy (electronic noise), even at short exposures ISO 400 and 1/500 sec. All with Tokina 500 f/8 mirror lens. Of course it was at its absolute worst during totality. One shot for some reason was less noisy than the others, though still ruined by noise (next to the last as presented). http://photo.net/photodb/presentation.tcl?presentation_id=355756 Most shots looked good on the LCD, even when magnified to check focus, with orange hues and turquoise tones at the edge of earths shadow. All lost to noise. Some taken during totality didn't make muster because 8 - 10 sec exposures were too long and exhibited too much tracking across the frame. I'm not sure if I have a hardware problem with the camera... may be time to throw it in the trash. I've taken other aurora shots with the same body that were virtually noise free at exposures of 15 - 20 seconds. The newer *ist DS with less than 1000 shots on it was even worse, however, at ISO 800 and 2 secs. Images (not shown here) were absolutely obliterated. Looked like a Photoshop effect. Still amazing to watch. Tom C. These looks to me like not a noise problem, but a *signal* to noise problem. Again, without a useful histogram, it's difficult to know if you got the bright parts exposed to the right. By default, the RAW converters I've seen will gain up the entire image until the brightest part is bright. Some even ignore the top 1% or so of what's brightest and make the 99th percent white and blow out the top 1% For stars and such that is definately unacceptable. A good example is your http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=6356709 Re-convert from RAW so that the white part of the moon isn't blown out (assuming it wasn't in the original RAW). That'll reduce the black back down to the noise floor where it belongs. If the moon is still too bright to make out the detail in the more dimly-lit parts (but isn't blown out in the brightest), then sorry, Charlie... not enough dynamic range to capture in one shot. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Viewfinder Free Zone
On Wed, 29 Aug 2007, Digital Image Studio wrote: On 29/08/07, Cory Papenfuss [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On of my favorite fisheye self-portraits. http://filebox.ece.vt.edu/~papenfuss/PESO/7/ Definately viewfinder-free. LOL, I can identify with that: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/BigVdub/Pics/EDDIE2.jpg Excellent. It's actually almost the same plane as mine. A slightly newer year, but the same basic model. I've found fisheyes about the only way to really get wide enough to get a feeling for flying in a small plane like that. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: I Hate My *ist D - Eclipse Photos
On Wed, 29 Aug 2007, Brian Walters wrote: Quoting Cory Papenfuss [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Irfanview is based on dcraw for its RAW conversion. I've had issues with dcraw in doing starry-night conversions because of the way it decides on the white point. By default, I think it chooses the white point at the luminosity of the 99th percentile of the photo. Thus, by default, 1% of the pixels are blown out. I've changed that setting on my version of it a few times to make it 99.9th or 99.99th percentile for star photos. Works great. That's interesting. I've had a similar experience with the interpretation of Raw files in Studioline Photo Classic, a program that I use for cataloging images. It also uses dcraw. The raw conversion of photos I took some months ago of Comet McNaught are all blown out badly in the Studioline conversions. I don't quite understand the setting changes you made to Irfanview. Can you elaborate? Cheers Brian Since I'm a linux guy and compiled dcraw from Dave Coffin's C source code, I simply changed that one line to a different number. Probably doesn't help most people who use programs *based* on dcraw. The originial line of code read perc = width * height * 0.01; /* 99th percentile white point */ ... which I changed to perc = width * height * 0.001; /* 99.9th percentile white point */ or perc = width * height * 0.0001; /* 99.99th percentile white point */ I could have done it by manipulating the blackpoint and brightness settings instead, but I would have had to do that by hand. I generally run through all my RAW conversions with everything set up on auto, and only fine-tune the ones that deserve special attention. Re-compiling the source allowed me to use the same batch mode script, just have a modified dcraw good for star photos. Sorry, that probably doesn't help much. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Viewfinder Free Zone
On Wed, 29 Aug 2007, Digital Image Studio wrote: On 26/08/07, David Savage [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: G'day All, Just for chuckles: http://picasaweb.google.com.au/OzSavage/ViewfinderFreeZone (all shot with the K10D DA 16-45) Show 'em if you've got 'em. Shots made with cameras with live LCD view don't count. On of my favorite fisheye self-portraits. http://filebox.ece.vt.edu/~papenfuss/PESO/7/ Definately viewfinder-free. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: New 12MP APS-C CMOS sensor from Sony
Not quite the same, Cory. For operation of the current DSLRs, the cycle of activity starts with the mirror down, sensor initialized and ready to go. For a Live View mode, the shutter has to be closed, the sensor reset to the capture mode, and then the exposure cycle started. If in continuous capture mode, the shutter is cycled as normal and then, at end, the sensor is reset to the real time capture mode, the shutter reopened, etc etc. There are also implications regards the focusing system and several other possible system interactions involved. There are both hardware electronics and mechanical implications to all of this. It's not ... just programming ... as you casually suggested. Nor is it free. Unless there is a physical, mechanical linkage between the mirror, shutter, and focus motor (unlikely). All of that is done via software control. Thus, it in fact is, just programming. There are a lot of details to consider in such programming, but aside from writing the routines to control the sensor in live capture mode, process them quicker, and display on the screen quicker, the rest of the routines are already primarily written. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: New 12MP APS-C CMOS sensor from Sony
... Unless there is a physical, mechanical linkage between the mirror, shutter, and focus motor (unlikely). ... In Pentax DSLR cameras, the operation of the iris actuation, mirror and shutter mechanisms are mechanically linked very tightly together. The iris actuation system can operate as a partial cycle for DoF Preview, but flipping the mirror up and operating the shutter requires the complete cycle to operate. To do anything else requires a mechanical redesign. This is one of the reasons why current Pentax DSLRs support a mirror pre-fire operation but not a mirror lock up mode. The focusing system is mechanically separate. So it's not just programming. Capisco? Godfrey I stand corrected on the mechanical interconnects. Cheers, -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: New 12MP APS-C CMOS sensor from Sony
On Wed, 22 Aug 2007, Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote: With the capability of Live View and MF Assist, you have your choice to use what's appropriate when you want to, that's all. If you've never used a camera that has the facility, you can't know how it will be useful to you ... it is a paradigm shift. Regards battery life: The Panasonic L1 has a 1500 mAh rated battery. On a recent landscape shoot I used the camera on a tripod in Live View mode exclusively. I recorded about 650 exposures per fully charged battery. Without Live View enabled, I get about 750 exposures per charge. So it's fairly efficient on power management. Godfrey Not to pick nits here, but 1500mAh is not a measure of battery energy capacity unless the voltage is known. It's similar to saying My car gets 35 miles per. If the gallon are understood (e.g. AA NiMH chemistry), it's a good way of comparing similar products. If it happens to be liter, quart, cup, barrel, etc, (e.g. multiple Lithium cells stacked together), its useless in comparing capacities. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: New 12MP APS-C CMOS sensor from Sony
You excel at picking nits. It's unimportant, Cory. What's important is that the differential between shooting with the Live View enabled vs the optical finder alone is not that enormous. If the minutiae of the battery specification is that important to you, you could have looked it up easily: The Panasonic takes a CGR-S603A battery, 7.2V, rated 1500 mAh. For comparison sake, the Pentax K10D's supplied LI50 battery is 7.4V, rated 1700 mAh. My current records show that I get an average around 925 exposures per full charge with it. Godfrey Yes, I have a tendency to pick nits particularly on pet peeves. Battery misinformation is one such pet peeve. It was not a personal attack, simply pointing out that such a piece of information is useless for the point trying to be conveyed. I've never noticed significantly less life out of my -DS depending on how much I use the LCD. I personally don't see much value in live viewing on the screen, except in very rare circumstances like ground-level shooting. Without a pivotable screen though, even that is dubiously valuable. OTOH, it's basically a free addition since it doesn't require anything other than software, so I'm surprised it's taken this long to be included. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: need 1.5V button cells? Nice hack :)
On Wed, 22 Aug 2007, Thibouille wrote: http://www.wisebread.com/the-40-hidden-inside-a-12v-battery That one is funny.. even usefull for some, maybe ;) Yeah, but how many mAh? ;-) -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: need 1.5V button cells? Nice hack :)
wow, totally useful, great to know The batteries he pulled out are not suited to camera use though. The button cells that most cameras use, including all post Spotmatic Pentaxes are MS76 or DL1/3N. In a pinch, the #357 watch battery can be used, with a shorter life expectancy. Cory's question regarding mAh ratings, while sent tongue in cheek is a valid question. William Robb It was sent tongue-in-cheek in reference to the other thread where I was clarifying (arguing?) about battery capacity. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: New 12MP APS-C CMOS sensor from Sony
My apologies if stating that the battery was rated for a capacity of 1500 mAh without specifying that it is also rated at 7.2V is some enormous breach of information disclosure ethics. OTOH, it's basically a free addition since it doesn't require anything other than software, so I'm surprised it's taken this long to be included. The implementation requires a live capture mode sensor chip, which until recently could not be supported in a large sensor without high power consumption and resultant overheating, destroying image quality and shortening the lifespan of the sensor to an unusable level. And I'm ignorant of these issues. I'd imagine the CCD's are more difficult to read out this way than CMOS sensors. One doesn't need anywhere near full resolution to display on the LCD. then there is all the mechanical coordination required for a DSLR to manage the iris/mirror/shutter/exposure sequencing, It's the same mechanical coordination required for shooting normal shots. I dont' see why this is any more mechanically complicated than two shots in a row... the first one a few seconds and the second one normal. on top of the programming of capture and rendering dynamics for that live view mode. Yea, a free addition ... Again... the same thing done for the still image preview. Of course it has to be economized for video-mode, but in any event, that's software. Pointing out that doesn't require anything other than software is nonsensical isn't even a nit pick: it's just plain wrong. Godfrey Except for the live readout of the sensor I admitted I was ignorant about, the rest is either software/hardware routines already in place, or strictly software. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: K100D Shutter Release Cable
On Thu, 2 Aug 2007, P. J. Alling wrote: Yes, and you could build your own for even less. http://www.instructables.com/id/E39XW91POAEZ7C935Q/ I build a slightly smaller, ergonomic, robust, and Mac-centric version from an old mic: http://filebox.ece.vt.edu/~papenfuss/imgp0634.jpg http://filebox.ece.vt.edu/~papenfuss/imgp0635.jpg I have since labelled it with 1/2-press and full-press so as to not get confused. :) -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: PESO - By the glacier
On Fri, 20 Jul 2007, Brian Walters wrote: That looks friggin' cold, and the human doesn't seem to be dressed anywhere near warmly enough! Nicely composed image. The human figure does provide the appropriate sense of scale. Not much chance of seeing glaciers in Australia. The last one I saw was in New Zealand about 30 years ago - wonder if it's still there I just got back from Alaska last week. This guy's dress is likely appropriate for the summer, even though he's on a glacier. Juneau is normally 60-65 degrees in the summer, although it routinely gets into the mid 70's as well. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Turning fisheye pictures into rectilinear
I use it for stitching panos and for coordinate transformations (e.g. fisheye-rectilinear). http://hugin.sourceforge.net/ On Wed, 11 Jul 2007, Dario Bonazza wrote: A friend of mine is interested in obtaining rectilinear pictures from his 10-17mm fisheye zoom. Does anyone has knowledge on that? Since Pentax doesn't supply a dedicated software for making fisheye pictures look straight, which third-party software can be best used? Are there any freeware utilities available for that? Thanks Dario -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Turning fisheye pictures into rectilinear
On Wed, 11 Jul 2007, David Savage wrote: PS is OK for small distortions, but it's not so good for correcting those inherent to fisheye lenses. Sorry folks...One of my pet peeves here Fisheye lenses are no more distorted than regular rectilinear. It's just a different type of projection used to map a spherical real-world representation onto a planar object. It just so happens that under most circumstances (read: non-extreme wide angle and towards the center), the straight-lines map to straight-lines of a rectiliear projection appear more natural to people. If you look at an extreme wideangle rectilinear projection, I can assure you that it looks more distorted than a fisheye projection. I'm not saying that there's not a use for coordinate transformations, just that calling fisheye lenses distorted and rectilinear not distorted is distorted... ;-) -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Meta-GFM: Are there any *bad* microbreweries in NC?
Personally I find the lighter lagers more refreshing in the summer than heavier microbrews. I also find some of the microbrews make me feel grouchy within several minutes of drinking them. I don't know if it's a yeast sensitvity or what, but I can feel it within the first few drinks. Tom C. Lighter beers are definately more refreshing during the summer months. For me, that means a good pale ale or a weissbeer. The ole ales, wee heavies, stouts and porters are much more approprate for cooler temperatures like fall, winter, or UK. :) The big problem with American-style light lagers is that they taste best when served ice cold so that one cannot taste them anyway. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Meta-GFM: Are there any *bad* microbreweries in NC?
In the case of Budweiser, which is probably the worlds best selling commercial beer, there must be a hell of a lot of people who like the stuff. Personally, I'll take Molson Canadian over most any other beer, including the exotics. It's another of what you would consider beer for people who don't like beer, which is interesting, since I both quite like beer, and have made a couple of dozen different types. My favourite home brew is one which emulates Canadian as well. Go figure. William Robb So you like the light lager style of beer. Nothing wrong with that as it has its place (lawnmower summertime barley/rice-pop). It's just a very small part of the beer flavor spectrum with a very large part of the marketshare. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: fisheye
On Fri, 15 Jun 2007, Fiso_PENTAX wrote: Hello Cotty, http://tinyurl.com/2rnot9 150 GBP / 300 USD is that the going rate for one of these? Alternatives not considered - I'm going to hack the aperture lever off ! Cheers, Cotty One alternative, anyway :) : http://www.rugift.com/ MC Zenitar-M 2,8/16 Fisheye for Canon EOS $179 It is not pentax, but not bad either I have one in K mount. I've got one in K-mount... good lens. More flare-prone than SMC Pentax of course (especially since it's wide). Not very fish on 1.5 crop on the DSLR though. For that, I've got the Russian Peleng 8mm f/3.5. Very impressive for the money. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Meta-GFM: Are there any *bad* microbreweries in NC?
On Fri, 15 Jun 2007, Kenneth Waller wrote: I find ANY beer (except that light #@%*+)tastes good on a warm summertime day after I've just mowed the lawn! Kenneth Waller ...but a good ale shouldn't be abused by serving it ice-cold... -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Meta-GFM: Are there any *bad* microbreweries in NC?
On Tue, 12 Jun 2007, Scott Loveless wrote: Paul Stenquist wrote: I like Dogfish Head India Pale Ale. However, I'm not enough of a beer export to say that it's a true IPA. One of my favorite beers comes from a little restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan called Grizzly Peak. They brew some beer, and their Bear Paw Porter is one of the best brews I've ever had. And that includes extensive sampling of local brews in Germany and Belgium. It's rich and sweet, but that's the way I like it. Uh huh, uh huh :-). Paul On Jun 11, 2007, at 9:16 PM, Cory Papenfuss wrote: I have to plug these guys again. Flat Branch in Columbia, MO. http://www.flatbranch.com/ Get the Flat Branch Burger with mashers and wash it down with an Oil Change Stout (I don't generally like dark beers, but I always get an Oil Change when I'm there). Scott Loveless I always find it entertaining/annoying that most people categorize beer as light vs dark. The flavor of a beer often has little to do with the color. It's probably more accurately described as fizzy yellow american style lager vs any other style. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Meta-GFM: Are there any *bad* microbreweries in NC?
On Tue, 12 Jun 2007, Gonz wrote: Homebrewing could be alot of work, depending on how fanatical you are about it. But it could also be pretty easy. I still buy most of the beer I drink. I homebrew mostly for fun, not to supply me with beer. Its not economical, unless you buy cheap ingredients. The taste can be phenomenal however, even in some instances, much better than anything commercial I have ever had. The downside is that it can be time consuming, take up alot of space, and stink up your kitchen with a strong hoppy smell. Oh, of course, it can also make you buy expensive gear, much like photography. ;) I'll agree with that to some extent, but I think it deserves further clarification. It's one of the strange hobbies that costs less the more you spend. If you keep it simple and cheap, then the cost of making a good extract homebrew is probably about the same as cheap commercial beer. If you buy/build enough equipment to make an all-grain homebrew, it's often significantly cheaper per batch. Of course there's more equipment outlay, but it's not necessarily *that* expensive. Crude approximations based on the prices I've seen around here Inexpensive extract: - Basic equipment for fermenting, racking, bottling: $150 (carboys, racking/airlock equipment, 5 gallon pot, bottling equipment) - Ingredient cost for 6% beer: $35-$45/5gal (50 bottles) (7-9 lbs extract, 2-4 oz hops, yeast) Inexpensive all-grain equipment: - Additional equipment over extract: $150 (bigger pot + malt mill + mash tun) - Ingredient cost for 6% beer: $15-$20/5gal (10-12 lbs grain, 2-4oz hops, yeast) I routinely brew 7% IPA's for $10-$15 per batch. You can't even buy one case of megaswill beer for that. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Meta-GFM: Are there any *bad* microbreweries in NC?
My costs are higher, I dont use tap water (chlorine), and I buy the best beer style specific yeast I can get my hands on and dont re-use it. There are also incidentals: malt sugar to make a yeast starter + hops for that, cleaning and sterilizing supplies, propane, ice for chilling the wort down (double exchange), etc. Sure... It's not too difficult to get nickel-and-dime'd to make it more expensive. I'm somewhat of a cheap bastard, so I've tried to find the cheapest way to go without affecting quality. For instance: - Potassium metabisulfite to treat the chlorine/chloramine. Buying water sucks. - I reuse the yeast a few times (3-6 times per) to get the per-batch cost down (I also buy high-quality liquid yeast appropriate for the style). - Minimal malt sugar for starters (doesn't take much to get a *huge* population). I've had the same 5 lb bag for 9 months. Reusing the yeast cake helps there too. - I've been on the same liter of idophor for 1.5 years. - I just switched to propane, but my estimate is 4 batches per $14 fill? - Ice for chilling wort? Mustn't have cool enough tap water? Anyway, to each their own... I might cut a few corners, but I've never noticed any difference in quality. A new, fresh yeast is definately a big percentage of the expense of an all-grain batch so reusing helps. Or maybe I don't want to explain to myself the *true* cost of a batch... :) -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Meta-GFM: Are there any *bad* microbreweries in NC?
- Potassium metabisulfite to treat the chlorine/chloramine. Buying water sucks. I've found with my wine making that if I let tap water sit idle for a few days the chlorine gasses out. Don't know about chloramine though. Yeah, aerating and/or letting it sit and outgas for awhile will take care of chlorine. Not so with chloramine I don't think I think that's the point of them so they're more stable. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
RE: Meta-GFM: Are there any *bad* microbreweries in NC?
On Sat, 9 Jun 2007, Bob W wrote: I'm quite adventurous in my beer explorations. IPA is one of the few beers I don't particularly like - it's too bland. Stout is another. This makes for a difficult choice after a game of squash because the bar at my club only serves IPA and stout. A few weeks ago I found a shop which sold quite a wide range of US micro-beers, so I bought a bottle of each to try them and I was rather disappointed, to be honest. Most of them were too malty for me. I guess they don't travel particularly well. Either that or they're meant to be served much colder than I like. Wow... never heard of someone who doesn't like malty beers describing and IPA or stout as too bland. Most who don't like IPAs object to the assertive hop bitterness. Stouts are also surprisingly bitter, but generally have enough body and sweetness to cover it. Something like a Guiness *is* surprisingly bland, so I'd recommend a sweeter, maltier variety. Also, commercial IPAs tend to have hoppiness that is someone subdued and stale as compared to a fresh micro or home brew. I have been rather pleased with Stone's Ruination IPA though for a commercial beer (when it's not a hop-head homebrew). -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Meta-GFM: Are there any *bad* microbreweries in NC?
of most Washington/Oregon IPAs. Beer should be clear. BOOO! GET OFF THE STAGE! *Light lagers* should be clear, but ales are perfectly acceptable with a bit of cloudiness IMO. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Meta-GFM: Are there any *bad* microbreweries in NC?
On Sat, 9 Jun 2007, graywolf wrote: Is there such a thing as an american IPA? India Pale Ale was a British invention, the hops were supposed to make it travel well, e.g. to India by sailing ship for the troops to drink. Anchor makes a pretty decent Porter, but that is about the only American made version that is actually good, Black Hook is mediocre at best and the rest, well... Most microbrewers try, but lose something in translation. Strangely most of the microbrews are more expensive than the imports. Well, most folks think expensive is good. BTW premium beer is an american invention, the term means the same cheap beer at a higher price. sorry no grin. An APA is an IPA style that uses American-style hops (like Cascade or it's more assertive sibling Centenial) throughout the bitterness, flavor, and aroma/dry profile. Like many Americanisms, it tends to be over-the-top in lots of ways so it generally too hoppy for most. I have yet to try a commerical porter or stout that really has the flavor of a good, fresh, homebrew sweet (or dry) stout. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: VIVITAR 285HV - K10D
On Fri, 1 Jun 2007, Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote: I wouldn't worry about anything under 10V. My Sunpak 383 tests out virtually identically to what you're seeing with the 285HV and I've been using it on the DS for two years, on the K10D for six months. No problems at all. What you're really looking to see is that it's not 200V... :-) G When I talked with a Pentax rep, he had to get ahold of an engineer to figure out the voltage they were good for. He said that in my -DS, it used a 370V-rated device IIRC. I've used my Vivitar 2800 (approx 280V trigger voltage) many times on my -DS without incident. Designing a flash foot that won't take over 10V is evil (read: Canon). -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Lithium-ion batteries for istDs?
The total life of a battery is drastically affected by both the depth of discharge it's forced to undergo and the rate at which it's forced to do it. Draining a battery until there's no juice left serverely curtails the batteries life. If I remember correctly, limiting the battery drain to about 60% depth of discharge is about optimal for greatest overall battery performance - but this also depends on many factors. True for batteries, but not so much for individual cells. PbSO4 (lead-acid) batteries will sulphate if left dead for even a short period of time, but NiCd and NiMH are OK with being dead. The trouble comes when they aren't discharged individually, whether it's in a sealed battery (cordless drills, etc), or due to chargers charging in pairs. There's fairly strong evidence to support a roughly constant cycle x DOD lifetime capacity for batteries IIRC. In other words, if one can run a battery down to 50% and back up about 2x as many times as a 100% discharge/charge cycle before their life is over. All batteries do better with a slow charge. Fast chargers are for when you don't have a choice and need your battery ASAP. More efficent, certainly. Charging/discharging at 1C (e.g. 2.4A for a 2400mAh cell) is only about 60% efficient. At 0.2C, it's more like 90%. As long as they don't get too hot though, it's not particularly bad to charge/discharge them at high rates. Again... if *discharged* at high rates in a long series string, individual cells can be damaged due to voltage reversal from the other, stronger cells. A good NiMH charger will turn completely off when it has fully recharged your battery. If you need a trickle charger, you're not using your camera enough. Exactly. Besides, if you've got a good charger and your batts have sat for a couple of weeks, you can crank the current up and top off rather quickly. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Don't want to sound too alarmist but...
Citing examples of consumer-grade electronics failing often negate the original assumption of properly and correctly designed with decent components. Take a piece of aircraft avionics they live in a *horrible* environment with heat/cold/vibration/shock/corrosion and last literally for decades. The failures are almost always mechanical, not electrical, and are due to the bad environment. The subject is consumer grade electronics. William Robb Actually, the subject was electronics. If you'd like to interpret that as consumer electronics, feel free. In the broder sense, electronics are extremely reliable if properly designed. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Lithium-ion batteries for istDs?
Pretty much correct. The memory effect is almost completely a myth... it was only prevalent on 1960's/1970's vintage NiCd cells under automatic cyclic charge/discharge cycles used for NASA robots, etc. The much more common cycles are series cells repeatedly cycled and having some weaker cells getting progressively more undercharged and abused. The other common failure mode is people so worried about memory effect that they keep cells on trickle charge for storage. It promotes other problems that reduces capacity. I've got some cheapo NiMH AA's (2150 mAh) that only last about 50 frames in my -DS. Once I got some good quality Energizers, it's more at about 500. I also invested in a GOOD battery charger (LaCrosse BC-900) which charges cells individually, as well as being able to give valuable feedback on capacity, discharge, variable charge rates, etc. Bottom line is with good quality NiMH cells and a good charger, they work fine. If you haven't used the camera after a month or so, you may only get 50% if you don't top them off first. Still... not a bad tradeoff. -Cory On Wed, 30 May 2007, Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote: NiMH batteries generally have little 'memory' effect, but there is definitely a widely varying range of battery quality in the NiMH marketplace. They also have a lifespan, measured in full charge cycles, to which the quality of the charger contributes both positively and negatively. If you're getting that few exposures per charge out of the NiMH battery set, they may well be on the way out. I bought a set of Power2000 brand, AA NiMH 2400mAh batteries when I got my DS body at the end of 2004/beginning of 2005. They came with a matched charger. My general rule of using them is to charge them once a week, whether I made many exposures or not, and they've lasted well: continue to provide about 600-800 exposures per charge when I put the camera to heavy use for a weekend session. My use of the DS body has dropped off considerably since I got the K10D so I've fitted Everready Energizer AA E2 Lithium disposables now. The current set are over a year old, have made about 900-1000 exposures, and are still powering it without any problems. The AA and CRV3 Lithium disposables are the best batteries I've found for the DS and are what I'd recommend. At $8-10 per set, and typical lifespan of 1100-1300 exposures, they're not too expensive to deal with. There are CRV-R rechargeables on the market that also fit. Some of them deliver voltage which is too high, and could damage the camera. They're not recommended by Pentax. If you find a set that are within spec for the camera, I know that there are quite a few people who use them and report that the slightly higher voltage they supply improves focusing. But I don't trust them. I'd recommend buying AA Lithium disposables in 8 and 16 pack sets to get the best price, and using those instead. Godfrey On May 30, 2007, at 1:20 PM, Barry Rice wrote: My wife photographs with an istDs (which used to be mine), while I use a K10D. I'm having some battery problems with her camera (sometimes the NiMH rechargeables seem to hold only enough charge for about 50 shots, especially if the batteries haven't been used for a while). I think that maybe I have to exercise the NiMH rechargeable batteries more completely occasionally, since I tend to recharge at the end of each day when I'm using them even if they're just partially depleted. Online battery FAQs suggest that NiMH don't have much of a memory effect, though. Any advice? And I've been wondering---can I can get rechargeable Li- ion batteries for istDs? -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Don't want to sound too alarmist but...
On Wed, 23 May 2007, Digital Image Studio wrote: On 23/05/07, Cory Papenfuss [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Most likely a mechanical failure in the camcorder, and either a mechanical failure or electronic overheating in the DVD player. Properly designed solid-state electronics will last practically until the sun burns out (or the electrolytic caps fail). I should add by citing a very recent example of equipment failure that I experienced. Yesterday my network printer printed one job but the next was stuck in the queue and would not print. The problem turned out to be the JetDirect network interface card in the printer, it was simply no more, nothing fried on it (and no tinned electros either funny enough) but the printer completely failed to recognize it any longer. It had on board a Philips ARM processor, Samsung RAM, Broadcom LAN interface and another AMD CPU plus a handful of passive components. I'm sure that the components could be designed to me more robust but I'm also sure that in this case they would have all be working well within their design parameters however it broke for no apparent reason. Like I said, properly design electronic devices made with high-quality components and attention to thermal design last practically forever. Major causes are: - Bad or no thermal design... especially with computer parts - Electrolytic caps - Electrostatic damage - Mechanical shock (not too normal) Citing examples of consumer-grade electronics failing often negate the original assumption of properly and correctly designed with decent components. Take a piece of aircraft avionics they live in a *horrible* environment with heat/cold/vibration/shock/corrosion and last literally for decades. The failures are almost always mechanical, not electrical, and are due to the bad environment. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Don't want to sound too alarmist but...
On Mon, 21 May 2007, Tom C wrote: I find electronics stuff dies all the time. I've had A Sharp camcorder and DVD player both work fine for years and then all of sudden fail one day, with no warning. Most likely a mechanical failure in the camcorder, and either a mechanical failure or electronic overheating in the DVD player. Properly designed solid-state electronics will last practically until the sun burns out (or the electrolytic caps fail). -Cory In the case of AC appliances, if I was looking for an external cause I'd guess it was power surges. In the case of other items, I guess nothing lasts forever. Tom C. From: Godfrey DiGiorgi [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List pdml@pdml.net To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List pdml@pdml.net Subject: Re: Don't want to sound too alarmist but... Date: Mon, 21 May 2007 16:18:04 -0700 On May 21, 2007, at 3:02 PM, Cotty wrote: The Canon lenses will still be working in 3 years - dunno about 6. Electronic AF and AE (and IS inside one lens) mean that there's a lot to go wrong. I suspect the electronics will die before anything else. Why would the electronics die unless you dunked them in water? I've got an electronic calculator here that's nearly 30 years old and still working perfectly. G -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: *ist DS AF speed
On Tue, 15 May 2007, Patrice LACOUTURE (GMail) wrote: I think you'll find that if you continue to use your MZ-5 with NiMH batteries, the AF motor will self destruct pretty quickly. It wasn't designed to use batteries with that much current. I bet it runs really fast, but not for long. William Robb Hi William, What to you mean with, with that much current? The rated voltage for NiMH batteries is 1.2V each, instead of 1.5V, and unless their internal resistance is way lower than that of alkaline cells, they should provide less current. My experience with various equipment tends to second that. Or am I all wrong somewhere? I've been using my MZ5n flawlessly with NiMH for a few years now, maybe I'm just lucky. The AF in my previous MZ5 fried after a few years of moderate use, but I didn't use NiMH back then. Thanks and best regards Patrice WR had a poor choice of words. NiMH may say it's nominally 1.2V, but Alkaline is most certainly not 1.5V. Alkaline drops its voltage a fair bit as it discharges and has a much higher internal resistance than NiMH. The combination of the two mean that under a high load, they each put out about the same (1.2-ish). The NiMH is more efficient there, and has more energy to boot. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: OT: rootbeer?
On Wed, 9 May 2007, Paul Sorenson wrote: Growing hemp was encouraged during WWII to provide fiber for the manufacture of manilla rope. At the edge of the small town where I grew up there was a mill where they processed the hemp fibers. After the war the buildings were used for canning vegetables, but were referred to by the locals as the hemp mill well into the late 1950's. -p We had ditch weed as they called it decide to start growing around our garage growing up in Iowa. Tenacious stuff. When we rented out the house for a year, the folks that lived there had the authorities come out, and they tried to kill with with all sorts of stuff they put around it. The hemp *LOVED* it... mulitplied like madness and grow routinely up to 8-10' tall. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: OT: rootbeer?
Not as annoying as having to press 9 for english (typical in Quebec). I've run across some interesting IVR's in the US (English/French/Spanish in more than a few cases, for companies that deal with the US and Canada) -Adam Sounds about right from the little bit of Eastern-Canadian I've been exposed to. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Tech Question - how full can you fill hard drives?
On Sat, 5 May 2007, Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote: I strongly suggest that you set up an administrator account that is separate from the user account that you do your work in, and remove system administration privileges from that user account. Even though it is a bit of an annoyance to have to login as administrator to install software, it's the correct way to run nearly any modern operating system (Windows XP, Mac OS X, Linux and UNIX ...) I set up every system Mac OS X I am contracted to work on this way. With very very few exceptions, it works exactly as it is supposed to. There are a couple of 'still not yet properly sorted' applications that require the user to have administrator privileges ... they should be avoided. Godfrey Agreed. It's unfortunate that Winders and some applications penalize a correct setup like that. I rarely use Windows, but I've never come across the equivalent of the 'sudo' command under unix. Very handy for running something as somebody else without having to log in as them. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: PEF or DNG
On Sat, 5 May 2007, Mark Cassino wrote: I usually shoot in DNG, mostly because I'm concerned about future compatibility. In the future, who will keep writing software to convert old propriety RAW files? And with operating system changes etc, how long can you count on being able to run the software you currently use to process PEF's (or any other proprietary RAW file?) All you need is a C-compiler... http://cybercom.net/~dcoffin/dcraw/dcraw.c Throw a copy of the code on your archive disks if you're worried about reading the PEFs in the future. The advantage of the PEF format is the compression, so you get more shots per card. I figure that it is easier to just shoot in DNG than to convert the PEF's after the fact. The exception would be when storage is at a premium - either because you want to minimize having to pause and change a card, or because you are limited in regards to the amount of storage on hand. So I may shoot PEFs while traveling or while shooting a critical event where changing a card could mean a lost opportunity - but I'll convert those files to DNG later. - MCC I still cannot believe Pentax hasn't included DNG compression in the camera yet. Does it use a more computationally expensive algorithm than what they're using for the PEFs? I figured there'd be a firmware upgrade shortly after introduction, but so far no dice. Weird. -Cory * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: OT: rootbeer?
On Sun, 6 May 2007, P. J. Alling wrote: Natural root beer is banned by the FDA. It's primary flavoring is Sassafras, (containing safrole),which is a carcinogen. I've made if using the original root but you can't buy it you'll have to collect yourself I've wanted to try some *real* rootbeer like that just to see what it tastes like. I looked into it a bit and got about that far. It's carcinogenic if made from the real deal, right? -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: OT: Card Reader for Linux
On Fri, 4 May 2007, Brian Walters wrote: Hi Subash Thanks for that - I'm not in a hurry so I'd appreciate any futher details when you have the time. Ubuntu picked up most of my peripherals automatically but not the reader. I thought about editing fstab but I'm a bit unsure of the correct syntax for the reader. I have done a bit of Googling but there seems to be conflicting (and sometimes incomprehensible) advice. Some readers get recognised on boot up but some don't. I'm not adverse to the command line or editing config files but I think some of the advice is written in Klingon I've got a multi-card reader (Using Centos-4, a clone of Redhat Enterprise 4). It wouldn't see anything other than the CF slot until I added the following lines to /etc/modprobe.conf: options scsi_mod max_luns=8 Apparently, the multi-card readers look like multiple SCSI LUNs... but not many other SCSI things do... thus the default to only scan one LUN. Some parsing of 'dmesg' or /var/log/messages might be in order to fully figure it out. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: How do you guys do panoramas anyway?
On Fri, 4 May 2007, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: snip and agree with what everyone else said == Will do. And thanks, William, Maris, and Mark. The scenes I showed, there was more, obviously. It would probably make a good 90 degree pano, and maybe I could have done that one handheld. However, Scott Valley, where my Dad grew up and where I visited last October, would make a great pano. And I could almost do a 360 degree one there, at least a 180 degree. It's a very simple scene, cattle ranches and alpha fields with a few scattered barns, but it is all flat and completely surrounded by mountains. So it is much more impressive than a single shot can show and it would be ideal for a pano. I tried last year (handheld), but didn't know what I was doing and there no way it can be stitched together. I didn't do the manual exposure thing, and now that you have all mentioned it, it makes perfect sense. One slight shift in color/exposure and the whole thing is shot. I also didn't overlap enough. But I am planning to visit again next August/Sept and would like to try to get it. Will visit Mark's site and print out your posts. Thanks, Marnie aka Doe :-) I've been very successful doing panos with as little as 10-20% overlap. The *biggest* thing IMO is what's been mentioned that holding the exposure identical is really important. Getting different contrast due to flare with varying light is also somewhat important if the sun's anywhere near. As far as software, I have no idea how the commerical offerings for Winders/MacOS work, but I do know that a lot of the open-source stuff I use is available for Winders. The main engine is PanoTools, of course, but the GUI frontend I use is called 'hugin'. It has a built-in error minimization optimization engine to automatically determine lens correction factors, differences in camera tilt, etc. Way cool. For me, here's the order ofoperations. - Set camera to RAW... with the amount of fiddling required for panos, I doubt ANYONE (with the exception of a few insane zealouts like Kenny-boy Rockwell) could argue that the flexibility won't be worth it. - Tripod (relatively level) is a good idea. - Do test shots for exposure at all prospective angles about the intended pano. Make sure the highlights don't blow out anywhere, and set the exposure to manual. - Shoot all frames, with at least 10-20% overlap. - Convert RAW to deep-color TIFF with identical WB and EV comp settings. - Use 'autopano-sift' to try to automatically generate the alignment points. - Review points with 'hugin' program... add horizontal and/or vertical points to ensure straight horizon/vertical objects. - Use the optimization to improve draft and iterate modifying/adding/removing some of the alignment points if necessary - Generate output projection images (or multilayer image) - Blend together with 'enblend' - Fine-tune final image (rubber-stamp dust, watermark, etc). -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Firmware 1.10
If that were true, then TTL metering in the general case wouldn't work consistently for different lenses in any exposure mode at different lens openings. When lenses are wide open, it's less of a point source though, right? Consider the SLR focusing screen as a rear projection screen, with the illumination source being the lens. Its built-in fresnel lens collimates what would otherwise be relatively simple hemispherical scatter, to first order approximation, and directs it towards the ocular. The metering sensors are designed to read light intensity from that scattering rear projection surface, they don't intercept the light directly from the lens. The scatter induced by the screen's matte focusing surface ameliorates the variations from that would otherwise be seen with a clear screen. (When special purpose near-clear and clear screens were available in the past for cameras like the Nikon F series, charts regarding TTL metering errors, both for total ambient curve and for focal length adjustments, were included. Most of the time, they recommended not using the TTL metering due to variabilities like this..) Godfrey In any even, I'm talking out my ass... I don't know much about optical lens design. I could also be confusing the metering inaccuracy I've seen with my *ist-DS with the 3rd-party, split-prism focus screen. I don't recall if I had issues with metering inaccuracy with K/M lenses and the stock screen... been too long since I used it. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Firmware 1.10
On Mon, 30 Apr 2007, Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote: It's odd that you would see this pattern when using Takumars (presumably M42 screw mount?) stopped down in Av mode. The camera body knows nothing at all of the lens opening in those cases and should be responding to the light as if the lens were wide open. At least in the green-button stop-down mode case, the body has stopped the lens down from wide open to working aperture so there's something going on there that could account for it. Some folks have told me that replacing the focusing screen with a Pentax *ist DS focusing screen solved the problem. I might give that a try when I get a moment. I tried switching my custom Katz Eye screen from the DS into the K10D but found consistent underexposure with FA/DA lenses so that wasn't useful to me, but perhaps the Pentax DS screen will act differently. Godfrey I've reported making it worse. Of course the split-prism adds a whole other variable at small apertures. Perhaps the angle of light going throught the stock screen doesn't couple properly to light meter sensors? Bottom line of course is that stop-down metering sucks. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Spotmatic - focusing
On Mon, 30 Apr 2007, Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote: I never liked microprism focusing aids very much. The Pentax Spotmatic had a good viewfinder, regardless, although not quite as good as the Nikon F I bought in 1969, which had a type A screen as standard (plain matte fresnel with central split-image) and replaced it with an E screen almost immediately (plain matte fresnel with 'thirds' horizontal/vertical reference scribings). That remains my favorite focusing surface today. I never liked them until I got some fast glass. For anything slower than 2.8 or so, they're not much use as they *always* seem somewhat dark. YMMV -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Firmware 1.10
My Katz Eye screen is a plain matte fresnel surface without metering aids, a custom design for scribed lines. Yes, I talked with Rachel Katz about the problem I was seeing at length. Her take on it is that Pentax reshaped the scatter of the screen for the K10D model to provide more brightness at the ocular, which has the effect of reducing the amount of light at the metering sensors. So they use a different calibration curve for the sensors, based on the notion of less light going their way compared to the DS, to give accurate metering. I conjecture that there's an error in the calibration curve used when the camera is in the green-button stop-down metering mode. The progression of error as the aperture deviates from wide open is regular and it seems to me that the problem is an incorrect multiplier or lookup table. Godfrey ... or just a variation in the lens? Doesn't the angle of light coming in depend on not only the aperture, but also the design of the lens? As such, it's probably only possible to do an average correction. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Question : Converting a Automatic Aperture M42 lens to manual aperture?
On Sat, 28 Apr 2007, J. C. O'Connell wrote: I have several Automatic aperture M42 lenses that are Automatic aperture mode only ( they dont have auto/manual mode switches ). Anybody know of a way to keep the rear pin depressed without destroying or damaging these lenses? ( no superglue or bending pins, etc). I want to try/test them on istDS with PK adapter but cant if I cant stop them down some way but I dont want to deface or permanently modify these lenses as they are too valuable to do that at this point. I'm just wondering if there is some simple trick to doing this that hasnt occured to me yet. jco Depending on the lens, it may not be too difficult to remove the rear of the lens and figure a way to permanently (and removably) keep it depressed. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: Making a small DNG or RAW file
On Wed, 25 Apr 2007, Shel Belinkoff wrote: Perhaps I wasn't clear. What I want(ed) to know was if there is some way to generate a true raw file, in either a format like PEF or DNG either directly from the camera or by resizing the file in some editing software (without changing to TIFF or JPEG or any other such format) to make it physically smaller, both in dimension and size. As I said, I'm pretty sure I know the answer to that question (No), but I had to ask. Adam mentioned it can be done with one of the Canon models. It would be great if there could be a 900 x 600 RAW file could be generated so it could easily be posted to a web page and people could work on it as some here do with JPEGs (often with the comment that there's not much more they can do because it's not a RAW file). As someone mentioned, if you resize it it's no longer a RAW file as it didn't come from the camera. If you want something smaller, try using the losslessly-compressed version and take a picture that has no significant information... like a white piece of paper. Those types of shots compress very well and depending on how smart the algorithms are it could reduce the size a lot. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: newbie question on aperatures
From: eric [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 2007/04/25 Wed AM 04:41:53 GMT To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List pdml@pdml.net Subject: newbie question on aperatures Been looking at some wide angle lenses for my DL, and been noticing that while any truly wide angle lense is awfully expensive (yeah, I know, photography is an expensive hobby), the ones with big aperatures are noticeably cheaper than those with small aperatures, numerically speaking (i.e a 1:2.8 is more than one with 1:3.5). Suprisingly, the Zenitar 16mm/f2.8 is one of the cheapest lenses available and is also very good. You just need to be aware that individual samples can vary in quality, so you need to buy one that you can try first or go to a decent dealer. On 35mm, it's a fisheye but this is reduced noticably when used on a DSLR. It's a manual focus, non-A lens, so you need to set the custom function allowing use of the aperture ring, use M mode and press the +/- button before each shot. You beat me to it... I was going to recommend this lens as well. Not very fishy (I use it as a regular lens when I need something faster/wider/sharper than the kit zoom). I know the aperature controls how much light enters the lens (along with shutter speed), and a smaller aperature number means more light can enter. Other than making it easier to get an in-focus picture while hand holding the camera, what other reason would I want to get a smaller number aperature? Considering 90%+ of my photography is done of non-moving subjects, and using a tripod, can I compensate with a slower shutter speed, or longer exposures? So long as your subject isn't moving, faster lenses (i.e. smaller aperture numbers) aren't necessary if you can compensate in other ways like you mentioned (slower shutter speeds, higher ISO, etc). As someone mentioned, faster lenses are typically the higher-end models and are often better quality... although not necessarily. The two big reasons why one might get a slower lens are cost and weight... slower lenses can be physically smaller and thus lighter. Most arguments favor faster lenses... more opportunities. -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
Re: What the Hell? [was... Re: PDML.....R. I. P.]
Did you guys have a good flame war and I missed it? Darn! Made what we used to get into look like a 60 style love in, complete with the sitars and hookas. Or so I've been told.. William Robb Hookas and bell-bottoms are retro now... didn't you know? -Cory -- * * Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA * * Electrical Engineering* * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * * -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
