Photos taken by a Pentax camera for tech. discussion - Season 0

[Gengh]

Had a chance to get my hands on a DA*300 for a while, and took it out for two shoots. The IQ is really sweet, even at f4. But 300mm at that weight is beginning to get difficult to handle without a tripod, unless in bright daylight. My only real complain is that the AF accuracy (speed is good though) seemed fairly inconsistent in slightly more challenging conditions like low light or subject not quite big enough to "fill" the AF point. It's of course made more obvious by the thin DOF at 300mm, but it may also be more a problem of the K20D, since using MF and relying on the focus confirmation didn't seem to improve things. Well, doesn't matter, totally enjoyed using it.

When the AF got things right, I got shots like this.

This is the kind of situation where the AF seemed to have a fairly high chance of back focusing (AF point on the head of the bird). I think it couldn't decide if it should focus on the bird or the BG, so in the end it settled somewhere in between. Maybe I'm partly to blame for not holding the camera steady enough. It's not a calibration problem, I tried AF adjustment and it didn't help. In fact, I did more controlled tests, and 0 AF adjustment was the best.

But in good conditions, even AF-C worked wonderfully. Proof:

In a more controlled environment, you can really see the details....

For more examples, do see here:
Outdoor environment
Indoor and heavy shade (high ISO required frequently, so pics not so clean)

 

[hjbyeo]

A long time since I get to see you guys in the Pentax Meet. Really missed the camaraderie ... will try to make it for meets once I'd settle some personal stuff.

Managed to stitch these together. So I ask - Do you really need a wide angle for a wide perspective?

Marina-Pana

 

[nik34]

A long time since I get to see you guys in the Pentax Meet. Really missed the camaraderie ... will try to make it for meets once I'd settle some personal stuff.

Managed to stitch these together. So I ask - Do you really need a wide angle for a wide perspective?

Marina-Pana

Very nice bro,i think i don't buy wide angle lens in future.
teach me how to stitch can??:thumbsup:all the best to you.

 

[darrrrrrrrrr]

I haven't been shooting any macros for quite some time since I got here, so my Tamron 90mm has been sitting around seeing almost no action, since my 50-135 covers the fast telephoto job when I'm out PJ-ing. Today I broke out the macro lens to shoot some 1:1, but couldn't find any insects at all, so I shot whatever few flowers there were left around campus.

10 photos here: http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=600150

 

[darrrrrrrrrr]

some from the samsung SA 12-24 :bsmilie: at night.. prefer to use this lens for PJ work as i can't seem to deal with the buildings and lamp posts falling left and right. btw this lens flares quite a bit when there are point light sources in the frame, but i think i'm expecting too much out of it.

the rest are here http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=600180

 

[pinholecam]

A long time since I get to see you guys in the Pentax Meet. Really missed the camaraderie ... will try to make it for meets once I'd settle some personal stuff.

Managed to stitch these together. So I ask - Do you really need a wide angle for a wide perspective?

Marina-Pana

Hey! long time no hear

Nice shot!
IMHO, in some cases, a stitched shot can be better. As in the case here, the perspective is better. The theater and marina square are pulled in or stays quite 'normal'. A UWA would have pushed these away.

 

[maverickh]

A long time since I get to see you guys in the Pentax Meet. Really missed the camaraderie ... will try to make it for meets once I'd settle some personal stuff.

Managed to stitch these together. So I ask - Do you really need a wide angle for a wide perspective?

Marina-Pana

Hi Bernard,

Its great to hear from you and see that you are still taking great pictures. :thumbsup:

Hope to catch up with you at the next Pentax outing .

 

[airconvent]

A long time since I get to see you guys in the Pentax Meet. Really missed the camaraderie ... will try to make it for meets once I'd settle some personal stuff.

Managed to stitch these together. So I ask - Do you really need a wide angle for a wide perspective?

Marina-Pana

oohh...nice one Bernard. The Merlion seems a tad over-exposed for my preference but the rest of the scene is breathtaking

 

[airconvent]

some from the samsung SA 12-24 :bsmilie: at night.. prefer to use this lens for PJ work as i can't seem to deal with the buildings and lamp posts falling left and right. btw this lens flares quite a bit when there are point light sources in the frame, but i think i'm expecting too much out of it.

the rest are here http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=600180

Nice ones, darrrrrrrrrr! The effect is so surreal..

 

[pinholecam]

oohh...nice one Bernard. The Merlion seems a tad over-exposed for my preference but the rest of the scene is breathtaking

The over exposed Merlion is tricky. Its brighter than all other parts of the scene because of the spot lights. To get over it, cover the Merlion with hand/black card/lens cap until the last 3-5 seconds.

 

[night86mare]

Managed to stitch these together. So I ask - Do you really need a wide angle for a wide perspective?

well, it depends. in changing lighting you can ill afford to have pano stitching because everything changes. in constant lighting, if you have the time and know-how, why not?

this is 5 frames vertical stitched together at 18mm, giving something that looks nearly like 10-11mm i think.

and then of course there are the situations where you want to do the job with less frames to stitch, for example, this is 4 frames horizontal at 10mm stitched..

imagine if you have to do this with 18mm.. i think i will vomit blood!

 

[istDeS]

The Pentax F 1.7X AF TC when used with the 100mm f/2.8 macro, it becomes a 170mm f/4.5 macro lens. Shoot some butterflies with the combo this morning.
(I fogot to change the focal length so pardon the wrong focal length in the exif.)

DFA100mm f/2.8 + Pentax F 1.7x AF TC.

DFA100mm f/2.8 + Pentax F 1.7x AF TC.

some other photos here. The plain tiger is shot without the TC.

 

[creampuff]

Some walkaround shots with the K-7 and D-Xenon 12-24mm. I just luv this lens.
More photos here...

 

[darrrrrrrrrr]

This evening's sunset at Lake Michigan. Walked 2km from my dorm but in the end the overcast skies were quite a let-down.

Shot with K20D, SA 12-24

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=608304

 

[pinholecam]

This evening's sunset at Lake Michigan. Walked 2km from my dorm but in the end the overcast skies were quite a let-down.

Shot with K20D, SA 12-24

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=608304

What is there to be let down when its only 2km from your doorstep
I'd probably go every weekend if I lived that near such a scenic spot.
I like the 2nd pict.

Where is the focus, cause the poles on the right look a bit OOF (could be the picture hosting site compression .... though... )?
I always find it a challenge to find the focus point. Too near, and the scene is a tad bit off in sharpness. Too far and the subject/foreground is not sharp enough. By the book, the advise is focus 1/3 into the scene but since the UWA lenses are 1-2-3m-infinity, does it make sense to be always at 2m or 3m? The subject/foreground object always seems to be around 0.5-1m away from the camera.

 

[elavan]

caught this awesome sunset just before it was too late, but cursed myself when I found out it was shot at ISO 1600 :bsmilie:

Shot with K7, A35-105mm

 

[airconvent]

This evening's sunset at Lake Michigan. Walked 2km from my dorm but in the end the overcast skies were quite a let-down.

Shot with K20D, SA 12-24

ooh...your shots keep getting better! This one looks scary....due to processing or it is really as shown?

 

[darrrrrrrrrr]

ooh...your shots keep getting better! This one looks scary....due to processing or it is really as shown?

the sun had already set so the lighting was from street lamps behind the camera. correcting for the white balance gave this eerie look so i PPed slightly from there.

 

[darrrrrrrrrr]

What is there to be let down when its only 2km from your doorstep
I'd probably go every weekend if I lived that near such a scenic spot.
I like the 2nd pict.

Where is the focus, cause the poles on the right look a bit OOF (could be the picture hosting site compression .... though... )?
I always find it a challenge to find the focus point. Too near, and the scene is a tad bit off in sharpness. Too far and the subject/foreground is not sharp enough. By the book, the advise is focus 1/3 into the scene but since the UWA lenses are 1-2-3m-infinity, does it make sense to be always at 2m or 3m? The subject/foreground object always seems to be around 0.5-1m away from the camera.

i think i will too.. watching the sunrise at the lake really makes you feel like you're so lucky to be alive each day

i agree with the OOF bit. the previous sunrise shoot i focused around infinity but lost sharpness in the foreground. this time round i made sure the foreground was sharp, esp since the background has very little detail anyway. at first i was shooting at abt 12mm f/11, hyperfocal 0.65m, 0.35 to infinity in focus. however, as the sky got darker and darker, i was limited by the 30sec shutter speed and had to open up aperture and bump up ISO. that's why the pier photo is a bit OOF towards infinity, and a bit noisy too.

next time i will bring a stopwatch (on ipod touch) and my cable release and go for bulb mode >30s exposures. should solve the focus point dilemma :thumbsup:

 

[sebianos]

caught this awesome sunset just before it was too late, but cursed myself when I found out it was shot at ISO 1600 :bsmilie:

Shot with K7, A35-105mm

It's very dramatic, even at ISO 1600.