im freaking out right now

neat! ;-)

 

where'd you get the magic batteries?

Todd.

This is what I am using now. Use them at your own risk..That is what I was told, so I am passing the warning along. :)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/458119-REG/Impact_CRV3_CR_V3_3V_Rechargeable_Lithium_Ion.html

thanks! how many snaps would expect to get (Javier) from 2700mah rechargeables in comparison?

Some roller hockey shots with my K100D at ISO 1600, metered manual "M" mode, 1/500 sec. shutter speed. I did need to use my fast pro style zoom, f/2.6-2.8 to get to that shutter speed.<div></div>

that's the slowest game of roller hockey i've ever seen Michael. Good Job!

Whoops!! Wrong photo! That one was taken last summer with my K100D and my Pentax 77mm f/1.8 Limited lens at f/2.8 and 1/1500 sec. "AV" aperture priority mode.<div></div>

And some more...<div></div>

Another...<div></div>

yet more hockey<div></div>

''Todd Phillips, Feb 25, 2008; 08:05 p.m.

 

thanks! how many snaps would expect to get (Javier) from 2700mah rechargeables in comparison?''

 

The most I have ever been able to get with out flash is 450-475 average from Duracell's 2650 mah..

There is a thread on this. I will see if I can find it for u.

 

Michael

Those are some nice shots!!!

I will see if I can find some high ISO K10D images as well..That flower image in particular is very nice.

Todd

Check out this thread.

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00OQTU

 

and sorry for derailing your thread... but I had to brag on Pentax...

I own Pentax because I believe it to be the best..If I felt Nikon or Canon would be better, then I would buy one, but why downgrade?

Hi, Todd,

 

I am a newbie and was in the same boat about a year ago when I purchased my K100D and kit-lens. Like you did, I freaked out since all of my friends have either canon or nikon models. These are comments I get from them "why pentax? nobody buys pentax - their lens sucks, in body-SR does not work only in IS lens works.. you are wasting your money". "Does your pentax have servo focus and 3fps otherwise you will miss a lot of shots?". I can only grin (hey I am a minority) and offer my explanation as I could not afford canon/nikon models as they were expensive - may be some day I can afford it.

 

When it comes to birthday parties, those RebelXT, XTi, D70, D200 camera holders draw a crowd (especially female); no one asks me to take his/her picture because I only have a pentax camera (is it a P&S?). I often resorted to taken my wife away from the crowd and practice my own shots and learn how to frame, get the proper lighting and also learn how to use the features in the camera. While most of their shots are group pictures mine are usually single nice portrait shots and nice angle shots of the groups.

 

The noise about how great canon (especially) is fading quickly as I was more interested in getting better IQ and knowing how to use the camera to take good pictures (camera don't take pictures, photographer does). I can tell good from bad now (and the awesome from the awful ones). I also learned a bit of flash photography which I was terrible before; I am very comfortable using it anytime.

 

I have used the K100D during my last cruise trip and found that the camera is very capable of producing nice contrasty sharp pictures even with 6MP. The AA battery option is great as I used SANYO eneloop rechargeable and it is one of the best. I also added the sigma 18-50 f2.8 lens later plus the AF360 flash with off camera flash accessories (works great); I also have the 28-105 f3.2-4.5 and 50-200 f4-5.6 which are great combination for outdoors.

 

I have moved beyond the K100D and recently added the K10D, which is an even better camera. Now I use my K100D as backup and good for traveling. With both K100D/K10D camera bodies I own now, I could have spent the same amount on a canon 30D deal last year which my friend did pull the trigger. In the end, I am happy with my choice and when the K20D comes down in price, I will be looking again. Since my daughter is moving up from a canon P&S camera and she likes that K100D camera (small but solid).

I've also had people smirk at the Pentax label on my camera. one guy even said "yeah, i'm sure the body's pretty good, but you just can't get good lenses for it."

 

I just laugh at that now. Pentax makes (and has always made) some of the best glass in the industry. I'm perfectly happy with the system, even if most people my age have never heard of the brand.

 

 

as to batteries: i use energizer e2 lithium AAs. They're a bit more pricey, but you don't have to wonder if they're charged, and I frequently get 1000+ shots out of a single set (i never use the flash, for the record).

And don't worry about 6mp--I've left a lot of pixels on the cropping room floor and still gotten great 9x12s.

Dave

I am glad you mentioned the print size and that ''dreaded'' 6MP...

I have printed dozens of 8x10's that are flawless as well as quite a few

11x14's as well....

There are many who will tell you that you need atleast a 7 or 8Mp and hence the crazy P&S market....to get prints that size, but what you end up with is lots of noise...Not so with the ''lowly 6MP Pentax DSLR

My shots here were all shot as JPEG. The flower shot is with no post process at all. Very little with the hockey.

 

The K100D does indeed have servo focus (continuous focus). You could hardly find faster action to shoot than that hockey, I'll tell ya, and the K100D performed very well! The continous focus mode worked fine. I switched to center only focus point because the goal net was in the frame and I wanted to keep my focus under control. There is no real difference between its 2.8 FPS capability and 3 FPS. But I chose not to use the 2.8 FPS continuous drive mode, I stuck to single shot.

Thank you Javier, I'm glad to hear you like my shots. You have been posting many very nice one's I have admired as well!

BTW, the flower shot was at ISO 200.

the 6MP K100D can give a really nice photo for 8x10 or may be even larger (have not tried yet but I have a 22" monitor); the link below is just one of many sample photos I took during the recent trip to New Zealand.

 

http://www.flickr.com/gp/25293183@N00/J6ox1u

Michael, thanks for explaining to me that servo focus is the same as continuous focus (not sure if canon fan agrees with it); I have not tried it yet, does continous focusing means the focus object is coming towards you or going across from left to right? I have also not tried the 2.8fps shots as I take all my shots in RAW.

O O O O.... matt was finally allowed to get the 16-50mm DA* he's been drooling over -

since we'll be shooting (hopefully) 50 portraits a day for 3 days, followed by another 50 a

week later -

 

MAN is that servo-focus SSSSSSSSWWWEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can NOT get

over it! We're going to have to turn the focus beep back on, it's so fast and QUIET.

BEAUTIFUL. woohooo. BUT - if you leave your finger on the shutter button - it is NOT

continuous focus. It IS so dang fast at finding a new focus, you'll sure THINK it's

continuous focus. HEY! There's a new idea for wedding processionals! I know what lens

I'm using at the next one!!

 

And as for the mega-pixel THHHHPPPT on people demanding huge mp w/o knowing why.

Our 5.6mp Lumix got an 11x14 printed for display - and nobody that saw it wanted to

believe it was from a digital camera.

 

And our 10mp K10D has printed a 16x20 for us that was absolutely beautiful!! Why is this

spectacular? Because we accidentally shot the pic at ISO 1600. (In full sunlight. D'OH!!!)

oh yeah. I forgot to mention - the Lumix can ONLY shoot in Jpeg. No RAW. So, that flawless

11x14 was from a jpeg file.

one thing on the AFC. It works better and faster with Shake reduction off.

If i was starting from scratch again, i would chose Pentax over Canon or Nikon ANYDAY. Quality gear here; dont underestimate the combination of good technique and in-body stabalisation eitehr :-). Just look forward, its an exciting journey.

you have a choice between the nimh type and the low selfdischarge type. the nimh are available to about 2700-2800mah while the lowselfdischarge type are topping out at 2100mah. the nimh are stronger but only if you use them right after a charge, if they sit a week and you pickup the camera to shoot you may not have enough power left to take a picture. the lowSD type retain 85% of their power for 1yr after charge.

i have been using nimh 2700mah powerex from maha, just switched to imedion from maha which are lowSD of 2100mah also from maha. I bought my imedions from thomas distributing. maha also says that their imedions can be charged by any charger maha makes. i bought 4 sets of imedions.