travel report + photos

<p>Hey everybody!</p>

<p>As some of you already know, I took a two month trip to Swaziland this summer, and since so many of you helped me with gear and technique suggestions, I figured I'd post an update for you!</p>

<p>My kit overall was the K10D with DA 18-55mm II, FA 35mm f/2.0, and Sigma DG 70-300mm lenses, plus the AF 540 flash, BG-2 grip, and a manfrotto tripod. After shooting in light rain, dusty environments, on the beach with 20 knot winds, and carrying the entire kit (minus the 70-300 and tripod at times) with me in a National Geographic shoulder bag at all times, these are my thoughts:</p>

<p>First, holy crap I love pentax. There's simply no other system out there that would have allowed me to carry all of that gear into all of those conditions for the price that I paid. The weather sealing on the camera body allowed me to shoot on the beach while being blasted with wind and fine-grain sand without being paranoid, and allowed me to generally focus on what I was doing in harsh environments rather than having to baby and worry about my equipment (the toughness and protection of my Earth Explorer bag contributed a lot to that, so yeah! Way to go National Geographic on making an excellent bag!). Also, the compactness and light weight of the 18-55 II and FA 35 lenses allowed me to carry what I needed without being slowed down by the weight and bulk of my bag. And considering that the TOTAL cost of my camera gear, bag and tripod included, was somewhere around $1800, there's just no way any of the other manufacturers could compete with pentax on these points.</p>

<p>Now, a few complaints to balance things out: I'm still on the fence about my opinion of the AF 540 flash. The wireless function is absolutely outstanding, but the re-charge time and the overall practical capabilities of it don't hold a candle to the Nikon SB-800, which is also considerably smaller and lighter (I shot next to a guy using Nikon gear for a few days. Great guy and a great photographer, for the record.) Granted, the SB-800 is more expensive, but shooting next to one of them for a day of taking ID photos left me wishing that Pentax would at least come out with a better and more expensive flash system to call their flagship, and keep making the AF540 for all of us pro-sumers (After all, it's still a very capable flash for a good price, despite my complaints). Also, I had issues several times with dust and dirt getting into the flash, making it hard to tilt up and down. I know it's not supposed to be weather-sealed, but neither are any of my lenses, and I abused them just as much without any problems. All in all, I'm left feeling like the flash unit is just not up to par with the quality that we're used to seeing from Pentax.</p>

<p>And now, after much ado, some photos! (All shot with the K10D)</p>

<p><a title="20090517-IMGP1048 by adamwilson.photo, on Flickr" href=" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2543/3756185866_5f6ede8b47_o.jpg" alt="20090517-IMGP1048" width="900" height="602" /></a><br>

[DA 18-55mm II @ 40mm, f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/400th, Av]</p>

<p><a title="20090526-IMGP1355 by adamwilson.photo, on Flickr" href=" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2498/3755390429_04f215f3da_o.jpg" alt="20090526-IMGP1355" width="900" height="643" /></a><br>

[DA 18-55mm II @ 28mm, f/8, ISO 200, 1/60th, Av]</p>

<p><a title="20090603-IMGP2166 by adamwilson.photo, on Flickr" href=" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2588/3755394797_db877fa499_o.jpg" alt="20090603-IMGP2166" width="900" height="602" /></a><br>

[FA 35/2 @ f/3.5, ISO 400, 1/160th, Av]</p>

<p><a title="20090612-IMGP2611 by adamwilson.photo, on Flickr" href=" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2525/3756199452_512937a8b8_o.jpg" alt="20090612-IMGP2611" width="900" height="602" /></a><br>

[DA 18-55mm II @ 24mm, f/4, ISO 200, 1/1250th, Av, filled using AF540 flash in P-TTL mode]</p>

<p><a title="20090625-IMGP3178 by adamwilson.photo, on Flickr" href=" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2490/3755405535_442b95480e_o.jpg" alt="20090625-IMGP3178" width="900" height="562" /></a><br>

[FA 35/2 @ f/3.5, ISO 200, 1/50th, Av, AF540 in wireless P-TTL]</p>

<p><a title="20090625-IMGP3203 by adamwilson.photo, on Flickr" href=" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2467/3755405981_7006dccd91_o.jpg" alt="20090625-IMGP3203" width="900" height="602" /></a><br>

[FA 35/2 @ f/2.2, ISO 200, 1/200th, Av]</p>

<p><a title="swazi star trails by adamwilson.photo, on Flickr" href=" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2582/3756166962_b35d718e02_o.jpg" alt="swazi star trails" width="900" height="602" /></a><br>

[stacked 186 images taken with the DA 18-55mm II @ 18mm, f/4, ISO 1000, 30sec, M]</p>

<p>Nice work, Adam! I like the flash bouncing off the bubbles :-) And the star trails around the southern pole came out nicely.</p>

<p>I don't have the 540, so I cannot derail this thread and make it a hate the 540 fest :-p</p>

<p>Wonderful images! Just wonderful and the moments captured will last a lifetime....But my favorite one is all of them....</p>

<p>As for the flash, I don't have the 540 either, I have the 360..in the little i have used mine, I love it. It did notice that the recycle time is faster with Lithium's as opposed to rechargeable's if that's what you where using...6 volts works better than 4.8..</p>

<p>Great work Adam, I really like all the pictures. I'm going to have to learn about that image stacking!</p>

<p>Keep up the good work,<br>

-Jon</p>

<p>Wonderful captures! Speaks well for the fine little kit lens II, also!</p>

<p>Adam, I'll say money & time well-spent! These are fabulous shots. I wouldn't mind more description on your image-stacking either.</p>

<p>As for the 540 vs. the Nikon flash units. You're right, the SB-800 is a smidge smaller & lighter than the AF-540FGZ. However that model has been discontinued--the current SB-900 is the same or larger in every dimension and a little heavier too than the AF-540FGZ. And as you noted, it is priced over $100 more. Now as for build quality, features, or performance--I wouldn't argue those points--Nikon appears to have the best (if not cheapest) flash system, so if Pentax can close that gap some it would be appreciated. </p>

<p>I agree it would behoove Pentax to think about refreshing their flashes at some point in the next year or two. Build quality could be improved (that weak 'fix' pin that can cause the flash to get stuck on the camera comes to mind). The competition hasn't been standing still. For one thing, I believe most of the competition's baby flashes (SB-600, Canon 430EX II, Oly FL-36R) have swivel heads now, while the AF-360FGZ does not. The AF-200FG is pathetically feature-poor--Canon and Nikon both offer bounce-capable flashes (SB-400, Canon 270EX) that are even more compact, while this lame unit is direct flash only. Pentax probably started including it in the K2000 bundles because they found they couldn't sell them any other way!</p>

<p>As for recycle rate, as Javier noted, battery choice/condition might make a difference, and another big difference might be how hard the flash is working--this would be dependent on how you're shooting it--lower ISO & smaller apertures will make it work harder and take longer to recycle.</p>

<p>great photos! I'm gona point out the Metz 58 AF-1 of which I have two, they are cheaper than the Pentax 540 (in the UK market by about £70), have a higher guide number and AFAIK recharge faster. Some report more reliable exposure with them too but I have no context for that so I'm not owning that statement. All I know is that I like them lots!</p>

<p>NIce shots Adam. I will strongly second John-Paul T's favoring the Metz 58-AF. It's the best flash for any platform. The firmware is also upgradeable via the USB port, so if you change platforms the flash will maintain its value. Same thing if Pentax changes their communications protocols.</p>

<p>ME</p>

<p>Not to side track this thread, but is there a place I can get info on this Metz-58-af?</p>

<p>Adam, some great photos, and the others are charming to say the least :-)</p>

<p>Javier, <a href="http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/members/mattdm.html">Matt Miller</a> (whom you may recognise from PF) has written the most comprehensive web guide to Pentax-compatible flashes:</p>

<p><a href="http://pttl.mattdm.org/">The definitive guide to Pentax hot shoe flashes and compatible 3rd-party options</a></p>

<p>Scroll down to the <a href="http://pttl.mattdm.org/models:metz:58-af-1">Metz 58 AF-1.</a> What I like about it, is that it has an additional small front-facing flash, so with just one unit you get bounce with the main head and fill with the small flash. If I ever decide to buy a P-TTL flash, this will be it.</p>

 

<p>Adam, looks like it was a very successful trip. I love the images, very well done. I hope you can post some additional shots at some point. Thanks for sharing them.</p>

<p>Thanks for the kind comments, everybody!</p>

<p>As for my stacking method: I stacked the files manually using the GIMP by simply dragging and dropping each new layer onto the stack and selecting the "lighten only" stacking mode on the layers tab. It took quite a while, and is far from a perfect method, but at least it's a proof of concept -- I'd never tried anything like that before.</p>

<p>Justin, I vaguely remember you talking about a similar stacking method, so if you're around, perhaps you could lend us some PP wisdom: I was hoping that stacking so many images together would virtually eliminate the noise in the photo, but there's still a considerable amount left. Is there a way around this?</p>

<p>Really excellent images!!! Really captured the country excellently!! Your pics tell a story.</p>