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You have to be feisty to defend spending that much money on a camera that doesn't have a professional (P) mode.

The 70's are hilarious because we lived through them. Had we been in the picture of Jefferson with the Declaration of Independence, we might be making remarks about the trousers we wore. History has a great sense of humor - it doesn't have any choice.

A lot of very good photographers left the site about a year and a half ago now. It's never recovered. And many photogs don't send their pics through the critique queue any more because comments are hard to come by. There's still a lot of good photography and info on the site, but it's harder to find. Persistence will prevail.

 

Yes, I'm ready for the flames.

 

Cheers

I use a camera-flip from Stroboframe, and it works fine with my K10D. Keeps the flash in place while I rotate the camera. I had to drill one extra hole in the base plate so I'd have room for the camera with battery grip in the vertical position. Not sure it would work with bigger cameras, though.

For most wedding shots, you need to move fast and only use one flash (formal portraits being the exception), so you'd probably want a nice zoom, such as the Tamron. I'm sure the Pentax is a fine lens but, as you say, it's expensive. My Sigma 18-200 does nicely with the flash, but I could stand something faster. I would also suggest getting the battery grip for the K10D. You won't regret it, especially for events.

 

You'll probably want a 50/1.4 or something maybe a little wider, but still relatively fast. I have a Sigma 24/1.8 that's a nice performer. I haven't decided which of the 2.8 zooms to go for yet.

 

Since most of the time, you'll be working with one flash, I would suggest going for the big Pentax (AF540 whatever). It works pretty well, but one of my complaints about the Pentax system is flash exposure consistency. Canon users have the same complaints, so it's not restricted to Pentax. I use mine on a camera-flip bracket with the extension cord. You can fire it remotely using the on-board flash as the control flash, but that causes more shadows than bouncing the one big flash from right over the lens - providing you have a suitable surface to reflect the light.

 

I've found that using the camera on Tv and setting the shutter speed to 1/60th works pretty well, while leaving the flash on P-TTL. You may have to go to manual camera and auto-flash for some shots, though, especially if you want more DOF than f4.5 will give you. The flash seems a little under-powered sometimes, or at least doesn't put out the power it needs. And I agree about a macro lens, especially for the hand, ring, and cake shots. I have the Tamron SP 90mm and the Vivitar (Kiron) Series 1 105mm macro. Both nice performers.

 

Good luck.

If the candles are going to be in the photo, you're going to have to expose the candle flames pretty much as daylight or they'll be blown out. The other things will have to be in reasonable proximity to the candles if you are going to get enough light on them. So start with something like ISO 400, F8, 1/125th and move from there. Shouldn't take too many shots to figure out your best settings. Then it's going to be a matter of composition and getting the objects lighted that you want lighted.

 

Cheers

Well, Stacy, if someone had a lot of money, I'd like a nice 300/2.8, but somehow I don't think it's going to be in Santa's bag.

 

But I'll ask for it again next year, too.

 

Cheers

The only problem is that you're not using the same gear, so you can't really tell if the exposure settings are correct on the film camera by shooting it with the digital. And from my experience, if you're using flash, all bets are off - the two media act quite differently.

Or perhaps because some people have a computer so slow it won't load the RAW file.

The ability to use the on-board flash as a controller on the K10D came in the first firmware upgrade to the camera. There were downloadable instructions with it as well, showing how to set it up.

http://www.webercamera.com/

Must be made by DeWalt.

To be on the safe side, if you use a flash other than the Pentax flashes, I'd get a Wein Sync-safe (about $40) and not have to worry about the trigger voltages.

 

I have the 540 and, from my experience, you'll need to play around with whatever flash you get in order to get decent exposures. For some reason, everything I take in "green mode" with the 540 is under-exposed. Program mode is not so bad, but is still unpredictable. Most of the time, I use the camera on Manual mode and the flash on auto mode, just like I would on a film camera, and I seem to get the best results.

 

If you're on a tight budget, use your two 383's and umbrellas if you have time to set up and practice. A flash meter should give you a place to start for your camera settings. One good thing about portrait photography - you can take as many shots as you need. You won't miss the sunset.

 

Good luck.

I think playing and practicing will be the best way to find out what the flash will do.

 

I have the K10D and the 540. I have not had good success at bouncing the flash in Program mode. The camera doesn't have TTL - it has P-TTL, which is kind of a different animal. Manual works best for me for the camera. That way I can set the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. The flash works pretty well on AUTO when bouncing, just like a similar auto flash on a film camera would work.

 

The 540 is supposed to have a guide number of about 140 feet, but I think it's over-rated. About 99% of the exposures I take with the camera on Program and the flash on P-TTL are underexposed unless I'm within about six feet of the subject. So you'll have to play with it a little to see what is best. You may be surprised to learn that the flash actually seems to be built to fire straight on, and if you use the 18mm diffuser in the cap of the flash, and use it straight on the subject, it does pretty well, and shadows are often not a problem because the diffuser scatters the light pretty well.

 

Good Luck

I re-read Donald's statements, and I don't see where I took anything out of context. He said: <p>

 

<i>In this country, the rules state that 'the door must be open' which means that the public must have access to the wedding, invited or not. It is afterall, a 'public' ceremony.</i><p>

 

It is true that I don't know what country he lives in, and that may make a difference, but he is not referring to doctrine or church law because he states that "in this country, the rules state." <p>

 

I was simply asking what rule stated that, because I have a hard time believing that if a group of people build something, they are obligated to let everyone else in.<p>

 

And most church venues aren't necessarily available for prayers during the day if a staff member is not there, because people have a tendency in this refined age in which we live, to make off with anything that is not bolted down.<p>

 

Cheers

Where is the rule or law that says "The door must be opened?"

 

Is there a law somewhere that says if a congregation sacrifices to build a nice building, they then must open it up to everyone who wants to come in and desecrate it? Are ceremonies no longer allowed to be private? Must the church allow consumption of alcohol if they don't want it? Does anyone have the right to call and use the building for afternoon tea? We've come a long way since separation of church and state, haven't we? There may be a lot of things "the church needs to be told," but how to manage their property may not be one of them. The church is not in business to make money. The White House is public property, but don't try walking in uninvited.

 

Cheers

In case anyone is still reading this, I'm sorry I wasn't able to return. I don't see why the camera should give you "suggestions." It's making the settings for you. If it sets the shutter speed at half a second and leaves the ISO at 100, that doesn't make any sense, and it's not even a good suggestion. It should raise the ISO appropriately, but it does not.

 

Changing the sub-program to MTF doesn't seem to matter.

 

Cheers

I know this is probably buried in the archives somewhere, but I couldn't find a

good answer.

 

My K10D, when set to auto ISO for, let's say, a 100-800 range, always selects

the lowest ISO, even when it then tells me I need to use the flash.

 

For instance, if I mount the 50mm/f1.4 lens and set the mode dial to P, it will

give me, let's say, a shutter speed of 1/60, an aperture of 2.0, an ISO of 100,

and give me the flash warning. If I take the ISO off auto and set it to 800,

it will give me 1/125 and f2.8, and I don't need the flash.

 

Do other people have this problem? I may be nuts, but it seemed to be that the

camera always used to select the highest ISO but now it's selecting the

lowest. Changing the Program Line in the Custom menu doesn't seem to affect

the ISO, although it will affect the other parameters. Yes, I have updated to

firmware 1.3.

 

Any info or insight would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

Yes, Walter, but what do you really think?

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If you're going to be travelling, the battery grip will give longer life between charges. Mine stays on the camera all the time. I didn't really even consider the K100 when, for not that much more, you can get the K10D with its added features.

As others have said, up to about 200mm, you won't have trouble finding Pentax glass. Above that, however, you'll have to pay over two grand for something like a 300mm/2.8, and the prices go up from there.

 

This may be heresy in this forum, but you could quickly save the price difference between the K10D and the D200 on one lens, so you might want to at least think about it.

 

Having said that, there are many Pentax lenses in the 20-100mm range to suit your fancy. The always stellar 50mm/f1.4 is nice. I have a 12-24 Pentax digital zoom that is terrific. I have a Sigma 24mm/f1.8 that is very nice. You can still buy Vivitar Series 1 (Kiron) 105mm macro lenses for the camera, and the 90mm Tamron macro is available for the camera. There are some nice limited lenses, especially the 77mm, which I don't have but get great reviews.

 

Good luck

I bought all my stuff last year and got four rebates totalling over $300. All were delivered on time. They even re-processed one they said I didn't submit correctly, and delivered.

<i> It's only in the minds of men who can't deal with women's bodies that belly dancing becomes something other than a dance. </i> <p>

 

If you watch your local news, you'll probably see at least five or six stories each week about such men, and some of them do eventually deal with women's bodies in a manner that is somewhat illegal. Do you think maybe they would go see such a thing and think it suggestive? They might not have read the web link. Not all minds are as pure as ours.