occhicone

<p>you arent going to be finding batteries of any kind in rural ethiopia - as far as lens go, you have something nice for getting in close to people - your 70 covers portraits - maybe pick up that 55-300 - its is a great cheap lens.<br>

a have some off brand batteries for such trips - if you'll be in vans or land rovers, you can get a charger that goes in the cigarette lighter - </p>

<p>i had he same thing - my flash had an ever so slight burning smell - i wasnt sure if it was the unit or candles /cigs at the party i was at...needless to say it got fried. now it fires but always at full strength. - basically a paper weight.</p>

<p>I am a long time pentax guy and have loved my k10d. every time I pick up another camera (i.e. like the nikon d90) i am reminded how much i like the build quality. i love that it feels solid - i also love the controls /ergonomics. As i've had it since it first hit the shelves, it is really 2nd nature to use. <br>

With this said, I am thinking of switching. This is for 2 reasons:<br>

1-I had the chance to see some results at high iso from a d700 and was shocked. <br>

2- while i havent had experience with it, i hear the focusing system is incredibly accurate and works well in low light. These are my 2 biggest problems with my current set up.<br>

As I expressed earlier, I love my set up now and an loathe to change. IF there were a similar offering from pentax that added better iso and better focusing, i'd be on it. Right now, i probably wont do anything till nikon comes out with the next version of the d700 and d300s and pentax comes out with its next dslr. But, I do have some cash burning a hole in my pocket and doing a little research now is always useful.<br>

I was wondering what people thought will be included in our brand's next offering. I was also wondering if anyone had experience with a 'flagship' pentax dslr and one of the 2 nikons i mentioned (d700 and d300 / 300s) and could offer a their experience with the 2. <br>

I agree with the many who believe that we wont be getting FF any time soon and am not necessarily looking to switch for that reason. I am still toying with the idea of FF but am more concerned with great iso performance and focusing spped / accuracy. <br>

thanks for your input</p>

 

<p>i hitch hiked across southern africa in 99-00 with 40 rolls of film and my pentax k1000. total pain in the butt. my wife has the g10 and i have a dslr - cards are so cheap and the results so good. edit your shots on your computer - at home - at your leisure - you cant go wrong.</p>

<p>"calls that approach “blatantly outrageous … Some guy who is exercising his First Amendment right to take pictures in a public place is being punished for it. That’s about as fundamental a right as I can imagine. I have no idea what could be the possible justification.”<br>

i am normally on the side of the photographer but a lot of people seem to feel that it is our first amendment right to take pictures wherever we want . i am not so sure. where does it say that? I think it may pertain more to publishing things that others may find offensive. for example, i found a lot of robert maplethorpe's work rather disgusting - BUT, he is free to do it, sell it, publish it, display it, etc... i am free to see it or not, buy it or not, etc... However, he was working in his studio with willing models - not sitcking a camera in people's face in the mall. </p>

<p>whcc.com - awesome</p>

<p>i shoot with a k10d and have bought lenses which are full frame compatible - i.e sigma 10-20, tamron'beer can', and a few pentax primes from the film days. i also have a DA 55-300 which i got for a trip to africa. out of curiosity, i slapped it on my old zx-7 to see what i could see. there is no vignetting. if there were ever a full frame, would it just perform badly on the edges? just curious how it works...</p>

<p>the tilt can be overused for sure but it works in these particular pictures - </p>

<p>the tilt can be overused for sure but it works in these particular pictures - </p>

<p>i use nik color effects as a lightroom plugin - i like to use the tonal contrast filter followed by the film effects filter. do i have to save after the 1st filter then open another time and apply the 2nd filter or can i apply both without saving and reopening?</p>

 

<p>if you really want to be serious you need a leica m8, all the lenses a large format camera exactly like the one adams used, a nikon d700000, again with all nikon prime lenses, 2 pinhole cameras, one of those polaroids that make the little stickers, and a kodak disk...otherwise your pictures will stink</p>

<p>the exposure in pttl is wrong. there is no exposure. it is exactly the same as if i didnt use the flash. perhaps all i am seeing is the preflash?</p>

<p>also, on further inspection, i can use the flash normally in manual mode - its only pttl that is weird</p>

<p>also, burning smell was a one off. when i cam back to mess around a bit, all is fine in regards to that</p>

<p>of course he can search you...."your eyes are red, your pupils are dilated, you seemed erratic.".. all very subjective and hard to disprove. </p>

<p>any ever experience this?</p>

<p>i started usiing the flash and noted a slight burning smell. obviously i discontinued. the next day, i connected back on my k10d and noted some very strange behavior.<br>

first, in pttl mode it seems to fire a moment to soon. it has no effect on the photo. it seems that i see the flash fire through the viewfinder. <br>

also, in manual mode, it doesnt matter if i am at 1/1, 1/4 or 1/32...the results are exactly the same. it just seems like it firing at the same dstrength. but here, it is synced with the shutter and i do not see the flash fire through the viewfinder.</p>

<p>i did use some rayovac recargeables instead of a better name brand. a factor?</p>

<p>to summarize, HELP!</p>

<p>on second thought, you werent even hassled. he didnt look in your bag, search your car. he was may have been ever so slightly curt with you. to claim you were violated makes you a big sissy mary. </p>

<p>you werent violated. young girls in the congo who are taken by a militia, used as slaves all day and gang raped at night are violated. the guy who got a plunger handle stuck up his but by the nypd a few years back, he was violated. you may have been hassled a little but you werent violated. </p>

<p>i get lots of sharp shots with a tamron beer can(slightly long and heavy) at 1/20 and some at 1/8 with sr on my k10d. I always make sure to brace myself well and often shoot in burst mode. i tend to see the 2nd or 3rd in the burst be sharper than the 1st</p>

<p>also, keep this in mind....when ever someone seems to get a new photoshop trick (especially beginners) they tend to over do it and it looks fake. it takes a while to figure out...(its kind of like when film guys did their first sepia- i know i went bananas with it) when you are smoothing out skin, it is real easy to make it look fake and waxy - if you have lightroom, you might like the adjustment brush with low clarity - it does a good job of correcting without this overdone look - and if you make a good mask, it is easy to adjust later. i would recommend starting with the effect light and increasing it slowly as opposed to starting heavy and reducing it...i find it easier to gauge how much I want that way - </p>

<p>also, listen to these guys about flash - they speak the truth.</p>

<p>also, with lightroom and the adjustment brush, it is easy to give a touch of extra pop to the eyes (end teeth) with a little brightness and sharpening and perhaps clarity - again go easy or you'll end up with eyes that look like those of a tiger on an velvet poster.</p>

<p>finally, dont get to hung up on which lens you use - 50 2.0 vs 50 1.7...dudes like toys, no doubt - but it isnt really going to make a difference in your photography.<br>

and seriously finally, the search tool is your friend on this site. alot of your questions have been answered in detail. this site has been a great source of info for me </p>

<p>i recently was in kenya and driving around quite a bit. I shot a lot from the passenger seat with a sigma 10-20. i liked it because of the depth of field you can get with it but equally important, it snaps into focus quick as it doesnt have to travel fr from closest distance to infinity. however, i would have like to have been closer sometimes - can anyone recommend either the 35mm or 40mm pancake lens in regards to focusing quick </p>

<p>i have the grip for the k10d and love it wether shooting horizontal or vertical. i think the little extra weight helps me stabilize the camera - as for the AF button, i dont miss it cause i never use it - in fact, not to sound stupid, i am not sure when one would use it - </p>

<p> </p>

<p>i would second someone's rec. on the 55-300. i dont use long lenses much and just picked this up (to upgrade over the 80-320) for a trip and have played around with it a bit and am truely impressed. for a normal range zoom, i got the tamron 24-75 'beer can' - 2.8 through the entire range and only a few hundred. good deal. i have them all on the k10 but i would recommend the k20d as it is so low in price now. you'll definitely be happy with this camera</p>

<p>i like the cold look of 5 but i think there is a halo around the glass...it looks a little fake... overall, i think if you toned down the processing to a slightly more natural look, they would be better - i like the direction but just a touch overprocessed for me. imo, i like 1 the best...</p>

<p>also, have you thought about b&w - may be cool</p>

<p>i have been using a k10d since it came out and am tempted to get a k20d now that the price is low. my question is how much difference do the extra pixels count in cropping. if i crop a a third off a 15 mp raw file, is it the same as a 10mp file as far as making enlargements go? how does that work out? i now print 12x18 pretty often, with minimal cropping, and am really happy with what my k10d produces. will i be able to crop that much more and get the same quality/<br>

also,, feel free to weigh in on any other benefits such as expanded dynamic range and ISO performance - i've read anything from that there is no difference between the 2, to there is great difference.</p>

<p>also, not really interested in the k7 - i love the feel / layout of my camera and would be happy to continue with the the same layout / size</p>

<p>thanks for the advice you guys gave on my trip to kenya.<br>

besides a safari and other touristy stuff, i am visiting he Bosco Boys orphanage in Nairobi. It is run by the Salesian order of Catholic Priests, like where I went to high school in New Jersey. Together with my old school we raised money, items to donate.<br>

Also, we are doing a VERY abbreviated 'kids with cameras' type thing. I am bringing 100 disposable cameras to give to about 20-25 kids. they will have 2 weks to taake photos. I will be taking the film back to the US for development and we will auction the best prints at alumni dinners, etc back home to raise further money.<br>

So, I have 1 day to spend with the boys to get the going. I will have a laptop I am donating to the school so I can present some photos to them.<br>

I was thinking of starting by talking about what kinds of pictures they like / what they would like to take. talk to them about what they would show the boys in America if they could from their lives. Then, showing some pics taken by the kids with camera program, talking about what makes them interesting (or not). I think it will try and emphasize 2 main things 1-get close 2-look through your viewfinder - think about what you see - pause - push the button - then, demonstrate with my camera so they can see immediate results<br>

besides that, tell them to shoot mostly in the daylight and try a few inside and at night with the flash - but i am sure the flash on these things suck.</p>

<p>but what other kind of quick tips would you give them? i am interested to know what poeple think is the most important part of their picture taking experience. the 2 above are mine but obviously everyone thinks differently and approaches similar tasks from different viewpoints. <br>

to summarize, I want to keep the lesson simple and fun and enough to get them excited to go out shoot a few rolls.</p>

<p>we will also be putting the results on a website so the kids can see them and the orphanage can do its own fundraising oevr there with the materials - I can post the link here when its done</p>

<p>thanks</p>

<p> </p>

<p>if your sigma 10-20 is soft, you may have a poor copy - i am shocked how sharp mine is</p>