matthew miller

I posted this in another forum and no one seemed to care. Maybe people will here. :)

 

So, here's an interesting thing about P-TTL and P mode on the K10D with a flash

mounted. This is with the Metz 48 AF-1, but I assume it's with any flash ? it'd

be interesting to have confirmation.

 

At ISO 320 or below, it tends to pick things like shutter speed 1/60th and f/2.8

or f/3.5. (This is a f/2.8 max lens, in MTF P mode ? I should test the other P

options too.) But at ISO 400, there's a sudden jump to preferring f/8 (same

shutter speeds).

 

It makes sense, of course, that higher ISOs allow smaller apertures, but the

interesting thing is that there's a clear jump in behavior right at that point ?

the 1/3 stop increase in ISO causes a 2 1/3 stop decrease in aperture.

(Either way, the flash power is automatically adjusted to the right exposure.)

That is really tasty. It's also great to see a return to "normal" kit lenses instead of cheap zooms. If this had been available back when I was buying my first DSLR, I wouldn't be posting in this forum today. :)

I don't think the 50-200 is going to blow away your current 70-300, if that's what you're asking.

Yeah, it's a pretty positive review. Beware the accompanying numbers, though -- apparently they just cut-and-paste the K10D autofocus test.

Here's the caveat on this tip, though: Lithium rechargeable batteries lose capacity over time starting at manufacture, no matter how you treat them -- just sitting in the package, they're ticking away. The number isn't huge if they're kept cool and are stored with a 40-60% charge instead of full, but it's still worth considering. Since clearly the Konica-Minolta batteries haven't been made for several years, all the available stock is already diminished in capacity and will only get worse.

To add to what Peter Zack says: if you set the other dial to ISO in Av and Tv modes, the viewfinder will always display the current ISO. (At least in those modes.)

Roger -- auto DOF mode is very different from this in execution, because the Canon approach still requires autofocusing. The advantage of a hyperfocal setting would be that you'd know that everything from a given (displayed in the viewfinder) distance would be in acceptable focus with *zero* AF time.

 

Renato -- trap focus, sensor pixel mapping, lower jpeg compression option, edge sharpening option, customizable file name bases, lens af adjustment option with per-lens memory, etc. They definitely listen to suggestions *like this one*. Full frame and faster fps are a different ball game.

Oh, also: clearly as demonstrated by the K20D's feature set, Pentax does listen to their customers. If you want this, e-mail the idea to Pentax and we may really get it, maybe not in a firmware update but in a future model.

So, one important thing the PhotographyBLOG article is missing is that the acceptable circle of confusion should be user-settable, either precisely or as a series of three or four settings (small circle to big circle, kind of like one-four stars for JPEG quality).

Good suggestion. <a href=http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-dslr-discussion/19781-idea-future-camera-hyperfocal-mode.html">I think so too</a>.

From the subject line, I was totally expecting this to be about what to say to get a thread back on track after it's turned into a debate about when Pentax will offer a full-frame camera....

Well, it's worth checking on the rebatestatus.com site, because like any rebate company, they'll do everything they can to find an excuse to not fulfill yours.

He's right -- you do want to use a coated filter, preferably one with a fancy multicoating like the Pro1 filters. If you use those, you won't significantly impact image quality.

 

You're going to get some replies telling you never to use a filter because why put anything at all in front of your lens. Depends one what you're doing, though -- I'm often taking pictures of kids at the playground where there's a non-zero chance of getting a handful of rocks in the camera. I'll take all the extra protection I can get.

Justin Serpico -- the sensor noise reduction is different from dark-frame subtraction. But I believe it *is* the same as the adjustable noise levels in the K20D, and if so, will also affect RAW there. But also, are you serious about your comments about the lens focus database being the only improvement useful to you? Because sounds like maybe you haven't seen the full list....

I was just thinking about this the other day. Does having that piece off affect the weather sealing?

I'd hate for the something as dangerous as the Delete button to do something that would cause me to be pressing it all of the time.

 

Did you know that in Av or Tv modes, you can assign ISO to one of the control wheels in the K10D? And even if you don't do that, you can hold "Ok" and turn the wheel to chagne ISO.

 

That said, I'm all for allowing greater customization of the buttons.

I don't think this is a :( at all. It's a sensible move on Sigma's part since it means they can make the lenses mechanically the same as those for other mounts with support for in-lens motors.

Jacques Pelletier -- no, it was US only. Plus, one of the things they'll quickly reject you for is sending in the rebate after longer than 30 days from purchase.

Jim Wu ? what makes you think it might be a gray market product? I've never heard of Buydig/Beach Camera doing that before.

 

If they were rejecting you for specifically that reason, they would say so rather than just not showing up.

 

In my experience, the rebate center does everything in big batches. If you send in at the right time in the cycle, everything happens quickly. Otherwise, you end up waiting the full 8-10 weeks.

To answer another small part of your question: these days everyone uses a bayonet mount of some sort, but only Pentax and Samsung (who basically re-badges Pentax-designed cameras) make K-mount bayonet bodies which will work with your lenses.

 

These bodies all lack the physical coupler which relays aperture dial, which means shooting with pre-"A" lenses is possible but less graceful than it could be. Search for "crippled K-mount" and you'll get tons more information about this. If your lenses have an A setting for aperture, then you don't need to worry about this (although be aware that you need to use that setting rather than adjusting with aperture ring on the lens).

I second the craigslist recommendation. One thing I particularly like about craiglist is the ease of constructing RSS feeds for searches -- follow <a href="http://newyork.craigslist.org/search/pho?query=k1000&minAsk=1&maxAsk=200">this search for K1000 under $200 in NYC</a> and then subscribe to the RSS feed linked from there.

Note that it won't meter at anything except wide open until you push the green button to stop down and take a reading.

It does largely come down to personal preferences, but be aware that "0" saturation is already rather saturated, and going beyond that, particularly in bright mode, can result in "otherworldly" colors and risks blowing out the red channel, particularly in bright mode. In one picture I took, orange traffic cones had large areas of 100% red at +1 saturation.

 

I *do* recommend Bright mode -- Natural is designed to have a curve applied in post processing, and to my mind, if you're intending to do that much post processing to every image, you should be shooting RAW anyway. So, I use Bright mode with saturation at -1, sharpness at 0, and contrast varying depending on the lighting conditions.

Trent/Justin -- actually, the "subpixel" math is the common way of stating small-LCD resolution. I think they *are* multiplying the RGB values when they say 230,000 pixel. It's actually 76,700-pixels in the full-color sense we're used to.

 

Since this is common terminology and Pentax isn't making a big deal about it being special, I don't see any reason to assume otherwise. To come in at the price they're aiming for, they've got to cut costs somewhere and this is a natural place to do it.

 

Note that they say "210,000 pixels" for the K10D. So the screen is essentially the same -- just a little bigger at about the same ppi.

"Little more than a K10D at a K100D price" would be amazing. But it won't be that at all -- it'll be an entry-level camera with entry-level features. (Nothing wrong with that either, just not at all the same thing.)

 

Paul Noble -- I haven't seen anyone (I assume you're referring to Benjamin Kanarek, by the way) say that about the K200D pictures. The "K20D" rumors are a different story.