azemerov

Andrew,<br> I agree my statement was too general :) Sure, mostly I meant full-controlled processing of RAWs, while sometimes I adjust curves even on my JPEGs.<br>

BTW, immediately after I had posted my message, I realized that spot metering can be also useful for averaging exposure. Meter values can be checked at several points in bright and dark areas, and exposure will be set according to averages and photographer desire. I don't understand how I could forget about such well known technique. So spot metering is rehabilitated in my eyes!

I already asked this question, but nobody replayed... My be this time I'll be lucky :)<br>

First of all - my consideration is about situations where you care about details on whole picture (or on most part of it).<br>

I would agree that in film era correct exposure of 18% gray was the goal #1. But now we have to keep in mind the narrow dynamic range of digital sensors... It does mean in some cases we have to purposely overexpose/underexpose 18% gray to capture more midtones in dark/bright areas. In postprocessing we can play with curves to fix the 18% gray appearance while preserve midtones in problem areas.<br>

Another words - the 1st goal of digital exposure is not to get immediate correct exposure of 18% gray (let say human face) but to capture most of available tones... From this point of view the LCD image doesn't make much help, while histogram is extremely important. Also it makes center-weighted and whole frame metering more valuable than spot metering.<br>

I want to know your opinion - does this statement make sense for you?

Picture is very good, but there is a very noticable chroma aberration. Is it normal for 10mm focal length? Is it possible that sensor increases chroma on wide angles? Yvon, did you try this lens on your old camera? If so, was chroma the same?<br>

Oh, too much question marks...

I would split #1 on two different shots - <br>

1) left bottom corner - ducks with turtles and <br>

2) duck on the stone warming up his wings. <br>

On original picture these two subjects are not logically tight, plus bright green background distracts attention also.<br>

And yes - I love #5!!!

Well, I found some information - Pentax uses Fujitsu MB91683 processor. <a href="http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/Pentax_K10D_Firmware_Fun">More details...</a>

Anybody knows what microprocessor is used in Pentax cameras? More specifically, what command set/assembler is used? I wanna try to disassemble the Pentax firmware...

Just in case you forget - to enable wireless release go to "Fn" menu... The upper submenu has this setting.

I have some ideas, while not sure they can help...<br>

1. Do you see any spots on the iris blades?<br>

2. Does iris blades work smoothly?<br>

3. If you look through lens, rotate and shake it - do you see any floating or moving stuff inside? Do you hear any sound?<br>

The whole idea is - if you have inconsistent sharpness with the same (or almost the same) aperture value there should be some floating mechanical problem. It can be piece of paint coat, unglued lens, partially jammed iris, etc.

Mei,<br>

You should count halfs because flourescent lamp doesn't care about pulse polarity - it hits equialy every pulse. One AC period has 2 pulses - positive and negative. So, if AC frequency is 60Hz lamp blinks 120 times per second.

What is difference in optical construction and quality between "M", "A" and "FA"

versions of 50/1.7? As far as I know they all have the same optical formula, but

may be technology or production/inspection quality were changed?<br>

To make it short - I have a "M" version, is there any reason to upgrade to "FA"

beside auto focus?

As a cheap alternative.

I have SEARS 135/2.8. It got it for $25 on eBay. Very well built!

Optical quality looks very good also (at least for my opinion).

The only concern - it is manual lens.

Central spot AF _all_ the time.<br>

Metering -<br>

1)Spot when shoot portrait (I know it will be correctly taken when pointed on face).<br>

2)In case of landscapes (or other scenes with high range of middletones) I prefer matrix or center weighted. Main subject can be exposed incorrectly, but I can fix it with post processing. The main idea is to get maximum from the narrow dynamic range of sensor, so use RAW.<br>

3) With very complex light or special effects I rely on the "try, check and retry" method.

Well, it happened I had bad contact on battery. Remote works fine now!

Be aware it is very likely "customized" screen will affect AE accuracy. In my case it required about +1/2EV compensation.

I got one. But it doesn't work with my K100D. Don't know is it remote control problem or something wring with my camera. As I understand there are no settings to enable/disable infrared release, so it should work regardless menu settings.

Will try it in the local Ritz Camera shop. Any other ideas how to test control/camera wireless functionality?

I have Fotodiox viewfinder, which I believe is the same rebranded Seagull. I like the price ($40), while optical quality is poor; viewfinder significantly reduces sharpness, which is critical for manual focusing. As result even with x2 magnification focusing is less convenient then without viewfinder. May be it is only my exemplar problem, but anyway - be warned.

Having similar flash problem with my K100D I also noticed another symptoms - battery was depleted in couple minutes and left part of body became hot. Sad, but camera _must_ be sent for repair.

About the gap... I don't think it is an issue. The diapason between 55 and 75 mm is relatively small. It should be very special situation when you need exactly, let say, 65mm. In most cases you can substitute it with 55 or 75 mm.

Anybody has any idea how "Enlargement of dynamic range" works? How "increasing of dynamic range by 200%" correlates with the same 12 bits/channel in RAW mode?

Does anybody knows Pentax-related (and just photo-oriented) Wiki?<br>

I think it would be nice to have such one as an addition to the forum, because

there are so many repeating questions can be easily organized on Wiki. Actually

I believe integration of forum and Wiki formats should replace plain forums in

the future.

Another consideration - what is your metering mode - central spot, center-weighted or multi-segment? If you use central spot metering and have dark subject, the bright background must be overexposed. Again, without example it is too difficult to say.

The only setting you have to check is manual focusing mode. If you use cheap telephoto or wide angle adapter (mounted on the lens front) in many cases you lose autofocus capability.

To get 2x magnification you have to use tube with length equal to your lens focal length (in your case 50mm). After that you will lost full f-stop.

BTW, be careful when try to buy cheap "high speed" card - be aware about difference between read and write speed. There are some cheap cards with declared "x60" or "x133" speed and prices below $20 (after rebate or instantly) for 1 or even 2Gb.<br>

BUT while some of them can really provide read speed up to declared x60 (10MB/sec) or x133 (20MB/sec), the write speed is MUCH less. As an example, I had "Corsair x60" card with actual write speed around x10 (1.5MB/sec). As result my K100D spent up to 2 seconds to store single JPEG! With Sandisk Ultra II (10MB/sec read/9MB write as declared) you will wait less than half of second until your JPEG is stored.<br>

Same time I see no difference when I transfer files from the card to my computer.

Teng, I have to say - you picture is much better. Your friend ones are spectacular, but very unnatural, bodies are so separated from the background. From the first look I thought they were done in PS from 2 different shots (especially #1 and #3), but reflection on the car convinced me they are real. Anyway, if you gonna use strobes outside, try to use less power, to make glossy effect less artificial.