darren_schlamp

<p>I took this picture of Idian Paintbrush (Castilleja) with a K20D and F28-80, handheld in macro while I was out mountain biking last Sunday. Taken at f/4.5, 1/1500 sec, ISO 800, in Av / program mode because I didn't want to have my 10 yr old son get too far ahead of me on the trail and get eaten by a bear. I just downloaded it yesterday, and all I did was resize it, no post-production. I find that the bokeh of the linear objects like tree branches in the background gives it a very impressionistic feel - quite unlike anything else I've taken. In the original, you can see the fuzz on the leaves.<br>

<img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_WnDSV76Ko6M/SjWHQqHr45I/AAAAAAAAAi4/wCIbXJSuGm4/s640/imgp2633.jpg" alt="" /><br>

<br /> Larger version (still scaled down): http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/XxuKlX1fb-a1ZrcHf0_UOg?feat=directlink<br>

Centre crop (1:1): http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/QsM4nD8BzmgSvsmyPylXNA?feat=directlink</p>

<p>I found film and developing was getting too expensive in 2003, retired my ME-Super, and switched to a digital P&S. I bought my K20D inJune 2008, and have no regrets. I love the controls, the feel, the glass, and still feel that it was good value for the money. I intend to enjoy it for many years to come, as it will always be more camera than I can fully explore and use to its limits.</p>

<p>I bought one last week for a similar reason, but don't have any other flashes other than an ancient AF160 from my ME Super. You probably are not planning on using the AF500 on-camera, which is good, as it does not support P-TTL. It's feature set best matches the *ist cameras, and the more recent film cameras. The manual is available from <a>Pentax</a> , so you can see the full listing of capabilities. The strobe setting seems kind of interesting, as it allows up to 9 flashes in a row at speeds of 1 to 20 Hz, but I haven't played with that yet. It won't work with the Pentax built-in wireless.</p>

<p>AF500 pricing at KEH was around $69 to $76 for EX to EX+ condition respectively, a week or so ago. I paid $125 CDN to a private seller ($105 USD), including a Pentax cable and hotshoe. Those accessories are quite expensive ($30-50 used, even more new), but I don't see a huge need for them, and paid what I felt was a fair price based on how I would use it.</p>

<p>The AF500 works as an optical slave out of the box, but will fire on a pre-flash, so I think you will need your other flashes on manual to trigger the AF500 optically. Your other options are to spend $50 or so on an optical slave (like the Wein Ultra Peanut) for the AF500 that ignores preflashes, or else get into a radio system which will still leave you in manual mode. You can control the flash power on the back of the flash in manual mode in full stops from 1 to 1/32. It zooms from 24mm to 85mm (so on a crop sensor, should be good for a 16mm lens through ~55mm). It has bounce and swivel, but that probably isn't important in off-camera application. It was Pentax's top of the line flash prior to the 540, so it should be more powerful than your 360.</p>

<p>For value, I would compare it with a cheap fill flash like the Vivitar 285 or other used ones that you might be considering for a third flash. I haven't seen the 285 in person, but I expect the AF500 to be of higher quality.</p>

<p>I would agree with John's comment that two flashes should cover you for most lighting work. You already have three flashes if you include your on-camera flash, dialed down for on-axis lighting. I just started reading strobist a few weeks ago, so I'm definitely not an expert. In going through Lighting 101 and the gear recommendations to get started, I'll llikely just use my AF500 and AF160 with radio triggers, and not add any other flashes until I find that I absolutely need them. My next lighting purchase will likely be something like the starving student kit from Midwest Photo Exchange (umbrellas, clamps, tripods, cheap radio triggers and accessories for $239).</p>

<p>I would disagree. There is a some hand-waving involved in my post, but this was the best data I could find in a reasonable amount of time, and I wasn't going to post the entire spreadsheet of data. <br /> <br /> The Pentax DSLR <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/technology-media-telco-SP/idUST23502820070403">market share</a> in 2005 and 2006 was 4.6% and 4.5% respectively. All I could find for a 2007 Pentax number was <a href="http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-news-rumors/37238-good-bad-indifferent.html">for FY07 (ending March 08)</a> , and after comparing with the <a href="http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/2007-Worldwide-Digital-Camera-Market-Share-Review--18014.htm">units sold</a> by other manufacturers, Pentax remained roughly consistent in market share with previous years, between 4% and 5%. <br /> <br /> Here is the problem - Flickr has stats on each <a href="http://www.flickr.com/cameras/">camera brand</a> (I couldn't quickly find comparable stats from Photo.net). You can search for number of photos for each camera model (here are the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/cameras/pentax/">Pentax</a> numbers).<br /> <br /> When I added up all of the numbers just for the DSLRs of each of the main 5 brands, here were the results as of about 2pm today:<br /> <br /> Canon - 238,916,087 (53.1%)<br /> Nikon - 174,603,226 (38.8%)<br /> Olympus - 14,325,240 (3.2%)<br /> Sony - 10,244,140 (2.3%)<br /> Pentax - 11,613,749 (2.6%)<br /> <br /> Pentax should be closer to 4.6% on the above list. Going from the camera listings on Flickr, Pentaxians are underperforming, and need to be submitting almost twice as many pictures to keep up with those who use the other DSLR brands. In conclusion, Pentaxians actually need to be taking and submitting more pictures, instead of thumbing our noses at other camera users.</p>

This <a href="http://www.precision-camera.com/product/AFB001P">one?</a> $519.95, although they claim out of

stock. B&H had it for $499 on a Google Products search.

I haven't seen that happen to me. There are a ton of settings on the camera, though, and after two months, I still haven't played too much in the menus - the buttons and dials have been enough to keep me busy.

 

Are you sure that you don't have exposure bracket shooting turned on by accident?

I went to watch the <a href="http://www.snowbirds.dnd.ca/site/index_e.asp">Snowbirds</a> perform in Penticton, BC

on Tuesday. I try to catch any of their performances within 100km of me, so this is probably the 10th or 20th

time I've seen them, and it was a great excuse to add a few hundred shutter actuations to my new K20D. First shot

was with a SMC Pentax-F 70-210 that I bought along with two other lenses and a mid-80s SLR for $100 back in May

or June.<br>

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/dschlamp/PentaxK20D/photo#5233052611459211794"><img

src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/dschlamp/SJ-Jn8z04hI/AAAAAAAAAC0/BDNyFC2GOGI/s144/imgp0452-small.jpg" /></a>

<br clear="all">

The second image was at the end of the show, with my DA16-45:<br>

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/dschlamp/PentaxK20D/photo#5233052612430723282"><img

src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/dschlamp/SJ-JoAbc-NI/AAAAAAAAAC8/l6UGeAlNtgE/s144/imgp0500-small.jpg" /></a>

<br clear="all">

The final shot was at night on the drive home Tuesday night, also with the DA16-45. <br>

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/dschlamp/PentaxK20D/photo#5233052613018005522"><img

src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/dschlamp/SJ-JoCneMBI/AAAAAAAAADE/mnPegCkXOG8/s144/imgp0522-smallcrop.jpg" /></a>

<br clear="all">

The next time I take pictures of moving airplanes, I think I'll use shutter priority at 1/1000 or faster, as most

of my shots were at 1/500, and I'm unhappy with the level of sharpness on some pictures. The only post-production

was to crudely copy a small section of sky in the first two photos to hide a massive dust spot on the sensor.

This weeks

camera-related purchase will have to be some cleaning tools.

Maurycy, I admit that the Pentax ad was the first billboard that I cal recall ever being excited to see,

especially after reading all of the doom and gloom about Pentax marketing both here and on pentaxforums. It is

Pentax Canada, though, that paid for the billboard. They do things differently - no mail in rebates in Canada,

etc. I know that I haven't bought a photo magazine in the past 5 years, and very few, if any, before that, so

would spending money in magazines reach everyone that they need to?<br><br>

 

The lens on the billboard looks like a 16-45, and the camera appears to be a K20D. I had just purchased the same

camera and lens in late June, and took the picture as I was driving past.

<i>"But the truth is that Pentax is not even advertising their cameras to the public so they can go

on-line and compare it to the C or N."</i><br>

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/dschlamp/PentaxK20D/photo#5227523152604334226"><img

src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/dschlamp/SIvknFYciJI/AAAAAAAAABE/ip4XM7YdqkM/s144/imgp0137.jpg" /></a>

<br>

I beg to differ. That is one of three billboards on Highway 97 just west of Kelowna BC, on the west end of the <a

href="http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/WilliamRBennettBridge/">Okanagan Lake floating bridge</a>. There is one DSLR

billboard facing each direction of traffic, and another billboard (for the Optio, I believe) which is visible to

westbound traffic only. An average of 46,000 vehicles a day go past all three. A substantial fraction of the

population of Alberta will drive past these billboards this summer on their way to summer vacations in Penticton

and Osoyoos. All three billboards have been up for a month or so now.