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Fun with the Pentax K5

Sapphie

Member
Hi Vince

Thanks for the kind comments on the photo. I hope the essay writing went well. So even the 'mighty' 31mm Ltd suffers from CA?

Anyway, yesterday was an exceptionally clear an bright day and we really enjoyed our trip to Lyme Regis on the southern English coast. One of the things that is amazing me about the K-5 is the exposure accuracy *and* its ability to preserve highlights. My K20D was a notoriously random beast, usually underexposing if it caught so much as a whiff of a specular highlight but with the K-5 all that has changed. In this shot, yes the walls on the left and right and the back of the gull's head did register as 'blown' but 100% highlight compensation in LR rectified it ... no other PP applied here.



Lee
 

scho

Well-known member
Hi Vince

Thanks for the kind comments on the photo. I hope the essay writing went well. So even the 'mighty' 31mm Ltd suffers from CA?

Anyway, yesterday was an exceptionally clear an bright day and we really enjoyed our trip to Lyme Regis on the southern English coast. One of the things that is amazing me about the K-5 is the exposure accuracy *and* its ability to preserve highlights. My K20D was a notoriously random beast, usually underexposing if it caught so much as a whiff of a specular highlight but with the K-5 all that has changed. In this shot, yes the walls on the left and right and the back of the gull's head did register as 'blown' but 100% highlight compensation in LR rectified it ... no other PP applied here.
Lee
Another 'grab shot' from yesterday ...

I don't think I have ever had so much fun with a digital camera.

Lee
Nice shots Lee. The K5 does seem to have lots of headroom for highlight recovery. The 18-135 seems to be performing well for you and it is a versatile lens. You appear to be enjoying real spring weather. I'm still looking at gray skies and slowly melting snow:(
 

Sapphie

Member
Here's another cropped shot. This was shot into the light off the water, so was essentially a silhouette. The 'cob' and huts thereon were lightened with a little fill light.



Yes I am loving the 18-135mm. I still think I occasionally have some issues with lack of sharpness but I think it may be 'operator error'! I am still working on that ...

Lee
 
P

photogerald

Guest
Thanks for the kind comments on the photo. I hope the essay writing went well. So even the 'mighty' 31mm Ltd suffers from CA?
Some LoCA (bokeh CA) is usually expected for fast lenses like the FA31 Ltd.

One of the things that is amazing me about the K-5 is the exposure accuracy *and* its ability to preserve highlights. My K20D was a notoriously random beast, usually underexposing if it caught so much as a whiff of a specular highlight but with the K-5 all that has changed.
Yes, the 77-segment metering that was introduced with the K-7 does seem like a big improvement over the K20D. I know what you mean regarding the matrix metering of the K20D - and on that camera, underexposure will result in more noise when you have to bring up the exposure in PP. It's why I set mine to use center-weighted metering, but even then there are situations where it does unexpected things.

With the much greater DR of the K-5, it looks like you can safely set your EV to -1/3 to account for the few occasions where highlights get blown, without having to worry about shadow noise due to underexpose (the K-5 has better DR @ISO800 than the K20D @ISO100!). Or you can enable the DR expansion feature with similar results, as noted by some reviews.
 

jonoslack

Active member
With the much greater DR of the K-5, it looks like you can safely set your EV to -1/3 to account for the few occasions where highlights get blown, without having to worry about shadow noise due to underexpose (the K-5 has better DR @ISO800 than the K20D @ISO100!). Or you can enable the DR expansion feature with similar results, as noted by some reviews.
Hi There Gerald
That's what I've done with mine (-1/3) it seems to deal well with the situation without much of a downside.
all the best
 
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photogerald

Guest
Hi There Gerald
That's what I've done with mine (-1/3) it seems to deal well with the situation without much of a downside.
all the best
Hi Jono! Thanks for confirming that you can basically "set it and forget it". I hope things are well with you!
 

ashwinrao1

Active member
Okay, basically test shots...taken with the 31 and 77 FA limited lenses. I love the build quality and dynamic range...







If the weather holds up this week-end, I'll take this for a real spin around town ;)
 

jonoslack

Active member
Okay, basically test shots...taken with the 31 and 77 FA limited lenses. I love the build quality and dynamic range...
PAF - if those two are test shots I'd like some lessons please! Lovely - glad you're having fun - the DR is a bit startling isn't it!

all the best
 

raist3d

Well-known member
I don't know quite what it is but I actually like on some weird abstract level the last shot with those yellows/blues and holes.

- Raist
 

raist3d

Well-known member
Hi There Gerald
That's what I've done with mine (-1/3) it seems to deal well with the situation without much of a downside.
all the best
I 2nd this. I am setting mine to -1/3 ev also. While I have to remember to bring it up it's all a breeze. Though i am shooting raw at the moment, I look forward to shoot in SLIDE JPEG and the Cross processing/toy camera filters in JPEG also.

- Raist
 

chiquita

Member
Ashwin, not bad for a beginner ha ha! I think looking at objects in great detail harks back to when we were kids and we looked at everything closely and with wonderment. As we get older we pass by all these things with nary a look! Are these colour ooc Ashwin or have you pp'd them a bit?
 

ashwinrao1

Active member
PAF - if those two are test shots I'd like some lessons please! Lovely - glad you're having fun - the DR is a bit startling isn't it!

all the best
Jono: Thanks so much! If anyone needs lessons from someone, it's me needing lessons from you! Your shots and contributions over my years with Leica have drawn me into the fray, and once again, here with the K-5! The DR is truly startling. What I thought were blown highlights are completely rescuable in certain instances....the files are not as crisp as the M9 (if I could only find someone to take off that darned anti-aliasing filter, I'd be in business)

Raist: Thabnk you kindly. The yellows and blues are an old sign from a former club here in Seattle called "Neon", the sign has been left to rot away along the side of a road that I travel frequently, and I decided, why not, take a few shots...thanks!

Chiquita: Thanks, and yes, a bit of tweaking of colors in lightroom 3 and Nik Color Efex

Carl: Thanks as well.

Jim: I loved your commentary. I must admit to being more of a Coke fiend (that sounds horrible, hahah...the soda, not the illicit stuff) in the recent years, but I once held Pepsi One close to my heart (and tastebuds) before the folks at Pepsi changed the forumulation. I do like Pepsi Max, but it has too much caffeine or something like it. Thanks for the enjoyable comment!

More to share as time goes on!
 

scho

Well-known member
A couple more beach shots taken with the K5+70mm limited on our recent trip to PR.





One from today taken with the K5+21mm limited. A father and daughter enjoying our first real spring weather.

 

OlliL

Member
Great shots Carl. I especially like the composition of the third!

Ashwin: love your "test" shots, but I wasn't expecting anything less from you.


If I'd ever buy a DSLR again, you guys pushed me in a certain direction. :)
 

Paratom

Well-known member
Okay, basically test shots...taken with the 31 and 77 FA limited lenses. I love the build quality and dynamic range...







If the weather holds up this week-end, I'll take this for a real spin around town ;)
great images. I really like the colors too. Pentax colors just look vey film like to me. I dont know if its the lenses or sensor or software or a combination of all 3.
So how do you like the K5 so far?
 

jonoslack

Active member
A couple more beach shots taken with the K5+70mm limited on our recent trip to PR.



One from today taken with the K5+21mm limited. A father and daughter enjoying our first real spring weather.

Carl - these two shots are really grand - PR?

Ashwin - the M9 shots will always be crisper . . . . surely it would be unreasonable to expect it otherwise, but there are certainly some compensations with respect to DR and convenience.
 

scho

Well-known member
Great shots Carl. I especially like the composition of the third!

Ashwin: love your "test" shots, but I wasn't expecting anything less from you.


If I'd ever buy a DSLR again, you guys pushed me in a certain direction. :)
Thank you OlliL.

Carl - these two shots are really grand - PR?

Ashwin - the M9 shots will always be crisper . . . . surely it would be unreasonable to expect it otherwise, but there are certainly some compensations with respect to DR and convenience.
Thanks Jono. PR = Puerto Rico.
 
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