Impressed with the K-X

My uncle now has a K-X and I've played with it for a good 3 hours and like the title said I'm impressed.

The AF (real 11 point vs 3 point KM) seems to work like it should and is quite snappy, It feels also faster then the K10D focus.
Viewfinder was certainly very decent compared to the K10D, which is very good for a mirror viewfinder.
It has a lot of features found in the K7 that make it a bit more useful.

Controls are a bit different then with the K10D but not inlogical, I do miss the amount of buttons though since I'm a M mode man.

I can not say much about picture quality, I made some in a dark room with iso1600 so can not really judge them. Also took some video which is surprisingly pleasant to do... makes me want to have a K7 more now though

Will go there this weekend again so will try to make some test shots, any special request of settings or other things?

Edit: I put an DNG file online, please I don't want to see this image online somewhere else or the fun is over.
link

From what I saw of Angela/technoidiot's new K-x while she was here in the states, I thought it to be a fine camera. Outside of helping her set it up and helping her with the firmware update, I really did not have it in my hands very much. She is definitely enjoying hers (obviously since I seldom could get my hands on it ) and looking at her start with it, she has a fine piece of camera as her first DSLR.

So enjoy playing with it if you can ever get it out of your uncle's hands again.

The Photomonk

I love it

So far used in automatic mode only - but this lets me concentrate on learning to handle the lens and the other controls .

I took 146 photos in all - none have been binned - some I'm absolutely thrilled with but none are unacceptable.

I even had the courage to try and take some I would never have attempted with the P&S.

Yeah it's a fine little beast

Angela glad to see the camera is pushing you to use it and have fun using it, that's the most important thing.

146 and not one binned is impressive... I take 300 on a day and only 40 or less are kept
When shooting a portrait of someone I always take 2 or 3 shots after each other, if I only take one I'm always so lucky that the person is blinking
Now I've make it into a habit of taking at least two photos when pressing the shutter so almost always half of the photos I take end in the bin.

Tip: when taking portraits dont look through the camera, use the other eye. In other words keep both eyes open, it takes a little practise

Yes I do that Ken and that's one of the reasons I get sick with those EVIL cameras, the LCD viewfinders lags a bit behind and you really notice that with two eyes open

However keeping both eyes open don't help them stop blinking

No it doesn't stop them but at least you know.

Given that most people don't blink at some frantic rate I wonder if there is some involuntary reaction like they see you press the button and then anticpate a flash whether there or not?

It could also be the sound of the shutter release/mirror?
Maybe a study is needed on the matter... whist it was a study like this link but well it has to do.

not sure I get the connection

Me neither

Was thinking alone the line of a study I would pick that one... the blinking problem might be more useful though.

Did an interesting portrait exercise a few weeks ago. Took a series of head and body shots of my wife modelling t-shirts, for a friends website. She hates having her photo taken and is always blinking or pulling a face.

So for this I set up the camera on a tripod and used remote control release to take the shots. Worked so well that I modelled t-shirst after while my wife used the remote.

200 shots and only 2 with us blinking!

Good points about this method: the camera is forgotten about completely - just have a laugh and press the remote when the subject is totally relaxed; you can really engage with the subject.

Bad points: subject has to stay pretty much in one place (quite a few shots had missing arms); dof has to be wide enough that subject remains in focus if they move towards the camera slightly.

All in all I was quite pleased with the exercise - no I won't say which website these photos are being used on

Now you've gone and said that you have to tell us

Stefan - you are shooting at a different level from me.

These 140+ have taught me a lot - as I said I'm thrilled with some of them some aren't so good but I've used them to teach me a lesson - some are on my Website but most are still on the Computer . I just went out for walks with it - and just pressed the button

It'll take the Spanish Inquisition to get that out of me Seriously, it would the the end of my marriage if my wife knew I'd actually told strangers that it's her!

Angela, I just have a look at your site and the photos aren't bad at all so really don't be so modest

This one I really like link
The exposure is good and I really like the composition, it works well because of the lines in it. Normally I don't like text in the photo but here the text isn't that obvious because of the colour and that there are enough highlights to draw your eye away from it.
The only thing I should do is set the image straight, it's a bit leaning to the right.