New K-5 first shots

I received my new (old version) K-5 yesterday. Wow - what a difference compared to my K20D. Had I known this before, I would have upgraded a long time ago. The shots below are from my first shooting yesterday. For future attempts with astro I will need to find an even darker place, there was too much light pollution where I took these, and I need to find out more about stacking images. But all the same - ISO128000 - what a revelation

DA12-24mm and 20 sec exposures.

1. Milky Way (ISO12800)
[IMG]http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/bjolester/IMGP0005-2.jpg[/IMG]

2. Saab and Milky Way (ISO 6400)
[IMG]http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/bjolester/IMGP0015.jpg[/IMG]

They look great, i changed from a K20D to a K5 and found it to have much better overall performance but i still think the K20D was the best handling camera i have ever owned from any manufacturer,

I'd agree with exevalley. I do prefer the K20D in terms of handling, and in fact still use one for product shots. But the K-5 and hence the new K-5 II and IIs blow it away in terms of performance. What remains constant is that great Pentax colour.

But we digress and it's great to see the stars shot so beautifully. Yes, less light pollution would be good, but there's always next time and these first shots are good as they are.

Bjørn, you can pick up the very basics of stacking from this video.

More advanced astro requires a tracker, but the basics are the same.
The only real difference is that with a tracker you can by-pass the rule of 600.

Thank you for your comments exevalley, John and SM! I have always liked the handling of the K20D, and also the ISO100-400 performance. In the right context, the K20D is a truly wonderful camera. But for night photography and high iso usage it has its shortcomings. I am looking forward to getting to know the K-5

SnoozeMoose: Thank you for the youtube link, I have been wanting to learn more about the Deep Sky Stacker.

Congratulations, enjoy your new camera. Looking good so far!

Glad you are happy with the K5 bjolester

I agree about the handling of the K20 body - same as the K10 - I was out and about with my K10 earlier - I love the way it handles

There, it's happened again! Just as I find I've garnered enough cash for a modern DSLR (in this case, a lovely blue K-30 at the "bargain" price of £319, which is 6.3 tanks-ful of petrol) someone writes something to make me feel I'd be better off sticking with my beloved K10.

Last time it was image quality at low ISO (can't remember the last time I went above 200 ASA), this time it's handling.

Oh well, at least I can now buy some petrol so that I can drive to more interesting places and photograph them!

(Lovely star shots, by the way.)

Don't know if this will help your decision Andrew (given I'm talking about a K5 not a K30), but I much prefer the handling of the K5 - even with heavy lenses its deep grip makes it very practical. It's also significantly smaller - another big plus for me. And then there's the performance.

I just went from a K10 to a K-30. I loved the build and handling of the K10. The K-30 does feel toy-like in comparison. I'm sure I'll get used to it in time, and learn not to miss all the dedicated buttons and top mounted LCD. There's no denying the improvement in autofocus and dynamic range though, and I even venture above ISO200 if I need to now. Though I still don't think you can beat the K10D at ISO100.

If the K-5 had had a similar price cut, or I could have afforded one, I'd have gone there instead. It just feels 'right' to me when I pick one up. Which brings me nicely back on topic

Congratulations to bjolester on the purchase. Those Mily Way shots look great. Very clean too. Are they straight out of the camera? I'm impressed with how little noise there is, even at ISO12800.

Wednesday night, if the weather plays ball, you can try out your new K-5 with the aurora Bjørn. The forecast is for active aurora that day!

Thank you all for your comments!

I purchased my K20D in december 2009, and have loved taking photos with it. A truly wonderful camera. But when I discovered the joys of capturing the Northern Lights, I realized the K20D was not really up to the task. Sure enough, one can use the K20D for Northern Lights and night photography, but then one needs to invest in serious noise reduction software and be prepared to spend a lot of time on PP. The K-5 is miles (light years) ahead of the K20D in terms of high iso performance. I have only had one session with the new camera, but when studying the images (above), I am utterly amazed at the possibilities of my new photographic tool I had to sell some of my precious Pentax glass to afford the K-5, but I believe in circulation, and the lenses are already forgotten. So Andrew, I would seriously consider an upgrade, especially with the outstanding offer there is on the K-30 in your country.

I adjusted the WB, added some contrast and adjusted (reduced) the dark tones in the curves panel in Lightroom. No sharpening or noise reduction whatsoever. But I do believe that the default "high iso" and "long exposure" NR of the camera has done some work in the background. But I am amazed at how clean the images are.

Thanks for the info! If the weather permits, I am ready

Best regards
Bjørn