The Races

At the races with the K3, DA*50-135 and DA*300. C&C welcome

50-135, 1/1000, f8, ISO 2500


At the races by Alan Wennington, on Flickr

50-135, 1/40, f10, ISO 160


Hurdles by Alan Wennington, on Flickr

300mm, 1/1000, f4, ISO 640


Steeplechase 1 by Alan Wennington, on Flickr

300mm, 1/1000, f4, ISO 1250


Steeplechase 2 by Alan Wennington, on Flickr

300mm, 1/1000, f4, ISO 5000


Pushing to the finish by Alan Wennington, on Flickr

300mm, 1/1000, f4, ISO 6400


Neck and Neck by Alan Wennington, on Flickr

300mm, 1/1000, f4, ISO 6400


By a Nose by Alan Wennington, on Flickr

I see the K3 couldn't cope with the tracking in no.2
Only joking- great motion blur and the others are very expressive, especially the horses. Can only see the noise at ISO 5000, more particularly in the green.
Dave

A great set Alan, that noise is really horrendous isn't it?

Joking aside the K-3 has served you well here and your skill as a photographer has produced some excellent images, it's good to see these as they are very different to what we are used to seeing from you. I think you've captured the action brilliantly.

Regards
David

Thanks Dave, and David. The last 3 were part of a 13 shot sequence, and I was more than happy with the focus on every single one

Catastrophic!

A good workout for both camera and photographer Great action shots.

The noise, at least as far as the OOF backgrounds go, is certainly 'a good kind of noise', more like film grain which is not unattractive in this context.

At 6400 it does play havoc though with the shadow textures of the horses skin - compare the neck area of No4 at 1250 (amazing!) with the same area on Nos 6 & 7 ( not so amazing). But overall, at the ISOs and speed of movement involved not a major issue - I'm not sure if you could get much improvement out of noise reduction though, as I suspect there would be quite a price to pay in extra blurring.

Hi Nigel, it's great to see your analysis at work on these shots! I think we look at these with different eyes so to speak. I'm more interested in the overall appearance, fluidity, action etc. rather than looking for technical pluses and minuses. There has been a lot of comment on the relative performance of the K-3 versus earlier Pentax bodies (notably the K-5 variants), much of it frankly rubbish. I think we are seeing consistently in images posted by a variety of contributors the flexibility and all-round ability of the K-3 in a variety of shooting situations. It is probably a more flexible beast than the K-5 is, yes, I'm sure the K-5 just beats it in the noise department, but only just and the K-3 has so many more plus points in its favour.

Well done to Alan for producing a great set of images that really convey the atmosphere and action of the day, regardless of the noise levels!!

Cheers
David

You're welcome, its reassuring to see that it's so much appreciated


Hear Hear to that .... there's nothing about any IQ matters that distracts from it.

Its inevitable though, isn't it, at this stage of things, that many images (the really good ones or the first of particular subject types) will be subject to close scrutiny in these respects. Its nothing to do with the photographer, who's skill will shine through on any camera.

I wouldn't expect any critical comparisons on noise levels from the K7 now - I guess its all been done ... but many people now are at the early stages of decisions and weighing up their future choices, so every new opportunity to peer closely at new shots is going to be seized.

I wouldn't for a second guess myself what a K5II would have produced with these, but I suspect a few who are looking to shoot at 6400 or above may be disappointed at what is seen here. I say again though, for balance, that the OOF brighter areas have a grainy type of noise which is not unattractive, and I recall the reports from some users of the 'finer' nature of the noise that responds well to reduction. It is on the dark tones and the peoples faces where I'd be more concerned.



Cheers
David

Nice set Alan, you can almost hear the thud of the hooves!

Not sure why you decided to clone the jockey out of number 4 though

Merry Christmas

Carl

These are great action shots extremely well handled by you and your new K3 Alan.
Noise? I can't hear anything.
David

PPG: http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/davidtrout

Thanks Nigel, Carl and David for taking the time to comment.

Valid comments re noise Nigel. Not as good as the K5. Not as much latitude to lift shadows either in my opinion. But on the other hand, as you mentioned just look at the blood vessels on the riderless horse. Amazing !!

Hi Alan,

Great shots. I was just about to post a comment on the visibility of the blood vessels when I saw your last post !

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the 'sensor dust' on Shot #5 - oh, hang about........

Best wishes
Nigel

Proves once and for all that Pentax cameras are rubbish for sport