I'm not really sure what "better" WB means for these photos. It's an artistic judgement (and I don't really have any of that). The wall behind the tree is a sort of creamy, parchment sort of colour. Father Christmas's beard is white/grey in daylight. If it's corrected to that, the photo looks ghastly (try it!!).

I've taken lots of photos at home under the same lighting with the K200D & even though a "tungsten" setting is probably technically correct, it never looks right (to me).

I agree with you about ISO 6400. It looks very usable - at least as good as ISO 400 on the K200D.

DaveHolmes - Mea Culpa - but it's been the "chores" more than the weather (honest!!) that's stopped me using the K30 as much as I'd have liked. I didn't buy a WR lens with the K30 body (is another feeble excuse) - but I have a nice little raincoat for the camera/lens, so I could have gone walkies anyway.


Andrew

I don't *think* that the colour temp is recorded in a JPEG, though the camera's white balance setting is. FxIF in Firefox, IrfanView, PSE8 and PhotoMe do just say "Auto". Yes, the low energy lamps are "Warm White" and their colour temp is around 2700degK, which is not that far off the colour temp of the tree lights.

Thanks for the tip about Live View and battery life.

Andrew

Auto

Andrew

I bought a K30 earlier this week. The weather's been a bit iffy and I've had lots of "chores" to do, so I haven't had much of a chance to give the K30 a whirl. We put a Christmas tree up this afternoon and, this evening after dark, I thought I might see what I could do with Live View and Focus Peaking, using a SMC-M 50mm f/1.7, at f/2.8.

These were taken with closed curtains, using available light in the room. Apart from the lights on the tree, the only lighting was a fitting with a cluster of 3 x 11w low energy lamps in shades about 20ft away - so it was pretty dim.

All the photos were taken hand-held. The first was taken at ISO 3200 and the others at ISO 6400. I used Live View and Focus Peaking (zoomed in). Focus Peaking definitely made focussing on what was intended a whole heap easier than I am used to. The photos are JPEGs pretty much straight out of the camera apart from a bit of cropping and resizing - i.e. only default in-camera noise reduction.

[IMG]http://www.moorside.net/photos/ukcs/IMGP0085_800.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.moorside.net/photos/ukcs/IMGP0086_800.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.moorside.net/photos/ukcs/IMGP0087_800.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.moorside.net/photos/ukcs/IMGP0089_800.jpg[/IMG]

I'm amazed at the K30's low noise at high ISO settings. I'm not convinced that I could have got anything usable (hand-held) with the K200D. I think I'm going to rather enjoy using the K30.

Andrew

You can batch process multiple RAWs in PSE8 - but it's a bit limited. You can specify input and output directories, resizing parameters and whether you want standard "quick fix" processing such as Auto-levels, Auto-contrast and sharpening.

I don't know how elegantly or otherwise LR implements batch processing - but the free RawTherapee does too (and a LOT better than PSE8 ). You start RawTherapee, navigate to the RAW directory in its file manager, select the RAWs that you want to process. You can make a very wide range of adjustments singly and add to the processing queue - or as a group. After adding to the queue, you can execute the queue when you wish to. I really must put some time aside for learning RawTherapee properly - it looks amazingly good (for the price?)

Andrew

You definitely get that. All you need to do is make sure they know your Pentax User forum login ID. You put that and a note about free P&P in the "Cutomer Notes" section of the online order form.

It does work - I ordered a K30 on Monday this week - got it yesterday and have not been charged for P&P.

Andrew

I agree completely - but memory cards are very cheap these days, so I always shoot RAW+ (both RAW and JPEG). I tend only to process the RAWs that seem to need individual attention - you cannot do that with a batch process anyway.

Andrew

Do Bristol Cameras offer a 2 year warranty and free P&P to forum members (SRS do)?

If not, they need to be at least £60 cheaper than SRS for the same bundle for you to break even.

You might also be interested in reading these reviews of Bristol Cameras. Is this the same Bristol Cameras?

Andrew

I still have the Rikenon 300mm lens. I still have the K200D - BUT - as of today, I also have a shiny new K30.

This evening, I've been lying on my back in the living room at home, taking pot-shots of illuminated lighting fittings with the K30 and XR Rikenon 300mm. It's about as contrasty a subject as I could find indoors.

Guess what? Little or no blue/purple fringing - even wide open!!! I obviously need to take some more test shots outdoors with the lens, in the kind of conditions that previously generated the fringing with the K200D - but I just might have a result here. This is an APO lens after all, so it just could have been the K200D sensor that was responsible.

Andrew

Parcel Force did the business. It arrived around lunchtime - only 24 hours after placing the order with SRS online. Amazing..

A quick play reveals that I have a lot to learn. The K30 feels a lot lighter than the K200D. All the buttons are in different places too. The menus are not so hard to navigate - lots of similarities to the K200D menu system.

My first impression, using an 18-55mm ALII kit lens, is that the high ISO performance is fantastic. Results at ISO6400 under artificial lighting (Warm White 11W energy saver lamps) in my living room is nothing short of astounding. I *think* I'll keep the K200D - it is still a very good camera at low ISO settings - but I would be surprised if it gets much usage.

One thing I do want to try very soon is a XR Rikenon 300mm f4.5 APO lens. It is a sharp lens and has a tripod mount - but it can generate some quite nasty blue/purple fringing when used anywhere between wide open and f/11 on a K200D. I'm hoping that just maybe the CMOS sensor will behave a little differently and allow me to use the lens without producing quite so many nasties.

Andrew