All Forum Comments
Comment by bladerunneruk posted on the usual quandry at 11/11/2009 - 13:06
Dr. Mhuni wrote:
a), b) or f).
a. or f. based on price. Or b) for f2.8 (and better performance than the Sigma).
The Sigma's 17-70 is a good range, but when I was faced with this decision I opted for Pentax glass - a 16-45 followed by a 17-70 (it was also cheaper then, which made deciding easier). I prefered the Pentax colour rendition in particular. In the same position as you now, I think I'd still opt for the 16-45. Don't neglect the extra 1mm you get with this - it's the one thing I occasionally miss with my DA17-70 (oh, and the better distortion performance of the 16-45).
Of the other two I would be tempted by the Tammy. Haven't used it, but judging from photos produced by it and users' feedback I think this might be (slightly?) superior to the 16-45, and a definite step-up from the Sigma.
thanks for taking the time to pitch in a), b) or f).
a. or f. based on price. Or b) for f2.8 (and better performance than the Sigma).
The Sigma's 17-70 is a good range, but when I was faced with this decision I opted for Pentax glass - a 16-45 followed by a 17-70 (it was also cheaper then, which made deciding easier). I prefered the Pentax colour rendition in particular. In the same position as you now, I think I'd still opt for the 16-45. Don't neglect the extra 1mm you get with this - it's the one thing I occasionally miss with my DA17-70 (oh, and the better distortion performance of the 16-45).
Of the other two I would be tempted by the Tammy. Haven't used it, but judging from photos produced by it and users' feedback I think this might be (slightly?) superior to the 16-45, and a definite step-up from the Sigma.
Comment by bladerunneruk posted on the usual quandry at 11/11/2009 - 12:57
ChrisA wrote:
You can have your cake and eat it if you use firmware 1.3 to get SDM, together with a little application that you use over USB to put the K10D into debug mode.
There are lots of references - a few are collected here, and from others in that thread.
Yes I'm on firmware 1.1 and have stayed with that so that I can apply FF/BF correction to my lenses, thankfully most seem to need about the same +130um adjustment. It's convenient to leave it in debug mode all the time. The desire isn't to have SDM, the desire is to have any FF/BF fixed, some shots I've taken that suggest that poorly adjusted BF/FF contributes to purple fringing.bladerunneruk wrote:
I'm not keen on the idea of a pentax 17-70 presently as it's SDM only, f4, and I don't want to lose my debug mode on my K10, although the range seems to make sense,.
I take it you're using an early firmware?I'm not keen on the idea of a pentax 17-70 presently as it's SDM only, f4, and I don't want to lose my debug mode on my K10, although the range seems to make sense,.
You can have your cake and eat it if you use firmware 1.3 to get SDM, together with a little application that you use over USB to put the K10D into debug mode.
There are lots of references - a few are collected here, and from others in that thread.
I was aware of the 1.3 with hack option but I didn't fancy being an early adopter for that and then finding all sorts of non-correctable woes later on ! I'll read your links and think about 1.3 again, are people finding that the hack is a reliable solution, and are able to go back to 1.1 should an SDM motor fail ?
cheers
Comment by bladerunneruk posted on the usual quandry at 11/11/2009 - 12:55
Hi folks
I wonder if some of you could indulge me with your thoughts on this....
I have a 16-45/4 but it's not repairable
I obtained a 24-90 which I thought would be my perfect solution, but I'm not impressed as it seems OK in the centre but quite soft at the edges at least with the copy I have, so not best suited to landscapes, so I'm starting to try and work out my options to replace it and the 16-45.
I don't want to spend as much as the current DA*16-50/2.8 price, so what to do for what would be a walkabout (wot me with only one lens hahaha!) and informal indoor family pics lens, pref without flash
I have a 12-24/4, 60-250/4 and a FA35/2 too which are fab for my fave interest of landscapes and wouldn't part with any of them
a) a new 16-45 - and live with the gap to 60mm and f4, and I have found 45mm a tad short indoors but it's superb edge to edge at f4, great for wide view landscapes
b) a new tamron 17-50/2.8 ? filter is 67mm
c) a tamron 28-75/2.8 - not wide enough indoors, but longer is nice ?
d) a tamron sp 24-135/3.5-5.6 - quality ??
e) a sigma 24-60/2.8 - would like a bit of overlap with my 60-250 (but the 24-70 seems expensive and an inconvenient filter size too IIRC)
f) a sigma 17-70/2.8-4.5 but 72mm filter (all the other lenses I have are 49, 67 or 77mm filters)
g) find richard days mythical 16-60/2.8
h) a pentax 28-105 but these don't have rave reviews IIRC
i) a pentax 28-70/4 (the FA*2.8 is too pricey I fear, besides it's silver !)
I'm not keen on the idea of a pentax 17-70 presently as it's SDM only, f4, and I don't want to lose my debug mode on my K10, although the range seems to make sense,.
I want to like my 24-90, the range seems right to me on paper, but I just haven't warmed to it (yet ?) and I'm rather disappointed this option doesn't seem to be working out
a) or b) or c) or e) is top of the ops currently, what do you think ?
thanks for lending me a few grey cells temporarily.
I wonder if some of you could indulge me with your thoughts on this....
I have a 16-45/4 but it's not repairable
I obtained a 24-90 which I thought would be my perfect solution, but I'm not impressed as it seems OK in the centre but quite soft at the edges at least with the copy I have, so not best suited to landscapes, so I'm starting to try and work out my options to replace it and the 16-45.
I don't want to spend as much as the current DA*16-50/2.8 price, so what to do for what would be a walkabout (wot me with only one lens hahaha!) and informal indoor family pics lens, pref without flash
I have a 12-24/4, 60-250/4 and a FA35/2 too which are fab for my fave interest of landscapes and wouldn't part with any of them
a) a new 16-45 - and live with the gap to 60mm and f4, and I have found 45mm a tad short indoors but it's superb edge to edge at f4, great for wide view landscapes
b) a new tamron 17-50/2.8 ? filter is 67mm
c) a tamron 28-75/2.8 - not wide enough indoors, but longer is nice ?
d) a tamron sp 24-135/3.5-5.6 - quality ??
e) a sigma 24-60/2.8 - would like a bit of overlap with my 60-250 (but the 24-70 seems expensive and an inconvenient filter size too IIRC)
f) a sigma 17-70/2.8-4.5 but 72mm filter (all the other lenses I have are 49, 67 or 77mm filters)
g) find richard days mythical 16-60/2.8
h) a pentax 28-105 but these don't have rave reviews IIRC
i) a pentax 28-70/4 (the FA*2.8 is too pricey I fear, besides it's silver !)
I'm not keen on the idea of a pentax 17-70 presently as it's SDM only, f4, and I don't want to lose my debug mode on my K10, although the range seems to make sense,.
I want to like my 24-90, the range seems right to me on paper, but I just haven't warmed to it (yet ?) and I'm rather disappointed this option doesn't seem to be working out
a) or b) or c) or e) is top of the ops currently, what do you think ?
thanks for lending me a few grey cells temporarily.
Comment by bladerunneruk posted on the usual quandry at 11/11/2009 - 01:36
Hi Amin, is the tamron 1.4x TC sold or still available ?
Comment by bladerunneruk posted on Pentax DA* lenses for sale, DA*300, DA*60-250, DA*50-135 at 10/11/2009 - 23:59
[quote:3496ace15f="petemasty"]Cheers both of you I've had a look at Photobox for pics larger than A4. The price is comparable even with postage, and I'm quite sure that being a dedicated photoprinters they may have a better idea as to what is required. I think the disappointing thing about my experience is that the print is colder than the TIFF I gave them. Surely they can see the difference. If a cheap photoprinter can make a far better colour rendering then.......................
Anyway I've decided to get a new A4 photoprinter (as my Photosmart is quite old) PIXMA iP4700.
quote]
hmmm, I've just used photobox for a set of 6x4s to see how they came out, my jury out is considering the evidence presently and asking some questions to the defence team ! Seems like they don't colour manage small prints but do for larger ones.
my monitor is calibrated using a huey so I'm fairly confident they're OK at my end but I'll freely confess I'm no expert.
Anyway I've decided to get a new A4 photoprinter (as my Photosmart is quite old) PIXMA iP4700.
quote]
hmmm, I've just used photobox for a set of 6x4s to see how they came out, my jury out is considering the evidence presently and asking some questions to the defence team ! Seems like they don't colour manage small prints but do for larger ones.
my monitor is calibrated using a huey so I'm fairly confident they're OK at my end but I'll freely confess I'm no expert.
Comment by bladerunneruk posted on Printing. 3rd party or buy-yer-own. Recent experience at 18/10/2009 - 13:45
Just been shopping for some shelves, sort of thing that looks like a bookcase but is wall mounted, can't find one anywhere, most dischuffed as I need space for my backups AND our guy just fell of the pommel too trying to do a mega hard routine ! Still it's sunny tomorrow
Comment by bladerunneruk posted on Useless topic at 17/10/2009 - 15:14
MattMatic wrote:
The thumbnail for the adjustment layer is actually the layer mask.
As Hefty says, the adjustment layer affects all layers underneath (unless it has been grouped, in which case it only affects that grouped stack). But the layer mask can be used to target the adjustment to specific areas.
Black on the layer mask means "don't apply this adjustment"
White on the layer mask means "apply this adjustment"
Grey on the layer mask means "apply this adjustment a bit"
It's a nice way to target, say curves, to just the sky in an image. Add the adjustment layer and tweak to get the result you want - ignoring the mayhem in the rest of the image. Then paint black on the adjustment layer mask (either soft black brush or the gradient tool with foreground-to-transparent) to apply locally.
HTH!
Matt
Thanks for the explanation matt, I never have quite pursued layers enough to get them sussed. I've got some portrait pics which I want to sharpen the faces and blur the backgrounds with different layer masks, this makes me want to give it another go,.... The thumbnail for the adjustment layer is actually the layer mask.
As Hefty says, the adjustment layer affects all layers underneath (unless it has been grouped, in which case it only affects that grouped stack). But the layer mask can be used to target the adjustment to specific areas.
Black on the layer mask means "don't apply this adjustment"
White on the layer mask means "apply this adjustment"
Grey on the layer mask means "apply this adjustment a bit"
It's a nice way to target, say curves, to just the sky in an image. Add the adjustment layer and tweak to get the result you want - ignoring the mayhem in the rest of the image. Then paint black on the adjustment layer mask (either soft black brush or the gradient tool with foreground-to-transparent) to apply locally.
HTH!
Matt
Comment by bladerunneruk posted on Layers driving me insane at 07/10/2009 - 20:59
Anyone manage to get silkypix to recognise Sv mode ?
I get ExpProgram = unknown
I get ExpProgram = unknown
Comment by bladerunneruk posted on Silkypix exif data question. at 06/10/2009 - 21:31
Ned Bunnell has been speaking to the press....
http://www.pdngearguide.com/gearguide/content_display/news/e3i0d52172227325f2838...
http://www.pdngearguide.com/gearguide/content_display/news/e3i0d52172227325f2838...
Comment by bladerunneruk posted on 645D aimed for Spring 2010 at 06/10/2009 - 20:40
I've had the Tamron 17-50 for a couple of months now, and I love it. It's nice and sharp wide open.
However I have read several anecdotal reports on forums that some (many?) of these lenses exhibit a degree of front focus. This was the case with my copy, after testing with a chart I had to add a +7 or 8 adjustment in my K20D. I only mention this because I don't know if your K10D is capable of individual lens adjustments. The other negatives are that it is quite large, and fairly noisy when autofocusing. Also some cheapo lens caps (e.g. Jessops) won't fit properly without a filter because the front element protrudes almost as much as the filter ring (the back of the cap hits the front element). There is also noticeable distortion at the 17mm end, mainly in the corners. I only notice this on some architectural shots but it's easily corrected in PTLens.
On the other hand the price is unbeatable. I got mine second hand in the classifieds here for about £200 which I still think is incredible value for money. I also occasionally see them in second hand shops for about 10% more.
Does it focus and zoom in the same sense (anti/)clockwise as pentax lenses ?
Thanks for your thoughts.