I think K-3 owners who haven't had the 'mirror flop' issue should start posting that their cameras have no problems! I've had mine since November last year, shortly after launch and it has not missed a beat.

Great camera.

Regards
David

A warm welcome from me, it's great to have members from so many different parts of the world.

Regards
David

My understanding is that the K-3 and indeed the K-30 and K-01 are built on entirely different hardware /software architecture to the K-5 series and this is why the K-3, K-01 and K-30 have focus peaking and the K-5 series does not. It may be that the same approach cannot be applied to the K-5's to fix the p-ttl issue, due to the different hardware / software setup.

Regards
David

These are shot at F32 John, I can't go any smaller than that, so this is the most DOF that is possible with this setup. Focus stacking is not an option when shooting live insects in outdoor conditions, unless there is absolutely no wind, the camera is on a tripod and the insects are completely still, none of which applied here!

I mentioned before that I have no interest in taking photos of dead insects in laboratory conditions and taking hundreds of stacked shots, I want to do the best I can with live subjects in the wild.

Personally, I don't find the thin DOF an issue as long as the right bits are in focus and it can help to make a subject stand out as in the first second one above. I know these shots aren't for everyone, but this is something I enjoy and it is quite a difficult technique to master so I think it's helping me to improve my photography skills.

It's also good for making you think out of the box and for me is an opportunity to create some other bits of kit, like a home-made softbox to light the images more effectively.

Regards
David

Got my EL Nikkor 50mm F2.8 today and whacked it straight onto my butchered FA28-80 zoom, Duct Tape used liberally to hold it in place (haven't got my coupling rings yet)!

Had a few minutes in the garden this evening, in soft light to give it a try. First impressions are that it's sharper than the Pentax-A 50mm F1.7 and has very accurate colour reproduction. Here are a few of the first set of shots:

1.





2.





3.




Regards
David

Thanks for that Alan, my aim with the thread was to boost interest and discussion, to encourage participation and critique. I wasn't intending to start a row about moderation and in fact I don't think this thread has done that, but it has got caught up in a firestorm that was created in other threads.

I think most of us are old enough / sensible enough to know our own minds and to make our own judgments about what we can / can't do and what we should / should not get involved in. Personally speaking, I've avoided getting embroiled in the controversy about moderation and non-photography discussions, I'm primarily interested in this Forum for the photographic element and the excellent advice that is given and received.

As stated before though, I'm glad I started the thread because I think it has sparked some life back into the Forum which had been sadly lacking for some time.

Regards
David

If you mean 'will it affect the way the focus indicator behaves in manual focus' then the answer is 'yes', any adjustments will impact on this so your manual focus may become more accurate if you rely on the focus indicator rather than looking at the focussing screen in the viewfinder.

Regards
David

A powerful set of images, beautifully photographed and produced. Compositionally they are very strong and I like the use of an 'almost' long exposure in several of these which helps to retain some detail in the water whilst still conveying the movement.

Some are a little dark in the foreground, but to me this is perfectly appropriate for these shots and adds to the drama.

Thanks for posting these, I thoroughly enjoyed viewing them.

Regards
David

You must have had a different lens to me Charlotte! Mine was a metal construction, with 4 separate sets of elements in front of the aperture, none of which would come out without drilling and prising, I couldn't see any other way of getting them out without smashing the lens! The rear element set was easy - this was out in 10 minutes. The hardest part was putting it all back together again and getting it to work as designed. The spring that closes the aperture became detached without me realising it and this caused several re-builds and dismantling sessions before I sussed it out! There was also a tiny ball bearing that I couldn't find a home for, until the last re-build.

All's well now, it's working perfectly!

Regards
David

How much are you prepared to spend to start on your wildlife adventure?

Regards
David