I agree Neil, it was a fascinating morning and should produce lots of great images. Thanks for organising this and for Andrew for showing us the sights!

Shall we use this thread to post a few shots? Here's my first one:

Cat in Window - K-3 and DA*50-135. Have a look at the same image in the Gallery for some information about the location.

I tend to focus and re-compose, a minor movement will make very little difference unless the distance from the focal point is altering, which for portraiture it should not move very much.

I would check the AF fine adjustment Alistair, I have had to dial in '+5' on my K-3 with the DA*50-135 and it's now very accurate at the widest aperture.

Regards
David

They look quite nice to me too. To get them to 'pop' I think the following are important:

- Get the focus 100% correct - on the eyes
- Choose the right aperture - nice and wide, but not at the expense of the performance of the lens
- Don't over-expose it!
- Choose the right lens, some examples that make images 'pop' are DA*50-135, SMC K55 F1.8, Sigma 105 DG EX Macro, Pentax DFA 100mm Macro, of course there are lots of others too
- Most importantly, get the background right

Regards
David

BUMP

Anyone have a nice DA*300 to sell?

Regards
David

These are superb.

Regards
David

Don't believe them. The DA 17-70 is exceptionally good. I have this lens and a Sigma 17-70 F2.8-4 HSM Macro. The Pentax is the better lens IMHO, although the Sigma is cheaper and has faster focussing it can't match the Pentax for IQ from my experience of using both.

Regards
David

Are these with the 100WR Macro? They are extremely sharp, in fact some look a little over-sharp! My favourite? The beautiful Swan.

There no doubting the quality of the K-3, it is superb and these images demonstrate that. It's not just the resolution, it has a way with colours and adds something that makes images 'pop', more so than any other Pentax body I've used.

Regards
David

Most modern lenses are inherently high in contrast and the Pentax ones are no exception. I don't think John's image is lacking in contrast, it looks pretty good to my eyes. If the Samyang renders higher contrast than this then I would think it might be a disadvantage rather than an advantage.

Regards
David

Number 1 is great, a very beautiful image, whilst the others are very interesting and skilfully done, but not as attractive as images.

I too can't wait to try some Dragonflies with the K-3, it should excel with that type of shot.

Regards
David

All are nice, the Blue Tit is the best of the bunch for me.

Regards
David