I really don't think you are living in the real world are you? What about the TV manufacturers bringing out new ranges every 6 to 12 months? If you bought an all-singing, all-dancing 55" TV 6 months ago, then Toshiba, Sony et al bring out their latest model, does this make your TV redundant or old technological hat? Of course it doesn't.

It never ceases to amaze me, the cynicism of some of the views on here, never mind the 'corporate cynicism' of Ricoh / Pentax

There are complaints when no new models are released, complaints when it's not full frame, complaints if it's too expensive and complaints when too many new models come out!

I don't worry about such things, if I want to buy a camera I do (funds permitting), if I don't, I don't. I currently don't know if I will buy a K-3, I will wait and see how people perceive it in a few months time. If I do buy one, I will not be selling the K-5IIs. I don't consider myself to be a 'hapless sap' and I don't think others on here who own a K-5II or a K-5IIs would consider themselves in this category either. I'm sure almost all of us have been and continue to be highly delighted with our purchases.

Regards
David

Here's the last of my three sets from T-fest 2013, this with the K-01, after posting some with the K-5 and K-5IIs previously. This set is a little more limited in scope as I restricted the K-01 to a couple of lenses (Samsung D-Xenon 12-24 and Pentax-A 50mm). CC welcomed.

Summerlin - 12-24





Saint Harlot - Pentax-A 50mm





Out of Focus - Pentax-A 50mm





Speakers and Band 12-24





Colliers Low & Wide 12-24





All Walking Away - 12-24





Waiting for the Performance - 12-24





Alone on the Dance Floor - 12-24





Smokin' BBQ





The Official Beer




Regards
David

Well done Alistair, great images. I think these and the bird shots are what you really excel at.

Regards
David

Another great set Gary.

Regards
David

I've never used Sony's implementation Will, so I can't compare, but I do find the focus peaking on the K-01 fantastic with the old MF lenses. It has transformed my use of the old glass and I almost always reserve these lenses for the K-01. If the peaking on the K-3 is as good or better than the K-01 it's definitely a feature worth having.

Regards
David

Hi Nigel, I would doff my hat to you if I was wearing one , your attitude towards the feedback you receive is admirable. Regarding these images, I think to some extent they suffer from the same issues that the other ones did, although as John has mentioned the compositions here are stronger, I like #3 in particular. I don't think the ones with the picnic table in the foreground work too well - as mentioned previously they don't lead the eye into the picture.

Also the overhanging trees make another big appearance in these shots - this is something that I don't particularly like and would avoid in the future if you can (personal preference only, but there is a generally accepted rule that this should be avoided in a landscape image unless what the branches are attached to is visible).

The main issue is the one that John mentions which seems to affect most of your images, i.e. the really odd colour balance. I don't know if this is a camera setting or a processing problem, but all of them have too much yellow. This is making the grass and trees look sickly and overall gives them an unnatural appearance. Sorting out this issue will have a dramatic effect on your images. Maybe your monitor colour is a bit askew?

Regards
David

Excellent Stephen, as Jim has said the processing is good. The image has a great sense of depth, my only suggestion to improve would be to crop / clone and lose the wall at the bottom right as it leads the eye away from the Church a little.

Regards
David

I take a similar approach to Timbo. Either manual with green button, or AV with exposure compensation. It's very simple and it works! Why do we need to get hung up on technicalities?

If you're shooting fast moving subjects with various backgrounds then obviously this approach won't work, but I've never really had an issue with matrix metering or centre weighted on the K-5, both give me pretty consistent results and if it's obvious there is a bias towards under or over exposure it's easy just to dial in some exposure compensation.

Regards
David

It's not often I've agreed with Smeggy on this Forum but on this occasion, I think he has summarised it very well.

I would recommend similarly, forget about the technicalities, go out there with your camera and shoot instinctively. I actually don't think the locations have helped you here, there is too little of interest in the foregrounds, apart from the amphora one which as has been said above is too cluttered.

I would normally recommend shooting landscape with a tripod, but in this case I would do the opposite as I think a tripod would force you back into a more technical approach.

The processing is very precise, no particular observations here except that the last one has a bit too much yellow which makes the grass and trees look a little unnatural. For each shot my honest observations are:

1 There is too much bland foreground in this - it needs something to lead the eye into the image and the result is that it looks 'flat'. The light hasn't helped, it is quite harsh and directional. For a scene such as this one the early morning or evening light would be much better - I can appreciate you can only shoot what's in front of you but maybe it would be an idea to force yourself to go to places like this early or late?

2 & 3 These similarly to image 1. Although there is more foreground interest, the Geese don't serve the purpose of leading the eye into the image and in fact tend to distract the eye away

4 A decent idea, but shot from the wrong angle and needs shallower DOF plus more breathing space around the subject

5 I really think this one is a bit of a missed opportunity! There is so much of interest in this location, but it hasn't been used! Personally I always avoid overhanging 'unconnected' branches as to me they don't look right. I think getting closer to some foreground detail would have helped as well as a lower perspective. I do like the processing on this one - it is sharp and detailed with good colours.

6 I'm not sure what this one was trying to be - it falls in between. A tree on its own requires no distractions, if it's in the context of a wooded landscape then other nearby trees in the composition are essential, but this one is neither one nor the other. As mentioned above, I don't think the colour balance is quite right on this one.

Thanks for posting these Nigel and opening yourself up to the comments, I hope we are providing useful constructive criticism and that you can see it this way.

Regards
David

High Pass is good for some images, but it can be a bit harsh, especially in an 'Overlay' layer. I do use it sometimes, but hardly ever with 'Overlay', I usually set the blending option to 'Soft Light' and vary the Opacity to suit.

Regards
David