Hello from me too - another Sheffield Pentax user!

Best wishes
David

Did you see my comments about the Sigma 50mm F2.8 Macro (manual focus)? These are usually available at around (or less than) the £100 mark - they are true 1:1 macro without any converter and are very good lenses.

Regards
David

John's original landscape shot at the start of this thread looks OK to me. Greens look green (not yellow-ish) and the whole scene is easily 'readable' with believable light and shade.

The Quarry HDR by Pentaxophile looks OK to me, except the greens are a little vibrant.

John K's Railway shot looks pretty good to me, strong but natural colouring and good light, sky is not blown out and the blue in the sky is right.

Nigel's two 'natural' shots above do not however look right to me. The colours are too saturated to be 'natural', in particular the blues in the sky are too bright and not the correct shade of blue - too much Cyan?

Regards
David

I know which one I prefer too Nigel and it's the one above that you've just posted. This looks natural, the stones, bricks and trees are the right colours, there is definition between sunlight and shade. The sky is blown out in places, but that's an issue with how the image has been shot - it needed balancing a little better in camera (ND Grad?).

No doubt the processing on the image above could be done more effectively, but not via the HDR route on your first images (IMO).

Regards
David

The Sigma 50mm F2.8 Macro you asked about is a 1:1 lens and it's a very good one too. You might find a manual focus one for around £80, this would do the job very nicely. I prefer the Sigma 105mm DG EX Macro, not only because of the extra working distance for macro, but also because it is a superb portrait lens with great bokeh - I use it for weddings all the time.

The other lens I've found that I like for macro is the Pentax-M 50mm F1.4, although it has to be used reversed or with tubes / bellows for true macro. It's extremely sharp and renders details well. You will find these for between £40 and £80 although they are not the commonest 50mm lenses they are well worth seeking out.

Regards
David

Sigma 105mm DG EX Macro @ F2.8




Regards
David

I tend to agree with Smeggy to a large extent. I do prefer the re-worked shots, although to my eyes the overall look of them is still too bright and there is not enough depth to the shadow areas. This does tend to make them look a bit 'flat'. Also, yellow tones seem to dominate too much; this is making the greens in the tree leaves look artificial and also making the gravel and the walls look a bit orange.

I still say this is down to personal preference, I don't think we can say that the processing used is 'wrong', so what I'm saying here is my personal opinion.

I'm not passing comment on the scenes themselves as I think this discussion is primarily about how they've been processed.

Regards
David

I would agree with John K above; the K-m has a fabulous sensor - at least it does in good light! Anything up to ISO 400 is great, but start to go above that setting and things deteriorate fast. The K-x on the other hand is a brilliant low light camera and for the prices these are selling at now they have to be the camera bargain of the moment.

Regards
David

Beware of the horizon indicator Nigel, it is notoriously unreliable. I had to send my K-5 back to Pentax for this to be corrected as all my images were off level. Guess what? It's now gone out of level again after 6 months usage, so Horizon Correction remains firmly turned off and I ignore the viewfinder indicator.

I'm basing my observation on items in your images which would be vertical or horizontal in the actual location, but are not in the pictures. Roof lines, walls etc. in the centre of the frame should be level or vertical, but all slope to the left to a lesser or a greater extent. The last image is the most pronounced, but all are a little off.

Regards
David

I'm not a big fellow and mine goes everywhere with me on a shoot, especially if it's a landscape shoot. I carry it without the bag, over one shoulder, usually with a camera attached; it most certainly does not remain in the car boot!

If a little bloke like me can carry it, I don't see that it's an issue, unless of course there's a physical disability that hampers the ability to carry it.

Regards
David