Well it can. Both the 'delayed action' and 'remote control' Drive Modes for Exposure Bracketing pop the mirror up first. The delayed action setting pops the mirror up, waits for the time the delayed action is set to (2 or 12 seconds) and fires the exposures. The remote setting, used with a remote, needs two presses; the first to up the mirror and the second to fire the exposures, much the same as the dedicated mirror up settings.

John

Name and shame ?

Adam, it hadn't dawned on me originally because it is quite subtle. Where you laid out flat on your stomach for the football shots worked well because of the low viewpoint giving an unusual angle (beside helping to steady the camera.)

This goes back to using old film Pentax's which had a split prism aid in the centre of the viewfinder. One always used to use that split prism to focus. But having the main point of interest right dead centre in the viewfinder didn't usually give the best composition! So once the lens was focussed on what you wanted the picture was recomposed for the best pictorial effect (usually moving the point of interest to observe the rule of thirds.) That was with manual focussing lenses. If using that approach with autofocus cameras, one has to make sure the camera doesn't try to refocus when you press the shutter release button to take the actual photo which it would do by default and spoil your photo! So by turning off the half press focus on the shutter release method and having it on the AF button instead prevents the cameras from undoing your good work! All Pentax's allow this but the button to be used varies depending on the camera model. This way you are in charge of what is the main point of focus and not the camera.

With wider angle lenses and compact cameras, there is inherently much more depth of field so having the focus happen on the half press of the shutter release isn't really so much of an issue with those but the AF button prefocus system still works!

As to whether to use a UV filter or not, this might amuse for a minute or eight! link

John

Connecting Two PCs Using a USB-USB Cable

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Connecting-Two-PCs-Using-a-USB-USB-Cable/...

http://www.maplin.co.uk/usb-link-cable-25600

http://www.usbgear.com/link/index.html

Are you trying in camera HDR or separate exposure bracket sequence?

If the latter, the camera will do what you tell it based on the exposure mode setting you're using. To keep the aperture constant you need to be using the Av setting which keeps the aperture at what you set it and adjusts the shutter speed accordingly.

John

That might have been a good reason 20 years ago, but not in 2012!
In those days software couldn't do instant image resizing on the fly like it can now.

John

If the camera to be used was a K-5 then it would be fine using M lenses. However the K100D doesn't meter them too well at all. Also the camera has to be told what the lens is. I feel it might be rather too much for a beginner. Even focussing an old lens on a modern body is tricky as they don't by default have the split prism viewfinder.

If you want her to do it the old way, get her an old manual focus film Pentax, ME / MX/ K1000 etc. and do it properly!

The A lenses meter OK but even those need some experience to use them on a newer body because of the lack of a split prism viewfinder.

So you are in real danger of putting her off.

If you already had the lenses and she has taken to using them like a duck to water, then great. But it doesn't sound like a good investment to initiate a beginner.

John

St. Mary's Church in Scarborough




This is a tonemapped HDR from five DNG exposures taken on Sunday April 22nd 2012 around 4.40pm.

St Mary's Chapel was originally built around AD 1000, rebuilt in the 12th century then again in the 14th century. The ruins to the left of the church are the remains of the part of the Church destroyed by Cromwell when, in 1645 during the Civil War, it caught up in a siege of the nearby castle.

Base exposure EXIF:
Camera Model: PENTAX K-5 with Pentax DA 12-24mm
Image Date: 2012-04-22 16:41:53 (no TZ)
Focal Length: 16.0mm (35mm equivalent: 24mm)
Aperture: f/8.0
Exposure Time: 0.0063 s (1/160)
ISO equiv: 80
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: aperture priority (semi-auto)
Exposure Mode: Auto Bracketing -2 -1 0 +1 +2
White Balance: Manual
Flash Fired: No (enforced)
Color Space: sRGB
Software: K-5 Ver 1.13

John

Can I recommend imgur.com ?

No cost, no need to sign up even. Just upload and link. If pictures are not accessed for three months they get deleted, or you can delete yourself. For many uses that's all one wants (eg photos for ebay etc.)

John

Well at leaast they do make that clear.


This makes no sense to me. An image can be any dpi. That's determined at the reproduction stage. To clarify I can view an image that 'properties' indicates it is, say, 72dpi. Then I can change that setting in software to, say, 300dpi. But on screen it won't look any different!


That rules me out straight away. I'll have noting to do with that site.

So they not want photos showing water features or Park boundaries? The word ambiguous comes to mind!

I said already what needs to be said about them claiming the right to use all of the entries for their own purposes without any recompense.


John