I'm not surprised. If I didn't already have a K3iii, 16-85mm and 55-300mm I'd have jumped at it at that price!

Steve

Once you've drunk the contents will you care...?

Steve

Working out logically what had been done almost intuitively was actually an interesting exercise. Note to self: Do it more often!

And I must give credit where it's due for the idea of putting a short tube on an FA77mm ltd lens or similar - it came from LennyBloke (as did the lens and tubes, too :wink.

Steve

Over a decade ago when phones didn't rule and digital cameras were still the thing to have, John Riley wrote some 'beginners' articles on this site about how to sharpen digital images. Here they are:
- https://www.pentaxuser.com/article/photoshop-sharpening-technique-262
- https://www.pentaxuser.com/article/sharpening-method-in-photoshop-263
A few years later, he started a 'sticky' thread in 'General Digital Photography chat that expanded on the articles and wandered into what other people did for sharpening. Here it is:
- https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/topic/sharpening-in-photoshop-38623

Does anyone fancy producing an update on sharpening that takes into account developments over the last decade ?

Over to you, folks ...

Steve

Thanks.

1. Choose the day. Overcast, 100% cloud, very diffuse light, no shadows - but bright.
2. Choose the lens. From past experience I knew that the FA77 with a short tube could do this sort of thing. For the ultimate in sharpness I'd have used a macro lens.
3. Choose a fairly wide aperture (f3.2 as it happens, I thought it was f2.8!). Guaranteed very shallow DOF so almost everything in the picture would necessarily be soft.
4. Choose the light. Foliage surrounding a flower or bud would give a green cast to the light, which seems to help with giving a feeling of softness. (I first discovered the effect of reflected green light when the underside of a low flying skylark appeared strangely green in a photo. Never forgot that one!)
5. Hand held, manual focus (no AF with a tube so no option :wink, body (mine, not the camera) in strange positions (). Almost guaranteed to ensure nothing would be razor sharp. For ultimate sharpness the tripod would have been used.
6. Evolve towards the right picture. These weren't the first buds and flowers photographed in that session. It started with a red fuchsia but that didn't seem to work so went to pink and worked through several flowers and buds until light, background, surrounding foliage etc. looked right. Then I tried some more and didn't find any better.
7. Use what's there to advantage. The green haze over most of the lower part of the first photo is from a leaf that was very close to the lens and protruding part-way across it. Moving it out of the way did cross my mind (I prefer not to remove bits of plants unless absolutely essential) but the view through the viewfinder suggested otherwise. So really just a bit of luck that a leaf turned up in the unexpectedly right place - sometimes luck is on your side .
8. Don't show the shots that didn't work...

100% agree . They are tools to be used with discretion and when they are the best tools for the job. And they are not intelligent (in spite of the hype) - the real intelligence is (or at least should be) in the person who is using them.

Steve

These two (taken today) are just as I like them. It would have been possible to have a lot of sharpness in them but that wasn't what I wanted. AI sharpening keep away!!!

K3 + FA77mm + 20mm tube.

Thoughts, comments etc. welcome as usual.

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Steve

But look what it's done to the spots (reflections?) on the surface of the water.... UGH!!!

Steve

And so the Speedgraphic website has passed on. It is no more. It has ceased to be. It has expired and gone to meet its maker. It is bereft of life. It is an ex-website. RIP Speedgraphic.

Steve

I bought a birthday present for a grandchild today. It includes a picture of an interesting looking lens with an unusual front element. Does anyone have any experience of it? And before you ask, the person in the picture is not me.




Steve

If I were you, I'd try to customise the K3ii so it's as much like its predecessor as possible. It minimises the chance of mucking up a crucial shot because you forgot that the new camera is set up differently to the old one. Then change custom settings as an when you feel a specific need. It's what I do/have done, in particular:

When in Av: Back wheel changes aperture, front wheel changes exposure compensation.

AF: Back button AF, do not AF with half-press of shutter button. Not to everybody's liking but it is to mine.

File names: First 4 characters are something that identifies the specific camera. I do not want the possibility of a file name being the same as one taken with another of my cameras.

RAW format: DNG. It's more widely recognised than PEF.

Steve