The techie sites said there wasn't much difference. But then I upgraded to the K20D

Yes, there is some noise, but with Silkypix and shooting RAW I can get incredible images. Shooting at ISO2500 isn't a problem for me at all In fact, I recently had an ISO3200 shot of a horse printed at 18"x12" - looks first class

The noise is a different quality to the K10D. It's probably more like the 5D you were used to - since the K20D is CMOS and the K10D is CCD. I had a quick look at a friend's 5D (mark 1) and at ISO1600 it does look great - but I haven't yet had a chance to pixel peep!

In my mind, the trickiest issue in seriously low light is the metering. Still, it's often quickest to use fully manual and fire a couple of test shots off.

All in all, I'm chuffed with the K20D in low light
Matt

ISO1600: http://www.ephotozine.com/u16488/gallery/1102538
ISO3200: http://www.ephotozine.com/u16488/gallery/1012029

Here's Yvon's blog
and here
Shows how to set it up.
Matt

Or here.

...might get out the scissors and try one
Matt

Lowepro link and specs here: http://products.lowepro.com/product/Fastpack-350,2087,14.htm

Matt

[ramble]I'm trying to rest up a lot to get over what ever it is that's bugging my health at the moment, and decide to have a casual look over my Pentax gear. While playing around and switching between the 18-55 and 17-70 and metering against a table lamp I came across this startling realisation...[/ramble]

This is a real "Doh!" moment here and one that's definitely worth posting

When I set up my K10D & K20D I thought that the "Link AF Point and AE" would be a good idea - so I set it to option "2 = on". Well it turns out that either I misunderstood the manual, or it wasn't clear enough Occasionally I've had some rather odd exposures, but put it down to haste... now I'm coming round to a different view!

As many will know, I always focus using the "AF" button on the back, preferring to leave the shutter release button for just that (it makes things so much quicker). I also use centre AF point (selected on the rear).

When the "AF and AE" point are linked in the custom menu, this is what happens:
* When you let go of the "AF" button the metering is "Matrix" (or whatever was set on the dial)
* When you hold down the "AF" button the metering switches to "Spot" metering.
* Consequently, if you press the shutter while holding down the "AF" button you can get a vastly different metering!

Doh!!

Edit: Even more bizarrely, the spot metering is only chosen when the focus is achieved! If you switch to manual focus, then holding "AF" with an out-of-focus centre will use matrix, while holding "AF" with an in-focus centre will switch to spot metering! (I'm off to get that little buglet to Pentax )

In fact, even when you use a selected focus point with "AF and AE linked" it seems to take the reading from only the metering segment closest to the focus point. So, even if you had matrix metering selected then the metering will be spot, or an average area.

Now, I suppose the manual said that... however, I still expected the matrix metering to work as matrix (perhaps weighted towards the selected AF point). But from my little check here that's not what happens!

Also worthy of note is that "AE-L" effectively captures the meter readings of the 16 segments, and pressing the "AF" button will still switch over to use the spot/selected segment. Releasing will revert back to the "stored" matrix metering value. (Hope that makes sense! What it means is that you can't use this feature to temporarily switch to spot metering and hold that value by pressing both the AF and AE-L buttons.)


I've not yet checked whether this affects the flash metering...

Hope that little gem helps you out!!!
Matt

FWIW, the Pentax SMC-DA 17-70 is just superb
Incredibly sharp, stunning bokeh and very, very contrasty.
Focus is also exceedingly quiet with the SDM focus motor
(Still a £50 cash back if you hurry!!)
Matt

It's worth also noting these points:
* My K20D was back focussing. Most lenses needed +2 adjustment, and some slightly different tweaks. The 12-24 was the most difficult to test and align, but it was still out. Might be an idea to check both near and far focus on a scene...

* SR can introduce a degree of softness. Certainly when using the 12-24 you generally don't need SR, and for a landscape like that a tripod and 2s mirror up release would be best.

* When shooting RAW you certainly need some sharpening. Silkypix does a great job of subtle sharpening. Stock agencies don't want you to apply output sharpening since they will sell at different sizes... but capture sharpening is something different (at least in my book ). Check out www.thelightsrightstudio.com - the PDF info on "Getting a fine edge on your sharpening skills" is helpful

* I find the 12-24 can have some CA - certainly looking at the trees shows what looks like Blue/Yellow CA. Again Silkypix is great at automatically pulling in the CA, but ACR has CA adjustments. Correcting the CA can produce a dramatic change to the sharpness

HTH!
Matt

Clearing out the spam?
Do let me know your views on the book - 'twould be much appreciated
Have I missed anything? (Or is it still too early to see the results?)
Matt

There are three possible causes of blurriness:
1) Camera shake.
2) Subject movement.
3) Out of focus.

Here are ways to identify each.
1) Everything in the frame is out of focus and the blurriness has direction to - all in the same direction. Check out the highlights on the left girl's headband in the middle shot and you'll see the movement

2) Parts of the frame are in focus but some elements are blurred. The first image shows this - the woman fanning herself with paper shows subject movement.

3) The item you want in focus is not, but something else is. Often when using auto-focus-point the camera can pick something else (for example the background between two people). Alternatively the camera/lens combination may have front or back focussing - this is usually very slight (e.g. the person's nose is in focus but the eyes are not, even when you focussed on the eye).

Here's some suggestions:
1) If the camera is moving: use a higher shutter speed (which probably means using higher ISO, lower f-number, or flash - or a combination). Use a monopod or tripod to keep the camera still, or use in-body SR. Don't use long lenses in dark places

2) If the subject is moving: use a higher shutter speed (which again, means higher ISO, lower f-number, flash - or a combination). As a rule, use a shutter speed that is faster than the reciprocal of the focal length. e.g. if using 70mm, use shutter speed of 1/70s or faster. (Using tripod, monopod or SR will not freeze your subject - just keep the camera steady!)

3) If the camera is showing FF/BF issues, then do a focus test in a controlled situation. Set up with a tripod, in sunlight, and with some kind of focus chart. Shooting at smaller apertures (e.g. f/5.6, f/8 etc) can minimise the effects of FF/BF, as can using a shorter focal length (because the depth of field is shallower for longer lenses for the same aperture).

You can partially rescue the shots using the motion deblur feature on Photoshop...

Hope that helps!
Matt

Hi Clarky,
Definitely sent... I'll send again - maybe your email service thinks it is spam (Some mail gateways don't like PDF attachments. I'll rename the PDF attachment to ".clarky" )

Michal - quite possibly

Matt

P.S. If you could leave your forum name in the message field of the PayPal transaction that would be most helpful everyone!!!