Lovely subtle atmosphere, and the exposures are all well judged. Skin tones are good except for the 2nd, where the green cast is washing over the face and arm - I'm not keen on this and suggest trying to pull it out on the skin areas.

The mono ones have a lovely sense of intimacy, very well done!

An incorrect SR length setting can play havoc if it is way off. I agree with the average theory for a fairly short focal range, but for medium to longer ranges then I'd say you should stop and reset it each time you change the zoom significantly. Maybe jumps in about 20mm steps would be a good start point?

I was recording video the other day with my 28mm prime, and it looked slightly wobbly - unusual because its always very stable. I then realised I had not changed the setting after using my zoom earlier, and the SR length was on 80mm. This really had a bad effect.

[quote:3496ace15f="mille19] ... I used to go to my local camera club and got a bit fed up with the over-saturated and over processed images, they did seem to do well in competitions though.[/quote]I understand that, there's too much of it I agree - but is underprocessed and unsaturated any better?

I don't understand swarfs point above - there is nothing inherently good or of any value automatically to images 'just out of the camera'. The only constant with that is they have been processed by a tiny mini computer in an algorithmic manner.

They are all natural, yes, and well taken shots. Processing - well, its a starting point I'd say. They all look too uniform and lack any punch. Probably need a small contrast boost plus a little extra vibrance, these greens are rather plain I think. They all need a bit more sharpening IMO - really all of these things could have been applied in-camera on the custom image settings menu.

But I agree that dynamic range has been very well handled, presumably both by our photographer and the HDR process. I have been very interested to learn more about the RAW HDR available on the K3 - I have read that you can actually access the individual files to work on externally ... is that correct?

Colour for me too - but select the red shorts and pull down the colour satuaration and luminance a bit. As it is they distract from the face. The colour balance on the skin tones is very good I feel.

No, it's not meant to be like that what do some others think? Another interesting point about this shot it's the centre placement of the main point of focus, which is not normally a strong compositional construct ... would it be better off more to one side?

All striking and effective images Carl, full of interest, depth and detail. The yellow saturation looks ok on the water generally, quite attractive there, but its coming over too strong on the rocks and grasses, and on the lighthouse too. I don't think its just white balance, I'd pull down the yellow channel a bit overall and see how that goes.

Would love to see them with any adjustments, it's an amazing bit of coastline and excellent images!

For me it's better, but I still think there is a blue cast, particularly on the upper hillside nearest the sky. This I believe can be corrected by pulling down the cyan blue channels. It's up to you about the sky, a creative choice ... leave it blue or pull it back to grey, which would be my choice.

I don't doubt you about that at all Stuart ... In low light when you need speed there's going to be a limit. I'm no low light gig shooter, most of my higher ISO work is in fair indoor light when I need more speed to freeze a bit of action. For this I find the K7 ok, so for me its a very versatile tool.

I guess the key distinctions between the K7 & K5 are the low light high ISO performance, the price difference, plus I think the extra bit depth (12 vs 14) gives an edge in dynamic range I believe. So its up to the purchaser to decide if those extras are worth the outlay, or a longer wait, for their photography personally. ...

Edit ... Just seen the last post from the Op. Good you have been able to make your choice, and I am confident your new camera will give great satisfaction.

Colour is better I think. But there's too much blue cast, both on the clouds and the upset hillside. I suggest reducing blue & cyan channels, leaving the nice muted greens and the bright yellow on the tower. It's a nice shot, I like the muted tones, but its not a mono scene for me. Just sort out the blue cast and out it'll be perfect!