Its difficult without knowing exactly what settings you're using. All I can add about Topaz is that you have to rebalance things after noise reduction slider inputs with adding 'detail recovery' and 'deblur', which are in the lower panel on the right. Also the shadows slider alone can have a dramatic blurring effect on the blacks, but it also needs to be balanced with the main strength slider. Your image above doesn't look like there's been any colour noise reduction?

Maybe we could all have a great Noise Reduction Shootout

Ah, well, lets not read too much into it Its just an abbreviation - but in any case, would the description be fair on the assistant? He has after all just been offering what the customer wanted - he started out with the best, as money was no object, but when the customer showed concerns our shop assistant responded exactly to his needs and was able to show a camera that met them more closely 'out the box' .

And he still got the sale, even only the cheapest model, but with plenty of potential for some expensive glass to come. He didn't bog the man down in excessive explanations - I mean a shopfloor isn't the place for taking short courses in photography. And he adapted his language to the customer as well, starting out with plenty of technical terms, but he ended up 'its got the pictures on the dial, and not lights where you look through'. Very responsive to the customer.

So surely with such good service our man ended up with what was right for him?

Hi Saulo, welcome to Pentax User. The camera body shake reduction system is a great feature on Pentax - as it is part of the camera sensor mechanism you are only paying for it when you buy the body. Every lens after that will now benefit from the shake reduction. This applies equally to the most modern new lenses as well as every 'historic' compatable lens available, and there's a huge number of those.

Its very cool to use my old Tamron Adaptall 135mm, which is nearly 40 years old, and see the effect of Shake Reduction with it!

Take time to find out about the Pentax range - there's definately a great camera here for you.

I'm carrying on from my recent 'First of Spring' shots. These new ones here were taken on a beautiful morning last week in Nonsuch Park, near Cheam in the London Borough of Sutton.

All with the K7 & Tamron Adaptall 135mm f2.8, mostly shot at f4.0

Many thanks for taking a look



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Without wanting to make any assumptions about individuals, I have been pondering what aspects of a camera may be more likely to appeal to different photographers. It can't all just come down to price alone - manufacturers must surely consider different types of user in desiging their range and deciding what to include or not on each model.

The K7 for me is my first DSLR - but I had a few years experience with a much simpler film SLR (another brand), which was very much in the 'consumer / budget' category. Operationally it offered less user control, very little customisation or options for things like metering, bracketing, film transport speeds and autofocus. And it was very reasonably priced.

Why did I choose it? Maybe for the same reasons that many 'newbies' might choose similar types - I was not aware specifically about many of the advanced features it lacked, or what I might use them for, and I was not inclined to fork out a huge amount for a new hobby when I didn't know the extent to which I would get involved with.

The K7 was a huge step up from this earlier camera in its operational sophistications. But this time I immediately appreciated the high value of what it offered to me, because the basic knowledge was there and I was aware of what help the extra options could be to my picture taking. I didn't know that the first time around, and as the hobby had become ingrained and more important in my life I was prepared to spend more money and look at it as a longer-term investment in a whole system.

So that explains the price aspect .... I still think though this is not always the prime deciding factor, as surely manufacturers must realise now. Here's a little scene that I've been imagining ... for your entertainment if you'll stay with me ....



(Man enters quality camera shop. Shop assistant comes over.)

Ass : 'Hello Sir, can I offer you any help?'

Man : 'Ok Yes, I'm looking for a camera. My friend who's a photographer says I should try and get a DS...D ..'

Ass : ' A DSLR Sir? That would be a great choice, and we have a good range here'. What would be your price limitation?'

Man : 'Well, ah, I struck it a bit lucky a few months ago, so now I always just try and get the best money can buy. What would you recommend?'

Ass : (Looks very happy) 'No problem, we have a top of the line camera, its called a K3' (Gets a K3 out)

Man : 'That looks great. What can you tell about it?'

Ass : 'Well, its packed with the latest technology and it has some very advanced features - the most notable new one is the addition of a high pass filter simulator thats works with the sensor shake system'

Man : (Looks concerned) 'Ah, thats sounds good - how would I use that?'

Ass : 'It works in place of a traditional aa filter over the sensor to eliminate moire effects on some types of subject - you can switch it on when needed ... with other cameras you don't need to do that, its automatic.'

Man : 'Well, OK, I don't know much about that sort of thing ... um, what about that automatic camera you mentioned? - whats the best one like that?'

Ass : 'That would be this one' ... (he gets out a K5II)

Man : 'That looks very nice as well' (looks happy - fiddles with the mode dial) .. 'how do these controls work?'

Ass : 'that sets the shooting mode - you've got green square, thats basic, or P with more control, or you use Av, Tv or Tav ... or Sv depending on what you're shooting.'

Man : 'So, what if I wanted to shoot some hockey'?

Ass : (Fiddles with dial) ..'Then I'd set Tv, then you can get a fast speed for the action ... actually, there's lots of different ways you could do it.'

Man : (Looks a bit worried) 'I was looking at those ones over there and they seemed to have a some pictures on the dial - one looked like a runner - would that work for Hockey?'

Ass : 'Yes Sir, thats a sports mode'

Man : 'Well, I would probably use a lot of that - whats the best camera with sports mode?'

Ass : 'This may be what you saw ..' (gets out a K50)

Man : 'Great - it looks OK, I mean that's not the main thing is it, the main thing is it does just what I need?' (laughs - then tries a few shots) ... 'What are those little red squares lighting up all the time - seem to be jumping all around?'

Ass : 'Thats the focus point indicators Sir - they show you where the picture is in focus - you can control that from the menu here ... (presses lots of buttons and fiddles with the menus) .. 'this would help you get the precise point of focus for where you expect the action to be' ...(trys a few shots but can't really get what he want's in focus)

Man : (looks dissapointed) 'I did find it a bit distracting - what if I didn't want to bother with all that and just had things in the middle?'

Ass : 'Well Sir, you can set centre focus point and de-activate the indicators - we'd have to check the manual to see about doing that ....

Man : (looks distracted now) 'Um, oh well, I'm not sure now - let me have a think ...'

Ass : (looks panicked) 'Um, tell you what, you could get one that doesn't have all those lights ...'

Man : 'OK (looks happier) whats the best camera without all those lights flashing?'

Ass : (Produces a K500) 'Its got the pictures on the dial, and no lights where you look through ... takes great shots!'

Man : (Looks relieved) 'Thats great, perfect, I'll take it - I know I'm getting the best camera now!'

Ass : 'I think that's absolutely the best camera now Sir!'

Man : 'Great ... now, show me the best lens to put on it!'

It is very normal and common for us all to misplace these little plastic covers, so you're not alone at all with that . Mostly they go missing when we take them off to attach a flashgun, and in our excitement to put the flashgun on and take pictures we let the cover drop down or stick it in a pocket without thinking - happens to me all the time.

If you havn't ever taken the cover off yourself (because you only use the pop-up flash) then it would look odd suddenly when its gone. The cover does help to boost the weather sealing for sure, so its good to keep it and have it on .... in the meantime so long as you don't let the camera get sprayed with water then there should be no problems at all.

Papa, what are some of the things about it that make it ideal for the novice?

You wouldn't think they were cropped that much at all - they've stood up IQ-wise very well, and ooze atmosphere.

No 2 has certainly got it all Great shots here, these are, technically for sure, the best street ones I think we've seen from you.

Philip, you may be aware already, but I'd recommend using the Photoshop (or Elements) 'Save for Web' feature. This provides auto functions and easily produces files to your exact size specification that look exactly the same as the original (say you were working from a TIFF or a max quality JPEG).

You have control over dimensions (I just choose 75%) and JPEG quality to set an exact size (I usually go for 1.2 mb), plus the choice of sharpening method (Bicubic Sharper is best for web reductions). It always gives me a new image that looks exactly the same as my original. The only issue sometimes if the size reduction is very large, is some banding can appear on clear blue skies.

You said you use PaintShop Pro, but if you wanted to try the PS 'Save for Web you can get CS2 for free with a licence.