Funny how f/8 just KEEPS coming up !
It must be F8 !

Peter

I've been away for a few days and as the debate here seems to have subsided I just want to add my parting remarks that I am indeed very grateful for all the contributions that my inocent comment provoked.

To repeat something I hinted at earlier I think that the key is that "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" - we all have different concepts of what we consider to be a 'good' photograph since we all have different ideas of what we wish to capture.

That is why it is so much fun and we all continue our quest for the 'Perfect photo' which is - of course - unattainable and undefinable !

But then that's just MY opinion !!!

Peter

OK. I admit it ! This was one of the reasons I posted this thread !

It may sound a bit capricious but I also love the wide variety of comments that these Forum postings generate - as has been said - Photography should be FUN !

Having said that, there WAS a more serious side also since I do also appreciate seeing comments that help me to develop my skills and without this useful interchange of ideas which appear here we would take even longer to appreciate the many and complex ways of approaching different subjects.

So finally, after all the discussion above, today I put the K-r back onto 'P' !!!

Many thanks again to everyone
Peter

Many thanks, Smeggy.

However, the K-r has Av, Tv and M but not TAv ?

On the basis of 'walking before running' I'm experimenting with Av mode at present.

Should I go 'whole hog' and try 'M' ?

Thanks again
Peter

Exactly !

That is what I always did in the past, but found that the DAL 18-55 was sometimes giving me soft results.

I therefore posted an earlier thread about the quality of this lens and some very experienced members of this forum insisted that this IS a good lens providing it is stopped down to around f/8 !

I therefore recently spent an afternoon with the DAL 18-55 on the K-r on Av and f/8 (with ISO on Auto 200-800) so that the K-r WAS effectly in 'point & shoot mode' and, guess what, the results WERE better.

I only had to set the aperture to f/8 once and it stayed on that setting even though the camera was turned off & on several times. This meant that I had all the benefits of speed I would have got from 'P' but the choice of aperture as well.

As I said before, I'm always willing to learn from my mistakes but the fun comes from trying things differently. If you leave the camera on 'P' all the time you never learn anything and therefore never make improvements ?

Any other tips you can pass on will be much appreciated.

Peter

That's the point I was trying to make when I posted this thread.

Just like Bill, I used a 'basic setting' in readiness for any shot.
I feel that still applies with digitals and the kit lenses and similar, leaving the camera on f/8 'at the ready' means you can catch a fleeting moment.

However, when time permits, and you have a suitable lens, then the aperture can be selected to match the desired DOF etc.

I suppose it's my engineering background that leads me to associate IQ with sharpness but I fully agree that PICTURE quality is how well the result matches up to the photographers expectations and how it is received by others !

As I said, 'playing around is half the fun' and I also believe in the saying 'the man who never made a mistake, never made anything !'

Meanwhile, my grateful thanks for all your contributions.

Peter

Yes, I agree that if you want a narrow DOF then you need to open up as wide as possible.
However, with most lenses within economic reach of the average amateur photographer that means a compromise in image quality.

Likewise, if you want the best IQ then I would suggest that all moderately priced lenses DO need stopping down.

Before posting this thread I looked at lots of lens reviews, including those of several costing £500 or more and the reviewers generally found that IQ DID improve at around f/8 - that's one of the reasons I called it a 'concensus'.

However, I'm glad this has prompted some debate - that's what I was hoping for !

Peter

Strange how "What goes round comes around" is so true !

When I was a student 50 years ago, just starting 35mm photography with a Kodak Retinette with a 45mm fixed lens, using Govt surplus bulk FP3 that I loaded onto old cassettes in the University darkroom, I found that I shot most things at 1/125 at f/8 so used this as my ‘normal setting’. I did all my own developing and enlarging so played around with the image during developing - changing the print exposure time and rubbing the light spots to bring them up etc !

Now we are in the digital age with 'all singing and dancing' cameras that can do everything for us I've tended to get a bit 'lazy' leaving my K-r on 'P' most of the time ! I've also expected the lenses to perform well even 'wide open' - after all why buy a fast lens and stop it down ?

However, after getting some disappointing results from the 18-55 kit lens and reading the various postings on this Forum I now realise that MOST lenses need stopping down and, guess what, f/8 is a very good option and that seems to be the general concensus!

From now on I guess 'P' will be dropped in favour of 'Av' and I'll play with the ISO to get the shutter speed right ! At least the K-r does perform quite well at high ISO’s so this should compensate for the lower light input from smaller apertures ? What is more, we can play around even more with our digital images using numerous items of software.

As one respondent said on the thread I posted on the freebie e-books "you are always learning, and that's half the fun !"

How true ! And it’s also one reason I keep watching this Forum - there is always something to add to the ‘fun’ !

Peter

Another advantage of the 55-300 over a 70-300 is that you get the 55-70mm range.

I know you said you were mainly interested in using it at 300mm but I've found that this lens is also useful on holiday as a daily 'carry around' lens. Unless you want to do indoor shots the 55mm limitation is not too big a problem and you have the advantage of the 300mm if you want to shoot distant inaccessible subjects, e.g. across rivers etc

Enjoy you 'new toy'

Best wishes
Peter

This was the same advice John gave me in late 2011 when I was tossing up between the Tamron or Sigma 70-300mm offerings. Everyone said get the DA 55-300 and luckily it was on special offer (probably one of the last branded under Pentax's Hoya ownership)

Go for it, you won't regret it. The AF tends to 'hunt' a bit at long distances but you get used to it and the IQ makes up for it.

I got it primarily for bird photograhy (I was given a present of a day at the Hawk Conservancy near Andover, where it was ideal). However, I've also used it on holiday as a 'carry around' lens. You will find lots of shots with this lens on a K-r in my Portfolio.

Best wishes
Peter
(West Berks)