First try at HDR

OK so HDR is High Dynamic Range imagery.
Basically it's the process of using different exposure values combined together in software so that very high contrast range scenes can be rendered on screen or print. There are some very bizarre images that can be created that way, but we're trying for something "Real as seen by the eye, rather than the camera."
The test image we shot the other day looks like a good candidate, the sun on high wispy clouds is about as 'highlight' as you can get and the brush on the far riverbank is pretty darn black.



Mary's River confluence, Canon 590IS, 37mm-eq, f8@1/400 ISO100 JPEG-Fine


Mary's River confluence, Canon 590IS, 37mm-eq, f8@1/100,1/400,1/1000 ISO100
Combined in Unified Color's HDR Photo Studio 2/64
It's arguably an improvement, the mid-tones on the beach are retained, the sky isn't as blown out and though you can't really see it at this resolution, the details of the brambles on the bank are more visible. At the same time I don't think it looks 'over-processed.'
Lens flare is accentuated somewhat, but some of the 'default over-sharpening' that the camera applies automatically is slightly reduced by the de-Halo processing step in this HDR software.
The shot still looks a little smeary due to a big nasty thumbprint that was on the front lens element. This is the first test shot(s) with the 590IS we got on eBay for 67 bucks and I hadn't checked to see if the lens was clean. How very embarrasing.
In the future we'll be Trying other HDR packages and will probably post those results.

FleaBay Rulez!

Some of the best and sharpest  lenses for Pentax were made in Japan in the 70's and 80's. Granted there's no fancy autofocus systems on them, but that's a benefit too since there's fewer things to go wrong. If you chose the right ones (KA Mount) they work fine on all later Pentaxes since they have an 'Auto' aperture mode on them.

 

First is a late 70's 50mm f1.7 which I found for $ixty some in what appears to be really good condition. These things are getting well known for being fast and sharp, though most of the attention goes to the f1.4 version of the lens (which fetches at least twice as much money) Buying a new one will set you back near $500, though it will have autofocus and somewhat better edge sharpness and flare reduction. Since we're using a smaller than 35mm (24mm APS-C) sensor the edge sharpness and vignetting problems don't concern us as much, and the f1.7 had less problems with that anyway. I got a lens hood to help with the flare problems and the 'effective' 75mm focal length with the smaller sensor should work well for indoor portrait work and outside for landscapes. This is probably the only lens I'll have that can out-resolve the 15MegaPixel sensor. On the others the lens is generally the limiting factor

The second 'find' is a Tokina 70-210mm f3.5 zoom. This is reported to be the sharpest of the aftermarket zooms in this range, which was the most popular zoom range back in the day. Would you believe 45 bucks?
I haven't got it yet so we'll see how she does.  Since this has an effective range of 110-320mm on this camera, it should complete the lens' collection we'll be carting around (18-320mm)
We'll post samples once everything gets here and tested and cleaned.

Tripod for your thoughts...

Long ago in a time far far away before the burning of my things, I had a half decent tripod. Reasonably sturdy, only about four pounds so you could carry it quite a ways, adjustable in many, if somewhat crude ways. Just tall enough so you got a nasty crick in your back looking through the viewfinder for any length of time. Well, things have changed somewhat over the last thirty years.
Now the 'good' tripods are of carbon fibre and with titanium ball-heads and cost $500+ though very light and strong. Most are still short enough to generate that crick in the neck. The cheaper ones mostly seem crude and not easily adjustable and either too light or too flimsy. A search, a search for the middle ground. There seem few in that middle not fatally flawed in some manner or another.
Then I saw a SLIK 700DX over at our own Oregon Camera, and it was good. ...except the $225...

 

It doesn't really show here, but the tripod extends to over seven feet and the head has bubble levels and adjustments that make it quite handy for panorama photography. A litle over four pounds. Found one for $125 and it on its way. Could be fun ..

Got one a'commin

Reached agreement with a guy up in Seattle. Pentax K20D, D-BG2 Battery Grip, Five batteries, Smart charger, case, photo-gear backpack/case, bunch of filters, remote electronic shutter release and misc. other stuff. $700.
As a whole it 's better than the eBay deals. Plus, after two weeks of bidding there I was getting tired of it.

Decisions decisions

So, we've settled on Pentax, now which one to get.

 

The Km  is a bit underpowered, the bottom end consumer model.

The Kx is nice, The K7 is VERY nice but too darn expensive at $1100+.

Lets look at the previous models, now all of 18 months 'old'

The were the K2000, K200 and K20D in about the same order.  The K20D is the 'Pro-sumer' model and started out life around $1400 body only.  Now they're fetching like$600-700. Hmmm, K7 features for half price.  Sign me the heck up.

Here's the K20, a bit smaller than it's competition.

LOTS of buttons and dials, S. is going to be pleased.
Cool review at http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/PentaxK20D/  who are, frankly the best camera review site out there.
Now to find one. I've bid on like six of them on eBay. They either go for WAY too much (the manufacturer is selling old stock for $800) or I'm not available when the auction closes. Drat.
Found one on Craigslist with a BUNCH of accessories. We'll see how that goes.

Woot!

Found a Pentax DA SMC18-55 Autofocus Zoom on Amazon for $40 brand new. Cool.
It's not the latest 'weather resistant' model, but the lower end Pentax zooms consistently test better than the equivalent models from Canon, Nikon or Sony.

"So not you have a lens and a printer but no camera, Whassup wid dat?"
I hope I'm going to find a viable Pentax. Both the lens and printer were really good deals. Guessing I could sell either for more than I paid. Not plannin'on it though.

The little camera that COULD

Before deciding on getting a dSLR for all the image quality and control it brings to the party, we were looking at advanced point-and-shoot cameras. Ideally one with complete manual controls, a viewfinder so you can see what you're shooting in bright sunlight and RAW (unprocessed/non-JPEG) output capability. Most consumer cameras make a mess of the image during the conversion to JPEG. Everything with those capabilities and at least a half decent lens was $300 and up. Seemed kinda steep for a little pocket camera.

 

Found one of these on eBay for 67 bucks. The next later models were dumbed down to the max and have sensors with serious noise problems above ISO200 (which they compensate for by making the image blurry enough so the noise doesn't show, thus negating the fancy 10-12 megapixel resolution) or crazy zoom ranges on lenses that turn out to be not so sharp - and no manual modes.

This one has almost everything we were looking for including full manual mode *WITH* manual focus and a reasonably sharp 35-150 f2.8 lens. The only thing it's really missing is the RAW mode. Fortunately the Super-Fine JPEG mode isn't too bad. ...and for $67...

Yes the movie mode is crap. We'll get over it.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q408budgetgroup/page3.asp