On Nov 22, 2010, at 1:39 AM, Larry Colen wrote: > Even though I already know I want one. These are the things that I'm curious > about especially how it compares with other cameras. > > On Nov 21, 2010, at 8:40 PM, Miserere wrote: > >> I convinced B&H to lend me a K-5 for review and it should arrive >> tomorrow (Monday). I won't have it as long as other cams I've tested >> (it's going back on Dec 15th) so I'm trying to streamline this review >> as much as possible and keep out any superfluous fluff. >> >> If any of you guys have any particular requests for things you'd like >> me to check that you think *must* be included in a self-respecting >> review, I'd love to hear from you. > > > With every camera, there is a learning curve about how to get the most out of > it. Has any of the people with the K-5 figured out any of the specifics with > theirs? > For example, with my K20, night photography seems to work best at ISO 400, > being the best balance between sensitivity and noise. > ISO 1600 on the k5 is approximately equivalent -- in visible noise -- to ISO 400 on the K20
> Actually, I'd love to see a site that has a database of all of these quirks > and hints for any camera. But, for streamlining your review process, maybe > some hints from others could save you a little time. > > I'm most interested in how well it does in cases where other cameras fall > short. Some of my requests/suggestions are coupled with particular lenses > that you may or may not have. > > While the video capabilities had nothing to do with my interest in my K-x, I > have found that for short clips, it makes a better video camera than my dv > camcorder. The sensor and the optical path are both orders of magnitude > better. One way that it particularly excels is in low light sensitivity. I > suspect that the K-5 is yet another big step up over the K-x. > > I'd like to see what it can do as video in difficult light situations: > > * Low light in general. Maybe indoors with poor light, where you'd be > shooting ISO 800 or above in order to hand hold. > * Nasty dynamic range situations. Someone blowing out the candles on a > birthday cake. > * I'm often taking videos of my friends playing music. Could you put an > FA77 on it and spend an evening in a dive bar taking pictures and video of > blues musicians? > > In more conventional photography: > I've seen what Ralf can do with his in industrial settings. I'd like to see > what one can do more along the lines of Dave Savage's work. Night landscapes > with stars visible. That may not be possible in Boston in November though. > > Put a DA40 (or maybe the DA35 macro, or the pfa50/1.4 or any of the small > primes) on it, and put it in your coat pocket, or fanny pack spend a few > hours walking around the city and see how it fares as a "pocket SLR". Bonus > points if you can do this both before and after dark for a bit of Theraultian > street photography. > > If you're interested in seeing how it does at autosports, I can ping a friend > in your area that does autocross and the like and see if there are any fun > events that involve people driving cars at silly fast speeds, to test it's > autofocus. > > I'm curious how it works shooting dancers in ridiculously low light. If you > want, I could put you in touch with my friends in your area that do dance. > > Another couple of torture tests that would be interesting to see how it does, > and how it compares to other cameras are available light shots of children > playing indoors and people playing fast paced sports. > > How well does it work with P-TTL flash (AF-540 etc). My K100 and K20 were > often unusable, my K-x is better, but still easily tricked. I've found it generally does well with the AF-540, although I mentioned an exception in another post -- using an Xtender in relatively close range at high (1250) ISO. I have to make sure I didn't have a bad connection here that might have triggered full manual. Paul > > -- > Larry Colen [email protected] sent from i4est > > > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.

