PhotographyBanzai.com

Now that the Pentax Q has started shipping, there is a lot more information available. I mentioned the Q back in June and I think a lot of what I said is still valid. I’m personally still on the middle road with the Q. I see positive aspects, but at the current price and lacking a few Pentax features (WR for example) it isn’t something I would be willing to spend my limited funds on at the moment. The main appeal to me personally is the possibilities of experimental photography that I’ll get to later in this article. The first week of sales in Japan look pretty strong (first noticed that link on pentaxforums.com and then 1001noisycameras.com). The white version was at #11 and the black at #17). This result proves an idea I had recently… The Q is certainly something unique. From my perspective it seems like an offering that is meant to show people how fun photography can be anywhere and everywhere (well besides rain, no WR sadly). It has a very Japanese flair to it. I really thin...

Thanks to a good tip from a user at a forum I frequent , I decided to test with just the FA 50mm f1.4 lens on both bodies. The difference this time is that I covered the data connections between the cameras and lens for the second sample set. Reason for the testing:  Find out if the K-7 is “cooking” the ISO/exposure settings when it sees that a wide aperture lens is attached. Also, analyze the data to better understand how CCD (K10D in this case) and CMOS (K-7 in this case) sensors record similar data. The test components:  K-7 camera body (CMOS type imaging sensor) K10D camera body (CCD type imaging sensor) Pentax FA 50mm f1.4 allowing the data connection and disabling the data connection by covering the connections with tape. I can confirm success as the EXIF data does not list the lens when covered. A single 20-LED lamp for lighting and a toy car as the subject inside a light tent. Another lamp around 4 feet away due to it being night time in the test. A solid tripod Ca...

To follow up on my article here about the possibility that camera manufacturers are upping ISO behind the scenes with older wide aperture lenses, I attempted to do a test with two of my lenses and the two camera bodies I have. The test components: K-7 camera body (CMOS type imaging sensor) K10D camera body (CCD type imaging sensor) Chinon 55mm f1.7 (M42 Screwmount + K-adapter designed for film) Pentax FA 50mm f1.4 (K-mount FA lens designed for film but likely with consideration from Pentax DSLR engineers because it is still sold new) Daylight with a single 20-LED lamp for lighting and a toy car as the subject inside a light tent. A solid tripod Here is a photo of the setup and a second of the Chinon 55mm in case you are interested in what it looks like: The test process: – I took photos with each lens on each camera using the widest respective aperture (1/100s, ISO 200) and f8 (1/8s, ISO 200) with custom white balance by allowing the camera to take a test image. – I had to slightly rea...