PhotographyBanzai.com

I had checked the forecast a day or two before and noticed a moderate chance of showers. My decision was to use only the K-5 and DA* 55mm f1.4 lens. We ended up having some light showers once or twice while at the garden, so that decision worked out. I just kept using the camera as normal without any issues while the rain was coming down. The nice thing about meetups like this is that I can just focus on the basics, but I’m also inclined to do a more experimental style of framing my subjects. This leads to images that might receive some critical comments on first view, but when examining them further, they might see the intent involved. For example: Multiple times I noticed scenes where the foreground let in just a bit of something interesting. A visual hint of interest lies in the middle of the frame that you put a little extra time into trying to distinguish. On first glance, it might have an amateurish feel, but I don’t believe that is the case when my true intent realized. As...

The K-5 has all of the benefits in ergonomics of the K-7, but with the imaging sensor advances Sony brought to the table. While I was reluctant to pick up a K-5 when I did due to the price premium it held for a long time, I eventually bit the bullet and bought one locally at a good price My video review on the camera. Get a used Pentax K-5 through my links: B&H , KEH , eBay , Amazon , and Walmart . As an affiliate of these shops, I earn from qualifying purchases! History: While the K-7 was being developed in between the Hoya acquisition, the K-5 was a full Hoya/Pentax product. It is unclear whether Hoya put any input in on the K-5, but the results probably speak for themselves. The K-5 is a revisionary upgrade with focused improvements on image quality and camera speed more than anything else. It was moved closer to the high level APS-C cameras such as the Canon 7D, or even some full frame cameras in a few technical aspects like dynamic range. Personal appeal: While the cameras loo...

Noisy Cameras is quite a resource for news and other tidbits of information in the camera world. I noticed on their site along with places like pentaxforums.com that the Pentax K-5 will be going on sale today.  http://www.1001noisycameras.com/2011/11/black-friday-camera-specials-situation-room.html While I’m not in the market for new gear, I do usually follow pricing on the equipment I use so I know when something is a good deal or not. Under the thumb of Hoya, Pentax rarely had reasonable camera and lens deals. It did happen, but was difficult to notice and infrequent (the DA* 55mm I bought new was one such instance that lasted only a few hours). Actually, they tended to raise prices on gear and hold those prices high… Ricoh might be different. First we see a reduction on the K-5 of around $150 once then took over and now we see a Cyber Monday deal of with a price of around $1000 for the camera body. That’s really a great price on the camera considering how well it has held value...

Quite the title, eh? It’s well known that the DA* 55mm f1.4 SDM lens is the successor to the FA* 85mm f1.4 lens. The difference is that the DA* 55mm lens is designed to take the crop factor into account to give the user an equivalent of 85mm on all current Pentax cameras. So I was thinking today, why not compare the two lenses, but instead of a direct comparison, let’s consider things like crop factor (focal length multiplier), sensor size, and equivalence. What do we really lose with using lenses on crop sensors and how are things affected with additional tools like a teleconverter (TC).  I don’t have a full-frame camera to test with, so I can only give you so much data here in regards to how crop factor affects output. I’m going to speculate and measure example photos to give you (and myself) a better understanding of what type of lens these two would be like if we had Equivalent full-frame lenses. Equivalence is a touchy topic with some photographers. Some say it doesn’t e...

As I mentioned in my previous post, the K-5 was returned from service. For my initial test I took some macro photos and also too a few photos of two cats. The conditions in this case were dark with tungsten lights, so ISO was pretty high at 2000-3200. It’s funny how quickly I start taxing the K-5 in situations I usually wouldn’t bother trying with the K-7. The gray one is a female and the black one is a male. They were born in the wild and spent a good deal of time as feral cats until it got too cold the winter they were born.

The Pentax K-5 camera body was returned from being serviced at C.R.I.S. on the 14th. This time it only took them about a week instead of 2 months, which was much more manageable. So far the camera seems 100% functional. I’ll be trying to test it as much as possible for a few weeks to make sure though.  Here are a few more macro photos, this time with the K-5 instead of the K-7. I also used my standard setup where the flash was mounted directly above the lens instead of to the side.  Making sure the camera is solid for a trip in late October is a good excuse to get out there and take photos anyways.

Fall is usually a time for new camera announcements. Just recently Pentax France showed a promo PDF that hinted at a new camera body besides the Q and 645D. They have since modified the PDF and removed the hint, but it’s interesting at least. If you frequent PentaxForums.com, you will know a debate on Pentax Full-frame comes up every so often. As I’m a person who feels I could benefit from Pentax FF, I usually post at least one message stating my reasons. This time , the discussion started with a pretty strong argument for full-frame. I agree that for Pentax to get back the popularity they had in their heyday, they should have at least one camera for each audience. We see that they are expanding their offerings after cutting back a bit on 35mm. They now have three digital systems (K, 645, and Q), so they are trying to increase their general appeal. Recent 35mm lens releases have been pretty yawn inducing from an enthusiast point of view. I wonder if it was because they were working on ...

I made a video on a whim last night as I wanted to get some practice doing video with my 100mm macro lens. I tried making a product detail video with the K-5 as the subject. On a somewhat related note, the K-5 will be going back to the repair facility once I receive the shipping label. Hopefully the second time is the charm with that camera. The video was taken with the K-7 at the highest setting and edited in Kdenlive for Linux. I have a few ideas to get better clip quality that I will have to try in the future. I’d like to eventually try a similar video with the K-7 or *ist D as a subject to see how that works. Get a used Pentax K-5 through my links: B&H ,  KEH ,  eBay , and  Amazon An an affiliate of these shops, I earn from qualifying purchases! Videos related to the camera:  My full K-5 review… ( YouTube video ) DA* 55mm at a Japanese garden . FA* 24mm at a beautiful park . TAv mode for freezing action . Av mode with flash . Program modes on the K-5 . D-BG4...

So it’s only been a few days since getting the K-5 back from a 2 month service call, but the camera is starting to show signs of the double mirror flop issue again. The issue is best described on this PentaxForums.com thread . Here is a short video of the camera in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rZ50NEmLdE As I’ll be attending a convention tomorrow, I wanted to take the camera. The issue doesn’t seem very bad at the moment, but I’m sure it will only get worse with time. So I’m uncertain if I should bother taking the camera or not. If I don’t, I would probably just stick to taking photos with the K-7 rather than video. Maybe I should switch the K-5 to video duty? ugh…

I received my K-5 back from service yesterday. Thanks to David from Camera Craft for making it as easy as possible. The camera took around 2 months to get fixed, which was a inconvenience to say the least. The camera appears to be functioning properly so far. The only thing I noticed was that I had to add +8 to the global lens correction to get proper focus. It’s just in time for a sci-fi convention I’d like to attend in the Chicago area. I was thinking of using the K-5 for photos and K-7 with a wide angle lens for video exclusively.

I went to a three day convention on May 20th – 22nd and almost exclusively used the K-5 without any issues. Around a week after getting back I visited a local park to get out of the house and take some nice scenic photos. As I began to take photos, it started making strange mirror slapping sounds when any button on the camera was pressed. I took the lens off and hand cycled the aperture mechanism, took out the battery for a few seconds, and cleaned off the lens contacts. The issue went away. I assumed it was just a fluke. Here's the mirror flop in action:  https://youtu.be/9rZ50NEmLdE I found this posting on the Pentax Forums that described the same issue I was having, but at the time I thought it might have just been a fluke. Oddly enough, the original poster is located around 100 miles from me. I wondered if maybe it was just a one time issue due to the change in weather… A few days later I went to a local airshow. This time the K-5 had the problem, but much more seriou...

Today PentaxForums.com released a review comparing the Canon 7D and Pentax K-5. Overall I think it is a really interesting review for a person who uses either system. I think they tried to be as non-fanboy-ish as possible by bringing out the best and worst of each system. Here is the review link: http://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/Canon_7D_vs_Pentax_K5.php It brought up the pretty well known differences: – The 7D has great AF and video control. – The K-5 has a great sensor and ergonomics. They both have high build quality, weather resistance, fast operation, and a multitude of other similar features. Obviously both camera bodies would be a great photography tool to use if you can afford the entry price. I think it also explains why the K-5 came out around $1500 and has held a strong price since then.

Today I’ll be talking about promotion and using my camera gear as a tool to create such videos. A friend and I just finished our first Application targeted for the Android marketplace. The application basically allows the user to monitor the level of rivers in the United States thanks to publicly available data that is updated frequently. This is useful to anyone who does boating among other various activities that have some relation to rivers, gage height, and stream flow. I’ve since made a second promo style video, but with the K-7 camera instead. The great thing about current DSLRs is that they are amazing multi-function tools. This time I used my Pentax K-5 and shot in 1080p HD 25fps as well as with an external microphone. Why use an external mic? No mechanical sounds from the camera, no sounds from me touching the camera, and overall better sound quality even with a cheap microphone. Here is the setup for my video: Pentax K-5 with a microphone. Pentax K-5 in video mode with a DA 4...

Continuing on with my studio practice, I decided to try my hand again at macro photography. The camera rig! Equipment: Pentax K-5 Digital SLR Camera Body Pentax D-FA 100mm f/2.8 Macro WR lens Kenko Pz-Af 1.5x Teleplus SHQ tele-converter Custom Brackets flash bracket with a Sigma EF-530 DG Super flash, the Sigma acted as the trigger for the other flash units. 2x Yongnuo YN460-II flash on Flashpoint light stands Slik Pro 700DX AMT-Alloy Tripod Legs with a Smith Victor BH2 Metal Alloy Ball Head Here is a quick video of the setup in action (sorry for the *pop* *pop* sound, it seems that the 25fps videos have an issue when directly uploaded to YouTube): https://youtu.be/exzUoxZEpUo My artistic goal for the session was to create top-down images of texture and detail. Things we see everyday, but when viewed up-close they are very different than how we usually perceive them. Intricate networks of connection and amazing textures abound… Here was my first subject, stale matcha (finely-milled Jap...