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Scott Kilgore Photography Nature, Wildlife, Auto Racing, Train, Railroad Photography, Fine Art Photography |
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Equipment Information Page |
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This page is underconstruction. I will add information as I have time and seems appropriate. |
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Pentax information (con't) I chose the Pentax originally due to the fact that Pentax cameras work best with manual focus lenses. I have a Tamron LD/SD 300mm manual focus lens that I found is sharper than any of the current crop of 300mm auto focus lenses that I was considering. Canon EOS is not compatible at all with manual lenes. Nikon and Olympus were also tested, but the ground glass would not allow accurate focusing and metering was less accurate. The inexpensive Pentax 100D permits better manual focusing than the others, but still not quite critical enough at f2.8 on a 300mm. Stepping up to the Pentax K10D' gives interchangable screens that focus like an old manual focus SLR. That is to say, the Pentax K10D does allow critical focusing with macro and long telephoto lenses. Additionally, while I have neve been a fan of image stabilization, the type of image stabilization that these Pentax cameras (and the Konica/Minolta- now Sony) use invovles moving the sensor. This type really works, even at high shutter speeds, without reducing resolution. I have not been impressed with the image stabilization lenses since they all move a loose element in the lens. The may be fine for small enlargements to 8x10 and magizines and newspapers, but the flaws in optical quality really show up with increased enlargement. I have found every IS lens to be wanting in quality for the 24 inch enlargements I typically do, and therefore can't use them. The Pentax cameras, particularly the K10D have many useful features (several my Canon's don't have), and the K10D and the flash system components seem to be very durable and much easier to use. (No stupid stuff like pressing two buttons to activate the H type or high speed sync on a 550EX) They are much more durable than the Canon 20D's I have had. I seem to have tremendous problems with membrane switches on all five of the Canon Digital SLR bodies I have had since December 2003 and a 550EX flash with several non-functional soft button switches. Average lifespan on my Canon's has been a deplorable 9 to 12 months before the shutter button starts not releasing or the AF goes out in some way. The 550EXflash was only about 18 months old when the buttons started failing. Compare this to the Olympus OM system cameras and T32 flash units I used for nearly 20 years without failure. It is my major complaint against Canon. The off camera flash cords are also very poorly made. The shutters and mirror boxes last, but the switches need work. The Pentax's have been flawless ( thus far) in the durability department. Canon's "film' is still better, and an 8 mega-pixel Canon still resolves slightly better than the 10 mp Pentax (Sony manufactured) sensors. At least, that is the way it appears. First, there is virtually no difference between the quality of a RAW file and the highest quality jpeg's with Canon's superb in camera jpeg processing. So I don't use RAW on the Canons because there is simply no need if your exposures are correct. The Pentax K10D exhibits 'softer' image processing. It turns out that the detail is there, but the processing in the camera does not bring it out. High jpegs can work well on the K10D and the K100D, but the imaging is softer than the Canon in-camera processing. It could be described as more film-like. Note that this softer edge sharpening can be quite beneficial in portrature. Unfortunately, this is not preferential for nature photography. However, most of the softness can be easily punched up and made crisper with some simple and delicate work in Photoshop. Unfortunately, to get the best work out of the Pentax K10D for very large prints (currently), you need to shoot RAW and process the RAW files through a third party RAW converter, such as the one in Photoshop Elements 4.01 (with the update current to May 2007). Pentax's SilkyPix RAW converter processes a file with similar characteristics to the somewhat 'soft' high jpeg. Photoshops RAW converter really shows what the camera is capable of, which is quality at least as high as the Canon 20 and 30D. Hopefully, Pentax will make a firmware change to correct the in-camera processing. If they do, and match Canon's jpeg image quality, they will easily have the best camera in this class. |
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Ducks and Duck-like birds (Waterfowl) Egrets and Herons , Bitterns Other Wading Birds (Roseate Spoonbills, Ibis, etc.) Songbirds (Cardinals, Jays, Robins, Finches, etc.)
TRANSPORTATION
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For Information or ordering |
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This Site and All Contents Copyright © Scott A. Kilgore This is not a source of free images |
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