Post by dpeppar on Mar 9, 2014 11:23:20 GMT -8
Just wanted to post a few comments about my recent camera upgrade. I know some people are looking to start bird photography or want to move to a DSLR - so my recent purchase may be of interest.
Bird photography has to be the most demanding photography I have done. The camera must work in adverse condition - mostly rainy but also dusty and cold. The lens/camera/photographer combination must deliver sharp images. Lighting conditions change rapidly so the camera needs to focus in low light conditions but also change exposure rapidly. Since I use 100% manual exposure setting this must be done while looking through the view finder.
This camera is my 4th DSLR within the Pentax line. Yes I'm a Pentax user from way back (got my first SLR from Pentax in 1966 because I was moving to NWT for my first job after UBC). But there has been compelling reasons to stay with Pentax. My new K3 has added a few more.
The camera spec's in a nutshell are:
24mp on a APS-C sensor: Pentax is the first manufacture to make a 24mp version using this Sony sensor. This is a large jump from 16mp my K5 has.
Full weather sealed magnesium alloy body. My K5 is so rugged that I dropped it twice from about 3 feet with no damage. Try dropping a Nikon or Cannon from the same heights. The K3 looks just as rugged.
Dual memory cards. This allows you two save to one or both. Save one to jpeg and the other raw. At full jpeg I now have 1700 shots in the camera (I would need to change batteries or get a battery grip which has a second battery in it).
8.3 fps burst mode to a max of 60 shots. I use this all the time when shooting active birds with my K5.
A whole bunch of built in software such as Ant-aliasing filter which I have turned off until I have time to test them out.
Image stabilizing built into the camera (all Pentax Cameras have this) so I can use any lens and have just bought the Tamron 10-24 which is a nice cost effective lens in the extreme wide angle type.
I bought the Camera at London drugs for under $1200 and I see it is for sale at Amazon for $1150. My lens sells for $1600. This reflects my theory that the lens shout be about 60% of the camera/ lens combination. There are quite a few reviews on youtube which go into detail about the specks.
I've had the camera a few weeks and my first few shots are not bad:
Here are three shots under three different lighting conditions: All with Pentax 300f4.
Anna's Hummingbird Chilliwack Feb 28-14 Back lite and sunny; 1/1000 f4 @ 400iso cropped to 60% of frame
Red-tailed Hawk Sumas Mar 07-14 Cloudy and soft light; 1/1000 f5 @ 400iso cropped to 30% of frame
Fox Sparrow Heron Res Mar 8-14 In the bush with very little light; 1/500 f4 @ 1600 slight adjust of lighting by one stop cropped to 30% of frame
Thanks for reading,
DaveP
Bird photography has to be the most demanding photography I have done. The camera must work in adverse condition - mostly rainy but also dusty and cold. The lens/camera/photographer combination must deliver sharp images. Lighting conditions change rapidly so the camera needs to focus in low light conditions but also change exposure rapidly. Since I use 100% manual exposure setting this must be done while looking through the view finder.
This camera is my 4th DSLR within the Pentax line. Yes I'm a Pentax user from way back (got my first SLR from Pentax in 1966 because I was moving to NWT for my first job after UBC). But there has been compelling reasons to stay with Pentax. My new K3 has added a few more.
The camera spec's in a nutshell are:
24mp on a APS-C sensor: Pentax is the first manufacture to make a 24mp version using this Sony sensor. This is a large jump from 16mp my K5 has.
Full weather sealed magnesium alloy body. My K5 is so rugged that I dropped it twice from about 3 feet with no damage. Try dropping a Nikon or Cannon from the same heights. The K3 looks just as rugged.
Dual memory cards. This allows you two save to one or both. Save one to jpeg and the other raw. At full jpeg I now have 1700 shots in the camera (I would need to change batteries or get a battery grip which has a second battery in it).
8.3 fps burst mode to a max of 60 shots. I use this all the time when shooting active birds with my K5.
A whole bunch of built in software such as Ant-aliasing filter which I have turned off until I have time to test them out.
Image stabilizing built into the camera (all Pentax Cameras have this) so I can use any lens and have just bought the Tamron 10-24 which is a nice cost effective lens in the extreme wide angle type.
I bought the Camera at London drugs for under $1200 and I see it is for sale at Amazon for $1150. My lens sells for $1600. This reflects my theory that the lens shout be about 60% of the camera/ lens combination. There are quite a few reviews on youtube which go into detail about the specks.
I've had the camera a few weeks and my first few shots are not bad:
Here are three shots under three different lighting conditions: All with Pentax 300f4.
Anna's Hummingbird Chilliwack Feb 28-14 Back lite and sunny; 1/1000 f4 @ 400iso cropped to 60% of frame
Red-tailed Hawk Sumas Mar 07-14 Cloudy and soft light; 1/1000 f5 @ 400iso cropped to 30% of frame
Fox Sparrow Heron Res Mar 8-14 In the bush with very little light; 1/500 f4 @ 1600 slight adjust of lighting by one stop cropped to 30% of frame
Thanks for reading,
DaveP
