Bonjour,
This is the second part of my hands-on of the K10D. Hopefully, this Sunday was sunny, so I could go out and test it on the field. Please note that this is not a test, but rather some feed-back provided by a user.
[EDIT] Updated with links to the pictures
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Architecture outdoor – The K10D captured the high contrasts between walls lit by the sun and shadowed ones. The rounded tower of the castle was perfectly continuous between light and darkness.
Pictures at
http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2833#2833
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Architecture indoor – Indoor the church, light was really poor but here I had many options: using the flash, using the shake reduction, using higher ISO, using a combination of previous options. While using the flash, the white balance seemed deceptive. Stones had a bleak nuance instead of a gilded one. This is not a problem on RAW files with post-editing, but on JPEG. To try and correct this, select Menu, page 2/6, line 5, White balance with flash, option 2 Flash.
The shake reduction was a serious option, but I had to take care not to trust it too much. 1/15 seems acceptable, but 1/8 proves blurry and deceptive.
Pictures at
http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2834#2834
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Wild life – I found a whole family of ducks playing in the pond. Using the combined RAW+JPEG format with a 150x Transcend SD card, I tried the continuous shoting mode with AF-C mode and centered AF.
I get 6 pictures, then a pause of 1 second, then 4 pictures, then a pause of 1 second, … Obviously, this is not very scientific but gives an idea that the 3,1 fps is real, but with that big difference between the first 6-shoots and then the stop-and-go process.
Since I used the Tv mode, I wanted to avoid too fast speeds and dark pictures, so I selected also the Auto IL correction though Menu, page 2/6, line 4, and option 2.
Moving the camera to the ducks, the AF was very responsive and fast. I had some difficulties capturing a swallow that was flying too fast and too close to me.
Pictures at
http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2835#2835
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Landscape – Here, the Av and the SEL AF point play wonders. I really appreciated the bright and clear viewfinder: it makes composing and focusing the picture very easy.
Pictures at
http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2836#2836
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Macro outdoor – There was a bright and red poppy field right out the village. I was hugely disappointed by the over-processed colours on the *ist DL, even with the natural colour tone setting, not to speak of the *ist DL automatic modes like landscape or macro.
In order to check, I tried the RAW+JPEG file format and compared the pictures, with the natural mode selected for JPEG. Good news, no more over-processed colours, even for red flowers (the red colour seems to be very demanding). Even the smallest difference in red tone, such as transparency trough a petal, is captured and recorded in both RAW and JPEG files. I compared both files and, if JPEG files get a little more punch in saturation and contrast, they are very satisfactory.
Since that point was the major drawback I experienced with the *ist DL, I am very happy the K10D provides a much better result.
As a collateral advantage, the 10 M pixels give plenty of details, even not seen with the eyes, such as a little insect walking on a petal of the flower.
Here, may I say, the secret lies on taking time…
Pictures at
http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2836#2836
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Macro indoor – Here, I played with the integrated flash and the AF-540FGZ external flash in wireless mode. The idea was to capture a 10 cm / 4” object playing with the shadows.
Setting the wireless was not that simple since I spent a couple of hours matching the 540 manual with the K10D manual...
On the 540, slide the power button to Wireless, then press the M/C/S button as many times as to get the SLAVE indicator.
On the K10D, with the P mode, press Fn, the the down key and select W+lighting symbol then OK twice. Then, ask for the menu, select C list, then last page for Wireless flash mode : 1 operates both flashes and 2 operates only the remote flash (the K10D's flash is only used to send the signal).
On both cases, the 540 waits for the signal from the K10D and lights on.
Tweaking the power of the flash down to 1/64 finally gave the appropriate effect.
Pictures at
http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2837#2837
New pictures at
http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3888#3888
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Other points – I took 230 shots this afternoon (or 460 files, half RAW, half JPEG) , on which 40 using the flash, and the battery is still reported as fully charged. The RAW+JPEG, apart for superior quality and manual editing for the RAW format, provides an easy way to test and try the settings of the K10D, especially the white balance. The major drawback is the huge memory consumption, 47 RAW pictures on a 1 GB SD card instead of 208 JPEG.
Reading the manual carefully is highly recommended, since the K10D provides so many options that one could get lost easily. Also, interactions between the K10D and the AF-540FGZ are not obvious, so reconciliation of both manuals is highly recommended. There is still a lot to discover!
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Wrapping-up – I would like to stress on the very fact that, since the hardware buttons manage the main functions of the camera, the software menus are useless while shooting, except in specific conditions, like those mentionned earlier.
The viewfinder provides enough information to make the appropriate decisions and select the options with the hardware buttons while shooting. The LCD display on top may be useful for checking options before starting a shooting session.
With the K10D, I had the reminiscence of a film SLR I had many years ago. No distraction from modern electronics. Everything is hidden and the K10D is fully oriented at picture taking. That’s true photography.
Enjoy and have fun!
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