Camera Labs

Gotta say, I found the part where we are suddenly viewing Gordon though the Live view, very amusing Great stuff

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I've upped my Iso, now up yours.
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Hi guys, glad you liked the live view bit with me in it! (technical note, there was a slight delay for the video image to appear on the K20D's screen, so rather than have the audio out of sync, I also delayed it during the edit.)

docablas, I used the 18-250mm as that was the lens Pentax supplied with the K20D for my tests. I asked for an SDM model, but they couldn't supply one. I did also try it with the older Mark I 18-55mm, but the results were awful in the corners, so I used the 18-250mm throughout.

I was actually very impressed by its image quality, given the superzoom range...

Bonjour Gordon,

If you have still the K20D at hands, could you perform a test on the expanded dynamic range

Expanded dynamic range could be really useful for architecture photography. So could take two pictures of the same building, typically with a sunny face and a dark one, or a gallery, with expanded mode switched on and off to ease the comparison

Thank you very much

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--- rei_vilo
Pentax K-5 + BG4 + DA* 16-50 + DA* 50-135 + DA* 60-250 + AF-540FGZ
reivilophotography.weebly.com

Hi Rei, the K20D goes back this week, but we've got rain forecast on most days!

But I already did an expanded dynamic range example on the features page - did you see it? It protected the clipped highlights...

Gordon,

Yes, I saw the test at Pentax K20D Expanded Dynamic Range off / on and the result is pretty illustrative.

However, I experienced some difficulties to make the link with my own usage, which deals mostly with architecture, where I have to cope with under- and over-exposed parts of the pictures.

That's why I suggested more classic examples as a high constrast wall or nature under the trees I tried with the K10D.

You provide a very interesting example, called Indoor, in the church, at the bottom of the Gallery page. It could be very nice to provide the same shot with expanded dynamic range to see the difference.

It is really a pity that I couldn't test the K20D by my own

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--- rei_vilo
Pentax K-5 + BG4 + DA* 16-50 + DA* 50-135 + DA* 60-250 + AF-540FGZ
reivilophotography.weebly.com

Hi Rei, I can't make any promises, but I will try and shoot that indoor Church picture again with and without EDR later this week if Pentax haven't grabbed the camera off me by then!

Bonjour Gordon,

Thank you and good luck

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--- rei_vilo
Pentax K-5 + BG4 + DA* 16-50 + DA* 50-135 + DA* 60-250 + AF-540FGZ
reivilophotography.weebly.com

2 things:

1. K20D and K10D have dedicated ISO button, its OK+finger dial
2. We cant really see the IQ when you take photos with this crapy lenses use 50/1,4@5.6 or 70/2,4

salute

Hi MOLE(PL)

1: I know about the OK button. I don't think it's too much to ask for one with ISO written on it for a 'semi-pro' DSLR. And that also doesn't excuse the lack of a dedicated WB button either.

2: I'm limited by the lenses Pentax supplies for testing. I requested better lenses for the K20D, but that's what I got - so that's what I tested it with.

For what it's worth, I thought the IQ was surprisingly good with the 18-250mm and the only area where it really let the camera down was AF speed.

Too bad that you didnt have any better lenses

ISO button... why you need extra one with ISO word on it? There's isn't really much free space on the body to add that extra button, besides even if it was one you still need to press it + finger dial to change ISO so whats the point?

Just a personal preference MOLE(PL)...

And OK + green button resumes with auto-ISO mode (as for the K10D with firmware 1.30).



Please, could you ask the Pentax representative when the DA* 60-250mm f4 is going to be released

Thanks

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--- rei_vilo
Pentax K-5 + BG4 + DA* 16-50 + DA* 50-135 + DA* 60-250 + AF-540FGZ
reivilophotography.weebly.com

I'm just wondering how often people use live view, compared to say how often they look at the quality of their pictures taken in any mode...

In it's market position how important are the two features (image quality vs live view), to a photographer?

In my opinion, live view is pointless. I'd rather take a snappy picture than wait for live view to do its thing, even with contrast focusing...

I just want to know why the gallery shots for the K20D look so extraordinary? I am looking to buy a mid-range dSLR and I was thinking about the a700, but the image rendering of the K20D sample images I saw change my opinion about the a700. Of course, those vibrant colors are probably not realistic...

If you're not bothered about live view, then the K20D is a great choice.

As to why the pictures looked so vibrant, that's down to two things:

1: it really can take great quality photos...

2: by default the contrast and sharpening is turned up...