the Pentax Paradigm
· Sunday December 28, 2008
During the week or so I’ve had to play with my new K20D, I’ve taken roughly 400 pics. Though the locations of the controls are a little different from my 350D, using the K20D is quite intuitive. What’s also amazing is how customizable this thing is!! In each mode, you can set what the front and rear wheels control. For instance, in TAv mode (the one I use most frequently), I’ve changed the default setting so that the front wheel changes the aperture while the rear wheel adjusts the shutter speed.
TAv mode
So what is TAv mode? It’s another quasi-manual mode, like Shutter-speed priority (Tv), or Aperture value priority (Av). The user (you) sets both the shutter speed and the aperture, but the camera calculates the appropriate sensitivity (ISO). This is great because you can choose the appropriate shutter speed to minimize blur, the aperture for desired depth-of-field, and the ISO varies automatically within a user-specified range by 1/3 stops (I tend to set mine between 100-640 when outdoors, and 100-2000 or 2500 indoors). The only problem I’ve had with this so far is that I’ve accidentally left the shutter speed too low once or twice, thus causing a scene to get overexposed (because the camera can’t set the ISO below 100).
In the below example, I set the camera at 1/50s to eliminate blur due to motion and f/7.1 to ensure sufficient DOF— the camera automatically set the ISO at 640.
Breakfast
ISO 3200
Admittedly, there are very few situations where I need such a high sensitivity. The K20D lets you expand the ISO up to 6400, but a couple test shots at the upper end show really terrible degradation of image quality. 3200 on the other hand is still quite usable.
Raggedy
As you can see at the bottom edge of the basket, you start to lose some dynamic range at higher ISOs, though the detail in the dolls’ shirts is still well-preserved.
In-body shake reduction
This seems to work reasonably well, but I haven’t done any strict testing. My initial impression is that it’s not quite as good as the in-lens image stabilisation that my Canon lenses offer; I would estimate that you get a solid 2 stops of shake reduction on the K20D, versus 2.5-3 stops with my Canon 18-55 and 55-250mm IS lenses. However, being able to use this feature on any lens (including fast primes) is fantastic.
Lenses
I currently have two lenses at my disposal— the 35mm f/2.8 Macro Ltd. and an SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7. The latter is a manual-focusing only lens that I picked up on ebay for £37; pretty good value! The 35mm has been praised by Mike Johnston, blogger at theonlinephotographer, as being an Optical Paragon. I’ve certainly found it very enjoyable to use, and its macro capability has been a lot of fun.
Snowflakes
It certainly produces nicely saturated and natural-looking images, and is capable of producing decent portraits at wider aperture values. The following image has a funny story associated with it, which you can read by clicking on the thumbnail :-)
Kevin
In any case, these two lenses seem a decent place to start. I’m notably lacking at the wide- and tele-photo ends. The next lens I’m looking to purchase has been announced, but not yet released— the 15mm DA Limited. I often find when I’m shooting landscapes that I wish I had a slightly wider lens, and I think this will fit the bill.
Unfortunately, I don’t yet own anything in the ultra-wide category, either for my 350D or the K20D… especially because I’m going to Vegas/the Grand Canyon/Death Valley on New Year’s Day with my mom!! Now, winter is not exactly the ideal time to be visiting these locales, but my mom wanted to travel, so we booked some tix. Given my recent flying experiences, let’s hope that the travel gods smile upon us :-)
— Emery Ku
Thoughts?
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