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I have one on loan from The Camera Store for a couple of days, and will give it a bit of a workout. Have the 55 and 120 lenses on loan, have read the detailed review on digilloyd.com (you have to pay but well worth it for pointing out what to watch for), and managed to make a few shots with it this afternoon.
It really is a photographers camera - with all the right controls. It did take a while to find the self timer (via the drive button - so very easily accessed) and I have yet to figure out how to switch from one card to the next (camera holds two SD cards).
The real issue is going to be living without live view, upon which I have come to rely so very much. On the other hand, the viewfinder is great and I had no difficulty using it with my glasses.
Neither is a great shot, but for the amount of time I put into it, about what you'd expect. Now, whether either is any better for being photographed with the 645D is a whole other matter.
Worst case scenario is Canon comes out with an equivalent camera, featuring a cmos sensor and live view, a tilting lcd (or wireless connection to either ipad or iphone) and that allows me to use my current lenses.
I doubt my current lenses (mostly zooms) are going to hold up at this pixel count. That would mean a new series of lenses - almost certainly thousands of dollars each. I'm planning to get some used pentax lenses - I can get a complete set for $2000 (35, 75, 120 macro, 200). Granted they aren't autofocus but I never use autofocus anyway.
Canon having disappointed many with the low pixel count of the 1dX, I figure I'll get a fair part of my money back if I sell within the next two years.
What I noticed photographing today was two things - in the past, if my camera was a bit low or a bit high, I could still easily use live view on the Canon 5D2 where today I had to stretch to reach up and look down through the Pentax. This might actually mean keeping a stool in the car. From prior experience, an angle finder doesn't solve the high camera problem.
Mind you, the two best shots I have made in the last couple of months were both within 100 yards of my car - so a step stool would be very practical (hell, I could even sit on it for low shots and give my old knees a rest).
Why "waste" $12,000 on better equipment when the 5D2 is already pretty damn fine?
Well, twice this year, selling images has been compromised by the limitation on print size. There really isn't any other reason to go to such expense, when even a Canon Rebel can make fantastic prints, albeit just not as large.
I still stitch with the 5D2, but stitching, focus blending and doing HDR all at the same time is just mind boggling.
Will I return the Pentax because of missing the live view? Not sure yet. Will head out tomorrow shooting and see if I can resolve the question.
One thing I have thought of to aid focus blending without having live view is to take a couple of small plastic clamps (hardware stores sell them in packs of 20) and modify it so it grips around the lens, and has a pointer on one of the two finger grips. I'll get the framing right (which means right tripod position) then focus the centre spot on the nearest part of the subject. Then I place the lens clamp/pointer so the pointer is aiming straight up. I then move the camera so the furthest position is in focus, and place a second pointer, or a second part of the first pointer vertically.
I reframe the subject, turn the lens so the first pointer is just past vertical (so I am sure I caught the whole range of focus), and shoot a series of images until the second pointer is just past vertical.
In practice, today I just used the bright viewfinder to focus on near and kept checking till the far was in focus I found the near easy to focus manually, the far a bit harder. In neither case did I use the Pentax's built in focus check for manual lenses, and I'll check that out tomorrow.
5 comments:
George,
do you literally mean " I then MOVE the camera so the furthest position is in focus...", or do you mean you turn the lens/focus? If you move the camera, doesn't that cause alignment problems (or are you using PS to align when blending)?
Mind you, the two best shots I have made in the last couple of months were both within 100 yards of my car - so a step stool would be very practical (hell, I could even sit on it for low shots and give my old knees a rest).
I had exactly the same problem. Well, I should say "I have" in fact. The live view is a nice way and sparing my back some bending, but still I can't always be there to take a glance at it (raising the tripod high to take a shot almost horizontally), but it did a lot.
One time, I did make a panorama in a low level (depicting the view of hmm a cockroach), and luckily my tripod's central column can be turned upside down, and again live view saved me. You can check it here (http://ayvarith.blogspot.com/2011/08/ouch-my-head.html)
After using a point-and-shoot camera for some time and then moving to the old Canon 350D which has no live view, it was hard to adapt first, but then I got used to it, and now with my 7D, I can't imagine myself to work without a live view.
I still stitch with the 5D2, but stitching, focus blending and doing HDR all at the same time is just mind boggling.
to me, this is now a routine lol.
What I meant was to re-aim the camera. I have been playing with the camera some more however, and I'm not sure how well focus confirmation works. Yesterday I ended up doing everything by eye, which seemed to work just fine.
That will need to be resolved before I commit to the camera.
George -- The 645 seems like a very natural progression for your work. Have you thought about giving at least one of those older manual focus Pentax lenses a try before you commit? Lens design has indeed progressed and sometimes the older designs, even fixed focal length, have issues such as CA that become apparent at these pixel resolutions. Not all of these issues are easily resolved in post. Best, Frank
Fortunately there is enough information on the net to help me in that direction - digilloyd sorted out the good from the bad, and the pentax users forum was helpful too.
I really liked using the 120 macro lens - and app. the old A version (not auto focus) is every bit as good, that will be a good start.
George
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