Pentax Cameras are Bargains

[warren]

That shot captures it all. Look at me, I could take a photo if I knew what all this gear did!

Possibly he's simply a shooter's "gopher".

 

[PipePic]

We used Pentax back in high school photography class. They were dependable and sturdy enough for use by ignorant 15 year olds.
My wife has been into photography sinse the early 90s in high school. She worked as at two of our local newspapers, then worked as an independent when those papers stopped having their staff photographers.
She also worked for ASU when she was a student there....and freelanced for local Phoenix papers.
She has bought a bunch of cameras, lenses and accessories. But now, she uses her Google Pixel phone for 95% of her pictures. She only rarely uses any of her pics professionally these days.
Her opinion is that she can take "as good" or better pictures with her phone, than she can get with her Nikon D???? Or Canon Rebel. And far better than film pictures developed by her in her darkroom.
I disagree.....I love the film pictures much better, there is a difference. Film isn't as sharp or bright, but they are "smoother" in my opinion. It's hard yo explain smooth, but I know it when I see it.

if your film photos arent sharp, there is a lens issue going on.

Dont forget that people joke about how the u2 spy plane camera system

U2 Spy Plane – The Dragon Lady

mysteriesofcanada.com

 

[PipePic]

You can get film online at Amazon and have developed by mail like the old days. k1000s were great old style cameras ... at one time every professional photographer had at least one in their bag.

k1000 was not a professional camera sadly. just over hyped by a few people teaching film classes after 2000.

 

[PipePic]

Every enthusiast interchangeable lens digital camera new enough to use an SD card, has a mode dial that allows the user to select ISO, shutter speed, and aperture opening.

Many of them have scene modes, for example fireworks on a tripod.

My Olympus has a live composite setting that would be hard to replicate on a phone or compact camera.

View attachment 386050

To freeze action is easy using an enthusiast camera.

Plus with a devoted camera, you can add flash units, even radio controlled flash units around the room.

My Olympus using a macro lens can do focus stacking, which is taking a series of shots and combining them so the close subject is entirely in focus.

And I can set my Olympus to be utterly silent, using an electronic shutter.

I can use it at night on a tripod to take photos of the stars.

My Olympus has features I’ll seldom use. There are enough adjustments nobody will ever try all the thousands of combinations.

A new one is a two thousand dollar toy that accepts lenses.

It even takes 4K video, but it’s not a video camera.

Olympus (and Panasonic) made the first enthusiast mirrorless cameras and now Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Fuji all have mirrorless, and Samsung gave up and went back to phones. Mirrorless is basically like your Android camera on steroids. You see want you want to shoot on a back screen or electronic viewfinder and click.

On the other hand a Pentax DSLR is like an old Pentax SLR except there’s no film. You frame using an optical viewfinder. The shutter is mechanical only. The mirror flips up and down with each shot.

They are a toy for folks who miss film.

The villains in the old James Bond movies would be taking pictures of James with a Pentax and a three foot lens.

they all had some sort of electronic shutter system.

 

[Sig]

if your film photos arent sharp, there is a lens issue going on.

Dont forget that people joke about how the u2 spy plane camera system

U2 Spy Plane – The Dragon Lady

mysteriesofcanada.com

There are no lens issues I assure you.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Bullsh*t! Bullsh*t! Bullsh*t!!! Empathy for your subject is a first rule. Couple that to knowing what you want to "show". The less intrusive the camera, the better the shooter's chances are of "getting" the shot, portraying the ethos of the scene. Camera and lens are not near as important, when shooting candid portraits, as eye and imagination. It's what is between the photographer's ears and the ability to "see" the result before snapping the shutter. Way too much importance is given the equipment. A great "eye" will often surmount lack of equipment.

At least in the context of journalistic documentary I'd argue the importance of image quality drops to near zero, you're only looking to create proof of events and the images only support the writing.

Photography for immersion is where I'd take a GFX100 and make a wall sized print.

 

[huntertrw]

pappymac:

I was just re-reading this thread and your image (below) entranced me. You have a good eye, Sir!