---- Original Message ----- From: Gaurav Aggarwal <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: unable to take "good" pictures with my PZ-1
> I have 2 lenses: FA 28-200mm Pentax and A 50mm/f1.7 Pentax (manual > focus) that I bought used. I usually used the 28-200 lens even though > I know that such large-range zooms will never give very good > performance. However, I liked the ability to capture landscapes at > 28-35mm as well as subjects of interest at 120-150mm when travelling > as a tourist. Unless you enlarge your prints over 13x18cm, the difference between "ultra zooms" and "normal zooms" or even primes may be unnoticeable. I emphasize the word "may" because the final result depends on you. That FA 28-200 is actually the Tamron lens with SMC and it's a good "tourist" lens... > > Lately, I observed that my pictures aren't any good compared to what > fellow tourists take primarily with their P&S or sometimes with > Canon EOS Rebel (2 of my friends have this one). Neither the focus > is as great (clarity misses out), nor is the color, brightness and > contrast. Somehow, something is always missing in my pictures. Well, one thing you must find out is whether your pics are really out of focus or just aren't sharp - and it's a substantial difference. If they are out of focus, then it can be due to AF system malfunction, but it's but a one possibility. It's also IMHO hardly possible, because if the camera focused unproperly, you would easily notice it in your viewfinder. The PZ-1 has a very narrow focusing area - perhaps your focusing technique is wrong. Perhaps you focus on wrong elements. Perhaps your camera is set to a Servo AF mode, and you press the button before the focusing. And if your pics simply aren't sharp, then it's more than obvious that it's due to the camera shake. Have you tried using a tripod? Especially with the 28-200. Do you know such a rule: the slowest shutter speed, that prevents the camera shake to be recorded on a film, while handholding that camera, is 1/actual focal length? Thus if you use your 28-200, you can try to shoot at 28mm with 1/30sec, but at 200mm no less than 1/250 sec (and i's good to increase the margin by at least 1 to 2EV - the longer the focal lenght, the greater the margin; for example at 28mm - 1/60sec, but at 200mm - 1/1000). If you can't get that fast with your slow zoom then go for faster films - let the ISO400 be your standard (I truly recommend the Kodak Supra 400 - very sharp, no grain). Besides, are your lens clean? If you have problems with color, brightness and contrast, then there can be several different causes of it. If you bought used lenses, then maybe the lens coating is damaged. Maybe your film was too old. Maybe you didn't apply necessary exposure compensation, while your metering system was fooled by too bright or too dark elements of the scene (don't worry - all metering systems are fooled that way:)). Perhaps you could scan some of those bad pics and put them somewhere on the Net so we could see them and judge... > Then lately, I started using the 50mm/f1.7 manual focus thinking that > the prime might be much better. The results are hardly any good > compared to 28-200. I mostly shoot Kodak or Fuji films of speed 100 > or 200. I have changed my developer couple of times and did see some > difference but nothing major :-( See above... - use faster films so you can use faster shutter speed. Buy a tripod. Focus carefully. > > What could I be doing wrong? Is the metering mode on my PZ-1 set > incorrectly?? I do not have its manual with me. I usually leave > the camera in HyP mode, and select either Aperture (when taking > lanscapes or portraits) or Shutter (when photographing traffic or > waterfalls, river). I typically never use the spot-metering. Always look for your fault first - not the camera's. If you always use the matrix, then most probably there must be something wrong with your technique, since that matrix (8 segments) is one of the best:) Unless it's damaged, which is IMHO unlikely... > > Also, I have been able to make use of DoF and regret this. Try as > hard as I might, I can hardly figure that something is indeed going > out of focus at small apertures (i.e., wider openings). Just watch carefully - there's a big difference between f5,6 and f11. Try to watch some brighter elements since the smaller the aperture, the darker the viewfinder while in DoFP. You must notice it... HTH Greetz Artur -- Tego nie znajdziesz w zadnym sklepie! [ http://oferty.onet.pl ] - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
