Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
I was missing loads of shots the same way you were. This resulted in my wanting to get a body with better AF. The fact that Pentax didn't look like it was ever going to come out with world class AF (which it still hasn't) was one of the major factors for deciding to switch brands. I can't comment on all entry/lower lever camera AF performance, since I haven't tried them all. Also, a lot of the AF performance is dependent on the AF focus motor, so I'll bet you can get pretty zippy AF out of a Rebel/HSM lens combo. From what I do know, the AF of the N80 performance is a bit better than a ZX and much more flexible. With the F100 it's, Ah, the promise of AF fulfilled. I still own, and like, Pentax MF gear. I find the current day Pentax Co., and their AF line up, to be a combination of idiosyncratic and lame. BR From: Jerome Daryl Coombs-Reyes [EMAIL PROTECTED] ... is that indeed why you made the switch to another brand as someone else has mentioned. Though I can't figure out why you still hang around here (okay, maybe I can...) I'm guessing that this brand switch has worked out for you in that respect (?)... That is, does your opinion differ from that of Chris when he mentioned that, AF performance from entry level cameras sucks? Same general consensus? TIA, - jerome
Re: Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
Hi Wendy. Finally someone else besides myself has a problem with the Fuji 400.I would get a blue hue to all the proofs.Oh and were i take it is a Fuji lab, and he's a Fuji shooter,so i'll assume he knows the product. Dave(switched to Portra and Optima II for colour)Brooks Begin Original Message From: wendy beard [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thu, 26 Sep 2002 00:11:38 -0400 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film At 23:36 25-9-2002 -0400, you wrote: Did I read you wrong when you said 'the vile Fugi 400 stuff'? Do you mean the older versions or did you mistype Fugi and meant Kodak or something? Regards, Brad Dobo No, I meant Fuji (superia) 400. 200 is fine, 800 is fine. I just don't know what they did to the 400 to make it so gruesome. Luminous greens - yuk. Wendy --- Wendy Beard Ottawa, Canada mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] home page http://www.beard-redfern.com End Original Message Pentax User Stouffville Ontario Canada http://home.ca.inter.net/brooksdj/ http://brooks1952.tripod.com/myhorses Sign up today for your Free E-mail at: http://www.canoe.ca/CanoeMail
RE: Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
Me too! Bought 2 films. Semi-ruined 72 pictures of my son on his birthday with a greenish cast. This was a fuji frontier lab that have never done this with any other film. Never again... -Original Message- From: David Brooks [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: 26 September 2002 14:32 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film Hi Wendy. Finally someone else besides myself has a problem with the Fuji 400.I would get a blue hue to all the proofs.Oh and were i take it is a Fuji lab, and he's a Fuji shooter,so i'll assume he knows the product. Dave(switched to Portra and Optima II for colour)Brooks Begin Original Message From: wendy beard [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thu, 26 Sep 2002 00:11:38 -0400 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film At 23:36 25-9-2002 -0400, you wrote: Did I read you wrong when you said 'the vile Fugi 400 stuff'? Do you mean the older versions or did you mistype Fugi and meant Kodak or something? Regards, Brad Dobo No, I meant Fuji (superia) 400. 200 is fine, 800 is fine. I just don't know what they did to the 400 to make it so gruesome. Luminous greens - yuk. Wendy --- Wendy Beard Ottawa, Canada mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] home page http://www.beard-redfern.com End Original Message Pentax User Stouffville Ontario Canada http://home.ca.inter.net/brooksdj/ http://brooks1952.tripod.com/myhorses Sign up today for your Free E-mail at: http://www.canoe.ca/CanoeMail
RE: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
Look, I didn't start with the foul language, making jokes about the Pope or the Royals. If I've incited the kiddies to bedlam, I promise not to address members of the peanut gallery anymore. BR From: Rob Brigham [EMAIL PROTECTED] I think this has gone too far now!
Re: Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
They look great to me Jerome.Some nice angles. Dave Begin Original Message At 20:39 25-9-2002 -0400, Jerome wrote: OH! BTW, the photos from the weekend can be seen here if you're interested in such things: http://www.isye.gatech.edu/~jerome/gallery5.htm As a side note, this was also my first time using Print film since I've started photography as a serious hobby [most folks 'work their way up' to slide film, but I figured Hey, why wait?]... I was in a pinch so I used all consumer stuff... 800 speed Fuji and Kodak. I'm generally a Kodak person, but in this case [high speed consumer film] Fuji TOTALLY blew the Kodak stuff out of the water wrt grain, detail rendered, and color rendition [there was a lot of greenery, so advantage Fuji]. Pentax User Stouffville Ontario Canada http://home.ca.inter.net/brooksdj/ http://brooks1952.tripod.com/myhorses Sign up today for your Free E-mail at: http://www.canoe.ca/CanoeMail
Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
- Original Message - From: wendy beard [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2002 10:11 PM Subject: Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film No, I meant Fuji (superia) 400. 200 is fine, 800 is fine. I just don't know what they did to the 400 to make it so gruesome. Luminous greens - yuk. Hi Wendy, this is an interesting observation. I had a look at the Fuji data sheets last night, and there is enough difference (though just barely) in the spectral sensitivity to alter the way the 400 responds to green light. For you to have noticed it enough to find the difference unacceptable indicates you have a pretty discerning set of eyes. William Robb 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 .
Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
Which Nikon body do you own, or have had the long term use of? Or is this just another of Pal's I'll make up anything to defend Pentax. From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?P=E5l_Jensen?= [EMAIL PROTECTED] Nikon is no better than Pentax except being quiter.
RE: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
Not true. I have found Nikon users to be far noisier than Pentax users! ;-) [EMAIL PROTECTED] Nikon is no better than Pentax except being quiter.
Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
Bruce wrote: I still own, and like, Pentax MF gear. I find the current day Pentax Co., and their AF line up, to be a combination of idiosyncratic and lame. Don't know about the lame part but it is definitely idiosyncratic. If anything, the MZ-S isn't idiosyncratic enough to make an impact. I think it's too much of an allrounder. Boosting its outdoor capabilities and it's mobility due to low weight in expense of some of it's all round features (built in flash comes to mind) would have made the package more convincing. It is a paradox that while the MZ-S has the best action type interface ever conceived; it makes an EOS-1 look downright antique, it only offers 2.5fps rate an no ultrasonic motor AF options. Theres no doubt that you don't choose Pentax for state of the art AF. Personally, I can see myeself using several brands in the future. I mostly use MF theses days and the only thing missing from making my 645 MF outfit complete is the 300/5.6 lens and a 1,4X converter. My whole MF outfit will then weight less than an F5 with three zoom lenses. For auroras and situation where low weight is important, I'll use LX or the MZ-S with mostly Limited lenses. This combination can't be beat by anything in the marketplace for this usages. For handholdable telephoto work, mostly from my boat, I'll buy the first 400/4 IS lens that will be released on the market regardless of brand (No. The Canon 400/4 IS DO lens doesn't apply because it quality is questionable and it cost the same as a 600/4). Pål
Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
Bruce wrote: Which Nikon body do you own, or have had the long term use of? Or is this just another of Pal's I'll make up anything to defend Pentax. I've been trying out the F100 and it's no better than the MZ-S. I find Nikon more and more irrelevant these days as they are just second rate Canon clones. Canon does everything better. Also, why can't you behave and discuss thing in civilizecd manner. Theres no need of being constantly rude and abrasive. You seem both bitter and insecure. You flood us with what products Pentax will never make without giving us any source of where you get your information from. Your belief system isn't particularly interesting. Pål
Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
On Thu, 26 Sep 2002 10:10:27 -0400 Rubenstein, Bruce M (Bruce) [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Which Nikon body do you own, or have had the long term use of? Or is this just another of Pal's I'll make up anything to defend Pentax. From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?P=E5l_Jensen?= [EMAIL PROTECTED] Nikon is no better than Pentax except being quiter. Assuming this to be a seriously meant question, not an element of a starting flamewar, I will add my 2 cents... I had a Nikon F5 a long while back, when I was first looking at alternatives to the dying OM system. It's a nice camera, but I returned it, for one reason: it's bulky. It was too obtrusive and too heavy for my taste, although it had good features and a good feel. Did it have a better or faster AF than the MZ-S, that eventually became my choise? I dunno. I do not have the F5 any more nor have I done any side by side comparisons, but I assume that it is likely that it is faster. If the price for speedy AF is weight and size, then it really boils down to priorities. To me, the more compact MZ-S is more important than the power of the F5 - to others, the priorities may be different (obviously they are, since the F5 is a very popular model around here). I cannot speak for the other Nikon's, however, since I have had limited exposure to those. --thomas
Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
On Thu, 26 Sep 2002, Pål Jensen wrote: Nikon is no better than Pentax except being quiter. Except for small things like Lock-On Focus Tracking at 8fps. chris
Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
- Original Message - From: Jerome Daryl Coombs-Reyes Subject: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film OH! BTW, the photos from the weekend can be seen here if you're interested in such things: http://www.isye.gatech.edu/~jerome/gallery5.htm Flying dawgs. Thats fun stuff. William Robb 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 .
Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
Great pics!! Never seen so much fun... and action... How many rolls did you shot? Btw,i had good experience with Fuji Press 800. Grain is not visible in 10x15 cm prints. Gasha Jerome Daryl Coombs-Reyes wrote: Hello all - ... http://www.isye.gatech.edu/~jerome/gallery5.htm ...
Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
I looked at the pics -- great action, and on top of that, they seem quite focussed. What did you exactly mean by it failed just about everytime? Mishka - Original Message - From: Jerome Daryl Coombs-Reyes [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2002 7:48 PM Subject: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film Hello all - I'm going to go out on a limb here and talk about equipment that actually already exists! And I'm going to stretch even further and talk about TAKING PICTURES with these cameras (do I have the right discussion group?! Should I list this as OT?) Anyhow, I was out shooting with my ZX-10 this past weekend at a Dog Contest [2002 Skyhoundz Hyperflite Canine Disc World Championship, to be exact]. This was my first time shooting anything worthy of being called action. I had heard about it the night before and said, HEY! WHY NOT? I've only been doing the serious hobby thing for a year now and usually stick to zoo photos and, in general, animals that don't move a whole lot, so it was a great challenge. Anyhow, here's the point... (and I hate to make it now with Bruce lurking once again... as if he needs fuel for the anti-Pentax fire...)... the AF on the ZX-10 was atrociously slow. I mean, it failed just about everytime. My main camera is a ZX-5n which is in the shop (ha! more fuel...) but I suspect from the few experiences that I've had trying to track things with it that the AF on that model is, granted, better than the ZX-10 -- but not Tremendously better (?). So here's are my questions... a) is this the general concensus with these two cameras, and b) how do the other Pentax cameras rate wrt AF as I go up the ranks (i.e., move up (?) to PZ-1p and the MZ-S)... For example, Is the MZ-S AF simply better... much better... or does it blow the former two out of the water [I'd hope for the latter answer to be honest]. OH! BTW, the photos from the weekend can be seen here if you're interested in such things: http://www.isye.gatech.edu/~jerome/gallery5.htm As a side note, this was also my first time using Print film since I've started photography as a serious hobby [most folks 'work their way up' to slide film, but I figured Hey, why wait?]... I was in a pinch so I used all consumer stuff... 800 speed Fuji and Kodak. I'm generally a Kodak person, but in this case [high speed consumer film] Fuji TOTALLY blew the Kodak stuff out of the water wrt grain, detail rendered, and color rendition [there was a lot of greenery, so advantage Fuji]. Just my $.02US... overall though, whenever possible, I'll be sticking to my slide film for sure. Thanks again, jerome ___ Jerome D. Coombs-Reyes PhD Candidate, ISyE, Georgia Tech http://www.isye.gatech.edu/~jerome
Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
I looked at the pics -- great action, and on top of that, they seem quite focussed. Thank God for manual focus! What did you exactly mean by it failed just about everytime? Hmmm... good question. Well, for one, subjects were moving too fast for me to focus on them on AF mode. The thing would hunt like mad, even as I tracked the subject and stayed (pretty much) the same distance away [e.g., when the subject was moving from my left-to-right or vice versa, and not away or towards me]. As a result, I missed plenty of shots since the shutter wouldn't snap unless there was AF confirmation [does that sound about right?]... and even when it would... why would I want it to? In general though, when using my ZX-5n instead, AF in dimly lit places is all but impossible. The thing will hunt like a caveman. I'm convinced (from heresy, nonetheless) that AF in such conditions has been significantly improved with the more recent cameras, but I guess I still don't know about action, etc. I don't know a whole lot about predictive focus (then again, is there much to know?)... but have read that both of my cameras should be equiped with this feature... On Saturday, however, the only thing that I was able to predict was that the camera would not acheive AF lock by itself unless the dog was at a complete stand-still. As for the shots... I'm glad you enjoyed them. I quickly learned to anticipate the action and focus on a particular spot (or at least close to it). It helped tremendously that, as far as focus rings go, the 300mm lens I was using is hands down the most well-dampened lens that I've personally used [not a long list]. MF was so smoooth I tell ya, I finally just said WHO NEEDS AF ANYWAY?! ... but it still would've been nice. OKAY OKAY... so maybe it wasn't atrocious as I mentioned... but I sure was dissatisfied. How's that? So... back to my original question... - jerome
Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
How many rolls did you shot? 6 rolls of 24-exposure. However, not all of it was action (trophy shots, crowd shots, etc. were included). As for the action shots (maybe about 4 rolls total) the downfall of most of the shots were the backgrounds. I didn't have much to work with as each sideline was lined with people and canopy / tent set-ups. Then there were field goal uprights at each end of the field. In general, a photographers nightmare as far as smooth backgrounds go. I just got as low as possible, shot at f2.8 or f4 and hoped for the best. Btw,i had good experience with Fuji Press 800. Grain is not visible in 10x15 cm prints. The grainier shots that I posted are also partly due to some pretty significant cropping on a few of the images, so it's hard to tell from those. But overall, as I mentioend, the Fuji stuff did pretty good. jerome
Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
In a message dated 9/25/02 6:50:12 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I'm going to go out on a limb here and talk about equipment that actually already exists! And I'm going to stretch even further and talk about TAKING PICTURES with these cameras (do I have the right discussion group?! Should I list this as OT?) Good one!!!
Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
That should have read, you won't see me do that again. You won't seem to do that again - Original Message - From: Brad Dobo [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2002 11:17 PM Subject: Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
At 20:39 25-9-2002 -0400, Jerome wrote: OH! BTW, the photos from the weekend can be seen here if you're interested in such things: http://www.isye.gatech.edu/~jerome/gallery5.htm p.s. My attempt from two weekends ago, uncropped and unaltered from the scan Blacks did to CD http://members.rogers.com/wbeard11/adsc0902/roll1/images/21.jpg Black's (Fuji) 800 http://members.rogers.com/wbeard11/adsc0902/roll2/images/2.jpg Kodak Royal Gold 400 http://members.rogers.com/stagman/adsc0902/roll3/images/4.jpg http://members.rogers.com/stagman/adsc0902/roll3/images/5.jpg Kodak Supra 800 I used an MZ-S and 80-320/f4.5-5.6 I have to admit the AF of the MZ-S is a lot better than the MZ-5n. I struggled with that one a few weeks earlier. It's still hard work though. The MZ-S was passed around a lot that weekend so there were a quite a few out of focus shots and half-dogs on the rolls! Wendy Tanja ADC --- Wendy Beard Ottawa, Canada mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] home page http://www.beard-redfern.com
Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
- Original Message - From: Brad Dobo Subject: Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film Bruce, , don't make flippant remarks, no one really appreciates them. Well, not quite no one, but I hate to quibble. William Robb 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 .
Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
- Original Message - From: wendy beard Subject: Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film I've been experimenting a lot with different films for this sort of thing and the Fuji Superia 800 has been the best by far (and I believe that Black's own brand is the same film too) You would be right about that. William Robb
Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
don't speak for everyone mishka From: Brad Dobo Subject: Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film ... don't make flippant remarks, no one really appreciates them.
Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
At 23:36 25-9-2002 -0400, you wrote: Did I read you wrong when you said 'the vile Fugi 400 stuff'? Do you mean the older versions or did you mistype Fugi and meant Kodak or something? Regards, Brad Dobo No, I meant Fuji (superia) 400. 200 is fine, 800 is fine. I just don't know what they did to the 400 to make it so gruesome. Luminous greens - yuk. Wendy --- Wendy Beard Ottawa, Canada mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] home page http://www.beard-redfern.com
Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film
Mishka, you enjoy seeing or recieving insults? Try not to take the words so literally. But let's set the record straight, no one does like to be insulted. I would be worried for you if you did. If you are friends with Bruce, and thus replied to my email, you should include that. Brad Dobo - Original Message - From: Mishka [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2002 11:57 PM Subject: Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film don't speak for everyone mishka From: Brad Dobo Subject: Re: Pentax AutoFocus / Consumer Fast Film ... don't make flippant remarks, no one really appreciates them.
