Sentosa - a short trip - Soul Searching after Photokina 2012 -Pentax, APS-C and me

[pinholecam]

I guess its no secret that many Pentaxians have had some wind taken off their sails post Photokina 2012 (at least imo).
No new higher MP sensor; and most significantly no 135 format FF when the competition has launched new FF cameras.
What did we get?
A K5II and more significantly K5IIs.
I guess the question running through many's minds would be "Is this enough?"

I'm reminded of old days in school......
Like the first day of the new school year and the rich kid has brought his shinny new Star Wars Return of the Jedi - Luke Skywalker in cool black and green lightsaber, top it off with a few scout troopers and a AA-walker..... cool....
The envy of the class.
Me... well still stuck with a bag of bottle caps I managed to pick up from the local coffee shop bin...
er.... who wants to play bottle caps?? ... :embrass:

So with this in mind, I went off for a short trip to Singapore's 'favourite' vacation location .... SENTOSA.
We had some leave to clear before the year end and it would not take too much effort to go for a non driving person.
More importantly the kids loved the place too....

This thing still lingered on my mind...
Should I go FF? Should I just get a "Return of the Jedi - Emperor Palpatine", ATAT and Imperial Destroyer to one up the rich kid... Er.. I mean FF or MFD camera... he..he..


Here are some photos and thoughts during/after some self reflection from Sentosa..........

#1

Pentax/FF/new cameras - between the rock and a far off place...


Note : As usual, this is not a 'solo singing session'.
Please... pls..... add in your shots and thoughts as well...
Appreciate it.

 

[pinholecam]

Day#1

What do I take as a photographer?

I guess its good to start off looking at what I take as a hobbyist photographer.

Family photos.

Family is key. Not much point pay and shooting someone I don't know

#2

#3

Waiting for the long train..

#4

The little flower thief.


Being mostly on foot, having to move around with family and needing to be cameraman as well as 'diaper pack mule' meant that I had to go light.
But I did not want to sacrifice good quality photos too.
The FA31ltd was the main workhorse for the trip.
It stayed on the camera the most.
The other lenses being DA15ltd; FA77ltd and DA18-55WR.

Small, light, fast and effective.
Till date, Pentax still offers one of the best small lenses and DSLR for the enthusiast.
Fast PDAF and DSLR handling.
Proper optically corrected optics (not some center sharp only; CA/distortion 'massaged' in firmware lens offerings that are starting to be the norm on many MILCs)
A sad fact is also that many ppl do not realize that Pentax cameras and lenses are smaller than their Canikony counterparts.

 

[pinholecam]

Typical of a trip, we take a few food shots.

#5

Food Street (RWS)

#6

Malaysian style Hokkien Mee

#7

Claypot rice


These are to me at least, quite typical things I'd take on a trip.
Be it the restaurant Le Procope in Paris, and the food a bowl of bouillabaisse and some bread, or some Ayam Penyet in a road side stall in Yogyakarta.
Take photos of the place, the people and the food.
I don't think the sensor mattered.

Oh..yeah...on the food.
Food is pretty nice in the RWS Hawker Street.
A bit expensive, but almost like Food Republic prices.
Approx. $6 for the Hokkien Mee and $9 for the claypot rice.

 

[Tiredofallthese]

Share some humble fotos. While waiting for sunrise and most important thing is waiting and meeting breakfast with my dear love...
what a beautiful day to start off...

Taken by Pentax K5, DA16-50 and Sigma 8-16...

 

[pinholecam]

Share some humble fotos. While waiting for sunrise and most important thing is waiting and meeting breakfast with my dear love...
what a beautiful day to start off...

Thanks for adding.
Do post more shots and thoughts...

 

[pinholecam]

Some more things that are done in a trip.

#8

Bokeh of flowers - RWS Tanjong Stn -Sand Castle area

Very typical thing we do.
Admire the flowers (or any object) and then get a close up shot of it.

#9

Had too many glasses, cannot see the women clearly.. (a dangerous thing at the pub.. )

Take the shots of the nitty gritty small things we see on a trip.


#10

Take shots of the environs we pass through, be it day or night.
High ISO performance helps, since sometimes its just a passing snap shot withuout time to setup a tripod as such.
#9 reflects exactly that sort of situation, handheld FA31ltd at a largish aperture.

Frankly, I don't see a problem here with K5.
Shallow DOF for stuffs, low light adhoc shots.
Nice chroma noiseless shots that not all cameras can claim they have.
Current APS-C have come a long way to do well enough in most real world usage short of 'catching monkey' in the unlit car park at night

 

[Nanoo]

Hi Pinholecam. Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos of Sentosa, food and your lovely boy.
Just to share my opinion on APS-C and me. I believe in many of our daily shot where certain moments were captured, APS-C sensor already gives very satisfying results, well, at least to me.
The K5's 16mp sensor I find is just perfect for my family, food and occasional scenery shoot.
I wouldn't or couldn't imagine if I have a FF, what kind of changes/improvement would surface but at least I know I am contented now and isn't this just what many of us need?
A balance of sort.

Cheers. :cheers::cheers::cheers:

 

[felixcat8888]

I too am contented with APS-C at the moment as I mainly shoot family, food, macro, a bit of landscape, school events and Pentax outings. What will I do with FF? Am not to sure but I am still trying to learn the full features of the K5 for now. Although I have lenses for portraits, I hardly ever do so as it costs much $$$ to do so. ;p


:cheers::cheers:

 

[Yamakasi]

pentax with its small limited primes is what makes me stay with it for almost 3 years..althou i need to admit that i was 'shallow' initially because i bought into pentax originally because of the red k-x (my fav color is red)..but after awhile..i am glad i bought pentax because its iso performance and small primes make photography so much easier..i dunno know how to use flash well so usually i prefer to shoot in ambience lights with higher iso settings..with k-x..i am not afraid to go up to iso 3200 or on k01..up to iso 6400..after all..almost all my pics are shown on web only..even then..i have made 4R prints of iso6400 on k01 and they look perfectly ok..

for today walk about in Changi Airport..i brought along FA 77 and 50-135..in the end i used only 77..altho 50-135 is not big lens (compared to other competitors lenses)..77 is so small for its focal length..with it on k-x..i am able to shoot candids inside the airport without attracting too much attention..

the airport series can be found here http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/stre...ctually-all-around-series-changi-airport.html

some pics from the series

 

[Supersimon27]

Hmmmm ... let me have some contribution .....

I do admit cheap FF like 6D or D600 price and IQ is temping .... I do admit those mirror-less like Xe1 and Nex 6 is small and easy to carry around ....
But at the end of the day .... I still feel I shoot fastest with my Pentax K5

Auto 5 shots 1 button bracketing (with +/- 2ev) , 9 image muti exposure , Live view WB check ..... just make my life easier.

I understand FF got 12mm .... but man ... I got my 8-16mm with me. Some may argue the FOV is same but perspective is different ..... But to me .... I just Love it to the max

Photo taken few hr ago at esplanade while I take some time off while my wife go shopping ...

Esplanade Blue hr by Simon Teo (supersimon27), on Flickr​

 

[fengwei]

Thanks JK and others for sharing these beautiful photos and feelings about your Pentax gear. Some of us (me included) are lost in chasing for the latest and 'best' gear) I guess. Hope we all can find the 'soul' of photography and enjoy using what we have. The most important thing is to have fun

 

[pinholecam]

pentax with its small limited primes is what makes me stay with it for almost 3 years..althou i need to admit that i was 'shallow' initially because i bought into pentax originally because of the red k-x (my fav color is red)..but after awhile..i am glad i bought pentax because its iso performance and small primes make photography so much easier..i dunno know how to use flash well so usually i prefer to shoot in ambience lights with higher iso settings..with k-x..i am not afraid to go up to iso 3200 or on k01..up to iso 6400..after all..almost all my pics are shown on web only..even then..i have made 4R prints of iso6400 on k01 and they look perfectly ok..

for today walk about in Changi Airport..i brought along FA 77 and 50-135..in the end i used only 77..altho 50-135 is not big lens (compared to other competitors lenses)..77 is so small for its focal length..with it on k-x..i am able to shoot candids inside the airport without attracting too much attention..

the airport series can be found here http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/stre...ctually-all-around-series-changi-airport.html

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and pictures.
Yes, 77ltd is a unique lens indeed. There are others (esp. 85mm lenses) that may be as good in IQ, but no same short tele 'portrait' FL lens can match it for the complete package of build, IQ and especially size.
Nice venue to look for subjects for your themed thread.

Hmmmm ... let me have some contribution .....

I do admit cheap FF like 6D or D600 price and IQ is temping .... I do admit those mirror-less like Xe1 and Nex 6 is small and easy to carry around ....
But at the end of the day .... I still feel I shoot fastest with my Pentax K5

Auto 5 shots 1 button bracketing (with +/- 2ev) , 9 image muti exposure , Live view WB check ..... just make my life easier.

I understand FF got 12mm .... but man ... I got my 8-16mm with me. Some may argue the FOV is same but perspective is different ..... But to me .... I just Love it to the max

Photo taken few hr ago at esplanade while I take some time off while my wife go shopping ...

Gorgeous shot Simon!

Yes, I always find it funny that ppl make arguments against the Pentax and K5, saying that MILC is smaller, FF is better, etc.
In the end, they have pieced together a few cameras just to match/better a K5 (and in argument only).
The cameras brought up one by one, may be smaller, but they don't handle faster, or have slower AF, or smaller sensor.
Some may be FF, but they are also a chunk of brick as a system and more expensive.
The K5 is to me a fine balance.
Build quality of a high end DSLR with features to match; exceptional IQ that is always good enough and a fine balance in size that only Pentax can claim for DSLRs.

 

[Tiredofallthese]

Thanks JK and others for sharing these beautiful photos and feelings about your Pentax gear. Some of us (me included) are lost in chasing for the latest and 'best' gear) I guess. Hope we all can find the 'soul' of photography and enjoy using what we have. The most important thing is to have fun

Well said...dont worry be happy...pentaxian cheers

 

[le petit prince]

Marvellous examples above. And our showcase picture thread also shows what can be done with Pentax DSLRs and lenses.

But what really, truly does it for me is the lenses, specifically, the Limiteds. They make travel so much 'lighter' and carefree(r), without that much of a compromise in image quality. How many of us are pros or print big anyway, and die-die must get the absolute best and largest sensor? At least that's what I say to myself.

I'll be less inclined, for example, to bring along heavy, bulky cameras and lenses up an ulu mountain.

 

[Tiredofallthese]

True true....da15ltd da35ltd fa77ltd....yahoooo happily go travel...cheers

 

[philip113]

This is extremely knowlegeable thread coming from sincere hobbyist. After reading this it comes to my mind that my jouney started here begins after browsing thru canon, nikon, sony . I saw Pentaxian's outings and sharing of photo for discussion different from the rest as the group were into photo taking(my skills from level 0 now is 1. I chose pentax despite friends and family objections lol didn't know buying camera was that difficult .
Of course I was lost on the way as reading into photokina about new product replacing K5 with K5ii with taking away AA filters. The future not good as I consider that Pentax has no major development in the making. The current Ricoh team had improve firmware upgrade for Pentax as well and look like Ricoh is their priority.
I believe APSC camera will be able to compete with FF because it just got the correct size and weight.
What I am looking into Pentax is a K5 quality with 24 megapixels sensor .

 

[Supersimon27]

Thanks JK and others for sharing these beautiful photos and feelings about your Pentax gear. Some of us (me included) are lost in chasing for the latest and 'best' gear) I guess. Hope we all can find the 'soul' of photography and enjoy using what we have. The most important thing is to have fun

I know it's a bit mushy to say this but I still got to say....

"老大你不能倒，你一倒我们就完蛋了。＂ We still need you to lead us .

 

[pchmj]

Sometimes I wonder what is the need for higher MP. To me 16MP is more than enough, I'm just taking photos as a hobby and for memories, seldom print and if print, at most 8R. 16MP has smaller RAW file size and I always resize my JPEGs. The only advantage I can think of is the better ability to crop.

 

[pinholecam]

Thanks JK and others for sharing these beautiful photos and feelings about your Pentax gear. Some of us (me included) are lost in chasing for the latest and 'best' gear) I guess. Hope we all can find the 'soul' of photography and enjoy using what we have. The most important thing is to have fun

FW, thanks.
I can't speak for everyone.
Its really just my opinion and thoughts and everyone will weight their priorities differently.
Those with the luxury and budget to drive around locally and on tours, may not mind the weight/size of FF Canikony systems as compared to poor me who goes everywhere on foot.

Just pooling my thoughts on using the K5, APS-C and staying with Pentax in general, post Photokina 2012.
The 'soul', the 'fun', the captured memories is as relevant on APS-C as with any other format.

 

[pinholecam]

Day2

Landscapes

For me, part of photography is about taking photos of the beautiful places we go to.
Of course, with children in tow, its always hard to do landscapes due to the inconvenience of rough travel, encumbrance and timings.
I struggled out at about 5.50am on day2 to take what I can of landscapes.
No luxury of recee or choice of nice weather (dreadful cloudy grey in fact for that day).


But landscapes...
Hmm...
14.3 stops of Dynamic Range, ISO80; very malleable RAW file, makes the K5 a sweet camera to use.
Top that off with DA15ltd.
A gem of a lens.
No one has such a well performing AF UWA at this sort of size.
I just took this lens and a tripod.
Wow! The low encumbrance was liberating.

#11

Pond at Impiah Lookout


#12

Leading to the Lion -Imbiah lookout


#13

It did not say "Tiger"


FOV equivalent is the often 'touted' term regarding the justification for FF wide angles.
I just find that the photographer uses what he has and looks past this 'equivalence'.
On APS-C, a lens is wide in its own way.
Like what Simon has found with his 8-16mm.
Perhaps its not as rectilinear or distortion correct as the equivalent on FF, but looking at wide photos taken by people and myself, I tend to think that its the photographer that has the choice to embrace whatever the lens has to offer and make it happen.
Those who struggle with the 'rightness and correctness' of the lens technicals end up unhappy as they reject whatever else is possible with alternatives (ie. APS-C and lenses)