First time out with my new Pentax

[seanpatrick]

Hey all!

So I suffered the freezing spring temperatures here in T.O. to try to get a handle on my new camera. It was completely cloud covered so most of the photos I took were pretty blah - but I managed to get a few I liked. One of them in particular didn't stand out until about until I made it black and white, and now it's my favorite of the bunch. What do you think? I was really trying to work on the depth of field thing today, but didn't have too much success.

 

[petrochemist119 144]

My favorite is the B&W shot too, congratulations on the new camera.

I was test driving my new (to me) Pentax yesterday as well. I attended a meet up for 'The photography forum' (which is easily confused with this one - both have similar icons too!)
The improved low light performance of the K-5II over the K7 was very useful, as many of my shots were deep inside naval vessels.

What exactly where you trying to achieve in your DOF experiments?

 

[JBes97]

Not bad! #2 is my favorite.

 

[seanpatrick]

My favorite is the B&W shot too, congratulations on the new camera.

I was test driving my new (to me) Pentax yesterday as well. I attended a meet up for 'The photography forum' (which is easily confused with this one - both have similar icons too!)
The improved low light performance of the K-5II over the K7 was very useful, as many of my shots were deep inside naval vessels.

What exactly where you trying to achieve in your DOF experiments?

I was looking at the K5-II used as well but couldn't find any priced decently close to me in Canada. Ended up going with the Ks-2.

I was trying to have the image nice and clear in the foreground with a blurred background on some shots. The lowest aperture setting is 4.0 with the Pentax kit lens, but I assume a lens with a lower setting would create a better effect in that respect?

Not bad! #2 is my favorite.

Thanks!... Yeah number 2 turned well - perhaps the only photo that I attempted to get a fairly decent blurred background.

 

[petrochemist119 144]

I was trying to have the image nice and clear in the foreground with a blurred background on some shots. The lowest aperture setting is 4.0 with the Pentax kit lens, but I assume a lens with a lower setting would create a better effect in that respect?

Yes a wider aperture (lower number) will give shallower DOF.
Longer focal lengths also give shallower DOF as does being close to your subject.
Increasing the distance from the subject to the background where possible helps a lot in throwing the background out of focus.

Zooms will typically be fairly restricted in their apertures, but if you can cope with manual focus, you should be able to get a 50mm/1.7 or 28mm/2.8 prime for very little. - PKA mount (A series) are easiest to use as they communicate with the body.
If you go for older PK lenses the metering can be unpredictable (Google 'Pentax stop down metering' on how to get round this) but results can still be excellent.

If you'd rather not try manual focusing the F(or FA) 50/1.7, DA 50/1.8 & DAL35/2.4 are likely to be the most affordable options for shallow DOF.

 

[seanpatrick]

Yes a wider aperture (lower number) will give shallower DOF.
Longer focal lengths also give shallower DOF as does being close to your subject.
Increasing the distance from the subject to the background where possible helps a lot in throwing the background out of focus.

Zooms will typically be fairly restricted in their apertures, but if you can cope with manual focus, you should be able to get a 50mm/1.7 or 28mm/2.8 prime for very little. - PKA mount (A series) are easiest to use as they communicate with the body.
If you go for older PK lenses the metering can be unpredictable (Google 'Pentax stop down metering' on how to get round this) but results can still be excellent.

If you'd rather not try manual focusing the F(or FA) 50/1.7, DA 50/1.8 & DAL35/2.4 are likely to be the most affordable options for shallow DOF.

Thanks for the advice! I tried getting closer today and it seemed to work better:

I'll keep an eye out for an inexpensive prime lens high max aperture, one that you've mentioned; the Pentax, is quite affordable with a f/1.8: Pentax smc DA 50mm f/1.8 Lens 22177 B&H Photo Video

That's definitely on my list of wants, as well as a telephoto (300mm ish, there's a 70-300 mm Sigma on Kijiji right now in TO) and a circular polarizing filter (I've used these before to good effect).

Thanks for the tips! I look forward to seeing you around the hood.

Best,
Sean.