Cookie

Cookie
Originally uploaded by "Mike Foster"

Not posted for ages.

Here's why getting a non-Pentax lens is perfectly acceptable.

The 30mm Sigma f/1.4 is a great lens and reasonably priced. it works so well with the K7 and focusses like lightning.

Hoverfly feeding

Hoverfly feeding
Originally uploaded by "Mike Foster"

Not blogged this for ages.
This is using the smc PENTAX-D FA 100mm F2.8 MACRO with a AF160FC ring flash.

Can also be used for weddings

Jacqueline Wedding
Originally uploaded by Mike_Foster

This was the first time I've really used this camera for a family occasion. i was just amateuring it up rather than trying to use it as a pro.

The main lens I used was the 100mm macro which works really well as a long range candid lens. Metering was all handled by the camera and this is a straight JPEG. White balance seems pretty spot on and the AF is nice and crisp.

Garden spider cutting leaf out of her web

Garden spider cutting leaf out of her web
Originally uploaded by Mike_Foster

Have now got a smc PENTAX-D FA 100mm F2.8 MACRO which ties in properly with the AF160FC ring flash. This is an early shot which is perhaps a tad soft due to diffraction (it was shot at f/32). However, it could be purely because it's an out of camera JPEG rather than a RAW file.

Either way, it's a full frame 1:1 macro and shows great potential for experimentation.

Raccoon

Raccoon
Originally uploaded by Mike_Foster

It's been a little while since I checked in because there wasn't really anything new to report.

Took a few pictures. Erm,,, took a few more pictures... still taking pictures.

However, I recently took the K-7 on a fortnight's holiday and it really comes into its own when you do that. Especially with the battery grip attached the number of pics you can take is phenomenal. I didn't even come close to running out of power at any time and the knowledge that you've got another battery sitting there ready to kick in if you do adds so much confidence that you're not going to have a camera that dies just as that shot's begging to be taken.

I went pretty nuts at a zoo, which is why my little raccoon friend is headlining this post, and even though I was using the big zoom which is massively battery hungry with its AF I had no problems.

Another thing which came in really handy was the fast frame rate if you go for rapid fire photography with fast moving critters. For all real world uses the ISO 800 was noise-free enough to be useful - there's only a bit of noise enough to vex pixel peepers.

Bee Face

Bee Face
Originally uploaded by Mike_Foster

I've been neglecting the blog of late.

This is my latest pic - it's a bee in the garden. I've still got the macro bug.

I've been using the camera at work but I can't really appropriately put pics on here because I work at a school. It was really versatile and gave some stunning results at a school event. The battery grip really came into its own if I wanted portrait aspect. The green button worked well for me as i was using a KM mount f/1.7 lens. One day I'll be able to justify getting a fast AF prime but money is tight at the moment.

Colour range

Opening flower
Originally uploaded by Mike_Foster

This pic in particular shows the subtle palette of the K-7. There are so many different rich hues in the emergent petals. Also the detail is incredible. !00% viewfinder again comes into its own.