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K5 and high ISO in the real world (our kitchen)

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Jono Slack

Jono Slack

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HI There
Well, for now I have:

16-50 DA* f2.8
35 f2.8 macro
Zeiss 50 f1.4

We had some friends and family around for dinner last night - I just snapped away with the 16-50 and the 50 zeiss. Aperture mode - auto ISO (top limit 6400), auto WB.

The following show cropping, and slight exposure corrections.
No noise reduction (either in camera or in Aperture).

Zeiss 50 f4, 6400 ISO:



Zeiss 50 f1.4, 400 ISO:



Zeiss 50 f1.4, 2500 ISO:



Zeiss 50 f3.2, 4000 ISO:



DA 16-50 39mm f3.5 1250 ISO:



DA 16-50 39mm f3.2 2500 ISO:
http://www.slack.co.uk/oddsandends/_K510938.jp

Oh and there's Caspar's pigs
DA 16-50 f3.5 50mm 6400 ISO

Pentax 35 f2.8 macro limited f2.8 400 ISO:



Zeiss 50 f5 4000 ISO:



Pentax 35 f2.8 macro limited f2.8 400 ISO:



Pentax 35 f2.8 macro limited f2.8 1000 ISO:



Apart from the last three which were taken at lunch with a mixture of late afternoon grey light and restaurant lighting, they were all taken with the nasty mixed light in our kitchen.

I think the point here is that one can simply relax about iso up to 6400 as long as the exposure is reasonably good. I've not found this to be the case with any previous cameras - especially if one wants to use colour.

All the best
--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk
 
Thank you so much for posting these.

It is amazing how we are already taking for granted high ISO capabilities. Even a short time ago, such clean pictures out of the camera would have been thought impossible.

Two things:

1. These pictures totally support the reason why I am going K5, having sold my Nikon D300 gear. The real-world high ISO peformance is much, much better than D300. I could go D7000, but I also prefer the smaller size of the K5 and the weatherproofed build.

2. How do you find manual focusing on the K5 with the Zeiss?

3. Your pictures have made me hungry. I need some lunch..

Thanks

TS
 
I love these,real life moments,the essence and magic of photography.What i love about the K5 is the rendering of colors,yellows and greens are life like and more natural.The plus i find with the K5 is its ability to faithfully maintain colors even at max ISO.I find the camera exposes very well,gone is the hit and miss exposures.
Thanks for the kitchen moments.
 
Rosember said:
Wish ISO 1600 was always that clean on my K20D. Very nice demo, Jono. Thanks for sharing. Did you use auto white balance?
Click to expand...
HI Jan

yes - these were done with AWB - generally speaking I use 'Daylight' in daylight, and auto indoors. The K5 has done really well with these - the lighting varies and is difficult, and both my Sony A900 and the Leica M9 tend to screw up the skin tones.

--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk
 
topstuff said:
Thank you so much for posting these.

It is amazing how we are already taking for granted high ISO capabilities. Even a short time ago, such clean pictures out of the camera would have been thought impossible.
Click to expand...
I quite agree - I'm not sure how much further one really needs to go though.
topstuff said:
Two things:

1. These pictures totally support the reason why I am going K5, having sold my Nikon D300 gear. The real-world high ISO peformance is much, much better than D300. I could go D7000, but I also prefer the smaller size of the K5 and the weatherproofed build.
Click to expand...
Well, that's why I'm here - small size, weathersealed, nice ergonomics, no disadvantages (oh, maybe the AA filter could be a little weaker!)
topstuff said:
2. How do you find manual focusing on the K5 with the Zeiss?
Click to expand...
Okay - I do a lot of manual focusing anyway, I didn't find it an issue, although of course it's always tough at f1.4

To be honest, I bought this lens as a special deal from PopFlash, and it's as lovely as I remember it, but if it wasn't for a little nostalgia and the fact that I'm okay with manual focus, I'd have been tempted by the 55 1.4 instead.
topstuff said:
3. Your pictures have made me hungry. I need some lunch..
Click to expand...
Sorry - Butternut squash risotto . . .and Hake (if you're interested :)

all the best
--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk
 
HI Frederick
Frederick J Stewart said:
I love these,real life moments,the essence and magic of photography.What i love about the K5 is the rendering of colors,yellows and greens are life like and more natural.The plus i find with the K5 is its ability to faithfully maintain colors even at max ISO.I find the camera exposes very well,gone is the hit and miss exposures.
Click to expand...
Yes indeed - the point of posting these really was that I did no proper post processing on them - until recently I'd have expected to have to convert even 1600 ISO to black and white as a result of dodgy skin tones - this is a simple revelation (and very easy to take for granted).
Frederick J Stewart said:
Thanks for the kitchen moments.
Click to expand...
Thanks for looking

all the best

--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk
 
This has been extremely helpful for me...the exact situation I was hoping someone would post. That iso6400 sample is astounding, were you getting that kind of consistant clean images at iso 6400 throughout the evening or is that a fluke one ?
--

http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/home#section=ARTIST&subSection=2323984&subSubSection=0&language=EN]MY PPG[ url]
K10D, K-7

Pentax: DA15/4, DA21/3.2, FA31/1.8, FA43/1.9, FA77/1.8, F135/2.8, FA*28-70/2.8, FA*80-200/2.8
Sigma Zooms: Sigma 100-300 F4

'Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming... 'Wow! What a ride!'

 
Very nice, but are these pictures really Jpeg out of the camera or RAW ? what's your general opinion of the K5 ? thanks.
 
This makes me feel so good!

Christmas is coming, lots of indoor (well it's pitch black anyway outside) photography and I'm going to get mine tomorrow! The shop promised to load the battery, so I can start playing immediately!

Those skin tones are excellent, and in every way they are nice captures.

Thank you!

--
K20 / K10D/*istD/MZ5n/Z70/SF7/MESuper/MX/Spotmatic F
Pentax since Spotmatic F
 
pcarfan said:
This has been extremely helpful for me...the exact situation I was hoping someone would post. That iso6400 sample is astounding, were you getting that kind of consistant clean images at iso 6400 throughout the evening or is that a fluke one ?
--
Click to expand...
HI There
Well, the 6400 ISO shots were consistent - with perfectly respectable colour.

It is important to get the exposure, and it's also important to get the focus right . . . and no movement blur - but that pretty much goes without saying.

Incidentally, this one was incorrectly labelled (silly me) and is also at 6400:
Perhaps it's even more impressive as here the light was really poor and drab.

Oh and there's Caspar's pigs
DA 16-50 f3.5 50mm 6400 ISO



--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk
 
H Alessandro
Alessandro63 said:
Hi, thanks for the images!

What about your new 16-50? Better than the first you tried, and how do tou judge it?
Click to expand...
Well, it seems like a completely different lens - I'm really enjoying it. I did some boring brick wall tests to make sure it wasn't decentred - the conclusion I came with respect to the edges was that at 16-20mm you really need to stop down to f4 and better still f5.6 if you want sharp corners - I remember the other one just didn't seem very good at 50mm, whereas this one really seems to do a good job.

I think there's lots of sample variation in all lenses (even Leica lenses).

Of course, the excellent high ISO of the K5 compared to the K7 means that it's much easier to stop it down a bit and still get a good shot.

tentatively and conditionally I'm overjoyed . . . . . as a result of which naughty thoughts of the 60-250 keep popping into my head!

all the best

--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk
 
Jono, thank you for the reply. The K-5 seems to be more than capable of delivering very nice available light shots (especially faces which is what I was wondering as to me the faces show the deleterious effects of noise more than other things - and here they look great, especially the first shot taken at iso 6400, f4, 1/50th which is the typical indoor light I encounter). Very informative for me as I comtemplate the purchase. Thank you!
--

http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/home#section=ARTIST&subSection=2323984&subSubSection=0&language=EN]MY PPG[ url]
K10D, K-7

Pentax: DA15/4, DA21/3.2, FA31/1.8, FA43/1.9, FA77/1.8, F135/2.8, FA*28-70/2.8, FA*80-200/2.8
Sigma Zooms: Sigma 100-300 F4

'Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming... 'Wow! What a ride!'

 
phototherapy said:
Very nice, but are these pictures really Jpeg out of the camera or RAW ? what's your general opinion of the K5 ? thanks.
Click to expand...
HI There

No - they were all shot as DNG and processed in Aperture - but only minimally processed.

My general opinion of the K5 is that it's a camera I've been waiting for someone to make ever since the Olympus E1 came out in 2003 (for £2300).

It isn't going to replace either of my other cameras, but it's looking increasingly like my perfect everyday camera.

The image quality seems excellent (perhaps I'd have liked a lighter AA filter, but it's okay).

it's small and really nicely made
weather sealed
it has a very quiet shutter
it has a fine viewfinder
it has almost unbelievably good high ISO for an APS - C camera
there are some nice small primes and some sensible sealed zooms available

I don't shoot sport, so I can't comment on the AF speed in more than general terms (generally it seems fine:) ).

The K7 was all these things, except that, for me at least, the IQ wasn't quite there, and it represented a bit too much of a sacrifice from my other kit.

But the K5 - what's not to like?

all the best
--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk
 
Hi Voikkari
Voikkari said:
This makes me feel so good!

Christmas is coming, lots of indoor (well it's pitch black anyway outside) photography and I'm going to get mine tomorrow! The shop promised to load the battery, so I can start playing immediately!
Click to expand...
I hope you enjoy it as much as I have
Voikkari said:
Those skin tones are excellent, and in every way they are nice captures.

Thank you!
Click to expand...
It was a pleasure.

Incidentally - after a trip to see some Finnish friends a year or two back we have now discovered the cure for those pitch black nights - I was sitting in the garden in the fog last night outside the Sauna - just a log cabin / wood burner / no electricity type - for me it's peace and the cure for hectic days and dismal weather!

all the best

--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk
 
HI Irek

Indeed - it's a combination between better ISO, better colour and less chroma noise that seems to be doing the job.

all the best
Irek J said:
Very good, you can see the improved DR in the higher ISO shots...impressive.
Click to expand...
--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk
 
pcarfan said:
Jono, thank you for the reply. The K-5 seems to be more than capable of delivering very nice available light shots (especially faces which is what I was wondering as to me the faces show the deleterious effects of noise more than other things - and here they look great, especially the first shot taken at iso 6400, f4, 1/50th which is the typical indoor light I encounter). Very informative for me as I comtemplate the purchase. Thank you!
Click to expand...
Pleased to be of service - really that was the point of posting them (I hope I can do better in future!).

it seems to me that as a 'one camera' system it's a real winner - I wouldn't hesitate to do wedding stuff with it either.

all the best

--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk
 
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