5 years with the *ist DS (60 IMGs in replies, threaded view?)

... and I have looked at them all.

Seeing what you can achieve with the 'lowly DS' also makes the FF vs. APS-C threads rather uninteresting.

--
Lars

http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/larsholte

Very nice series Jens!!

It's a great idea to isolate a few pictures from every year and take them out of their context. Makes them speak for themselves. And you images are particularly suited for this. I like the way you keep looking for pictures!!

Looking forward to the next 5 years!

Wim

--
Belgium, GMT+1

... are breathtaking!

Year 3 seemed like technical perfection achieved, at the same time delivering extremely interesting compositional ideas.

Year 4 seems like tiny chrisis - what to photograph, why...

Year 5 shows confidence. You know what you want to photograph, how to photograph and most important, seems you have enjoyment of process and end result.

Nice series!

Vilnis

JensR said:

Hi all!

Click to expand...

Hi Jens

JensR said:

I thought it would be fun to "commemorate" my 5 year "DSanniversary" with a collection of my shots with the Pentax *ist DS

I got my DS in early March 2005. Before that I had owned a new Olympus 2020 for quite a while, but didn't get to terms with the used Minolta Dimage 7 that I bought after that. A switch back to Olympus, with a used 4040 didn't really enthuse me, either. In parallel, I started to collect some M42 gear and shot a bit of film. Upon some research I had isolated the DS as a potential solution to fuse digital and M42, but was hesitant of the price. But holding it in a shop then sealed the deal.

Click to expand...

You really have used the DS and used it well, save for the shuttermechanism, I really like it a lot too

And what a journey it has been judging by the iamges. some stunning examples among them and some very creative work.

My compliments on that Jens.

JensR said:

Both DSs now have just shy of 50000 shots. I bought the second DS via ebay from a forum member when it had about 10000 shots. So I took 90000 pictures in 60 months. Or, to put it differently, I take about 5 shots per forum post.

My flickr account has currently about 3500 shots with my DS. Not accounting for sensor cleaning shots, HDR and panoramas, ptychs, that's about a 4% keeper rate. That probably suggests I should select in a harsher way. But I like my flickr account to be an account not only of my best but also of me. Plus it is a great way of finding what works and what doesn't, at least within flickr. Every community seems to have a slightly different taste.

Click to expand...

I am not sure if that is too much or too little, but to keep 4 out of a hundred I would say is fairly decent. But it all depends on how you define keeper and if that percentage really menas anything.

Personally I have found that i shoot less, but with more "keepers" overall and increasing year on year.

As an example it is now perfectly Ok for me to take out of days dedicate to photography and use them on location scouting, perspectivational experimentation shoot ten frames and come home with anywhere from 1 to 5 images that made the days well spend.

JensR said:

After 60 months with the DS, I'm a bit at a crossroads. Not because I no longer like the DS. But I scratched the sensor of my visible-light DS (what a noob thing to do...).

Click to expand...

Yep

JensR said:

While I have not yet reached every limit of the APS-C format, I am lusting for more. But I might get another DS and hope for a Pentax FF for a bit longer, or get a K200D - weather sealing and SR and a working Auto ISO would be nice and extend my scope of accessible shots a fair bit, whereas the size and viewfinder would be a bit of a step back. Or I continue with the scratched sensor and hope that the K200D successor arrives soon and still has AA batteries. Or I start what I disliked for so long: a two-system approach.
I guess I'll see.

Click to expand...

I can only wish you the best of luck with your decision jens and hope that you stay around.
The K200D sounds like a really good option IMHO, even I would be tempted by it

JensR said:

Thanks to the forumers here for discussion and inspiration in the last (almost) 61 months

Click to expand...

And thank you for the inspiration, discussions and images you have shared

--
Thomas

Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool
http://main.duplophotography.com/

Thanks all very very much, I'm overwhelmed by your comments and the support of the li'l DS

Stomie

Thanks very much! Would love to see a timeline with the D. It was too expensive for a starter into dSLR land when I bought my DS, but it's always been at the back of my mind and I almost bought a used one last year...

Lars
Thank you

Admittedly, I'd like FF, but would be happy with a more basic camera than current offerings...

Dean
Thank you very much

Hagla
Thank you

Yes, I think that some of best early shots are still among my best. But I like to think that I became more able to get good shots as time went by.

Fotografos
Thank you and I'm glad to hear you, too, like your *ist

CSPronken

Thank you - the scratched sensor stops me from stopping down far, and teaches me cloning skills

As to the upgrade, well, the K7 is nice, but I don't feel like spending that money on a non-AA powered APS-C camera.

Jeff
Thanks I do have a real camera. Film and all

Gil Knutson
Thank you - and warm greeting to the Sony forum!

Russ
Thank you

I indeed tried to pick the ones I liked best every month. I think the presentation might have been better if I compiled shots that work best together, but that's what I am not so good at...

I wasn't sure when I got the DS that I'd be using it for so long. But with every new camera, I waited out the initial itch to get it and so far it subsided every time.

Yup, I am an engineer and my hard disk has a few hundred coughcough completely non-artistic shots of machinery. But they make for interesting abstracts, I think - glad you like them

Year 4 (and 5), I should probably thank Keitha for introducing me to Lightroom and flickr and the 365 project. That combination surely influenced me more than I am really aware of.

kikivrany

Thank you! Yes, it's a rather mixed collection, isn't it? Sometimes I think this is a weakness, at other times I think it's a strength, but most of the time I just shoot what I like

And thank you - Rain Runner is one of my favourite photos I made. Maybe one day that Runner sees it?!

Irek
Thanks very much for your comments here and on flickr!

Kerusker
Dankeschön and your English is very good, as far as I can tell

David (Goodneough)

Thank you - glad you also liked the commentary. I felt just a picdump would be less fun. It also was a way to travel through the shots for me.

Good questions about the issues of the cameras. I should have included that from the beginning.

The first DS had a broken door on the remote plug side. This was fixed by Pentax when they installed the IR filter. This was the camera where the Af broke - maybe as an aftershock of the conversion, maybe not.
Pentax also fixed the rubber hand grip, IIRC.

On the second DS, the previous owner had it serviced by Pentax relatively early on (no idea why).

It suffers from the loose rubber on the hand grip and the mode dial went insane. Sometimes I spin it without effect, other times, the effect is reversed and sometimes it jumps. This is annoying.

I have to say that both cameras get treated "hard but heartily" as we say. I now take special care of the IR camera, as it is rather special, but in its former life, it definitely saw a few raindrops ahem

But that's really nothing. I remember one pro guy here who used D and DS bodies and they got to the 100 thousand shutter actuations easily.
Oh, about the rubber hand grip:

I usually carry my camera in my hand, with no strap. It just now occured to me that this might be related...

Simon

Thank you very much and I am happy you like the forest shot despite its shortcomings - so do I

And it stands out as one of the shots that really taught me something in practise. I now have a much better understanding how to handle these conditions - and I often like landscapes with reduced contrast through fog and mist.

Doug (klimbkat)
Thank you very much

KSV

Thank you Yes, having only one dial on the DS and no access to metering and AF modes is a bit of a nuisance, but OTOH, it means having fewer things to break

Mike
Thank you very much, also for your inspiration on flickr

Yes, they are not the most abundant camera on the market, are they? I'll try to take care of mine!

reygon
Thank you - I can certainly see some more use with the DS

mauritsvw
Thank you for that praise, not sure I deserve it, though

And I actually wondered the same. I'm surely not the one with the longest use. And then I thought that it might be hard to find out, as often the camera is still being used. On hikes, as back-up, for the son or daughter...
As long as the camera is not being retired completely, I think this is all okay.

Phil

Thank you very much indeed, also for the help and inspiration here and in real life

I'm happy that you notice a progress. I have no idea where it is going. Some of it is technology introduced. RAW, Lightroom, IR, ND110. I sometimes wonder what influence this has, but I think it cannot be fully separated from the more artistic side.

MusicDoctorDJ

Thank you! Another DS fan, it seems To be fair, cameras like the Nikon D70 also were very excellent, buit the DS was and is a compelling package. I wasn't aware of all its benefits when I bought it, so was very happy (and lucky?) to find them out afterwards!

Pete (Sanmat)
Thank you and I'm glad you like the variety!

I think you are right why that not many DS are sold on the used market, but that is also because they did not sell all that well on the new market. I sometimes have heard the K100D and K10D being criticised for not being huge successes. Well, for those of us who saw Pentax stumbling from DS to DL to DL2, the K cameras were quite something.

To be continued...

...continued from above. 6000 character limit. Ah well.

Eric (viking79)
Thanks very much, also for your continued input on flickr!

Johnami

Thank you I do like some tech talk, too but in the end, picture time is what counts.

Awaldram
Thank you

Brent
Thank you

Chris

Thank you very much! No obituary planned, it will stay with me for a bit more! Thanks also for your help with the move!

Jonska
hehehe Thank you, I'll try my best!

Jan
Thanks, but don't sell yourself short!

Terry

Thank you very much - good to see you around! Everytime I see your Gorge pictures, I imagine living next to the Buller river

Roger
Thank you and five years sounds so long - but it'll just fly past, probably

Torch

Thank you. The XT also has its benefits, hope you like(d) it! And yes, the K-x is quite the li'l winner for Pentax!

Wim

Thank you very much for your comment. I'm happy that this works for you. I of course always connect the photo to the context. So I will always be biased and it's good to hear that the shots work on their own, too.

Vaards

Thanks very much for the detailed feedback. As I know how skilled you are, I take it rather serious. Interestingly, as I said, I would rate Year 4 as my best - you choosing 3 and 4 is -well- interesting. I'm not sure I had a crisis in year 4 - but it was the year where I travelled to many new places and thus it might be more heterogenous than the other years?

I'll have to think about it - if you have further comments, I'd love to hear them. Thanks for stopping by!

Duplo

Thank you! And thanks for showing as the beauty of cold cold cold countries

Yes, the shutter and mirror are kind of loud for such a small camera, aren't they?

I'd like to think I take more keepers every year - but that might be wishful thinking. And you are right, what is a keeper, anyway?

Thanks again, everybody, for your comments and flickr visits, much appreciated!
Jens

Congrats on your five year anniversary! Amazing how many of these shots from year one I remember. A great selection of shots overall.
--
Betsy
http://www.flickr.com/betsypdx
http://www.pbase.com/betsypdx

.

The images are simply wonderful, a few even masterful. Half way through, I was wishing I had several on my walls.

Your textual narrative is also simple, elegant, and matches + enhances the image narrative. I really enjoyed this thread, thanks for posting.

.

JensR said:

Vaards
Thanks very much for the detailed feedback. As I know how skilled you are,

Click to expand...

Really!?
Then I really managed to pretend like this

JensR said:

I take it rather serious. Interestingly, as I said, I would rate Year 4 as my best - you choosing 3 and 4 is -well- interesting. I'm not sure I had a crisis in year 4 - but it was the year where I travelled to many new places and thus it might be more heterogenous than the other years?

I'll have to think about it - if you have further comments, I'd love to hear them. Thanks for stopping by!

Click to expand...

Do not take it too serious. I will better explain year 4 with picture (sorry, I have just MS Paint at work - so, it is as it is). Quite technical explanation. From mecanical engineer to mechanical engineer.

^ funny stuff

Jens, there's a lot of great exploration in here. E.g., as with others, I think that runner image is really quite special.

I wonder: in putting together this collection, have you thought about eddies in your work that have been un- or under-explored; or conversely do you see new directions now that you see where you've been?

Anyway, nice stuff.

Hi Vaards!

Vaards said:

Vaards said:

Thanks very much for the detailed feedback. As I know how skilled you are,

Click to expand...

Really!?
Then I really managed to pretend like this

Click to expand...

Well, I think you are too modest with your shots, and would like to see more of them, but that's of course your decision

Vaards said:

Do not take it too serious. I will better explain year 4 with picture (sorry, I have just MS Paint at work - so, it is as it is). Quite technical explanation. From mecanical engineer to mechanical engineer.

Click to expand...

.#hahahahah# Awesome, thanks very much, that gave me a good laugh, much needed. I'm not sure how correct it is, but I'll be flattered anyway

Hi Betsy,

thank you Some of the early shots I posted relatively recently on flickr. My photostream is a mess of old and new shots anyway But this way I have them all together, which I really like.

Hi Moving_comfort,

Thank you very much I wasn't aiming at a particular narrative - if it is coherent, I'm happy and if you even liked it, I am even more happy!



Cheers
Jens
--

'Well, 'Zooming with your feet' is usually a stupid thing as zoom rings are designed for hands.' (Me, 2006)
'I don't own lenses. I pwn lenses.' (2009)
My Homepage: http://www.JensRoesner.de

Hi Timo!

Just saw your post now.

_timo_ said:

I wonder: in putting together this collection, have you thought about eddies in your work that have been un- or under-explored; or conversely do you see new directions now that you see where you've been?

Click to expand...

Good questions. Despite having done the 365 self portrait project, I don't think I'm as good as portraits as I could be.

On the more technical side, I'm looking in broadening my long exposure shots, which will be a bit experimental and hopefully fun.

I'm currently trying HDR, but not in the tonemapped extreme end, more along the "original" intention of the technique, if I may say so. I'm still finding it hard to visualise this before taking the shots. So I guess I'll spend a bit of time on that, too.

One thing I'd like to try are "studio-shots" of cars - I've seen some amazing examples and might want to try my hand at that in one way ot the other.

And I completely fail in non-anonymous street photography. But I'm frankly not sure whether it interestests me enough to overcome my inhibitions.

So, I guess that should keep me busy for a while
(And I might even have forgotten to mention something...)

Cheers
Jens

Thanks, great pictures indeed! You really are a photographer of rare vision and creativity.
--

Through a Pentax Limited prime things may appear sharper than they actually are...
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/jaroslavhoudek

Just thought this deserved a bump - a truly refreshing, thoughtful, original series of photos. Thx Jens.

moving_comfort said:

Just thought this deserved a bump - a truly refreshing, thoughtful, original series of photos. Thx Jens.

Click to expand...

Thank you - I was a bit perplexed to see this thread show up again
Not sure it warrants this attention, but thank you very much indeed.

As 66 months is a rather neat number, maybe an updated link would be okay:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22070130@N07/sets/72157613445329338
However, I feel I'm in a bit of a rut lately...

Cheers
Jens

--

'Well, 'Zooming with your feet' is usually a stupid thing as zoom rings are designed for hands.' (Me, 2006)
'I don't own lenses. I pwn lenses.' (2009)
My Homepage: http://www.JensRoesner.de

Over the years I think I've seen most of these shots but it is a pleasure to see them again. Nice to have someone in the group who keeps a camera for a while and knows how to use it. I bought a used *istDS last year and teamed with the FA77 it is just superb, there is something really special about that 6mp Sony sensor I reckon. Good series mate.
--
Thommo

Hi Jens. I have seen some of these but the series is not only great to view again. But it each time gives me pause and perspective.

I dont think anything i have ever posted (not much actually) really has fulfilled my vision of where I want my photography to be creatively. But over time it is work such as what you have done here that really helps inspire me to look for a goal.

It is this search to find something to say or show with photography that keeps me learning and wanting to grow my skills.

The pixels and processing are indeed amazing but that is not what stirs my thoughts here.

Thanks Jens for getting the little grey cells working harder.
For me this is why i linger here..these moments

Cheers!

Roger
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7925236@N02/

Thanks very much, Thommo!

jthommo101 said:

Over the years I think I've seen most of these shots but it is a pleasure to see them again. Nice to have someone in the group who keeps a camera for a while and knows how to use it.

Click to expand...

Thanks!

The DS with all its shortcomings (then and even more now) really ticks the right boxes in usability for me. Initially I was always a bit envious of the more advanced interface of the D (and later the K10,...) but I now like the UI with one command dial and a simple AF/MF switch.

jthommo101 said:

I bought a used *istDS last year and teamed with the FA77 it is just superb, there is something really special about that 6mp Sony sensor I reckon.

Click to expand...

That's the sensor I was thinking of in the recent CMOS/CCD thread.

I'm sure you'll enjoy the combo, I think they go well together. Even without a magnesium shell, my DSs all give a nice solid feel after all that time and don't seem to be out of place paired with a metal lens.

Cheers
Jens

--

'Well, 'Zooming with your feet' is usually a stupid thing as zoom rings are designed for hands.' (Me, 2006)
'I don't own lenses. I pwn lenses.' (2009)
My Homepage: http://www.JensRoesner.de

Thanks Roger for your words!

djezraj said:

I dont think anything i have ever posted (not much actually) really has fulfilled my vision of where I want my photography to be creatively. But over time it is work such as what you have done here that really helps inspire me to look for a goal.

Click to expand...

Thanks very much indeed - but I think you undersell yourself - being self-critical is natural and important - once you are truely satisfied not with one picture, but all your pictures, you'd stop to develop.

We had a thread about how people's post-processing changed over the years, which was quite enlightening:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=36074935

Cheers
Jens

--

'Well, 'Zooming with your feet' is usually a stupid thing as zoom rings are designed for hands.' (Me, 2006)
'I don't own lenses. I pwn lenses.' (2009)
My Homepage: http://www.JensRoesner.de

JensR said:

JensR said:

I dont think anything i have ever posted (not much actually) really has fulfilled my vision of where I want my photography to be creatively. But over time it is work such as what you have done here that really helps inspire me to look for a goal.

Click to expand...

Thanks very much indeed - but I think you undersell yourself - being self-critical is natural and important - once you are truely satisfied not with one picture, but all your pictures, you'd stop to develop.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply Jens. Perhaps you're right maybe i'm too critical. i guess I mean more to say I never stop learning and my current galleries are more representative of what I was learning at the particular time. So In a positive way I want to learn from myself and others to push me to achieve more from less.
I promise i will update my galleries at some point...

JensR said:

We had a thread about how people's post-processing changed over the years, which was quite enlightening:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=36074935

Click to expand...

I will check this out for sure thanks for the tip!

Interestingly enough my other muse is my wife who always seems to pick the photos that I do not. This has triggered my desire to see differently,to step away from my work. The challenge for me has been editing down to the best picks and dealing with those. Its never dull and the gear just fades away when i think this way.

Cheers
Roger

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7925236@N02/