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Do you remember Benjamin Kanarek..?
- Thread starter xmeda
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DAVID MANZE
Veteran Member
OUCH!
Watched it last night! No comments here?
Watched it last night! No comments here?
Triplet Perar
Leading Member
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Comments?
I browsed Benjamin's work and it seems he was using .. screwdrive DA lenses?. That setup cannot be used in a professional setup for catwalks and fast-paced fashion work in artificial light. There will be some hits but too many misses and hisses from the lenses and overall, it is an utter waste of time.
Pentax camera can be used in such a setup for outdoor photography only, for shooting landscapes at f8 and beyond, because for everything else, especially fast paced photography, results are unpredictable.
However, though, one may ask, how some fashion photographers use manual focusing cameras and lenses then? A full frame rangefinder delivers a different focusing experience, and manual focus can be trusted more than an unpredictable autofocus with a lens technology totally unsuitable for such work. Manual focusing won't produce as many photographs, though, but they will be fine.
Undeveloped AF system with inadequate lens tech for the purpose spells disaster.
Therefore, choosing Nikon was a logical step. He stated he used such Pentax setup for several years? I wonder why it took him so long? As a professional he should have reacted earlier, so that part of his story I find idiosyncratic and odd. He'd better switched earlier, spared himself, and Pentax too.
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sfa1966
Senior Member
I am as surprised as you, but for very different reasons. I wonder if he was playing to the interviewer's audience somewhat here. He sang Pentax's praises, to the heavens, in dozens and dozens of posts on this board across 2-3 years. Even when he eventually switched to Nikon, he gave the impression that it was a real wrench for him, and that he would keep a K-01 for some of his video work.
Here is a pretty typical thread of his from back in his Pentax days, FWIW:
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/38913661
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Cheers,
sfa
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Holger Bargen
Veteran Member
Alex Sarbu
Forum Pro
I vaguely remember some sort of a scandal, in which a publication complained about Mr. Kanarek being positive about Pentax.
Wait, it was Popular Photogaphy:
"It was Pop Photo that sent their complaint to Ned that marked the beginning of my demise of my sponsorship with Pentax..Yes it was the almighty Jack Howard. I think that was his name. The editor."
Read more at: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums...1114-popphoto-skeptical-k7.html#ixzz4l01nPKaL
Alex
Holger Bargen
Veteran Member
Dear Alex, thank you for the link. I found some words from Ben Kanarek within:
I was promoting Pentax camera's on their blog. They said what I was doing was "Advertising" and if Pentax wanted to pay for advertising they could. They accused me of working for Pentax, which I never have. They also accused me of breaking an NDA with Pentax, which I did not. They banned me from their forums and basically said to Pentax, "either it is Ben who goes or we may not be as generous in our editorializing the Pentax DSLR's in the future..." Pentax needed the support of Pop more than they did me and the rest is history.
Ben K. was free in his decision to stay with Pentax - he did not receive money for working with Pentax cameras and praising their quality - like (I think so) all of us on this forum.
For this newspaper it seemed to be impossible to think that you can praise some good gear without receiving money for it. It's ridiculous - but it seems to be some kind of widespread attitude. I know that Canon and Nikon have their paid fans - always receiving latest gear in best adjusted quality. Pentax never went this way. Maybe because Pentaxians are solid regarding ethical standards and you would affront them for trying to give them money for giving certain statements.
We are sometimes discussing here films or statements from bloggers - and sometimes I can feel in my toes how much money they received for their statement.
Is it wise to neglect this way of marketing by Pentax? Don't know. If there is some blessing on staying on a good an trusty way it has to come from God himself.
And sometimes I see this blessing in the way of Pentax. Maybe it is a step to far ahead to see in the pure existence of this little brand some kind of a prove for he existence of a God loving the true and weak and defending it against the big and ugly behaving rest of the world - but sometimes I do so.
Best regards
Holger
Benjamin Kanarek
Veteran Member
From a Pentax K1 user commenting on my interview with Ken Wheeler in Part 1 of our interview:
David Carman
I can attest that the AF accuracy has improved significantly with the K-1, I don't experience anything near the out of focus problems you did (this was around 2012?). I have the DFA* 70-200, and my results are much better than what you experienced (I just did a photo shoot, and had at least 95% accuracy). They are also making improvements in speed with their new PLM motor, which is their the fastest AF to date.
My Response:
That is nice to hear...again as I also stated in my interview, 33 AF points and where they are clustered doesn't even get close to the eye placement of the AF point that is needed without having to focus on the eye and then re-frame the image. I often shoot off axis and once I have reframed the image the focus will be out, especially as I shoot a lot of my stuff wide open. But, I won't expend any more of my energy in having to explain how I need to work to make things happen nor regarding my knowledge of Pentax in the past and where they are today. I kind of have a bit of a handle on the basic tech difficiencies of the tool i.e. the K1. I lost toooooooooo much of my precious life force with that brand. When their AF cluster can at least cover the upper or lower 1/3rd quadrant and the AF can "REALLY" nail the focus with confidence and off axis as well, I might consider the brand viable...not for me but viable nonetheless!
Thank you!
https://www.pentaxforums.com/articles/gear-guides/pentax-k-1-viewfinder-overview.html
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http://www.benjaminkanarek.com
http://www.benjaminkanarekblog.com
InstaGram: https://www.instagram.com/benjaminkanarek/
David Carman
I can attest that the AF accuracy has improved significantly with the K-1, I don't experience anything near the out of focus problems you did (this was around 2012?). I have the DFA* 70-200, and my results are much better than what you experienced (I just did a photo shoot, and had at least 95% accuracy). They are also making improvements in speed with their new PLM motor, which is their the fastest AF to date.
My Response:
That is nice to hear...again as I also stated in my interview, 33 AF points and where they are clustered doesn't even get close to the eye placement of the AF point that is needed without having to focus on the eye and then re-frame the image. I often shoot off axis and once I have reframed the image the focus will be out, especially as I shoot a lot of my stuff wide open. But, I won't expend any more of my energy in having to explain how I need to work to make things happen nor regarding my knowledge of Pentax in the past and where they are today. I kind of have a bit of a handle on the basic tech difficiencies of the tool i.e. the K1. I lost toooooooooo much of my precious life force with that brand. When their AF cluster can at least cover the upper or lower 1/3rd quadrant and the AF can "REALLY" nail the focus with confidence and off axis as well, I might consider the brand viable...not for me but viable nonetheless!
Thank you!
https://www.pentaxforums.com/articles/gear-guides/pentax-k-1-viewfinder-overview.html
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http://www.benjaminkanarek.com
http://www.benjaminkanarekblog.com
InstaGram: https://www.instagram.com/benjaminkanarek/
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Benjamin Kanarek
Veteran Member
I have NEVER shot catwalks. That is totally alien to me. I generally shoot in Studio under ideal lighting conditions or on the street using very fast lenses. So please before making sweeping generalisations of how you think I shoot or shot, do your research or at least look at my website to get an idea of the gendre of my style! Afterwards you can try to explain to me what I was doing wrong. That would be a revelation and quite illuminating...
I don't shoot fast and rarely over 3 fps.
I use at least three screw mount AF Nikon lenses and they nail the AF at least 98% of the time and when it isn't it is my fault.
http://www.benjaminkanarek.com
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http://www.benjaminkanarek.com
http://www.benjaminkanarekblog.com
InstaGram: https://www.instagram.com/benjaminkanarek/
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Alex Sarbu
Forum Pro
You have a point (pun not quite intended) ;-)
However, we should not forget the K-1 - Pentax' first FF DSLR to be actually launched on the market - was built to a price. Its AF coverage isn't actually lower than that of DSLR cameras launched for similar prices, i.e. the D610 and 6D, I'd say comparable to the D750.
Alex
Holger Bargen
Veteran Member
Dear Benjamin,
Thank you for your response. I like your work and when I hear about new photos published by you I immediatelly have a look at them. I am not a professional and even as enthusiast hobby photographer I never shoot fashion and very seldom portrait. To me photography is about beauty, aesthetics and celebrating life - and a photographer is a person opening our mind towards these aspects of our world. And there are masters of this business and art - and you are one of the best amongst them!
The relation of Pentaxians to their special brand maybe regarded as strange. But when you were shooting with Pentax cameras your work had something like an "extra-joy" aspect to me. Therefore, I am almost shocked that you "lost toooooooooo mouch of your precious life force with this brand". Maybe you gave this life force to people you don't know and who haven't paid you anything for this suffering but love.
I am glad you found your optimal gear. The Nikon 800E was the first camera using the great sensor we have in our K1. It was an outstanding camera and it still is.
There were some problems with this camera regarding AF:
The problems were especially about those sensor fields that you are missing at K1. But the problem seems to be solved if you reach a very high keeper rate.
Autofocus was not an important technique for me. I work in the field. I either do landscape where I have enough time to set the focus - and sometimes arrage the DOF so that all I want to have covered by sharpness is within the DOF. I also do macro work. For my macro work wind is a problem and no AF system of the world will follow the focus of a bee on a flower that is swinging with it in the wind. Getting the correct focus in this situation is about pressing the release button in exactly the correct moment.
First time AF became interesting for me was when I got a camera having these 9 point AF clusters (K-S1). Before, all cameras falied to guess to point where I wanted to have the focus - and so I had to measure focus with centre field AF and next select the frame - or work with MF right from the beginning.
I know about the problem with extremely small DOF. And I see your need of having AF points exactly where you need the focus.
But if you want the focus directly at the eye of the model - why not using face-detection and live view. Right this moment I gave my K1 a try with my 70 mm Sigma macro at f 2.8. Worked fine! The Sigma macro lens is a snail regarding AF speed - but precision was OK - and I am sure I will find some lenses in my bag that will offer much higher speed. It is a little different working than looking through the view finder - but wasn't there professionals working with Pentax 6x7 and that hooded reflex screen?
Any AF system that does not analyse the content of the photo will not know where the eye of your model is - and for this reason I would expect to get best results using this technique. Just an idea.
Dear Benjamin - please keep on taking great photos and sharing them with us! I will love your work no matter which gear you use and your expertise and comments are worthy to me.
Best regards
Holger
Benjamin Kanarek
Veteran Member
flektogon
Veteran Member
Well, Pentax should give a bow to those few professional photographers like Benjamin, who still, or at some time ago use(d) their equipment as the professional tools. For us, amateurs (doesn't matter how enthusiastic we are), many of those limitations do not cause any serious problems. But the professionals need the professional tools, no doubt.
I am just wondering, who of the remaining professionals still use Pentax. O.K. to be fair, the 645 models are considered to be professional tools, so I believe that there are still profis using them, like tcom/Dominique.
I am just wondering, who of the remaining professionals still use Pentax. O.K. to be fair, the 645 models are considered to be professional tools, so I believe that there are still profis using them, like tcom/Dominique.
Benjamin Kanarek
Veteran Member
flektogon
Veteran Member
Benjamin Kanarek
Veteran Member
LOL...she likes it. If it ain't broke why fix it...Just look at the results. She won Silver Medal for Fashion Video of the Year. No problem with focus as she is obviously using Live View.
She learned on it... LMFAO!!!
I mean come on...an you honestly tell me what this was shot with?
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http://www.benjaminkanarek.com
http://www.benjaminkanarekblog.com
InstaGram: https://www.instagram.com/benjaminkanarek/
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flektogon
Veteran Member
L
Labe
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