Pentax auto white balance

[fuse04]

From my previous threads and in reading this superb forum there are some pentax fans out there (notably Groucho and ukcatfan). I have been considering the K100d (I refer Canon or Nikon deep down but can;t aford the lenses) because of the forum support, its low cost but more importantly the built in IS....I really like taking low light level shots and don't really want to cart a tripod everywhere, especially at WDW on this years vacation......camera, camcorder, usualy family support pack, etc, etc!

However, from reports I have seen the K100d auto whote balance seems to perfom poorly at low lights levels indoors. Is it that bad and how do you deal with it?

Incidnetially in the hand the Pentax and Nikon did feel much more robust that the 400d (xti).

thanks
Fuse04

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

I have recently purchased the K100D and love it. I shoot in the dark and in the light. I have no problems with white balance. There are setting that can be adjusted and I myself are just learning them. One nice feature is the ISO setting goes to 3200 and its amazing how well the picture turns out. I will be bringing my tripod to disney but thats because I want firewoeks shots. Otherwise I will use it. The white ballance and be set automatically or you can set it manually. There is also a setting on the dial that has scn and you then go into the fn click ok and it gives you 8 different setting to use. Inside low light, candle light, outside snowie, etc. I just read the book yesterday. this little camera can do alot. Anybody can use it. Maybe the others will have a better comments. I don't think you will be dissapointed with the K100D there is also the K10 also. It doesn't have all the auto settings though.
Good luck.

 

[ukcatfan]

There are three possible solutions.

-You pick the WB.

-You set the custom WB with a white or gray card.

-Lastly, my way is to shoot in RAW and then it does not matter. You can set it in the software with no loss of image quality. Sometimes I do both this and custom.

It is another one of those long running debates, but I always shoot in RAW instead of JPG.

Kevin

 

[Groucho]

Pretty much every digital camera has inaccurate white balance under tungsten lights. That's why dark indoor photos (without flash) usually look yellowy. Nearly every DSLR review I've read mentions the "expected" poor auto white balance.

The best solution, IMHO, is to shoot in RAW. Under tungsten lights is really the only time I have to change white balance, and even then, often the camera is capturing more what the eye is seeing than the true colors.

If it makes you feel better... from DPReview's review of the Canon XTi:
"Once again another poor automatic white balance performance from a digital SLR. Of course Canon have previously argued that they prefer to 'preserve the original appearance of the scene according to the light source used', which I for one don't agree with, primarily because my memory of the scene was not yellow / orange."

Their Nikon D50 review:
"The D50's automatic white balance performance was slightly better than the D70, with both good performance in outdoor and fluorescent light and a fairly typical performance in incandescent light."
Read "typical" as "poor".

From their D40 review:
"If you like orange then you're going to love the D40's automatic white balance in incandescent / tungsten light, otherwise you're probably going to want to use the incandescent preset, which although closer still doesn't produce perfectly white whites, you'll need a manual preset for that."

And finally, from their Pentax K100D review:
"We're never that surprised to see poor automatic white balance from a digital SLR, it is becoming par for the course, however we would at least once like to be pleasantly surprised. So the K100D's automatic white balance is pretty much the same as most other digital SLRs, and that's just fine in natural light, poor in incandescent (or tungsten) light and better in fluorescent light. To be fair the K100D's incandescent preset white balance did perform better than most, so if you can remember to switch to the preset it will make the world of difference."

To sum up: they're all pretty bad, but the Pentax is no worse and maybe a little better than the competition.

 

[fuse04]

Many thanks, I didn't think I would be looking at something other than Nikon and Canon but the Pentax does seem to have a lot going for it.

Any recommendation for a good lense for the night time stuff? Also we are staying at AKL.....would 200mm on zoom be ok or would it be better for something up to 300mm?

thanks
Fuse04

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

I got the package with the 18-55 and the 50 -200 lense. The 200 is good, A friend of mine bought the 300 zoom I will be tring that one out. I would think that the 300mm zoom would be better at 200 than mine would though, as it isn't at the max. I could be wrong too. The package I got though is nice and as a package I saved money rather than buying the zoom seperatly. I'm looking at a wide angle lens but man there almost the cost of the body. That might be awhile.

 

[Groucho]

Pentax is coming out with new digital-only 300mm lenses later this year (a prime and a zoom - 70-300mm I think), but for the moment, the 50-200mm is pretty well respected... and for night-time stuff, their 50mm 1.4 is one of the best lenses out there, it's a must-have. It seems to be eternally on backorder, just place an order with whoever lists it (usually BH and Adorama, sometimes other places like Beach, if they just got some) and wait for it to them to get some. There's a rebate on both of those lenses.

The other nice thing about the 50-200mm is that it's pretty small and light - without the lens hood, it's not much bigger than the kit 18-55mm lens when at its shortest.

Thumper, for a wide-angle, have you considered the Zenitar 16mm fish-eye lens? I used mine extensively at WDW and it's an excellent lens for the price - about $125, a third or less what the Pentax fisheye costs.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

Hi Groucho
No I havent can you post a pic using that fisheye. I would love to see it and please let me know where you got it. That price don't sound bad at all.

 

[Groucho]

My gallery (link in signature) has many Zenitar photos. Unfortunately, while it can be searched, you can't search by focal length. Before I post some here, some background...

First, it's a "true" fisheye (180' of view) when on a 35mm camera - when on a DSLR, thanks to the crop factor, you lose some of that. I think you end up with something more like 110' - still very wide, but without as much of the "fishy" look. In contrast, the Pentax one is for digital and (I believe) will give you 180' with your DSLR.

Second, it's completely manual. No auto-focus, no auto-aperture. The way to use it is first, set your camera to manual focus. One very cool thing is that the depth of field is huge - if you focus to infinity, pretty much everything past about 2.3' away is in focus. You also need your camera in Manual mode. Compose your photo and hit the A-EL button. This will stop down the lens, take a meter reading, and set the exposure automatically. If the light remains constant, you won't need to do it again.

It's a really neat lens but because of that, it can take a little getting used to. It's also a little on the heavy side - probably has more metal than most of my lenses! It is a lot of fun to use though, and is fairly fast - F2.8.

There are a few places to buy it but most people seem to get it off eBay - the seller "zenitar" is pretty highly regarded, and is where I bought mine. Here is one of his auctions for the Pentax lens. The price seems to vary slightly, currently it's $121 plus $20 shipping. Make sure you look for the K-mount as it's also available in Pentax M42 mount, AKA screwmount.

Here's a few photos... from the plane:

The large depth of field makes it great for on-ride photos, I've posted this one before but it's one of my favorites.

At Mission Space...

I also brought my film 35mm (K1000) and took some photos with it. Here's the full 180' (in this case, 180' vertically) fisheye look.

It's a terrific buy for the price!