k10D Bigma settings (1 Viewer)

geordie graham · Apr 5, 2008

I am using the current settings on my K10D with the Bigma and I am not totally satisfied with the results,
AV Mode
ISO 200-400 where possible
Spot Focus
Spot metering
F8 where possible
Bigma set at about 450mm

Any ideas or suggestions warmly accepted.Maybe I am expecting to much?.

Graham

Claymore · Apr 6, 2008

geordie graham said:
I am using the current settings on my K10D with the Bigma and I am not totally satisfied with the results,
AV Mode
ISO 200-400 where possible
Spot Focus
Spot metering
F8 where possible
Bigma set at about 450mm

Any ideas or suggestions warmly accepted.Maybe I am expecting to much?.

Graham

Hi Graham,
What seems to be the problem? not sharp/too dark?
I have a Bigma and find it great but it really needs to be used with some sort of support ie beanbag/tripod/monopod etc.
Why not post a picture your not happy with and maybe someone on here may be able to let you know what's up if anything? I too find myself unhappy with some shots but the Bigmas can and do produce some amazing shots (just look at some of them on the forum) but 99% of them will have scrapped most shots and kept the goodies LoL
Cheers
Brian
Ps Aint Wildlife Brilliant? Too Right!

geordie graham · Apr 6, 2008

Hi Brian.
Have posted a couple of photo`s below that were taken last week using a beanbag on top of the car.Maybe I am being a bit picky but I expected them to be a bit sharper/more colour.It may be that my PC monitor is not up to scratch( only cost £150 ) as they look better on the LCD monitor.Once put through Elements 5 they were better, I just think coming out of a £700 lens the originals should look better.Looking at them again perhaps instead of using Centre focus I should have used Select.

Graham

StrikingSlug · Apr 6, 2008

Graham,
Call me Mr Picky if you want, but I would be dead chuffed with your number 2 shot!

Richard

geordie graham · Apr 6, 2008

Hi Richard
You could be right,perhaps I am expecting more than I should.I was told that photography can become a very expensive hobby as no matter what you have you will always want something better.As soon as the weather gets better I`m off out again and see what I can do.The problem is as soon as I see something I get all excited and sometimes forget the settings and shoot away regardless.

Graham

GYRob · Apr 7, 2008

theres not much wrong with these at all ,yes a little more tweaking in PS can help but it can with All shots .
Rob.

solentbirder · Apr 11, 2008

The colours look very natural to me. I you have a look at the review of the K10D on dpreview.com you can see that the K10D is capable of very good images but jpegs straight out of the camera can look a bit soft. A very mild bit of sharpening in Photoshop will do the trick.
Good luck

Claymore · Apr 12, 2008

Hi,
Cannot see any problems with sharpness etc only thing i would do is try cropping it Portrait format? and that's only because a few people have suggested not having the bird in the centre of the picture?
Apart from that i'm jealous as hell LoL
Cheers and keep at it!
Brian

geordie graham · Apr 13, 2008

Thanks everyone for the kind comments.Still having a great time and managed to get these last week.Heavily cropped but still pleased with them.

Graham

mooreorless · Apr 13, 2008

Graham, Very nice. I especially like the first one a lot , looks alive.
Kindest regards,Steve

Chhayanat · Apr 15, 2008

geordie graham said:
Thanks everyone for the kind comments.Still having a great time and managed to get these last week.Heavily cropped but still pleased with them.
Graham

The pictures of the owl are quite natural. The way the bird is placed in relation to the light makes anything better almost impossible. The main difficulty seems to be that you were not near enought to the bird.

Soon you will get photo-ops closer up for which you must rehearse a little so that you can aim, focus and shoot promptly. I remember on my very first day out with a Pentax MX and SMCP-M 400 f5.6 in Honkong, having had a juvenile White-bellied Sea Eagle in focus several times without having the nerve to press the shutter release: when I thought I was there, the bird was alerted and pivoted away in mid-flight. If recite repeat performances it could provoke a depression and will, therefore, desist.
Chayyanat

geordie graham · Apr 16, 2008

Chhayanat said:
The pictures of the owl are quite natural. The way the bird is placed in relation to the light makes anything better almost impossible. The main difficulty seems to be that you were not near enought to the bird.

Soon you will get photo-ops closer up for which you must rehearse a little so that you can aim, focus and shoot promptly. I remember on my very first day out with a Pentax MX and SMCP-M 400 f5.6 in Honkong, having had a juvenile White-bellied Sea Eagle in focus several times without having the nerve to press the shutter release: when I thought I was there, the bird was alerted and pivoted away in mid-flight. If recite repeat performances it could provoke a depression and will, therefore, desist.
Chayyanat

Hi Chayyanat I think that is the main problem.When I bought 50-500 I think I expected the subject to be a lot closer than it is.I`ll just have to try and get closer.

Graham

Spot Focus · Apr 20, 2008

geordie graham said:
Hi Chayyanat I think that is the main problem.When I bought 50-500 I think I expected the subject to be a lot closer than it is.I`ll just have to try and get closer.

Graham

Hi Graham I have much the same problem with my 50-500

I do find that most of my images benefit from a fair bit more contrast and sometimes a bit of exposure compensation I took the liberty of working on your owl

geordie graham · Apr 20, 2008

Spot Focus said:
Hi Graham I have much the same problem with my 50-500 I do find that most of my images benefit from a fair bit more contrast and sometimes a bit of exposure compensation I took the liberty of working on your owl

Hi Nick thanks for the info.You can definitely see the difference.

Graham

Spot Focus · Apr 22, 2008

Hi Graham I should also mention that I tend to use higher ISO settings up to 1000 or 1250 in low light to keep the shutter speed up above 1/500 but preferring the lower settings when possible

I use
Spot Focus
full metering
AV mode mostly
I find in lower light my K10D + 50-500 tends to under expose a little so if I think about it and check the histogram I will change EV to +0.3 or + 0.7

hope this may help you

geordie graham · Apr 22, 2008

Spot Focus said:
Hi Graham I should also mention that I tend to use higher ISO settings up to 1000 or 1250 in low light to keep the shutter speed up above 1/500 but preferring the lower settings when possible I use
Spot Focus
full metering
AV mode mostly
I find in lower light my K10D + 50-500 tends to under expose a little so if I think about it and check the histogram I will change EV to +0.3 or + 0.7 hope this may help you

Cheers Nick weather here getting better so will be out soon and playing with few settings.

Graham

ClayTaylorTX · Apr 27, 2008

geordie graham said:
Hi Chayyanat I think that is the main problem.When I bought 50-500 I think I expected the subject to be a lot closer than it is.I`ll just have to try and get closer.

Graham

Geordie -

That happens a lot - we all are used to seeing telephoto effects on TV and in the movies that are pure fantasy when applied to real-life photo equipment.

Think of the Bigma in this way - at 500mm you are magnifying the subject 10x, just like the 10x of your binocular. Looking through a binocular, if you take the image circle and imagine a rectangular picture frame around it, that is basically what your photo will look like. Since the K10D crops the image frame 1.5x, now imagine that your "Frame" is drawn within the binocular's image circle, roughly so that the corners of the frame just touch the edges of the circle. That's more like what your photo through the K10D will look like.

A great many of the Wildlife Photos from the pros that we see in print have been taken under conditions that are not obvious (from a hidden photoblind, near a feeding station, near a nest site, or even in captivity), often at close distances, and very often after days or weeks of effort to get that one shot.

Your owl photos are just fine. Had you build a small blind maybe 30 feet from the post and then sat in it for a few days, maybe you would have gotten a full-frame shot! Then again, maybe not.... ;-)

Clay

geordie graham · Apr 27, 2008

Hi Clay I think you are right.To get better sharper pictures I think I need to be a lot closer.Thanks for the comments.

RalfR · May 4, 2008

Hi Geordi Graham,

I have just joined this interesting forum. Have you tried adjusting the in camera settings to address lack of contrast colour etc.

Press the "Menu" button near the top left corner of the screen. The first menu should be "Rec Mode". Scroll down to Saturation, Sharpness and Contrast. Move them all to +1 for a situation like the photographs. I will "boost" the image a little. Play around with the setting until you get the look you're after right out of the camera.

In australia, the sun is quite harsh, so I have the contrast set at -1 most of the time, otherwise I get blown highlights.

Regards

Spot Focus · May 7, 2008

Hi Graham I meant to ask if you are shooting in Raw or Jpeg setting :t:

k10D Bigma settings (1 Viewer)

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