New pentax K-7

[canman98]

Hi all,

Just upgraded my "ist" DL to a K-7 last week and heading to Africa to see the gorillas in Uganda & safari in Kenya & Tanzania. I have been reading the manual and trying to familarising myself with the vast array of extra functions it has.

I would appreciate some tips from anyone that has one - what kind of settings would be best used on the trip etc.

My thinking was mostly to use "AV" mode & variing ISO to suit the conditions.

Am I on the right track or are there better options ?

Thanks

Graham

[Kym]

Av and keep the ISO up enough (400) to get good shutter speeds for the lens you are using.

What lenses?

[canman98]

Hi Kym,

Got the 18-55 kit lens & Sigma 120-400 that I'll be taking

[ricktas]

I agree about using Av mode. Only increase your ISO if you cannot get a shutter speed fast enough. Increasing the ISO also introduces noise, so you need to balance your shutter speed against the ISO to ensure you dont end up with photos that are too noisy.

My suggestion would be when you get to a location where you are shooting, fire of a couple of test shots in AV mode and check the shutter speed. If it isn't fast enough under the light present, only then increase your ISO. Once you increase it one step, test again for shutter speed. You might find for instance that you can get the results you want at ISO400, and going to ISO800 is not necessary.

[Kym]

@400mm you want 1/600th or faster shutter when hand held.
I tent to NOT use auto ISO, you have a dedicated ISO button so changing is very fast and easy.

Shoot your wide landscape stuff around f/16
For wildlife using the 400mm f/8 is good

The 18-55 is quite ok around f/8 ... f/16 IQ wise

[canman98]

Thanks for the tips guys, always good to know your on the right track from others with a few more run on the board.

Hopefully I will have some good photos to post in a months time.

[ricktas]

Between now and when you leave, I would be getting as much practice in as I possibly could. Do some landscapes, maybe get out and see if you cannot find some Roos to get shots of, try panning (tracking a moving roo and getting a sharp shot while panning) etc. The more practice you get, the more you will improve, giving you more of a chance to get better shots in Africa.

Post photos to AP, get feedback, learn.

[mareech]

Hi Kym, this info is very useful to me too, I am also a newbie heading to Africa in a couple of weeks and this gives me some settings to practice with now. I look forward to posting some pics when I get back, thanks, Maree

[dosdan]

@400mm you want 1/600th or faster shutter when hand held.
I tent to NOT use auto ISO, you have a dedicated ISO button so changing is very fast and easy.

The K-7 has SR, so assuming 2 stops improvement, with a 400mm lens you should be able to use 1/180s.

The K-7 also has TAv mode. I use this a lot for U7 & U8 soccer with my K20D where you want to fix both shutter speed (to stop motion blur) and aperture (to get enough DOF to cover a group) and let the ISO vary between your fixed limits. I set the K20D to roam between ISO100-1600. That range should be OK for the K-7 too.

It's not like auto-ISO in AV mode where you're relying on which program line (DOF, MTF, Shutter Speed) you're using.

Dan.

[ricstew]

Doesnt the k7 also have catch in focus? I would also practice that till you leave......
cheers
Jan