K-1 for landscapes?

[Huffie]

After some research, I am about to buy a new camera for the creation of large(ish) landscapes and am considering the K-1 w/FA 31mm as my best bet...considering the whole package - two lenses, camera and printer will set me back over 4k (yikes!), this seems to be a reasonable unit, much cheaper than the comparable Canon or Nikon.
Any thoughts on my choices?
Also..How well can a "normal" macro lens be used for "everyday" portraiture? (Pentax smc P-D FA 2.8 50mm)

[NancyP]

Message Paul2660 (Paul Caldwell), he really likes his K-1, and he does mostly landscape photography. (No, you aren't going to get Fashion Week in rural Arkansas...)

[Paul2660]

Hey, we come close down here (to fashion week  )

As to the K1, yes, I feel it's quite capable, and can easily handle it's own against both Nikon and Canon.  If you like to read stats, the DxO scores for the K1 are now in and it did very well, and would have scored higher (most likely the highest ever) if Pixel shift had been tested.

Quickly My reasons to switch:

1.  Pixel shift (it's real multishot) and that just meas less color interpolation out of the gate.  It's only too bad that Pentax did not seed this camera or work closer with Adobe and Phase One as the Adobe Pixel shift conversion is less that stellar and Adobe tend to make one stab in the dark and then be done.  Phase One just chose to not support it.  Not sure if they worried about market share but if Iridient Developer can work out a solution surely the P1 team can also.

2.  High ISO improvements over my D810, easily 1 stop of DR improvement up to 3200 from my shooting and still improvements up to 6400

3.  Layout and controls, Love the design just works better for me. 

4.  Astrotracer/GPS  for a astro shooter, this is real plus, up to 5 minutes of tracking and it works very well.  Limitations are ultra wide lenses

5.  Movable LCD (huge deal for me) not sure about the rest of the world, but as the rest of the world gets old, it will easily become apparent why it's nice to be able to move the damn screen.  Not to mention using the camera at waist level and seeing what you are shooting.

6.  Built in Wifi, which works

7.  Wide range of very good lenses, again Pentax seems to have a bad rap here, but their new glass is excellent and up to par with the Nikon zooms and primes I use in the field. 

8.  Full weather proof, go ahead dunk it under water, it will still work.  Nice to be able to work in the rain and not worry about either a cover or that one errant drop of water.

9.  Positive firmware updates, now 3

10. On board sensor stabilization, OBIS.  Pentax actually did some very impressive stuff with this besides just giving you stabilization, (Pixel shift Astrotracer, composition shift)

11.  Pentax has a good user base mainly in the APS-C cameras, but many of these folks have shot Pentax for years and bring a lot of experience and knowledge, found in the pentax forums. 

A few considerations:

Pentax - Ricoh as a whole has not impressed me with their support, period.  They use a non Pentax facility in the US for physical repairs.  Thus it's jobbed out.  So that contract could end at anytime.    Their phone support is basic and I don't believe they are employees of Ricoh.  They have the ability to forward issues on to Japan (which takes too long for me).  This needs to be addressed if Pentax wants to really compete, at least IMO. 

Pentax as mentioned above, should have done much better at working with Adobe and Phase One the makers of the two largest raw conversion software packages, so that Pixel shift conversions are the best possible.  The only way to really get a perfect conversion is the by either use of the included Pentax software (terrible interface and no toolset) or Silkypix Developer studio or Studio Pro.  The differences in the conversion are impressive.  Silkypix can handle some motion much better than Adobe.  This feature is really the single greatest advantage over Canon or Nikon, neither of which will most likely ever have OBIS since it will compete with the VR and IS lenses.  But as proven years ago by Hasselblad with their multishot backs, anything that defeats the Bayer interpolation is worth considering.  Not only for resolution but color fidelity.  I find it a bit tragic that Pentax brought such technology to the market, and did not cover their bases any better than they did.  Sorry to sound harsh, but you only get one chance at a first impression.

Camera battery life is 2/3's that of a Nikon or Canon equivalent from my experiences.  AA batteries NiMh at least do not work correctly, draining much too fast.

There is a huge lack of Pentax primes modern for the K1 full frame.  Pentax claims some are coming, but none showed at Kina.  Needed are wide and semi wide primes.  The 200mm and 300mm are excellent lenses even though they are DA, they work fine on full frame.   

Last buy not least, but more than likely the main reason for lack of adoption, is that no Canon or Nikon glass can be used with an adapter due to the focal flange distance being within 1 or 2mm and thus loss of infinity focus.  Sigma is not producing their excellent Art glass in the K mount anymore and Zeiss stopped a long time ago.  So the switch is considerable to many photographers. 

If you are in the US, get a hold of www.lensrentals.com, and rent a K1 and 24-70 or 15-30 and see what you think.  Attachment below is from a review video, where K1 is totally dunked underwater for several seconds, impressive for outdoor work.

Paul C

[John Nollendorfs]

I've got a friend that just got the K-1, and is very pleased. It has a lot of bells and whistles and neither Canon or Nikon offer. And the price is a bargain. As for shooting landscapes, consider using stitching techniques to get larger, more detailed images, especially if you want panoramic aspect ratio images. Shoot the landscapes vertically, overlapping about 25%. I find a 60mm lens shooting about 6 single row overlapping images gives me the field of view of about 24-28mm. Use Photoshop to do the stitching. There are "expensive" panorama brackets made to aid such shooting, but I find I can get very good results just by hand holding (involves some technique), or just using a tripod and rotating the head. Of course you should lock down exposure and focus for all exposures. I've made 6' wide prints that are quite amazing with their clarity and detail.

[Michael Erlewine]

I was very hopeful for the Pentax K-1. In anticipation, I even bought the K3, so that I could check out Pixel-Shift prior to the release of the K1-1. And I ordered and received the K-1 when it was finally shipped.

I also studied reviews, charts, ratings, etc. for the Pentax lenses that were available, but was disappointed in what I found. So I hunted out and purchased a number of other lenses, which had some good to outstanding charts. These included the Voigtlander 125mm APO-Lanthar in Pentax format, a couple versions of the Voigtlander APO 90mm Macro, the Sigma 24mm ART lens, the Zeiss Wide Angle 28mm f/2 Distagon T* ZK, and others.

I gave the camera a good and enthusiastic “go,” armed with the lenses mentioned above. I also did my best to mount other lenses, like the Zeiss Otus, many Nikkors, etc. based on a Pentax-to-Nikon adapter, that I knocked out the cheap glass that gave me infinity, and just used it for close-up work. I also talked Cambo into making a K-1 adapter for their Actus bellows camera.

To make a long story short, the bottom line was that (for my work) the camera came “close, but no cigar.” I do mainly close-up work, still photography, on a tripod. And while the camera in Pixel-Shift mode often did an exceptional job, it also produced less than stellar results at other times. I probably shot 1,000 images or so.

For my particular work, it came close to being a keeper, but ultimately I sold it off. I just had to go through too many contortions for my taste. I would, however, like to see Pixel-Shift in other cameras, like the next version of the Nikon D810. If I were doing action or sports photography, the K1 would not do the job. Even with still photography, ultimately it was not worth the effort, IMO. However, I am sure others will love it.

Instead, I wait for the Nikon D820 (or whatever name) and have decided to get the Hasselblad X1D in the meantime, which required that I sell off a lot of lenses that I don’t use that often.  The Pentax K-1 comes close to satisfying my interest in medium-format quality, but ultimately it seems easier just to go MF and leave it at that.

[Paul2660]

Hi Michael

I was not aware that Sigma made the 24mm art in K mount. Is that a lens you still own and would consider selling? 

In your post you mention a k1 to Nikon adapter that allows infinity focus, can you elaborate on that?  I would love to have such an adapter made as I have a lot of Nikon glass I would still prefer to use.

Sorry to see the K1 did not work out for your work.


Paul C

[Michael Erlewine]

Hi Michael

I was not aware that Sigma made the 24mm art in K mount. Is that a lens you still own and would consider selling? 

In your post you mention a k1 to Nikon adapter that allows infinity focus, can you elaborate on that?  I would love to have such an adapter made as I have a lot of Nikon glass I would still prefer to use.

Sorry to see the K1 did not work out for your work.


Paul C

I sold the my Sigma 24mm ART lens for Pentax mount, but still have the Voigtlander 90mm APO, which is an even better lens.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/232010716827?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

The Adapter for Nikon F-Mount is here, but you have to remove the glass, which is lousy and just use it close-up:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003EAUBDE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[NancyP]

I found the perfect subject for a Pentax K-1 - photography from a kayak or canoe.  You could bungee the thing in front of the cockpit and grab as needed.

[Paulo Bizarro]

Perhaps useful for reference:

http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/japan/products/lens/images/K_Mount_D_FA_Lens_Roadmap.pdf

[jwlimages]

Pentax - Ricoh as a whole has not impressed me with their support, period.  They use a non Pentax facility in the US for physical repairs.  Thus it's jobbed out.  So that contract could end at anytime...

- I just wanted to underline this point. Along with my 645z (which I really like), Ricoh-Pentax included an offer of "free clean & check" for up to 2 years from DOP. But when I sent it to the 3rd party repair vendor as directed, these folks first wanted to bill me, and now are "checking with the Ricoh representative" about who pays for this. It's as if I'm the first person in the US to use this service! So despite the very capable hardware, this is a bit of a Caveat Emptor...
John