The "first look" preview, hands-on preliminary review, raw files shot and processed analysis of the ancient Pentax K1. And a couple of lenses.

Okay. So the Pentax K-1 is a big fat, DSLR that sports the same basic 36 megapixel image sensor found in the Nikon D810 (which I used for nearly a year) and has lots of interesting features and user interfaces. I read the DP Review when the camera first came out but at the time it fell right off my radar as we were knee deep in either Sony or Nikon high resolution cameras (A7Rii and D810). The one Pentax camera I owned previously was an impulse purchase, a used K-01 concept camera; in bright yellow. I liked the files from that camera but ultimately sold it because I didn't like using cameras with no viewfinders.

I picked up the camera last week because it looked so cool sitting next to a growing display/pile of old Nikon cameras. I liked that the Pentax logo was big and bold and splashed across the front of the camera. So I bought it without having any lenses and without any real plan. But I will say that the price I ended up negotiating was hundreds of dollars under the prices I currently see on E-Bay and in Amazon's used gear. So, I brought the K-1 home with my usual plan of making this a personal "art" camera and not letting it grow and metastasize and take over my studio/office with yet another system binge and purge. But, of course, I would need a lens....

Which led me down multiple rabbit holes. Pentax was one of the last camera makers to stick a toe into producing full frame cameras and as a consequence there are many APS-C coverage lenses for the system but few, new, designed for digital, full frame lenses. Then there is a whole raft of zany lenses called "limiteds" which also feature zany focal lengths. Then there are transitional lenses which would have been designed for full frame film cameras and then carried over, unchanged,  into the digital age. It was a bit bewildering but once I put everything into a spreadsheet and started the analysis process I made a few blundering purchases. 

I'd read many, many good things about their new (2016) 28-105mm f3.5-5.6 lens and since it had so many clusters of letters I figured it must be good. It's HD + WR+DFA (digital full frame)+ ED+DC. The consensus out on the web is that this is a very, very sharp lens and my early use of it seems to bear that out. The lens does not feature image stabilization but that was a selling point of the camera (it has I.S.) so we're all good there. 

Everything you see here was shot with the zoom lens with the aperture mostly pegged at f5.6. I'm sure the camera is providing some internal software fixes but my take is that the lens is sharp and flare free. I'm thinking it may be one of those under-spec'd but over-engineered lenses that trades f-stop speed for sharpness and a general reduction of aberrations.  I was happy with everything I shot with this zoom. It's also small and light, and kinda pretty. 

In fact, I felt confident enough to bring the camera and the 28-105mm along with me to the technical rehearsal of the "Ann" play at Zach Theatre and to use it for about 100 of the photos (out of 650). Even though I had to increase the ISO to get in the same exposure ballpark as the faster Fuji lenses I didn't seem much of a performance hit or too much increased noise in the files. 

But, try as I might I never seem to be happy with an interchangeable lens camera until I've got a 50mm I can bolt on the front so back I went and searched until I found a 50mm f1.4 (not the $1,000 version!!!) for around $135. It's one of the old fashion screwdriver drive models but the camera handles it fine and it's not too noisy. I worked with it a bit today, just to test it, and I thought it was nice. Nice like a Nikon 50mm f1.4D or a Canon EF 50mm f`1.4. Mostly plastic on the outside but capable of making nice and detailed photographs once you've stopped it down past f2.0. By f4.0  or maybe f5.6 I'm sure it's nearly as sharp and contrasty as a Ming Thein approved Zeiss Otus.

Having been burned lately by USPS delivery, and seeing that my 50mm f1.4 AF Pentax lens was to be delivered via the same service, I also ordered one more 50mm 1.4 lens but this one is a manual focus SMC lens and it's coming via Amazon's own delivery service, sometime tomorrow. It was cheap and I bought it as insurance because I'm thinking of getting out of town this weekend and going down to San Antonio for a bit of street shooting. I thought a faster lens might come in handy when shooting in restaurants, museums and other interior spaces. And I had no confidence in the Postal Service. But they upped their game and delivered on time and, more importantly, to the correct address ---- this time.

I haven't had time to shoot a lot with the new K-1 camera and my growing coterie of lenses but I do have some favorite features and one or two gripes. 

Pros: 

1. I got a professional, full frame, high resolution camera with a fairly modern Sony sensor inside for a song. 

2. If I turn off the LCD I get tons of life out of one battery (but, of course, I did buy one aftermarket battery as a back up). 

3. The camera has lights all over the place that you can turn on by pushing one button and they light up the exterior the camera body enough to do things like see how to orient and attach lenses in an otherwise dark environment, or which buttons on the rear of the camera do what. There's even an LED in the memory card compartment to show you the slot for easier insertion. Very cool. 

4. I tried out the multi-shot feature which shoots four frames and combines them in camera. It works! Big files and nice detail when using the modern, 28-105mm lens. Not so much difference with the older 50mms. 

5. Contrary to earlier reviews it focuses just fine. Using live view you can even get rudimentary face detect AF. 

6. Did I mention the huge logo across the front of the pentaprism finder? Based on my years of experience there won't be anybody else at your next professional shoot sporting a bunch of Pentax gear. It seems like a lonely, lonely system. Just be sure to have your Pentax Manifesto ready to go in case someone challenges your choices....

7. It's a delicious antidote to the overweaning crowd of technophiles chasing the latest and greatest stuff. They may not even be aware that Pentax cameras exist, much less that there is a semi-modern, full frame model. You may take the awards for eccentricity on parade. What???? No 4K Video???

8. Believe it or not but the battery is sooooo interchangeable. It's the same one as used by the Panasonic GH5!!! WooHoo! Pure battery re-use. 

Cons: 

1. Every old codger who still shoots with Pentax can't wait to tell you about those fabulous legacy lenses from the 1960's, 70's, 80's and 1990's. Even the ones that really suck (because they have amazing bokeh....). 

2. You can't just stumble over to Amazon.com and pick up a new 85mm f1.8 because....most lenses don't exist in the Pentax universe (well, except the ones from yesteryear. But we're mostly over manually focusing and stopping down...). 

3. Sony and Nikon users will tease you for owning a dead system. Canon users are too scared these days to have opinions. 

4. I'm downrating it from a Gold at 99% to a Silver at 80% because the K-1 doesn't have an EVF. 

5. I'm further downrating it to a 78% Copper rating because it's too customizable. 

I'm keeping it around for all those (once a year) times when an art director thinks they might need a full frame camera file. And sure, I'll eventually buy a fast 85, 90, or 105 so I can show off that artsy, shallow depth of field. 

Now, here are some photographs....

OT: What better family bonding experience than a five mile walk around the lake in 102 degree, late afternoon?

The kid is in a housing transition and will be moving into his own place in a week or so. In the interim he's staying with us. I'm having a blast. Neither of us is working on a regular schedule right now (we're on self-induced Summer breaks) so we're hitting all the priority stuff: hanging out with Studio Dog (and making sure she's not eating cicadas), having lunches, and running errands. Last week Ben helped me out with a three camera video shoot and tomorrow he promised to take a look at my editing attempts (which I hope he radically improves upon) but today we decided to get some exercise and walk around Lady Bird Lake (which used to be "Town Lake").

When we left the house it was a balmy 101 but during the walk we got the benefit of some addition heat and humidity which pushed the measured temperature up over 102 and the "feels like" temperature to about 107. We didn't care, we've both run the lake trail on way hotter days, and besides, we were walking instead of running.

We got to talk about finance, the state of the markets, the ups and downs of working in a P.R. firm that specializes in high tech start ups, the state of the photography industry, the state of my progress in settling my mom and dad's estates, and how the whole modality of work is profoundly changing.

On the way home we cooled down with some iced coffee from our neighborhood Starbucks. It's been like an incredible vacation for me to be able to spend so much time with my kid.

I had two pieces of advice for him today: Don't ever stop running, walking and being active because you want to be able to do it when you turn 63!!! He's got about 40 years to ponder that.

And the second piece of advice I gave him was career advice. I told him, whatever you do don't become a freelance photographer!!! Just don't.

He's pretty level headed and far less impulsive than me. I think he'll be fine.

The photo above is from a high school cross country race. I remember that day and the idea of running three sub-six minute miles in a row in 96 degree heat was shocking to me. But it never seems to phase him....

Good times.

A different method of theater photography was in play last night.

Actor Libby Villari as Gov. Ann Richards in "Ann." 

A play by Actor/Playwright, Holland Taylor. 

Like most theater photographers I have two different approaches to shooting live theater on the stage. During the final technical rehearsal, when (usually) 99% of the stage, costumes and props are set and finished, and there's no audience to consider, I like to use shorter lenses and get as close to the stage as I want. I shoot a lot with a 16-55mm f2.8 but I also get tight shots from angles all over the theater with something like the Fuji 50-150mm f2.8. It's a great way to work, and a side benefit is that you are always in motion as you look for the best angles and compositions, and then put yourself in the right spot to catch them.  Exercise while working!!!

The flip side of the technical rehearsal (at least in our theater) is the invited dress rehearsal. Having a "friends and family" audience helps the actor(s) with their timing, their delivery, etc. and the audience responses to lines and gestures gives the actor valuable and immediate feedback. But...having an audience in most of the seats means that I give up the mobility I have in the technical rehearsals. We have to minimize distractions for them and the actor. There's a silver lining everywhere though and in the case of rehearsals I trade mobility for a totally finished stage look in the invited dress rehearsal. Everything is more polished and the lighting cues are generally rock solid, but because we have nearly a full house I am constrained to stay pretty stationary.

Out of experience, and trial-and-error, I've chosen to be at the center of the house on the row that divides the orchestra seats from the upper seats. It's a "pass through" row so there's a lot of distance between the seats in that row and the row just in front of us. I block off about 12 seats so I can have some (limited) range of movement (left and right) to get better angles, but for the most part I'm dead center and seated. 

I share this row with the house videographer who documents the dress rehearsal with a two cameras set up and an audio feed from the mixing board. His cameras are on tripods so he is locked into position. 

On anything but a one person show I use the 50-140mm f2.8 (75-210 ff equiv.) as my main lens because it allows me to go from a two or three person grouping to a larger ensemble group within the same optic, from my mid-house vantage point. I supplement that with the 16-55mm (24-82.5mm) so I can catch an establishing shot of the entire stage for each scene as well as wider shots of bigger groups of actors. It's a nice combo but for one person performances the 50-140mm is sometimes not enough reach from my spot to upstage. 

Yesterday I decided that I'd use the Fuji 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 lens as my primary shooting lens for "Ann" which is a one person show.  From the middle of the house I could reliably frame a "head-and-shoulders" shot and I could pull back to make a full body shot. If the actor got close to the front of the stage I could still get a head-to-toe shot at the widest setting by switching from horizontal to vertical. 

I had a blast using the lens for the play last night. The reach was amazing and the lens felt different to me. I did have the wider zoom along as an alternative and, since I am a former Boy Scout, I also packed the comforting 50-140mm f2.8, just in case. 

It took me a while to get comfortable with the different framing options but by intermission I think I had it down pretty well. With a long lens like the 100-400mm it's pretty important to use the continuous mode for the image stabilization so the viewfinder image doesn't hop around. I started out using the camera and lens on my older Leica monopod but in short order I realized that the combination of the XH-1+100-400mm image stabilization and shutter speeds starting at 1/125th and going up was more than enough to get consistently sharp images.

While people can look at various test charts, and argue about how many sharpness angels can dance on the point of a needle, I was able to shoot with the lens at its widest apertures across all the focal lengths and still get well defined eyelashes in most of the photographs. The ones that didn't achieve that level of sharpness are down to my rusty focusing technique more than any shortcoming of the lens.

And speaking of focusing technique....the light levels on the stage for this show were much more photographer friendly than in some of the recent shows I've been documenting. We're talking a couple of EV brighter, as well as more even (less contrasty) lighting. Because of this I was able to use face detect AF, sometimes at 400mm (600mm ff equiv.), with a moving actor, handheld, and out of 1200 shots the majority, maybe 90%, are focused right where I intended them to be. I count this as pretty amazing. It's a far better performance, vis-a-vis accurate focusing on actor's eyes, than I was ever able to consistently get with traditional DSLRs from Canon, Nikon or Sony. Reason enough for a theater photographer to switch to a mirrorless system!!!

I count the use of the 100-400mm last night as a total win. I'll use it for all the one person performances we produce in the future. Do I have a wish list for new lens features for the studio? Oh, just the same nonsense everyone else would share: I wish the lens would go wider. Something like a 50mm to 400mm  full frame equivalent. I wish it was f2.0 all the way through (but then I'd probably need a geared tripod head on a sturdy base just to use it....), and, finally, I wish Fuji would support my efforts to document theatrical art by sending me free copies of any long lenses they think might be useful in this bold and noble undertaking (self-snark implied; noted here for the lame of humor...).

Now uploading 720 nice shots for the marketing team. Then I can get on to the important stuff in the day; like where to swim this afternoon. Thinking it's probably going to be Deep Eddy Pool....

One of the most dangerous things I can do is to leave the driveway with money in my pockets. It's almost never there when I get back home.... Or: New Camera, now testing.

Now testing and playing around with the ancient Pentax K-1 and a HD  FA 28-105mm f3.5-5.6 lens. How very retro.... And, the only camera system I've never owned (other than the K-01 concept camera)...  Better late than never?  We'll see.

It's improbable but I have to ask... Or there any readers out there who actually shoot with the Pentax system? I'd love to hear what you think of the K-1.

I thought I'd get a jump on all the other bloggers and vloggers and write the review for next year's Sony RX100VIII. Of course, it's a technology marvel....

I'm going to break my advanced NDA with Sony and blast forward to quickly review the next model of their vaunted RX100 series, compact cameras. It's inevitable that all of this information will leak out over the course of the next few months anyway and I thought I'd beat everyone to the punch. Perhaps, a la DP Review, I will also do the relentless: First Blush Review, the Preview, the 'Hands On' Preview, the Review in Progress, Part One of a Two Part Review, Part Two of a Two Part Review, Our Gallery of Incredibly Banal Photos from our Multi-part Review, Chris and Jordan's Quasi Humorous but very earnest (in the style of Canadians) Video Review, The In-Depth Interview with one of Sony's Janitors, and, of course, Barney's Comparison with the Leica he proudly saved up for years to buy....  And then maybe I'll follow it all up with a comparison between all the RX100 cameras Sony has made over the last seven or eight years.

But first, the review, looking back from from late 2020.

We at VSL were pretty impressed when we learned of all the improvements that have been made to the Sony RX100VIII over the previous model. To start with we now have a camera that can shoot at the incredible frame rate of over 110 fps. Using a double-decker, back AND front side illuminated, one inch sensor allows the camera to shoot at ISOs that will give the operators nose bleed while maintaining colors that are richer than Bill Gates and more saturated than (the fat in cheap bacon?) any previous camera. 

We stole a document off a DP Review server about the future RX100VIII camera and find that Rishi, the nuclear-quantum-string theory-chemist-engineer-triple doctorate in physics expert who vets that site's technical word salad, has indicated that the camera will have " lots of quantum." And lots and lots of "Nyquist" and he would not be surprised to find that it also features "extinction" and "delta" but almost certainly does have a "retrogressive interference something" which means, in as simple words as possible = "Sony is always best".  Or it could also be summarized as "a diffraction-enabled tool paradigm love." 

The lens on the camera has five sections of extension and extends from the "equivalence explains everything" angle of view that mimics, in vain, a 23.5mm focal length lens on full frame; albeit with an f64 aperture when used in an equivalently optimum fashion. At the long end the Zeiss/Leica/Lomo hybrid lens goes all the way out the omniquivalent dangle of view of a 205mm lens, all the while besting its predecessor by opening up to f2.78 at the wide angle setting and f4.4 at the long end. These are equal to f27 and f45 on a real, non-loser, full frame camera. 

Sony boasts that image stabilization will reward users with the ability to handhold even the longest focal lengths at something greater than three and one half minutes.....or long enough for a quick interview with the 5.25K video the camera has packed into it's tiny body. A camera body small enough to fit into the pockets of a 300 pound man trying to wear size 28 (waist in inches) blue jeans. 

As with the previous model there will be a pop-up EVF that matches up with the user's right eye but now features "Sony Optical Velcro" to form a tighter connection between the finder and the human eye. 

The camera also features some new filters including: the "I'm so trashed" filter (just perfect for frat parties), the "I hate that girl and want her to look 20 pounds bigger shaming filter", the "I'm trying to save my relationship by making my girlfriend look better" filter, as well as a simulated "drone" filter which works by tricking the weak-minded into thinking that they are actually looking at photographs that were taken twenty feet up in the air (all done with an incestuous blend of machine learning and A.I.).

There are thirty new function buttons, all of which can be re-configured and all of which also change their settings at random. None of which are marked. 

The camera features "shoot and post while you drive" Wi-Fi while low powered bluetooth is also present just for because it looks so good on the spec sheet and men seem to love the word, "bluetooth" nearly as much as the word, "titanium" or the phrase, "carbon fiber." Which it has. All of it. In spades.

Party animals and selfie fans alike will appreciate a pop-up flash that sports a negative guide number.

The camera continues to look the same, operate the same, and provide the same kinds of photographs and video that the previous model provided, but goes a long way to cure the wretched "excess money" syndrome and replace it with "the technology in my camera will save me!" syndrome.

There will be nothing external to distinguish this camera from the six that came before it. You'll only really be able to tell the difference by looking at the upgraded price tag. But... Steve Huff will love it. Jared Polin will review it and then wonder why Nikon doesn't make one to best it. Hugh Brownstone will be amazed. Then confused by it. And finally will order everyone within earshot to: "Hold that thought." Matt Granger will double-switch systems. And Jason Lanier won't have time to test it because.....

Zach Arias will tape white gaffer's tape over the Sony logo and then use a Sharpie to hand draw the Fuji logo on the front. Thom Hogan will pillory it for not having the communications protocols to effortlessly communicate with his Braniac 2000 main frame computer. James Popsys will lust after one but get shut down in his attempt to buy one by Emily. Finally, Ken Rockwell will love it and pronounce its Jpegs to be the sharpest on the planet. Lloyd Chambers will refuse to acknowledge its existence while Ming Thein will start providing RX100VIII specific Curation Workshops. 

 Yes. Of course. I have one on pre-order at Amazon.

Temporarily Paradise. This morning Austin had to be one of the nicest places on earth. And a great morning to swim.

I crawled out of bed, brushed my teeth and grabbed my camera and a clean towel and headed out to go to the pool. When I stepped outside the front door I got somewhat of a shock. The temperature overnight (IN THE MIDDLE OF JULY!!!!!) had gotten down to 61 degrees and even at 8 a.m. the skies were clear, the humidity was low and the thermometers all read 68 degrees. Absolutely amazing. For the last couple of days we've had dry, north winds and unseasonably low temperatures. I know it won't last but I'm savoring every minute of it. 

I hit the pool for the 8 a.m. workout and the water was....perfect. About 80 degrees and crystal clear. I can't even remember what we swam this morning but I did do a lot more backstroke than usual; I just wanted to look up at the small, puffy clouds being overwhelmed by saturated blue skies. Someone must have turned on the universal "Velvia" setting for the central Texas area. Relentless and indiscriminate beauty. 

Now I've swum and received the life giving dose of coffee and I'm heading out the door to have lunch with Andy, the owner of the ATMTX blog. We're meeting about halfway between our offices at a little neighborhood Tex-Mex restaurant and I'm looking forward to this lunch because Andy has joined the dark side of photographers and is currently embracing, and fleshing out, a Fuji X system. But it should all be taken with a grain of salt since he owns well over 50 cameras and bounces around between his inventory of systems as often as I seem to. 

So, what camera and lens is the perfect companion for a nice lunch? I'll say that with the skies as they are today it's got to be the X-E3 with the 23mm f2.0. Small, light and happy. 

Then it's back to the editing grind. But I may push that deadline back and take a sybaritic walk through the city. It's only a matter of time before real Texas weather returns with a vengeance. 

The Rollingwood Pool. Home base for my swimming. 

Lifeguard avoiding 68 degree hypothermia with his jacket. 

Relentless pool cleaning. 

some prefer Barton Springs but that seems a bit "recreational." 

The hardcore. Packed in. 

Capping off with fond memories of swimming in the Skidmore College Pool 

 on various "Parent's Day" visits. A very nice pool. Maybe I should move

there and start a masters program in Saratoga Springs...... it's a thought.