Home

- Pentax Forums

1. pass filter x ooo Pixel mapping Yes x Type construction PENTAX KAF2 bayonet stainless TENS steel mount Usable lenses PENTAX KAF3 KAF2 KAF and KA K mount 35mm screw mount 645 67 med format lenses useable w adapter and or restrictions SDM function Yes o Power zoom function n a Type SAFOX IXi TTL phase detection 11 point 9 FOCUS SYSTEM cross wide autofocus system w light wavelength sen sor and diffraction lens Sensitivity range EV 1 to 18 ISO 100 Focus modes AF A auto AFS single w focus lock focus shutter priority selectable AF C continuous w _ focus FPS priority selectable Manual Focus point adjustment Auto 11 pt Auto 5 pt User selectable w Expanded Area AF Center AF assist Yes via dedicated LED AF assist lamp x Focus peaking Yes n a while video is actively record x Type Pentaprism VIEWFINDER Coverage field of view 100 x Magnification 0 92X w 50mm F1 4 at infinity x Standard focusing screen Natural Bright Matte III in terchangeable Chapter 1 Know your K 50 500 Diopter adjustment 2 5m to 1 5m Depth of field preview Optical diaphragm stop x Type 3 0 TFT color LCD w brightness color adjust LCD MONITOR ment and AR coating Resolution 921 000 dots _ Wide angle viewable Yes j PPPP L M A O A A A A A
2. Everything you need to know and then some AMT ore By Yvon Bourque Table of contents and Foreword I am pleased that you purchased one of our Pentax K 50 K 500 Everything you need to know and then some e book As an enthusiastic photographer for many years I have had many Pentax cameras My first new camera was a Pentax Spotmatic purchased when I was still in Junior High Everything you need to know and then some POU m When Pentax stepped into the Digital SLR market I was delighted Their first few DSLRs The ist series were the smallest DSLRs on the market but were not particu larly special with the 6MP CCD When the K10D was introduced everything changed and Pentax was suddenly a major player The KIOD was a breakthrough in my opinion It had the capabilities of Professional DSLRs with the price of entry level DSLRs It had some unique features found nowhere else at any price In January of 2008 Pentax announced the K20D It was not a revolu tion as the K10D was but it certainly was an evolution of the revolution The K200D and the K2000 KM the K x all followed with no exceptional or marginal improve ments On May 2009 Pentax made history again by in troducing the Pentax K 7 On October 2010 the K 5 is announces as the flagship of the company As I write this e book the K 5 K 5II and K 5IIs are still available and so 1s the K 30 Pentax has just announced the K
3. Setting to Flash White Balance IS t Setting to CIE White Balance SL 99 E Setting to Manual White Balance IS L Setting to Color Temperature White Balance 94 s Fine Tuning White Balance S94 Metering System in Detail 96 77 segment metering system 96 L Multi segment metering de VO L Center weighted metering rt Spotmeterng 0 E Linking AE and AF points 0000 IT 3 Meter Operating Time dde E Bultin Flash y y yaaa J y Flash Compensation Output II L Allowing Flash Shooting While Charging dd l Built in flash distance and aperture 100 5 Calculating Maximum Flash Distance from a Set Aperture 100 Flash Modes oT E Flash om I F Flash on Red Eye ot 102 F Slow Speed SYNC 103 T Slow Speed Sync Red Eye 108 E Trailing Curtain Sync 103 y Wireless Mode LLLIM i Multiple Flashes 2 IM Using the Flash in Tv Shutter Priority Mode LOFT L Using the Flash in Av Aperture Priority Mode 10 L P TTL Mode External Flash LOS 8 Daylight S ync or Full Flash AS _ Focusing System 106 E Selecting AF Point LOT L Catch in FOCUS I Live View 109 Table of contents and Foreword Color Space TT E AE L Button Memorizing Exposure Il E Exposure Bracket Mode te M2 Using multiple exposures on the K 50 K 500 instead of neutral density filters 115 F Remote Control el Drive Modes te ll 1 Single Frame Shooting M E Continuous Shooting Hi amp Lo LTB Self Timer 12 sec TTD t Self Timer 2 sec Mirror
4. Focus Indicator EV Bar ISO display Sensitivity AE Lock AF point Multi exposure Metering method Shake reduction Flash exposure comp EV compensation RAW Raw Appears when flash is available and blinks if flash recommended Appears when manually focusing Shutter speed underlined when adjustable with e dial Aperture underlined when adjustable with e dial Appears when image is in focus Shows EV compensation values Shows the ISO in Manual or Auto Shows the ISO being used Number of recordable images left Appears during AE Lock Appears when AF Selections 1s enabled Appears when Multi exposure enabled Shows metering method Multi segment Center weighted or Spot Appears when Shake reduction enabled Appears when flash compensation used Appears when EV comp available or used or when bracketing Appears when shooting RAW or RAW Page 29 Chapter 1 Know your K 50 500 Yvon Bourque Page 30 Chapter 1 Know your K 50 500 K 50 K 500 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Note The K 500 lacks the electronic level and viewfinder AF points L D x Type CMOS w primary color filter integrated DENDUR _Shake Dust Reduction sensor movement system Size 23 7 x 15 7mm APS C Color depth 8 bits channel JPG 12 bits channel RAW Effective pixels total pixels 16 3 MP 16 5 MP _ Dust Removal Sensor movement w SP coating on low
5. Lock LTD Remote Control Unit A0 E Remote Control Unit 3 sec delay 120 Interval Shooting nr 120 L shake Reduction 21 Dust Removal et IM y Pixel Mapping 000 l2 _ ScreenviewsoffhemenuS A L screen Views of the Rec Mode Menu 12 E Screen Views ofthe Movie Mode Menu 125 E screen Views of the Playback Mode Menu 120 L Screen Views ofthe Set up Mode Menu 1206 Screen Views of the Custom Settings Mode Menu 127 More on Exposure Modes 128 _ P Program Mode DB F Sv Sensitivity Priority Mode B0 i I v Shutter Priority Mode 90 _ Av Aperture Priority Mode BI j TAv Shutter amp Aperture Priority Mode BI M Manual Mode 0 B2 B Bulb Mode 2222 II j UserMode UlandU2 194 E saving settings User Ul andU2 B5 SCN mode 136 Table of contents and Foreword 3 CHAPTER 3 e PROCESSING YOUR K 50 K SOOIMAGES 138 In Camera Processing of Images LBD Editing Images One image or multiple images 199 1 Image Rotation yY y yY yaaa M i Digital Filters 40 i Resize A d Cropping en IM Index eu 4 F Protect 00000 AO slideshow 0 E Save as manual white balance 146 D Save cross processing settings as favorite AMT F RAW development A L Movie dit A E DPOF te M Custom images AO L Using digital imaging software D3 L Printing images y yaaa DS DPOF Digital Print Or
6. MARCH BORSECOURSs E This image is de saturated giving a hint of colors Page 56 rA pe 3 7 Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 How to use your K 50 K 500 You may be a professional photographer you may be an advanced amateur or per haps you are just getting into digital photography This camera has so many features that it 1s up the user to decide how much of the technology is needed to suit his or her needs On one hand it can be a fully auto everything camera giving effortless and excellent results every time On the other hand it can be a fully manual camera challenging your photographic skills but with the benefit of advance electronics double checking your settings just in case The reality 1s t can be customized to fill anyone s photographic requirements Photography has never been this good In this chapter we start from the very beginning and work our way to the advanced features of the camera Just pick and choose which sections suit your skills or pref erences No matter your level of expertise you are apt to learn something new You finally received your K 50 K 500 and you are understandably excited or you are contemplating purchasing a K 50 K 500 Either way this book can help We be lieve that anyone looking for a DSLR in the K 50 K 500 s price range will see what a great value the K 50 K 500 really is It is in my opinion a semi pro camera avail able at a reasonable price If you
7. The K 50 K 500 has an excellent white balance system and it defaults to Auto White Balance AWB Essentially when shooting under either candle light daylight incandescent lights or fluorescent lights the white balance needs to be adjusted so that white objects look white For example shooting under candle light your pho MCheck to would take a reddish tint Under fluorescent MENUIVETITIMEMEINFOLTENENNOK lighting the tint would shift toward green Shooting a snow scene under a bright sun would lean toward blue tint The white balance Is just a Way to adjust your camera to the ambient lighting In the film format cam era days filters were used to achieve similar results More information about white balance is available in this chapter For now let s leave the white balance on auto It is surprisingly accurate most of the time Auto White Balance N f O Fab Be BB cTE Os K AUTO mode The AUTO mode is the easiest of all modes In this mode the camera makes all the important shooting decisions Set the dial mode to AU TO The front and rear e dials are not functioning in this mode The AUTO mode sets the aperture the shutter speed and other parameters automatically ensuring a well balanced photograph according to the following chart Page 67 Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 Aperture Shutter speed EV compensation Auto bracket AE lock Multi exposure and Flash compensation cannot be set in the AUT
8. is in the same time zone as yours By pressing the OK button the Date and Time will be set The World Time menu is located in the Set up menu as well just below the Date Adjust Use the same method to set the world time to oO wr your time zone and city This is great when traveling to Language English Date d mm other countries World Time E Text Size Selle The K 50 K 500 also allows setting the text size to Sound Effects LLL m LCD Display standard or large It s great for tired eyes LCD Display Settings MENU STE World Time Time Setting 4 Language English Date Adjustment World Time LA Text Size Standard Destination Los Angeles sound ETTECTS Large LCD Display LCD Display Settings MENUETA P OKT Page 64 G Hometown Los Angeles MENUR Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 Taking Pictures Picture Quality falij234 Leo A c Custom Image 2 Digital Filter HDR Capture Image Capture Settings AE Metering DExit Image Capture Settings File Format gt JPEG JPEG Recorded Pixels IJ JPEG Quality Jk Color Space s RGB MENU Jens You can start taking pictures right now in the AUTO mode with all of the camera defaults However sooner or later you will want to change some of the default settings and personal ize the camera to your shooting style and preferences Still there are some choices we should make or at least be aware of before we star
9. production ratios of 1X or greater Matrix Metering system An expo sure metering system using a multi segment sensor pattern Maximum aperture The widest aper ture which the diaphragm is capable of opening up to Multi coating The depositing of mul tiple coats of anti reflective materials on a lens surface Reduce ghost imag es and flare produced by internal re flections and insure faithful color ren dition D Neutral Density Usually ap plies on filters that can effective ly reduce the amount of light passing through the lens Itis often used for proper exposure in extremely bright scenes or where slow shutter speed 1s used NTSC National Television Standards Committee Standards for video broadcasting and recording in the US and Japan PAL s the standard in Great Britain Page 270 Appendix verexposure condition In which too much light reaches the CCD producing a very bright image par Moving the camera so that the image of a moving object re mains in the same relative position in the viewfinder as you take a picture The eventual effect creates a strong sense of movement Panorama A broad view usually sce nic PC Personal Computer Pincushion Distortion The opposite of barrel distortion Straight lines are bowed in toward the middle to resem ble the sides of a pincushion Polarizing Filter A filter that trans mits light traveling in one plane while absorbing light traveling in other p
10. the maximum aperture will remain Today most companies manufacture super wide lenses that when converted to a 1 5x factor still gives you a nominal wide angle comparable to a 20mm on up in the 35mm format Wide angle lenses are cheaper than telephotos In our opinion full frame sensors are overrated especially with the new K 50 K 500 The K 50 K 500 uses a Pentax Sony 16 3 meg apixels CMOS sensor adapted by Pentax engineers for the K 50 K 500 drastically reducing the digital noise at high ISO It also allows sizeable cropping Unless you want to print your pictures billboard size at 300dpi resolution the cur rent CMOS sensor will be sufficient to produce stunning pictures and enlargements that were only dreamed of a few years ago The CMOS sensors use less power and produce very little digital noise at higher ISO In the past few years we have seen many brand names in the camera field disap pear Some acquisitions and mergers took place and some companies just abandoned the competitive digital photography market altogether In the past decade two companies appear to have dominated the market and indeed still do There 1s no doubt that they manufacture good products but the brand loyal ty and recognition may have played an important role in their success With Pentax introducing the K 50 K 500 the gap between these two giants 1s narrow er and there is no doubts that Pentax will once again take a greater share of the mar ket with go
11. 400 0 PEG ETE u L g CLIP TRS O SRGB 08 15 2012 10 12PM lt C gt PEG 13 F5 0 50400 m MENU at 4 RGB Histogram Display 102 0010 RGB Histogram Display 102 0010 Dsc Wi 1 sI MENULOE TE MOK duta u3 ps v13_ F5 0 50400 TT No Information Display EG ES N By pressing the Info button the playback shows different information about your image It toggles between the five different display screens Page 74 Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 Histograms Amount of pixels Amount of pixels 255 12 Black Gray White R D E E tos 3 o lt 255 Black White JPEG V125 F5 6 640 Histograms are a digital way to see 1f an Image IS properly exposed shown as a graph The gadget oriented and technical photographers will not keep an image if the exposure histogram is not perfect An image with a less than perfect histogram may still be a prize winning picture because of its com position or subject With that said use the histo eram as a tool to learn how to take properly ex posed pictures The composition in our opinion 1s much more important Essentially the exposure histogram shows the overexposed and underexposed area of your image The histogram horizontal scale measures the brightness from totally black 0 on the left to to tally white 255 on the right The vertical scale measures the amount of pixels of any given shade There is no perfec
12. 50 K 500 It s amazing to me how Pentax keeps breaking barriers The K 50 K 500 has a front and rear e dials which are usually only found on much more expensive cameras It is also weather sealed K 50 on ly and at the current selling price it s unique This book is not about me as a photographer It is about you and what information you will need when us ing this marvel of engineering that the K 50 K 500 is The book complements the Pentax user s manual and explains in simple terms how to use the camera It contains techniques shortcuts explanations tips examples and photographic information applicable to the K 50 K 500 as well as other DSLRs in general We offer the K 50 K 500 book in a downloadable e book form only We save production costs and you save money and get you book much quicker Your feedback is always important to me Yvon Bourque brgyvn gmail com I always appreciate comments from my readers including those who let me know about ty pos misspellings and grammatical errors However please understand that English is not my first language You can always let me know by emailing me directly at lI Table of contents and Foreword Foreword Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Table of Content Know your K 50 K 500 How to use your K 50 K 500 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Processing your images The Pentax System Photography Techniques Chapter 6 Addendum Appendix N HD Video Recording
13. 7 The Ka is identical to Kar without the autofocus drive shaft However it adds a seventh contact for digital information to the KA mount e Crippled Kar mount 1997 The crippled Kar mount removed the mechanical stop down coupler The consequence is that most of the new camera bodies can only use lenses which have an A position on the aperture ring for full compatibility The camera body cannot tell what aperture the lens is set to hence crippled mount e Crippled Kar mount Current The crippled Kam mount is currently found on the K 30 It supports the ex tra features of the Kap mount including two power contacts for the lens Power zoom is preserved and allows for new power Supersonic Direct Drive lenses It lacks a mechanical stop down coupler and can only use stop down metering on pre A lenses Page 262 Appendix I just love my K 50 K 500 Yvon Bourque Page 263 Appendix Glossary dobeRGB 1998 Color Space de signed by Adobe Systems to cover most of the colors attainable on CMYK printers AdobeRGB working space covers about 50 of the visible colors defined by CIE International Commission on Illumination improv ing upon sRGB s gamut Adobe Photoshop Professional digi tal imaging software most popular amongst photographers A simplified version called Elements 1s also availa ble AE Automatic Exposure AE Metering The measurement of brightness to determine exposu
14. A4A AAA A 4 e x Type Retractable P TTL popup flash FLASH Guide number 12m ISO 100 Coverage 28mm wide angle equivalent Flash modes On Redeye Slow Sync Slow Sync Redeye Trailing Curtain Sync Wireless Flash exposure compensation 2 to 1 EV 1 2 steps __ x Type Hot shoe P TTL high speed sync and wireless EXTERNAL FLASH w PENTAX dedicated flash VYSEESVRREREFFRRERERRRRERERRRRERERERRERERERRERERRRRIRERRRRIRIRRRRIRIRRRRIRIMRRRTREFRRREREERRREREERRRERERRRRERERRRRRERRRRRERRRRERERRRRERERRRRERERERRERERRRRIRIFERRrrrbr LeCercererer rere ece ree eeerer revere reer er NE EE ONE EE LESE EE NE ERR ERES EN EUER SENE ERE ent onc a ss essieu SN SEINE IN OZINE IN CIUS LIU ENS NN SEEDS ss sous sors EE EN ERE ERE FER SERE REE ERR ERE EE eee esse ess rene esse en es rene es rene esse ess roses rene N es rene Nes rene es rene es rene eS rc du etes ef Internal memory n a STORAGEMEDIA Removable memory SD SDHC SDXC Ports USB 2 0 hi speed AV out cable switch eRe Video out NTSC PAL Microphone Built in monaural x Power source Rechargeable Li Ion battery D LI109 POWER SUPPLY included AA batteries sold separately Recordable images Li Ion approx 480 410 w 50 flash CIPA AA lithium approx 1600 1000 w 50 flash CIPA Playback time Li Ion approx 270 min AA lithium approx 620 min Movie recording time 25 min m
15. Additional Information Glossary IH Table of contents and Foreword Yvon Bourque PENTAX K 50 K 500 Everything you need to know and then some Foreword IV Table of contents and Foreword All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced on any form or by any means or stored in database or retrieval system without prior written permission Making copies of any part of this book for any purpose other than your own personal use is a violation of the United States and International copyright laws Text O 2013 Yvon Bourque Photography 2013 Yvon Bourque except where noted This book is sold as is printed or in e book format without any warranty of any kind either ex pressed or implied respecting the contents of this book including but not limited to implied war ranties for book s quality performance merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose The author nor dealers or distributors shall be liable to the purchaser or any other person or enti ty with respect to any liability loss or damage caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this book All terms or Company names mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been carefully and appropriately noted The author cannot attest to the accuracy of this information The contents of this book are strictly the view of the writer The explanat
16. Bypass Rever _sal Film Monochrome Cross Processing Green simplified mode available n a Face detection available Yes PASMB P A S M B extended modes Sv TAv Date stamp n a Digital filters capture Extract Color Toy Camera Retro High Contrast Shading Invert Color Color Dynamic range adjustment Highlight shadow Digital level Viewfinder horizontal LCD horizon tal vertical SR auto level function File Folder customization Folder name standard date file name standard customizable embed copy Mode selection Single Continuous Hi Lo Self DRIVE MODES Timer 12s 2s Remote Os 3s continuous Auto Bracketing 3 frames standard timer remote Continuous FPS Continuous Hi Approx 6 0 FPS 30 JPG 5 RAW Continuous Lo Approx 3 0 FPS unlimited JPG 10 RAW Multi exposure 2 9 shots auto exposure adjustment Interval 999 shots 3 sec to 24 hr interval time delay HDR Auto HDR 1 HDR 2 HDR 3 pixel alignment exposure bracket 1 3 EV 1 1 steps Cable switch Yes available separately x Mode selection One Shot no data basic data full da PLAYBACK MODES t color channel histogram bright dark indication copyright info Multi Image Display 4 9 16 36 81 thumbnails Magnification up to 16X scrollable Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 Chapter 2 PENTAX How to use your K 50 K 5000 Page 55 Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500
17. Exit Nederlands T rk e MENU Oe or EI dealers The first time you turn the camera switch on it will go di rectly to the language screen The language setting menu is also available by press ing the menu button and by pushing the four way controller horizontally gt until the Set up menu appears At that point press the four way controller downward M un til the Language option highlights Again using the four way controller push horizontally to the right and then ver tically or downward n M until the language of your choice highlights By pressing Page 63 Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 the OK button the language will be set It looks like sixteen languages are available That s plenty for me I can handle English and French Date and Time The Date and Time setting 1s available in the Set up menu by pressing the menu button and by pushing Date Adjustment I the four way controller Language WAM PAGE horizontally M until the Date Adjustment Set up menu appears World Time tas Date 08 10 2012 At that point press the sound Effects Time ween four way controller LCD Display Settings complete downward M until the LOD Display Settings Date Adjustment option CEUDEXit Gap Cancel is highlighted Again using the four way controller push to the right Navigate up and down n left EI and right gt until you set the year month day and time to your time zone Choose a City that
18. Foreword and Table of contents Chapter 1 Know your K 50 K 500 is dedicated to the general specifications of the K 50 K 500 and the review of the many functions of the camera in general Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 explains the multiple functions of the K 50 K 500 and includes many pictures and illustrations It clarifies the use of the camera s functions from screen menus to actual buttons and switches There are no simple icons on this camera mode dial except for scene mode which really makes it easy to shoot like a Pro without being a Pro The advantage of this camera is that you can tailor its operability to your liking or photographic skills The three basic shooting elements Aperture Shutter Speed and the Sensitivity ISO are all adjusta ble with the K 50 K 500 in ways that will make the competition rethink their ap proach It will not be long before other manufacturers try to mimic the K 50 K 500 Chapter 3 Processing your K 50 K 500 Images is a brief review on how to ma nipulate your images within the camera as well as with a computer This topic alone is worthy of a book by itself and there are indeed many books on Digital Imaging readily available Pentax software and other digital imaging software such as Pho toshop Lightroom and Elements as well as Apple s Aperture are briefly visit ed The possibilities are endless and are only limited by your ability or desire to manipulate and post process your
19. In Release priority the shutter can be released even if the subject in not in focus Focus priority is great if you are following a moving subject Release priority is more practical when focusing on a stationary subject with all kind of movements around the subject Page 62 Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 Adjusting the Viewfinder Diopter Since we do not all have 20 20 vision the K 50 K 500 has a built in Diopter adjustment It is easier to adjust the Diopter by removing the eye cup located over the viewfinder but it 1s not absolutely necessary The Di opter Adjustment slider is located just above the viewfinder Turn the camera on and use the Autofocus button or press the shutter release button halfway while the camera is in AF S mode Once the subject in the camera viewfinder is in focus slide the adjustment slider to the left or right until your viewing eye sees a perfectly focused subject From this point on unless someone else uses your camera the viewfinder will be adjusted for your unique eyesight Language You are reading this II Manual written in Eng IM RATE lish and you re in luck SCT Tinte sten as the default language Deutsch Suomi is English at least for Language English Date Adjustment World Time Espa ol Polski Portugu s e tina the cameras sold Italiano Magyar through authorized U S a Text Size Standard Sound Effects T DIC LCD Display LCD Display Settings D
20. O Mode Although many other options and settings are still available the current settings are fine for almost any photographic situation In fact the current settings are similar to a very good point and shoot camera only better That 1s to say that you could leave these settings as they are and just use the K 50 K 500 as a point and shoot camera Your pictures should always be of high quality with little effort You are now ready to take pictures In the AUTO mode Try shooting your first pic ture s outside during daylight That will work best Chances are that the lighting will be sufficient and the flash will not be needed Find your subject and while look ing in the viewfinder press the shutter release button halfway while composing your picture The camera autofocus comes on and confirms when in focus with a beep and a red illuminated box in the viewfinder The information shown next page is displayed in the viewfinder Page 68 Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 If the lighting 1s insufficient the flash indicator blinks You may need to use the flash by pressing the flash up button The K 50 K 500 sets the shutter speed the automatically The K 50 K 500 sets the Aperture the automatically The Focus indicator is on when you are in focus You also hear a confirmation beep and the focus point illuminates If the Shake Reduction SR is on it will appear in the viewfinder With the Electronic Level activa
21. RRRRERRRRRRRRRRARRRRRRARRRRRPARRERRSRRERERRBRRRERRERRNRRESRRRERAPARRNCRNAE Auto 100 51200 1 1 1 2 1 3 steps Manual 100 ISOSENSITIVITY 51200 1 1 1 2 1 3 steps 0 x Type Image sensor detection w light wavelength sen x WHITE BALANCE sor assist Auto preset modes Auto Daylight Shade Cloudy Fluorescent D N W L Tungsten Flash CTE Manual mode s 3 manual and 3 Kelvin temperature presets copy WB settings from a captured image avail able WB fine adjustment 7 steps A B axis or G M axis _ x Type Electronically controlled vertical run focal SHUTTER plane shutter Shutter speed 1 6000 to 30 sec 1 3 or 1 2 steps Bulb x Mode selection Hyper Program P Sensitivity Priori CAPTURE MODES ty Sv Shutter Priority Tv Aperture Priority Av Shutter amp Aperture Priority TAv Hyper Manual M Bulb B User U1 U2 Scene SCN Auto Picture AUTO Movie Auto Picture modes Standard Portrait Landscape Macro Moving Object Night Scene Portrait Night Scene Blue Sky Forest Chapter 1 Know your K 50 500 jS Scene modes Portrait Landscape Macro Moving Ob ject Night Scene Portrait Sunset Blue Sky Forest Night Scene Night Scene HDR JPG Night Snap Food Pet Kids Surf amp Snow Backlight Silhouette Candlelight Stage Lighting Museum Custom Image modes Bright Natural Portrait Land _ scape V brant Radiant Muted Bleach
22. SERRE RER PEEP EI TT PRET SI TS TS E EIEE EIE ES ES TS TI EEE LENS MOUNT gt All LENSES F LENSES A LENSES FUNCTION DA DFA 3I FAFAJ FA L Autofocus Available Available Not Available x Manual Focus Available Available Available L Eleven Auto Focus Points Available Available Center Only _ PowerZoon KAF2Lenses Not Available Not Available Aperture Priority Auto Exposure Available Available Available Shutter Priority Auto Exposure Available Available Available L Manual Exposure Available Available Available i P TTL Auto Flash Available Available Available L 16 Multi Segment Metering Available Available Available Auto Focal Length with SR Available Available Not Available With Built in flash AF360FGZ AFS40FGZ and AF200FG flash units The chart above can be a little confusing and does not reflect Pentax s 100 back ward compatibility claim with all their lenses produced in the last fifty years I am referring to the twenty four million lenses sold worldwide The fact is that all lenses can indeed be used with the use of adapters and a little creative use of the Pentax K 50 K 500 1 The K Mount Manual lenses can be used See Chapter 4 2 The M42 Screw mount lenses can be used See Chapter 4 3 The Medium Format lenses 645 amp 6x7 can be used See Chapter 4 Page 260 Appendix Pentax lens mount facts Pentax s first lens mount was a screw mount ty
23. and back ground Bounce Lighting Flash or tungsten light bounced off a reflector such as the ceiling or walls or attachment that fits on the flash to give the effect of natural or available light Bracketing Taking a series of photo graphs of the same subject at different exposures or settings to insure the cor rect exposure Useful when shooting in situations where a normal metering reading is difficult to obtain Bulb A mode that lets you take long exposure such as night photography C shake Movement of cam era caused by unsteady hold or Page 265 Appendix support vibrations The K 50 K 500 has shake reduction feature CCD Charge Coupled Device Elec tronic sensor used by many digital cameras capable of detecting subject contrast Some cameras use a CMOS Chromatic aberration The inability of a lens to bring all wavelengths of light into the same plane of focus Can be corrected through the use of low dispersion ED LD SD glass Close Up Lens A lens attachment placed in front of a camera lens to permit taking pictures at a closer dis tance CMOS Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor Electronic sensor used by the K 50 K 500 capable of detect ing subject contrast Some cameras use a CCD Coated Lens A lens covered with a very thin layer of transparent material that reduces the amount of light re flected by the surface of the lens Color Balance How a media repro duces the colors of a s
24. ated TTL flash unit exposure compensation can also be performed by varying the amount of flash output Exposure Meter An instrument with a light sensitive cell that measures the light reflected from or falling on a sub Ject Extension tubes Metal tubes used to obtain the addi tional separation between lens and camera for close up photography var ious lens mounts Page 267 Appendix number The numbers on the lens aperture ring or the camera s LCD that indicate the relative size of the lens aperture opening The f number series is a ge ometric progression based on changes in the size of the lens aperture as it 1s opened and closed As the scale rises each number is multiplied by a factor of 1 4 The standard numbers for Cali bration are f 1 0 f 1 4 f 2 f 2 8 f 4 f 5 6 f 8 fI 11 f 16 f 22 fl32 etc Each change results in a doubling or halving of the amount of light trans mitted by the lens to the film or CCD plane f stop The increase or decrease of f number size 1n available stops Fill flash A method of flash photog raphy that combines flash illumination and ambient light in order to obtain balanced exposure Filter Colored glass or other transpar ent material used over the lens to em phasize eliminate or change the color or density of the entire scene or certain areas within a scene Finder Also known as viewfinder A viewing device on a camera to show the subject area that will be reco
25. atus screen 8 Control Panel le o 2 Battery installation removal 0 i Installing removing memory card 0 l Installing removing lenses 000 OL 3 Turning the cameraon OD Focusing 000 02 Adjusting the viewfinder diopter 08 Language I LE Date and me ei OA L Taking pictures 00000 OD Picture Quality ie ON Shake reduction V0 j White balance UM a AUTO mode er O i Your first Picture lu W Instantreview 4 00000 I9 L The Menus lu 2 Setting playback display oo Histograms TS Preview method MO F Digital preview 0000 a M 8 Image rotation I 2 Image file format MO B JPEG file sizes and quality TB F RAW E el 19 y Why not take the plunge to RAW files 90 E RAW Mode Explained ot O I Shooting and Saving in RAW ee 80 L Shooting and Saving in JP G 080 Differences Between RAW and JPEG 5 E Why Shoot JPEG OL I Why Shoot RAW US summary RAW JPEG OA 8 RAW FxButton rT ss I Button Customization el O Setting Sensitivity SO OS Setting EV and ISO Incremental Steps 88 Table of contents and Foreword L White Balance Adjustments 2 89 E White Balance Menu te VU White Balance Settings te dE i Setting tOAWB 00M Setting to Daylight White Balance DT Setting to Shade White Balance TT J E Setting to Cloudy White Balance DD L Setting to Fluorescent White Balance 0 92 T Setting to Tungsten White Balance DD
26. ax time per clip AC adapter available Yes sold separately x Body dimensions W x H x D 129mm x 96 5mm x PHYSICAL SPECS 70mm x Body weight without battery or removable memory 590g Loaded and ready 6508 Primary construction material s Reinforced polycar bonate over stainless steel chass s Chapter 1 Know your K 50 500 Operating temperature 14 104 F 10 to 40 C Ruggedized features Fully weather sealed throughout o body cold proof 0 English French German Spanish Portuguese Italian LANGUAGE SUPPORT Dutch Danish Swedish Finnish Polish Czech Hun x Type Sensor shift SR w rotational compensation 3 IMAGE STABILIZATION stops max x Type TTL open aperture 77 segment metering METERING SYSTEM Sensitivity range EV 0 to 22 ISO 100 50mm F1 4 Metering patterns multi center spot Multi 77 Cen ter Spot Exposure compensation 5 EV 1 3 and 1 2 steps Exposure lock Yes x Exposure bracketing 3 frames up to 2 EV in1 3or 1 2 steps x WESRCRRRRRRRRRRRSRRRRARSREARARSRARRRSARARRRERRARRRRRRRRRRERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRERRRRXRSASRRARSARRRRRSARRRARSARRRARSARRRRRNRIRRRR RIRRERRPIR ERR SR ARS SR ERERRRERARRERRSRERRRRRRERESRERERRRRERRRRRESRIRRRRSRERRRRRARRERERRRRRARSRERERRRRRRER RRERKRRRRRRERRRRRRERRRRRRRRRRRRRRARKRRRRRRERRRRRERRRRRRRKRRRRRRRRRRRARERRNEARKRRRRERRERR ARR ERERRRRENERRERERERRRRERERRSRERERRRRRREARSRERERERRIRERRSRRRRRRRRERRRRRRRRERRSRRRRRR
27. cated on the top right side of the camera when holding it in shooting position You can try to sweet talk to 1t or stroke its top gently but I doubt it will turn your camera on It s better just to turn the switch to the ON position Don t be too concerned if you forget to turn the cam era off It will turn itself off after 1 minute default setting or the shut off time you program in the Set up menu It can be set betweenl and 30 minutes However it will not turn off automatically in Live View Slide show playback or when the camera is connected to a computer via a USB cable Focusing You can focus manually or let the camera focus automatically The focus mode lev er is used to set the focus mode The choices are AF S Autofocus single AF C Autofocus con tinuous and MF Manual Focus If the installed lens is a manual focus lens the setting 1s naturally MF If the lens installed 1s an Autofocus lens you can set the AF to single or continuous In AF S while pressing the shutter release halfway focus on your subject Once in focus it is locked in that position as long as you keep the shutter release pressed halfway In AF C while pressing the shutter release halfway focus on your subject As the subject moves the focus changes accordingly With the K 50 K 500 the Auto Focus can be pro erammed to have Focus priority or Release priority In Focus priority the shutter cannot be released until the subject 1s in focus
28. cene Also see White balance Color temperature Description of the color of a light source It is usually expressed in Kelvin K Daylight has a color temperature of about 5500K Composition The pleasing arrange ment of the elements within a scene Contrast The range of difference in the light to dark areas of an 1mage CPU Central Processing Unit The electronic component that controls an electronic product s functions Essen tially all automatic cameras have at least a CPU to control various func tions of the cameras Some top models have three to five CPU to handle indi vidual task functions Cropping Printing or saving only part of an image usually for a more pleas ing composition edicated Flash A fully automatic flash that works only with specif ic cameras Depth of Field The zone of acceptable sharpness in front of and behind the subject on which the lens 1s focused The wider the aperture or the longer the focal length or the closer the fo cused distance the less the depth of field Diaphragm An adjustable device in side the lens which is similar to the iris Page 266 Appendix in the human eye Continuously ad Justable from wide open to stopped down It controls the amount of light allowed to pass through the lens Digital Single Lens Reflex DSLR Camera A type of digital camera that allows seeing through the camera s lens when composing a picture Double Exposure Two pictures taken
29. ch Green button EV compensation Mode dial Hot shoe Diopter adjustment Chapter 1 Know your K 50 500 gne YP TER AU d Loop for the camera strap Retractable P TTL with guide number 12 100 m Rotate to turn the camera on or off Resets the values being adjusted Press to adjust EV compensation with the rear e dial Changes the exposure mode To mount external flash Adjusts the viewfinder to suit your eyesight Page 25 Chapter 1 Know your K 50 500 33 Battery housing Batteries are housed here 34 1 4 Tripod Socket Attachment for tripod 35 Battery Lithium ion D LI109 rechargeable battery 36 AA battery adapter Allows the use of easy to find AA batteries Page 26 Chapter 1 Know your K 50 500 37 Focus mode lever Switches between AF single continuous and manual 38 Raw Fx button For activating assignable function 39 UP button Press the UP button to pop the built in flash up 40 USB video terminal Connects the camera to a computer 41 Cable release terminal Connection for remote control 42 Memory card slot cover Uses SD SDHC and SDXC Memory cards Page 27 Chapter 1 Know your K 50 500 Information you see in the viewfinder erre SO XXE 4 AUTO LIL LI Pr wu rI Ag y LIP X 4 RAW Page 28 Chapter 1 Know your K 50 500 Viewfinder available Information in details Flash status Manual Focus Shutter speed Aperture Value
30. der Format 199 L Pentax Supplied Software 000 0 CHAPTER4eTHEPENTAXSYSTEM rr Y 158 E Short Pentax History 199 l The Pentax DSLRS 0 4 Optional Accessories for the K 50 K 500 I External Flash Units LOS l AFSAOFGZ Features Y yC yaaa 16060 2 AF300FGZ Features OU 2 New AFS40FGZIL amp AF360FGZH 0 1108 5 Specifications y y Yy YK er LOD AF200FG Features 00 172 E AFIOOFC Features D L Remotes 174 t Remote Control F UI i Remote Control Waterproof O RCT 4 I Cable Switch CS 205 UI AC Adapter US i Viewfinder accessories ot 0 Right Angle Viewfinder 7 Lenses Compatibility TB E DA Lenses eu DA Lenses 184 Table of contents and Foreword i FA Lenses still available 186 E DFAlenss YT D FAJLenses ol 885 b FALenses el LOU E K Mount Manual A Lenses GB K Mount Manual M Lenses LIS M425crew Mount Manual Lenses 0 97 L Medium Format Lenses y y y yY 198 CHAPTER5ePHOTOGRAPHY TECHNIQUES 2001 Aperture Scale Explained ot 2050 E shutter Speed Scale Explained 204 ISO Value Scale Explained 205 Combining All Three Elements with the K 50 K 500 205 Adjustments to Consider e 208 E Photography Techniques oo 207 Rule of Thirds QOD L Close Up un A Flowers A S S Leading Lines eo M2 E Panoramic Pictures AMAB Black amp White ZI Selective Focusing 00000 2106 _ Children QT Sl
31. eight Auto Bracket Auto exposure bracket that performs automatic exposure bracketing with varied shutter speeds or apertures Autofocus AF Setting by which the camera automatically focuses on a se lected part of the picture It can be any of the 11 Autofocus sensors Automatic camera A camera with a built in exposure system that automat ically adjusts the aperture shutter speed or both Automatic exposure system that measures lighting conditions and ad Just settings automatically for proper exposure Artificial light A light source non existent in nature such as man made incandescent or fluorescent lights Av The Aperture value usually refer ring to aperture settings Bulb Setting A shutter speed setting that allows for time expo sures The shutter stays open as long as the shutter release button remains depressed Backlighting Light behind the sub Ject projecting toward the camera lens Barrel Distortion Straight lines that are bowed in at the edges of the pic ture frame resembling the sides of a barrel It is mostly present in wide angle lenses Balance See White balance Balanced Fill Flash A type of TTL auto flash operation which uses the camera s exposure meter to control ambient light exposure settings inte erated with flash exposure control That is flash output level 1s automati cally compensated to balance with ambient light resulting in a better ex posure for both subject
32. ent career shingle for one stating Yvon Bourque Photographer With perseverance all is possible von Bourque Photographer Z VI Table of contents and Foreword TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD TV CHAPTER 1 e KNOW YOUR K 50 K 500 21 i Nomenclature iQ L Information you see in the viewfinder 0 28 K 50 K 500 Technical specifications oo Sl R Here what s special about the K 50 K 500 30 3 Quick rundown SO F A little more details de Highlighting some of the K 50 K 500 general features 40 g Resolution A E The Sony CMOS sensor 0 000 UM i Exclusive image processor AD Dust removal system 5 00000 AD l Exceptional shake reduction system AB L Dust and humidity resistance A L File formats id E Pentaprism viewfinder nn A6 Focusing system A E Metering system Zar t L e 48 L Exposure modes oi A AUTO I I I A f Movie a 5 4 P Program de 22200 n Sv Sensitivity priority mode DU I v Shutter priority mode 0 f Av Aperture priority mode dl E TAv Shutter and Aperture priority mode N F M Manual mode dl F B Bulb mode UR I USER modes Ul and U2 ed 2 SCN Scene mode I Program line setup 53 VII Table of contents and Foreword CHAPTER 2 e HOW TO USE YOUR K 50K S00 55 E How to use your amp 50 K 500 OT i Guide display 2 L St
33. g and focusing Allows AF with the Supersonic Drive Motor SDM lenses Also used for power zoom on some older FA lenses Handles the AF drive between the lens and K 50 K 500 Press to install or remove lens Page 23 Chapter 1 Know your K 50 500 1 ISO OK ase f WB MENU PENTAX 3 LCD monitor Displays exposed pictures allows access to menus ERASE button Press to delete current picture 11 Live view button Initiate Live view mode 12 Viewfinder If you don t know what this is for abandon photography 13 Diopter adjustment Adjusts the viewfinder to suit your eyesight 14 Rear e dial Changes set values Customizable 15 AF AE L Button Select to work as AF button or to lock the exposure value 16 Play button gt Press to see pictures on LCD screen 17 Four way Controller Four way controller as up button a to change ISO 18 Four way Controller Four way controller as right button or to change shooting mode 19 OK button Press to save setting from menu Selects metering point 20 Card access lamp Hluminates or blinks when SD card is accessed 21 Menu Press to activate Menu modes on the LCD monitor 22 Four way Controller Four way controller down as button M or change White Balance 23 Info button Press to view info of current photo on the LCD 24 Four way Controller Four way controller as left button lt or to access Flash settings Page 24 Strap Lugs 2 Built in flash Main swit
34. haven t done so you should perhaps read the preceding chapter first In this way you can learn and appreciate some of the camera strongest features As you read this book refer to the nomenclature often until you are thoroughly familiar with all parts of your camera Navigate through menus of the camera with the four way controller shown here and illustrated in this book as F for up M for down E for left and ff for right The same buttons Direct keys are also used to access the ISO settings a the Flash modes E White Balance settings K and the Drive modes aM The OK acknowledgement button 1s 1n the center Page 57 Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 EJ indicates special notes or comments Many of the K 50 K 500 features and functions are available directly from the status screen without having to navigate through pages of menus This was intro duced with the K 7 and some users of the previous Pentax DSLRs will appreciate this convenient feature The Guide Display Turn the camera on and rotate the mode dial to Av The following screen appears for a few seconds In this example the Mode being used Is Av A snapshot of the current settings is shown The front e dial 1s not used and the rear Av sss e dial changes the aperture The RAW Fx button Aperture Priority is set to One Push File Format and to RAW a EXpoRIG The AF AE L 1s set to AFI allowing Auto Fo ABrm ER S us cus by pressing the AF AE I but
35. he film or CCD producing a dark image UV Ultra violet ray Beyond the visi ble spectrum It is invisible electro magnetic radiation of the sunlight hite balance While shooting adjustment of color temperature to match the light source so the subject appears to have correct color Page 272 Appendix Follow your bliss Page 273
36. images XVI Table of contents and Foreword Chapter 4 The Pentax System is dedicated to the Pentax System Pentax is truly the only manufacturer with 100 backward compatibility It includes all lenses ever manufactured by Pentax both 35mm and medium formats There are about twenty five million plus genuine Pentax lenses out there There are probably that many more lenses manufactured by companies such as Tamron Sigma Tokina and other brands Currently available accessories are also covered and explained in this chapter Chapter 5 Photography Techniques is full of techniques and example pictures along with some suggestions on composition Chapter 6 HD Video recording is dedicated to the HD video capabilities of the K 50 K 500 This new generation of DSLRs with still pictures and HD video capa bilities 1s changing the digital photography landscape It opens up new possibilities It is going to be very popular for documenting and photojournalistic approach to your undertakings Addendum is comprised of additional K 50 K 500 functions last minute changes revisions to software or firmware and any additional information found to be useful at the time of writing Appendix section includes menu setting tables factory default tables lens compati bility chart mount types and an index to guide you through this book XVII Table of contents and Foreword Check our Pentax Blog The Blo apet we constantl
37. ing conditions and of course how steady you hold the camera It Is easier to set the shake reduction A aies mm in the Control Panel by navigating with the four way Slow Shutter Speed NR AUTO Composition Ad just controller I leave the SR on most of the time except ri cage when panning or when using a tripod The SR setting Shake Reduction fol on or off can also be set in the Rec menu The SR Ce system on the K 50 K 500 not only compensate for MENUTSE TT M O horizontal and vertical shake it also compensate for rotation Here are some additional tips on handholding your K 50 K 500 Hold your K 50 K 500 in a firm but relaxed grip with your right hand on the camera and the left cradling the lens This works for all focal lenses Tuck your arms toward your boy Leave your index finger ready to half press or trigger the shutter release Plant your feet apart for a steady stand If there is available support such as a wall or a tree nearby lean against it and anchor yourself firmly Breathe in a regular rhythm and trigger the shutter mid breath make it a habit to take at least two consecutive shots of the same scene as when you depress the shutter release once and keep is depressed there are less risks of shaking the camera with your index finger movement Finally remember that it is always better to use a tripod or monopod when ever possible Page 66 Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 White Balance
38. ion and suggestions as to the operation of the equipment as such is derived from the author s own experience and con clusions The accuracy of the instructional articles has not been verified by the respective manu facturers This book is not associated with Ricoh Pentax or its affiliates The author is not endorsing any equipment manufacturers nor is the author being compensated by any manufacturer for the editorial content of this book Any text resembling any other published material is coincidental as this book is focused on the teachings of the use of the equipment which is derived from the manufacturer s instructions The book is written whenever possible in a non technical manner and is geared toward entry level and amateur photographers although some material may be useful to professionals Pentax is a trademark of Ricoh Pentax Corporation and its affiliates Photoshop Lightroom and Elements are trademarks of Adobe Written in the USA All rights reserved Copyright O 2013 Yvon Bourque INN ui 090065 V 1 780985 Table of contents and Foreword About the Author Back when most of his classmates were dealing with erowing up the author was nurturing a serious enthusi asm for photography Son of a Montreal carpenter he enrolled in photography courses soaked up theory bought his first camera shot rolls of film and learned how to develop and print All this was before leaving junior high school He had man
39. l Single Lens Reflex DSLR cameras It has taken many years to get where we are today but dig ital 1s here to stay Some of you probably never used a film camera before It wasn t all that long ago when a top DSLR with a sensor in the 2 megapixels range was costing the consumers nearly five thousand dollars or more For a while as soon as you spent thousands of dollars for a top of the line DSLR it was replaced within months with a new and better model I am sure that some of you remember these times of tribulation The market as this book is written has stabilized and the norm in a non professional DSLR is now around the 12 to 25 megapixels 25 megapixels and above for most professional DSLR cameras All are enough to produce very good enlargements up to about 16 x 20 and beyond Full size roughly 36mm x 24mm or the same size as a 35mm frame sensors are available on many DSLRs The per ceived advantage of full frame 1s that you can use your 35mm format lenses without any correction factor Pentax 1s using a smaller sized sensor APS C roughly 24mm x 16mm requiring a correction factor of around 1 5 to 35mm format lenses If you XIV Table of contents and Foreword shoot with telephoto lenses it works to your advantage as a 200mm f 2 8 lens acts like a 300mm f 2 8 telephoto at no additional cost We know that a 300mm f 2 8 tel ephoto lens is very expensive The downside is that wide angle lenses will no longer perform as such but
40. lanes When placed on a camera lens it can eliminate reflections from a sub Ject such as water It also darkens blue skies Print A positive picture usually on paper Program Exposure An exposure mode on an automatic or autofocus camera that automatically sets both the aperture and the shutter speed for proper exposure GB The red green and blue Black is simulated color CMYK is the four primary colors An attribute of per ceived color or the percentage of hue in a color Scale Focusing method consisting of set of marks to indicate distances at which a lens 1s focused Screen In a camera the surface upon which the lens projects an image for view finding and focusing purposes In most DSLR cameras a fresnel screen 1s used Selective Focus Choosing a lens open ing that produces a shallow depth of field It is used to isolate a subject by causing most other elements in the scene to be blurred Self timer Mechanism delaying the opening of the shutter for some sec onds after the release has been operat ed Sensitivity Sensitivity to light and measures m ISO Sharpness A term used to describe the ability of a lens to render fine details clearly Shutter Blades a curtain or other movable cover in a camera that con Page 271 Appendix trols the time during which light reaches the film or CCD Shutter Priority An exposure mode on an automatic or autofocus camera that lets you select the desi
41. lb B Mode Options MENU Right Custom Settings menu CEIDEXit Before continuing with the different shooting modes embedded in the K 50 K 500 let s spend some time reviewing and understanding what the camera options are The camera can be customized to your own preferences or shooting style You can apply 23 custom settings to your camera via the Custom Settings menu 21 with the K 500 In addition there are other screen accessible menus They are the Record menu the Movie menu the Playback menu and the Set up menu That is not counting the dozens of settings accessible directly from buttons switches and dials all located on the camera body and easy to reach instantly Some options are also available through the Status Screen and the Control Panel screen Page 72 Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 As you get acquainted with all the menus and the camera mounted controls you will become a better photographer The K 50 K 500 is a great example of what modern technology can achieve There s never been a better time to be passionate about photography There s never been a better time to become a Pentaxian Setting Playback Display The image displays can be set with many parameters Press the Menu button Using the four way control slideshow ler navigate J to the Playback menu Navigate Quick Zoom Off Bright Dark Area down to the options menu The options are Auto Image Rotation M Bright Dark area Quick Zoom and A
42. lect Battery WD f Status screen colorscheme 290 2 Stay In leve 000 W APPENDIX 258 L Lens Compatibility Chart er 200 E Pentax Lens Mount Facts 201 Glossary 264 XIII Table of contents and Foreword Foreword I wrote this book for all users of the Pentax K 50 K 500 No matter what your expe rience level is you will find something useful in this book Less than a few decades ago most amateur and professional photographers alike were using film cameras for their picture taking Within the film cameras several formats were used The general public and a good number of professionals used the 35mm format A select few preferred using medium and large format cameras main ly because of the size of the negatives Larger negatives rendered better pictures better colors and fantastic enlargements Film cameras had evolved to very sophisti cated instruments and took great pictures It S no wonder that almost every family owned a 35mm camera When the first digital cameras started to appear the quality was less than desirable but the potential was certainly there For several years many photography maga zines were debating whether or not the digital cameras would replace film based cameras Over time the quality has so 1mproved that today in our opinion digital cameras exceed the quality of film based cameras Of course we are comparing the 35mm and medium format film cameras with the new breed of Digita
43. lens 1s set at its infinity position Interchangeable lens Lens designed to be readily attached to and detached from a camera Iris diaphragm Device consisting of thin overlapping metal leaves pivoting outwards to form a circular opening of variable size to control light transmis sion through a lens Page 269 Appendix ISO Speed The international standard for representing sensitivity The higher the number the greater the sensitivity IF Internal Focusing System K 50 K 500 Revolutionary Digi tal camera introduced by Pentax Kelvin A scale use to measure the color temperature CD Liquid Crystal Display An electronically generated text nu meric symbols and images Lens One or more optical glass or similar material designed to collect and focus rays of light to form a sharp image film or CCD Lens Shade A collar or hood at the front of a lens that keeps unwanted light from striking the lens and causing image flare Lens Speed The largest lens opening at which a lens can be set A fast lens transmits more light and has a larger maximum aperture than a slow lens Long focus Lens of relatively long focal length designed to provide a nar rower angle of view M Lens A lens that provides continuous focusing from infin ity to extreme close ups Micro lens A lens for close up pho tography Macro photography The process of taking photographs of small objects with regular photographic lenses at re
44. ly a 32gig SDHC card Page 60 Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 Installing Removing Lenses The K 50 K 500 uses Pentax KAF or K mount lenses All camera exposure settings and Autofocus modes are available when using DA DA D FA and FA J lenses ppm OFT oco In general when using 35mm format K mount manual A lenses most functions are still gt available in manual mode ex 7 cept for the autofocus When using 35mm format K mount or K mount manual M lenses most functions are available in manual mode except for the autofocus and for the auto aperture You will have to stop down the lens to your desired aperture before taking the picture ye vU xwiNaSo gt The M42 lenses also known as screw mount lenses will work with some re strictions and will need an M42 to K mount adapter Medium format lenses for 645 and 67 will work with some limitations using an adapter as well You can use any of the mil j lions of lenses ever manufactured by Pentax to unum some degree You i can see the lens compatibility In the Appendix sec tion of this book To install a lens align the red dots on the camera and on the lens Push in and turn the lens clockwise until it clicks in position To remove the lens first push and hold the lens unlock button and turn the lens counterclockwise Page 61 Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 Turning the Camera on The main On Off switch 1s lo
45. mprovement over previous Pentax DSLRs It s almost like having dedicated buttons for all settings When taking pictures the scene condi tions can change rapidly You may need to modify some setting quickly to adjust to the scene condition This faster method of activation can make the difference be tween getting and missing a great photo opportunity The items that cannot be changed in this camera settings are not highlighted and therefore cannot be select ed Battery The camera uses a Pentax rechargeable lithium ion battery D LI109 or four AA batteries With the optional battery holder D BH109 Other manufacturers may of fer comparable batteries at a cheaper price Make sure it is compatible with the camera and the charger before using an off brand battery In this writer s opinion it is always safer to use OEM equipment You should recharge the bat tery before you use it for the first time Connect the AC plug cord to the battery charger and then plug the AC cord to a power outlet Slip the battery in the charger face down The battery will lock in place The Pentax Charger shows a green LED while the battery is charging The LED goes off only when the battery 1s fully charged Page 59 Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 Battery Installation Removal The battery compartment is located under the camera body Insert a fully recharged battery by pushing the battery compartment cover unlock lever Once the cover i
46. nserving the maximum aper ture Foreground The area between the camera and the principal subject Front Curtain Sync The flash fires an instant after the front curtain of a focal plane shutter has completed its travel across the film plane Frame One individual picture on a roll of film or one digital capture on DSLRs Full aperture metering TTL metering systems in which the camera simulates the effect of stop ping down the lens while leaving the diaphragm at full aperture to give full focusing screen brilliance N Guide number Used to ex press the power output of a flash unit It indicates the power of a flash in relation to the ISO sensibility Grey card 18 Grey Card Tone used as representative of mid tone of average subject The standard gray card reflects 18 per cent of the light falling on it H Shoe Usually rest around the pentaprism of the camera It has electrical contacts which mate with contacts In the mounting foot of the flash unit This allows the camera to fire the flash at the proper time with out any other electrical connections between flash and camera Hyper focal Distance Distance of the nearest object In a scene that 1s accept ably sharp when the lens 1s focused on infinity light Light falling on a surface as opposed to the light re flected by it Infinity Infinite distance In practice a distance so great that any object at that distance will be reproduced sharply if the
47. od products Pentax took a while before producing its first Digital Single Lens Reflex DSLR Some changes are about to happen Pentax is not new to changing the photographic world Pentax pioneered the Single Lens Reflex SLR camera in 1952 with the introduction of the Asahiflex I camera In 1954 the Asahif lex II was introduced with the first instant mirror return In 1964 Pentax did it again by introducing its Pentax Spotmatic camera featuring the first through the lens TTL metering system in a Pentax camera A version of the Pentax TTL system is now found in virtually all 35mm SLR cameras and applied to the design of DSLRs as well Many of us learned photography by using the ever popular Pentax K 1000 XV Table of contents and Foreword The new Pentax K 50 K 500 is aimed at amateurs to advanced amateur photogra phers but can certainly be used by entry level photographers as well It s a camera that will help expand your photographic expertise It can be as easy to operate as a point and shoot but it also has all of the professional features that you will demand as your experience grows All Pentax lenses ever made will work with the K 50 K 500 It 1s often said that the glass are the most important factor in taking great pho tographs There are many reasons to choose the K 50 K 500 for your digital photog raphy endeavors We have dedicated a whole section on the camera s features alone This book 1s organized in the following way
48. on one frame D Extra Low dispersion glass Glass with ED properties are spe cially formulated to limit or correct light rays passing through the lens el ements to achieve all spectrum of col ors to falls on the same plane of focus Electronic flash Light source based on electrical discharge across two electrodes in a gas filled tube Mod ern flash have multiple TTL Through The Lens flash exposure control func tions and even extend to autofocus control Pentax uses the P TTL flash which Pre fires before taking the pic ture using reading Through The Lens The Pentax 16 segment metering al lows more precise control Only the built in flash and specially designed flash units can be used in T TTL mode Ev Exposure value Method of quan tifying scene brightness Existing Light Existing light covers all natural lighting from moonlight to sunshine Photographically existing light 1s the light that 1s already on the scene including room lights fluores cent lamps spotlights neon signs candles etc Exposure The quantity of light al lowed on a photographic medial such as film or a camera CCD It amount of light is determined by a combination of aperture and shutter speed Exposure bracket Shooting the same subject at a range of different expo sures Exposure compensation Exposure compensation for available light 1s ac tivated by changing the shutter speed and or lens aperture In flash photog raphy with a dedic
49. ow speed blurring 00000 218 Silhouette Id I Travel Photography 0 Back Lighting oo DT E Shooting at Night witha Ipod 222 2 Bad Weather y y y y Kyaa B E Commercial Photography 224 1 GetCloser DD Automobiles 00 2205 L Patterns ul T E Changing your point Of view 228 J Action DD National and state parks 230 XII Table of contents and Foreword 5 CHAPTER 6 e HD VIDEO RECORDING J Jw 234 F Movie recording 0 22 f Settings for movie recording y y yC a 2 E Exposure setting BB T Movie capture settings 00 II L Recorded pixels 204 Frame rates 0 2 Quality level 2 E Recording sound level y y 20 gt Movie SR 226 Interval movie 200 Let s record MOVIE y y yj lY BT ADDENDUM 240 Modem DSLR cameras DAT i Other K 50 K 500 functions ot MA HDR High Dynamic Range er DAD E Programmable Embedded Copyright amp 244 Composition Adjustment in Live View 245 F Electronic Distortion Adjustment 2448 P Lateral Chromatic Aberrations Adjustment 240 i Autofocus Fine Adjustment 240 4 Autofocus Accuracy Back amp Front Focusing Problems 246 Solution 00 M8 K 50 K 500 Camera Settings oo L290 3 Understanding the result 2 L wordaboutautofocussensors 253 L Difference between 45 and 50 charts 24 E The K 50 K 500 Custom Setting Number 22 24 L Disclaimer y y y Yy a I L Se
50. pe attachment It is now known as M42 screw mount and was used by Pentax and many other manufacturers The Pentax K mount is a lens attachment standard for interchangeability of lenses on 35mm SLR cameras It was created by Pentax in 1975 1976 and has been used on all their 35mm SLRs and now the DSLRs A number of other manufacturers have also produced many K mount lenses and K mount cameras The following rep resents the K mount evolution e Original K mount 1975 The original K mount was a simple bayonet connection with three tabs It was introduced with the K series of cameras The lens 1s locked into the camera with an approx 70 clockwise turn e K mount 1981 The Kg mount was Pentax s first effort at an autofocus system This autofocus system used sensors in the camera body and a motor in the lens e K mount 1983 The K mount allows the lens aperture to be set by the body and allows shut ter priority and program Auto Exposure Modes These lenses have an A po sition Page 261 Appendix e Kap mount 1987 The Kar mount was Pentax s second effort at an autofocus system It adds a small drive shaft to the K4 mount allowing adjustment to the focus by the camera body e Kap mount 1991 The Karo mount adds two extra contacts for power zooming On the K200 these contacts also power Supersonic Direct Drive lenses and convey Modu lar Transfer Function data MTF through a seventh contact e Ka mount 199
51. rded Fisheye lens Ultra wide angle lens giving 180 de grees of view Flash Exposure Bracketing Enables a photographer to automatically brack et exposures at varied flash output lev els Flash shooting distance range The distance range over which a flash can effectively provide light The flash shooting distance range varies with the aperture film speed and the flash guide number Focal Length The distance between the film and the optical center of the lens when the lens is focused on infini ty The focal length of the lens on most adjustable cameras 1s marked in millimeters on the lens mount Focus Adjustment of the distance set ting on a lens to define the subject sharply Focus Priority Shutter cannot be re leased until the subject 1s 1n focus Focus Tracking Enables the camera to analyze the speed of the moving subject according to the focus data de tected and to obtain correct focus by anticipating the subject s position Format The actual size of the image produced by a camera In 35mm pho tography the picture measures 24mm Page 268 Appendix x 36mm and is referred to full frame in digital photography While the new APS Advance Photo System uses smaller CCD area in the range of 24mm x16mm Since most DSLR can use 35mm film format lenses the focal length has to be multiplied by a factor of approximately 1 5 A 50mm lens in the 25mm film format becomes a 75mm lens in the Pentax DSLRs while co
52. re The K 50 K 500 has Multi segment Cen ter weighted and Spot metering AF Autofocus AE L Automatic Exposure Lock Me tering feature to hold the exposure set ting Angle of View The area of a scene that a lens covers measured in de grees Angle of view is determined by the focal length of the lens A wide angle lens includes more of the scene or greater angle of view In contrast a telephoto lens covers shallower angle of view Anti aliasing A procedure that reduc es jagged edges in a digital image Aperture Opening formed by the dia phragm inside a lens which light passes through allowing a preset amount of light to reach the CCD Ap erture size 1s calibrated in f numbers The larger the f number the smaller the lens opening Smaller aperture renders greater area of sharpness and larger aperture reduces the area of sharpness Aperture Priority Mode Av An ex posure mode on an automatic camera that lets you set the aperture while the camera automatically sets the shutter speed for proper exposure Other than sport or action photography aperture priority is the most common automatic preference Aperture ring A ring located on the outside of a lens which is mechanical ly linked to the diaphragm to control the aperture APO Meaning Apo chromatic having the ability to bring all colors of the vis ible spectrum to a common plane of focus Page 264 Appendix Aspect Ratio The ratio of width to h
53. red shutter speed The camera sets the aperture for proper exposure Single Lens Reflex SLR Camera A type of camera that allows seeing through the camera s lens when com posing a picture Slow Sync A flash technique for using the flash at a slow shutter speed Using a slower shutter speed with the flash brings out the background details in the picture Use of a slow shutter speed with Rear Curtain Sync is par ticularly effective for illustrating the movement of a stream of light Soft Focus Produced by use of a spe cial lens or filter that creates soft out lines Stopping Down Changing the lens aperture to a smaller opening elephoto Lens that makes a subject appear larger on film than does a normal lens at the same camera to subject dis tance A telephoto lens has a longer focal length and narrower field of view TTL auto flash The camera s light Sensor measures flash illumination as reflected by the subject and shuts off the flash where measurement indicates a correct exposure Time Exposure A long exposure made in seconds or minutes Tone The degree of lightness or dark ness in any given area of an image Tripod A three legged supporting stand used to hold the camera steady The K 50 K 500 uses shake reduction minimizing the need for a tripod Itra wide angle lens Extra wide angle lens usually with an angle of view greater than 90 Underexposure A condition in which too little light reaches t
54. s opened a diagram on how to position the battery is affixed on the underside of the cover The metal connectors should be inserted downward and toward the center of the camera Push the battery In until you hear a click Close the cover To remove the battery after the cover is opened push on the white retainer inside the battery compartment The battery will be partly ejected Remove completely and recharge or install another fully charged battery Installing Removing the Memory card The K 50 K 500 uses SD SDHC or SDXC memory cards To install the memory card pull the card cover toward the back of the camera The SD card cover will pop open Insert the SD card with the card label toward the LCD monitor Close the cover and you are ready to go To remove use the same procedures but push on the SD card to eject I suggest using SDHC cards with the maximum read write speed as you can af ford The SDHC cards are rated in several classes currently from class 2 to class 10 Class 2 has a slow read write performance and consequently class 10 has a faster read write performance By the time you read this book SDHC cards will probably be even faster Use the fastest card you can afford As far as capacity I don t like to use more than an 8gig card for still pictures as if it becomes defective and my pic tures haven t been saved to my computer yet I risk losing a lot of pictures For Vid eo I use the biggest card I have current
55. t histogram as images in nature are not perfectly lighted There are shadows and bright areas What is important is that if the black areas of the picture create a spike on the left side part of the image is underexposed If a spike occurs on the right side part of the image is overexposed The human brain is better equipped to distinguish a good image from a bad image many times better than a digital histogram The K 50 K 500 also shows RGB red green and blue histograms This is a way to show the distribution of color intensity Again humans can decipher colors much better than any digital device invented thus far So the bottom line is that it is good to use histograms to check your image quality but we would recom mend using exposure bracketing instead as the ex tra shots won t cost you anything but time and space on your memory card You can instantly delete the pictures you don t like Page 75 Chapter 3 Processing your K 50 K 500 images Chapter 3 Processing your Images Page 138 Chapter 6 HD Video Recording Chapter 6 HD Video Recording Page 231 Appendix Appendix a e g r pentax Page 258 Appendix Follow the Photography Road Page 259 Appendix Lens Compatibility Chart PE EE OO OO EE TT eT OO OO TT eT eT TT eT eT TT eT eT eT eT eT eT OP PP TT TT OP PMP EN PR PER EN RES ET PRES TT PRES PT EEE ETES PEPE PEE EEE EN RE RES PEPE EEE ET
56. t shooting We should learn to set the kind of file we want to save our picture as Do we want RAW files or JPEG files For now let s set the format to JPEG with the best resolution of 16m effective megapixels 4928 pixels x 3264 pixels Press the menu button Navigate to the Rec Mode menu page 1 press the four way control ler down to Image Capture Settings Press the four way controller to the right gt and choose JPEG Press OK Press the four way controller down J to JPEG Recorded Pixels Press the four way controller to the right HJ and choose EM M 16M out of the 16M 12M 8M or 5M choices Press the OK button and using the four way controller once more go down M to the JPEG Quality I and set it I Mao Best Press the OK button Return to shooting by pressing the shutter release button halfway The Picture quality and file type can also be set in the Control Panel Get com fortable with the Control Panel and use it often without having to go through the menus Page 65 Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 Shake Reduction zum Reduction The shake reduction SR on the K 50 K 500 resides within the camera You don t need expensive lenses equipped with stabilization or vibration reduction built n and extraordinary expensive Any K mount compatible lens w ll work even manual lenses You can take handheld pictures at very low shutter speed depending on the focal length of the lens used the light
57. ted 1t 15 shown In the viewfinder Auto ISO 1s activated and the ISO number 1s shown in the viewfinder Page 69 Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 You have taken your first picture s with the K 50 K 500 How did your first K 50 K 500 picture s turned out You can rest for a while tA T m m nn m Dr A te u PL m ht he oh ee mn ud ji A 4 tA RM W N Now assuming that you did take your first picture s in the AUTO mode did you notice that after each shot your picture appeared on the LCD monitor for a few sec onds This 1s the Instant Review It can be set to 1 3 or 5 seconds or turned off It 1s one of the greatest ad O 1 2 3 4 Live View Instant Review vantages of digital cameras You see your picture immediately and if you don t like what you see you take another shot and another and another until you like the picture You can delete the images you don t like immediately Page 70 Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 The memory card unlike film 1s reusable and once you have one memory card or many memory cards you no longer need to spend money for the film or recording media each time you shoot In the film era the recording media was too expensive to take numerous pictures of the same subject with the hope that one would turn out good You couldn t see the results until after the de
58. ton The green AFAE L Yo a ww Av button Is not enabled This initial screen 1s a cur sory view of the current settings You can quick ly decide if this mode will work for your next picture or change the mode using the Mode Dial The Status Screen The settings shown in this example are from Av mode The highlighted settings are interactive Top left to bottom right Av is the shooting mode the custom bright setting is on AF A is on and metering is set to multi segment The shake reduction is off and the battery 1s about 75 full The shutter speed is lsecond and the front e dial is not activated The rear e dial chang es the aperture The ISO is at 400 The four way controller options are shown The EV bar shows no over or under exposure set You are shooting JPEG 16M and Best Quality k k An SD memory card is inserted and you can see how many pictures your memory card has space available for 419 JPEG HL Page 58 Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 The Control Panel It doesn t stop here You can get in the heart of the settings by pressing the INFO Custom Image button This brings yet another screen the Con Bright trol Panel You can navigate through this T T screen with the four way controller and changes the highlighted parameters shown If you no ticed we did not have to go through any of the menus yet With the K 50 K 500 the menus are mostly used to change overall settings That is a big i
59. uto Image Rota Delete All Images tion TV Si The Bright Dark area option shows the overexposed or underexposed area of the mage The underex posed too dark and los ng shadow details area blinks in yellow and the overex posed too bright and loos ng details area blinks in red The options are on or off and set by using the four way controller Il HJ until the box is check marked The Quick Zoom option can be set to off or x2 x4 x8 x16 x32 This sets the initial magnification when enlarging images When the Playback button is pressed the last image taken appears on the LCD monitor Turn the rear e dial to the right to start magnifying the image As an example with the Quick Zoon set to x8 the image magnification would jump to x8 as soon as the rear e dial is rotated The Slideshow as it is written starts a slide show on the LCD monitor Delete all images will delete all images on the SD memory card Be careful with that one Page 73 Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 Another way to check the Histogram the Bright Dark area or the complete infor mation about the picture taken is to activate the Playback button fall and then push the Info button in sequence 1 Standard Information Display 2 Detailed Information Display 102 0010 lus 44 No Y N 3 gt 102 0010 E am m gt TT T T aso Y Standard Information Display Detailed Information Display wi Q 0 a 0 0 249 iso
60. velopment of the film or slide In addition the quality of developing and printing was often left to a photo lab or most often to the corner drug store that had a film development machine The equipment was operated by employees that knew very little about photography and relied on the accuracy of the development and printing machine Often the chemicals weren t changed as recommended the machine was not cleaned and consequently the col ors were inaccurate The environment was not that of a modern clean room and dust on negatives would also show up on the photographic paper Today if you own a good photo printer and a computer with digital imaging software you have so much more control over the final results Chapter 2 How to use your K 50 K 500 The Menus al1 l2 3 4 Custom Image Digital Filter OFF HDR Capture HOR image Capture Settings Pei AE Metering CIE ills Exposure Setting P Movie Capture Settings Milz Recording Sound Level GC Movie SR qu Interval Movie Slideshow Quick Zoom Bright Dark Area Auto Image Rotation Delete All Images Q MENU ST MENUSAR MENU eb aie Top Left Record menu A 1 2 3 Language English Above Movie menu 1 EV Steps MAU LAM UE World Time A 3 Expanded Sensitivity Text Size SEEN TOP Right Playback menu 4 Meter Operating Time Sound Effects i 5 AE L with AF Locked LCD Display Left Set up menu 6 Link AE and AF Point LCD Display Settings 7 Bu
61. y dreams and like many aspiring young photographers he dreamed of getting assignments from National Geographic and traveling the world over Decades later the road has led him into other directions With the responsibilities of a career and family his plans were altered but only slightly The enthusiasm of the young boy and the love of photography are still strong He never abandoned his photography dreams One of his biggest frustrations is that he does not have enough time for more He has used all types of photography formats but now uses Digital SLR cameras almost exclusively He states Technology is good The freedom to unleash one s creativity has never been greater You either follow the flow of progress or you are left behind His work has given him the opportunity to travel across the United States Canada Mexico and the Caribbean His photography career never took off as he had dreamed but as a second career he has spent countless hours during the past decades capturing not only the beauty and the people of America but other countries as well He has won numerous awards written articles and books on his beloved subject and sold his work throughout the places he lived Where does a tireless hobbyist go from here Like all other areas of our modern life photography has gone digital As an artist he is fas cinated with all of the new digital possibilities He 1s finally contem plating the idea of replacing his pres
62. y post articles about Pentax products and photography in general XVIII Table of contents and Foreword We also have a website showcasing our e books You can download use ful information samples or purchase an e book for your Pentax DSLR SHOP BY PRICE Pentax K20D e K 5 ebook Pentax K 7 e book Pentax K x and Kc book Free sample available for all Free sample e book Free CURRENTTOPSELLERS available media including available sample available iPhones ipads and tablets K 5 ebook available for all media including iPhones ipads and tablets e books XIX Table of contents and Foreword 7 ih TY o Pact Yvon Bourque XX Chapter 1 Know your K 50 500 Chapter 1 N PENTAX Know your K 50 500 Page 21 Chapter 1 Know your K 50 500 What color scheme would you like The K 50 1s available in 120 color combina tions The K 500 1s only available in black Page 22 Nomenclature a pos a ET Self timer lamp Front e dial Shutter release AF Assist Light Mirror SDM contacts AF coupler Lens unlock button Chapter 1 Know your K 50 500 y pot A PENTAX Blinks for self timer Serves as remote control receiver Changes set values Customizable Press halfway to compose image press fully to take picture Lights up when AF is difficult to attain 1n darker scenes Allows Through The Lens TTL meterin

- Pentax Forums

Contents

Download Pdf Manuals

Related Search

Related Contents