tinydancer

Thank you TC, I'll be back when I've had a chance to hold, try, and compare some of these. Tough choosing though, I think.

tinydancer

Latest camera update: well, I checked out the Fuji HS-10 but when I downloaded test shots was not impressed! I have thus been taking a closer look at the Pentax Kx, because of what TC said and how great the photos looked! This weekend I will check out the Pentax Kx and the Fuji HS-10 one more time. But right now the Pentax is looking better to me. Thank you TC for sharing your information and your photos!

I'll let you know how it worked out.

Oh, I like the Pentax because the reports on the lenses are very good, better than an after market lens for the Canon.

TC

tinydancer, I'm so happy to hear that the information has helped you. Good luck with your search and thanks for reporting back. I'll stay tuned for the final decision.

TC

tinydancer, I forgot to mention how impressed we were with the anti-shake, anti-dust features of the Pentax-Kx. We did not use a tri or mono pod or even a bean bag on the entire trip. All my photos were shot "hand held". We had also read quite a lot about cleaning ones lens of dust build up and came prepared with all the tools withwhich to do that operation. Never needed it. For me, these two things were a huge plus.

TC

tinydancer; Video shot with the Pentax-Kx are here. The three from the Kx are Lion Cubs <u>Nursing</u>, Lion Cubs <u>Rolling Around</u>, and Lion Cubs <u>At Play</u>. The other videos were all shot with the little Sony Cybershot. I think you can see the difference in quality.

http://www.youtube.com/user/tonnalea.../4/tY4KYELDstE

cynstalker

Tinydancer - I've been following along on your quest - I need to upgrade my camera soon. Have you eliminated the panasonic?

TC - really enjoyed you videos. Had to go and look at your photos, as I was hoping you caught one particular shot of the 2 cubs, and you did. Very sweet.

TC

Thank you cynstalker. Glad you enjoyed both the videos and the photos. The cubs were certainly a high point. We were so lucky to have such a beautiful encounter.

tinydancer

TC & cynstalker: I eliminated everything and just ordered the Pentax as per TC. And TC, I'm really glad you responded to this, as all in all, everything I read about this camera was just better than all the others. I won't test this one for a couple of weeks, but based on what I saw posted by TC and what I read in reviews, I think I will be very happy! I was really excited when i read about the new Fuji HS-10 because of it's zoom range (manual 600mm optical); but the reviews were mixed at best and the few, relatively inadequate tests I was able to do were very discouraging. So, since most people only need 300mm on safari (excluding 'pros' and other such photographers) I just felt much more comfortable with the Pentax. Now I'm working on figuring out which AA recharger to buy to use at home and to take on safari.

tinydancer

ps: Cary999, I did order the Eneloops from B&H, but I think I read/heard somewhere that it's best to charge and totally discharge new batteries once or twice before using them to enable them to hold a charge longer. So, although I'll take the small fast-charger on the safari, I will probably also get a bigger, better charger for home so I can prep the batteries first. Just thought I'd add this as we had a conversation earlier concerning batteries. And yes, I'll take Lithium batteries also.

TC

Tinydancer. Thank you so much for reporting your outcome. I am happy that my information was of use to you. I do hope you enjoy the camera as much as I have.

A word about batteries: While we did use the Energizer batteries, not rechargables, on this trip. I've just this week had a very unsettling happening. I was off to my grandson's school program and wanted to make sure the batteries wouldn't go dead in the midst of it, so opened a <u>brand new package</u> of batteries. The expiration date on the batteries was <u>2018</u>. The were dead as a doornail! While this wasn't a big deal on this particular day - I had other batteries - I would have been devastated on safari. So -- the moral is, check those batteries before you travel. <b>The expiration dates obviously don't mean a thing.</b>

Leely2

I should probably have another thread about batteries, but if I can't trust the expiration dates what can/should I do? I seem to remember reading somewhere that if you open the package he batteries lose life quicker. True?

tinydancer, I am not an experienced photographer/DSLR-user at all, but I got the Pentax based on the reviews/size/cost ratio and have been very pleased so far. I took a class and have learned how to shoot in all manual but I am slow, slow, slow and the camera has more capabilities than I can shake a stick at. Just hoping I can learn more of them before I leave (in 40 days!!!).

Leely2

Oh, I hadn't read the battery talk above. Sounds like a combo of rechargeable and throw-aways is the way to go.

TC

I'd like the answer to that battery expiration date issue, too. It wasn't as if this package of batteries had another few months before expiration -- they supposedly had 8 more years! They had NOT been opened, either. Still sealed. Are there battery tester gizmos that one might use?

cary999

tinyprancer - I'm sure you will be very happy with the Pentax. Practice with it as much as you can. If you have a little lake nearby, ducks make for good practice. Go over and try duck shots, on land, in water, and flying.

Re battery chargers, AA and AAA type, the LaCrosse charger is very good.
http://www.amazon.com/Crosse-Technol.../dp/B00077AA5Q
At $52 it is not the cheapest but has several functions including measuring the battery's milliamp capacity. One weak one in the camera will bring down all. I use the BC Lacrosse at home but take a more compact one for travel.

TC - As to why a new pack of Lithium AA good to 2018 would be DOA,- don't know. All 4 were DOA? One dead could make the whole 4 pack look dead. Never had that problem. But heat is the enemy of all chemical reaction storage, the batteries being stored in a hot place could do it. There are little simple battery testers for around $10, here's one at Amazon (again) for $4 -
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RB60H4

FWIW, I keep/store all Lithium, alkaline, watch batteries, etc in the refrigerator. Keeps them cool and that slows down their chemical deterioration (keeps them fresher).

regards - tom

tinydancer

tom - Thanks for all your help. I'm not getting the Crosse, because apparently the older model is the good one, but the newer version is not as good. I have decided to get an Ansmann: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=563022&is=REG which has excellent reviews (from several sites) and will be very useful here at home. I'll take rechargables and also lithiums, as it seems the lithiums might last longer than any others.

My NEW DECISION today is memory. How much memory is safe for 3+ weeks in Africa? The Pentax needs a class 10 for the HD video (my husband takes most of that on his camera, but I do take some, and I'm sure I'll take more than some on the trip). My old cards, although they add up to 28GB in total, are all either only class 2 or class 6 (only 4GB in class 6). I can't seem to decide if I should get either (1) 32Gb, or (1) 16GB, or a 16GB and an 8Gb? I will only get SanDisk brand.

Any suggestions how much memory is enough, or how much is too much, as memory can really get expensive? How much did you take and was it enough or do you wish you had taken more?

BTW, when I was working as a photographer, I often found that after flying, new batteries seemed to be dead, so I always carried extras. I always thought something with radiation or radio waves when flying flattened the batteries.

Should I start a new thread on this topic?

TC

tinydancer, We had 2-16GB and 1-4GB with us. I didn't take a lot of video, so this was enough for 3000 photos + a few short videos. I found a note in stuck in our K-x manual saying "2000 images at best quality, 788 raw on a 16G" -- DH may have spoken with someone and written this note.

My cardinal rule is never to have all "my eggs in one basket" -- meaning, we switched out the memory cards, keeping the ones not in use locked up. I never want to be in a position where something happens to the camera and memory -- lost, stolen, or damaged, and all my photos are gone. I felt as though we always had at least part of our images in a safe place.

I don't know anything about class 10 or 6. My two 16GB disk are "Kingston Technology, SD, HC" they also are imprinted with SD4/16GB on the front with the number 4 in a circle. The 4GB is a SanDisk and has no indication of a class as far as I can tell. This may be the one that came with the camera. Whatever they are, they worked perfectly. You've seen my photos and video. DH can't remember, but thinks he may have bought them on Ebay.

cary999

I agree with TC about using the right size cards to protect yourself against losing too much. Lucky for us cards are cheap and small. Some of us like to have another back-up of the cards so we have two copies. Small portable hard drives will do this but it is just another thing to have to fuss with, you decide.

The class 10 means the card data transfer rate is faster than a class 6, 6 faster than 4. Perhaps the Pentax does require 10 for video, wouldn't hurt, varies from card manufacturer. You could try class 4, 6 anyway. Your 4 gig class 6 cards might work fine for Pentax video, try it. SanDisk are good.

As for how many cards to take? We'll first you can at the end of the day delete those obvious photos you don't want. But I don't like to fuss with that in camp, and there is some risk in deleting wrong things on the card. You ever on your PC push the wrong key and weird stuff happens?

Back to cards, guess you'll have to do some math to figure that out. Let's say you'll take 200 photos a day. What is file size for each photo? Multiply that out and I'd guess the answer will be 1-6 gig bytes a day total, for stills. And how much for video, another 1 gig a day? Also, just because it is a 4 gig card does not mean you must fill it up. If after a day the 4 gig is only half full, take it out anyway, date it. Put in new card for tomorrow. Finally, I would not buy from ebay, too many fake counterfeit cards sold there. I like/trust Amazon, but buy only from Amazon, not from another party connected with them.

Hope this helps a little and get back if more questions.

regards - tom

TC

Hey Tom, How do I know what my cards are? 4-6-10? Is there some code on the actual card? I can't seem to find anything that indicates or that I recognize. Whatever we used, it worked well, I just don't know how to tell.

tinydancer

I think the 4, 6, 10 thing is an indication of how fast the card is which affects how fast it can store what you are filming, while you are filming it, quality of that video, and also the speed at which it downloads on the computer.

Pentax told me 10 was best for HD video. The last time I used video in my Canon G10, the quality was lousy with low rated or unrated cards.

Thanks for the feedback!

cary999

tinyprancer got it, 6-4-10 rates card data transfer speed. Here's a page on wikipedia about SD cards. More than you want to know - but - about third of way down it gets into class and below that relates rating, write speed and class.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital

I have a collection of SanDisk, Kingston and Ridata cards, 1, 2, 4 gigs. Some have no class or speed indication, mostly the 1 or 2 gig cards, so I'd assume those to be class 2. Some just have speed rating like 40X or 133X. Some of the SanDisk say UltraII or ExtremeIII. Some of the 4 gig cards have a 4 or a 6 in a circle and I'd assume that is class rating. I think most of the manufacturer web sites would expound on their card speeds, but I'll leave it up to you to find them

As to video quality, I'm not sure what effect card speed has on it. If the card is too slow, does the camera automatically change downward the picture quality, the pixel line size and frame rate? Or if the card is too slow the video just stops? Whatever, for best video quality be sure you understand the camera option settings. Even our old Canon S2s we use for video have 4 different video quality settings - 640 or 320 px at 30 or 15 fps. Also, light level, or lack of it, may come into play here giving very "grainy" poor picture.

What this of course means is that you have to try and practice with -all- this stuff before you leave home!!! Please don't be like my cousin who took his new digital camera to Spain in the new un-opened box. And then called me because the users manual was missing and he did not have a clue!!! And even worse, turned out the camera was DOA out of the box!!!!

regards - tom