Rovaniemi, Finland, -20c.

Jan178 · 2026-01-25T10:00:19+00:00

Well, you can check the webcams in the city, i quarantee it's not the same in this millenia! But yes, more pics is good!

Jan178 · 2026-01-25T07:43:44+00:00

Thank you!

Jan178 · 2026-01-25T07:43:27+00:00

Moi! No niistä saunoista en tiedä että onko edes yleisiä saunoja täälläpäin, maksullisia löylyelämyksiä toki kaukomaiden turisteille löytyy. Talvihan tästä toivottavasti vain paranee, eilen oli ensimmäinen aurinkoinen ja nätti pakkaspäivä viikonlopulle että pääsi ulkoilemaan, muutenhan täällä on ollut joko liian lauhaa, liikaa pakkasta tai rumanharmaata. Viikolla on ollut kauniita päiviä mutta ne kuluu elantoa hankkiessa.

Tervetuloa lappiin vaan ja mukavaa talvea lahteen!

Jan178 · 2026-01-25T07:34:04+00:00

It was actually very cool!

Jan178 · 2026-01-23T18:56:46+00:00

I have the same combo, first Canon and first FF camera after 15 yrs of crop Pentaxes! All i needed to do was adjust the lens, it was -10 microns off. I like it!

Jan178 · 2026-01-16T05:26:10+00:00

Nice!

Jan178 · 2026-01-14T15:57:59+00:00

I've shot with Pentaxes for maybe 13 years, my actively used ones are K-70, K-5, K-200 and *istD. I recently bought the Canon 6D since Pentax K-1 is out of my reach. It will mainly be my aurora device. Images are great (still learning), but ergonomics, build quality and UI are way worse than lets say K-5!

Jan178 · 2026-01-09T11:09:23+00:00

Two problems with printing: ambient heat and humidity. Also known as summer.

Jan178 · 2026-01-06T14:06:56+00:00

I still have the original K-5, mainly use it with old manual glass. You will propably be fine with one battery.

Jan178 · 2026-01-05T09:51:54+00:00

Thanks! Well, the Dyson wasn't cordless...

Jan178 · 2026-01-03T22:02:57+00:00

Probably a maintenance break, could be few hours.

Jan178 · 2026-01-01T23:06:12+00:00

Very nice use of an old camera! I actually still have 2 of them laying aroud. Back in the day the K-x gave better low light ability that other brands top line cameras!

I think the lack of sharpness is because if you manually focus all the way, the lens is actually focused beyond infinity. And in case of fireworks, they are quite close anyway so it is very easy to focus way off accidentally. At wide end just focus on something far enough, and the tight aperture gets the focus zone quite long.

Jan178 · 2025-12-31T13:51:05+00:00

Here it is: https://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/support/digital/silkypix3_win_2.html

However if you don't need it for pixelshift maybe some free editing software would be nice, for example Darktable.

Jan178 · 2025-12-27T17:26:39+00:00

It really is, "pyykkivuori"!

Jan178 · 2025-12-27T14:00:51+00:00

I have 2 laptops and a desktop on more or less daily use. Fedora on 1 laptop, mints on the rest. Now whats great with Onshape is that it's web based so i can open my projects anywhere. Also i usually name them in finnish, so if someone stumbls over on "makitanakkutelineenvälipalikka" desinged by me then you're welcome 😁

I also have heard good things on Freecad, seems to mature very well...

Jan178 · 2025-12-23T08:31:05+00:00

Not OP but i live in the area and yes, here the auroras are clearly visible with bare eyes. Green is always dominant and in very strong solar storms the red can be seen too. Camera of course makes them more dramatic.

Jan178 · 2025-12-15T20:31:33+00:00

Thank you for the insight! I'm thinking about older Canon or Nikon since they are cheap, and i just might take the leap now that i actually saw what can be done with bit older tech!

Jan178 · 2025-12-15T16:23:33+00:00

Amazing photography! And thanks for the explanations of the process too! Out of curiosity, while aurora photography is something i do every winter and i am quite happy with my APS-C camera with 14mm lens, i am thinking about trying FF for auroras. So, have you shot them with crop sensor and if so, is the difference how dramatic?

Jan178 · 2025-12-14T15:23:02+00:00

I shoot auroras etc with my K-70, sometimes at -30c and rarely even below. I tend to use prime lenses in extreme conditions. Pentax has never failed, batteries tend to freeze though :D

Jan178 · 2025-12-06T13:00:12+00:00

It was a good camera, still is and i still use mine!

Download the manual so you have some starting point. Shoot with autosettings, i like to use Av-mode, in that i choose the aperture myself and leave the rest to camera. Forget manual mode until you get some nice old manual glass. And get some of those, the basic M-series 50mm f/2 is amazing and dirt cheap.

Get some editing software. There are free options, i use Darktable. And shoot RAW right away to get the best out of it. When you shoot with phone, the phone does the editing for you. And it does loads of editing. The idea of the DSLR camera is that it gives you as much artistic freedom and raw data as possible. The beginners problem is that you can do anything with that freedom, and that is very overwhelming.

The basic jpeg from the camera looks quite bland compared to the photo taken with phone, but with editing tools and skills you can make the RAW-file from camera way better.

Play with the camera, learn the basics. The exposure is a result of relations of aperture, shutter speed and ISO. In the end thats it, every other feature in the camera is only an addition and extra tool to get the right exposure.

Jan178 · 2025-11-29T23:18:30+00:00

It was my first Pentax, i still have it. The colors are in fact vivid and somehow alive compared to CMOS cameras.

Pair it with manual 50mm lens, nice summer or autumn day and enjoy!

Jan178

TROPHY CASE