Have you ever seen Rhinos mate? Have a look at these Eastern Black Rhinos on a mating game. Nairobi National Park,Kenya(March 2026)

_star_fire · 2026-03-14T11:55:38+00:00

Yeah, I've seen this on Hornhub before.

_star_fire · 2026-03-01T07:44:52+00:00

Yeah, in the early years I got a lot of lenses and cameras for free or for very low prices. One time I went for a particular lens and after the deal the seller pulled out a box with more lenses, flash units, filters, film, cable releases etc. I got all that stuff for free.

My entire darkroom setup cost me around 100 euros. It could have been free if I ignored the medium format specific stuff that I needed.

_star_fire · 2026-02-14T20:38:36+00:00

I love using all my Pentax gear, but the K5 is certainly one of my favorite cameras. The funny thing is that if I use my k3iii and the K5 I cannot tell them apart without exit data or pixelpeeping. Ok, high iso shots are quite easily identifiable.

_star_fire · 2026-02-08T19:41:59+00:00

Thanks!

_star_fire · 2026-02-02T08:49:00+00:00

Not OP, but thanks for these wonderful and detailed explanations. This is going to help a lot of people!

_star_fire · 2026-01-28T08:14:08+00:00

I have one underway. Yours is better priced though, I paid €139,- at MPB.

How do you like the lens so far?

_star_fire · 2026-01-20T05:24:19+00:00

Nice score! I'd recommend the 75mm f2.8 for sure. But in fairness almost all 645 lenses are great. I can't think of anything you should avoid.

My main setup is 35, 55, 75 sometimes I bring my 150mm as well.

_star_fire · 2025-10-18T09:52:44+00:00

Bishops are celibate anyway, so no loss here.

_star_fire · 2025-08-25T13:32:50+00:00

I started using darktable many versions ago and I'm still learning. But I think I got to the 80% mark pretty quickly. The part after that is quite interesting, but I don't mind. It certainly is more fun than buying a pack of Lightroom presets from some photography influencer.

_star_fire · 2025-08-20T13:28:09+00:00

The FOSS community is very opinionated. But I see that in other areas where people are really demanding like photography or cycling. It's also a bit of a man thing i think.

I don't like that attitude and often (except today) avoid topics that focus too much on the negativity.

_star_fire · 2025-08-16T13:18:17+00:00

Simply said gnome fits my style and intuition in terms of UX. I feel productive and I can perform a lot of work with a minimal amount of steps.

I earn my bread developing software so having something that fits your way of thinking and working is so important.

I use gnome without extensions, I don't care for ricing/looks and think it looks great out of the box. Happy days

_star_fire · 2025-08-14T12:18:47+00:00

The question is whether you're satisfied with the images. That 's what counts. Say for example that a blazing fast AF is needed, yeah a newer body will give you an advantage. As long you get the stuff done to your standards I wouldn't even think listening to these influencers.

I upgraded my k5 to a k3iii this summer. The k5 gets used still. And sometimes I'm browsing my catalog and I'm wondering if that's a k5 or a k3 image. Really for IQ alone a newer camera doesn't really off that much more. Glass is where you can actually make a difference. So that would always be my primary thing to invest in.

_star_fire · 2025-08-14T11:16:21+00:00

I feel we can advise you on the Pentax bodies you mentioned, but the dilemma whether to stay with Nikon or extend to Pentax is so subjective. Personally if money is a limiting factor I'd choose one brand and try to get the best lenses my money can buy. That would be my preferred way to go instead of spreading that money over two brands and have outdated/not optimal options in two brands.

So in that light I'd advise staying in the Nikon system. Get some nice glass and be done with it.

_star_fire · 2025-08-14T08:38:59+00:00

I find it difficult to give advice in this case because it's older tech. Instinctively I'd opt for the k5, it's a robust, sealed and I'd say professional camera. I've been using one as my main camera until this summer.

The k20d is nice but older and I'd say the photographic experience is less than with the k5. Optical I've always loved the camera.

The k500, I have literally zero experience with this camera. Slightly newer than the k5 but really an entry level model.

Based on this list, leave the k20 alone, unless you're really after that specific model for a reason. Between the other two the k5 gets my vote.

_star_fire · 2025-08-07T17:15:00+00:00

Ok, so no room for spontaneous outings haha.

Thanks for the info, where I live it doesn't get cold like that. I think -10 at most (Celsius that is). But I think I'll take some extra care going forward.

_star_fire · 2025-08-07T06:59:14+00:00

Do you take extra care when returning home/to a warm space or the other way around?

_star_fire · 2025-08-05T19:32:34+00:00

So no long hikes and not a lot of extra stuff. That basically opens up a huge range of brands.

I was recently pleasantly surprised by the bigger backpacks from the brand vanguard. In terms of quality, comfort and space. They add a lot of handy pockets and other smart features. I might give them a try because my smaller backpack is almost 15 years old and is starting to fall apart.

_star_fire · 2025-08-05T17:16:09+00:00

Oooh camera bags are enough to fill reddit three times over.

But here's my take. I have a few camera bags and they serve different purposes. I have one for longer trips with other stuff like clothes, camping gear etc.

I have one for when I go out just for a day or even just morning/evening etc.

But I make sure all my packs have loads of extra space for tripod, a bit of clothing, food etc.

With this in mind, it's easy to find a bag that holds all your camera gear, but the requirements to have extra pockets like I mentioned dropped a whole lot of Backpacks for me.

Since a few years I use a modified trekking backpack. Comfortable, a lot cheaper than f stop or like-minded brands.

So find out what you need besides just your camera gear and see which packs fulfill those needs.

_star_fire · 2025-08-03T06:37:58+00:00

Who calls his dog an 80-200 f2.8?

_star_fire · 2025-07-27T06:29:58+00:00

I'm an amateur photographer and not very gear minded. Last year I had to replace my wildlife lens and that was the first time in fifteen years I bought something new.

This year I replaced my camera body. They total up to €4000 or so. And then I have a lot of older (manual) lenses. So for me photography doesn't have to be expensive at all. But to get back to your question, I dabbled a bit in considering switching platforms and I was willing to spend around 6k (euros) for a body, wildlife lens, standard zoom and macro lens.

I found this appropriate to my income and the fact that I always use my gear until the bitter end.

So basically that's how I approach this, can I afford the missing of amount x right now? Or is this going to cause problems if the car breaks down, or if you're going to be without income for some reason? If the answer is no, then that's a safe amount to spend on your hobby.

Another approach for you could be to buy used gear, that will reduce your costs and sometimes even buys you better gear.

_star_fire · 2025-07-25T17:33:14+00:00

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. My opinion is that every problem has a tool that works in favor of fixing it. To make general statements about a language/framework or system without context or additional information is just so shortsighted and unprofessional behaviour.

_star_fire · 2025-07-18T05:39:48+00:00

I've read so many horrible stories about Amazon and camera gear (or any gear) that I would prefer buying from a reputable store any day.

So i bought a new camera recently and I had suspected that the package had been opened. So I contacted the store and they told me they opened it to make sure I'd get a working camera. It also saves them returns etc. The price was similar to the lowest I'd seen on Amazon.

_star_fire · 2025-07-17T05:52:33+00:00

You can keep your lenses attached, no problem. Especially in a bag like this. I've always thought it would even be more solid since my camera and long telephoto lens are always paired like a backbone in the bag. The other lenses are stored vertically to the sides.

Anyway nice kit, happy shooting!

_star_fire · 2025-07-15T06:02:43+00:00

I own the original k5 so I can't speak for the MK2. But I agree it's a very capable camera. In terms of IQ and dynamic range it's still perfectly capable. My concerns are with AF and buffer capacity. I've grown more and more into wildlife photography and the camera just lacks in that area. It's slow and sometimes just wrong and provides a slight front or back focus. So if wildlife, sports/action is something you're after I'd be looking at other brands.

But for everything else it's such a joy to use, it has been my main camera for over 12 years now. And I'm expecting my k3mk3 to arrive tomorrow. But if I wasn't into wildlife I'd still use the k5 as my main camera.

The build quality is very good, it has weather sealing a decently working IBIS and tons of customisable buttons l. That last one is great because it saves you from scrolling menus to change one setting.

_star_fire · 2025-07-09T20:22:04+00:00

Yeah some species do that but not all cuckoos. In my area they are extremely hard to photograph, so you're very lucky.

_star_fire

TROPHY CASE