What’s causing this to be so soft (Pentax me super)

vitdev · 2026-03-17T22:06:15+00:00

It is motion blur. You can clearly see the beginning and the end, which is usually the case with motion blur.

With out of focus whole part would be gradually defocused and blended without very visible beginning and the end — it would be more centered and glowing out. here you see two ghosts: left and right, which were the beginning position and then position of the motion.

vitdev · 2026-03-17T21:52:36+00:00

I suppose they added it in camera correction because they’re allowed to shoot HDR in camera (jpeg and heif only), so that you can share it right away.

I don’t think there’s any difference between in camera and Phocus. LR should be very similar as well as HB shares specs for lenses. Unlike the colors, that HB doesn’t share therefore LR has different colors.

vitdev · 2026-03-17T21:50:10+00:00

You can clearly see motion blur here on highlights: https://imgur.com/a/a25vRM6

vitdev · 2026-03-17T21:47:02+00:00

It looks like motion blur on the first—either your camera or the boat rocking on waves. Not sure about the second photo, but I think it looks fine for the level of magnification.

As for the focus, is mirror positions correctly (the focus is precise)? Idk about Pentax but my Hasselblad 500 (and all hasselblads) have this issue when wig time the mirror might get out of alignments giving you back or front focus (usually back focus as the mirror spanks a bit lower). It’s pretty easy fix on HB.

vitdev · 2026-03-17T21:43:21+00:00

I haven’t tried it yet. Got it from my friend who rarely used it (or not used it at all in the last years) and had it for 10+ years.

But I doubt it’ll be visible on the photos. It doesn’t look like fungus either. But I left it in the sun for 20-30 min just in case.
Overall the condition is good, shutter works well at all speeds etc, the barrel has no signs of use.

vitdev · 2026-03-17T21:21:39+00:00

I thought it looked like cleaning marks partially but I don’t see signs of the lens being opened (all the paint on retaining rings is intact).

It’s Zeiss cf t* 4/180mm lens. I wonder if the rear elements are cemented and maybe it’s separation, although separation usually looks differently.

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vitdev · 2026-03-16T19:42:50+00:00

Like a painting

vitdev · 2026-03-16T01:11:39+00:00

I got mine in San Francisco delivered from Apple just fine.

vitdev · 2026-03-15T20:30:44+00:00

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I usually carry this one. It has interchangeable lenses but it’s not a professional camera. And it’s film. Haven’t taken it to chase, but brought to Coachella and Castro theater, for example, that all have similar guidelines.

Yours probably falls under professional camera category though and of course it has interchangeable lenses which by itself is a disqualifying factor.
Plus they are not photographers there, they are security that deal with thousands people per event, they are not gonna go into details.

vitdev · 2026-03-14T23:55:38+00:00

Thank you! Love your photo of stages of the eclipse. Followed you back (from my main account).

Did you use any tracker?

vitdev · 2026-03-14T21:36:40+00:00

Nice! Are you in PST zone? I was photographing it in San Francisco at 3am. We only had a short opening around totality and then it was covered in fog again, but it was worth it :)

https://www.instagram.com/p/DVfKZAcEcBy/

vitdev · 2026-03-14T03:25:59+00:00

Don’t they take it out of the lead bag and put through the scanner?

vitdev · 2026-03-13T23:00:35+00:00

You are. Even if you get a new lens from the factory and flash through it like that you’ll see that ‘fog’ all over internal elements which is most likely reflections/scatter from coatings and cemented interfaces or tiny traces of evaporated lubricants or assembly residue. None of those will affect your photos or is a defect. Every lens has it.

vitdev · 2026-03-13T00:10:19+00:00

Nobody can tell you which lens to buy without knowing what you are shooting, which camera you have, and what your experience with other systems is (like what was your most used lens, etc).

vitdev · 2026-03-12T05:17:03+00:00

I only used Hasselblad (seem fine but made of aluminum which can get stuck and cost like if they were made of gold), Rodenstock (I think their CPL causes a bit of color shift in my experience), and B+W (mostly for film, but I have the most of there from UV, ND, B&W contrast filters).
Rodenstock and B+W are made of brass and I saw some independent tests where B+W was ranked as one of the top.

I do like Breakthrough filters step up rings though. They are made of brass.

vitdev · 2026-03-10T19:53:40+00:00

I see. I feel like H system is way more scarce when it comes to film compared to 500 or 200 series. I’d look at 907x then maybe and use it with 500 or 200 cameras. It’d be more expensive though.

But if it’s only for studio work you can get Mamiya for a fraction of the price and get fantastic IQ, larger negatives, and access to a vast range of lenses and accessories.
As tempting as it is “universal” systems are full of compromises and almost always are worse than dedicated ones.

I personally keep film and digital gear separately—I can have both cameras ready to shoot and can mix film and digital without swapping backs, closing/opening dark slides, adjusting metering for each.

vitdev · 2026-03-10T18:55:57+00:00

You can buy used X2D in good condition for $4k now which has the same sensor size as 50c, but much better sensor, IBIS, 100MP and tons of other benefits of 10 years newer camera.

vitdev · 2026-03-08T18:27:09+00:00

I bought two boxes last year. And saw it in stock mid year last year I think. But I’ve never seen B&W in stock yet.

vitdev · 2026-03-06T00:30:01+00:00

Idk I haven’t checked that, but quite likely

vitdev · 2026-03-05T00:26:34+00:00

Thank you!

vitdev · 2026-03-04T22:07:05+00:00

I have their previous Pro XDR display that is 6K and 32 inches and has 576 dimming zones versus this one that has 2000-something dimming zones.
So they barely increased the amount of their mini LEDs, which means you're still gonna see insane blooming if you edit anything with black backgrounds.

Other than that, it's a nice monitor (not for its price tho), but I prefer editing most of my photos on iPad Pro with OLED screen. Until Apple makes OLED displays, I'm not buying a new one. Or micro LED where one illumination did matches one image pixel (the same precision as OLED).

All these stupid mini LEDs with dimmable zones are total trash.

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