This year I’ve been exploring colour photography, after struggling in the past to find a colour set up that I’m anything like as happy with as the b/w images made with a number of cameras.
The story so far can be read here.
Perhaps most important was the last chapter, where my recent acquisition of a Pentax K100D DSLR had led to colour photographs straight out of camera that I was very pleased with.
Well, after the first couple of photoshoots with the K100D, I had planned to revert to business as usual, ie shooting predominantly in black and white.
But the colour output of the K100D has been too irresistible, so the majority of my shots have been in colour.
I have tried a few b/w photographs, using the camera in the same “bright” colour mode, then converting to b/w in Snapseed afterwards, and the results have been very pleasing too.
But since I have half a dozen cameras that deliver satisfying b/w images – either straight out of camera or via a simple Snapseed tweak – and the K100D is pretty much the only one that seems to consistently deliver colour, its unique place and purpose seems assured.
The output looks pretty uniform using different lenses too, but perhaps best with the two A and F series lenses I have, the SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7 and the SMC Pentax-F 35-70mm f/3.5-4.5 zoom I wrote about recently.
The colours with these two lenses seem simultaneously even more rich and natural than those taken with my couple of later DA series lenses.
All photographs in this post were made with the Pentax K100D.
Which is your go to camera and lens for colour photography?
Please let us know in the comments below (and don’t forget to tick the “Notify me of new comments via email” box to follow the conversation).
Thanks for looking.
What Next?
Share this post with someone you think will enjoy it using the buttons below.
Read a random post from the archives.
See what I’m up to About Now.
35hunter 
I have to admit I’ve left the Canon “dialed in” at my “Kodachrome” settings because I like it there, but the Nikon gives acceptable results as-is. The old and ailing Kodak has always been excellent “right out of the box”. As you know my preferred method of B&W is post-shoot desaturation, just in case the picture would be better in colour.
If we were rich we’d go into the camera store and say “give me half a dozen” and set them up for whatever they’re best at with a label on each one so we’d never again have to remember what settings to change. 😀
That last suggestion isn’t so far fetched, I know a few people who use older DSLRs and have two or three very similar bodies, then keep one for say Pentax K mount colour, one for Pentax K mount b/w, and another with an M42 adapter permanently attached for M42 lenses.
Then they just grab the camera they want for each shoot, rather than have one camera, then keep changing settings and attaching and removing adapters.
And when you get DSLRs for under £50, even under £30, why not, I’m considering it myself!
IDK about all the camera stuff but I am glad you are doing some color. I would have liked to see the bee in color 🙂
Thanks, I’m sure if the opportunity arose, a bee will be captured in colour!