Introduction

Thanks to Fowa, the Italian Pentax importer, I had the Pentax K3 MkIII monochrome to test for some weeks. There is only one way to describe my feelings for this camera: I’m in love with it.

I like to do black and white photography, both in film and digital, and it’s the first time using a digital camera I feel the camera is just a tool to realize my vision and not something that will be in my way and I will have to figure out how to not let it influence my vision.

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The camera

The Pentax K3 MkIII, in its normal color version, had been on the market for a while. It’s a beautifully built 26 Megapixels Aps-C reflex camera that had great reviews from many photographers. The body is solid, weather sealed, very easy to use and has a beautiful viewfinder.

In the era of mirrorless Pentax decided to continue to produce reflex cameras. If you like optical viewfinders as much as I do, you will really like the quality of the Pentax viewfinders. I tested the K1 MkII, a full frame camera, and the K3 mkIII and also if the K3 has a smaller sensor still it has a great viewfinder that doesn’t seem limited by its size.

Pentax is well know for the quality construction and I have to add that I always found the Pentax cameras very comfortable to handle. I sure fit in the model the designers use as a reference for ergonomic. The buttons feel always in the right spot and easy to identify.

The Monochrome version shares the same exact body and construction quality with an all grey aesthetic touch. The designers really did a great job to give personality to the Monochrome body.

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The black and white sensor

The sensor used in the monochrome version is the same 26 Megapixels sensor of the color version but without the color Bayer filter in front of it. This gives many advantages for black and white photography. The Signal/Noise ratio becomes higher and so the noise is less. The lack of the demosaicing process allows to produce a more natural file without artifacts.

If you want to know more about the differences take a look at the video where I explain them in detail.

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Image quality

The image quality is absolutely impressive. Testing the camera in studio or using it for normal subjects I was always impressed by the results.

The noise is not existent up to 6400 ISO, becomes a pleasant grain similar to a low ISO film up to 51200 ISO and the file are still nice and usable almost up to the max sensibility of 1.6 millions ISO.

I did a test comparing the K3 MkIII color with the Monochrome and the difference is very evident. You can read here the article I wrote, where you can find also the RAW files to download, or you can watch the video below.

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Real life experience

When I test a camera I like to look for normal and extreme situations to have a feeling of how the camera can handle the everyday job and to test the limits. While I was taking photographs in the Vicoforte Mondovi` Sanctuary I was sure to have found a subject that showed me the limit of the camera. I saw a window with the sunlight coming straight on it and creating an enormous contrast with the darkness of the church inside. I was wrong. The camera managed the contrast perfectly.

You can see the jpg version where all the dark areas are almost lost, followed by the elaborated RAW file where I was able to recover the shadows. The amount of details in the dark areas and the lack of noise recovering them is really impressive. The camera was set at 400 ISO and I used the meter with the settings to keep the highlights, a very useful setting common to the K3MkIII Color and Monochrome.

Yo can watch my video review below or scroll down to the image gallery.

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Dynamic range

Another impressive aspect of the images generated by this camera is the dynamic range, or as we were used to call it with film, the exposure latitude.

After trying the camera with different subjects and seeing how easy was to recover the dark areas, I decided to test the camera to see how wide was the dynamic range. I photographed a color target sitting on my library and, again, the result was impressive.

The camera can recover without any problem a 5 stop underexposed image. Some little noise appears in a -7 stops exposure and at -10 stops the noise become evident but is still usable in emergency. So we can have an area in the image with an exposure value 10 stops below the medium grey and we can still recover some details from it obtaining a Zone I in the final print.
The overexposure is something to avoid with this camera. The upper limit is 3 stops, even a little less.

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Mid-tones

The mid-tones are another Pentax K3 Monochrome strength. The passage between the tones is smooth and at the same time full of separation. Even in very dark areas recovered in post production, the quality and quantity of the mid-tones remain great.

You can have a look at the images in the image gallery below and download some RAW files to have some fun!

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Post-processing

Post processing the images is very simple. The high dynamic range makes all very easy, it’s just a matter to adjust the levels and sometime recover the shadows.

The limit to not have the colors to apply filters in post is easy to overcome using filters in front of the camera. No different than what it’s done with film.

I see images usually too much post processed, so to have some limitation can be a positive thing. With this camera the photographer become again important and must think and crate before taking the picture and not after, in front of a screen.

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Download the RAW files

If you want to download the original RAW files and play with them, use the following links. Please consider to use the Donate button so I can cover the increase of expenses for the server space and bandwidth.

K3 Monochrome:
K3Mono_Images.zip
K3Mono_DRTest_Part1.zip
K3Mono_DRTest_Part2.zip
K3Mono_DRTest_Part3.zip

K3 MkIII Color:
K3Color_DRTest_Part1.zip

K3Color_DRTest_Part2.zip

Please consider a small donation:

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Conclusion

Pentax did a great job with this camera. For photographers passionate about black and white photography the camera is worth the investment. The results are much better than what can be obtained by a color camera.

In a mass market when we see everyday a lot of similar new mirrorless, it’s a pleasure to see a company doing something different and in such a good way. The only alternative for a pure black and white digital camera is Leica, but is not a reflex and the cost is similar to a kidney.
Kudos to Pentax! Great Job!

For now I just did a first walk with the camera, at night in the city of Cuneo and a little comparison test in studio.

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Here, in the video you can hear what I think about the camera, if you like to see the pictures I took in the studio to have a first comparison of the K3 Monochrome and the K3 MkIII Color and download the raw files, just scroll to the end of the article and you will find the link.

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The results are really impressive. The lack of noise also at higher ISO, the dynamic range and the general quality of the images are absolutely fantastic!

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Here the 100% zoom.

If you want to download the original RAW files and play with them, use the following links. Please consider to use the Donate button so I can cover the increase of expenses for the server space and bandwidth.

K3 Monochrome:
KimonoTestRAW_Part1.zip
KimonoTestRAW_Part2.zip

K3 MkIII Color:
K3MkIIITestRAW_Part1.zip

K3MkIIITestRAW_Part2.zip

Please consider a small donation:

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See you next time with more tests!

A lot of water passed under the bridges since then and life decided photography had to become my job and aviation an hobby I had to dream about more than practicing it.

I tempted many times to bring the two passions together but I was able to do it just for a little while when I lived in Florida and you can see here a peak moment of that union. In Italy it’s not that simple and when the unexpected opportunity of last Sunday arrived I jumped on it.

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Sadly Italy is not offering the same opportunities in aviation. General Aviation in Italy was annihilated by years of excessive taxes, absurd bureaucracy and socialist rhetoric. The story of aviation in Italy was great at the beginning, the development of aviation was fast and strong around the World Ward One and arrived to the top in the later years. When Mussolini took power he understood the importance of aviation, as military power, civil infrastructure and propaganda machine.

Mussolini had put Italo Balbo in charge of aviation. He was a great pilot and had a real sense of the importance of aviation. Under his management Italy became a reference for pilots and the airplane industry. Italy achieved many record specially with seaplanes. The peak of the Italian achievements, and also of the fascist propaganda, was the Decennial Air Cruise. As described on Wikipedia: It was a mass transatlantic flight from Orbetello, Italy, to the Century of Progress International Exposition, in Chicago. The expedition, organized by the Italian Regia Aeronautica, began on July 1, 1933, and ended on August 12 of the same year. It consisted of 25 Savoia-Marchetti S.55X seaplanes crossing the Atlantic Ocean in formation, forming the greatest mass flight in aviation history. The Italian Squadrons, led by General Italo Balbo, were welcomed enthusiastically in the Netherlands, the UK, Iceland, Canada and particularly in the United States of America, where they became known as the Italian Air Armada. A publicity success for Fascist Italy, Balbo further viewed the expedition as a pioneering step towards commercial flights across the Atlantic.”

On Archive.org you can find a documentary video of the Cruise, a very interesting documentary showing the level reached by Italian aviation. Italo Balbo had to pay his opposition to the alliance with Hitler and the racial laws. He was a smart man not just a good aviator and, as usually happens under dictatorships, at the end he had to pay for his intelligence.

When finally the fascist regime collapsed we made the same mistake always made by every country when there is a drastic change in regime: we threw away the baby with the dirty water. Aviation was used as a symbol of greatness by the fascism and it was then used by the subsequent governments as a fascist symbol to be destroyed.

In the 1950s and 60s there was a try to revive aviation and some airports, mostly built and used by military during WWII, were converted to civil airports and flying school opened up.

Those were the times when my father got involved in aviation, got his private pilot and glider license and gave his contribute to aviation as president of the Aosta Aero Club.

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Few years later all started to go south. Too much taxes and complications made aviation slowly decline. Just to give you an example, when I was a kid the Cuneo AeroClub had 4 single engines, an aerobatic, a twin engine and a motor-glider, now there is not even more the Club.

I arrived in it too late, when I was 14 my father left his license expire, the main reasons were the costs and the fact that his work insurance decided to not pay anymore for accidents while piloting an airplane.

One of the sad part of the Italian aviation is seeing some excellence like Piaggio, Tecnam and other smaller companies dedicated to Light Sport airplanes, producing beautiful planes but with a very limited internal market. Some beautiful and unique airports as the Aosta Airport, a paradise for gliders, immersed in the Alps is still working but the numbers are 1/3 of what were in the 1960s. A real waste of potential. A common problem in Italy not just in the aviation sector.

I gave a try at a pilot license while I was living in Florida, but life decided differently and I had to re-enter Italy just before the final check-ride.

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I tried to reconnect with airplanes while in Italy but it was an absurd experience. Flight schools booking an hour with an instructor and the plane and instructor never showing up, snobbish people at local airfield wearing the Top Gun jackets and making the schedule for a flight on a Light Sport airplane more difficult than scheduling a meeting with the Pope, local airports become “international” and so not accessible for taking pictures and many similar experiences made me almost desist.

Finally a couple of weeks ago I asked on a Facebook Group some information about the local airfield in Envie. I wanted to visit it because I read was the base for some home builders and I figured could be a nice subject to test the Pentax K1 mkII I’m reviewing for Fowa, the Pentax Italian importer. I had zero answers from pilots at the Envie airfield, and when I went to take a look I saw basically a desert field with a decadent farm, but I had an answer from Sergio, a pilot based at the Castelletto Stura airfield, who invited me there.

It was a wonderful surprise and we organized for a Sunday morning.

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The airfield in Castelletto Stura is what an airfield is supposed to be and I found the same spirit common in American airfields: passionate people in love for their airplanes and happy to share their passion looking at the visitors from the same flight level and not from 30,000 feet above as is custom in nearby airfields.

Sergio took out his Tecnam P2002, called in some friends and the field owner arrived to bring out his autogyro and at the end Sergio was so kind to bring me up for a little flight.

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The weather was perfect and I met great people while finally breathing some aviation again while pictures with the great Pentax K1. A perfect Sunday morning.

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I made a test with two different negatives: a very soft flower subject lighted with painted light and a very sharp subject lighted with a very contrasted light. I wanted to see how this printing process deals with different subjects.

I proceeded with some step test to find the corrected exposure for my negatives. I did 2 seconds steps and as you can see in the video I was a little optimist with my first strip of 2,4,6,8 seconds exposure. At the end the correct exposure resulted of 11 minutes.

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You can see the tests I made in the video below.

I was expecting shorter exposure times ’cause I seen some other boxes made with the same LED giving short exposure times with other alternative processes.

Still I like the slow times when I work with film and so I kinda like to have time to think while I wait for the paper to be exposed.

The Arduino timer is working greatly and it’s a pleasure to use this box!

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I have to learn to pose the emulsion better on the paper. The thickness came out not uniform and there are spots where the emulsion did not spread at all on the paper. Still I have a lot to learn but as a fist try I’m quite satisfied of the results.

The LabOldTech2000 kit is very easy to use and complete.

See you next time with new projects!

At the origin of photography many technologies of printing required the exposure in UV light. At those time sun was the perfect source and the exposure was usually made outdoor. The quantity of UV light from the sun can vary a lot in different seasons or with different weather, plus, baby it’s cold outside now in winter! For this reason I decided to build a UV Box.

I was inspired by some similar projects videos on YouTube but I added a personal touch.

First of all I used an old wood box for wine bottles instead of a modern plastic box. The wood box was in my cellar, free, and wood looks better and more coherent than plastic with old techniques.

Second I decided to add a timer for a precise exposure instead of counting the seconds with an external timer and manually switch the lights on and off.

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Check out the video to know more about the UV Box and see how it works.

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I used very common components easy to buy online:

LED stripes: BTF-LIGHTING UV Black Light 5m 300 LED Strips, 5050SMD Ultraviolet 395nm-405nm

Arduino Nano

Arduino Display 1602A

Buttons: GUUZI 12mm

Switches: GUUZI 12mm, 16mm

LED: GUUZI 12V-24V 12mm LED

Power: MeanWell LRS-150-12 150W DC 12V IP20

5V Power: Greluma DC 12v 24v to 5v Step Down Converter 5A 25W

The 5V are derived from the 12V Power Supply with the Stepdown Converter.
The relays are on the 12V power supply going to the LED stripes and have the green LED in parallel.

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Here is the scheme of the circuit:

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Here the program I wrote for the timer:

#include <LiquidCrystal.h>
#include "Countimer.h"
#include <EEPROM.h>
Countimer tdown;
LiquidCrystal lcd(2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7);


#define bt_set    A0
#define bt_up     A1
#define bt_down   A2
#define bt_start  A3
#define bt_full   A4
#define LCD_CONTRAST_PIN 11
#define relON LOW
#define relOFF HIGH

int time_s = 0;
int time_m = 0;
int time_h = 0;
int set = 0;
int flag1=0, flag2=0;
int relay = 8;
int relay2 = 9;
int buzzer = A5;
int power = 0;
int contrast = 0;


void setup() {
Serial.begin (9600);
//set some defaults


pinMode(bt_set,   INPUT_PULLUP);
pinMode(bt_up,    INPUT_PULLUP);
pinMode(bt_down,  INPUT_PULLUP);
pinMode(bt_start, INPUT_PULLUP);
pinMode(bt_full,  INPUT_PULLUP);

pinMode(relay, OUTPUT);
pinMode(relay2, OUTPUT);
pinMode(buzzer, OUTPUT);

lcd.begin(16, 2);
analogWrite(LCD_CONTRAST_PIN, contrast); //set some contrast
lcd.clear();
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print("   Welcome To   ");
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
lcd.print(" LB's Drunk UV Box ");
tdown.setInterval(print_time, 999);
eeprom_read();
delay(4000);
lcd.clear();
}

void print_time(){
time_s = time_s-1;
if(time_s<0){time_s=59; time_m = time_m-1;}
if(time_m<0){time_m=59; time_h = time_h-1;}
}

void tdownComplete(){
  lcd.setCursor(0,1);
  lcd.print("  Done  ");
  delay(3000);
  lcd.clear();}
 

void loop(){
tdown.run();

//read power
if(digitalRead (bt_full) == 0){power=1;}
if(digitalRead (bt_full) == 1){power=0;}

if(digitalRead (bt_set) == 0){
if(flag1==0 && flag2==0){flag1=1;
set = set+1;
if(set>4){set=0;}
delay(100); 
}
}else{flag1=0;}

if(digitalRead (bt_up) == 0){
if(set==0){tdown.start(); flag2=1;}
if(set==1){time_s++;}
if(set==2){time_m++;}
if(set==3){time_h++;}
if(set==4){ if(contrast < 254){contrast=contrast+1; analogWrite(LCD_CONTRAST_PIN, contrast);} if (contrast >= 254){contrast=254;};}
if(time_s>59){time_s=0;}
if(time_m>59){time_m=0;}
if(time_h>99){time_h=0;}
if(set>0){eeprom_write();} //EEPROM.write(addrCon, contrast); EEPROM.write(addrLum, luminosity);
delay(200); 
}

if(digitalRead (bt_down) == 0){
if(set==0){tdown.stop(); flag2=0;}
if(set==1){time_s--;}
if(set==2){time_m--;}
if(set==3){time_h--;}
if(set==4){ if(contrast > 0){contrast=contrast-1; analogWrite(LCD_CONTRAST_PIN, contrast);} if (contrast <= 0){contrast=0;};}
if(time_s<0){time_s=59;}
if(time_m<0){time_m=59;}
if(time_h<0){time_h=99;}
if(set>0){eeprom_write();} // EEPROM.write(addrCon, contrast); EEPROM.write(addrLum, luminosity);
delay(200); 
}

if(digitalRead (bt_start) == 0)
  {if(set==0){{ flag2=1; 
  eeprom_read(); 
  if(power == 0){
  digitalWrite(relay, relON);
  digitalWrite(relay2, relOFF);}
else {
   digitalWrite(relay, relON);
   digitalWrite(relay2, relON);}

  tdown.restart(); 
  tdown.start();
}}
  else {set=0;
  }
}


lcd.setCursor(0,0);
if(set==0){
  if(power==1){lcd.print("PW full    Timer");}
  if(power==0){lcd.print("PW half    Timer");}
}
if(set==1){lcd.print("  Set Timer SS  ");}
if(set==2){lcd.print("  Set Timer MM  ");}
if(set==3){lcd.print("  Set Timer HH  ");}
if(set==4){lcd.print("  Contrast:  " + String(contrast)+"  ");}
lcd.setCursor(8,1);
if(time_h<=9){lcd.print("0");}
lcd.print(time_h);
lcd.print(":");
if(time_m<=9){lcd.print("0");}
lcd.print(time_m);
lcd.print(":");
if(time_s<=9){lcd.print("0");}
lcd.print(time_s);
lcd.print("   ");

if(time_s==0 && time_m==0 && time_h==0 && flag2==1){flag2=0;
tdown.stop(); 
digitalWrite(relay, relOFF);
digitalWrite(relay2, relOFF);
digitalWrite(buzzer, HIGH);
delay(300);
digitalWrite(buzzer, LOW);
delay(200);
digitalWrite(buzzer, HIGH);
delay(300);
digitalWrite(buzzer, LOW);
delay(200);
digitalWrite(buzzer, HIGH);
delay(300);
digitalWrite(buzzer, LOW);
tdownComplete();
eeprom_read();
}

if(flag2==1){
    if (power == 1){digitalWrite (relay, relON); digitalWrite(relay2, relON);}
    else {digitalWrite (relay, relON); digitalWrite(relay2, relOFF);}
    }
else{digitalWrite(relay, relOFF);
     digitalWrite(relay2, relOFF);}

delay(1);
}

void eeprom_write(){
EEPROM.write(1, time_s);  
EEPROM.write(2, time_m);  
EEPROM.write(3, time_h);  
}

void eeprom_read(){
time_s =  EEPROM.read(1);
time_m =  EEPROM.read(2);
time_h =  EEPROM.read(3);
}

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As you see it is easy to build, it just requires some electronic/programming skills and a lot of patience. Buying a full 6 bottles box and drink them during the building can help the morale, I’m not sure about the results!

If you prefer a video version, just watch it here, but if you prefer to read go on.

I’m really glad in January 2020, before the shit hit the fan badly, I decided to start my Black and White Tales project. It was a great way to keep myself busy and stay in touch with the world and my creative mind while we entered the Covid jail we still have to leave!

That project taught me a lot about myself and my photographic style and preferences. I got even more involved with film thanks to the images I found in my archive and really loved.

If you followed the projects from the beginning I owe you a big thank you. If you did not just click here and enjoy it. If you do not click and check it out nothing will happen to you but you will make me sad and that will perhaps heavily influence your Karma!

Another success of 2020 was the publication of my book about fine art ink-jet printing. It is the English version of the one I published few years ago in Italian and contains some obvious updates. Check it out.

The Black and White Spider Award is one of my favorite awards, it always have so many beautiful photographs submitted and very high standards. I had three images nominated, one in the Fine Art category and two in the People category. Not bad at all.

Photography for me is always a great way to meet new people and hear new stories.

In 2009 while photographing Ginseng farmers I took a picture of Abe Vang, a Hmong farmer who was a refugee from Laos and passed away recently. I always loved that picture because I felt a connection with Abraham also if we spoke for few minutes.

Craig Thompson, a comic book designer contacted me to use the picture for the issue about Abe Vang of his comics series dedicated to Wisconsin ginseng farming. It was great to learn Abe’s story and create a new connection.

Even in a shitty year I manage to have satisfactions from my job! Not bad.

Now the projects for 2021.

First of all I will take a break until the end of January, to organize myself and to relax a little.

I have no idea what the year will bring, but the beginning already brought a lot of censorship on social media so I will start to upload my video also on Rumble and move away from FaceBook and other traditional social media. You can find me on MeWe, if you like to stay in touch.

Photographically I intend to produce 10 magazines and 10 fine art portfolios, about 10 different places. I will continue to make videos and talk about the pictures involved in the project… Rumble or Youtube I will find a way also if I expect some censorship due to my libertarian ideas I have no problem to express.

I will also continue the Gear Talk series, so expect more reviews of old film cameras!

It is all for now, stay tuned and see you at the end of the month.

The book talks about all is essential to know to start to create fineart ink-jet prints.

Content:

Why to print

Ink-jet technology and its history

Different kind of inks and their specifics

Paper, canvas, other substrates and their characteristics

Consumer advice

Color profiles, what they are and how they work

A deeper look at ICC profiles

How to practically use the ICC color profiles

Optimize the workflow for printing

How to set the options in the printer interface

How to take care of your printer

Beyond the “correct” print

Ink-jet fine art printing in black and white

An example of the journey from pixels to pigments

Some general rules for retouching images

Protect and presenting the prints

Build the optimal lightroom

Resources to learn more

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You can buy the book on Amazon.

Here my answer. It is a little provocation but is exactly what I think.

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Let me know what you think.

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Here some images taken with Ilford HP5 and developer in Ilfotec HC. Click on them to enlarge.

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See you next time… perhaps with a little more serious camera!

Being an Italian and having to defend an entire tradition and culture, I evaluated various options. At the end I decided to talk about another camera I use so I can recreate an equilibrium!

Ok, just kidding but I decided to talk about the Minox 35GT because is a fantastic camera and has an opposite philosophy to the medium and large format cameras I mostly use.

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Here a couple of example of images enlarged from the original 21.6″x30.8″ at 360 DPI. Click on the details to see them at original size.

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As you can see the sharpness is pretty impressive. In the last example is easy to read the incision on the statue also if the light condition is not the best, being the incision in the dark shadow.

See you for the next review!