Photography Roundup - 9/12

Summary of photo news, the latest contests, and more

By K David in Columns on Sep 12, 2015

Rolleiflex Portrait | alan_smithee_photos

School is back in session everywhere and that means one thing: it's quiet during the say again. So now's the perfect time to play hooky from work, take a stroll or set up your home studio, and take some great photos!

Featured Deals

Pentax D FA 50mm f/2.8 Macro

This week we have a number of great deals, just in time for back to school. If you, your friends, kids, or nieces and nephews are taking a photo class, surprise them with a new lens!

• September Pentax Lens Deals
• Pentax D FA 50mm f/2.8 Macro for $280
• Pentax DA 300mm f/4 for $893
• Pentax K-S2 with DA for $449 (body only) or $648 (with the 18-135mm WR Lens)
• Pentax K-S2 Black and White Bodies (only) for $399
• 20% off Adobe Creative Live through September

Pentax Forums Roundup

Happy Labor Day from Otis | Rupert

Official Monthly Contest #109, Night Time is the Right Time, Submissions

Night Time is the Right Time Theme Image

Insomniacs, this month's official monthly photo contest is tailor made for you. Submit your best photos taken an hour after sunset until an hour before sunrise. There are a lot of great possibilities for this month's theme!

Enter in this month's official photo contest

Pentax Lens Clubs

77mm f/1.8 FA Limited Sample Image | LeRolls

Did you know that almost all of the Pentax lenses have a thread dedicated to sample images of those lenses or class of lenses? The sub-forum Lens Clubs is a great place to post photos taken with your favorite lens or see how other people are using lenses. 

Post Your Park Benches

Park Benches Photo | Crooski

Did you know we had the thread specifically for photos of benches? Neither did I. But it has 77 pages of bench and picnic table photos and discussion. Check it out and share your lonely bench photos!

Gear News

Ricoh is taking a big stride with their innovative Theta camera this week. Meanwhile, the folks at Canon have decided to double-down on pixel size reduction and ludicrous processing requirements.

Ricoh Theta S

• Ricoh Theta S Announced
• Theta S on Engadget
• Polaroid’s New Camera Prints Photos Immediately And Without Any Ink
• Canon Unveils 250-megapixel Prototype DSLR Camera Sensor
• GoPro's Google-Powered Camera Is the Next Best Thing To Teleportation
• Apple's iPhone 6s Camera makes a Huge Leap in Quality

Good Reads

This week we have a nice mix of light-hearted and very serious content on our good reads list. Check out some of the great reasons to shoot film, some amazing photo work being done on expired darkroom paper, or how to photography a Red Bull plane as it races by just feet from the cameras and ground.

• On Feeling Inadequate as a Photographer
• Secret traces: how expired photo paper caught the imagination of the art world
• Eleven Reason to Shoot Film
• Eleven More Reasons to Shoot Film
• 100 cameras were given away to homeless people in London. The results = amazing.
• Photographing a 125-MPH Plane That’s Feet Off the Ground
• 18 Vintage Snaps That Show People Have Always Acted Like Idiots
• Mervyn O'Gorman's Striking Autochrome Photographs of His Daughter
• 12 Of The Most Powerful Science Photos Of This Week 

Interesting Kickstarter

The Stampede in Action

The Stampede light and reflector stand holder is, perhaps, the most interesting variation on the bucket we've seen in a long time. The Stampede connects to your lighting stands and allows you to use nearby objects for stand weight. What makes this product clever is that your lighting stands' weight no longer has to be packed with you. Whether you use water, sand, or ice and beverages (for your models between takes), The Stampede will certainly serve more than one useful function on your next shoot. As an added bonus, these are made by people with developmental difficulties, helping special needs people maintain financial independence and live improved lives.

As always, Pentax Forums does not endorse our weekly Kickstarter project or its creators. Likewise, we do not have an affiliation with the creators. We share these with you so that Forum members can see what new photography products are on the horizon.