Senior Member Registered: August, 2014 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 108 | | Review Date: February 21, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Low cost and it works | | Cons: | non so far | |
I ordered it of off Amazon and price includes next day delivery. My wife used it on our k-500 to video here chorus' two day retreat/rehearsal. It did not over heat and a nd all worked well. A nice cheap alternative to the Pentax branded one.
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Senior Member Registered: April, 2014 Posts: 136
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 30, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $30.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Sensible price, makes the intervalometer much more useful, saves murdering batteries when using long exposures. | | Cons: | Rather short cables, cheap connectors, possible quality control issues. | |
I bought this because I wanted to use my K-r with the intervalometer. My plan is to shoot over a period of days, shooting a frame every two minutes or so in RAW, then to process these using software into time-lapse video. It's the harder way to shoot this kind of video, but using software can produce better results and even 4k video, which of course the K-r alone can't possibly produce. The K-r can't shoot for days at a time on batteries either, and as far as I know neither can any other camera I could afford.
I researched the Pentax AC adapter for the K-r and found that the best UK price I could find was £124.99, roughly $209 US! That's truly ridiculous and Pentax should be told this as often as opportunity allows. Even in the US, where the adapter is a lot cheaper, it's still between $80 and $120. The price I paid, £17.97 including shipping and VAT (sales tax), is a much more reasonable price for a mains adapter, roughly equivalent to about $30 US at the time of writing. That's better!
I found the Ex-Pro product on eBay, but I have never heard of Ex-Pro and saw no reviews of any of their products on any of the more trustworthy review sites. Hmm. OK, £17.97 isn't a lot of cash, so I ordered one from the eBay trader and took the risk. It arrived fairly quickly and was dead on arrival; oh dear! The eBay trader however, promised another and did promptly send me another one. With some trepidation I set it up and yes, this one works. OK, so with a sample size of just one purchase I don't know if Ex-Pro products commonly arrive non-functional, but it is possible that they have poor quality control, so I guess that means you should only buy from a dealer you think you can trust. I must say the dealer I dealt with was quick to respond to communications and sent me the replacement unit without any argument or evasion, something you don't always find on eBay.
Being concerned that the voltage might be poorly regulated I borrowed a volt meter and tested the output; it was 8.5v, pretty close to what it should be and close enough not to be a worry. I kept it on for a couple of hours and checked it at intervals to see if it changed over time, but it seemed steady enough. OK, after that I was confident enough to connect it to my camera. I haven't yet done a comprehensive test over a period of days, but the K-r works perfectly using this unit and so far it has given no trouble.
There are a couple of important points to note. When connecting the unit to the camera you put the coupler into the battery compartment and close the cover as normal; the adapter then supplies the voltage and convinces the K-r that it has a battery installed. When you close the battery cover you need to take care that the cable runs out of the correct part of the opening. There is a small rubber flap built into the battery cover that must flex to allow the cable to pass through, and failure to align that cable could damage the cable or maybe the battery cover if you push it closed too firmly. If everything is lined up properly, no problems ensue. When going back to battery operation getting that rubber flap to lie flush again just requires a little push from a fingertip; it really isn't difficult, but I would recommend being careful when performing these tasks.
Once in use the AC adapter part of the unit gets just barely warm to the touch after about an hour. This indicates that there isn't a lot of current being used, which is a good thing as I don't want it to fry my camera. If it got really hot I would stop using it immediately.
The product is light but still feels solid, with no flexing of the case during handling and clean, neat joins. It doesn't look or feel shoddy. The connectors are a bit light and don't fit particularly tightly, but they do the job. They don't look or feel like top quality items and I suspect that they need careful handling, but if they get it I would expect this thing to do the job for years and not give any problems. I do get the impression that if I were the heavy-handed type then one of the connectors or cables would soon break. The AC cable supplied is terribly short. At the adapter to camera end the cable, while not the silly length of the AC cable, could do with being a bit longer. It reached from the floor to my K-r when it was mounted on a tripod at full height, but only just. When setting up for shooting my time-lapse of a plant growing I will certainly need an AC extension cable.
This item is sold under a lot of names. Ex-Pro, Camera-Pro, and Dot.foto are just three of those I have seen; all of these appear to be the same product judging by the photos. It's a cheap Chinese knock-off but they aren't all bad and so far it's working perfectly for me; if that changes I'll come back and edit my review. Yes, I'd recommend this, but only if you buy from a dealer you have confidence in, just in case that dead one I received turns out to be commonplace.
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