| Review of: Wimberley MH-100 MonoGimbal Head by steamloco76 on Sun November 15, 2020 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 1910
Reviews: 2
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A monopod is a necessary accessory for long outings with heavy telephoto lenses. Unfortunately, large, heavy lenses like the Pentax DFA 150-450 do not balance well using just the supplied foot, plus you have to physically tilt the entire monopod/camera and lens setup if your subject moved up or down. Tilt heads help, but can allow the lens to suddenly drop and constantly messing with the clamp knob is a pain.
A gimbal head is really what you need for any large, heavy camera and lens. Full sized gimbal heads are fine on a sturdy trlpod, however they are unwieldy and too heavy on a monopod.
Enter the Wimberly MonoGimbal Head. Mounted to my Manfrotto heavy duty monopod, the Wimberlery along with the P-400 4 inch Arca-Swiss lens foot plate allow my DFA 150-450 and K3 to balance perfectly on the gimbal pivot once the foot is properly adjusted and locked. The setup looks a bit odd with the monopod off to the left, but it handles like a gem! Wildlife and airshow photos are so much easier. Also, carrying the camera and lens since you can rest the lens across your shoulders while holding the monopod.
The head is very well made and the Arca Swiss style clamp works with the equally well made (and costly ! ) Wimberley mount plates or just about any other brand of Arca Swiss compatible plate. Wimberley has a chart on their website with recommendations for which plate to use with each lens. I bought the 4 inch for my DFA 150-450 and it is more than long enough to adjust to the lens, a teleconverter and any DSLR. A 3 inch would probably suffice. I used a 2.5 inch plate with a DA*300 and it is perfect. Wimberley suggested a 3 inch.
The $179 price is a bit stiff, especially for a less than flashy looking piece of kit, however the MonoGimbal does what it is supposed to, and very well indeed.
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| Review of: Pentax Battery Grip D-BG7 for Pentax KP by steamloco76 on Sat November 14, 2020 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 11258
Reviews: 7
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I have large, but not huge hands. The Pentax KP, even with its largest handgrip, is just too small for comfortable shooting, especially verticals with larger lenses. The other issue with the KP in stock form is battery life. The small DLi-190 battery isn’t up to the task, especially if Live View is being used. The dbg-7 battery grip solves all the aforementioned and more.
Adding the dbg-7 makes a marked difference in the handling and balance of the KP. Lenses such as the DA* 60-250 and DA*300 balance much better. The vertical shutter release and control wheels are so much more convenient than the awkward position holding vertically without the grip. The biggest advantage of the grip for me? The DLi-90 battery tray. With the larger battery from my K5/K3 cameras, the KP now has excellent battery life. I rarely need to replace the DLi-190 in the camera, I just keep using the grip battery. Even inexpensive third party DLi-90 batteries offer far more shooting life than a Pentax original DLi-190.
The only drawbacks to the dbg-7 grip are cost new and the extra height added to the camera. A KP/dbg-7 combination is actually taller than the K3/dbg-5 combination.
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| Review of: PENTAX Magnifier Eyecup O-ME53 by steamloco76 on Fri December 13, 2019 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 51320
Reviews: 41
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Absolute must have if you use manual focus much of the time. The small amount of additional magnification really does make a pronounced difference in nailing focus. Blocks very little of the screen. A bonus, it gets my nose away from the rear screen. I’ve purchased three so far, one for each of the active Pentax DSLRs in my kit.
The only negatives I have found are the cost is a bit much for what it is, but there are no less expensive alternatives. Also, the eyepiece sticks out just enough to catch on camera bag inserts. The eyepiece either gets partially dislodged or keeps the camera from going into its slot in the bag. Both are minor annoyances.
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| Review of: Sunpak 555 Dedicated Auto Flash by steamloco76 on Thu July 25, 2019 | Rating: 10 | View more reviews | |
Views: 5260
Reviews: 3
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I bought my Sunpak 555 back in 1993, used it professionally until 2001 and it is still going strong today in 2019.
Smaller than the more common behemoth model 622, the Sunpak 555 is a great all around, powerful field and studio flash unit. Sync is by PC cord where the unit works as a standard auto/manual flash or with the heavy duty dedicated module cord with appropriate module. For Pentax that module is the PT2D. The PT2D module allows OTF TTL camera controlled dedicated flash with the Pentax Super Program, LX, Pz-1, Pz-1p, and *1st D, *1st DL cameras. Program autoflash with other dedicated flash capable film bodies and standard autoflash with all others.
Exposure accuracy is excellent. The six AAA batteries NiMiH or Lithium, last a long time and provide fast recycling. A port for high power external batteries is included. I used mine with a Quantum battery for a time. Power output is up to the manufacturers rating.
The 555 uses a lockable push-button release mount to its bracket. There are ratchet teeth allowing the flash to mount at various angles. Bracket and mount are sturdy and very secure. The flashhead tilts and swivels with the body and sensory staying pointed at the subject. The hotshoe mounted dedicated modules also feature a built in autoflash sensor for use with any camera without dedicated capabilities, including the latest digital models.
Anyone in the market for a powerful, versatile, dedicated or non-dedicated thyristor Auto-flash will be well served by this unit. Please be sure to get the correct cords with the flash, they can be hard to find as is the Pentax PT2D dedicated module.
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| Review of: Osram BCS44 Studio by steamloco76 on Thu July 25, 2019 | Rating: 8 | View more reviews | |
Views: 5678
Reviews: 2
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I had an Osram BCS 44 flash for numerous years in the 1990’s using it on my job as a local news photographer. It proved durable and quite capable, though its output rating of 44M/100 ISO is a bit optimistic.
The built in Wide angle diffuser worked well, as did the slave function. The auto exposure settings were generally accurate however, with some lenses under exposure by about half a stop was common. Good battery life with NiMiH rechargeable batteries.
Two negatives. The batteries go in the base of the flash grip under a round, screw in cover. The cover can be hard to remove in cold or hot weather and is a separate, easily misplaced piece. Also, the flash clips to its bracket by grooves around the handle base, so one cannot change the batteries with the flash mounted.
All in all, the unit is a unique looking, well built, good functioning thyristor flash unit. If your camera has a PC sync contact and you find one of these for a good price, buy it. Better than the Vivitar 285 and 283 shoe mount units.
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| Review of: Spiratone Curvatar by steamloco76 on Sun April 28, 2019 | Rating: 8 | View more reviews | |
Views: 3259
Reviews: 1
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I've purchased several auxiliary ultra-wide angle and fisheye adapters over the years, all of them except one, The Spiratone Curvatar, have proved to be useless.
I bought my Curvatar for $25 including shipping from eBay in like new condition. I figured to use it on either my 35mm DA f2.4 or 18-55mm DA-L Pentax kit lens, so I sourced a 49mm and 52mm Series VII step ring from another eBay vendor for around $12 total. The results with the 35mm were not very impressive since the image loses the near full circle effect. On a full frame sensor camera even a 50mm host would render a circular 150 semi-fisheye view. Anyhow, I next used the 52mm ring to mount the Curvatar on my much unloved 18-55mm DA-L. BINGO! We have a winner.
Using the 18mm setting, the image is almost a complete circle and the combination produces surprisingly good results too! Color is saturated and true. Contrast is good. The AF actually works, especially in live view contrast AF mode and sharpness in the center is quite acceptable.
Close-up images are this combinations forte, centered close subjects are rendered quite sharply at apertures from f8 and smaller. Sharpness across the frame gets better at f11 and 16, however the corners are never sharp. Corrections in PP can sharpen and even out the image brightness and contrast to a good degree.
For the money, usually under $30, the Curvatar makes a worthy fun accessory if you don't own a prime fisheye. My result with the Pentax 18-55mm DA-L kit lens with the Curvatar have it permanently assigned to that former closet dwelling lens.
The linked images are all direct from the camera jpegs with no adjustments.
![[IMG]https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/images/67299/large/1_WFGX9341.JPG]([IMG]https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/images/67299/large/1_WFGX9341.JPG) [/IMG]
![[IMG]https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/images/67299/large/1_WFGX9615.JPG]([IMG]https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/images/67299/large/1_WFGX9615.JPG) [/IMG]
![[IMG]https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/images/67299/large/1_WFGX9613.JPG]([IMG]https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/images/67299/large/1_WFGX9613.JPG) [/IMG]
![[IMG]https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/images/67299/large/1_WFGX9619.JPG]([IMG]https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/images/67299/large/1_WFGX9619.JPG) [/IMG]
![[IMG]https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/images/67299/large/1_WFGX9702.JPG]([IMG]https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/images/67299/large/1_WFGX9702.JPG) [/IMG]
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