Film Camera Buying Guide

How to select, inspect, and test legacy equipment

By K David in Articles and Tips on Nov 24, 2014

This week will sure be a busy one for Pentaxians and their families, since Thanksgiving is followed by the Black Friday weekend— the biggest Pentax sales event in the US.   Once the weekend rolls around, be sure to stop by our Pentax Deals category for the latest in savings and rebates on Pentax gear. Even if you don't live in the US, you may be able to take advantage of the many fire sales and other savings.

Before we get too caught up with deals, though, we wanted to take a step back and bring you our latest guide, in which we take a look at legacy film cameras.

If you're passionate about photography, chances are that you've tried or even owned an all-manual film camera.  Many of our members enjoy collecting cameras or just pick up older Pentax bodies to experience what it's like to shoot with vintage Pentax glass.

It's still very easy to find legacy cameras on auction and classifieds sites as well as at second-hand stores, and many such cameras may seem like a fantastic value.  However, it's important that buyers use due diligence when shopping for legacy cameras, as defects, maintenance issues, and other quirks abound.  We've therefore prepared a guide on how to select, inspect, and test legacy cameras so that you're sure to be satisfied with your purchase.  Enjoy!

Click here to continue to the guide

Pentax DSLR Shooting Modes Explained

K-3 Functional Modes: Single-frame to Remote Controls

By K David in Articles and Tips on Oct 3, 2014

Have you ever been intimidated by all of the shooting modes that your Pentax DSLR offers, such as mirror up or exposure bracketing?  In this article, we'll explain all of those modes by taking a look at Pentax's most advanced camera, the K-3.  If you have an entry-level model, it will have a subset of these modes, but the modes themselves will not differ.

We've sub-divided shooting modes into two categories: "functional" and "creative". The logic behind the division was that the functional modes affect the manner in which images are captured. The creative modes are designed to provide creative effects that can only be achieved by those modes.  We will focus on the functional modes in this article, and cover creative modes in a follow-up post.

Ricoh Gone Wild: WG-M1 Announced

A mountable camera for action videography

By K David in Pentax Announcements on Sep 11, 2014

Ricoh Imaging has now officially announced the new Ricoh WG-M1, a mountable action camera that builds on the existing rugged Pentax/Ricoh "WG" (Wild Gear) camera infrastructure.  It is primarily designed for video but can also capture stills, and thus competes directly with other action cameras such as the GoPro lineup.

How to Clean Camera Lenses

Removing dust, dirt, and stains

By K David in Tutorial Videos on Jun 23, 2014

We use our lenses and demand much of them. The front elements, especially, can be splashed with rain, mud, and sweat; bumped by hands, elbows, and dog noses; or dirtied by a myriad of other terrible and creative destructive forces. Addressed when you return home or to your on-assignment home, correctly cleaning your lens of dirt and detritus can prolog the coatings' lifetime, improve image quality, and protect your lens's value. Performed incorrectly, however, and lens cleaning can damage your lens. Searching the Internet for a tutorial on lens cleaning will return tens of thousands of results. Some present sound and proven methods. Some are the work of crackpots. The technique described herein is my approach for lens element cleaning. Of course, clean your lens element at your own risk.

Cleaning Your DSLR Sensor

A guide on how to get rid of sensor dust at home

By K David in Tutorial Videos on Jun 12, 2014

We all paid a lot of money for our digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera bodies. So dust on an image can be a disappointment. Sensor dust, unlike lens dust, necessarily leads to image quality loss, unsightly image spots, and added work in post. So, here's a process for dry-cleaning your DSLR sensor. Simply searching for sensor cleaning returns a dozen different ways, tips, and theories on what and how to do it. This method presents DSLR owners with low-risk, inexpensive sensor cleaning. Of course, clean your sensor at your own risk.