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02-10-2013, 03:06 PM   #1
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Quebing...

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I have had the Q for about 3 weeks now. I do like it. The size is wonderful. I did think that it might be a tad heavier in weight given the metal body, but its nice. I have been reading about the C and D lenses along with the adapters. I have been taking my nightly walks around with the camera, and trying out night shots - which are actually hit and miss. I need some additional practice here on technique. I have also been thinking and looking at items that would be useful.
  • Wrist Strap - The thing is small enough that I am afraid that I might drop it. Would like a nice dark brown leather one. Been looking, but nothing has moved me to do anything. I have been looking especially at the attachment approach.
  • Batteries - Same thing here. I do like the Wasabis that I picked up for the K5.
  • Lens - Currently have the 01. Though about the 02 kit, but passed on it. Maybe I should have - don't know, but too late now. Something along the lines of a 3mm prime would be nice for wide angle. Anyway, I'm waiting to see what Pentax comes out with.. Trying to decide on the fisheye - the concept of toy lenses is not really appealing - unless they are under $10.
  • Adapter - The Pentax one is just way too expensive, and I don' think I need the shutter. Looking to use K, M, A and FA lenses - which have aperture rings, so I think that just about any of them with a foot should be fine. Interested in using the 28, 31, 85 and maybe the 135. I am wondering if the A*300 is just going to be too ungainly to aim.
  • Scope - I do have to say the red dot does look nice and it appears to be very functional. This was a nice hack in putting it all together.
  • Tripod - I have been using an extra A-S plate from my K100 as a wider base, and it fits on my tripod. But the little Mafratto travel base does look very functional.

I have not done a thing - still considering and reading....




Last edited by interested_observer; 02-10-2013 at 03:13 PM.
02-10-2013, 03:13 PM   #2
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QuoteOriginally posted by interested_observer Quote
  • Batteries - Same thing here. I do like the Wasabis that I picked up for the K5.
Went out with a Wasabi battery in the Q for the first time yesterday. I was pretty impressed. After 128 shots it still had 3/4 charge left. That was shooting an adapted F35-70 with zero flash use and letting the screen auto shut down after 1 min.
02-10-2013, 03:21 PM   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by interested_observer Quote
Wrist Strap - The thing is small enough that I am afraid that I might drop it. Would like a nice dark brown leather one. Been looking, but nothing has moved me to do anything. I have been looking especially at the attachment approach.
I use a String attached Gordy's Strap. Look at the yellow-threaded one pictured to see the Dark Brown. I've attached it to the LEFT slot, not the right.. I hold the camera with both hands and that way the strap stays out of the way of the controls.




Thee are four colors of leather and 14 colors of the binding materials. I'll come back and attach a photo of my Q with strap a bit later. I have the Black and Red.

Last edited by monochrome; 02-10-2013 at 05:22 PM.
02-10-2013, 03:26 PM   #4
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The Q is so small and light, I just use these types of simple wrist straps (bonus there are no metal buckles or pieces next the the cam!) :


02-10-2013, 05:21 PM   #5
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Batteries - I use the Wasabis from Amazon.com. They seem to be about the same as the original batteries.

Lens - The $25 C-mount Fujian 35mm / 1.7 is great on the Q. I have several K-mount lenses that work well on the Q with the Fotodiox adapter, The Pentax 50 / 1.4, Pentax 50 / 1.7, Pentax A 35-105, Promaster 100 / 3.5 macro, Pentax DA-L 55-300 & Pentax M 135 / 3.5 are the ones I like to use with the Q.

Adapter - The Fotodiox adapter works well enough. The shutter in the genuine Pentax adapter would be nice, but to me, it's not worth $250.

Tripod - I use a 9" gorillapod knockoff ($10 on eBay) with a mini ball head. Handy, small, sturdy enough & flexible.

I'm digging the Q, too. Cheers & have fun!
Bob :-)
02-10-2013, 05:47 PM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by interested_observer Quote
I have had the Q for about 3 weeks now. I do like it. The size is wonderful. I did think that it might be a tad heavier in weight given the metal body, but its nice. I have been reading about the C and D lenses along with the adapters. I have been taking my nightly walks around with the camera, and trying out night shots - which are actually hit and miss. I need some additional practice here on technique. I have also been thinking and looking at items that would be useful.
  • Wrist Strap - The thing is small enough that I am afraid that I might drop it. Would like a nice dark brown leather one. Been looking, but nothing has moved me to do anything. I have been looking especially at the attachment approach.
  • Batteries - Same thing here. I do like the Wasabis that I picked up for the K5.
  • Lens - Currently have the 01. Though about the 02 kit, but passed on it. Maybe I should have - don't know, but too late now. Something along the lines of a 3mm prime would be nice for wide angle. Anyway, I'm waiting to see what Pentax comes out with.. Trying to decide on the fisheye - the concept of toy lenses is not really appealing - unless they are under $10.
  • Adapter - The Pentax one is just way too expensive, and I don' think I need the shutter. Looking to use K, M, A and FA lenses - which have aperture rings, so I think that just about any of them with a foot should be fine. Interested in using the 28, 31, 85 and maybe the 135. I am wondering if the A*300 is just going to be too ungainly to aim.
  • Scope - I do have to say the red dot does look nice and it appears to be very functional. This was a nice hack in putting it all together.
  • Tripod - I have been using an extra A-S plate from my K100 as a wider base, and it fits on my tripod. But the little Mafratto travel base does look very functional.
Hi IO,

I use a Camdapter CamStrap. I hate wriststraps even more than neckstraps, and use their gripstraps on all of my DSLRs, so it was a natural for me though a bit pricey.



It's well constructed with quality materials, adds a bit of bulk, but nothing serious, and allows me to manipulate all of the controls and shoot with just the one hand.

I have 4 extra batteries, two of them are Wasabis, and they work as well as the originals IMO.

My most used Q system lenses are the 01 prime, 03 FE, and 06 zoom. The 03 FE is confused with the toy lenses as it's MF with a fixed aperture -- and inexpensive, but should not be classed with the toys. I feel it's a quality lens that the designers felt went with the nature of the Q and could be offered at a very attractive price since AF and an adjustable aperture would essentially be superfluous since DOF is very deep and only a short range of critical focus is needed. IMO, the 03 FE is of similar optical quality as my DA 10-17 FE, and since I'm not incredibly picky about IQ in FE shots, I've taken to carrying the Q and the 03 over packing the DA 10-17 in my everyday kit.

The Pentax K2Q adapter is for those who want to take Q adapted lens photography significantly past just novelty use. If you plan to use flash, it is essential as it allows sync up to 1/160 with external manual flash, up to 1/250 with external P-TTL flash, and up to 1/1000 with the popup. I like to shoot small critter macros with flash, and found the 1/13 sync with the electronic shutter essentially useless for this, so for me, the price of the Pentax adapter was easily justified since the Q is just made for handheld macro with flash AFAIC. If you want to shoot moving subjects with panning, the leaf shutter will eliminate the rolling shutter effect.

If you're primarily going to shoot stationary subjects with available light, then the 3rd party adapters and electronic shutter work fine, but realize there will be limitations.

The Red Dot is a very useful accessory for shooting long. It cuts down search time (and frustration) which gives more time to focus and compose. Not quite as handy as AF, but it can help get the job done.

In the pic above, you can also see the 1" Arca plate that I got from Hejnar Photo. This one happens to be the one with the ridge, but it had to be modified to clear the lens mount. The one I'm linking to does not have the ridge, and does not need to be modified. With either, it's recommended to add a thin rubber or cork gasket (I use little cork self stick dots at each of the corners) to prevent slippage.

1.00 inch plate without ridge [D011] - $20.00 : Hejnar Photo Store, Serving Your Professional Photography Needs

One other thing that you might find useful for adapted lens use is an LCD loupe. I've used a Hoodman Hood Loupe with rubber bands and a magnetically attached Chinese model set up for the Nikon J1 but needed to modify the frame to clear the control buttons by enlarging the mounting hole on the metal frame.

Hope you're having fun with your Q. . .

Scott

Last edited by snostorm; 02-10-2013 at 06:00 PM.
02-10-2013, 06:54 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by snostorm Quote
IMO, the 03 FE is of similar optical quality as my DA 10-17 FE, and since I'm not incredibly picky about IQ in FE shots, I've taken to carrying the Q and the 03 over packing the DA 10-17 in my everyday kit.

I am very curious about this...I have the DA 10-17 and although I don't use it too often I like having it for certain types of things. Do you think the 03 is good enough (especially shooting in raw which is 95% of what I do) that you could rely exclusively on it vs the 10-17 keeping in mind that I don't know how much you use your FE or if you need to use it professionally (not a requirement for me). I ask this because my Q is coming tomorrow and since I have no qualms over the Q's raw capabilities from what I can see so far (I know it's not my K5 but it is pretty damn good for what it is) the 03 FE is definitely on my soon to be acquired list. The only way I can know for myself is to use it a while and see if it suits what I like to use a FE for but I just want to see what another FE user has to say about this.

02-10-2013, 08:16 PM   #8
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Well I was really disappointed with IQ of the 03 at first. It looked very soft with low contrast.
Experimenting with settings, this is what I programmed the #1 dial for (jpeg):

saturation +1, key -2, contrast +4, sharp +2

Also the focus needs to be taped-set to the first bold mark, left of center. This made a huge difference, and under ideal conditions like good sunlight and iso125, it gets to within about 80-90% of an aps-C dslr with the Sammy 8mm FE !
This is good enough for PP and really great results with the Q/03 combo, here is one latest example:



Flamingo Everglades Aerial kayakfari Florida Bay k - Dermandar

Many more here:

Aerial & VR Panoramas

(Note these are all downsized to 8000 pixels max per the site's (dermandar.com) requirements)
02-10-2013, 11:31 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by gda13 Quote
I am very curious about this...I have the DA 10-17 and although I don't use it too often I like having it for certain types of things. Do you think the 03 is good enough (especially shooting in raw which is 95% of what I do) that you could rely exclusively on it vs the 10-17 keeping in mind that I don't know how much you use your FE or if you need to use it professionally (not a requirement for me). I ask this because my Q is coming tomorrow and since I have no qualms over the Q's raw capabilities from what I can see so far (I know it's not my K5 but it is pretty damn good for what it is) the 03 FE is definitely on my soon to be acquired list. The only way I can know for myself is to use it a while and see if it suits what I like to use a FE for but I just want to see what another FE user has to say about this.
I did a comparison when I first got my 03. It was close enough for me that based on the few times I used my 10-17 I did not mind selling the DA soon after.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-q/207235-fish-eye-q.html#post2200700
02-11-2013, 07:25 AM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by digital029art Quote

saturation +1, key -2, contrast +4, sharp +2

Also the focus needs to be taped-set to the first bold mark, left of center. This made a huge difference, and under ideal conditions like good sunlight and iso125, it gets to within about 80-90% of an aps-C dslr with the Sammy 8mm FE !
This is good enough for PP and really great results with the Q/03 combo
Very nice results especially for jpeg...thanks for sharing those settings and I'll give them a go for if I ever need to shoot in this format. On the other hand seeing what you've done gives me a good indication that there is plenty of room to work with when it comes to pushing raw files.



QuoteOriginally posted by crewl1 Quote
I did a comparison when I first got my 03. It was close enough for me that based on the few times I used my 10-17 I did not mind selling the DA soon after.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-q/207235-fish-eye-q.html#post2200700
Thanks for the info and the link to that thread, somehow I missed that one. Again makes me a bit hopeful that this lens is indeed good enough to use exclusively, since the Q is so small there is no reason it wouldn't always be heading out with me anyways...even when taking my other gear.

Now to get some of those wasabi batteries and look into that camadapter strap... Q should be arriving any hour now!
02-11-2013, 03:38 PM   #11
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You're welcome #13 !
The stitched panoramas I've been able to print 4 - 5 ft wide and they still look good so I never bothered with raw yet ..
The main limitation is low light (5.6 and the small sensor ) it isn't the best match, so keep your aps-c setup if do any night panoramic shots !
02-11-2013, 09:30 PM   #12
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My original intent on acquiring the Q was to replace the LX3 our youngest son asked for when he went up to school. I wanted a small camera body with interchangeable lenses for some serious photography - especially when traveling and unable to bring along the K5. I like low light photography without a flash at night. This for me is a great discussion, along with all the other related threads.

The straps suggested were the ones that I have been considering. I should just flip a coin, and buy it. Same thing with the battery. I need to work more with the 01 lens. Several of the comments, I had not run across yet. I have been following Scott's exploits with the Q since he acquired it. Mainly wondering how it would work out for my shooting. I tend to shoot RAW exclusively - maybe I should try some JPG to see how that would work out. I think that I am pretty convinced now that the fisheye would work for me, as I have always liked my 10-17, although for panos I am really attached to my K5. It just boils down to the camera that you have at hand.

I want to keep the Q as simple as possible. On the other hand, I have not done a lot of telephoto just because of the size, weight and co$t. With the Q and the M 150, I can have 825/f3.5 that fits in the palm of your hand. The simple approach for traveling, and then the telephoto aspect is something that I would never have done with the K5.

This little guy has been fun and is only opening up additional opportunities....

02-11-2013, 11:28 PM - 1 Like   #13
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I use a lanyard from my old Optio S5n which slips around my wrist. It also serves as the lens cap holder via some elastic thread through a small hole drilled with my dremel.

Last edited by Steve.Ledger; 03-21-2013 at 10:29 PM.
02-12-2013, 03:01 PM   #14
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I'm using a wrist strap from Footprint Straps in England. very high quality bridle leather - construction is superb and the cost is very reasonable - about US$30 including shipping. the connecting cord is thicker than most and appears to be more than adequate for the job. The strap will likely break in over time, but as you know, leather can be a little stiff at first.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/cliveatoak/m.html?item=171042670445&pt=UK_Photograph...p2047675.l2562

I also like Crumpler's wrist strap, although I do not own one yet - I was thinking of it for my K5, but I think it would be great on the Q as well - and it's only $20

since I was also pressing buttons while shooting, and to get a firmer handle on the Q, I picked up a thumb grip - very handy, pardon the bad pun..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Metal-Thumb-Up-Grip-For-Digital-Camera-Pentax-Q-Olum...item43b8303a8e

Last edited by emergo; 05-20-2013 at 04:46 PM.
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