[stevebrot]

I was 10 years old. Watching it fill in, character by character, line by line was both frustrating and so exciting! 1200 baud helped a lot!

My 1200 baud went in the trash along with the AT&T PC 6300. I still have a standalone 56K V.92 fax modem that I use for fax. It is tempting to replace it with a card (~$12 including shipping on eBay) from the same maker just to free up desk space and the plug on the power strip.


Steve

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Last edited by stevebrot; 10-30-2020 at 11:24 AM.

[tim60]

Well... maybe I was tempting fate. With the exception of the manual speed control everything is faulty to some extent - fungus in all of the lenses and the Olympus body viewfinder, and the MG shutter isn't cocking, it just winds on. Fortunately the speed controller does work so it isn't a complete loss, and I can sell the remaining Olympus gear as a job lot, if I start it at a fiver even minimal bid ought to cover the rest of the cost.

Swings and roundabouts... I had to go out early for a dental appointment, and went on to Portobello Road earlier than usual because I knew this delivery was coming in the afternoon. While I was there I got a good clean Olympus Trip for a tenner. But this afternoon the temporary filling the dentist put in began to fall apart, so I'm inclined to think it really hasn't been my day...

A temporary filling that lasts less than a day is very temporary.

[aslyfox]

just made a deal with a forum member from Montreal for a SMC Pentax-FA 31mm F1.8 AL Limited [ Made in Japan ] with original front and rear caps and pouch

[Lord Lucan]

An AFT1 telephoto adaptor for my AF280T flash unit. Not bad for £1.50 (plus reasonable postage) on Ebay, and it even has the soft case. I've had the AF280T for years, together with the wide angle adaptor AFW1. The adaptors slide and clip onto the front of the head. I cannot see me using it much, if I really need the reach I have more powerful flash units anyway, but is is nice to complete the set. I understand this also fits the AF200 models, but not the AF400T.

[stevebrot]

An AFT1 telephoto adaptor for my AF280T flash unit. Not bad for £1.50 (plus reasonable postage) on Ebay, and it even has the soft case. I've had the AF280T for years, together with the wide angle adaptor AFW1. The adaptors slide and clip onto the front of the head. I cannot see me using it much, if I really need the reach I have more powerful flash units anyway, but is is nice to complete the set. I understand this also fits the AF200 models, but not the AF400T.

The full-stop boost to guide number is much appreciated and coverage is adequate for 55+mm on APS-C.


Steve

[Marcus Rowland]

A temporary filling that lasts less than a day is very temporary.

Just a bit - and of course the dentist is now closed until Monday. Fortunately it's the top of the filling that is broken, the deep part of the cavity is still plugged so I'm not in pain.

Just won a Pentax PK-M 135/3.5 on eBay for £10.96 including P&P, but failed to win any of the other lots I bid on - a couple of them were from the same seller, which would have saved on p&p, but never mind.

[Lhorn]

Just bought an AF280 flash from a gentleman locally - unfortunately sans the telephoto adapter seen above
Got it to try out TTL on my new (to me) Super Program.

[Gorgarath]

Well, it looks like I have a new-to-me Pentax K-5 iis coming my way. Got pushed to my max bid with a half hour to go and figured it was gone, but there it sat. As long as it's in as good of shape as advertised, I'll be happy. Should be a nice step up for my K-7 that I'll probably lend to my oldest. (Maybe eventually hand down, but will strongly remind him it's a loan for now as I'm not quite ready to part with it yet.)

[ivanvernon]

An AFT1 telephoto adaptor for my AF280T flash unit. Not bad for £1.50 (plus reasonable postage) on Ebay, and it even has the soft case. I've had the AF280T for years, together with the wide angle adaptor AFW1. The adaptors slide and clip onto the front of the head. I cannot see me using it much, if I really need the reach I have more powerful flash units anyway, but is is nice to complete the set. I understand this also fits the AF200 models, but not the AF400T.

Thanks for posting about the AF280. I have been using the more limited AF200T and had forgotten that I had a copy of the AF280T. I dug it out, put in fresh batteries, powered up, and now have tilt and swivel capabilities plus more power--but no telephoto or wide angle adapters. (I also have two copies of the AF360FGZ, but both have broken battery doors/covers-bet that has never happened to anyone else!)

[Jonathan Mac]

I have been away for the forum for around six weeks now due to time constraints but don't have a huge amount to report in the way of photographic acquisitions. CoViD has made it very difficult to buy new gear, mostly because my wife and I can both work from home and without trips to the office it's difficult to meet up with sellers without her knowing

Yesterday I got a new Manfrotto strap for the K-3 as the Kata one is a bit worse for wear. It's served me well over a period of nine years or so and I may continue using the padded bit as it's longer wider than the one on the Manfrotto. It looks like Manfrotto bought Kata at some point otherwise I'd have bought the same again.

I also got an AF-Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 (non-D, version 2) to use on the F801S I picked up a couple of months ago. Construction is very cheap and the aperture ring is whole stops only (!!!) but for €60 it's the best option to try out the camera. I got a K&F Concept Nikon to Fuji adapter direct from K&F's Spanish web-shop but it doesn't work, lens won't mount. Still no reply from them about a replacement or refund after three days...

In non-photography I acquired daughter #2 (not her actual name), who followed her sister's footsteps in coming early, though only five and a half weeks instead of eight. Hence the added time constraints, even though I'm on paternity leave.


Lúa by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

[Lord Lucan]

I have been using the more limited AF200T and had forgotten that I had a copy of the AF280T. I dug it out, put in fresh batteries, powered up, and now have tilt and swivel capabilities plus more power

I like the AF280T. It is handsome compared with the modern trend of tall, forward-leaning units, which I know are to achieve more downward shadows and to get over the top of big modern lenses. But I always use bounce flash off the ceiling for people shots so those considerations are not relevant for me, Direct flash is fine if you want a P&S, rabbit-in-headlights look, and I only use it for technical shots, and only then if the subject is not too reflective - my shots of the telephoto head earlier for example.

(I also have two copies of the AF360FGZ, but both have broken battery doors/covers-bet that has never happened to anyone else!)

Battery doors are a chronic weakness of flash units, whatever the brand and however expensive they are. The AF280T doors are no exceptiion, and the manufacturers have no excuse for it. I've seen better battery doors on toys.

[WPRESTO]

A couple of things.

I remember when the 280T was first released. Reviews of it were uniformly positive. I eventually had two, the tele & WA attachments, a hand grip that had room for spare batteries inside, and several long wires one of which had a TTL (=four contacts) screw-on PC plug for my LX, and one that had a TTL hot0shoe plug. I modified one of the 280T units with a mechanism to keep the battery door reliably closed. All that went to another Pentaxian long ago.

The best battery door on a modern 4AA flash can be found on Canon units. The door itself has the typical slide down slightly then flip open mechanism. but it also has a little latch than engages when to the door is slid shut. To open you slide back a ridged button on the battery door first, only then can the battery door be slid down and flipped open. Operating the latch once you do it a few times takes up essentially zero extra time. I'd post an image, but the flash & the Canon body for which I bought it went recently to another Pentaxian. Go to the B&H website or something similar and look at one of the larger Canon strobe units. AND TELL THE PENTAX DESIGNERS TO DO THE SAME!!!


I have some really old 2AA and 4AA strobes that are totally manual units, no TTL no Thyrister. They have doors that slide into two grooves, no hinge, the doors remove completely. There is a chance of losing one I suppose, but I never lost one, and they stay reliably closed 30 and 40 years after purchase. I guess that's just too simple for the engineers at the drawing boards.

[stevebrot]

I have been away for the forum for around six weeks now due to time constraints but don't have a huge amount to report in the way of photographic acquisitions. CoViD has made it very difficult to buy new gear, mostly because my wife and I can both work from home and without trips to the office it's difficult to meet up with sellers without her knowing

Yesterday I got a new Manfrotto strap for the K-3 as the Kata one is a bit worse for wear. It's served me well over a period of nine years or so and I may continue using the padded bit as it's longer wider than the one on the Manfrotto. It looks like Manfrotto bought Kata at some point otherwise I'd have bought the same again.

I also got an AF-Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 (non-D, version 2) to use on the F801S I picked up a couple of months ago. Construction is very cheap and the aperture ring is whole stops only (!!!) but for €60 it's the best option to try out the camera. I got a K&F Concept Nikon to Fuji adapter direct from K&F's Spanish web-shop but it doesn't work, lens won't mount. Still no reply from them about a replacement or refund after three days...

In non-photography I acquired daughter #2 (not her actual name), who followed her sister's footsteps in coming early, though only five and a half weeks instead of eight. Hence the added time constraints, even though I'm on paternity leave.


Lúa by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

It looks like the stork has been good to you. Lúa looks to be a sweet babe.


Steve

[TedH42]

just made a deal with a forum member from Montreal for a SMC Pentax-FA 31mm F1.8 AL Limited [ Made in Japan ] with original front and rear caps and pouch

We all knew that this was inevitable. Enjoy your own copy of one of the Pentax Master Lens.

[35mmfilmfan]

My new-to-me K3 arrived today - simultaneously with the rain ! Delivered by a far more amenable postie, who was quite content to leave it in my accredited 'safe place'. Not mentioned on the website for the dealer from whom I bought it was the fact it came with a battery, battery charger, software CD, and a Neewer battery grip with both trays, thus saving me the £95 I had budgeted for the grip, charger and battery. Spent a most enjoyable few hours checking all functions, and finding all kinds of useful info from the PDF manual I had downloaded prior to purchase.

Ordered two spare batteries, and some Eneloops for the AA grip tray, due to arrive Nov 5, it is unlikely that I'll have the chance to take it for walkies for a few days at least, if not weeks - and no doubt all the quiet areas will be overrun with exercising bar staff on furlough. Ho hum.