[Jome]

Intel? Come on! Go Ryzen! Joking.

In fact, it was a tie : the first one to be available and cheaper, Intel won in that case (twice).

[jersey]

Intel? Come on! Go Ryzen! Joking.

AM4 is on way out and AM5 is not there yet. Now is the worst time ever to get Ryzen. If he waited for AM5 it would be great choice, AMD motherboards usually are good for 3 or 4 generations of CPU so you can easily upgrade your rig without need of replacing MOBO.

I use Ryzen, bought good MOBO with first generation Ryzen, some time ago I got second generation and I suppose I will be able to upgrade at least once with CPU and if needed upgrade RAM or GPU easily before even consider switching to new chipset. I think it will be AM6 by then.

Intels are very good but in terms of longevity it is hard to beat AMD.

[lmd91343]

Got a nice used SIGMA AF 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 EX DG Aspherical.

I got it from eBay a couple of weeks ago for my K1 II.

It’s clean, has no obvious optical issues, no decentering. However I am never 100% pleased with ultra wide zooms. They are always a bit soft. I have had a Canon red circle ultra wide and three Sigmas. They just can’t quite come close to the fixed focal length ultra wides.

Sometimes you just need a zoom.

*I am excluding the DA 10-17 & F 17-28 fisheye zooms. That projection seems to work OK.

[mlag]

4 diaphragms ( a small rubber valve..) for a zodiac pool cleaner shipped from USA - if I buy them in Europe it is almost same price 60 $ for one. Shipping/import is more expensive, hence 4 to optimize. Still gives a 3 to 1 ratio. Crazy.
Unfortunately doesn't work for pentax gear...

[robbiec]

I've been on a Graham Slee / Focal binge. So in the last month I picked up a Graham Slee Bitzie analog DAC to take over the audio output from my laptop / PC. Now to realise the full capacity of what the Bitzie was offering I needed a set of headphones that were a bit more Hifi than the daily drivers, a pair of AKG N60NC's (great WfH headphones), and I got a pair of Focal Elegia headphones, highish end, fabulous build quality, closed back & comfy. Now I had stellar sound quality from my laptop and PC in my lair , even emotionally grabbing, a cousin who listened in started crying in response to a favourite song but when I went downstairs to listen to some vinyl using the same Focal Elegia's, it just wasn't the same. The digital system was giving my vinyl setup a complete Slapdown. I was devestated if not surprised as the Bitzie / Elegia had raised the bar quite significantly.So to rectify I picked up a Graham Slee Solo Headphone amp and it was an improvement but it highlighted a lack of detail in the Phono area of the amp to which I rectified with a Gram Slee Accession M only so shift the weakness to my deck (Pro-ject Audio Debut) and only highlighted to me what a fools errand it us to start off low and work up. Go for the bestest straight off, you get the quality sooner and it's cheaper!

[Jonathan Mac]

A JJC kit to use to "scan" film negatives (or slides) with a digital camera. It's essentially a much cheaper and more flexible version of the massively-over-priced Nikon ES-2. I haven't unpackaged it yet as I need a 49 to 52mm adapter to be able to use it with the only macro lens I currently have available: the A 50mm f/2.8. It should be a lot handier than my DIY version I made a few years ago but I need to bring myself up-to-date on the digital tools available now for colour-correcting the converted files.

[Kerrowdown]

As you may already be aware; since early 2019 I've happily using Really Right Stuff BH55 Ball Heads on my Gitzo set-ups.

But now rather than keep switching the heads about, I've added an additional BH-55 with 60MM Lever Release Clamp B2-LR-II. This will from now on be permanently attached to my Platypod-Max. Rather than my preferred Screw Knob Release, I've gone for the Lever Release, purely because it's easier to operate at the lower mounting levels offered by the Platypod.

So yes... I'm now a happy bunny again.

My reviews of these items are linked below.

Platypod Max review: Platypod Max reviews - Pentax Camera Accessory Review Database
RRS BH55 review: Really Right Stuff BH-55 Pro with B2 Pro II Clamp reviews - Pentax Camera Accessory Review Database
Gitzo review: Gitzo Series 5 Systematic XL GT5543XLS reviews - Pentax Camera Accessory Review Database

[Canada_Rockies]

Reluctantly, but with really no other options for the way I handle my photos, Resubscribed to Lightroom Classic. Cdn$15 a month won't kill me, but nothing else could possibly resurrect all my old photos complete with all the corrections I have made over the many years I have used LR and PS.

[richard0170]

Damn TTartisans!!! Looks like my next acquisition will need to be the new 50mm f2 in FX mount.

[Benz3ne]

Damn TTartisans!!! Looks like my next acquisition will need to be the new 50mm f2 in FX mount.

I've seen it too... The first reviews I've seen haven't been screaming great image quality, but then it's a pancake lens and for £60 or so...

[richard0170]

I've seen it too... The first reviews I've seen haven't been screaming great image quality, but then it's a pancake lens and for £60 or so...

I have only seen a couple and that is for the Sony version. One loved it the other was a bit so, so. Even the so, so one decided that what it did not like about the lens was the bokeh (I could not care less about bokeh) and some optical imperfections at the corners and edges at wider apertures, which on crop bodies should not be an issue. I really like the 50mm f1.2, but it is a bit bulky on my X-E3, for which the f2 version seems to be an ideal short tele.

[Benz3ne]

After colliding with a car around a month ago, I bought a new bike after a week (the frame on the old one was, for want of a better word, 'dented'). This is my new (to me) 2015 Specialized Crux. I'm going to swap out bits-n-pieces for my SRAM components (Sram Rival 1 clutched derailleur, 1x11 groupset, hydraulic disc brakes, flared handlebars) but it rides really nice already.

As a chemist, I had to put my stamp on it...

[ivanvernon]

Just received nice copy of the AF Aspherical LD (IF)Tamron 28-200mm f 3.8-5.6 macro. I already had this lens for my Hasselblad HV (think Sony A99), and saw one for only $32 by Keh so grabbed it for the K-1. The lens arrived in excellent condition, not UG as Keh had promoted it, but lacking front and back caps and hood. (I've added a Tamron back cap and appropriately I think, a Pentax front cap but no hood yet.) The lens is rated fairly high by Forum reviewers, and is a one-lens answer to lots of requirements. It would make a good street lens because of its extended focal span and low profile, and even doubles as a macro. Nowadays, with inflation being what it is, you can spend $32 at McDonalds for a hambuger dinner for two, so what's not to like! This lens must be rated quite high indeed on the value scale. For size comparison, it is shown here beside the venerable kit lens, the Pentax 18-55mm f 3.5-5.6 AL WR. I am also including a few garden test shots including a couple of quasi-macros just to show what this short MFD can do.

[Just1MoreDave]

A truck just dropped off a few pallets, with these just visible:



They are solar shingles. They don't look as awesome as a Tesla Solar Roof but they are here and the Solar Roof is not. Roofers will tear off the old shingles, install ordinary shingles around the edges and I think 225 of these in the middle, for 9.9kW of power, maybe starting in September.

[RobA_Oz]

A truck just dropped off a few pallets, with these just visible:



They are solar shingles. They don't look as awesome as a Tesla Solar Roof but they are here and the Solar Roof is not. Roofers will tear off the old shingles, install ordinary shingles around the edges and I think 225 of these in the middle, for 9.9kW of power, maybe starting in September.

Neat. I wish they'd been around when I installed 6kW of "conventional" solar PV on my roof, a few years ago.