[jeallen01]

First spoils from ShopGoodWill:

• Ricoh Super Shot rangefinger camera
• Sigma 1:4.5-6.7 100-300mm lens
• Pentax 1:3.5-5.6 FA 28-80mm lens

Bought an FA 28-80 a few years ago and was not impressed by the image quality - hope you got it really cheap because IMHO it's not worth much

[timw4mail]

Bought an FA 28-80 a few years ago and was not impressed by the image quality - hope you got it really cheap because IMHO it's not worth much

Well, it and the Sigma were a package deal, and I wanted the Sigma. That said, why not have the Pentax equivalent to the Tamron lens I already have :P

[jeallen01]

Well, it and the Sigma were a package deal, and I wanted the Sigma. That said, why not have the Pentax equivalent to the Tamron lens I already have :P

I think you would find that almost any roughly equivalent Tamron/Sigma will be a lot better than the FA - although the latter might make a good, albeit lightweight, decorative paperweight

[Boris_Akunin]

It has arrived and I'm quite impressed thusfar.



The old A7 struggles with AF in low light but as soon as there's enough light the AF is quite sufficient (and Eye-AF is great to have, even the old A7 mk1 does a decent job at it) and the lens' performance is very impressive.
I don't know if I'd sacrifice my K28/3.5 but the FE28/2 is on top of my wishlist now.


Treason disclaimer:
I've sold 3 Canon nFD lenses to pay for this one, so I don't think this impacts my traitor status.

---

Last edited by Boris_Akunin; 08-23-2017 at 03:47 PM.

[aslyfox]

. . . treason disclaimer:
I've sold 3 Canon nFD lenses to pay for this one, so I don't think this impacts my traitor status.

no

your status as a traitor to Pentax is still secured

[ " that's a joke, son " ]

[ChrisPlatt]

Praktica BMS camera, made in GDR 1989-1990

Interesting manual exposure only SLR with full-information viewfinder;
i.e. LEDs for shutter speed and window showing set aperture.
Has electronic shutter powered by a PX28 6V battery.
The only glaring omission is lack of depth-of-field preview.
Uses Praktica bayonet "electric" lenses or M42 with adapter.

Chris

[ChristianRock]

I hope you guys forgive me for being a bit off topic... but I think I found the perfect gif for this thread...

[aslyfox]

i'm not sure I get your point

https://www4.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=uEfnT7Qv&id=BEB6AD3D8...hist=0&first=1

[lmd91343]

I hope you guys forgive me for being a bit off topic... but I think I found the perfect gif for this thread...

I'm sure that's what my wife thinks I'm doing!

[Wasp]

A new (to me that is) K-r body arrived by courier today. It cost me $50, delivery included.

First impression was that it was very dirty. There is a lot of dust on the mirror, even though a body cap was fitted. I had a bit of a moment when I tried it out. It took pictures OK but would not autofocus. It would not even switch into AF mode, no matter what position the switch was in. The display resolutely kept saying MF. I checked all the focus related stuff in the menus without any joy. Not good, did I buy a pup?

A quick bit of internet research brought up the advice to clean the lens mount contact (on this very site mind you). Sure enough, autofocus fired right up and all is well. The camera works perfectly.

I then tried live view mode. The double mirror flip when taking a picture was new to me. Manual focus seems much easier with LV, also a new experience to me.

I then tried video mode. It works but I really must read the manual on how. The paper manual came with the camera. It has an after market strap, but for the price I paid I can't complain. Anyway, I still have the one that came with my dearly departed K10D.

The other thing that impressed me is ISO 6400. Wow! I should have gotten a more modern camera years ago. My previous generation K10D was really all done above ISO 800.

So far I am quite happy. I might start missing some of the features that are a button press away on the K10D but buried inside the menus on the K-r but they are really very different classes of camera.

Over the weekend I will check out the camera in more detail. I need to clean that mirror, and who knows what the sensor looks like...

[ChristianRock]

A new (to me that is) K-r body arrived by courier today. It cost me $50, delivery included.

First impression was that it was very dirty. There is a lot of dust on the mirror, even though a body cap was fitted. I had a bit of a moment when I tried it out. It took pictures OK but would not autofocus. It would not even switch into AF mode, no matter what position the switch was in. The display resolutely kept saying MF. I checked all the focus related stuff in the menus without any joy. Not good, did I buy a pup?

A quick bit of internet research brought up the advice to clean the lens mount contact (on this very site mind you). Sure enough, autofocus fired right up and all is well. The camera works perfectly.

I then tried live view mode. The double mirror flip when taking a picture was new to me. Manual focus seems much easier with LV, also a new experience to me.

I then tried video mode. It works but I really must read the manual on how. The paper manual came with the camera. It has an after market strap, but for the price I paid I can't complain. Anyway, I still have the one that came with my dearly departed K10D.

The other thing that impressed me is ISO 6400. Wow! I should have gotten a more modern camera years ago. My previous generation K10D was really all done above ISO 800.

So far I am quite happy. I might start missing some of the features that are a button press away on the K10D but buried inside the menus on the K-r but they are really very different classes of camera.

Over the weekend I will check out the camera in more detail. I need to clean that mirror, and who knows what the sensor looks like...

Great find, super deal. The K-r is a great little camera. I traded for the K-S1 (for better AF in artificial light and a bigger viewfinder, basically). But I'd still be perfectly happy with one. In fact, if I had found one for 50 bucks, I would have bought it

ISO 6400 is perfectly useful if you expose correctly. I would usually top at 3200 but have no issue going to 6400 if needed. With the K-S1, I usually set the limit to 2000 and go to 3200 if needed... the bigger pixels in the K-r do make a difference I think, even if the sensor isn't rated as highly. In the real world, I found that it delivers...

[jeallen01]

Liked the used K-R I had for a few months, but sold it to buy a K-30 which was definitely a step up (no aperture block problem YET!)

[Jonathan Mac]

The K-r was the first camera after the K200D that I considered due to the increased low light IQ and the ability (finally!!) to fine-tune AF without hacking the camera.

The newer generations of cameras (K5, K3 etc) have even better IQ at high ISOs, but the predecessor to the K-r (K-x) was the APS-C king of low light for it's time. I believe the K-r has the same sensor.

[SSGGeezer]

Even though most folks might use SMAs that they have frozen, I am saving money on SMAs that can be used for my LBA! First picture is the Dollar General version of SMAs that are under 2.00 US per box. Hooray for a fatter me!

I felt it was necessary to buy some in preparation for the arrival of my newest lens/accessory. A Tamron 1.4 TC. It is about 4 SMA tall without covers and just shy of 6 with covers on. I took a few shots and posted the wheelbarrow wheel straight OOC with major cropping. Shot was at 1/320s ISO 100 and f4.5. Sun was very bright so still will shoot wide open on my FA*300. Very cool.

We shall see how well it works with the birds later today.
By the way, the SMA equivalent makers also make replicas of most of the other cookies in the SMA family. Hannaford grocery stores also have a similar model. (If you are in the North East U.S.)

[ivanvernon]

Even though most folks might use SMAs that they have frozen, I am saving money on SMAs that can be used for my LBA! First picture is the Dollar General version of SMAs that are under 2.00 US per box. Hooray for a fatter me!

I felt it was necessary to buy some in preparation for the arrival of my newest lens/accessory. A Tamron 1.4 TC. It is about 4 SMA tall without covers and just shy of 6 with covers on. I took a few shots and posted the wheelbarrow wheel straight OOC with major cropping. Shot was at 1/320s ISO 100 and f4.5. Sun was very bright so still will shoot wide open on my FA*300. Very cool.

We shall see how well it works with the birds later today.
By the way, the SMA equivalent makers also make replicas of most of the other cookies in the SMA family. Hannaford grocery stores also have a similar model. (If you are in the North East U.S.)

I am still using the Aldi brand of Fudge mint cookies, Benton's. 150 calories per 4 cookie serving size. My Pentax-FA 645 300mm is coming back from CLA, which poses a challenge in measurement.