[GerryL]

Actually Ira, I don't see your sig at all at the moment.

LOL!

[GerryL]

Welcome to Pentax!
You won't regret it.
I've been using the K100D super and it still rocks!
I can't even begin to think of getting rid of it!
Be prepared though to be bit by the LBA since you will be having a lot of those (inexpensive) available to you now..lol

[spystyle]

Let's see if my sig comes back.

Yep--that's it:

No sig when posting from iTouch.

Rather than a sig you should just have a link to a Flickr account with pics of all that camera pRon

A list is very boring, no pictures...

And Flickr accounts are free

(my opinion)

Welcome to Pentax!
You won't regret it.
I've been using the K100D super and it still rocks!
I can't even begin to think of getting rid of it!
Be prepared though to be bit by the LBA since you will be having a lot of those (inexpensive) available to you now..lol

Thank you for the welcome, and Lens Buying Addition, I've always had it LOL

Here is what I bought to go along with my K-X :

Daytime walk around lenses :

Pentax 18-55 AF (about $45) with ...
Sears (Chinon) 60-300 in a case around my back. (about $45)

That's 18mm to 300mm coverage, for only $90. Is that a lot of coverage for cheap or what ?

Night eater :

Sears (Chinon) 50mm f/1.4 ($40) and ISO 6400

Portrait :

Sears (Chinon) 135mm f/2.8 ($30)

Gosh, if those 4 lenses don't do it for me, at least in relaxed conditions, I don't know what will.

In the future I'll need a couple 2.8 constant aperture AF zooms for event shooting, I'm going to try weddings for practice maybe.

Lenses are toys for grownups

Cheers,
Craig

[Ira]

Make sure you let us know when the stuff arrives.

[boriscleto]

Sears (Chinon) 60-300 in a case around my back. (about $45)

Be sure to check that Sears 60-300 for the Ricoh pin. Mine has it, and others here have had 60-300's get stuck.

[spystyle]

Thank you, I actually removed 2 pins today

Sears 28-200 K/R (A)
Promaster 70-210 macro (A)

The seller of the 60-300 claims to have used it on his K-X, it came with nice accessories as if it was packed with care (here is the little eBay picture) :



It's because of that I didn't find the lens cheaper bundled with a camera from a person who "knows nothing about cameras" like I usually do (and sometimes regret it). It's a nice set and was worth the asking price and tested by a fellow Pentax shooter

[spystyle]

OK, I have a more thorough rant about "backwards compatibility" with lenses, it should help you to fall asleep

The first SLR to have TTL metering was the "Topcon RE Super" introduced in 1962.

48 years later, in 2010 I was shooting an event with a "fast" manual lens on my Nikon D40, and I had to meter by guessing, shooting, then "chimping".

define:Chimping - Google Search

I was shooting in a kinda low light situation with movement, an elementary school graduation on a rather dark stage.

I knew I could get pretty clean files @ ISO 1600, so I wanted to couple that with a 3.5 constant maximum aperture zoom lens.

I had a nice one, Nikon 36~72 f/3.5

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/emfgfg20/eserieslens...ls/36150mm.htm

It was in F-mount, the same as my camera, Nikon has never changed their mount.

But Nikon had disabled the metering of manual lenses in their entry level cameras, presumably to sell more of their expensive "AF-S" lenses. I didn't have enough money for a fast lens that was fully compatible with my camera. The closest lens was :

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED is about $1400

Or 3rd party option :

Sigma 18-50mm HSM f/2.8 is about $450

Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 BIM is about $450

But I had the 36~72mm f/3.5 lens (it typically sells for about $40). Aperture 3.5 is often overlooked yet less than one stop slower than aperture 2.8, and when coupled with ISO 1600 I can get the 1/60 shutter speed I need in most any light.

So I did, I shot the event with 5 different lenses and it was OK, but quite a struggle shooting with no meter when things are happening quickly. Afterward I saw that my best shots came from the autofocus lenses that were fully compatible with the camera (18mm f/3.5 AF-S and 35mm f/1.8 AF-S), here are a few samples :







But I think if the camera would have been more friendly towards the manual focus lenses I brought, Vivitar 135/2.8, Nikon 36~72/3.5, and Nikon 75~150/3.5; those shots would have come out better.

I later concluded that limitations built into a camera become inconveniences for the photographer.

I had to suffer that inconvenience on account of Nikon's greed. Nikon wanted me to buy the $1400 2.8 AF-S lens, but I couldn't. My car doesn't even cost that much!

Eventually I went on to study "strobist" stuff :

Zack Arias' OneLight Workshop & DVD

They shoot without a meter all the time, shooting test shots and "chimping". I eventually became a lot more comfortable with the idea of shooting without a meter, or instead using my handheld flash and ambient light meters.

But I never forgot about that graduation, what a hard time I'd had. Not entirely because of my lack of training, but also because of the greedy limitation.

I later also learned the concept of "cropping rather than composing" from a Kelby training video :

Jay Maisel | NAPP | Photography | Kelby Training

So I guess I could have just shot the entire event "wide" with 18mm f/3.5 and 35mm f/3.5, then later cropped. But I did not know that concept back then.

I also plan on buying a 2.8 zoom lens eventually.

But with Pentax I have a choice - I can use the old lenses and the camera fully supports them. While I'm doing that I can save up for the 2.8 zoom lens. I have a choice

That's really why I switched to Pentax Less limitations means less inconveniences.

OK rant over

-------------------------------------------

In other news the K-X has come in It's interesting. Immediately I miss the 3rd party battery grip I used to use :

Amazon.com: Targus Digital TG-BGD40 Battery Grip for Nikon D40/D40x/D60: Camera & Photo

but I think I can get used to this small camera, it's not too bad.

So far I've tried manual "M" lenses with it, I've tried manual "A" lenses with it, and AF. Also manual flashes (like Pentax af160sa and Sunpak 933) They all work pretty well.

-------------------------------------------

The Sunpak 933 is an awesome flash for bouncing, I like to bounce behind me to make a nice soft light in front of me :

http://www.3dcamera4u.com/w38121.jpg

Here is a quick snapshot of my little buddy using the 933 bounced behind me, and Vivitar 128/2.8 M42 lens on the K-X :



Here is a shot from Christmas (D40) with a light and umbrella on a stand (a lot of work to set up and move around) :



Here are some shots to compare, also D40 but now with the Sunpak 933 bounced behind me :





To me the results are almost as good as an off camera flash, but much more portable, it's right on the camera!

There is also a great Kelby training video about this from David Ziser called "15 Ways to Improve Your Photography Using On-Camera Flash" :

David Ziser | NAPP | Wedding Photography Lighting Techniques | Kelby Training

Of course using the manual flash bounced is "all manual", "M" on the camera, no auto ISO, aperture controls flash exposure and shutter speed controls ambient light (if applicable).

I learned this stuff from the "Strobist" DVD (OneLight) but basically :

if your subject is too bright, stop down your aperture (ie : from f/8 to f/11). If your subject is too dark open up an aperture (ie : from f/8 to f/5.6).

If you ambient light is too dark slow down your shutter speed (ie : from 125 to 60). If your ambient light is too bright speed up your shutter (ie : from 60 to 125)

So you can shoot and chimp, or you can use a flash meter.

-------------------------------------------

I also got to try the K2000 briefly, and I think the K2000 resembles the D40 more than the K-X does, I found the K2000 to be very simple and nice and affordable LOL

The K-X seems kinda complicated and I'm trying to get the hang of it.

I bought the K-X e-book for $11 :

Pentax e-books

and I found a K-X specific guide / blog :

A guide to the Pentax K-x Digital SLR Camera.

And I happen to have a lot of old film gear, nothing stunning or valuable but I like it. Here is everything I have that can be used on my new K-X



That's a lot of choices while I save up for a 2.8 zoom

Here is the lens list :
1. Tele-Astranar 400mm f/5.5, Germany, M42 (Piesker) manual focus, manual aperture only
2. Vivitar 28~210mm f/3.5~5.6, Japan, K-A (Chinon?) manual focus, auto and manual aperture
3. Promaster 70~210mm f/4.5~5.6, Japan, K-A (Tamron?) manual focus, auto and manual aperture
4. Takumar 28~80mm f/3.5~4.5, Taiwan?, K-A (Pentax) manual focus, auto and manual aperture
5. Vivitar 135mm f/2.8, Japan, M42 (Komine) manual focus, manual aperture only
6. Pentax-DA L 18~55mm f/3.5~5.6 AL, Vietnam, KA-F (Pentax) auto focus, auto aperture only
7. JC Penny 28mm f/2.8, Japan, M42 (Makinon?) manual focus, manual aperture only
8. Sears 50mm f/2, Japan, K-A (Chinon?) manual focus, manual aperture only
9. Industar 50mm f/3.5, Russia, M42 (KMZ) manual focus, manual aperture only

And I'd like to take my gear out to the park and take some shots, but it's been super cold here lately, and there is snow all around



So I am hibernating

OK have fun!
Craig

---

Last edited by spystyle; 04-22-2011 at 08:19 PM.

[Ira]

Craig, is the 933 a modern flash?

[spystyle]

The Sunpak 933 is a manual affair, it's usage is similar to a Vivitar 283.

I think it's from 1988

But it's so awesome because it swivels 270 degrees and bounces It's very powerful too

It's only drawback as a manual flash is the lack of power control, in other words it blasts at full charge every time.

If you want a very fast refresh, or if you are willing to sacrifice ISO for battery life, then you want a flash with variable power.

ie : dialing your flash down to 1/8th power will refresh faster and use less battery juice, but you may have to dial your ISO up from 100 to 800 to compensate.

But I don't mind shooting at full power every time, I don't shoot it in a hurry and I have plenty of batteries. So I usually shoot it at ISO 200 bounced behind me.

If you have a flash firing at full power you can adjust it's effect with aperture.

For example, if your subject is too bright stop down from f/4 to f/11

Likewise if your subject is just a tiny bit too dark open up from f/8 to f/5.6

Apreture controls flash expsosure and shutter speed controls ambient light. See OneLight DVD for mroe infor about manual flashes

[Ira]

I ask because that model isn't listed on the safe/not safe trigger voltage list, and unless you tested the voltage, it could seriously damage the camera.

[spystyle]

I've used it countless times on the Nikon D40, so I simply assumed it would be OK on the K-X.

I'll check the voltage with my meter ... OK I think it's 4 volts DC

According to this :

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1022&message=2824154&changemode=1

... It's 7.6 volts DC

[Ira]

Just wanted to make sure you knew about this issue!

[spystyle]

Yeah I've heard of it, thanks for checking

Apparently with the growing popularity of "Strobist", kids are buying old workhorse flash units and the voltage is too intense for their dSLR's.

"Earlier made-in-Japan Vivitar flashes have a trigger voltage of 250v which can damage the circuits of some digital cameras"

from the Vivitar Wiki

Vivitar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[spystyle]

Well I've been using my new-to-me K-X for a little while now, about a week.

So far I like it

But I have dust in the viewfinder and apparently dust on the sensor, despite the 'dust shake'. I am getting dust like this at small apertures.

Both of these shots are 20 seconds, aperture 40 (tiny aperture)





Do you have any advice ?

[JeffJS]

Yep.. .It's filthy... A blower will take care of most of that.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-dslr-camera-articles/121739-those-...ur-photos.html