[mrpromod]

I am looking for a used battery grip for my k10d . Also i would like to know if the battery from the camera will work with the grip and if it does not where do i get one.
I would also like to start taking pics at car shows with a fisheye lense can i use the ones that go on the end of my lenses or buy one that is a lense all by itself. one last lense question , what lense would also be good for up close shots at car shows i have the kit lense for my k10 d .

Thanks
John

[rbefly]

Hi John,
Yes, the BG-2 battery grip uses exactly the same battery as the camera. With the grip/battery installed you can use either battery or have the camera automatically switch when one runs low. eBay has batteries, about $12.00-$20.00.
The Pentax brand grip costs about $200.00 new, occasionally you'll find them used for $120.00-150.00.
There is a knock-off grip that sells (new) on eBay for $50.00. The reports I've read seem to indicate that it works OK, but doesn't match the body color/texture perfectly and doesn't have weather-sealing.
I wouldn't recommend the add-on fisheye lenses. They look too cheap to be very good.
I've shot several auto shows including the new-car show here last week. The lens that I find the most useful is the DA 16-45mm f/4.0. I used it with an AF360fgz flash.
Also used my 24mm Sigma Superwide for some available-light shots, but the color correction was weird, too many indoor light sources. The flash shots were better.
How close-up do you want to get? A macro lens would be ideal for extreme detail, but I use my 85mm or 100mm at close focus range for isolated details. Works fine.
Good Luck!
Ron

[mrpromod]

Thanks for the info Ron i will check out these lenses. What i would like to do is take shots of the engine compartment , interior etc as well as the sides and 3/4 shots as a hobby.

[noblepa]

I have the Travor brand third-party grip for my K10D. It works perfectly and has all the same controls as the genuine Pentax grip. If you consider getting one from eBay, be careful. Not all of them have all the controls. Some just have the on/off/shutter button.

Mine has a textured surface, but it is not as deeply textured as the faux leather on the camera. To me, that's no big deal. Nor is the lack of weather sealing a big deal, either. For that matter, I don't have any weather sealed lenses.

The Travor also has storage slots in the battery holder for a spare SD card and the Pentax Remote F IR remote control. Note that the cheap third-party IR remotes (which work fine, BTW) are generally too big to fit in the grip storage. I kept my eyes open and finally got a genuine Remote F for about $15 on eBay.

I have one of those add-on fisheye lenses. I got it on ebay for less than $10. I had to buy a step down ring, because the lens has a 49mm thread. The image quality is acceptable, but that's about all. Still, for $10 its fun to play with and cost far less than a real fisheye lens would. Mine is a 0.45x lens, so with the kit lens set at 18mm, the effective focal length is about 8mm, which forms a complete circle on the sensor.

[sterretje]

Have you tried the kit lens for car shows? If not, I would start with that and see where it fails you. The kit lens can do quite a bit of close up, up to 1:3 magnification.

If you have already tried it and it's not wide enough, something like DA12-24, Sigma 10-20 and equivalents would be the way to go in my opinion.

BTW Depending on what you're after, the fisheye effect can be created in post processing as well. Do a search for e.g. photoshop fisheye

[mrpromod]

Thanks for the help guys. I will try your ideas.

John