[Redwood10D]

Staff note: This post may contain affiliate links, which means Pentax Forums may earn a small commission if a visitor clicks through and makes a purchase. If you would like to support the forum directly, you may also make a donation here.

---

Nice site. I got there via my Safari browser ( I'm a MAC guy). All works fine. Good info. Thanks,

Don

[hinman]

Nice site. I got there via my Safari browser ( I'm a MAC guy). All works fine. Good info. Thanks,

Don

Thank you for the feedbacks. I have recently added both an inexpensive tripod from eBay on Dynatran AT CF992 ($81) and a somewhat risky autoflash called Eyetek digital.

When they come, I will document my thoughts in the gear list:

Inexpensive gear with Pentax - Hin's Tech Corner

I have confidence in the tripod but I am not so sure on the flash.

Thank you,
Hin

Hinman,
I was able to open both links in your previous post with IE7. No problems at all.

Jeff

[hinman]

Hinman,
I was able to open both links in your previous post with IE7. No problems at all.

Jeff

Jeff, thank you for your feedback.

Here are the images that I get tempted without thoughtful thinking as the flash has very low guide number of 28 @ iso100 and it has Auto flash at f/2.8. It ooks good in the picture, priced at $48, with mentioning about preflash and burst flash support -- whatever that means, I get
tempted. I should have asked the vendor if it supports pttl. I don't bother as I think it is not; otherwise, it will have somewording for PTTL instead of prefash support



swivel, bounce, and zoom are all there


it comes with a bracket


Actual ebay link of ended item:
FLASH GUN -Pentax *ist DS2/DL/DS2/D ZX-60/50/5N/L/7/D/M - (eBay item 200166472780 end time Oct-31-07 09:50:24 PDT)

Here is a translated web page on the model named as

Emoblitz sympathy bounce flash DS328AZ +

Translated version of http://www.nadusa.co.kr/mall/prd_view.asp?code=02004&code3=011&num=10

Exact link for korean web site:
¼ÒºñÀÚ Áß½ÉÀÇ NADUSAÀÔ´Ï´Ù.

And this flash seems quite popular for Panasonic users with FZ models.

My original logical choices for an inexpensive flash are as follows:

1. Vivitar 285HV (~$85) -- with bounce and zoom but NO swivel, well
built, very good power with high guide number. Maybe good as a slave
but you need to find the slave trigger

2. Sunpak 383 (~$73) -- good overall as it has bounce, swivel but it
has NO zoom.

3. Digital Concept in eBay with pttl (~$110) -- cheapest solid one
that I gather that supports pttl.

4. The Sigma with pttl support (~$250?) -- some people actually
prefer the Sigma over the Pentax 540.

5. Metz upcoming 48 (?) -- not much info but people seem to get very
excited about this

All the best, I will update you all as soon as I manage to have a feel on the flash.

Thanks,
Hin

[hinman]

Thanks to Gus for the lead to this inexpensive carbon fiber tripod
that I get from ebay for $81 dollars that include the ballhead and it
is quite lightweight at 4.75lb with maximum weight for 8.8 lb. I
like it especially for 3 leveling indicators and an extra hook in the
middle for things. It comes with a nice carrying bag. And it sure
is my 1st tripod for my dSLR.

I am extremely thrilled to receive the tripod, I think I can highly
recommend it for my initial impressions in using it.

Some pictures to share with you all, please bear with the snapshots
done indoor:

#1 three leveling devices


#2 ballhead comes with the package, quite good for my amateur use


#3 quick release is amazingly good at that price


#4 I have no idea what the hook is for and there is an extra net that
can mount across the three legs


#5 very good looking


#6 works well with my K100D


#7


#8


#9 the turning knobs are fine controlled


More on tripod spec on this link from Amvona:Amvona 720 imagine, discover, connect.

Please bear in mind that I buy this off from eBay for $81 + shipping. Based on the spec for my tripod form Amvona, the maximum support weight is 8.8 lbs, it seems good enough to hold a lot of gear in my thinking. Can people with experience on tripod comment on the general weight that people should look for in shopping for a tripod, is 8.8 lb good enough? Thoughts & comments are very welcome.

Thanks,
Hin

[richard64]

#4 I have no idea what the hook is for and there is an extra net that
can mount across the three legs

I guess the hook is so that you can suspend something weighty low down which lowers the centre of gravity and makes it more stable. If you have a heavy lens on your camera, the centre of gravity will be high making the tripod unstable.

Richard

[jgredline]

Hin
What kind of lens is that on your K110D?

[hinman]

I guess the hook is so that you can suspend something weighty low down which lowers the centre of gravity and makes it more stable. If you have a heavy lens on your camera, the centre of gravity will be high making the tripod unstable.

Richard

Now it all make sense, I guess I won't be needing the hook soon as all of my lens are in the lighter side.

Thanks,
Hin

[hinman]

Hin
What kind of lens is that on your K110D?

The lens on my K100D is Pentax FA 50 f/1.4 and I used my Fuji F30 to take those snapshots. Some wiht flash and some without.

Thanks,
Hin

[hinman]

I don't get to play with the flash for long to get a feel. Just my initial impressions in receiving the flash

Pros:
+ very light weight & small in size
+ easy to walk around with batteries on
+ all bracket and pc sync chord are as claimed and the bracket seems working ok,
can't test the pc sync as i have k100d
+ zoom, swivel, and bounce all as claimed
+ recharge seems very fast when I test it for the first two hours
+ strong enough for my casual use, no test pictures yet as I find over-exposed pictures for
a focal range of 10ft away

Cons:
- it is what it is -- cheaply made in Singapore, price I paid $48
- Not sturdy and well built -- it looks like plastic toy on top of K100D. I feel like my boys has
put on their toy flash on my camera, a bit exaggeration to get my point across
- no adjustment for flash intensity, don't know how to use it for slave flash without the
adjustment
- guide number is lower than others at 28 @ iso100 but I find the flash doing quite
reasonable for me in short distance.
- a lot over-exposed pictures, i need more time to play with the settings
- very inadequate menu


I will have a more thorough feedback when I find time to use it more. But for now, I won't recommend it to others. And I think my other alternatives seem better, please see the five non-pttl flash that I listed below. But this inexpensive bounce with swivel and zoom may be what I need for beginning as I am NOT into flash photography but I rather use it to bounce mainly for indoor portraits to assist my slower lens and better filled flash in the daytime.

Thanks,
Hin

Jeff, thank you for your feedback.

Here are the images that I get tempted without thoughtful thinking as the flash has very low guide number of 28 @ iso100 and it has Auto flash at f/2.8. It ooks good in the picture, priced at $48, with mentioning about preflash and burst flash support -- whatever that means, I get
tempted. I should have asked the vendor if it supports pttl. I don't bother as I think it is not; otherwise, it will have somewording for PTTL instead of prefash support



swivel, bounce, and zoom are all there


it comes with a bracket


Actual ebay link of ended item:
FLASH GUN -Pentax *ist DS2/DL/DS2/D ZX-60/50/5N/L/7/D/M - (eBay item 200166472780 end time Oct-31-07 09:50:24 PDT)

Here is a translated web page on the model named as

Emoblitz sympathy bounce flash DS328AZ +

Translated version of http://www.nadusa.co.kr/mall/prd_view.asp?code=02004&code3=011&num=10

Exact link for korean web site:
¼ÒºñÀÚ Áß½ÉÀÇ NADUSAÀÔ´Ï´Ù.

And this flash seems quite popular for Panasonic users with FZ models.

My original logical choices for an inexpensive flash are as follows:

1. Vivitar 285HV (~$85) -- with bounce and zoom but NO swivel, well
built, very good power with high guide number. Maybe good as a slave
but you need to find the slave trigger

2. Sunpak 383 (~$73) -- good overall as it has bounce, swivel but it
has NO zoom.

3. Digital Concept in eBay with pttl (~$110) -- cheapest solid one
that I gather that supports pttl.

4. The Sigma with pttl support (~$250?) -- some people actually
prefer the Sigma over the Pentax 540.

5. Metz upcoming 48 (?) -- not much info but people seem to get very
excited about this

All the best, I will update you all as soon as I manage to have a feel on the flash.

Thanks,
Hin

[Flaco]

Nice work hinman

[hinman]

Nice work hinman

I have recently added bunch of other gear. They may add up to be expensive as I don't find time to play with each of them. I am mostly impressed with a $11 Albinar 28mm f/2.8 with Macro at about 1:4 size, followed by a $30 SuperTak 35mm f/3.5 and a combination of gear with slr purchases. And I finally manage to find time to play with a Schneider 135mm f/3.5 and that was a beauty just to look at, it is an old lens as a gift from my brother long time ago.

Please check on various links for test shots with various lens:

Schneider 135mm f/3.5
Schnieder 135mm f/3.5 - Hin's Tech Corner

My Peace (Happy Thanksgiving to everyone)
My Peace - Hin's Photo Blog

Red Fall Leaves
Red Fall Leaves - Hin's Photo Blog

Albinar 28mm f/2.8 Macro
Albinar 28mm f/2.8 Macro Test Shots - Hin's Tech Corner

Super Takumar 35mm f/3.5
Super Takumar 35mm f/3.5 - Hin's Tech Corner

Sigma DL 75-300 in a slr purchase
$1K lens & $2K body in SLR - Hin's Tech Corner

And some product shots of the new gear

Schneider 135mm f/3.5






Sigma DL 75-300 with Rokunar MC 2x tele (~$30)




Super Takumar 35mm f/3.5 (~$30)


Albinar 28mm f/2.8 Macro


More are updated in my gear post

Inexpensive gear with Pentax - Hin's Tech Corner

Happy Thanksgiving,
Hin

[hinman]

I have four M42 lens and I only paid $30 for one of them as I had 3 old lens on my Prakitca film camera body

Look for M42 in this blog post for my four M42 lens
Inexpensive gear with Pentax - Hin's Tech Corner

1. Schneider 135mm f/3.5
That lens is a classic antique that I wish I have more time with it

2. Pentacon 50mm f/1.8
I have not used it much but the manual focusing is very fine on the focusing ring. It is a fast prime when I used it for indoor test shots

3. Supertakumar 35mm f/3.5 (I paid $30)
That lens is sharp and it is so tiny compared to others. I will need to show you all a picture later on pairing it up with the kit's lens -- I feel like half of the size of the kit's lens. It is so elegantly built and the focusing ring is top notch for manual focusing

4. Prakitcar 28-70 f/3.5-4.8 zoom
This looks like the worse lens in my batch. Its focusing ring is so slippery and short and I thought I would not ever find it useful. And I WAS so wrong until yesterday trying it out for the first time outing in long weekend, sample shots all made with the slippery and short manual focusing ring along with stop down metering and double up speed to cater the 1+ stop metering adjustment found with all of my M42 lens in K100D -- weird, I have to dial in roughly +1.7Ev in Av mode.

I used my bower M42 to K mount adapter and it is one of the lens that I have not used for a long while until last weekend

bower m42 adapter:
Pentax M42 adapters - Hin's Tech Corner

my pentax lens:
Inexpensive gear with Pentax - Hin's Tech Corner

The manual focus lens come out unexpectedly sharp and it is my first time shooting flying birds with a manual focus lens. Please allow me to show bigger size for few test snapshots that I like:

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6
added color saturation in picasa on #1


#7
b&w


#8
a thinking bird in b&w


I did all of my editing in Picasa
Picasa Tutorials - Hin's Tech Corner

Thanks,
Hin

[Supa Lao]

Those are some really nice pics. I like no 2 the best. Good job on them

[jgredline]

Normally those type of birds (sea gulls) don't do anything for me, but those are some nice pics!!! You made an ugly bird look pretty good..