[sup8pdct]

Ok. where can I get my hands on one of those balloons and a long rope? say about 20 miles worth??????

James

[whitedogone]

I would think that Pentax would want to have their most current flagship model along with a new * glass for the next flight.....if you know what I mean.

[falconeye]

the camera took well over 300 pictures.

Hi PentaxPoke,

great images and great story!

Let me make a proposal here: From the data you provided, you have about 400 in flight images with a majority of images which must be less than 500 ft apart each, or with less than about 1% hight variation apart each.

So, please, please ... stitch some great panoramas made from photos in "bouncing directions" and at a similiar altitude. You should be able to find some nice altitudes with enough images & directions to do just that. BTW, the horizon curvature will disappear by doing so

The best such panorama should be submitted to Pentax Gallery then.

[jonboy]

Absolutely stunning. Brilliant pics, and really interesting to read about how you did it, too. Many thanks for such a great post.

[nathancombs]

yeap Pentax SHOULD get on this think about it first contact and the aliens "barrow" PentaxPoke K10D for the event think of the sales of cameras LOL 3 place on earth BUT 1 st around the galaxy LOL

[Jun Park]

Just so we don't bury him with duplicate emails, Ned Bunnell of Pentax is aware of this thread and is in contact with Pentax Poke.

Thanks again to Pentax Poke for sharing those incredible pictures!

Ok, I posted before getting to the post where PentaxPoke states that Pentax has already made contact... oops.

[whitedogone]

yeap Pentax SHOULD get on this think about it first contact and the aliens "barrow" PentaxPoke K10D for the event think of the sales of cameras LOL 3 place on earth BUT 1 st around the galaxy LOL

I'm thinking about a cross between Blair Witch Hunt Project, Nasa mission control, and Strom Chasers. The thing comes smashing into the mud...wipe the mud from it and send it right back up.

[Cambo]

Thanks for the comments. I chose the k10d for the photographic payload system on an experiment by Oklahoma State University to measure cosmic radiation with a new sensor.

The payloads are attached to a sounding balloon which climbs to over 100,000 ft. The balloon is tracked with GPS telemetry systems. When the balloon is launched, it is about 12 ft. in diameter. At peak altitude it is between 40-50 ft. in diameter before burst (or commanded cut-down).

The results are a testament to the quality and ruggedness of the Pentax gear. The camera was exposed to the harshness of the space environment (essentially a vacuum, and below -60F temperatures) and it never missed a beat. The only protection for the camera was a foam box which really doesn't protect it from the pressure changes or cold (there were no heaters on board) The box primarily protects the camera on impact since the payloads hit the ground at about 22mph.

As I mentioned, the camera took well over 300 pictures. In fact, I went back and counted and the actual number is 563. All in PEF RAW format. The only ones that are unuseable are the ones after the camera landed. Since the camera and lens were so cold from the extreme altitude, condensation started forming on the lens shortly before landing. (It was a very humid day here since it rained the day before) The camera and lens were soaked with condensation, but kept happily fireing away with no problems other than you couldnt see through the water on the lens. By that point, there was nothing left to see.

Now as to exposure; the camera performed better than my wildest dreams. We put it in Tv mode at 1/3000 to freeze motion (since the ride is quite violent at times). Auto ISO, and multi-segment metering. Out of those hundreds of photos, there are maybe 5 or 6 that were overexposed when the camera was facing the sun. The biggest "problem" is that we have too many good photos!

We will eventually post all the photos, but we have to process them for the website (which is under construction). In the meantime, I posted some of the photos of the fight on my Flickr site. (Please excuse the single C@non shot on the site which was taken by a colleague while we were launching ) There are descriptions under each picture so you can follow the process. These are only a very small fraction, but you can at least follow the general process:
ASTRO-09 - a set on Flickr

I look forward to your uploading the payload.

Thanks,
Cameron

[mzmn]

This story has made its way across the Pacific! (Actually just a URL away). Kudos! Really remarkable what our camera can do.

[Confused]

Hi all

So now for some appropriate advertising slogans:

PENTAX....SIMPLY OUT OF THIS WORLD !

REACH FOR THE SKIES......WITH PENTAX !

GET A FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE....WITH PENTAX !

PENTAX....SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY !

PENTAX.....BOLDLY GOES WHERE OTHERS FEAR TO TREAD !

SPACE, THE FINAL FRONTIER (FOR PENTAX) !

PENTAX....AT THE PINNACLE OF PHOTOGRAPHY !

UP, UP AND AWAY......WITH PENTAX !

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A ROCKET SCIENTIST TO USE A PENTAX....BUT IT SURE HELPS !

So keep 'em coming everyone.....LOL !

Best regards
Richard

[PentaxPoke]

Now that is awesome Confused!

I think Pentax should use this slogan:

"No other DSLR on the planet could take this shot. So we built one"

Oh, wait a minute, that one has already been used (Do you know the ad I am talking about?)

[iamweasel]

I believe you, although I had always assumed that these were "VISITORS". I was ready to welcome our new alien overlords.



Seriously though, you must have one of the coolest jobs on the planet. You certainly have some images that are awesome.

VISITORS with PENTAX! wow! that would be amazing!

[tcom]

Excellent shots, well done.

Did you have a look using PhotoME at the complete EXIF data? The K10D (and K20D) does store the temperature inside the DSLR into the EXIF data. I am wondering how cold it really go inside...

I wonder how other DSLRs would perform/survive in such conditions.

[Messer]

Did you have a look using PhotoME at the complete EXIF data? The K10D (and K20D) does store the temperature inside the DSLR into the EXIF data. I am wondering how cold it really go inside...

PhotoME shows 25 degree Celsius (there is no "-" so I think it's "+25").

The sensor could be wrong or it wasn't so cold at all

[RiceHigh]

Are you a Spaceman????? Amazing!!!!