[stevebrot]

In the "K Series" world that would be the K2DMD!

Phil.

Or a Ricoh XR-2S...


Steve

[Cuthbert]

In the "K Series" world that would be the K2DMD!

Phil.

Yeah, it just needed interchangeble screens and prisms and then they would have had the right camera to compete against Canon and Nikon.

[Lenscap]

Phil - not to be overly picky (although we are talking perfection here), but the K2DMD lacks the much-maligned always-on floating needle of the K1000. I'm fine with the match needle system, especially since it gives you the shutter speed, but I like the fact that when I put a K1000 up to my eye it's metering, and I don't have to flip any levers or depress any buttons. I know...picky, right? And, for what it's worth, I do see the battery-saving benefit of the KX system.

Just don't get me started on those &@$!#! LEDs.

[Dangermouse]

I went to a talk on astrophotography last year, given by a Nikon user. His procedure (due to unreliable MLU) was to start the Bulb exposure with a piece of thick card held in front of the lens, then move it as that way the mirror shake wouldn't show in the image.

Hadn't the heart to tell him that my film and digital Pentax bodies have a mirror lockup that works every time! I'd just use one of the KXs and a locking cable release for film and my K-01 for digital, as the latter doesn't have a mirror to shake.

[LesDMess]

LesDMess, do you do your own printing? I'm not set up for scanning and printing, but I'm thinking I'm headed in that direction. I've done a bit of research on scanners, but I'm pretty clueless on good-quality printers.

I have always had a variety of Epsons over the years and I currently have a RX680 for general and picture printing even small panos as I can feed it from a roll. I also have the 7880 if I want up to 24" wide specialty papers and Chrome inks. I also use Costco/Sam's Club for general 20" X 30" prints on glossy as they are cheap.

[Lenscap]

Wait...what? Sam's Club? For big prints? Are they good prints, like hang in your living room good?

I'm not doubting you, I just never woulda thunk it. I struggle to get good prints from a pro-ish lab, and you're doing 20x30's at Sam's. I may have to renew my membership.

[LesDMess]

They make 20" X 30" prints on glossy paper for $8.99. That is very cheap if that is what you need -> http://www.costcophotocenter.com/Help.aspx#/topic/product-pricing-shipping-costs
Of course it is only as good as the material you provide and I have had nothing to complain about in their results. But if you need other papers, special inks or convenience of making prints at home then there are far more considerations then scanning.

[gofour3]

Phil - not to be overly picky (although we are talking perfection here), but the K2DMD lacks the much-maligned always-on floating needle of the K1000. I'm fine with the match needle system, especially since it gives you the shutter speed, but I like the fact that when I put a K1000 up to my eye it's metering, and I don't have to flip any levers or depress any buttons. I know...picky, right? And, for what it's worth, I do see the battery-saving benefit of the KX system.

Just don't get me started on those &@$!#! LEDs.

Beside the different needles the K2DMD, K2 & KX use a different metering system than the KM & K1000.

The KM & K1000 use a CdS averaging system and the K2’s & KX a SPD center weighted system. The sensitivity pattern is also a bit different between the K2’s and the KX.

Phil.

[ChrisPlatt]

There's something to be said for the simplicity of the center-the-needle display.
It's definitely less distracting, allowing you to concentrate more on composition.

When I'm in the mood I'll take out my KM. But most of the time I will
opt for the KX and that fabulous full exposure information viewfinder.

Chris

[Lenscap]

Phil- I'm shooting with a couple of K1000s that are recent visitors to Eric. Therefore, I trust the accuracy of their meters. I'm also shooting a KX that visited Eric in the same time frame, so I trust its metering as well. Given the different metering systems, what should I notice in the pictures taken with one vs the other? Or will I notice a difference? FWIW, I kind of feel like my KX pics "pop" more than my K1000 pics. Whether that's a result of the metering, or different films, or lens characteristics, or entirely my imagination, I couldn't say.

And Les: I have no Costcos close to me, but I do have Sams. I'll be checking them out.

---------- Post added 11-22-14 at 12:57 AM ----------

ChrisPlatt- I have no real beef with the match needle system of the KX and K2; I just like the always-ready attitude of the K1000s meter. If my KX would be metering all the time with its full-info VF, we'd durn sure have a winner.

That said, the KX just keeps proving itself and working its way into Most Favored Camera status.

[Cuthbert]

Phil- I'm shooting with a couple of K1000s that are recent visitors to Eric. Therefore, I trust the accuracy of their meters. I'm also shooting a KX that visited Eric in the same time frame, so I trust its metering as well. Given the different metering systems, what should I notice in the pictures taken with one vs the other? Or will I notice a difference? FWIW, I kind of feel like my KX pics "pop" more than my K1000 pics. Whether that's a result of the metering, or different films, or lens characteristics, or entirely my imagination, I couldn't say.

And Les: I have no Costcos close to me, but I do have Sams. I'll be checking them out.

---------- Post added 11-22-14 at 12:57 AM ----------

ChrisPlatt- I have no real beef with the match needle system of the KX and K2; I just like the always-ready attitude of the K1000s meter. If my KX would be metering all the time with its full-info VF, we'd durn sure have a winner.

That said, the KX just keeps proving itself and working its way into Most Favored Camera status.

I would assume that you will see the difference when you are metering a black target on a white background or viceversa: if the spotmeter is average will make you the average of background and target, if it's center balanced or even more a spotmeter it will give you the exact reading of the subject...so let's say it's the first case, the average spotmeter might give you to say 5.6 while the center balanced will give you f4 and the spotmeter f2.8 perhaps, it depends by how the target fills the center and the spot area.

I've seen the difference between the AE and the PE screens on my F-1N,it's not subtle at all.

[grhazelton]

Yeah, it just needed interchangeble screens and prisms and then they would have had the right camera to compete against Canon and Nikon.

Meet the Pentax LX.

[Cuthbert]

Meet the Pentax LX.

Yes but the LX arrived late on the market when their competitors (Canon and Nikon, but also Minolta) had already established their reputation, Nikon was surely ahead, but Canon and Minolta in the early 70s had already proved that Nikon could be challenged with better cameras. In 1981 most of the people had already embraced one of the big names, but if in 1975 Pentax had introduced a sort of K1 perhaps it could have paved the street to the LX in the 80s...the K2DMD is 90% of what a pro camera was at that time.

[grhazelton]

Point taken, and then Pentax didn't make substantive improvements to the LX. An AE exposure lock would have been welcome....

[LesDMess]

Fortunately for us, to date the LX is still the only camera ever made - by any company that I am aware of, that can aperture priority auto expose a scene for as long as it takes - or batteries die, while monitoring the scene in real time and adjusting exposure time accordingly. I wish I had known about this earlier when I required long exposure times - Canons max at 30 seconds, Minolta and Nikon various and unreliable, Olympus OM2 up to 19 minutes others seconds.