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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
02-05-2024, 02:36 PM
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My first post to this thread. Like K2 to K50, I tend to favour the lens specific forums. These were taken with the DA* 11-18, except the stained glass which was taken with the amazing Samyang 135/2.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
01-31-2024, 04:34 AM
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When I asked for an M50/4 macro with my MX, the dealer didn't want to be left with the 1.7 and tried to talk me out of it.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
01-11-2024, 05:20 AM
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My experience, as it so often is, is that it all depends on what you are trying to source and where from.
Where there is a larger secondhand market, with more traders and more available stock, you may very well find that the landed cost is still very attractive.
An example would be 645/645n/645nii film bodies from Japan. There are still loads of them to choose from, with bargains to be had.
Some of the Japanese sellers are very conservative in their condition appraisal. I have seen "Good" equipment that would easily have been rated "Excellent" by ANOther.co.uk
There is a good tax and duty calculator here: Free Duties and Taxes Calculator Japan | Easyship
Handling fees vary by courier, but so does speed of delivery. If the seller offers a choice, you can negotiate.
Some couriers also prioritize delivery over tax/duty/fee collection, i.e. they pay it for you then invoice you. Whilst this is often where the "nasty surprise" comes from, there is really no need to be caught out.
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Forum: Pentax Q
06-21-2018, 05:53 AM
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Rotary shovel and conveyors. Q7 and 06 lens:
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-15-2023, 12:21 PM
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Given the longevity of the Pentax battery, you can consider buying a secondhand one.
MPB often have genuine Pentax batteries, sometimes for as low as £13. I've bought several with no regrets.
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Forum: Pentax K-01
11-06-2022, 09:39 AM
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Palladian Bridge and Gothic Temple, Stowe Gardens with the HD DA 40.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
11-14-2022, 02:08 PM
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I imagine no-one wants to follow that masterpiece, but someone has to!
Trespassers in the bokeh are often the last to move. Nikkor 600mm F/5.6, Leitax conversion with K3III.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
11-06-2022, 09:46 AM
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Peto's Marsh Nature Reserve.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
10-10-2022, 11:32 AM
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I could go on - "CA-Dreamer Macro 2x" - but pictures speak better than words. This lens is very, very sharp indeed, as the fly on the wall crop shows.
There is no profile for this lens in Photoshop. These test shots are therefore Auto-everything (Auto in Camera Raw, Auto Tone, Auto Contrast and Auto Colour).
Build quality flatters to deceive, though. Whilst the lens feels very solid and well-made, the focus ring is stiff, with far too short a throw, the auto-aperture setting has no lock, the hood barely fits and is nearly impossible to get on and off, whilst the two end caps are loose and routinely fall off. The depth of field scale is a cosmetic joke, seemingly belonging to a wide angle.
The working distance at 2x is practically inside the length of the hood. But it has an aperture ring, and exceptional optics...
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Forum: Pentax KP
06-27-2022, 02:44 AM
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More from the D-FA 100 WR and KP, specifically to show bokeh and transition, but in reality everything about this combination is on show here.
There was a thread recently asking what camera & lens you would buy first, if you had to re-equip. Here's my answer.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
07-08-2022, 12:54 AM
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Sometimes, the images I really like from the Irix 150mm and K1 Mark 1 are those taken at medium apertures. Here, I wish I'd been braver and opened up a little further than f/9.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
07-07-2022, 02:21 PM
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Original K1 and Irix 150mm, natural light.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
05-14-2022, 11:37 AM
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Large red damselfly and victim (Tiger Sawfly?). Sigma 180mm/5.6 with 20mm extension tube, KP, natural light.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
06-25-2022, 11:11 AM
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Oedemara nobilis, on Cow Parsley. KP and D-FA 100WR, natural light.
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Forum: Pentax KP
06-25-2022, 11:18 AM
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If you plan to walk all day, the KP and D-FA 100 WR is an excellent choice for fieldwork.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
06-18-2022, 03:24 PM
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Down in the long grass at the end of the day are the dragonflies that you couldn't get near to when it was warmer.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
06-19-2022, 02:51 PM
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Sigma's slow masterpiece, the 180mm f/5.6 MF macro, in its natural full-frame environment.
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Forum: Pentax KP
05-14-2022, 11:48 AM
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The Broad-bodied Chaser has a reputation for being the very first to colonise new ponds and mineral workings. This female was hunting in the hedgerows close to a pond I have been passing for over ten years, yet I have never seen a dragonfly there. Well, I have now...
KP with DFA 100 WR:
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
05-03-2022, 12:09 PM
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Chilly air makes our Spring butterflies sit still until the sun comes out, and then the light is not bright enough to blow out the highlights.
Irix 150mm macro, natural light. Believe it or not, the subject let me set up a tripod and take a three-shot stack.
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Forum: Pentax KP
05-10-2022, 03:07 PM
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A classic bluebell/wood anemone carpet from Bucknell Woods, near Silverstone, plus a study of the much less well-known Bugle, both with the HD DA 15mm:
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
05-09-2022, 12:54 PM
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The Large Red Damselfly (Pyhrrosoma nymphula) is the first to emerge in the Spring here in the UK. This was taken on the Trap Grounds reserve in the centre of Oxford; I might have been able to find one earlier in the month, or even in April, at one of the more southerly locations. KP with DFA 100 WR:
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Forum: Pentax KP
01-02-2022, 10:33 AM
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Our sparrows are fearless. Perfect target (if that's the right word) for a final check of the DA300+HD TC after AF Fine Adjustment.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
01-28-2022, 11:39 AM
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My thanks again to all the the forum members who offered advice. After a couple of prototypes, I have found a very effective way to balance the Nikkor.
The main components are the Sunwayfoto DPG-210R Arca rail, as recommended by WPRESTO, and a Vanguard QS-61 Arca plate to mount the lens onto a Vanguard Alta PH-114V video head. I have the head mounted on a Vanguard Alta Pro 253CT carbon tripod.
It may appear that I am passing up one Arca connection in favour of another, but the Vanguard video head has a fixed section that doesn't accommodate the rail - the maker's own plate works far better. The QS-61 has both a slotted and a tapped connection, rather than a video pin, which permits the two to be bolted together in a one-up-one-down configuration using two long 1/4" screws.
The Nikkor's own tripod mount is very deep. A third long bolt is used here and grips far better than the stock 1/4" fixing. There is no video pin socket in the tripod foot so the backstop is essential.
In testing, the stock 1/4" screws worked loose too easily. These long versions have far more purchase. I did think of using threadlock, but it has not proved necessary.
My Nikkor came in a metal trunk. Quite fortuitously, I also found that the Nikkor fits into the dedicated case for the DA560. I put a beanbag in for extra padding and place the hood extension (HE-4) over the mount cap. I have not tried it, but I reckon the DA560 cap would fit as well - the lens diameters are virtually identical.
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Forum: Pentax KP
12-23-2021, 04:24 AM
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Fog in London => B+W conversion. KP and 20/40
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