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Forum: General Photography
02-13-2018, 08:50 PM
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-09-2018, 03:22 PM
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Forum: General Photography
02-09-2018, 02:12 AM
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-09-2018, 01:46 AM
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I would pay $300 for 16-50 with a broken SDM due to simple conversion. I paid $375 last year for a good one from KEH with 6 months warranty (Still going) and there is an EX with 60 days warranty from Kenmore camera for $399 right now.
Does 50-135 have a screw drive? If yes, then I would count ca $100 off, if not then $200-250 below the price for good ones, because of repair costs and the hassle. $400 sounds like a decent deal for the 50-135.
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Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
02-08-2018, 08:56 PM
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agree all the way I would just add they also use mirror lock up, even mirror vibrations can matter, let alone hand holding.[COLOR="Silver"]
---------- Post added 02-08-18 at 10:00 PM ----------
btw, Astronomersmith. do you have a flash? Flash duration is very short, so if flash is the major source of light, it can be used to get a sharper photo even while hand holding. It doesn't work very well for objects that are far away due to limited power, but people do use them for let's say small birds or insects. For distant objects a good tripod, with three separate legs, and a solid ball head is the way to go.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-08-2018, 08:53 PM
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There is the sigma 50-150 F2.8 and tokina 50-135 available in the canon mount. These are both pretty good lenses, and the 50-150 OS is very good indeed, but almost as heavy as a 70-200.
On the 16-50, I like mine. I think that 16-45 F4 is the better lens between the two, and 16-85 is even better, but it's much harder to make a fast constant aperture zoom, so it's not that surprising.
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Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
02-08-2018, 06:31 PM
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You cannot conclude much at 1/80s, iso 1600, and at 280mm in dim light. There will be softness due to noise reduction and motion. The images also may 'look' sharper when the subject is lit directly due to higher contrast light.
If you want to figure out how sharp your lens is, place it on a tripod, set an iso 100, set a timed release, and use live view focusing to ensure appropriate focus. Otherwise the lens sharpness will not be a limiting factor.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
02-05-2018, 07:21 PM
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It will be $200 or $300. Precision camera has a flat rate for these.
KEH also has a service dept. and may be able to do it for less money.
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Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
02-05-2018, 01:00 PM
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so if I am understanding it correctly, the whole problem is due to residual ferromagnetism of the solenoid? Couldn't we just cycle these with a reverse polarity?
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Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50
01-31-2018, 05:59 PM
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Photo looks fine to me. It is however focused at infinity (trees) by the loos of it. Was that the goal? It could be back focusing.
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Forum: Pentax K-70 & KF
01-31-2018, 05:55 PM
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There's lots of good resources on youtube.
I like watching Thomas Heaton for landscape stuff, although perhaps this is less for the beginners. Nevertheless, videos are nice to watch
For gear reviews, there are a ton and a half of websites, the big ones are digitalrev, froknowsphoto, kai wong, and tony+chelsea northrup. I also like Dustin Abbot's reviews, although they are mostly about canon stuff. All those channels occasionally also talk about some photography, in addition to gear.
Then there are websites that collect images, e.g. 500px, which are good if you are trying to see what is interesting to photograph around where you live, and get some hints on what looks good in the pictures.
Lastly, MIT OCW, which has photography courses with some of the material. I took a documentary photography class there a long time ago with B.D. Colen, and there were a few good exercises to get you 'going' on street photography. Could be worth a try if you are having a creativity block.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
01-31-2018, 05:42 PM
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Some updates for the future users:
- store wouldn't clean it, citing mirror coating (silvering) being too delicate
- I ended up cleaning it with lens filters wrapped on cotton swabs with zeiss lens cleaning solution and isopropanol
- There are no visible scratches, not sure about microscopic ones
- The camera works much better, but I don't have a way to compare it to a new K-3 to compare if it is all good.
Overall, if I had a cheap camera, I would be happy to clean it at home, with proper care and proper tools (e.g. as mine above). If had a new camera worth >$600 that's not under warranty I would send it in to precision.
---------- Post added 01-31-18 at 06:43 PM ----------
Some updates for the future users:
- store wouldn't clean it, citing mirror coating (silvering) being too delicate
- I ended up cleaning it with lens filters wrapped on cotton swabs with zeiss lens cleaning solution and isopropanol
- There are no visible scratches, not sure about microscopic ones
- The camera works much better, but I don't have a way to compare it to a new K-3 to compare if it is all good.
Overall, if I had a cheap camera, I would be happy to clean it at home, with proper care and proper tools (e.g. as mine above). If had a new camera worth >$600 that's not under warranty I would send it in to precision.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
01-31-2018, 05:33 PM
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Yes, manually is the only way I know. If you do a significant amount of grease ask at the place where you typically getting it cleaned, if they would do that. Mirrors are delicate and most people would advise against messing with them.
My local photography store wouldn't touch it for example, and told me I have to send it in... for $300 bucks plus shipping on a K-3 with 50k actuations. wasn't worth it.
I also saw it on an old D700 and heard some older canon 6Ds had this issue. So I guess it happens to some. I even wonder if this could be the reason why some people think K-3 AF is great, while others think its inaccurate. Mine started accurate and got worse over time, so I started digging.
---------- Post added 01-31-18 at 06:37 PM ----------
btw. more info on the subject from when I dealt with it:
autofocus inaccuracy, green spots on the mirror? - PentaxForums.com |
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
01-31-2018, 05:23 PM
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http://mattgrum.com/photo_se/AF-Optics-Cutaway.png
You have to delicately lift it with your finger, ideally with nitrile gloves, so you don't leave any residue, grease or skin bits. There is a step in which secondary mirror snaps up to fold within the main mirror, but there is a range of angles at which you can see both mirrors.
I would caution about cleaning the mirror though. I did it and it works fine, but the mirror coating is not supposed to be very durable, so just read up on it if you are ok taking the risk. I had no choice, b.c. my camera was basically unusable with all this grease, and fixing it was basically the same cost as getting a new one.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
01-30-2018, 04:18 PM
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It can, but did you check the mirror and secondary mirror for grease spots?
That's another culrpit and some cameras have this issue. My K-3 did and it was a pain to clean.
Imgur: The magic of the Internet |
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
01-04-2018, 05:54 PM
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There is an 'average' option in timelapse mode. That being results are not great. They become pretty good for a large numbers of exposures. I used this for blurring water on the beach and it becomes reasonably good looking around 20-30 shots. your mileage may vary.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
12-12-2017, 05:41 PM
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I have another idea - do you want the zoom, or is 600mm what you are after? You could buy an old manual focus prime, which may actually be better optically.
Alternatively, a used D800 will cost around $1000, so it will come down to the same as buying pentax lens, but you will have two cameras and a lens.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-02-2017, 07:29 PM
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I found 16-45 to be surprisingly good.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-02-2017, 07:25 PM
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-01-2017, 05:49 PM
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I am suggesting what I think are best options for each price bracket, including the original 55-300 , which is the same price as the OPs original lens idea ($100)... in the first line of the list.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-01-2017, 01:29 PM
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-01-2017, 01:29 PM
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-01-2017, 01:19 PM
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You can buy a sigma TC that's matched to this lens. It could work just as well. kenmorecamera used to have some on sale for little $.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-01-2017, 01:17 PM
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At f1.8 is not fantastically accurate. By F2.8, on a properly working camera, it should be fine. That being said, the FA50mm F1.4 was better on my k-3.
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Forum: Repairs and Warranty Service
11-20-2017, 09:34 PM
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Most likely it's a residue from an additive to the gas duster. It will probably be the one that doesn't have 'fluoroethane' within it.
You have a number of options:
1) IR filter can be removed and replaced. Look up 'K10D IR modification' in google for details on how to do it.
e.g. Converting A Pentax K10D To IR Photography - DIY Photography
2) As for solvents, it might be tricky without removing the IR filter from the camera. Many solvents are incompatible, e.g. aforementioned acetone is very good for glass, but can melt down many plastics. e.g.
You Tube
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src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c1CjpD5FSmE?controls=1" allowfullscreen>
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. What you will need is a solvent that removes the bitterant additives without dissolving or etching any plastic components around the sensor. It might be tricky thing to find without the list of all components.
3) Try the sensor cleaning solution, b.c. it is proven to be safe to nearby components. There's a good chance it will work, if it uses a solvent like methanol, which is ok for dissolving both hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds.
4) Send it in, although it won't be worth it for the price.
I would try it in the order of 3,1 and then 2 if you are feeling very adventurous. I would get a new dslr instead of 4. good luck
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