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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
04-12-2013, 12:49 PM
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My car was parked in the street, facing a tall white office building with dark glass windows.
The rain stopped. The front pane of the car was covered in raindrops.
I took the photo focusing on the drops, leaving the bulilding in the background well out of focus.
Each drop, being a tiny lense, showed a curved crisp reflection of the building.
The RAW image was processed in PS CS5, with a BW and Levels adjustment layers.
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Forum: Travel, Events, and Groups
10-24-2012, 10:02 AM
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Hi
This may be a trivial matter, but I need some guidance...sorry
I have entered a post (submission #2 type), with a link to the photo in my gallery (2000X1333 size).
How do I replace the text link with a thumbnail link to the same photo (600 wide max) ?
many thanks
Itzik
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Forum: Pentax K-01
02-02-2012, 05:55 AM
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I think it's great, extremely well featured, very reasonably priced.
Pretty? Ugly? ask me again in a day or two...it's unique for sure.
With my lovely little prime lens collection, K-01 will make a nice light travel companion.
Main (only.?.) disadvantage for me - no OVF
Perhaps I am old school, hard to teach an old dog new habits...:(
All in all - a great nice design.
As for the poll - sorry, don't like the questions, none fits
Itzik
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
10-03-2011, 05:13 AM
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Taken while sightseeing in Rome, earlier this year.
Itzik
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
03-02-2011, 12:03 PM
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
06-01-2010, 11:55 PM
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many thanks for a very interesting, well prepared survey.
I am one of the 30% quoting the 16-50/2.8 as their favourite.
I assume also that the high percentage of people who think this lens require an upgrade, has to do with SDM issues, rather than optical quality.
I am lucky to own an excellent copy. very pleased indeed.
Itzik
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Forum: Sold Items
04-26-2010, 01:29 PM
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PentaxForums.com Marketplace Listing
Item for Sale
Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 APO EX DG Macro for Pentax – new in the box
Asking Price
660$
Item Location
Pasadena, CA
Item Description
On January 2005 I bought a new Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 at B&H, with a 7 year MACK warranty.
I have used this amazing lens on my *isTD, than K10D, K20D, and recently on my K-7.
A few months ago I noticed some inconsistant backfocus at the short focal lengths, turning into frontfocus at the longer end. I could not correct the problem with the "AF adjustment" of the K-7, since it will only correct a lens focusing in one direction (front or back)
I then contacted MACK, got authorization, and shipped the lens for repair.
They tried initially to correct the problem at their own lab, than had it shipped to Sigma for repair by the manufacturer.
A few weeks later, they notified me that my lens is no longer in production, and can't be repaired, and shipped me a new Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 APO EX DG Macro, brand new in the box, with all the original accessories that come with the new lens (front & rear caps, hood, soft case & strap, Tripod collar)
As for warranty: MACK advised me that I am not covered by the Sigma warranty for a new lens, but by their original 7 year warranty that I purchased back in 2005, which is valid up to Jan 31st 2012. (If I sell the lens, MACK will transfer the warranty to the new owner for a 20$ fee)
With my Pentax 50-135mm f/2.8 and Pentax 55-300mm I feel I do not really need the 70-200, and offer it for sale.
I live in Israel, but the lens is at my daughter's home in Pasadena CA, and will be shipped from there.
Later update: A few days ago, while browsing the B&H website, I was surprised to see that this 70-200 lens (at least the Pentax version) is declared "discontinued by the manufacturer" and therefore no more available for sale. (It was definitely there 2 weeks ago…).
I must have received one of the last production batch… perhaps it is now a rare collector's item…:p
I am attaching a couple of photos that my daughter took of the box content.
Are you the original owner of the item being sold?
Yes
Are you selling or trading this item?
Selling
Item Condition (Key)
New
Mint
Shipping Destinations
United States
Shipping Charge
included, in USA
Shipping Services
UPS
Accepted Payment Types
PayPal
Return Policy & Additional Details
price includes transfer of the MACK warranty to the buyer
Please send me a private message if interested in the item!
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
11-12-2009, 02:27 PM
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Hope so too.
I have not seen anywhere official comments from Pentax, whether these SDM failures are associated only with early production batches. I assume the replacement lens sent to me is of a recent batch, perhaps with an improved design...So far, it works beautifully, as silent, sharp and fast as one can hope for...
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
11-12-2009, 12:02 PM
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Hi
I think this story is of interest, with regard to the SDM failures frequently discussed by many Pentaxians in recent months.
I bought my Pentax 50-135mm/2.8 SDM lens on June 2008, and like most users, fell in love with its excellent optical qualities. A real gem.
A few months ago (needless to say, shortly after the warranty expired…), the SDM mechanism started to fail, as several others described in previous postings. Initially, some coarse movement, then occasional hangs while focusing, and getting worse with time.
When I first tried it on my new K-7, it refused to work at all, and caused an immediate "shutdown" of the battery protection circuit. (It would still work occasionally on my K20D, very poorly though…)
With no warranty, I imagined that repair will be very costly, perhaps not justified, but decided to try anyway.
Living in Israel, I contacted "Karat Israel" , Pentax distributor in Israel, and was referred to Guy Ben-nun, their marketing manager. The lens went first to a local professional repair lab associated with Karat. They confirmed the failure of the SDM drive, and advised that the lens has to be shipped to Pentax/Europe for repair and calibration (the very small Pentax DSLR user base in Israel does not justify yet a complete repair & calibration setup…). This only made things worse. With no warranty, and adding shipping charges from Israel to Europe and back. I thought this was the end of my beloved lens.
But it was not.
Guy contacted Pentax in Europe, perhaps did some magic too :o… and to my great surprise and joy informed me that Pentax agreed, as an exception, to exchange the lens, at no charge. A brand new 50-135mm SDM was shipped to Israel and handed to me a few days ago, while my old lens went the other way to Pentax in Europe.
I mounted the new baby on my K-7, and fully enjoyed the smooth, silent sharp focus of an SDM drive of a great lens…WOW.
What else is there to say? Not in my wildest dreams ….
A huge, warm "thank you" to Guy Ben-nun, to Karat, and to Pentax for an exceptional customer service. A very happy customer indeed…
Itzik
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
09-08-2009, 07:08 AM
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Yes. I think your link is very relevant, and makes a lot of sense.
An internal current sensing device, which opens a series MOSFET switch.
Thinking of it, I will not at all be surprised if it has some sort of a built in timer, to re-activate the battery after a while.
The reason I put the battery on the charger to re-activate was purely intuitive.
Perhaps in a minute or two it would have happened automatically.
Maybe I should risk another test...
Interesting link. Thanks
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
09-08-2009, 05:16 AM
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Thanks... it never occured to me to charge my battery before shooting..:confused:
now seriously guys. Give me some credit, OK?
I think what I am describing here is odd & interesting, and deserves some thinking...
Let me re-cap the main points:
K-7 with a fully charged (repeat - fully charged) battery, takes on the DA*50-135.
A lense that works regularly on both my K20D, and the old *istD.
Works - but has a mechanical problem in the focusing drive mechanism (friction, feels like sand paper when manually focused)
It is definitely a problem that should be fixed - but both K20D and *istD manage to focus well, friction and all....
With the K-7: when I press the shutter button to focus, the lense does not respond. If I persist for just a few seconds - the camera shuts down, and will not turn on.
I take the battery out, check the voltage at the terminals with a multi-meter - almost zero.
Basic physics: this is a 1.86 Ah battery (remember - fully charged...). There is no way for this battery to fully discharge in say, 10 seconds, without excessive heat, current, sparks... there is the large stored energy that should dissipate somehwere...
I think we can safely assume that during this short focusing attempt with the 50-135, the battery did not really discharge. Perhaps (and this is a speculation), my lense does draw excessive current for focusing, and that there is some kind of a protective shut-down mechanism in the D-LI90 battery, which triggers by the extra current.
I wonder if this is a valid assumption...this is my only plausible explanation for the battery "appearing" dead... Is it also possible that this protective shut-down did not take place on the K20D and *istD simply because their batteries do not have this protective feature of the D-LI90?
I then put the battery back on the charger for just a few seconds.
Yes, I know that one does not charge a battery in 10 seconds...:hmm:
But it so happens, that the charger "awakens" the battery from its shut-down state, back to life
and once again - I am sure that the battery did not lose any significant charge during this episode, therefore still fully charged.
So, what is the bottom line?
1. I certainly need to have my 50-135 repaired... (out of warranty...:()
2. It is still intereting to understand the behaviour of the battery. Is it really an innovative protection device that triggered, or else what?
wonder if any one can have more on this..?..
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
09-07-2009, 01:51 PM
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New K-7 arrived, battery fully charged, time to get familiar...
I mounted several lenses on the K-7, took some test shots
all looks great. as advertised...
Well, almost all.
My beloved Pentax DA*50-135 is the exception.
When I have it on the K-7 and try to auto focus, the lens does not move, and after a few seconds, the camera shuts down, and won't start again. I switch it off, and on again - no LCD, no Monitor. dead.
Took out the battery - put it back in the charger for no more than 10 seconds, then back in the camera - all is well again, battery indicator says "full".
All other lenses work beautifully (DA*16-50, DA 21 ltd, FA 77 ltd, sigma 70-200/2.8, Tamron 28-75, Pentax FA 35, and more...)
All except the 50-135.
But the very same 50-135 works great on my K20D body !!!
What is it that makes the K-7/50-135 combo to crash?
A few more technical observations:
a) I know that my 50-135 has a bit of a mechanical problem, which you can feel by manual rotation of the focusing ring. not moving smoothly... yet, the K20D handles it well (optically - the lens is superb).
b) How come the battery appears "dead" - when it is not. when I take it out after the crash, my digital multimeter shows nearly 0 volts between all terminals. Yet, just a few seconds in the charger brings it back to life, with "full" indication on the LCD
A 1860 mAH battery stores a lot of energy. If it had really discharged in say 10 seconds of use with the 50-135 lens, it would have to be a "short circuit", with a lot of current and heat. none of this happens.
Could the D-LI90 battery have some kind of a protection shut down in it?
I am temporarily suspending the use of the 50-135 on the K-7
Does anyone have any idea, or a similar experience?
many thanks
Itzik
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
05-17-2009, 01:56 PM
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
07-25-2007, 09:30 AM
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sorry
wrong post
should be in the DSLR lens forum
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