Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-01-2024, 12:59 PM
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and the people paying for the R&D of film are different.
I don’t understand what point you are making.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-26-2024, 07:37 AM
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So have to admit... I'm pretty excited about the film project now - I got the photos I recently took with the LX. I decided to make life simpler for myself, so I bought a PlusTek scanner, and... voila. I love it. Got some work to do to make sure my lenses are cleaner, but I absolutely love the look of this...
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-17-2024, 06:51 PM
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Half frame fixed lens camera, bellowed with manual tilt, shift, and swing?
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-16-2024, 06:48 PM
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-16-2024, 07:14 PM
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That's a good answer :)
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-16-2024, 10:30 AM
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According to Gary Ho, the founder and CEO of MiNT Camera, the price of the Rollei 35AF should be in the range of $650 - $800. 35mm Blog Update #10 |
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-14-2024, 02:55 AM
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I'd love that too. I'm a CCD sensor diehard, and so far I've never found a CMOS sensor that I could live with as my main camera. It's useful to have a CMOS body available for low light and high frame rates when needed, but when there's enough available light I'll go for a CCD camera every time. I believe that CCD sensors are still manufactured for various purposes, so if Pentax was ever to release a camera with a full frame CCD then I'd do whatever it took to buy one. (And before anyone chimes in: no, you can't make results from a CMOS sensor look exactly like a CCD in post-production. Believe me, I've spent years trying and failing.)
As for film: just yesterday I received my latest batch of chromogenic prints back from DSCL. Many of them are Kodachrome originals digitised with a DSLR, many others are colour negatives digitised the same way, and the rest are fully digital from end-to-end.
The prints from the Kodachrome originals are the best prints from slides I've ever had in my life -- way, way better than anything I ever got from Cibachrome back in the day.
The prints from colour negative originals are beautiful too, although without that special magic that only Kodachrome creates. For many of them I've still got the original wet prints, and these new prints using a digital intermediary are at least as good as the fully analog originals. In many cases they are a lot better, simply because of the greater control allowed by editing and soft proofing in Photoshop.
In my personal opinion, originating on film then using a digitised stage on the way towards a final chromogenic print is a completely legitimate way to do photography, and the results can be excellent. To my eyes, the digital stage has no negative impact at all on the filmic character of the final C print.:)
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-12-2024, 02:43 PM
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It is a tiny bit more expensive (~45$ per roll with 15x21cm prints of each photo) . I do not scan color, but in case I wanted to I have scanner so at least that is not an issue. So yeah, if you go for color costs pretty quickly goes sky high.
For B&W it is far less expensive*. I use liquid chemistry as I am to lazy to use powders but with b&w cost of development is negligible, you pay for film and paper (if you print) only and here there are lots of choices from rather expensive Ilford to dirt cheap Foma with lots of stuff in between.
* unless you go C41 process with B&W then prices are same as for film.
That's how it looks like (it is smartphone photo of a photo, I do not have scans). I do like them, there is not as much details as with digital photos, but it is much smoother and pleasant to look at then digital so a trade off. |
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-12-2024, 02:33 PM
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Digital photography can allow for sloppiness, and the mindset can be different - but in fairness it also enables good photographers to do things that simply wouldn't be practical with a film camera and a 36exp roll of film... like preparing for that perfect sports shot, and taking a one or two second continuous burst that returns a few stinkers, numerous good shots, and one stunner :)
I'm not a critic of digital photography in the slightest - I use it and benefit greatly from it, and wouldn't want to give it up... but I enjoy film photography differently - in my approach to shooting, end-to-end process and workflow, and - most of all - my appreciation and enjoyment of the images I capture. I'm happy to pay a few hundred pounds or dollars per year for that enjoyment...
I've noticed some polarised views on film vs digital here in PF, and it confuses me... I'd have thought most of us would recognise each for the different benefits and pleasures they bring to the party :o
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-12-2024, 02:03 AM
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-11-2024, 08:45 AM
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Then their film cameras were certainly not directed to you. They were very clear that they consider manual-advancing film to be part of the ‘experience’.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-11-2024, 08:08 AM
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Pentax will sell them to us fanatics, but they expect to offset R&D costs by sales to people who have never experienced tactility of mechanical marvels.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-11-2024, 06:58 AM
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It's really fun project. Remember that Japanese people loves all that kind of weird stuff. Remember Pentax Q? I was invisible in Europe, but quite successful in Japan.
This time Pentax is the only competitor here. If they decide to make SLR it may be great for the company. Both for recognition and money.
I have old MX series camera in my drawer - waiting for repair. It would be great to get new on, but I'm afraid the costs will be too high. ---------- Post added 01-11-24 at 03:00 PM ---------- IMHO this is the essence. No amount of CPU power and "smart AI" features will be able to replace that.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-10-2024, 09:43 AM
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Certifiable, join the club :lol:
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-10-2024, 08:54 AM
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Honestly, I'm not too analytical about it and don't look at the cost per shot... I'm only really concerned with my expenditure over the course of the year - i.e. how much it costs for me to enjoy my hobby (and part of that enjoyment is from the developing, digitising and post-processing). With film, I take more care and capture fewer photos - which, unsurprisingly, results in a greater proportion of "keepers" (actually, this approach is trickling down to my digital photography too, with similar benefit). Whether I'm shooting half or full-frame 24 or 36exp 135, or 6x6 12exp 120, around 10 - 12 rolls is enough to see me through the year... especially when factoring in the time and effort required for film processing, digitising and post-processing.
I don't shoot a lot of colour film, but on the rare occasions I do, it's C41 and costs me around GBP £10 - £12 for lab processing only (no prints, no scans, as I digitise at home)... which is really good value, but considerably more expensive than developing my B&W films at home. If at some point I feel like shooting more C41, I'll try my hand at home processing for that too, both for the challenge and to keep costs down. It requires greater control over temperature, but aside from that it seems pretty straightforward.
I highly recommend having a go at developing a roll or two of B&W film yourself, just to see if you enjoy it. I was nervous as can be for my initial attempt, but when I saw my first roll of developed negatives - with all their imperfections - the sense of achievement and satisfaction was all I needed to keep going. It still seems magical each time I do it :D
Whether-or-not you start to process your own film, I'd definitely recommend digitising and post-processing it yourself, assuming you've some free time for that. You'll save money and have a lot more control over the end result in terms of colour / tone, contrast, sharpening, cropping etc.
Yup, we're all mad as a box of frogs :p :lol:
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-10-2024, 03:10 PM
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First off, if something does come out of this I plan on buying one.
Second, I know that we all enjoy our mechanical Pentax SLRs but I really, really doubt that we are the market.
Ask yourself this...what are young kids using to take pictures today? Better yet, what are young Japanese children using to take pictures?
I definitely don't keep up with trends but I very seriously doubt that even my own grandchildren want a K1000, or an LX, I use those cameras regularly and I know they are not interested in them.
Digital and cell phone photography became big because it was instant. Fuji Instax became big because it is instant. I can see the result right now. I can share it right now. My grandson can whip out his cell phone and take 17 pictures before I can answer my own phone. He can probably delete them all just as quick.
I think the first camera out of the gate will be something that will appeal to our kids, not to us. Pentax wants us to buy these for our kids, not for us. And they really want us to buy a lot of them.
I think half frame makes lots of sense. A few years ago I handed my Pentax PZ1p to my 10 year old grandson. He blew through a roll of Kodak Portra 400 in about 5 minutes chasing the cat around the living room. When I developed that roll I had 35 blurry shots of a orange cat's tail and one halfway decent shot of the cat itself, and that was the first shot he took. I scanned it and printed it to 5x7, and it was barely clear enough to stand that much enlargement. He still has that picture.
But we sure had fun watching him blow through that roll of film. You better start asking yourself what your kids or grandkids will be asking to get next Christmas! If it is this Pentax camera then maybe we will get an SLR out of the deal...maybe. I hope that happens but I'm not giving up on my K1000 in the meanwhile.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-10-2024, 08:48 AM
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My first SLR was a Pentax “ME/SE” {the “SE” meant it had brown leather}. I had it only four years - it never worked right after getting damp at Niagara Falls, but it had ‘proven’ itself - because it was followed by a Pentax “Super Program”, which I used regularly for over twelve years, and still use occasionally with B&W film. In fact, I miss that first camera, with the LEDs which told me what shutter speed was set for; I sometimes use the “Super Program” like it, but I have a hard time seeing the LCD’s.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-10-2024, 07:05 AM
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Not by me :confused: You said you didn't "get" why someone would shoot film these days and scan it; that it made "no sense" to you. That's fair enough... I'm sure you're not alone in your befuddlement :D I was simply responding with an explanation of why I do it, so you and others reading the thread can appreciate some of my motivations (which I suspect are pretty common among those of us using a film-to-digital hybrid workflow). I wasn't arguing with you or dismissing your opinion - I was merely discussing, as is the way with forums ;)
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
06-16-2021, 07:33 AM
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We don't really care what you shoot with, it's the images that count. Cool bridge and picture.
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
06-02-2021, 04:27 PM
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The 6x7 allowed me to charge higher rates, although I still only managed to make enough money to pay for my hobby, which at that time was sufficient. The lab costs were very high in comparison to the one-hour shops for 35mm.
Re your question about the lenses. Most of the legacy (film) lenses for 645 and 6x7 deliver fantastic results. Some of the older lenses from the 70's and prior don't have all the high end coatings and are prone to fringing and chromatic aberration.
If a lens has SMC coatings and ED coatings then the results will be great. Just keep in mind that if a lens has a weak character, it is more likely to be seen in mf than in 35mm FF. Combine with that the all lenses (all manufacturers) have a range of apertures at which the lens renders a sharper image.
As I've mentioned in a previous post, the grain on color film consisted of crystals with sizes ranging from 2 microns to 0.2 microns. The 645z sensor pixel size (pitch) is about 5.3 microns and the newer 100mpx sensor is about 3.7 microns in the same sized sensor. (Google can give you more detail). Thus if a lens was rendering bad results in the film era, it would most likely have been known at that time already.
To get an overview of most medium format lenses and what they can deliver, you may want to scroll through the forum thread "Post your medium format photos". The thread has been active for a number of years already and currently have around 16k posts of mf photos, film and digital and some discussions about lenses.
In mf you also dont need a million lenses, three or four lenses will cover a wide focal range, and even if they don't have the latest hd coatings, the 645z's performance will put your results way ahead of what can be produced with FF. That's my opinion, other are welcome to disagree, just saying. :-)
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
05-19-2021, 11:35 AM
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A CLA is more than that. You will get new light seals, mirror foam, light meter adjustment as well as a full inspection. It's something that you budget for when you get a new " old" camera. Price is usually under $100 if no issues are found.
Then your ME-F will be good for another 40 years!
Phil.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
05-18-2021, 01:59 PM
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This one has even better PR:)
How many squirrels have their own sanctuary? :)
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
05-06-2021, 05:29 PM
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Thanks! I love the look that TMZ provides. ---------- Post added 05-06-21 at 08:31 PM ----------
Thanks, much appreciated! It was a little of both, I saw the man about to cross the alley up ahead and I (being across the street), quickly caught up and positioned myself.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
05-05-2021, 07:51 PM
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Not at all uncommon for Nat Geo (and other) photographers to take thousands of photos for an assignment. Or doing macro work such as photographing flowers. What matters is that you manage to get that image that gives you that feeling of satisfaction - this image looks fantastic and has a unique look for this kinds of flower.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
05-01-2021, 08:43 AM
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It is an actual Rose but I solarized the colour :)
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