Forum: Pentax KP
02-08-2024, 06:12 PM
|
|
We're travelling to Cuba later this month, I'm leaning towards leaving the K3 iii home and bringing the KP instead. Pretty sure that there won't be wildlife to photograph, and other than AF speed the KP competes pretty well with the K3 iii. Plus if it gets damaged or stolen it'll sting a lot less
The KP plus the 18-135 and the 55-300PLM is my whole kit I think this time, leave all the expensive stuff at home.
|
Forum: Pentax KP
01-08-2024, 08:06 PM
|
|
My K3iii has what looks like a water droplet on the sensor, so while I find a quiet, well lit place to clean that (while traveling), I’m using the KP again. Still an impressive camera - as long as I’m not doing birds in flight, for me it’s as good as the newest flagship.
Mind you, I am missing that awesome AF for anything in motion
|
Forum: Visitors' Center
01-20-2023, 05:42 PM
|
|
You should be able to get a used K70 or KP with an 18-135 lens for that budget, if you’re willing to wait for the right price.
K3 m1 is also a nice machine, just a fixed screen on that one though
|
Forum: General Talk
11-11-2023, 08:21 AM
|
|
I was going to get the ThinkTank rain cover, but bought a (much cheaper) Neewer instead. We’ll see ifI end up using it, if so I may trade up
|
Forum: General Talk
11-07-2023, 06:38 PM
|
|
Way cool! This was the dream camera for me all through High School and University!
Along with the Pentax MX, which I couldn’t afford then either (just bought a nice MX recently)
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
10-21-2023, 03:05 PM
|
|
Sometimes the 150-450 is just a tad bit short - it would be nice if they came out with a 200-600 or a 300-800
They did have the (excellent, but huge) 250-600, a revisit of the optical formula to shrink/lighten that down a bit would make for an awesome lens!
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-30-2023, 06:45 PM
|
|
They need to get on with this, or by the time the release these camera(s) nobody will care anymore.
For me, I’d rather see the effort go into the next digital body - retiring the medium format opens up a space for a k1 iii with a higher sensor resolution for instance. Or a k3 iv with the same. CF Express and deeper/faster buffers would be nice too.
Or a 400-600 lense (or better) would make a nice competitor against canikony as well
|
Forum: General Talk
09-05-2023, 04:13 PM
|
|
I finally found a local (non eBay) Pentax MX for sale! This completes the set for me, at least for now. KX, LX, MX, plus my original SP500. Very clean, newly CLA’d, everything works!
|
Forum: General Talk
08-18-2023, 05:46 AM
|
|
Finally added a flip screen to my K3 mark iii, sort of ..
Got a Shinobi field monitor, L bracket, cold shoe and smallrig mount - this means I can use this rig either on the L-bracket/cold shoe or on the on-camera hot-shoe (if I'm brave enough to risk the Pentaprism)
This should make astro shots and low-angle bird shots that much easier, until Pentax fixes that blasted fixed screen on their flagship camera body that is ...
|
Forum: General Talk
07-28-2023, 04:39 AM
|
|
Spotmatics last forever!
If you don't CLA it, I'm gonna guess that it'll get worse over time. But if that happens you might be cheaper to find another one than to fix this one. It all depends on how attached you are to the hardware I guess.
You can easily do hand-held down to 1/8 in a pinch, depending on the subject and your technique (and inclination). Or of course you can go lower even if you have a tripod with you (or a handy picnic table or fencepost) and a cable release .. ---------- Post added 07-28-23 at 04:41 AM ----------
That's an AWESOME lense, you won't regret getting that one for a second!
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
06-18-2023, 03:48 PM
|
|
One of my main lenses is the 150-450, but if they came out with a star 200-600, maybe with a built in 1.4x, I’d be first in line to buy one! The K3iii is such a great platform for wildlife, it could really use a longer (star) lens. For me, I’d prefer it be another FF lens, just for flexibility down the road (depending on what comes after the K1ii)
|
Forum: General Talk
05-06-2023, 02:08 PM
|
|
Just picked up the 70-200 f2.8 AW, looking forward to exercising it tomorrow!
|
Forum: General Talk
03-28-2023, 05:01 PM
|
|
Picked up a SMC Pentax-F 70-210mm F4-5.6 locally, it’s the best $60 (Canadian) I’ve spent in a while!
So far it’s razor sharp and focuses very fast - I’ll do some comparisons, but this might give up better images than my 55-300 PLM. It’s also not nearly as loud while focusing as I expected.
I was thinking it would tide me over until I could afford a newer one, but this might be a longer term deal than I thought!
|
Forum: General Talk
03-18-2023, 06:21 AM
|
|
I finally upgraded my KP to a K3 mark iii.
OK, so I also kept the KP, don’t judge me
Just messing around with the camera in my living room, on continuous shoot the buffer seems to go forever (in terms of catching wildlife in motion anyway).
Updating firmware tonight. You know what they say, “nobody is an athiest during a firmware update”
|
Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
03-24-2023, 04:10 PM
|
|
I remember the MX and ME release, I was a poor student at the time so I stuck with my SP5000, but have always wanted an MX since then.
Sadly when I retooled a few years ago I bought an LX, then hopscotched forward to a KP and all digital almost right after. OK, not sad, but I still can’t stop thinking about an MX someday
|
Forum: General Photography
03-24-2023, 04:16 PM
|
|
|
Forum: General Talk
03-22-2023, 04:30 PM
|
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-08-2023, 03:31 PM
|
|
Two :-)
Plus the hundreds who are tired of having Pentax not listen on that score ...
|
Forum: General Talk
01-20-2023, 05:27 PM
|
|
Finally upgraded my Manfrotto monopod, got a Benro MAD48C, so it’s a good 3ft / 1m longer, waaay beefier and almost exactly the same weight. Just need to replace the silly ball-joint foot that it came with
Looking forward to taking it into the bush this weekend, as long as it isn’t raining (this time of year my KP is way more weatherproof than I am)
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-06-2023, 07:14 PM
|
|
I got to looking at the Pentax Lens Roadmap, and thought that would be a good format to do a personal lens inventory. I find that the graphical side of it highlights any "holes" I may have on the focal length side. I tried to make this work with charts, but box charts don't actually work the way I want them to, so just ended up shading cells in.
Anyway, this sheet has my list, but by all means download it and update it for your own stash of gear. GitHub - robvandenbrink/LensInventory: Lens Inventory, Graphical Focal Length
If you have any suggestions I'm happy to update the sheet for more features etc (the next iteration will likely have serial numbers for instance)
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-01-2023, 07:38 AM
|
|
The split prism is a godsend for manual focus, I really missed that when I went digitial - 100% use that to help focus
If your eyeglass prescription is off, yes of course fix that (and set the diopter back to zero)
Aside from that look at the photos, if the focus is off then usually you will see that **something** is in focus. If nothing is sharp, then look at camera movement. Try some test shots from a tripod or with the camera body on a table to verify if you have a focus issue or a stability issue
At that point, if your eyes are “fixed” and the camera is bolted down, if you still are out of focus it might be the camera, but with a manual / film camera that’s (almost) not a thing - if it’s focused in the viewfinder it should be sharp on the film, as long as the film plane is lined up. If that’s off though you’ve likely got bent components in the camera back (very unlikely but I’m sure it happens), you might be cheaper off to find a new camera body, or a parts body to swap out the back. ---------- Post added 01-01-23 at 07:42 AM ----------
He shoots with his phone. He lines things up level enough, but when he presses the shutter release he stabs it enough to tilt the photo towards that side.
I don’t think he’ll change, it’s just worth a smile and a headshake every time I see him post photos to his facebook page. It’s one of those “his purpose is to serve as an example for others” situations
|
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
12-20-2022, 05:41 PM
|
|
I’m usually in TAV as a “walking around” mode. I update shutter and aperture to keep things reasonable as I go.
Not to say I don’t change modes as needed, but TAV works nicely for me as a “get a quick shot off” default
(Pentax KP)
|
Forum: General Talk
12-11-2022, 06:34 PM
|
|
Spare lens caps for everything I use day to day.
.. Because it’s only a matter of time before I need them :-)
|
Forum: General Photography
12-10-2022, 11:12 AM
|
|
It's a Manfroto monopod, which I put some pipe insulation on to save my shoulder. I picked the model with the flip-locks, because I truly hate using twist locks on anything. If I had to buy today I'd look seriously at the Benro monopods.
Added an Arca-swiss clamp, then the Wimberly Monopod Gimbal, which is an awesome piece of gear!
Normally what I have mounted on it is the Pentax 150-450mm lens with a KP for a body. (I'm considering a K3 miii after the recent firmware update, though I'll really miss the flip screen that I have on the KP)
|
Forum: Vintage Cameras and Equipment
11-25-2022, 05:41 PM
|
|
Leica was the brand I really wanted in high school, so Leica is still the brand I window shop
I shot Pentax then, and 40 years later, still shoot Pentax.
If I won the lottery *maybe* I’d rethink my camera brand, but then again maybe not, maybe I’d just buy more Pentax gear
|