Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
05-08-2012, 07:35 PM
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Great minds...I've got an E-M5 on order as well - Silver, with the 12-50 kit lens - and the extra $$ that I'd planned on putting toward the 50-135 will be going toward additional 4/3's glass.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-13-2012, 11:53 AM
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Hadn't checked Buy.com - thanks for this tip - and yes, was aware the Amazon purchase is via Emmy Photo (never heard of her - is she the scantily clad woman in one of the earlier posts? ;)
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-13-2012, 11:45 AM
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Similarly, the 50-135 has dropped in price, from ~$1600 to $1150 - still higher that a 7-10 days ago, but much more palatable.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
04-06-2012, 06:47 PM
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-04-2012, 12:49 PM
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No, they don't, but when I first made the decision to buy Pentax (K20D), Showcase was the first place I asked. Ironically, I bought the K20D at Wolf Camera. My K5 was purchased via B&H, as were the bulk of my lenses, my Elinchrom lights, and a number of other accessories. I ordered the Oly through Showcase via one of the guys with whom I regularly shoot. He's a Nikon shooter and added 4/3's to his lineup last year via the E-P3 Pen; he's friends with the Oly rep and used to teach at Showcase (until going on his own). When he pre-ordered the E-M5 a few of us joined him and did the same.
Back to your original question, I wish Showcase did carry Pentax. They are very active in the local photography community and I do enjoy supporting local businesses. At the same time, I really appreciate the partnership that B&H has forged with Pentax Forums and will continue to actively buy from them as a result.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-04-2012, 12:13 PM
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Some very interesting comments in this thread, and I was just pondering why some accompanying statement explaining the rationale behind the unilateral pricing move was not put forth.
The quoted comment might explain why no statement.
This said, I just don't see how Pentax (and certainly the American base) wins by making this move. Does it cause Amazon to blink an eye? Nope. Does it cause B&H and similar B&M'net retailers to grimace? Perhaps a bit, but in the end, I don't think they'll care much either. Honestly, at this point at least, I think this is simply one of those cases where the baby (in this case, the American-based Pentax aficionado) is being tossed out with the bath water. *Sigh*
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-04-2012, 11:18 AM
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Completely agree with this comment. It *is* a big deal and US-based Pentax customers have been ROYALLY B#tCH slapped. I belong to a small photo club (~20 guys) and, with one exception, everybody shoots with Canon or Nikon, and we share lots of good-natured laughs about me being the lone wolf. Those laughs may soon be ending.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-04-2012, 10:31 AM
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Perhaps this is true and re: the US market, they would've served themselves much better by communicating the price increase ahead of time and ratcheting it up over time - say a month or two. Doing this would've, at the least:- shown the US base some consideration & helped maintain goodwill
- helped spur short-term sales and clear out inventory
As it stands, they've only created a fair amount of confusion regarding future direction and pi$$ed off many of their strongest advocates.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-04-2012, 06:29 AM
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There are a few, like Showcase Photo & Video, here in Atlanta. I pre-ordered an Oly OM-D E-M5 from them, and in light of this move by Pentax, am very glad I did so. I LOVE my K-5 and still own a K20D plus some quality glass, including the DA* 60-250mm and DA15mm, but my a$$ is really chapped about this move by Ricoh/Pentax.
Perhaps when the "smart minds" see the sale of most Pentax glass come to a screeching halt via ALL outlets, they'll rethink this (on the surface) very bone-headed move.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-03-2012, 03:46 PM
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Very pi$$ed about this "strategic" move by Pentax. I was literally 2-3 days from pulling the trigger on DA* 50-135mm - I love this lens. Now that it has almost doubled in price, I will definitely not be buying anytime soon. WTF is Pentax thinking?!!?!?!? And FWIW, though I do purchase some items via Amazon, the bulk of my purchases have been through B&H. Why does Pentax want to bite the hands that feed them AND potentially see a viable distribution channel shrink even more. Canon/Nikon/Fuji/Sony must be licking their collective chops.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
03-20-2012, 08:33 AM
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Holy Cow! I've not been on the PF's of late and certainly not on this thread. One word - WOW!! - to all of the beautiful images on this page. Fantastic work - all of you!!
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Forum: Lens Clubs
03-02-2012, 03:48 PM
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And the hits just keep on coming...nice one, Mark!
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Forum: Lens Clubs
03-02-2012, 09:35 AM
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Yep..."Bam!" Very nice shot!!
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Forum: Lens Clubs
02-29-2012, 04:29 PM
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Thank you very much! acrollet - the motion might've been me trying to stay steady after sprinting across a wide open space of cactus/scrub to get near the train tracks...;)
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Forum: Lens Clubs
02-29-2012, 04:03 PM
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Wow...VERY nice. I've heard of Enfuse (and even downloaded/installed at one point), but never used it. I know at least one landscape photographer - Michael Frye - who uses it quite a bit and his images are fantastic. I own/use Photomatix for blends (though should probably consider Nik's HDR Efex or Enfuse), but agree w/your summary that most of the time results looks somewhat or very unnatural. Beautiful image!
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Forum: Lens Clubs
02-29-2012, 01:57 PM
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Thank you, Mark. I'd definitely recommend checking out Color Efex - very powerful program. The proof, however, will be in the pudding when I go to print some of the recent Color Efex projects.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
02-29-2012, 12:54 PM
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Thanks, JHD! Re: the train falling over, perhaps a function of the 15mm or that I shifted the angle of the image in Lightroom to give a bit more downward bias, but that was it. Even in the SOOC orientation, I can see a bit of that left-leaning bias, so perhaps the change of angle really accentuated it. Cheers.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
02-29-2012, 12:50 PM
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Thanks, Chris. I'm using LR Beta 4 right now for post, so Fill Light is no longer an implicit option, but I really did very little post using LR anyway; instead, I've been taking Nik Color Efex Pro 4 for a test drive and used it for most of the heavy lifting. As you correctly implied, the side of the train facing me was shaded and to get light back on it/the grass, I used a filter in Color Efex called "Reflector Efex" - essentially a virtual reflector - gold, soft gold, or silver - for the subject at hand. A number of other filters exist and you can mix them as you want to achieve myriad results and save the mix, if you like it, as a recipe. I use Nik Silver Efex for many of my BW conversions and so far I'm loving Color Efex.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
02-29-2012, 11:33 AM
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Loved that aurora shot as well - very slick and I saw the "Dancing Man" as well...
Here's one more from my recent trip to NM/AZ. I had to sprint across an open field to get this one and, with the sun in mind, was particularly interested in shooting stopped down (f/16) to try and maximize the "burst." Being able to capture light bursts like this is another reason I LOVE this lens - the flare, though still present, is VERY controlled and much more acceptable. If I tried this with my Tammy 28-75/2.8, flare balls would've polluted the shot to almost a worthless state. |
Forum: Lens Clubs
02-27-2012, 09:17 AM
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Mattb - like father, like son? Your son has a good eye - some very fine work!
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Forum: Lens Clubs
02-27-2012, 08:24 AM
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Thank you both and love your shot, bickrs. Also love the other shots posted - this thread is amazing; so many incredible shots. What a sweet, sweet lens!
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
02-26-2012, 09:05 AM
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I'll chime in only to underscore the positive comments. Last year, I upgraded from the K20D to the K-5 and the diff has been huge. I love(d) my K20 and have taken a number of photos with it that have received positive feedback and/or a few $$, but the K-5 makes it pale. As already noted, put some nice Limited glass or one of the zooms (the 50-135 and 60-250 being my top recs) on the K-5 and you'll be in business all day/night. I rented the 50-135 for an indoor event last year and had to shoot at 1600 ISO most of the time; the K-5 rocked and the event organizers were VERY pleased with the results.
Best to you as you work through the decision-making process.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
02-25-2012, 04:20 PM
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Finally, had many oppts to use my new 15mm. Wow - this lens is a treat!!
Here are a couple of faves from my recent trip to NM/AZ. Angel Delgadillo by ~~Lou~~, on Flickr Untitled by ~~Lou~~, on Flickr
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Forum: Lens Clubs
02-13-2012, 12:17 PM
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Great shots, Marc S and Matt B!
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Forum: Lens Clubs
02-12-2012, 03:17 PM
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Could not have said it any better....nice one!
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