Forum: Post Your Photos!
01-10-2010, 07:35 PM
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All with K200D and DA50-200 Kit Lens. |
Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
04-19-2009, 01:58 PM
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I agree with going the reflector route. Even a 20x30" piece of white poster board held by a willing assistant would allow you to fill the shadows below the cap without blowing out the pillar.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
04-13-2009, 07:25 PM
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...K200D and FA50/1.4 with no light modification.
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
04-04-2009, 08:56 PM
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CyberSyncs Rock! Never a misfire for me so far.
If at sometime in your life you need more range, the CyberSyncs can be set up as wireless relays:
"REPEATER MODE
Assume you are lighting a scene several hundred feet from your camera location. Position a CSR or CSRB midway between the camera and the scene and place it in repeater mode. When you fire the camera the repeater will receive the camera signal, then regenerate it for transmission to the more distant receivers.
If a flash unit is connected to the repeater it will fire normally from the camera signal. The more distant flash units may also fire from the camera signal if they are close enough. If not, they will fire from the regenerated signal of the repeater.
Using a repeater delays the signal by an additional 1/4000 second. The resulting latency of 1/2000 second total is still fast enough to allow the camera exposure time to be set one click below the camera’s maximum sync speed in most uses. It is not generally advisable to use more than one repeater in a setup. If two repeaters are used and both receive the same transmission, both will regenerate at the same instant and interfere with one another."
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
04-04-2009, 08:41 PM
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They're great when you're the only photog...
When I did weddings, everyone and their mother (literally), would stand behind me with their point and shoots (film only at the time), and trigger my monolights when everyone was in place, looking at the camera, and composed perfectly. No matter how many times I would explain to them that THEIR flash would set off MY flash, they would do it anyway. I assume they thought I was trying to be the only one in the church with the good shot, and was giving them some techno line of crap to keep them from it.
A similar issue will be noted if you are triggering your slaves with an on camera P-TTL flash...the pre-flash will trigger your slaves.
Speed is not an issue.
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Forum: General Talk
03-30-2009, 05:58 AM
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I'm with ya...just filled two 10 yard roll-offs (dumpsters) during a basement remodel. The carpet and padding took up about half of one roll-off. The rest was just junk. The old computers went to the recycling center and the rest just had to go.
It definitely opened my eyes to what really needs to be purchased in the future and having a better plan on what to do with things when they're no longer useful to us. While it's not feasible to recycle everything, every avenue should be explored before it gets shipped off to the landfill.
My wife was leaving the house the other morning and said, "I'm going to stop by Wal-Mart and buy one of those...." My head about exploded...It's starting all over!
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-28-2009, 05:46 AM
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The 50-200 needs plenty of light. Use it outside during the day or in the studio. It gets pretty sharp starting at f8.
My guess is that you have the ISO set relatively high or are in auto mode which will automatically set a higher ISO to compensate for lack of light.
What do your images look like on a sunny day?
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Forum: General Talk
03-19-2009, 05:56 AM
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I have fallen victim to the "system." 8 TVs and the most expensive package the cable company offers, including broadband internet....oh....got sucked in by Netflix too :o
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-19-2009, 05:41 AM
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On my kit zooms (18-55 and 50-200) I generally go full wide, then back it down a little and recompose. I do the same on the long end, go full length then pull it in a little. I also don't shoot with the aperture wide open at any focal length. These lenses, like many zooms, don't perform as well maxed out...I maybe making up my own photo jargon...but you know what I mean :)
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-13-2009, 06:34 PM
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At this moment in time...and don't laugh...the DA50-200 :eek:
I don't own the best lenses that Pentax makes so there's no point of reference...but this one surprises me every time I use it. Maybe it's the low expectations (since it is the other kit lens) that keep drawing me back to continue to find its faults. As hard as I try, I have yet to find anything wrong with it other than its speed. Since I only use it when the light is good, this has not been an issue.
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
03-08-2009, 08:54 AM
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In theory you can sync at 1/180 with the Cybersyncs, monolights and a K200D. The instructions indicate to step that down to increase reliability which I have found to be true with the limited testing that I've done. So it looks like 1/90-1/125 is the fastest you can go to insure that the strobes fire 100% of the time. From the instructions:
"The exposure time should be normally set one or two clicks slower than your camera’s maximum flash sync speed. For example, if your camera’s maximum sync speed is 1/250 second you should set it to 1/200 or 1/160 second.
While the latency (time from camera trigger to received flash command) of Cyber Sync is typically only 1/4000 second, setting the camera faster than its max flash sync speed with any manual flash unit will result in dark, unexposed areas."
ALSO: The issue with the protrusion of the test buttons outside of the case of the transmitter and receiver appears to have been addressed. While there may still be an issue of accidental activation of the receivers in a bag, the buttons stick out far less on my copies compared to the photos posted. While not perfect, it is an improvement.
I would recommend these to anyone wanting to go wireless for "basic" flash triggering. For advanced control of your monolights, there are better options out there. And, Paul C. Buff is working on an advanced transmitter for future release that will offer greater control of your lights: AlienBees: The RadioRemote One Wireless System |
Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
03-06-2009, 05:00 PM
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This all gives me some good ideas. If it wasn't for the two DA lenses added after the switch to digital, there wouldn't have been a question about my old bag (not referring to my wife this time ;) ).
Thanks for the pics.
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
03-03-2009, 07:55 AM
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That's kind of where I wanted to go with this. I think I could live without the second body with me, but the large rocket blower...no way!
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
03-02-2009, 06:47 PM
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I have an old Tamrac 612 that is too big to carry around on the move, but always seems to be too small for everything I feel I need with me all of the time.
I know...I know...what bag to get?...
...Do I have the right bag?...
Maybe we could get some photos posted of the bags we carry...and sorry in advance if this has all been done before. It just seems like a good way to let everyone know what the various bags look like in packed. |
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-01-2009, 03:18 PM
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I agree as well.
The K200D has most of the high end features such as shake reduction, weather sealing, pixel mapping, dust mapping/removal and the ability to accept a battery grip. It seems very underrated with its official "entry level" designation by Pentax.
I assume this is why everyone is saying that it's being discontinued already. You either enter with the K2000D or go right to the top with the K20D.
I seriously considered going with the K20D when I was in the market for something in addition to my DS, but at $360USD brand new, I couldn't resist the K200D. And let's not forget that the entry level bodies today blow away the top of the line models of just a few years ago.
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
03-01-2009, 06:54 AM
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My DS and AF500FTZ work very well together. Excellent flash! I believe mine is about 15 years old and still going strong.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-01-2009, 06:40 AM
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I'm confused...how is it that you can't manually focus an FA 50/1.4. Switch the camera to manal focus and use the focus ring...
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Forum: General Talk
02-28-2009, 05:22 PM
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In the early 90's I was making good money on the side doing weddings, portraits, fraternity/sorority events, little league photos and even a couple of local product shoots.
While renting studio space from a graphic designer, we got to talking about doing a calendar. During the planning stages, we met up with another photographer that was working on the same concept...a swimsuit calendar featuring local talent.
We came up with a decent product, considering the negative scanning and printing technology of the day. It was shot using Pentax for 35mm and Rolleiflex for the medium format stuff.
Unfortunately, in a very ambitious move on the part of the graphic designer, our print order was increased at the last minute, beyond what we could ever hope to sell. The project was a financial disaster.
Anyway, I was one of "The Calendar Guys." My username is a bit of a joke, and that's OK. I had fun earning that title.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-26-2009, 06:44 AM
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The very light "half press" has been discussed in another thread as a concern on the K200D. It appears to be the consensus that this is by design, and is the same for the K20D. I agree that it is very different from other Pentax cameras (my DS and PZ-1 for instance), but you will quickly get used to it.
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
02-24-2009, 05:13 PM
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I think that Red is onto something with Calumet: Calumet Genesis 200 2-Light Kit - CF0502K1 -
This is a two monolight, stand and umbrella set. I believe Calumet still has free shipping on all orders over $75.
Worth a look ;)
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Forum: General Talk
02-22-2009, 02:53 PM
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I always try to keep a small point and shoot in my pocket at work. This day I had a Nikon L6 (ya I said it, NIKON :p). It's about the size of a pack of cigarettes. Below are four of about 30 pictures from that incident.
I wish I had my Pentax gear with me, but that's just not practical in my line of work. So, I took advantage of what I had available to me at the time: |
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-22-2009, 02:23 PM
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The K200D has dust mapping/removal as well as pixel mapping.
Regardless of what type of forum you go to, the top of the line item will always be promoted...as it should be.
If your asking if the K200D is any good, the answer is yes. Since it's supposedly discontinued, you maybe able to find a great deal on it somewhere. I paid about $360 for mine, brand new at Prodigital2000. I believe the K20D will cost you about twice that.
So if you want to save a little scratch, then go K200D. If you want the best DSLR that Pentax makes "at the moment," then the K20D is the obvious choice.
Either way, I think you'll be happy.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-19-2009, 05:31 PM
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The 200D is a good camera.
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