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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 03-18-2024, 01:13 AM  
Poll: Does (lens) size matter? Best of Pentax Forums Newsletter March 13 Poll
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 52
Views: 2,288
You understood my point perfectly!

Kjell

---------- Post added 03-18-2024 at 10:25 AM ----------



I have exactly the same combo, and it's not for sale! It's a wonderful lens, very much useable also on digital sensors.
But! - the lens is heavy and rather big (if not compared to the 85mm D-FA). So in accordance with what I have written in other posts in this thread it seldom goes into my bag, since I bought the FA 77mm Limited.

Kjell
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 03-14-2024, 12:47 AM  
Poll: Does (lens) size matter? Best of Pentax Forums Newsletter March 13 Poll
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 52
Views: 2,288
I prefer the smaller any day. Picture quality is about much more than super sharp corners. Look at iconic pictures by Cartier-Bresson and others. Taken with equipment far inferior to what we all have today.
It's about perspective, angel, light and of course motif. If the possibility to count the leaves on each tree is what defines the quality of a landscape picture, paintings by Monet or Renoir would have been given away at the flea market.
I use older lenses like the FA 50mm f1.4, FA 77mm f1.8, A*85mm f1.4, F* 300mm f4.5 and A35 f2 with my K-1 and if the pictures aren't any good it's not because of the lenses, it's because of me.
Of course equipment does matter, and there are lousy lenses (I had a 400mm f.6.3, don't remember the brand, which was litterally unuseable even for "impressionist photography"). And of course faster means lower light capacity and smaller dof. But few lenses make a real difference, all other things equal. I wish Ricoh/Pentax would return to the "smaller than the competition but nevertheless top notch"-philosophy.
Kjell
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 02-14-2024, 06:43 AM  
Are we really THAT rare?
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 7,240
Views: 985,636
The audience is expected to buy it, it's called "the willing dispension of disbelief". Without that there would be no movies, nor theatre. Anyone think "Superman" is a documentary? :)

Kjell
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 12-28-2023, 04:00 AM  
Poll: Is it time to retire the “Pentax is DOOMED!!” Meme? The Best of PF Dec. 27 Poll
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 369
Views: 14,405
Pentax isn't doooomed! It's already dead.
At least that's what I learned from a salesman from from the "Expert" (!) consumer electronics chain already some fifteen years ago. He saw my K5 and kindly informed me that Pentax had closed down all production. Soon after that the "Expert" chain went belly up, I still wonder why.

Kjell
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 12-12-2023, 02:20 AM  
Talk me out of buying the D-FA 21mm limited
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 87
Views: 5,199
"What's a royal ball? After all, I suppose it would be frightfully dull, and boring, and completely ... completely wonderful.”

There are alternatives, there always are. No one needs a perfect lens. Sell your camera gear! What about knitting? Making matchstick pictures? Lawnmowing? So much excitement, so little time!

Kjell
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 12-12-2023, 01:48 AM  
Poll: Which LTD Would You Choose?
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 66
Views: 2,104
Since I'm blessed with the FA 77 and the D-FA 21, I'd go for the FA 31. The FA 43 would have to wait for next years lottery. :-)

Kjell
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 11-04-2023, 02:02 AM  
Who NEEDS A Lens That's Weather-Sealed?
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 101
Views: 5,033
One full-proof method is to put your camera in a drawer in a building in the desert. You won't be able to take any photos, but your camera would not need any water-resistance at all! And for the possible dust, wrap your camera in a plastic bag too. :D

Kjell
Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals 10-27-2023, 01:07 AM  
EU charger rules and upcoming Pentax models
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 42
Views: 2,566
No, I haven't kept any old price lists but when I noticed the absense of 645 from those lists i Googled (or whatever you did in those days) and found that explanation.

I found this link, though. Pentax 645 and 67 film cameras banned from Europe: News & Rumors Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review
I might have messed up mercury with lead.

Kjell
Forum: Pentax Full Frame 10-27-2023, 12:53 AM  
What's your best/favorite prime lenses for landscape?
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 39
Views: 3,171
My most used landscape lenses: A*85mmf1,4, A*200mm f2.8. Both are hard to find these days, but more modern ones with that kind of focal length would certainly work well. As Mike (BigMacCam) says, you seldom need the widest apertures so cheaper lenses probably work just as well. After all, it's more about composition, angel and light than about corner super sharpness.

Kjell
Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals 10-25-2023, 11:41 PM  
EU charger rules and upcoming Pentax models
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 42
Views: 2,566
A sad prognosis:
When the EU implemented strong regulations against products containing mercury, Pentax's reaction was to withdraw the analog 645 camera from EU sales.The European market was/is to small for Pentax to put an effort into changing the product. Then again the digital 645 is free from mercury, so then the problem was solved. But probably not after an effort to get back on the European market, that was rather a positive side effect.
So don't except Ricoh to adopt products to meet European regulations. They'd rather loose all sales in Europe. What we might hope for is the same regulations put in effect in Japan.
Kjell
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 10-17-2023, 11:40 PM  
Who NEEDS A Lens That's Weather-Sealed?
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 101
Views: 5,033
Welcome to Sweden and our climate. Bring your raincoat and a pair of Wellingtons. Of course we have nice sunshine some times every year, but a lot of mist, rain, snow and dripping from the trees after the latest rainfall most days. The alternative to weathersealed, a strong selling point for Pentax since decades (LX denominated as "tropicalizada"), is to wrap your camera in a plastic bag with all the fuzz that means. Or only take photos indoors. And as my friend the professional landscape photographer says: "If it's a nice sunny day, you might as well stay at home and play Yatzy!"

Kjell
Forum: General Photography 10-07-2023, 01:17 AM  
Poll: Does your camera separate you from your life? The Best of PF Oct. 4 poll
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 40
Views: 3,346
For holiday trips I always bring camera(s) and a few lenses (too many, actually). But depending on activity, I can bring the camera or leave it in the hotel. I'm not so keen on taking a picture of the Eiffel Tower from an angle the same photo has been taken a zillion times before, often by photographers more competent than myself. But of course it's nice to have a photo of my wife looking at the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic at the same time from Cape Point.
Before retirement I usually had the camera with me driving to work, and sometimes I stopped to take nice sunrise pictures or a herd of Red Deer.
But now I don't bring any camera if I don't plan to take pictures. As I wrote in "the other thread" the activity to take pictures, and having the antlers out to find something to take a picture of, hinders my ability to interact socially or experience nature if on my own. When I hear a bird sing, I want to enjoy the song rather than change to a longer lens and start looking for where the d*mned bird is sitting.
Taking pictures is a joy in it's own right (maybe that's why I like Pentax :D), but it can at times take the joy out of other things.

Kjell
Forum: General Photography 09-27-2023, 11:39 PM  
Poll: Do you carry a camera bag everywhere? The Best of PF Newsletter poll for Sept. 20
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 42
Views: 3,072
For some years, some years ago, I felt naked without a camera bag. But then I realized that I was either the observer (photographer) or a participant. This goes for meetings, conferences, parties, holidays or family life. Now I only carry a camera if I'm asked to or if my intention is to be the observer rather than to participate. Split attention isn't good for either activity.

Kjell
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 09-23-2023, 01:19 AM  
SMC-F 70-210 or SMC-A 70-200 for Yosemite?
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 20
Views: 900
Like many others in the thread I only have the smc F 70-210 (not to be confused with non-smc or 70-200 varieties). But that lens is often and correctly praised by it's users (mee too, I often refer to it as "best IQ/dollar out there"). Just one thing, check that it's mechanically OK. I've bought three used copies. The first one was (is, I still have it as a backup) a bit stiff in the zoom ring, has to be exercised a few times to loosen up after not being used for some time. The second one is just perfect, always in my bag. The third (I wanted a good backup copy since I like the lens so much) literally fell apart as I took it out of the package.
It's ugly, it's heavy and it sounds loudly when autofocussing. Nevertheless it's a lovely lens.
Maybe the A lens is just as good IQ wise, and it certainly looks better. But it lacks the convenience of AF.

Kjell
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 08-26-2023, 02:03 AM  
Min Lenses?
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 56
Views: 3,051
I spent six months in Central America in the eighties (during the wars!) with i Program A camera and a 35-70mm f 4 lens. I also had borrowed a 50mm f 1.2 for dim light situations, but that was never used.
Even though I was a newcomer to "serious" photography and couldn't see my own pictures before I came home after the six months (I sent the undeveloped rolls with a courier to have them developed i Sweden) I've got a number of pictures I'm still proud of.
Today I've got a cabinet full of lenses. But I'm not sure that improves my pictures.
As the firemen say: "we do what we can with what we have".
Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II 08-03-2023, 01:07 AM  
Upgrade from K-1/K-1 II to K-1 III - Any Takers?
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 26
Views: 2,492
If I had to get another camera, I'd go for the newest I can afford. But for now, and for the forseeable future, my K-1 and K-5 serve me very well. I can't see what I would "need" to take better pictures. The limitations are not the camera bodies, they are all me, myself and I.
Kjell
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 06-09-2023, 12:06 AM  
Poll: Jpeg or Raw - ?
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 94
Views: 5,379
My take:
Shoot in RAW only, delete a lot in computer and convert the few worth keeping to jpeg (saving the RAW of course). Thus more effort is put into good conversions.

Kjell
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 05-29-2023, 11:32 PM  
What's The "Best Bargain" In Used Pentax APS-C DSLR Bodies?
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 33
Views: 2,705
I bought my K-5 in early 2011, and it won't be for sale. Never hesitate to use it beside my K-1.
The downside is that it can't use the newest lenses (KAF 4 mount) with full functionality, like the marvellous but very expensive D-FA 21mm.
In Pentaxland the K-5 is at the peak of body design. Of course you get a bit more of everything with the K-5 II and the K-3 series, but then you have probably moved out of bargain territory.

Kjell
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 04-20-2023, 12:02 AM  
Which Pentax Camera Has The BEST Colors?
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 40
Views: 4,796
All my Pentax cameras are black!

Kjell
Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II 04-15-2023, 01:54 AM  
Best 85MM portrait lens for K-1
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 22
Views: 1,572
I have kept my A* 85mm, it's a marvellous lens which I have used a lot for three decades. Portraits, concerts in dim and difficult light and also landscape and close-ups of flowers. It's a bit hard to focus due to it's narrow depth of focus, but when you nail it it's soooo sharp.
Nevertheless, it sits pretty idle on the shelf after I got the FA 77mm Limited. A tad shorter FL, a lot smaller and lighter and the convenience of AF. And just as marvellous IQ.

Kjell
Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II 04-07-2023, 01:23 AM  
Looking for tele lens suggestions for landscapes.
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 37
Views: 1,923
I'm not a pixelpeeper. Focal length is more important to me than miniscular differences in sharpness or what might be adjusted in pp. And I tend to prefer long FL for landscapes.
The smc F 70-210 f4-5.6 is the best el cheapo lens I have. Compared to other film era zooms I have it stands out.
My best landscapes were shot with the A*85 mm f1.4 and A* 200mm f2.8, probably not thanks to the lense's high qualities but because that was the right focal length and what I had at hand in that moment.
I wouldn't hesitate to use the FA77mm 1.8 Limited or the F300mm f 4.5 if any of them were in my bag when my eye was caught by the view. But as said, I'd not hesitate to use the F70-210 either.

A* 85mm
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/attachments/190-pentax-k-1-k-1-ii/601010...-85mm-copy.jpg

A*200mm
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/attachments/190-pentax-k-1-k-1-ii/601012...200mm-copy.jpg

F* 300mm
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/attachments/190-pentax-k-1-k-1-ii/601011...300mm-copy.jpg

F70-210mm @ 118mm
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/attachments/190-pentax-k-1-k-1-ii/601013...18-mm-copy.jpg

Kjell
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 04-01-2023, 12:33 AM  
D FA 21mm out of stock?
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 15
Views: 1,028
I'm afraid that's precisely what's going on. "The other" big online retailer in Sweden, Scandinavian Photo, has quitted selling Pentax gear altogether.
If Ricoh wants to have this direct producer-consumer relation, their presence on national markets needs to be stronger. The Swedish market, as small as it might be, is large enough to make them produce manuals in Swedish, as well as in-body menues.
Buying from any country within the EU isn't a problem (thanks to Ireland English is still a EU language). It's when it comes to warranty issues there might be a problem. You'd want to explain the fine details in your own mothertongue.

Kjell
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 03-31-2023, 12:09 AM  
D FA 21mm out of stock?
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 15
Views: 1,028
Does anyone on the forum have insight in Pentax/Ricoh's production and distribution routines?
I've finally pulled the trigger for a D FA 21mm f2.4 from the leading Swedish on-line retailer Cyberphoto. The lens is stated as "on back-order, delivery time unknown". Checking with the Swedish importer/agent FocusNordic the message is the same. Do they have problems getting delivery from Japan? Are Ricoh themselves out of stock? How do they plan their production runs?
It would feel a bit akward having to turn to the second hand market to get hold on their latest lens! :confused:
Kjell
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 02-28-2023, 12:49 AM  
Recommendations for a telephoto lens for wildlife photography for K1 II
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 20
Views: 2,373
Short and easy answer:

Longer is better than shorter. 1
Prime is better than zoom 2,
Longer is heavier than shorter, and less easy to handle.
Longer is more expensive than shorter. 3

1 if it's not an el cheapo third party lens like 400mm f 6.3.
2 but old primes might not be better than a modern zoom.
3 but sometimes bargains can be made on the used market
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 02-15-2023, 02:01 AM  
Brick & Mortar ??
Posted By bilybianca
Replies: 19
Views: 1,223
I don't think there is one single camera shop in the Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Finland) where you can actually hold and feel a Pentax camera before you buy it. Maybe I can do that if I go to London. Or maybe Paris, but I'm not sure of that either. The best way would be to win big on Eurolotto, and go to Japan and run the streets of Kyoto to have a catharsis.
We have two competing online sellers in Sweden. From one of them, Scandinavian Photo, you can no longer order any Pentax products at all. From the other one you can order, but quite a few of the products are not in stock, "by special order only". But their own reviews of Pentax products are generally pretty enthusiastic. I guess that doesn't bring in a lot of new users to the brand. All so sad...

Kjell
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