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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
12-04-2010, 06:59 AM
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Hi!
I was doing some work today, shooting with my K7, and due to the nature of the work I was removing and replacing the SD card (different cards, actually) all day.
During the course of the day, I ran into a problem - I inserted a card and couldn't eject it by pushing inward as you normally do. Nor could I get a grip on it to pull it.. I ended up having to use a fine pair of tweezers to get it out.
Every time I inserted a card after that, it wouldn't eject, and I'd have to use the tweezers again. VERY annoying and a real shame as I think my K7 is just out of warranty.
Well, I thought it was buggered, and started searching pentaxforums for similar thread - half hoping there would be a 'solution', half just needing to vent! :o
As I was sat here, I was fiddling with the camera/card, and managed to get the card to eject by pushing down very firmly on the very left edge of the card (viewing camera from back). Since that 'discovery', I've been able to eject all my cards, some easier than others.
So, instead of posting looking for advice and commiseration, I'm posting to help out anyone who might run into a similar problem!
I was so close to taking it back to the shop and asking for a repair quote, too! :eek:
Thats it! Thanks for reading.
Jeremy
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-30-2010, 11:30 PM
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Seems like a sensible explanation and one that I guess I can accept, thanks.
Out of all the likes/dislikes of the K7, I found this one the oddest because - like you say - it appears to be a trivial engineering problem. As is my understanding, 99 is a 7-bit binary value, and 255 is an 8-bit binary value. Anyway, as you say - it seems most likely that it is to stop the shutter from falling out of the camera from exhaustion..
Er, I think you've managed to grossly misinterpret my original post. I didn't come to bitch or whinge, I wanted to contact pentax directly to get it resolved. By 'assurance', I mean that I don't want to engage pentaxforums.com users in a discussion about it, I want to ensure that the issue is brought to Pentax' attention.
Anyway, I've decided to suck it in. Thanks for all responses.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-26-2010, 04:08 AM
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OK, thanks Thomas. Guess it's back to manual!
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-26-2010, 03:06 AM
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Hi guys.
I own a K7 (lucky!) and an old Sigma EF-430 ST flash.. Mine looks just like this one, though it has a 'PA' lettered on the back (not 'NA'), which designates it as Pentax compatible, apparently.
The switch has a TTL position on the back but I can't - and this has bugged me for months - work out if and how this is supposed to work.
With the camera in P mode, and the flash in TTL mode, the flash just seems to fire at something like full power.
Zooming works, so there is obviously some communication going on.
Is there some way I can test this properly? I don't have any experience with TTL or P-TTL and flashes - this is the only on-camera flash I own and I have always used off-camera flashes and/or shot in manual.
I have to shoot some nightclub photos next week which is why I think I require TTL.
Cheers
Jeremy
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-18-2010, 11:54 PM
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Sorry to be blunt, but that's really missing the point!
I don't want to have to carry around (and buy!) a third party accessory. I feel like Pentax has crippled this feature (to sell intervalometers..?) and I'm getting a bit pissed about it.
I appreciate your help though.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-18-2010, 11:03 PM
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Hi guys.
I own a K7 and for the most part, love it.
It has a few issues (both major and minor), which are discussed in detail here and elsewhere.
By far the most aggravating - and offensive - issue for me is the intervalometer feature, which only records up to 99 images.
It's offensive because this IS something that can be resolved with a few lines of code (or a few characters of code) in the next firmware release, and it's offensive that Pentax think they can deliver a half-assed feature like this in their pro camera.
So - my proposal is some kind of email campaign and/or petition. I just need names and/or email addresses for Pentax Japan, and a few willing helpers :)
This issue is such a minor thing, but a colossal aggravation. I don't want to muck around speculating whether it will be sorted in the next firmware release.. I want assurance that it will be!
- Jeremy
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-22-2010, 03:56 AM
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You're prescient.
Bought a US$10 adapter (the one without a flange, that looks like the proper pentax one)... now it's stuck on my old K100D. It's not so bad having a M42 mount camera.. but any ideas about how to un-stick it would be nice. :rolleyes:
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
12-25-2009, 08:27 PM
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I wrote a quick email to the Australian distributor (C.R. Kennedy) with some K7 firmware suggestions including the above suggestion and got a reply back from Mr. Kennedy himself (on boxing day!) saying he'd forwarded my email to Pentax Japan.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
12-25-2009, 08:16 PM
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The K-7 shows up as a device to import from in Aperture, but the 'start tether session' menu is greyed out.
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Forum: Video Recording and Processing
12-23-2009, 08:47 PM
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Great tip about Photoshop! I never realised that.
I shot a time-lapse over the course of a day, resulting in about 2300 shots - I moved the camera to different positions, so it was really more like multiple short time-lapses.
I ended up with 2800 images, which I saved (in-camera) as 6MP JPGs, and then loaded into Lightroom, which I used to make batch corrections to each scene (for exposure and for artistic effect) and to crop. It was very trivial to adjust the first frame to my liking, and then sync the adjustments to the subsequent frames.
I then exported these all as JPGs, resized to 720 pixels high, and opened them as an image sequence in Quicktime 7 Pro. Exported that as high quality HD video, then imported into iMovie '09 to do my final edits, cuts, transitions and add sound.
Here's the finished product (vimeo) or (youtube); I'm really pleased with how it turned out (it's the first time I've attempted anything like this!).
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-19-2009, 01:53 AM
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-19-2009, 12:42 AM
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Hello,
I was disappointed to find that my $10 ebay M42 to P-K adapter meant losing infinite focus (infact, focus was limited to about 10 metres).
It appears that every one of these adapters I can find on ebay suffers the same problem (the flange adds thickness I guess).
Where does everyone get their mount adapters? Is there some untapped source? The only one I've been able to find is on the pentax web store but I feel there must be some ones on ebay that function correctly..
surely?
Jeremy
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
12-18-2009, 11:55 PM
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The camera's top LCD and VF LCD will just intermittently turn off (and stay off). When this happens all of the camera's other functions are inaccesssible; the wheel doesn't work, the modes don't work, the ev. comp doesn't work, and I can't even change aperture or shutter.
I haven't been able to nail down what is triggering it, but it does seem to pretty much only happen right after the camera is turned on. In other words, if it's good when I turn it on, it's most likely good until I turn it off again.
Sometimes it has failed in the middle of shooting, and very occasionally I have 'seen' it in the process of failing; the top LCD will display garbage and the VF LCD will go dim/blank. If I switch it off at that moment, the displays will be gone when I turn the camera back on.
When it fails, I can sit it down on a table and spend 15 minutes turning it on and off, then come back to it the next day and it will be fine - or, it won't come back on for a week. It's super arbitrary and unpredictable.
I'm quite certain it's not a physical connection problem. I have shaken, twisted, tapped (and sometimes banged!) the camera to get it to work, to no effect. It just comes back when it wants to.
I'm pretty convinced, myself, that it's not a problem on the hardware level.
Is it possible for firmware to become corrupt and cause problems like this?
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
12-18-2009, 11:46 PM
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I bought one of those grips for my K7 from the 'linkdelight' store.
The quality - as in, the fit and finish - is pretty outstanding. The only things that give it away (as a knockoff) are the material on the thumbwheels and perhaps the buttons, if you look closely.
Unfortunately the unit I received had two problems with it :
- A small piece of metal was missing from the AA tray, preventing it from working. One I realised it was missing, I made a temporary repair, and the AA tray worked fine.
- The grip did not seem to 'see' a lithium battery, even a 100% freshly charged one. At first I thought that the grip just wasn't designed to work without a battery in the body, but then after a few days the camera suddenly became aware of a grip battery.
It was very erratic and seemed to go from reading the grip battery as 'full' to 'empty' in just a few minutes, though mostly it just would not 'see' a battery at all. Obviously a problem.
I contacted the seller and described the problem and all my troubleshooting steps, and they seemed concerned and responded quickly. I've sent it back to them and they will hopefully send me a new one.
Also worth noting : the SD card holder in the lithium tray is very tight. I struggled with mine for 5 minutes, trying to pull out a SD card. Eventually I just half-inserted it, which held it securely enough, and could actually be removed.
Summary - A great grip, though mine had some problems which are being addressed by the seller.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
12-18-2009, 10:50 AM
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Oh, I wasn't aware the K20D had this feature - hmm. Is there any good reason for the limitation? Is it perhaps to sell some Pentax accessory?
I've seen similar ones, and am considering building one myself (whipped up a simple one for a time-lapse I did the other week).
Thanks for the link. I might buy one in the meantime, though it seems a shame to.
Back to my original post - is there any way to present this to Pentax and see if they could engineer it into future firmware?
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
12-18-2009, 10:08 AM
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Hi,
The K7's 'interval shooting' feature is awesome - I've started getting into time-lapse stuff and it's really handy.
..Buuuuuut.... Why the seemingly arbitrary limit of only 99 images? Why not 999? or even 'infinite' (fill the card)?
Sure, you can just restart the sequence - but I've lost a bit of continuity messing around with it, and it means you can't just set-and-forget.
Is there some way we can rally together and encourage Pentax to address this in a subsequent firmware update?
.. It just seems like such a simple thing, and so easily fixable.. :(
Cheers
Jeremy
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
12-18-2009, 02:56 AM
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I've been having some problems with my K100D Super and (to cut a long long long story short) would like to try 'reflashing' the firmware. It looks like v1.00 is/was the only firmware version ever produced, so I guess that's why I can't find it on Pentax's software update page.
Where can I get the original firmware for the K100D Super?
And is it even possible to load that firmware (as its the same version on the camera)?
I have emailed Pentax, on their 'pentaxinfo at pentax dot com' address (which I've previously had correspondence from).
(N.B - the K100D Super is a different camera to the K100D, and the firmware is not interchangeable).
Thanks!
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Forum: Photographic Technique
11-28-2009, 08:43 AM
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Hi guys,
Apologies if I've put this in the wrong forum..
Anyway, I purchased an aftermarket grip from ebay, which arrived on Friday. The construction of it is excellent; I've never seen the genuine pentax grip (so can't compare directly) but if you stuck a pentax label on this one I think I'd fall for it - it's really quite nice.
Obviously its not weather sealed, but it really is well put together.
Anyway, I purchased two lithiums along with the grip but with the grip and grip battery installed, the camera doesn't seem to function without a battery being in the body.
In other words, if I take the battery out of the body and put it in the grip, the camera won't turn on. It flashes the 'empty battery' symbol on the top LCD.
If I dive into the menu and enter the 'select battery' screen, the grip battery shows up with a strike through it.
I'm having a hard time working out whether this is normal, and have emailed the ebay seller to ask, but wanted to raise the issue here and see if anyone knows what's up.
Cheers,
Jeremy
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
11-22-2009, 03:52 AM
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This is a fantastic idea! I was a bit disappointed to view the flickr stream though - I feel the photos should clearly show where they were from and who took them.
I also feel that the images should really have something to do with the place its wound up in; they look like any random average flickr photo. And what's with all the product shots?
Again - fantastic idea, but maybe there could be some self-imposed "rules" or just a bit more care taken in selection of images, plus a bit more consistency with labelling/geotagging.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
11-21-2009, 09:26 AM
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Hey,
You can use any K-mount M lens on your K-x. The camera won't be able to control the aperture, though, so you'll have to operate the aperture ring yourself (and use stop-down metering).
Edit : and of course, it won't be autofocus.
If the lens is pentax, and it's not M42 (threaded), then it'll be fine to use.
The camera will be usable on a mac; you can connect it via USB and it will just show up as a drive.
The .jpgs will definitely be readable (by OS X) and the .pef RAW files should be openable in iPhoto - someone can confirm for you though, or you can check the iphoto camera compatibility list.
The .pef RAW files may not open in Preview.app, but you may be able to 'quicklook' them.
Dunno about the software Pentax includes with the Kx; Most people (on a mac) seem to use either :
- iPhoto
- Aperture
- Lightroom
- Photoshop
- Jeremy
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Forum: Video Recording and Processing
11-13-2009, 02:37 AM
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Anyone using a mac with Snow Leopard (10.6) automatically has Quicktime Pro (it's different to Quicktime X) - I've used it to stitch a time-lapse video together, and it was great.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
11-13-2009, 02:20 AM
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If you use Eneloops don't take your Pentax into 'Camera Electronic' in Perth - they insisted that they damage the camera (???) (and made sure to argue the point/tell me that I knew nothing).
They also told me off for using a Pentax-A 50mm lens and said that I "should really think about buying some better lenses". :hmm:
Edit : This was from their service department, not salespeople.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
11-08-2009, 11:39 PM
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Well, .PEF works fine in Photoshop Lightoom.. and as my image 'workflow' is entirely in LR, there's no problem! It's just when having a quick peek on my cards that the quicklook issue bugs me.
Anyway, switched the .DNG, so it looks like it's resolved; thanks guys.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
11-08-2009, 06:28 AM
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Thanks, but I really don't want to add an extra step - I may as well just save in .DNG format in the K7. It loads in quickview fine, and the filesize is smaller too (17.8Mb vs 13.8Mb!)
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
11-08-2009, 06:20 AM
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Seems like something that would be easy enough (in concept, anyway) for Pentax to implement in firmware.
I don't really know of any precedence or anything, so how strongly does Pentax respond to pressure from its customers?
What or who would be the best channel to direct these pressures at?
Cheers
Jeremy
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