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Forum: Pentax Price Watch 10-16-2022, 07:54 PM  
Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 85mm f/1.2 Lens for Pentax for $499 at Adorama
Posted By nater
Replies: 1
Views: 476
The Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 85mm f/1.2 Lens for Pentax is listed as a "closeout" right now at Adorama for $499, you can add to cart but it does say "Special Order, Generally ships in 7-14 days, subject to availability":

https://www.adorama.com/mtk8512pk.html?
Forum: Pentax Price Watch 10-16-2022, 07:52 PM  
Samyang 135mm f/2.0 ED UMC Telephoto Lens for $325.09 at Amazon
Posted By nater
Replies: 3
Views: 541
A historical low price shipped and sold by amazon.com, only 3 left in stock as of the time of my writing:

?tag=pentaxforums-20&amazon.com : Samyang 135mm f/2.0 ED UMC Telephoto Lens for Pentax Digital SLR Cameras : Electronics?tag=pentaxforums-20&
Forum: Pentax Price Watch 09-15-2022, 01:13 PM  
Magnicon (Tokina) 70-210mm F4.5 AF lens on eBay
Posted By nater
Replies: 2
Views: 640
No relation to the seller, but saw this and thought it looked like it could be a good deal for $24.38 + shipping (and has a "Make Offer" as well, so maybe could negotiate further):

Magnicon MC 70-210mm f4.5 Pentax pk AF mount really good shape | eBay

From the limited pictures, optics look fine (seller says, "really good shape"), though there isn't a photo showing through the lens to see inside. There appears to a small abrasion mark on the barrel. It is an all-metal lens, internal zoom, constant aperture, and is a re-brand of the Tokina 70-210mm F4.5 AF 745:

Tokina 70-210mm F4.5 AF 745 Lens Reviews - Tokina Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database

You may be wondering, "where's the hood?" and I've never seen one sold with the lens on the used market, so I think it was an additional purchase when the lens was new. The correct hood is the Tokina SH-553:

https://tokinalens.com/product/sh_553/

It is a pinch-fit and reversible, with tabs that hold it into a groove built into the lens just before the filter threads. Somewhat hard to come by, so probably easier to just use a collapsible rubber hood or aftermarket screw-in.
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 09-03-2022, 11:02 AM  
Ultrawide zoom vs. prime, which should I keep?
Posted By nater
Replies: 22
Views: 1,375
What wouldn't I like, coming from the K-5? My camera progression was Pentax K1000 (19 years), Pentax K-200D (3 years), Pentax K-5 (last 12 years). I can mount my lenses on my old K1000 and enjoy that big, beautiful full-frame experience through the viewfinder. Ah, the good old days. It would be great to have that in a DSLR, which is why almost all my lens purchases since I got the K-200D have been full-frame.
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 09-03-2022, 08:20 AM  
Ultrawide zoom vs. prime, which should I keep?
Posted By nater
Replies: 22
Views: 1,375
I've noticed that, looks like I've got bad timing to finally clean up my collection. I have at least a dozen other lenses I am selling, and I've wanted a Pentax full-frame DSLR since basically forever, and it would great if I could finance that through selling my excess gear at this point. Thanks to the feedback here, I'll keep the Sigma 12-24mm at least. Is it worth considering selling/trading in my equipment somewhere else rather than selling it here in the marketplace, or is that still my best bet?
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 09-02-2022, 12:53 PM  
Ultrawide zoom vs. prime, which should I keep?
Posted By nater
Replies: 22
Views: 1,375
I'm in the final stages of going through my lenses and deciding what to keep and what to sell, and I'm waffling between the Sigma 12-24mm f4.5-5.6 EX DG and the Sigma 20mm f1.8 EX DG DF RF. I haven't done a lot of photography in the last few years, but I'd really like to get back into it. My camera right now is a K-5, and someday I'd really like to get a full-frame Pentax body, so APS-C and full-frame lens performance will both ultimately matter to me.

In my mind, the 12-24mm is a good lens primarily for outdoor photography, and the zoom comes in really handy for landscape shots when I can't easily move closer or farther away, giving a lot of flexibility for framing. The 20mm f1.8 gives me the ability to do indoor photography in natural light, though I didn't find myself using 20mm indoors much. 20mm outdoors is much more useful, but it is just one focal length where I can stand can make or break that focal length. F1.8 opens up a broader range of lighting possibilities and stopped down, I think brings better resolution and lower distortion than the 12-24mm. I've always wanted to do more night sky photography, and maybe the Sigma 20mm could be used for that, though I think if I was serious about that there are a number of manual focus ultrawide primes that are better at the task, right? Anybody have thoughts/experiences with lenses like this? Should I consider selling them both and getting something else that could serve me better? (Or maybe just sell them both and fall back to my Tokina AF 19-35mm f/3.5-4.5, which I like and is lighter and easier to pack... butt I'm having a hard time estimating out how much I'd miss the 12-18mm range...)
Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands 02-02-2022, 09:38 AM  
Tony Northrup: "Canon declares DSLRs are dead"
Posted By nater
Replies: 108
Views: 6,543
From what I remember, it made sense to discontinue/fold those efforts into other divisions because they were consumer focused and didn't make the cameras into complete platforms. They used WiFi for things like transferring images to phones and from there to online photo hosting services as well as some sluggish and cumbersome phone-camera integrations. Modern digital cameras should be their own app platforms all the way up the stack from consumer to pro with the ability to develop and install third-party apps from an app store as well as have a scripting language to create your own automations (like what you can do with CHDK firmware - the Canon Hack Development Kit - for Canon PowerShot digital cameras, but something fully supported and developed by the manufacturer).

Imagine pro level camera hardware with not just WiFi but Bluetooth and cellular radios, audio I/O, and software APIs that would allow integration and automation with a range of hardware in a studio (lighting etc.) and the field. Imagine being able to script your own AF routines for specific scenarios or program in your own focus bracketing automated shot sequences, or having full control over in-camera image stacking algorithms. Apple, Google and the other big phone makers are leveraging their hardware and software to do massive amounts of imagine processing in phones but the details of how those images are constructed are a black box to the end user and so much more could be done if there was a camera platform that opened that up to the photographer. It's a giant missed opportunity.
Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands 02-01-2022, 12:36 PM  
Tony Northrup: "Canon declares DSLRs are dead"
Posted By nater
Replies: 108
Views: 6,543
I largely agree with what Tony is saying, and he spends some time in the video criticizing the big camera makers for spending so much time and energy creating mirrorless camera systems without fundamentally improving what an ILC is and how it operates to make it more capable and modern from a technology standpoint. It's something that I pointed out in this forum years ago in a different thread, and I made a number of suggestions on how an ILC camera could be a really progressive technology platform and do a lot more and be a lot more than it is now while still doing everything else it does great that a phone camera can't be. It's worth mentioning again that Android was created as a camera OS first, and adapted for general handheld electronic devices later:

Android founder: We aimed to make a camera OS

Ironic that no major camera maker has tried to significantly evolve camera operating systems all these years (such as seriously adopting Android across a lineup or creating something equally capable) despite massive computational improvements in mobile chips that could allow it. These years of stagnation leave us in a situation now where the deep pockets of big tech companies are creating photographic devices in phones that are drastically different in capabilities than contemporary ILCs:
















You Tube




I want both things in one device. I want an ILC with all the ergonomic, functional, and light gathering advantages of an ILC with a big sensor where I can use a wide range of lenses and accessories and I want all the power and connectivity of a mobile computational platform with the ability to install and run custom apps and develop my own and create automation scripts that can tap into and leverage all the power the whole platform and the unique I/O that it offers. There's a world of possible products that nobody is creating and it's a giant missed opportunity.

Meanwhile the traditional players like Canon are just going to continue closing factories and consolidating product lineups as they slowly retreat into their most profitable market segments as the cell phone camera market continues to eat into their sales:

https://petapixel.com/2022/01/22/why-canon-is-closing-its-china-factory-and-...-the-industry/
Forum: Pentax Price Watch 11-22-2018, 08:49 PM  
Samyang 24mm f/1.4 lens for $368.89 at Amazon
Posted By nater
Replies: 0
Views: 631
This has been periodically dropping in price on Amazon every few months, and it just hit one of the lowest prices it's been (ships from and sold by amazon.com):

amazon,com : Samyang SY24M-P 24mm Wide Angle Lens for Pentax : Camera Lenses : Camera & Photo

There's also a note that says, "Get 20% back on amount charged to an Amazon Prime credit card" which sounds like an extra good deal for people who have that.
Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories 07-26-2018, 10:57 AM  
LIM's SAH-BE52N1 52mm metal hood - anyone use one?
Posted By nater
Replies: 4
Views: 959
Thanks for mentioning that - I was using a sightly too narrow and long metal hood and cap on the lens already, and while those Sensei Pro hoods look like a good option I ended up going with this SIOTI one for a bit less that comes with a cap (and a little cleaning cloth) for $9:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XK8KR1Z/?tag=pentaxforums-20&
Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories 07-13-2018, 01:38 PM  
LIM's SAH-BE52N1 52mm metal hood - anyone use one?
Posted By nater
Replies: 4
Views: 959
I've often thought it would be nice to have a reversible hood for my Pentax-A 50mm f/1.2 lens, and came across this hood:

LIM'S Design

It's an interesting design but I'm confused about a few things and was hoping someone has some real-world experience with LIM's hoods. It has a metal mounting ring which requires you to use a filter on the lens because the ring screws into the filter threads and also extends over the outside of the filter ring (if you didn't use a filter, I would guess it just wouldn't fit on some lenses or it would interfere with focusing). I do wonder what the minimum filter ring depth needs to be (some filters are thicker than others). Also they indicate in one of the product photos that the hood is potentially reversible: "Can be used and stored fitting the matching lens both forwards and backwards." However they don't show it reversed in any pictures, and it's unclear to me if the hood is a bayonet mount to the adapter ring or threaded (bayonet would be great!) Also they say "52mm cap can be mounted on outer lens" which is just wrong, I think they both meant to say "outer hood opening" and they meant a size larger than 52mm (probably 58mm if I had to guess, but really they should get those numbers right). Anyway, anyone have any experience with it?
Forum: Pentax Price Watch 07-09-2018, 10:02 AM  
Google Express 25% off with code max saving $100 - Adorama -- exp 7/17
Posted By nater
Replies: 15
Views: 1,690
"Rokinon RK35M-P Wide-Angle Lens for Pentax K - 35mm - F/1.4" from Adorama on Google Express is eligible for the discount, drops the price to $300 before tax. (On the plus side of paying sales tax, that money will go to pay for services a state delivers to residents, so I personally like paying state taxes in my state.)
Forum: Pentax Price Watch 07-05-2018, 11:04 AM  
Ricoh XR-P Gold
Posted By nater
Replies: 1
Views: 725
I happened across this, didn't know this gold variant existed:

"Super Rare"[Mint] Ricoh XR-P Gold Limited set w/Rikenon P 50mm f/1.7 From Japan | eBay

Looks a little more tasteful in my opinion than the Pentax LX Gold.

Maybe this is a deal for someone?
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 06-27-2018, 12:30 PM  
Full frame superzoom ?
Posted By nater
Replies: 106
Views: 11,024
I would lean toward APS-C lens in crop mode. Most teleconverters (including the Tamron you mentioned) just pass through the lens data to the body without modifying it, so the focal length information won't take into account the magnification the teleconverter adds, slightly reducing the effectiveness of the shake reduction. Teleconverters also decrease the amount of light that reaches the sensor, so you loose some F-stop in the process, which can make the AF less responsive/accurate in some shooting conditions. Additional lens elements will also marginally reduce the amount of light (i.e. the T-stop of the lens will further decrease the more elements there are in the light path).

I wouldn't totally write off legacy lenses if I were you though. I've been buying second hand Pentax compatible lenses for about 20 years, and I'd rank my buying experiences like this from best to worst: Pentaxforums, B&H, KEH, eBay, random local shops. While I make a lot of purchases on Amazon in general, I have never bought a used lens from an Amazon seller. While it seems like I've ranked eBay low, I've probably done the most purchases from there, and my experiences have been all over the map. What I've purchased there falls into two basic categories: well listed items from sellers with an excellent rating and return policy and appear to know what they're doing, and items from sellers who don't really know what they're doing and have lousy pictures of what they're selling and often just sell a bunch of stuff in a lot. I've had good and bad experiences with both of those. I once purchased a "mint" Sigma 15mm EX Fisheye from a seller in Japan that arrived with a broken "A" lock button on the aperture ring and some marks on the inside of the front element. Return process went smoothly, but it was frustrating to have to go through with it. In other cases I've bid low on lots that have turned out to have some great things in them. I've also managed to eventually find a few lenses with a good buy it now price that were in great condition (it just took me a few years). I've even found lenses that I theorized existed in Pentax mount and aren't documented anywhere (like the Tokina 28-105mm F3.5-4.5 AF Aspherical, which is a great lens, and not in the lens database here). Anyway I have too many lenses, and now with two kids not enough funds to buy the K-1 (which I theorized would come to market years before it was announced, and began pursuing only full frame lenses for...) I need to sell a bunch, hopefully I'll have the time to put them up on the marketplace here sometime soon.
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 06-26-2018, 01:57 PM  
Full frame superzoom ?
Posted By nater
Replies: 106
Views: 11,024
Any reason not to use an older superzoom? I don't have a K-1, but I have used the Sigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3 EX APO RF, Tokina 24-200mm f/3.5-5.6 AT-X 242 AF, and Tamron 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6 AD Aspherical IF Macro SP AF (not quite a superzoom) successfully on my K-5. They should work on the K-1.
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 10-25-2017, 12:29 PM  
Someone here who's still using the oldest sigma 70-200 (APO EX (1999)) ?
Posted By nater
Replies: 12
Views: 2,395
Here's the thread in question detailing the issues with Sigma 100-300mm f/4 EX and the accounts of fixes by Sigma service:

Sigma 100-300 autofocus problem - PentaxForums.com
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 10-17-2017, 02:30 PM  
Someone here who's still using the oldest sigma 70-200 (APO EX (1999)) ?
Posted By nater
Replies: 12
Views: 2,395
Wow, I got involved in these forums when I bought my K200D, and didn't know any of that about the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX lens and the *istD. In fact, when I read up on AF 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses for K-mount, there was a consensus that the original Sigma EX (not any of the later variants) was the best in terms of sharpness, and then I spent years on the lookout for a mint condition one for a good price until I finally found one. By that time, I had a K-5 (which is still my current body), and I've had no problems with the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX. I also picked up the Sigma 1.4X EX APO teleconverter, and had excellent results with that combo on the K-5. Just to make sure I'm not mis-remembering, I just did some impromptu test shots and had no trouble at f/2.8 at a variety of focal lengths focussing both through the lens and using live view on my K-5. In case it's a factor, my lens serial number is 2002539.

(Note that there are known issues with other EX Sigma lenses on current K-mount bodies, both the pre-DG 100-300mm f/4 EX and the early revisions of the 50-200mm f/2.8 EX DC.)
Forum: Travel, Events, and Groups 05-21-2017, 05:31 AM  
Rhode Island Air Show
Posted By nater
Replies: 0
Views: 1,019
Apologies if anyone has posted a thread already, but I thought I'd check to see if any other Pentaxians are at the RI Air Show this weekend. Should be a great day for it today!
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 05-04-2017, 02:52 PM  
Pentax K-1 and Sigma 50mm f/1.4 lens
Posted By nater
Replies: 4
Views: 2,316
Sigma offers a service where they will replace the lens mount with one that will not scratch the K-1. Details are here:

News update for Pentax K-1 Users with Pentax mount SIGMA lenses | Sigma Corporation of America
Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands 05-04-2017, 11:52 AM  
Sony A9 Officially Announced Today
Posted By nater
Replies: 552
Views: 37,768
I think one of the things nobody has mentioned is that there are things like Sigma's MC-11 Mount converter, which will adapt Sigma's Canon EF-mount lenses to Sony E-mount. Currently selling for $150:

Sigma MC-11 Mount Converter/Lens Adapter 89E965 B&H Photo Video

For folks who already have a significant number of Sigma EF-mount lenses, I can see the appeal of this adapter with a Sony A9. Makes the whole "Sony doesn't have enough lenses" argument somewhat moot.
Forum: Pentax Price Watch 12-10-2016, 09:34 AM  
Ancient Sigma 70-210mm f/2.8 AF lens in questionable condition
Posted By nater
Replies: 0
Views: 1,054
This lot has been on ebay unsold for a while (relisted recently), no relation to the seller:

Lot of 4 Lenses Pentax , Tokina, Vivitar , Sigma #16E374 | eBay

$115 for all four shipped in the US might be a good deal, depending on the actual condition of the lenses (glass condition, haze, etc.) The Sigma 70-210mm is a constant f/2.8 (with a massive 82mm front filter size, and with a filter fitted to it, front glass might be in good condition). This Sigma AF lens predates the EX and EX DG lineup by a few years, so we're talking early '90s era. Who knows if AF works on modern bodies. It's missing the tripod collar and hood, and the body has been through a lot as it's missing a lot of the text, in fact the seller erroneously calls the lens an "AF700" where the text originally read "AF ZOOM APO" but the bottom of the Z wore off, the M wore off, and the APO wore off! So who knows what you'd get, but I thought it was worth mentioning here.
Forum: Pentax Price Watch 11-22-2016, 11:51 PM  
Rokinon 135mm f/2.0 for $399 at Amazon
Posted By nater
Replies: 1
Views: 909
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 09-08-2016, 10:16 AM  
Two hypothetical future bodies I'd like to see..
Posted By nater
Replies: 28
Views: 6,656
Looks like there is now a wider realization of my second idea that cameras need to be software platforms, Tony Northrup talks about it quite a bit in "The DEATH of the Consumer Camera":
















You Tube




If people here are interested, maybe we can put together a public petition to Ricoh/Pentax to evolve the Pentax camera platform.
Forum: Pentax Price Watch 08-04-2016, 07:53 PM  
Back up ur truck & get ur K-1 from jet.com - $1731.06 to $1796.95 & 15% off
Posted By nater
Replies: 10
Views: 1,220
I bought some Corsair RAM from Jet.com and it came from Newegg. I opted to not do the free returns because Corsair RAM has a lifetime warranty... however out of the box only three of the four sticks would work in my quad-channel system (any three, didn't matter which ones). I knew it wasn't my motherboard because I had a quad channel set (different brand) that worked fine. When I contacted Corsair they gave me nothing but a hard time because it was bought from Jet.com and they didn't recognize them as an authorized reseller of Corsair products. It took over a week of back and forth with Corsair before they finally accepted it for RMA replacement. The replacement sticks work fine, but I'm hesitant to order from Jet.com again and I didn't like dealing with Corsair support (other companies like Kingston and Crucial are much easier to work with on memory RMAs).
Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II 06-27-2016, 11:24 AM  
Sigma Damage to K-1
Posted By nater
Replies: 36
Views: 4,896
Thank you for confirming what I had inferred/expected. I'll be very happy if my efforts to avoid owning any HSM lenses work out well in the end with regards to the K-1.
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