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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
10-29-2013, 07:22 AM
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
04-05-2012, 01:24 PM
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Here are some examples of the difference in general brightness between the ee-s screen and the stock Pentax screen. On the left is the stock screen and on the right. In order they are at f1.4, f2.8, f4, f5.6, and f8.
* I apologize for the poor quality but the photos were quickly taken with a Blackberry cell phone and cropped *
I wasn't able to control image ISO & noise so these photos should just be taken just as a general 'ball park'.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
10-29-2009, 09:52 AM
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The numbering of the Helios 44 lenses is a bit strange. The short answer is that they represent design/tooling series. While the series are roughly sequential, there is overlap in terms of production dates. Here is copy/paste of a summary I did for another thread:- All share the same optical formula based on the Zeiss Biotar 58/2
- Except for the earliest production, the first two digits of the serial number are the year of manufacture
- Models with "M" or "K" (e.g. 44M-4) have auto-aperture. Those without have pre-set aperture
- Production of both auto-aperture and pre-set aperture models continued into the 1990s
- The early designs have all-metal bodies with the later having more plastic parts
- Models intended for export have Roman characters, while others have Cyrillic lettering.
Helios 44: pre-set aperture, eight or thirteen-bladed iris, most are M39 mount (rarely M42)
Helios 44-2: M42, pre-set aperture, eight-bladed iris
Helios 44-3: M42, pre-set aperture, eight-bladed iris, Multi-coated, updated body
Helios 44M: M42, auto aperture, eight-bladed iris, A/M switch, rare with MC
Helios 44M-4: M42, auto aperture, six-bladed iris, no A/M switch, some with MC
Helios 44M-5: same as above but with improved optical quality and MC
Helios 44M-6: ditto
Helios 44M-7: ditto
Edit
Helios 44K-4: Same as 44M-4 except in K-mount rather than M42
Here is a link to my earlier thread with lots of Helios info:
Sibling Rivalry: Helios 44M vs. Helios 44M-4 Here is another link to an extensive discussion (some of which is mildly inaccurate) of the Helios 44 clan:
Manual Focus Lenses :: View topic - Complete Helios Lens list anyone? Probably more than you wanted to know, eh?
Steve
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Forum: Pentax K-01
02-04-2012, 11:06 PM
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ShelbyShelly - Style Social Media Player
MARC NEWSON X PENTAX
"The K-01 is the perfect choice for anyone looking for their first easy-to-operate digital interchangeable lens camera or those photographers who demand a camera with originality and style."
StupidDope
PENTAX K-01 – Digital Hybrid Camera by Marc Newson
PENTAX K-01 – Digital Hybrid Camera by Marc Newson | stupidDOPE.com
"These new features are jammed into a case of contemporary design by Marc Newson in black with black grip, silver with black grip, and a standout black with yellow grip color combinations. "
Expert Reviews
Pentax K-01 - hands on preview (review) | Expert Reviews
"Talking to the assembled crowd of journalists from both technology and design-oriented publications at the launch event, there seemed to be a consensus that it was an attractive camera. We're not entirely convinced by its somewhat toy-like appearance, especially in the yellow finish, but each to their own. The straightforward-looking controls were a hit with some of the non-technical journalists, who said they considered most SLRs' controls to be intimidatingly complex."
AlexLoves.com
Pentax K-01 by Marc Newson | Alex Loves
"At the presentation this morning, Newson mentioned he was essentially a purist at heart, and his design for the K-10 definitely reflects that: it’s timeless, minimalist and has clean, simple lines. There’s a bit of a retro vibe going on as well, especially with the yellow one version which I love, although perhaps more as a novelty than a long-term investment. I’m not a tech blogger, so I’ll spare you the technical details (although it does a hell of a lot of cool stuff, and also boasts the world’s thinnest interchangeable lens), but needless to say, it’s a pretty cool piece of equipment.
Cameras are probably one of the few things I own where I care more about its functions than looks, but if they’re starting to make them look this good… well, why not?"
Some of these are little more that regurgitations of press kits in order to keep the site's post count up. But outside the bubble, there is some admiration for the design and its simplicity. There's also very little damning of the lack of an EVF.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
11-01-2010, 01:46 AM
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yes i would like to know more about the k-7 too. other than higher iso (above 1600 as i read?) noisiness and the chance of getting shutter blur around 1/80 - 1/160 (not sure, just out of my head from read info), does it stand up to its current price tag as well? or should i just get a k-r (another out of topic, sorry!)?
Thank you.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
10-21-2010, 08:31 AM
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Well we finally made it!
Thanks to dgaies's outstanding patience and contributions, we have managed to explore the entire usable range of the K-5's sensitivity performance.
When I think back and remember no less than 6 months ago(I think), when a Pentax official told me that the new K-5 would give FF a real run for it's money. I can't help but think that had I not see this with my own two eyes, I never would have believed it!
But here it is:
K-5, ISO51200, 1/40s, 85mm, ƒ/5.6 - Click image to view full size
Click image to view full size
The simple fact is the K-5 generates RAW files with unbelievable amounts of detail. And just when you think you may be nearing a ceiling, you find out there's yet more of it to go!
Anyways... here's the best part....
This file was processed with ACR and Denoise in a SINGLE PASS!
No layering, no masking, no fancy-shmancy anything.
And so, I beleive the proper term here is: 'K-5 OWNAGE!'
I would like to thank everyone for helping out and participating as testing moved along. And I look forward to helping others on these forums reach similar results as well.
So thanks all and God bless.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
10-16-2010, 07:39 AM
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OK, the normal new customer may be minimally educated WRT dslrs. Or they even may be well educated in it (I feel I was fairly educated about SLR and DSLR) when I went looking. So, they walk into their local Costco, WalMart, Best Buy...and see what? Nikon and Canon. They hear Paul Simon singing "I got a Nikon camera..." The problem isn't that they're heading straight for Canon or Nikon, it's that it's all they can see and play around with. And if the store doesn't carry Pentax, what employee (who is probably barely trained in anything photographic) will even know about Pentax and where to send the customer to look at them?
I had the advantage in that my film SLR days made me know at least a starting point in what I wanted feature-wise. That, and I used a Ricoh back then with the K-mount system. So, when I did my research and found out about body-based IS, and backwards compatibilty with lenses, my mind was made up. I still had to order my K20D w/o ever getting a chance to play with it, but when it did arrive, it felt so much better than the Canons and Nikons I'd tried in the stores. It just felt right and intuitive.
That is my only problem with Pentax...the lack of shelf presence. If the consumer actually had a chance to do a hands-on comparison of Pentax vs the competition, I think Pentax would have a much larger share of the market than they do now. Think about the state of the coffee business in the US. Until Starbucks brought the average coffee drinker the taste of something better (or at least what they thought they remembered coffee tasting like when they went to Europe or elsewhere) the average consumer was content with Folgers and Maxwell House, preground, from a tin can that was many months old. (I don't like Starbucks BTW, too charred, so I roast my own).
You say Pentax is still awesome, but because you're young, you'll probably switch. No one's stopping you. Remember though, a long life is not guaranteed, so whatever system you choose to shoot with, be happy with it. Griping and complaining about cost or features will only rob you of joy. As an aside, I think too many people feel "if only I had the latest this or that, then I'll be happy and..." That's exactly what businesses want you to feel, so they can keep feeding people more and more stuff. It may be cliche, but money and stuff can't buy happiness.
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