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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-22-2011, 07:10 AM
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Hi Bert,
Thanks for the reply!
I believe I have all but the very latest firmware update and if I am correct that was just to fine tune the GPS aspect. I will however try that just to be sure.
Pentax have outsourced camera maintenance in South Africa and I have identified theam as a company by name of Camera Tek. They also do Canon, Fuji, Samsung et al. Their closest branch is about 350 km from me so not too far - a trip I make quite often.
I presume my warrenty is the standard US one but will look tonight to make sure.
regards,
John K
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-22-2011, 04:10 AM
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Greetings all,
My apologies if his has been discussed before but I am not very good at doing the search routine!
My K5 has not impressed me as regards sharpness, so yesterday I downloaded Yvon Bourque's focus chart and using the FA77 set at 1.8 did some test shots and found that I was approaching middle field (centre point focus) at +10 adjustment. I then tested my other AF lenses - some Pentax, some Sigma and one Schneider and found them to all be pretty much the same as the FA77. I repeated the tests with my K20 and found that at 0 adjustment the AF was correct. This leads me to believe that the camera is at fault.
Questions:
1.Can I calibrate the camera myself in some way?
2. Sending the camera in under warrenty is not realy an option as I am in South Africa and I bought the camera at B & H in the US.
3. Can anyone give me the contact details of the authorized Pentax repair operation in South Africa?
Thanks in advance!
John K
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
07-11-2011, 01:28 AM
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Hi, welcome to the group. I wish you everything of the best with your new camera!
Try cleaning the contacts on your lenses as well as on your camera body with a soft cloth and some cleaning alcohol (meths will do - just dont get any on the plastic parts)
regards,
John K
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
06-07-2011, 02:06 AM
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Hi Jenni,
Sorry to the rest of the forum members as this should probably have been done as a PM but I thought that other South African members might learn something from this.
To answer your questions:
1. It will have taken 8 days to receive the camera from order date (I hope to get it tomorrow Wednesday 8/6/2011). It probably could have happened within a work week had I placed my order on a Monday.
2. Shipping cost me $80-42 if I apportion, by value, the shipping across my entire order. If I had bought just the camera body it would have been $125-00
3. The clearing and import taxes etc came to exactly 20% of the Rand value including shipping costs.
4. The credit card company charged me an exchange rate of 7.00 when the TV quoted rate was on the day was 6.85.
If you do import be wary to keep the value of the shipment (including shipping costs) to below R20 000 otherwise you will need an import permit. I was very lucky in that I was not aware of this and my shipment came in at R19683.17 so it just scraped below the threshold.
If you do buy locally be wary of buying "grey" goods as you will most probably not be covered by Pentax SA (New Teltron). If you want to contact Teltron speak to Alistair Chambers on 079 739 9764 to make sure. If you do buy from a direct importer make sure about guarantees and shipping costs to send the item back to the country of origin. I may be mistaken but I believe that Pentax SA will help if the camera has the "string of pearls" problem - I hope not to have to put them to the test!
As far as I know and stand to be corrected Cybertrek do their own importing (grey goods). Cameraland (if it is the one I am thinking about) is part of a brick & mortar store and should probably be selling legit products.
The cheapest quote I received was from Stax in Dunkeld, Johannesburg, at
R14899-00.
My effective landed cost was R11 146.57- a saving of 33.66%. It would not have been quite as big a saving if I did not reuce the proportional shipping cost by including a few lenses and memory cards etc. Had I bought the body only the landed cost would have been R12 201-00 ($1743-00).
I have now also read Yvon Bourque's book on the K5 as well as the entire owners' manual so all I have to do now is to get my grubby little paws on the camera.::).
All the best,
John
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
06-04-2011, 11:37 PM
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Hi,
It is very frustrating to know that my parcel has been sitting in Johannesburg for 2 days waiting for paperwork to be completed! I have done something that I have never done in my life before and that is I have downloaded the user manual from Pentax and read it from cover to cover and this is before I even have the item in my hands! Normally I live by the motto -"if all else fails then read the instructions" I hope it lives up to my expectations!
Regards to all,
John K
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
06-02-2011, 10:42 PM
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Hi Christo, I am also concerned about the warrenty issues but life is not without risks! I hope you can resolve the issues for yourself and get the camera.
Hi Ash, My trip to Botswana is only to Gaberone for a Rotary conference so not going to be much in the way of wildlife opportunities. Need to get a group together again to do the Swamps and the Delta again! Last time was fantastic!
By the way I see from the tracking that my parcel has just left Cologn in germany so should be in RSA tonight. Then the customs clearing (and payment) will have to happen - supposedly after the weekend. UPS have already contacted me but I am still waiting to find out how much I must pay.
cheers,
John K
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
06-02-2011, 07:26 AM
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Hi all!
After months of vacillation and hovering around this forum, watching prices and exchange rates I have finally committed. I just hope the unit I receive is as reliable as my K20. Not going to be easy (or cheap) sending a defective unit back to the US for warrenty issues. I would have purchased locally in South Africa but there was a 25 % difference in price. Through another thread here, I obtained the 'phone number of the Pentax rep for South Africa and, despite assurances to meet me regarding the price, he did not come back. The uncertainty regarding the various issues some have experienced with the K5 puts a bit of spice into the equation. I have also purchased the Sigma 8-16 and the Pentax 18-135 WR to spread the shipping cost load. It would be realy good if the package arrives before I leave on a trip to Botswana next weekend. I know this is not going to make me a better photographer but at least the itch will be relieved.
Regards,
John K
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-18-2011, 03:13 AM
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Hello all South African Pentax owners!
Does anyone have an idea what the K5 body retails for in RSA?
The ony ones I find on line on SA sites all seem to be grey imports.
Thanks,
John
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
05-12-2011, 01:49 AM
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High Willy and Christo,
I too am contemplating a K5 purchase but have not seen any to be bought through the Pentax SA normal channel. My local camera dealer (in Pietersburg / Polokwane) told me he is not going to be getting any more Pentax stock because he was told by the Kodac sales rep that "Kodac was taking over pentax and everything will change" . I think that is just rumour and can probably be traced back to an April Fools joke that appeared on the UK bases Pentax forum.
I have been concerned that I might get a dud unit and would then be faced with massive shipping costs to and from the US for repair. There is another South African who posts under the name "Sterretje" who had stain problems and had the camera replaced. I sent him a PM to find out the deatails but did not get a response.
By the way B & H, as of yesterday, were showing the K5 with 18-55 kit lens at $1479 as apposed to Adorama @ $1549.
Regards,
John K
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-08-2011, 12:46 AM
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Hi,
I am contemplating doing some equipment purchases (principally a K5) and thought that whilst I am about it and to combie shipping (I live in South Africa) I would buy a few other things as well. One of which is a wide zoom for architectural and landscape use, Correctly or incorrectly I have settled on the Sigma 10-20 f3.5 zoom which at B & H ia about $650-00. I was looking at polarising filters and was shocked at the prices for the presumably better quality filters - anything up to $300.The filter size for the lens is 82mm. Please suggest a good quality polarising filter and should I go with a circular or a linear polariser. As an aside is the 3.5mm lens worth the increase in price over the slower version??
Thanks in advance,
John
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
02-21-2011, 11:39 PM
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Hi,
Interesting to read what you have to say about price of 'photo equipment in NZ. We have a similar situation in South Africa. I dont think that the local agents have started to tstock the K5 - will be interesting to see what price they come in at.
Our local version of e-bay by name of "bid or buy" has a NZ based dealer (Electron World) offering K5's at what appear to be reasonable prices but one still has to add tax and duty so the price is not that great. If I buy it will probably be from B & H or Adorama in the US but our landed cost is about 20% higher than US residents pay. My brother in law (a US resident) brought me some equipment last year but unfortunately the lenses were stolen in transit).
cheers,
John K
PS My daughter and son in law will be leaving to start a new life in NZ later this year. Sorry to hear about the quake in Christchurch!!
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
12-06-2010, 08:20 AM
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Hi,
I am impressed to see so many people either in or connected to South Africa here. I see that Katz in PE are offering the K5 with kit lens at R15490 incl. and Digital World in Nelspruit the same at R19349. I currently use the kit lens (Schneider) I purchased with my Samsung G1L some time ago. (Also plenty of m42 lenses)
If I am not mistaken the Bid or Buy offer is from New Zealand and vat and duty would also apply.
I now see that there are some SA based dealers selling at various prices.
regards,
John
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
12-06-2010, 03:52 AM
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Hi Willy,
Thanks for that! Did you buy the body only or get a kit lens with the camera. What shipping company did you use and how long from order to delivery?
regards,
John K
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
12-05-2010, 11:55 PM
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I suspect that there are not many South Africans on this forum but there are a few and I suspect that that "Sterretjie" has a K5. Does any one know where I would be able to acquire a K5 here in the good old RSA at a reasonable price and with assured back up should there be a problem? Has anyone tried importing themselves from the US? What are the import duty implications? Which courrier do you use?
For those non South Africans it would appear that the local agents do not yet have stock and the only suppliers sell "grey" goods (probably imported from the US) and the cheapest I have found is in the region of $2000 for the body only.
regards,
John
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
07-27-2010, 07:08 AM
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Hi, I am in south Africa and we pay a premium of about 40% for photo equipment over the prices charged in the US. My brother in law a US citizen will be visiting in September and can bring me some stuff.
I currently have a kit lens with which I am not impressed sharpness wise. I also have a sigma 70-300 cheapie zoom - also nt great! I have bought locally some old manual M42 and k M lenses. 50 1.4 a lot better but manual.
I use a K20 and would like to invest in some lenses say about $2500-00.
My photography is general - family, friends, pets, architecture, wildlife. I would like to get more into portraiture. First question: Is it imperative to buy Pentax and pay it seems about 30% more over "equivalent" Sigma lenses.
Second question: Based on my general needs what range of lenses would you reccomend?
I would like to include in my budget a Sigma EF %#) DG S flash ($219-00 at B & H).
I would also like to get a big zoom for wildlife eg Sigma 150-500. I would also like to get a ultra wide lens for architectural photography (I am ageneral buildingcontractor by trade doing mainly multi storey (Not high rise) concrete frame buildings).
A sling back bag eg Lowepro 300 also takes my fancy.
I am also concerned about some of the nagativity expressed on other threads about the continued existance of Pentax as a brand. dont want to have lenses and no camera bodies to use them on.
Your suggestions please.
Thanks,
John K
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
06-11-2010, 01:35 AM
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I have a 50 1.4 and a 50 1.7 bayonet mount. How does one go about loading photos? what file size is allowed?
thanks,
John K
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
06-09-2010, 07:55 AM
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Hi,
I have a K20 and a Samsung G1L (equivalent of *ist I think). I have a cheepie Sigma 70-300 and a kit lens that came with the Samsung (Schneider) plus several M42 Taks af varying focal lengths. My problem is that when using either camera with any of the lenses my pictures are totally out of focus (fuzzy unsharp). I have tried using AF and MF on all of the focus point selection settings. I have tried putting camera onto full green mode - same problem. It just does not make sence to me. Both cameras and all my lenses cant have colaborated and decide to play up at the same time. Any suggestions apart from drinking my whisky with more water?
thanks,
John
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
03-11-2010, 10:45 PM
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Hi,
I asked this question obliquely previously but received no replies. I have a K20 and a Pentax AF-360-FGZ flash. According to the flash instructions, to enable AF assist on the flash, I should set it to PB mode and it should work but I get nothing- the flash doesn't even fire. Does anyone have any tips for me?
Thanks,
John K
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
03-10-2010, 04:19 AM
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In answer to BYMY141 above: I have a Pentax AF-360-FGZ flash which I have just found out does purport to have AF assist red light but there is no way I can get it to work on my K20. According to the instructions one should set it to "PB" mode, the camera to AF, half press the shutter release and........-nothing!! Any ideas? This flash was bought before the K20 was launched but I can't get it to work on my *ist Samsung equivalent either.
John
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
03-04-2010, 03:36 AM
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Thank you - I had hoped so!
John K
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
03-04-2010, 01:22 AM
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Good day,
Someone please enlighten me!. Is a K20 fully compatible with Sigma HSM lenses? They warn that non compatability would result in having to focus manually. Is HSM the same or similar to SMD?
Thanks,
John
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
02-26-2010, 12:50 AM
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Hi, I am struggling to focus in low light situations. This applies to auto and manual focus where I am using a dedicated (PTTL) flash. I have a K20 and generally in these situations use a Schneider 18-55 kit lens that I bought with a Samsung G1L (*ist equivalent) - I believe the lens is a rebranded Pentax kit lens. Would an upgrade to an SDM lens make my life easier? In film photography I had a very accurate split screen Minolta manual focus which worked well. I nowstruggle with older eyes and no split screen on the K20. Any suggestions? Thanks!
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
11-23-2009, 12:00 AM
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Thank you for your comments. I will look in the lens forum (I am new here and still learning my way around). When I was a youngster I used to use my dad's Zeiss Ikon - (fully manual) and produced some lovely immages. I then (I am talking 1967) bought myself a Minolta SRT101 with 55 1.4 lens and my dad gave the Zeiss somewhat later to my brother-in-law much to my chargrin. SRT 101 was stolen and I replaced it with an XE5 but with the 1.7 lens. Didnt like it as much and lost interest in photography.
I was hoping to inherrit my father-law's Leica M3 and his cotax SLR but he gave them to his son who lost them!!! Just recently moved into digital and loving it to bits but need to get lenses as the Schroeder kit lens bought with my first DSLR a Samsung X1l is not that great. Waiting for a 50mm 1.7 FA lens bought on the South African version of Ebay (bid or buy) for equvalent of $70. Will try that before progressing. In South Africa we pay about 60% more in dollar terms for agent imported photographic goods which puts most stuff out of reach. Have to go "grey" import path which has its guarantee issues.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
11-19-2009, 08:06 AM
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Does anyone have comments / comparrisons about the Zeiss 50mm f1.4 K mount manual focus lens listed at B & H at $550?
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
11-18-2009, 05:43 AM
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I have been reading on this forum as much as I can about prime lenses and have a query that I have not seen addressed.
Nowhere have I seen comment or a review of the Leica 50 1.4 Pentax mount prime.
In my film (I used Minolta and the Roccor 55 1.4 was also pretty good) days Leica was the ultimate glass and I am surprised to see that price wise it fits in between the limited lens and the DA *. I appreciate it will be manual focus but that is nothing new to me.
Thanks, John
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