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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-26-2018, 12:04 AM
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I am also waiting for K-3iii, but does it make sense? Recent competitors Like the D7500, 80D were introduced around 1,500 € in Germany. The K-1 can be bought around 1,800 €, the K-P is still 1,300€. That does not leave much room for a high-end APS-C, does it?
On the other hand, if the K-1ii is a substantial upgrade (42 MPix, improved AF, etc), it will cost you an arm and a leg. See the prices for the 5Dmk4 and D850. In this case I would expect a K-3iii to be arount 2,000 €.
Just my thoughts
Albert
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
02-16-2014, 07:17 PM
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If they announce FF, then Pentax is doomed.
If they don't announce FF, then Pentax is doomed.
Short answer: Pentax is doomed.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 Photo Contest
05-19-2014, 07:55 PM
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early morning at borobudur, central of java, Indonesia.
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Forum: General Talk
03-24-2013, 06:22 PM
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And the big winner is.....................
Shirt # 34!!! With 216 Votes!
Second place is Shirt #4 with 142 votes
and 3rd place is Shirt #47 with 119!
2nd and 3rd place can be run with no issues. Shirt 34 will have to have a front, and back logo, it will not be able to have screen printing completely around the shirt. I will get them to print as far under the arm as they can.
I will most likely print all 3 shirt designs. I like all of them, and think this is the best way to show off the creativity of the entire forum. I will speak with Adam, and make arrangements to get the ordering started!
Thanks everyone! and congrats to the winners!!
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
03-10-2013, 09:07 AM
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I'm glad to hear your news PePe. Pentax needs a K-r level DSLR (pentaprism, one control wheel, menu driven, not WR). Low cost DSLR's lure new users into the brand.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
12-04-2012, 07:13 PM
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I guess I get to kick it off. Wanted to try something more artsy this time.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-18-2011, 07:47 PM
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As yeatzee asked, does it have to be at f/2? The FA50/2.8 macro lens has to be right up there as one of the sharpest lenses I've every used.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-03-2011, 12:36 AM
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for the most part, lens from different brand can't be use on other brands... the only exception to this is the M42, which doesn't have a whole lot of "space eater" on the mount, if you look at all the bayonet mount (MD/K/FD ect...) they all have protruding aperture lever, makes it harder to get an adaptor to compensate for the space.
For example, the flange distance of pentax K mount is longer than canon/MD mount, but there's no chance to adapt them because of the way it's design...
nikon lens can't be use by any other mount, so is pentax, minolta, canon ect... the only working one is the M42, the rest of them need some sort of glass in the adaptor to get infinity focus.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-02-2010, 11:59 PM
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Well, I think I'm done.
About a year ago, I started exploring old manual focus lenses and ebay. I've seen fungus and I've seen separation. I saw broken lenses and I broke lenses. I had bad surprises and good surprises. I think I saw enough - it's now time to use what I kept from all that I tried.
Here are some impressions from all this experience:
Best M42 lenses: Russians and CZJ
I have yet to see a bad Russian lens. Some may be in bad condition, but it's not their fault. Each and every one of them is fun to use, even if that may not be very easy due to their manual aperture mechanisms. And I like their no-frills, robust, atomic age design. I know this stuff will outlive me. The most impressive thing I found about them is how usable they are wide open, their great microcontrast, and their resistance to chromatic aberrations - something that Japanese lenses appear to be very vulnerable to. Old Zeiss lens designs are truly remarkable.
Best manual zooms: Tamron adaptall-2 series
I gained a new appreciation of Tamron by sampling their old lenses. Like any other Japanese lenses of that era, these are vulnerable to PF, but their build is second to none and they often offer a unique feature set regarding zoom range, close-up capability, and overall optical performance.
Mixed impressions: Pentax K/M, some Vivitar Series 1
I'm sure there are some stars among the K and M series, but the regular ones that I tried didn't impress me. Long close focusing distances and nothing very special in terms of IQ, plus PF galore. For a comparison, even the non-SP Tamron 80-210 seemed more interesting to me than the M 135/3.5 - and my sample of the Tamron suffered from separation too. Sharpness of the Pentax lenses can be excellent, but PF is a big problem for these lenses. Of course, they work great for B&W shots.
Vivitar Series 1 is a mixed bag. Some are living up to their reputation, but others are so-so. I've been unimpressed with the zooms I tried so far and I much prefer the adaptalls. Very nice color rendering seems to be a common characteristic - the word "vibrant" comes to mind. Build is nice, but the adaptall seem to be more solid and they have a more consistent feel across the line. VS1 primes are much more interesting, but they are harder to find and more expensive.
What about Takumars?
I only tried two (50/1.4 and 55/1.8) and I'm not sure how I'd feel about the standard ones, as I'd expect to find similar PF issues as in the K or M series. But I can say that the Super-Tak 50/1.4 is a gem and it's superb for low light use.
Disappointments
I have yet to find a Meyer Optik to impress me. Domiplan was a joke and a 135/2.8 electric was unimpressive coming after a Jupiter 11A. I tried about three Oreston/Pentacon 50/1.8 and they all had fungus. Some interesting rendering, but not something to win me over.
Surprises
An old Vivitar 135/2.8 was much better than I expected. Reasonably sharp wide open, little PF.
A Kiron 80-200/4.5 macro with zoom lock was also a nice find. I don't understand why zoom lock was not a feature on all push-pull zooms. This lens also suffers from PF, but resolution was pretty good and price was excellent.
A Petri CC 55/1.8 proved to be about as good as the Takumar 55/1.8. Build not as solid, but very smooth operation.
Overall conclusions
Once in a while there is talk about whether it's worth using old lenses on digital cameras. The answer is yes, but you have to be careful. The main problem I found with old lenses was purple fringing - it's very common and I can't name a single Japanese lens that doesn't suffer from it (other than mirror lenses). With this in mind, I think many old lenses are overpriced. The Russian lenses were an interesting surprise. The microcontrast wide open is amazing to me - longer focal lengths start showing some CA wide open, but stop down the lens a bit and it goes away. Remarkable performance.
Modern budget zooms are pretty impressive. Even if they lack micro contrast and resolution, they are much better in terms of CA and color rendering.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
10-22-2010, 09:22 AM
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It totally depends on the shot complexity (how many moving components there are, and if the shots are handheld or not how much dynamic range there is ect), but I would say anywhere from 5min, to an hour or more. The more I like the composition and lighting of a shot the more time I will take on it to really make every little detail sparkle. I must say this with a caveat though. I noticed a lot of folks around the corridors of these forums that are big RAW advocates. I myself hardly, if ever, shoot RAW, and this is mainly because I find it slow and cumbersome, and in addition, I don't have the patience to individually tweak all the RAW settings for each shot (I know you can batch, but I'm never really happy with that either, plus I shoot thousands of images a week and the space saving more than make up for the pixel peeping minute differences IMHO). The reason I bring this up is that while I will spend a bit of time perfecting my digital "art" (HDRI) I typically try to get the best JPEG out of the camera to start and then go from there, because in the end I am rather impatient.
On this note, since I am stuck inside so far and haven't been able to get out and open the throttle on my k-5, last night I laid around and got totally familiar with the menus, setup and played with all the features. I must say that I am floored by the new ability to save 5 user modes, and to be honest, don't know how I lived without it before.
As I already said, I have two of the user modes saved for high and low bracketing (check my old post for more detail), but last night I set one for low light B&W and one for low light B&W + vignette. Now, normally I would never use any incamera filters of conversions ( I loooove silver efex for B&W for example), but since I was bored last night I was just shooting my girlfriend and her cats, in basically zero light (a tv and a neon light in the room). One thing I noticed was that the really high ISO shots are totally usable and somewhat beautiful especially in B&W. They remind me of super grainy high speed film, and the in-camera filters can be combined and customized to your liking, so that you can get great stuff in-camera. In combination I can now flip to one of my B&W user modes and snap bar, and candids in super low light and have beautiful, usable images right out of camera, at the flip of a switch I am back to any shooting mode I want. I didn't think I would be so impressed with the software of the k-5, but it is proving to be a big selling point. You can essentially have 5 different special purpose cameras built into your K-5 at any moments notice.
Here is an example of a 1600 ISO shot only lit by tv light in my" B&W_vignette" user mode (all done in camera). (not a ful size image, so you can see it for the overall feeling)
and here is one at 6400. really amazing..
Hopefully today I will get out and do some intensive HDR work with the new K-5, at the very least I will do some handheld to test the speed advantage the K-5 has...
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
10-15-2010, 12:32 AM
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I never use an on-camera flash, it's the worst light one can shoot in, even with diffusors or other things alike. Perhaps the on-camera bare-bulb technique is in some situations doable, depending on the atmosphere...
Most of the time I shoot in existing light on a tripod (100 ASA), that's why they are made for.
I barely go over 640 ASA, I do this just when the need is high and I absolutely can't find a way to use a tripod, like when the staircase is on fire…
When I really do need artificial light, then I have two systems in my pocket.
- A very nice, performant but huge and heavy Multiblitz system consisting of three 3200 Joules generators plus a dozen of deferent flash heads and three mono blocks of 1000 Joules each, and a lot of different reflectors. This system just fits in my Volvo 855 with a shoe spoon.
- A nice ARRILIGHT Tungsten light kit of 3200°K 800 Watt halogen light heads. This system is the most mobile one but it needs some stable and strong power supplies ( +/-30 Ampéres) so it isn't always that practical on location...
Light is as important, if not more, as the camera…
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
10-12-2010, 08:51 PM
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I'm sure this topics covered somwhere.. but since i've got time!!
there is nothing an APC sized sensor can't do!
i'll break it down for you quick, apart from physically having a larger sensor you can always work around this easily. I get more of a kick from getting good photos from an apc sensor then my ff because i actually had to do some lateral thinking.
for example somone mentioned on this thread about wide angle being better on a ff .. but you get work around by buying a ultra wide angle for the apc eg sigma now has a 8-16mm.
depth of field easier to achieve on ff but.. overcome by on apc by using larger aperture prime lens. easy!
anything you can do on a ff you can do on apc.. just abit more of a challenge thats all. no real world difference. if you see this as a challenge rather then limitations .. you will get more satisfaction from taking great photos from apc :)
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
07-08-2010, 03:48 PM
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Just like the fabled "Sirens of Circe" food beckons us.It assails our senses with its alluring presentations. For example--Eateries with their glitzy neon signs and decors. Supermarkets with rows upon rows of brightly colored packaging and displays reaching out to captivate our attention and diminish our willpower thus making us drool in anticipation for the moment when we can appease our carnal cravings.--People eating food,cooking food,wasting food,fighting over food:D(Jello wrestling counts):DThe photo opportunities concerning food are only limited to your imagination.
So there you have it.Submit any photo that suggests food in any way.Be creative,funny,serious,artistic,or outrageous.Anything that conveys the theme is fair game.
Rules are simple--Sept 14 is the cutoff date--10 photos in total may be submitted---Prizes are $100-$50 and $25.
I've included several examples of the theme to :D"stir the pot":D and get things cooking.:D--HAVE FUN----Charliezap
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Forum: Site Suggestions and Help
06-29-2010, 01:13 PM
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I'm happy to announce a special photo contest, sponsored by B&H Photo/Video, featuring prizes exclusively for PentaxForums.com members!
As you may know, by clicking through our links and shopping at B&H, forum members support our site, and may therefore be eligible to receive free site supporter status (details here)! We'd like to express our gratitude for your tremendous support of both our forum as well as B&H by hosting this competition, to take place over the coming weeks.
The winner will be able to choose from among the following prizes:
-SMC Pentax 50-200mm WR lens
-Pentax AF 360 FGZ flash
-K-7 Battery Grip / K10D/K20D Battery Grip / K200D Battery Grip
-$200 B&H Gift Card
This is a worldwide contest and is therefore open to US and international users!
Contest Procedure
1. A contest theme must be established. Users can nominate themes in this thread through the 4th, and we will then all vote on the theme.
2. Once a theme is chosen, we will create a forum for submissions, which will be open through the end of the month.
3. We will then create a poll, and users will vote for the most successful photograph. The winner will be announced on August 7th!
CLICK HERE FOR OFFICIAL DETAILS & TO UPLOAD
We're looking forward to an exciting competition! Good luck to everyone! :)
WINNER ANNOUNCED: B&H Photo Contest Winner - PentaxForums.com
Adam
PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide | Site Help | My Photography)
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