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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-14-2024, 05:49 PM
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I currently have an *istD, K-200, K-5 iis, K-3 and K-3iii. My K-5 is in nice shape, but I have not used it recently. After reading your post I think it should go to someone that will use it more than I do. If you want, I could put it up on the marketplace.
I have bought a few items on ebay from Japan. One was defective and I had to return it. It was a lot more difficult than a return to the USA but not so much a hassle that I would avoid buying from Japan if the item was what I really wanted.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-21-2024, 05:05 PM
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My *istD is still in working condition, but it now has a few hot pixels. Here is a shot I took with it about 17 years ago of my son. I have posted a screen shot to show that it is image 30 I took with this camera. If this was one of my film cameras it would have been on the first roll I took. My first film Pentax was an ME, my first DSLR was a DL. About a year later got an original D for its added features.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-21-2024, 07:33 PM
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Herbert Keppler was a legendary photo writer and the author of the Pentax way (first published in 1966). He was part of Modern and later Popular Photography Magazine. I remember an article he wrote about how good the Pentax *istD viewfinder was compared to other DSLR cameras of the time. It really was really better. Today I own and K-3iii and I am grateful that Pentax understands what matters in an SLR, The Viewfinder Image.
After all Pentax is the last maker of pro level DSLR cameras and it shows.
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Forum: General Photography
02-18-2024, 08:32 PM
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My son just started wrestling last year but I find my 50-135 lens works best for me. I bought it used from ebay for under $400 and f2.8 is great to have as all the shots are indoors and often in a poorly lit gym.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-10-2024, 05:59 PM
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Pentax like almost EVERYBODY in ANY business, camera or otherwise, does not make all of the parts that go into their final product. Even if they want to keep making the same item, they sometimes have to change it because they can't get the parts to make the original item. I suspect that is the case with the KF. Pentax could not make more of the K-70 cameras even if they wanted to. They had to do a minor redesign, with more expensive parts, and issue the KF as a replacement.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
01-12-2024, 06:08 AM
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I've got a K3iii and still use my K200 when I have good light.
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Forum: General Photography
11-24-2023, 02:54 PM
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A Lytro light field camera.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
10-05-2023, 01:50 PM
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I've owned a lot of teleconverters (and still do). I have stacked some of them with acceptable results. But it was hit and miss, stack converter A and converter B with lens L and the results were very poor but converter A and C with lens L were pretty good. That is why I still own about 10 teleconverters and I have notes on what ones work best with what lenses I have in my collection. I must say that the best combinations I have are ones that were made by the same company to be partnered / paired with a particular lens.
I have a 300mm f2.8 lens that is just about perfect with the Pentax Rear Converter-A 1.4-L. I also have a "generic" made in Hong Kong 2X screw mount converter that works perfect with my 200mm SMC Takumar. You just really have to try it out for yourself. And with modern electronic TC I don't know if the camera would even let you take a photo with them stacked.
---------- Post added 10-05-2023 at 04:57 PM ----------
Have you ever tried to photograph a solar eclipse before? If you look on the web you can see several photos that look really "perfect". They are rubbish compared to the real think. If this is your first real eclipse, I would suggest you NOT take time to try and photograph it. Take your time (the few minutes you have) to watch it. I have been taking photos for decades, but I have NEVER seen a photo of any eclipse that compared to seeing it in person. I would say an eclipse it the one thing I have found is impossible to take a good photo of. (Yes your photo may look good to someone who was not there but it in no way compares to what you actually saw).
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
08-12-2023, 09:40 AM
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It looks like you shoot outside. If you are going to outside in good light go with the 18-135mm. You should be able to use it at a good F-stop and get great pics. If the light is going to be poor go with the 16-50mm.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-06-2022, 07:10 PM
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I was a subscriber to Popular Photography Magazine for decades before they went out of publication. They were top notch and had a professional optical bench to do their lens tests. The bench was "made in Japan" and they had a technician from Japan fly to NYC to install and calibrate it. It was the was the same type that the lens makers in Japan used to test their own lenses when they had new prototypes, etc.
Popular Photography always gave good product reviews, both objective (the optical bench) and subjective (use in the field). I can only remember one time when they did not find a fault with a lens. EXCEPT for the Pentax DA* 200mm f2.8. If I remember correctly the quote was, "If there is a fault with this lens we could not find it".
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
11-04-2022, 09:12 AM
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I have a *ist DS as well as a K-3 and K-1. If you don't need to enlarge the image it will look fine UNLESS you shoot at a high ISO. Then the newer cameras will have a cleaner looking image. But sometimes the digital "grain" from a high ISO setting will make a photo look "better" depending on the subject. There are may other points that are better with the K-70 like AF speed, being able to work with newer non screw drive lenses, better white balance, etc.
One other thing is if you are shooting JPEG images and having the camera develop them the DS image will look less sharp. That is due to the way the camera processes the RAW image to a JPEG in the camera. Pentax used to have a low level of sharpening built into their software. Today newer cameras sharpen more so they appear sharper but that is not always a good thing. Shoot RAW and you can pick you setting later.
Flickr searching is problematic as most images will be apple to orange comparisons with different lenses, lighting, subjects, etc.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
08-21-2022, 02:48 PM
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If you are sticking with the smaller format of the K3 then I see nothing to be gained. If you move to film or a K1 then the Sigma may add something. I have both the 300mm and TC as well as a non-APO Sigma 400mm (not too great) and a much better Tokina 400mm.
PS I have an old Manual Focus Pentax 300mm f2.8 with the 1.4x-L and 2.0x-L TC and that IS a real upgrade since I use film as well as a K1.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
08-08-2022, 05:42 PM
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One thing to consider is what if you suddenly cease to be around. If the photos are only for you OK. But if there are photos that mean something to your family you should have a way to keep them alive for them. You might have a massive online file, but if they don't have the password, what then? If you fail to pay your yearly fee to keep the account active (since you are dead) will the account, be closed and all the photos lost? If you have DVDs, backup hard drives you may need to have a PAPER instructions in the box with them so someone does not toss the DVDs and format the drives as they are just clutter in the estate.
Trust me I have been so upset when I heard that my relatives threw out 100 years of negatives, "They were just clutter, nobody every ever looks at them".
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
05-19-2022, 09:48 AM
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
04-19-2022, 06:18 AM
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
01-23-2022, 02:15 PM
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I shot with several types of cameras and several types of film. So I often have several rolls going at the same time. To keep track I keep a photo diary on my computer. It is short, just a list of camera and film used and location.
As for the film itself, I keep a roll of easy to remove painters masking tape in my camera bag. When I start a roll I note the date on the tape and stick it on the back of the camera. When the roll is finished, I write the end date on the tape and move it to the roll of film. Once it is developed I put the date code with the negatives. For example, a roll started last week and finished today is “2022-01-23_2022-01-15”.
When I need to look up something like, shots at the Cincinnati Zoo I look use the computer to search my photo diary for “Cincinnati Zoo”. It is easy to find all of the dates I shot there and I can then see the date codes I will need to pull from my files. Since the dates are in order that is usually just takes a minute to find the rolls of film with those shots. If I wrote "Cincinnati Zoo" on the sleeves of negatives, and not the electronic diary, it would take me forever to go through all of my negatives and find them.
I also have my own darkroom and keep electronic notes on each roll when I develop it. I can reference the date code to see what developer I used, etc.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-10-2020, 01:56 PM
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Have you considered the 1.4X TC to go with the 100mm lens you already own?
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Forum: Pentax Price Watch
09-23-2019, 01:18 PM
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Forum: Pentax Price Watch
05-06-2019, 07:27 PM
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I never thought it could be worth the price.
I read all the online tests and looked that the numbers.
I thought I already own "XYZ" lens.
My "XYZ" lens resolves "123" lines at "ABC" stop.
So I thought "my current lens is as good if I just stop it down one stop".
I WAS WRONG!
When I finally bought this lens USED on ebay it was the best zoom I owned at ALL STOPS.
It even beat or match some of my primes in it's range.
For example I have:
Super-Takumar 50mm F1.4 (8-element variant)
and
SMC Pentax-FA 43mm F1.9 Limited
and
SMC Pentax-FA 50mm F1.4
and
in the side by side test liked the zoom better (at the 50mm mark)
I have concluded:
There is no way to put into a test report any number that shows how good this lens is.
It easily beats the lenses that are supposed to be better than it when looking at real world photos (NOT TEST CHARTS)
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Forum: Pentax Price Watch
12-17-2018, 07:48 PM
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