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Forum: Lens Clubs
05-14-2015, 01:17 AM
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K50 1.2 stuff up......A Sun Flower....... over exposed..by 6 stops or so...1/60-1/4000 no real processing...just a stuff up....forgot to meter....... but something about it....
Sun flower.jpg by Noel Leahy, on Flickr
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Forum: Lens Clubs
02-25-2014, 07:58 AM
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I really like the images of the manufacturing process. Industrial but very artistic, especially 3, 5, 8, 12, 16, 22.... Others are also good but those grabbed my attention.
Art is everywhere to be found and never ending search just has begun...
Thanks for sharing!
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
05-23-2013, 06:36 AM
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A bit overwrought, don't you think?
Pentax made errors and had to sell itself as a brand to stay alive as an engineering project.
FF is a problem because small market share = small volume sales. In turn leading to losses because the cost of an FF system will only sell a few thousand units/year for Pentax.
Pentax has made serous mistakes at marketing and management, both before and after Hoya. The Q is one I definitely see. The K-01 while interesting had no market future and took up resources. The lens line-up is a mess with no focus (sic). I mean there is a 31, 3 35,s, 2 40's, 1 43, 3 50's, and a 55mm. Lenses that look to be FF are still labelled DA while the macros still get the DFA label. Some lenses get the * treatment but underperform while the WR aspect is all over the map, but we can get colours galore, but never consistently between model changes. Video is under-served, tethering was there, now it's gone, but now we're in a wired world and it still doesn't show up. And the flash system is obsolete to the point of embarrassment.
It's a brand all over the map, from pricing on. At least the engineering is still sound. Even when the under-sized the Q's sensor they still got the body right for classic photographic use.
So FF will come when they clean house and the price drops to reasonable levels.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-05-2013, 04:05 PM
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With all due respect, I think you don't get it.
With an FF, Pentax will not sell 100,000 APS-C cameras and a few 1,000s FF cameras,
but they will sell 200,000+ APS-C cameras and a few 1,000s FF cameras.
Making of a FF camera is best marketing they can do, think of, or legitimately buy.
It's far better to spend a $50M for the development of a FF system than spend $50M in marketing of all mid-range APS-C cameras together. The amount of buzz created around a Pentax FF will be worth $100M spent in marketing.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
04-09-2012, 08:42 PM
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What you are seeing are relatively small images, so I can forgive the inaccurate perception. Part of your comment jumped out at me, though...So? What IS the purpose of using film "in the first place"? I scan 35mm film at home and am pretty happy with the results. Happy enough, in fact, that I do about half my shooting with 35mm film. Why do you supposed I would do such a thing? After all, I am an experienced photographer (almost 45 years at this point). You would think that something as obviously superior as current generation digital slrs would send me fleeing from those nasty film burners!
Heck! I am incredibly impressed with my K10D and with most of the current crop dSLRs. Why would I even look at a film camera? Is it so that I can build "street cred" and blend in with the hipsters? (The Kiev is super good for that...) Is it it simply for the aesthetic of working with precision tools. (Hmmm...the FED-2 is on the ragged edge of any definition of precision...) Perhaps I have too much time on my hands? Perhaps I have a strong masochistic tendency just below the surface, anxious to break out? Perhaps, I am just not too bright?
Is it to take advantage of the "FF Experience" on a budget? Even better if one moves up the scale to medium and large format. (I did...and like that world too!) Even if it means $$$ and cumbersome gear. (Ever try to focus on a ground glass with even mild presbyopia?) Aside: In all fairness, there is a hidden blessing to larger negatives; that being that even moderate scanner resolution delivers exceptional detail and tons of data.
Now to add a few comments:- I can do excellent landscape work with a 35mm SLR equipped with either a moderately-priced 28mm or a somewhat more expensive 24mm rather than breaking the bank for the DA 15/3.5 Limited. No purple fringing either.
- I don't own a commercial scanner, though both my machines are capable of providing results similar to those from a traditional wet darkroom using the same negatives, perhaps even a little bit better
- My total investment in film gear in the last couple of years could have bought me a nice new FF dSLR (should probably have not invested in the 4x5 and lenses to use with it)
- I have never sold a photo in my life, so I am truly not a pro
- While I actually prefer to do my color shooting with the K10D, I can, without reservation, state that a 6x7 Ektar negative from the Chamonix scanned on the V700 blows it away by at least an order of magnitude in quality. A 35mm negative with the same film is only about twice as good as the K10D, though that requires a better scanner such as the generally available, moderately priced, and very good Minolta models. I wish I could recommend the Nikon model that I use, but current street price is simply ridiculously high.
Fingers are tired...
Steve
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-22-2012, 09:01 PM
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I called Sigma about these lenses the other day. They told me they will not be coming out in the Pentax mount..."not enough demand". :mad:
He recommended emailing Sigma Japan to let them know I would want it in the Pentax mount. Maybe if enough of us request it, it can happen...
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
12-01-2011, 10:20 AM
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
12-03-2011, 03:22 PM
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Aperture: 2.5
Shutter: 1/320s
Hanging evergreen backlit by the evening sun.
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
12-23-2011, 02:25 PM
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Never expected the ghosts. Shutter speed is 1/80s (hard to read these days).
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
08-12-2011, 08:56 AM
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I haven't run across any such reports, and if I had, I would be disinclined to believe them. Perhaps the new 50s score better on tests and have fewer imperfections, but do they make amazingly better images? I've seen no evidence of that.
I shoot with both old and new lenses. I haven't seen any major difference in IQ between the old and new glass. In fact, my very best lens is the K 50/1.2, first released in 1975. My DFA 100/2.8 macro is a heck of a lens; but the K 50/1.2 is in a league by itself -- and not just a f1.2, even at f8 it renders more beautifully than my other lenses.
Improvements in manufacturing techniques do not guarantee better images. They may lower costs, they may reduce imperfections, they may improve the technical performance of a lens; but all these advantages are not important with lenses that already are capable of taking stunning images: and many old lenses (particularly primes between 20mm and 200mm) can in fact produce stunning images. Technical improvements in a lens that is already great are not going to lead to substantially better images.
While improvements in lens making technique are certainly welcome (particularly with long telephotos, zoom lenses, and ultra-wides, where improvements were most needed), I do suspect that there has been an over-emphasis on technique at the expense of the art of making lenses. The better sort of new lenses, particulary of the canikon variety, are all quite excellent; but they are excellent in a generic sort of way. They don't have the character or soul of the best of the older lenses.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
04-24-2011, 10:16 AM
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Can you please tell me where the OP said she is looking for an add on to make MF easier? She said that she finds MF difficult with the standard focusing screen.
I think that there are many of us, new photographers and very seasoned ones, that would agree with her and for that reason purchased a split image focusing screen. At the time when manual focus was the norm, most cameras came with a split image focusing screen. Both amateur and professional cameras. And using a split image screen is rather easy.
BTW: where did she say she does not have experience with manual focus and photography?
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
04-12-2011, 01:08 PM
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DEFINITELY sounds like the screen needs the shims changed - which, according to Rachel Katz, is typical of K-5s. So here's the information she sent me:
To order parts from Pentax, you can simply call them at
(720) 988-2653;
77240.M02200A - 0.10mm
77240.M02200B - 0.15mm
77240.M02200C - 0.20mm
77240.M02200D - 0.25mm
77240.M02200E - 0.30mm
77240.M02200F - 0.35mm
77240.M02200G - 0.40mm
77240.M02200H - 0.45mm
77240.M02200I - 0.50mm
When I ordered mine, it took three minutes to order and I had them in hand in five days; they resolved all my problems. I ended up using a .1 + .15, because they didn't have an .25 when I ordered.
-Steve
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
03-27-2011, 12:38 AM
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Hi everyone,
I bought a Pentax K100D a while ago, and I had the opportunity to try it out during my short trip to North Korea in september 2010.
I made a beginners mistake by not checking the ISO (all photos in 1600), but that won't happen again. :)
Comments and tips are very welcome!
#1 The Rungrado May Day Stadium, the stadium where the Mass Games were held.
#2 Mass Games 2010
#3 Mass Games 2010
#4 On both sides of the Kim Il Sung monument are two stone replica's of the Korean flag and bronze statues of military and civilian figures.
#5 Group of students paying respects to the president Kim Il Sung.
#6 Students paying respects to Kim Il Sung.
#7 This escalator took us deep into the ground, to the trains.
#8 A schoolboy, waiting for the train to arrive.
#9 Just an ordinary citizen, most of the men wear military-like clothing.
#10 A guide who told us about the USS Pueblo. (the American spionage ship that was captured in 1968)
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
01-13-2011, 04:27 AM
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Dear Jolepp , In case a person uses the camera only in daylight the relevance is not there at all. It would be the same though to have the following situation:
You buy a JEEP but with this JEEP you can only drive on tarmac. In case you go offroad your car will get stuck !!!!!!!
How many people do you think will buy this JEEP ? For most of the consumers of JEEPS these days the off road capabilities are not very relevant but you want to KNOW that it can take you throug terain in case it is needed.
A K5 owner wants to be sure that in case he or she takes a pic under artificial light with wide apertures that the focus is correct as the camera is valued as a "king of the dark" in APSC size by us photographers . Wide apertures and low light go together very well as you know.
I don`t know why your postings are all directed towards "softening" the issue and not in forcing PENTAX to act towards an UNACCEPTABLE issue. Maybe you should put your tamron 17-55 once more on your K5 at 2.8 aperture and shoot a bit in your living room or wherever the artificial light is on. I bet with you that with this aperture hardly any of your pics are in focus . (having the settings unchanged compared to proper daylight shooting)
I want to ask you kindly you being a Moderator to help us shooters that experience high relevance with the issue to bring it towards PENTAX attention rather than trying to smooth the matter.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-04-2007, 05:10 AM
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I've got a K100D and Sigma EF-500 flash and it's quite easy to get good indoor bounceflash action shots. However, DOF won't be as deep as a P&S, not by a long way, so you really do need to hit focus to get a good shot even at small apertures. It's usually fine.
By far the easiest indoor shooter for action shots is to get a P&S with a hot shoe, there aren't many around now, but if you can find a flash that works you can preset the focus distance manually to perhaps 6ft and get a massive DOF so everything is in focus, the flash freezes the action and EVERY shot comes out perfect. I did this with an Olympus C750 in manual mode using an old auto thyristor flash (a Nissin 360TW) to get the exposure right automatically (more or less). So easy once you've got used to it and bouncing gets rid of harsh lighting.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
01-04-2011, 08:28 PM
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The problem with publicly publishing an itinerary as you describe is sometimes an engineering issue proves too difficult to stay on projected deadlines. Sometimes there are a couple of workarounds that can be implemented, but it takes time to code and then TEST the fixes for the best one. Engineers don't like having the public looking at their watches and tapping their feet while they work, which is why we almost never have hard delivery dates until the fix is gold and ready to be published.
If the Marketing guy stands up and says "one month to fix backfocus" and they miss their promised deadline, they'd just anger MORE people than if they said nothing until they're ready to give it to us.
I know that doesn't give us a warm fuzzy, but that's how these things often work.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
12-31-2010, 05:42 PM
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You missed one important fact that Pentax DSLRs have rather poor viewfinders for manual focus against what we had in the 70's and early 80's. Take the MX or ME Super for examples, their viewfinders were bright, sharp and large. Split image screen can be fitted with DSLR, but the viewfinder clarity is just not as good anymore. I was able to manual focus with ease with the MX even with a plain Z-1p screen, but rather impossible with the Pentax DSLR, and I am still using the same set of FA lenses. I am cool with manual focus, but please give me back the quality viewfinder first.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
12-07-2010, 04:23 AM
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Pentax owners
I read every word printed here (just before my decision to switch from K200 to K-5) and I really do not understand some of the thought here. Some of us are protecting Pentax as if we own it. Dam no. we are proud customers as most of the icons in this site. We did not get our equipment for free – we bought it in good price during tens of year (30 as for me). So after so many years we think like a family – Does Pentax Co feel we are its family? We Are Customers! Each one of us paid a good money for Pentax product. And if K-5 has issues with % of the sensor we shouldn’t care if it's 25 , 37,5 or 60.75. It’s a problem - it should be fixed. I will be VERY happy to be a customer of a company that say – Sorry guys ! we are selling product because people like you buy it. If you stop – we will lose money . So anyone that have and issue on our newest flagship – will be treated as a customer not as a nuisance.
Some time I defend the stuff I buy cause I bought it. It should be dealt with Pentax. especially as a group.
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