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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
05-01-2015, 01:30 AM
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There is no "perfect". There is evolution, an incremental improvement of an optical design, but it predates a FF camera body that doesn' even exist yet.
It raises my expectations; yet gives pause to real world realities. A good lens will focus well, and produce consistent focus dependent images. Bokeh should follow the parameters a shooter might dial in with AF compensation.
We are living in times of technological improvement, that are difficult to judge by reviews. Rent first, then decide.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-13-2015, 04:35 AM
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Let me retract the term "vaporware". That was a bad choice of words. What I mean is that the camera is not on the market yet, i.e., that everything written about it is speculation.
Great, that is part of the fun. I am excited about the possibilities, to the point of holding off buying a D750, as my D600 is nearing the end of its shutter life-cycle. I have enough Pentax
& Pentax compatible glass to entertain the notion of getting a Pentax FF. But I say it as I see it. The new 70-200 does not convince me yet. OK, I'll go and hide again until the end of the year
or early next spring.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-12-2015, 11:09 PM
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I am a big Pentax fan, although I now use a D600 FF along the K-5. The news of a FF Pentax body is very welcome, but at this point I have to call big marketing BS.
I have not seen anything mind blowing in regards to the new 70-200mm FF lens; if anything it needs auto-focus fine tuning as presented in this thread. Where are the follow up images
that promise any corrections in that regard? The FF Pentax up to this point is vaporware, so there is no correlation as to what this 70-200mm can do with the new body.
And once all the hardware is available for sale, the slaughter can begin. There will always be someone that can point out small/minor deficiencies in any given system.
As an ambassador, I would be cautious against "juvenile" and premature name calling and taunting. MFG's occasionally manage to leapfrog the competition, once certain technical thresholds
are threatened and force their hand. I "so" remember when the K-5 was released as the latest and greatest, but now it is such a "last year" (but still very capable) camera. Same with just about any other brand/model.
I think it is time to gather in the reigns a bit and sober up. :p
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-11-2015, 02:11 AM
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It may be even more of a lens specific problem. I can see it working on lenses with little distortion at the outer portion of the image circle (somewhere from 35mm onwards). Wide angle lenses might suffer quite a bit at the edges.
Edit: I see Uluru already mentioned the issue with FOV....
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
02-12-2015, 11:51 PM
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Reading the posts and correlating the "kudos" is fun. It kind of seems to hint at what may be in the realm of reality as far as the new FF is concerned.
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
02-12-2015, 11:22 PM
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Glossing over the complete document, the engineers had their work cut out. They re-designed the shutter and mirror drive mechanisms to fit in a smaller volume and they also considered weight distribution, momenta and torque direction of the moving parts, probably aiming to reduce mirror and shutter slap. It is probably standard engineering practice to consider all this, but maybe they figured out some ingenious cam mechanism along the way.
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
02-06-2015, 07:30 PM
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A higher than 1/180 sec sync speed can be achieved. The first and second curtain "simply" have to have the ability to traverse the distance across
the focal plane faster. In other words, it is the lag time from activating the first curtain until it reaches the bottom of the focal plane (and likewise for the second curtain),
that will determine max sync speed. If you do have a higher sync speed, lets assume 1/250 sec, anything longer like 1/180 sec will still work. It requires a beefier shutter
and better gears. The electronics wouldn't care.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-06-2015, 08:57 AM
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Will the new FF incorporate an intervalometer? What size sensor will there be? Will the current PDCU software support the new FF?
Will Pentax/Ricoh retain the DNG format for raw files? Will the rear screen be articulated? Will the camera feature a dedicated AF button on the rear? How quiet can/will the shutter be? Will the menu interface change? What are the min/max shutter speeds? Have the engineers been getting enough sleep and good food? :p
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
02-05-2015, 07:19 PM
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Talking about flash, I wonder if the engineers decided to keep the standard 1/180 sec sync speed on the new FF. Maybe they could incorporate two or three sync speeds; 1/180th for legacy, and maybe 1/200th or 1/250th for a redesigned dedicated flash.
Old flashes would still work, but Ricoh/Pentax could make a break with the past with some new features/specs.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
10-24-2013, 09:18 PM
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Still thinking of a reply, but the devil is in the details....:-)
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
10-23-2013, 11:47 PM
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Once again, it can be done. The devil is in the details. My K-5 will not send a trigger signal to the hotshoe at a shutter speed over the "standard" sync speed,
unless a HSS enabled flash is mounted. Obviously the flash must also be Pentax compatible. The HSS flash (Metz 48 AF-1) by itself though, can only send a series of low power flashes,
which limits the effective distance. If I where to add a wide flash bracket and mount a YN560 set to S2 mode (optical trigger / ignoring pre-flash) and point the head of the HSS flash
at the sensor of the YN560, the YN560 can fire a full power burst. In my tests, I get no banding, even at 1/8000sec.
Exposure is manually controlled, either with aperture of shutter speed.
I've tried other configurations, but the above is the only one that works so far. It might look weird with two flashes mounted...
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
10-23-2013, 09:15 PM
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There is a way to combine higher shutter speeds with a single burst flash at full power, but it does require the use of a HSS capable flash to trigger another slave flash.
It is called hyper-sync. The flash duration of the slave at full power has to be fairly low. For the Metz 48 AF-1 it is 1/125sec, and I know that my Yongnuo560 will work as well.
I haven't read the K-3 manual yet, but at dpreview, there was reference to the K-3's built-in flash having HSS capability, which then can be used to optically trigger the slave.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-flashes-lighting-technique/180003-...ml#post2541689
Edit: It seems that the built-in flash for the K-3 is not HSS capable, but a dedicated hot shoe flash with HSS will do the trick.
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
10-14-2013, 03:01 PM
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This thread is over a year old, but I recently became aware of a strobe/camera mode called hyper-sync. It is based on the concept of some of the hotshoe flashes having a fairly long flash duration at full power.
For example, my Metz 48 AF-1 (dedicated for Pentax) has a duration of 1/125sec at full power. I also have several Yongnuo560 strobes and Cactus TX/RX radio triggers. The idea was to mount a Cactus set to TX
onto my K-5 set to manual mode, then trigger the Metz via an attached Cactus in RX mode. Well, as stated above, the hotshoe and PC sync plug are disabled above 1/180sec, so no remote flash at higher shutter speeds. :-(
I also tried it with my Nikon D600, which does send a trigger signal to the hotshoe, but I did get all the banding/shadows manifestations across portions of the frame.
The Nikon setup was most likely dealing with either propagation delay or some syncing issue between the hotshoe signal and shutter. I tried various combinations of strobes set to trigger in optical mode
and was just about to give up until I read this thread.
I mounted the Metz 48 onto my K-5 (still in manual mode) and set it to "P-TTL HSS", now being able to select a shutter speed up to 1/8000sec and also change the aperture.
The Yongnuo560 strobe was set to S2 mode at full power, which put into "pre-flash cancel" optical slave mode. No radio triggers were used in this setup. I turned the strobe head
of the Metz towards the Yonguo and fired a few test shots. The multiple flashes of the Metz in HSS mode triggered the Yongnuo and I got a fully exposed frame. Using different combinations of
aperture and shutter speeds provided satisfactory results. I took a few steps back and just pointed the Metz head at the scene, including the Yongnuo.
The LCD panel on the Metz indicated an effective distance of 0.3 meters, not enough to illuminate the scene, but enough to trigger the sensor of the Yongnuo. So the Yongnuo flash also has a fairly
long flash duration @ 1/1 power, long enough to illuminate the entire frame while the shutter slit travels across the sensor at 1/8000sec. Of major importance is the fact, that the Yongnuo gets triggered
at the correct time. The specifics of the timing are beyond me, but I'm glad it works. The proof in the pudding will be to try this outside and overpower bright ambient light with shallow DOF. Adding more strobes
will increase the effectiveness of this technique. Maybe getting a Nikon dedicated HSS capable speedlite will work with my D600 as well, using cheap flashes as slaves.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
10-12-2012, 09:09 PM
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Same here Sol.... FF and not looking back.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
10-02-2012, 11:18 AM
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Password protected...cannot open, even with a can opener.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
09-13-2012, 08:30 AM
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I have the older version of the Tamron 70-200mm. It is a good copy and my favorite lens. But compared to it's Canikon
siblings, it was getting long in the tooth. The Nikon 70-200mm is a freak in terms of sharpness, but with the added elements
in the new lens design and VC, it will probably get fairly close. The biggest gripe was it's auto focus speed, low light focusing ability
and sample variation. Who knows, there is a good chance that a K-mount version will still materialize, as is often the case.
For me the news is great. If I cannot come right with Pentax in a few months and decide to add another system, then this lens is just what the doctor ordered.
Nice to have an alternative.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
09-12-2012, 12:33 AM
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LOL, :lol: if that was the case, we'd have the "perfect system". From your statement above, you imply that Pentax has some form of quality control a step above Tamron's. Maybe two decades ago.., but Pentax's own SDM is so bad, they have to re-brand another technology as their own (tongue in cheek). Even then they are still unable to offer an equivalent warranty (6 years versus 1 year) . If their marketing department can spin the specs of their new flagship camera, I'll take a stab at their lenses. Shenanigans, as someone mentioned before, albeit for the "new" focusing system on the K-5II ..:p
Once you start to dissect or dissociate the lens lineup from the bodies, you start seeing a gradual decrease in effort to maintain complementary quality between the two. It has been like that for at least a decade.
How can Tamron maintain a 6 year warranty period versus Pentax's 1 year period for their purported "quality SDM" lenses. Then factor in the recent price increase, just so they can offer a 50% discount to arrive at previous MSRP's.
Ricoh, you have your work cut out for yourself. Let's just see how deep of a hole you want to dig, before you decide it's time to get your house in order. It makes me wonder just what you bought the K-mount for!
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
09-11-2012, 04:34 PM
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Short of having an exploded view diagram and circuit diagram of the Pentax design, the only other option is to take them apart and reverse engineer them.
Any folks out there with a Pentax SDM lens being used as a door stopper?
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
09-11-2012, 02:43 PM
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Tamron's description on Amazon ( Amazon.com: Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens for Canon DSLR Cameras: Camera & Photo ) :
"Piezo Drive (PZD) Ultrasonic Autofocus Motor
Ultrasonic motors are divided into two categories depending on the principle that generates the energy to move the drive: traveling wave motors and standing wave motors. Traveling wave motors include the ring type ultrasonic motor used in the recently launched 70-300mm F/4-5.6 VC USD as well as other lenses, but this lens employs a newer technology, the PZD (Piezo Drive), which functions on the standing wave principle.
A standing wave ultrasonic motor utilizes high-frequency voltage to extend and turn the piezoelectric (piezoceramic) element, thus moving the entire element in a standing wave movement. The metal tip is the contact point of the element to the rotor, and moves in an elliptic motion from the swiveling motion of the moving element, and the friction from this motion turns the rotor. Standing wave ultrasonic motors have the distinct advantage of being smaller than their traveling wave counterparts, and therefore allow a more compact SLR lens size."
So, was Pentax able to replace Tamrons' PZD design with its own SDM (meaning it was small enough to fit the space constraints), or have they just renamed the PZD to SDM. In the latter case, it would mean that Pentax is able to control "Standing Wave" technology at the interface of lens and body, but it is not at all clear if SDM uses "Traveling Wave" or "Standing Wave" principles. It could be, that either principle is independent of the signal received from the autofocus sensor or Pentax added a different interface chip to the lens, so that it could correctly interpret the focus data from the body. Quite ambiguous...
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
09-11-2012, 01:37 PM
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Hi psychdoc, it's a two way street.
Raving about a new product is a means of telling the manufacturer (if they care to read the forum), that they have done a great job.
Expressing disappointment or dissatisfaction conveys the opposite. It is what it is. Many people visit forums to gather information about a given product, and if all you had
was positive news and opinions, it would be all roses. Not everyone here has misgivings. As a matter of fact, there seem to be quite a number of folks quite
enthusiastic about the latest releases. But I have a vested interest in Pentax, and am displeased. Sales and marketing at Ricoh should be aware of that. Sure I can write to them, but it is
much more effective to voice my opinion here.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
09-11-2012, 01:17 PM
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Also consider the difference in the warranty period. Tamron provides a 6 year limited warranty, alas they don't have it for a Pentax mount.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
09-11-2012, 12:58 PM
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I had some time to reflect on my decision to buy into Pentax, back in 2009. I suppose that it was due to brand loyalty, since I got my chops on a K-1000, M-X and then PZ-1p.
I remember the advice from a sales person at a used camera store (looking for some used Pentax primes), about not having much of an upgrade path. That has now become a reality,
as I have outgrown the APS-C format, or at least am looking for features that Pentax cannot or will not provide. I will keep the K-5 and lens selection I own for quite some time,
but in a few months the reviews of impending releases from Canikon will start coming in and I will make my decision based on their products.
Brand loyalty in the end is a fallacy. From all the different models out there, one needs to choose what works and one will be happy with. Some sober research is required to make informed
buying decisions. I can honestly say, that after three years of using the DSLR Pentax brand, reading and learning via manuals and the various Pentax forums, I have come to some useful insights.
I have captured nice images, no doubt, but there is so much more a tool with better features can do.
1. I want full-frame which gives me FX/DX :D
2. I want a state of the art flash system with a faster sync speed ;)
3. I do not want to buy into the current and next generation of unreliable SDM lenses that carry only a one year warranty. :fedup:
4. I want native tethering :)
5. I want the current/latest in auto focus technology, not some old 11 point SAFOX system with yearly upgrades that continue to lag the state of the art :o
6. I want access to a larger selection of third party components, be it lenses or accessories :cool:
7. I want dual card slots :)
8. I want to be able to rent lenses should I need them :)
...most of all, I don't want to wait any longer, until Pentax/Ricoh get their house in order. Maybe they will eventually get there, and if they have anything better to offer,
I might consider a product from them again. Technology can change fast; it can at times even be disruptive, but for now I'll have to go somewhere else.
Just in case, I have padded my butt with a K-x, K-7 and K-5 manual, to absorb the shock of the door slamming shut behind me. :lol:
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
09-10-2012, 11:52 PM
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The word "gullible" is not in the dictionary....
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
09-10-2012, 04:56 PM
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Yes, it is time to move on. :D Higher flash sync speed, flash system, dual card slots, better auto-focus, crop mode and a number of other features outweigh size and ergonomics. In light of the recent price increases of Pentax lenses, the gap between expensive glass on other systems is much less than before. I'll relegate my K-5 as a backup camera for now. The incremental and major improvements from the K-7 to the K-5II do not equate to an "upgrade path". Time to start reading some other manuals...
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