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Showing results 1 to 7 of 7 Search: Liked Posts
Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways 12-22-2012, 09:59 AM  
Win a Pentax lens for in time for Christmas: banner design contest! (ends 12/20)
Posted By daveej
Replies: 86
Views: 21,331
Congrats to the winner and honorable mentions!
Just for fun, here's what I submitted...
Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50 06-29-2012, 09:19 AM  
PC Magazine Gives the K-30 4 out of 5 "Stars"
Posted By Welfl
Replies: 60
Views: 8,583
Thank you very much, Class A.



I know. I'm very well aware of it. I also know there is no changing it. That's why you will often see a demoralized look on my face when I am dwelling on this sort of topic. Regrettably(???), things like this have always mattered to me (I would write all of my comments on Ned Bunnell's blog if I thought there was a chance of changing anything; but I know that would be a lesson in utter futility; nonetheless, it is fun to fantasize that someone at Pentax occasionally comes here to PF to secretly mingle with us peasants in order to gauge our general sentiments; smart corporate leaders would do that, because, for all intents and purposes, we are a cost-free "focus group").



And I'm saying people shouldn't automatically assume that Pentax needs to follow this business model in order to survive. I believe it would not only survive, but it might very well thrive, if it were to "give" (please note the quotation marks) consumers a bit more for their money in those instances in which the products it is selling aren't nearly as expensive -- perceptually or factually -- as its execs would have us believe they are. I've seen it done, and I've done it myself, with great success. Customers (and, by that, I don't mean just the usual gaggle of devoted adherents) respond very positively -- on a longterm basis -- to businesses that "give" them "their money's worth" and don't try to fool them by charging them extra for "perceived value."



"Benevolent" is not the same thing as "honorable" or "ethical." I'm not suggesting that Pentax behave benevolently. To do so would truly be naive on my part.

What I write next is 100 percent my personal opinion, although I would like to think it is based on at least three decades of observation, too: I think that "taking all the profit a company can get" -- while it can get it -- is a philosophy that frequently loses out in the long run to the philosophy of treating consumers as valued, respected and intelligent customers, or, in other words, as partners in a symbiotic relationship in a free-market society***, and not just as sources of profit (stong emphasis on "just"). I'm not saying this will definitely happen to Pentax, but I think it is generally true in the business world.



Okay.



I don't agree with you on your first statement (but to each his own, I guess); however, when it is combined with your second statement you make an excellent point. Pentax could have continued to charge "extra" for a standalone 18-55 WR lens, while including it as a kit lens with the K-30. Why? Because very few people would have realized that Pentax was "practically giving away" (sarcasm) the WR lens in that kit.

-----

***With regard to a "free-market society," I am speaking ideally, since very few parts of the world have a true "free-market society" anymore. Nonetheless, businesses still need customers and customers still need businesses. That's what makes it a symbiotic relationship.

[It becomes a coercive relationship when the government forces customers to buy a product from a private corporation, which the U.S. Supreme Court just did yesterday -- completely illegally, I might add.]
Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50 06-27-2012, 06:29 AM  
Is K30 "better" then the K5?
Posted By Santoku
Replies: 244
Views: 43,913
imaging-resource got back to me to confirm that they did use the same reference lens for both the 2-year old K-5 still-life shots and the current K-30 still-life shots FYI.
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 06-27-2012, 06:42 AM  
Buyer Beware - $799 Refurb K-5 from Prodigital2000 on eBay
Posted By eddie1960
Replies: 28
Views: 5,793
I'm actually in process of selling off a bunch of stuff I just don't use enough on CL locally to fund a few lenses I want (DA50 1.8, FA77....) I can't go spending on this without losing out on getting the FA77
Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50 06-26-2012, 06:46 AM  
Model Sarah Harding Provides PR for the K-30
Posted By pinholecam
Replies: 114
Views: 12,614
Pentax folks are real queer.
From what I read some ppl actually prefer this :


"BUY A PENTAX"


:D :D
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 06-03-2011, 11:49 AM  
Flash for k-x?
Posted By UnknownVT
Replies: 23
Views: 4,535
Thanks Ryan - good eye on your photos.

No, I'm not an anything special -
but because I shoot just so much locally I am known at most venues
(despite trying to have a moniker of "Unknown" :p)

I think although natural talent helps,
it's sheer experience and doing it (intelligently) that really counts -
that's how I discovered the use of the dreaded on-board flash
despite lots of advice to the contrary.

Dragging the shutter with slow-sync flash was almost a trademark of my photos - but not all shots can be like that, or even they'd get boring/same-y -

anyway another one of my on-board flash shots -

EXIF re-attached - on night scene mode with slow-sync flash and a 1 sec exposure.....
flash freezes the image while the long shutter speed captures the "trailing" image movement/blur.

This is one of my favorite artists - Unknown Hinson -
where I stole my moniker from -
I hasten to add with his approval -
he even has a link and credit on his image web page

Lastly - ha! I'm credited with photos on two of Derek Truck's CDs (credits on AllMusic.com)
they've also posted some of my photos on the Tedeschi Trucks Band FaceBook page (no flash on any of those shots :lol:)


check out the EXIF attached

Forum: Pentax Lens Articles 08-12-2010, 04:24 AM  
Sticky: How to use/meter Manual & M42 Lenses on all Pentax DSLRs (K-1, K-3, K-5, K-30, etc)
Posted By Adam
Replies: 358
Views: 415,816
Many Pentax DSLR owners want to use M42 screwmount (Takumar) lenses, or M or K manual lenses, on their cameras because of the low cost and relatively high image quality of these lenses.


If you're wondering whether or not these lenses can be used with Pentax DSLRs (or the K-01), then the answer is yes! Pentax as well as third-party manual and screwmount lenses can easily be mounted on any Pentax DSLR (such as the K-1 series, KP, K-3 series, K-70, K-S2, K-S1, K-50, K-500, K-30, K-5 series, K-r, K-x, K-7, K10D, K100D, K200D, *ist D, etc.) Just follow this guide!



Modern Pentax DSLRs use the Pentax "K-mount", which employs a bayonet and therefore differs significantly from the M42 screw mount. The older manual M and K (SMC Pentax-M, SMC Pentax) lenses actually use the bayonet, so they will not need an adapter - you can skip straight to the lower portion of this article (starting at "Important!") for information on how to meter with those lenses. Screwmount lenses usually have "Takumar" in their names, and in order to mount screwmount lenses on your k-mount body, you'll need a Pentax k to m42 adapter. Pictured above is the genuine Pentax adapter, which is ideally the one you want to get. Similar third-party adapters are also available. Caution: Many third-party adapters, such as this one, have a protruding flange which will prevent you from focusing all the way to infinity. If you want to buy a third-party adapter (they're generally cheaper), make sure that they don't have this flange. Here's an example of a good third-party adapter.

Once you have your adapter, the next step is to install it on your camera (it can easily be put on and removed on-the-fly). Check out the m42 to k adapter manual.


After you've installed the adapter, you'll want to mount the lens. This is done by screwing it into the camera until the lens feels firmly attached. The focusing window and lens ring should line up with the camera just like any other lens. Now that your lens is mounted, let's talk about how to take photos with it.

Important! The hard part is to get the camera to actually fire when a manual lens is mounted. In order to accomplish this, enter your camera's custom function menu, select the "Using Aperture Ring" setting (usually at the end of the menu, #21 on the K-7, #27 on the K-5, #27 on the K-3, #26 on the K-1), and set it to 2 (allowed). Once you do this, the shutter will at least fire, as it wouldn't have with this setting disabled (you would simply have seen an F-- indication on the top LCD/info screen). The setting description should read: 'Shutter will release when aperture ring is not set to the "A" position' when "allowed" is selected. Also note that the mount on the lens must be conductive for electrical current so that it shorts the electrical contacts on the camera body. All Pentax manufactured lenses have a conductive mount, but some third party lenses do not in which case the area of the mount touching the contacts must be sanded down.

K-30, K-50, K-500, K-70, K-S1, K-S2 and K-01 users: make sure you also set your green button "action in M/TAv Mode" to Tv SHIFT. This is found under the button customization menu (page 3 of the main menu) on the K-01 or as a custom function on the K-30, K-50 and K-500. On the K-S2 and K-70, look under the e-dial programming sub-menu under button customization in the record menu.

Finally, ensure that auto ISO is disabled.

At startup, if your camera asks you for the focal length, enter the actual focal length as labeled on the lens. This will ensure optimal Shake Reduction performance. For zooms, you can use the lower end of the zoom range (this ensures that there will be no over-compensation), or the focal length that you shoot at most often.

Now, let's discuss metering. Since manual lenses don't feed aperture data to the camera, the only way for the camera to check how much light is being passed through the lens is to measure the light while the lens is stopped down. Follow this procedure to properly meter with a screwmount, M, or K lens:

___0. Ensure that the "Using Aperture Ring" custom function is set to "2 (allowed)" (K-30/50/500/01 users must also ensure that the green button is configured to Tv Shift in M/TAv Mode) as described above
  1. Set your camera to M mode using the mode dial (your camera won't fire in other modes*)

  2. Compose and focus your image.

  3. Using the aperture ring (the ring at the very back of your lens; it will have numbers such as 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8 written on it), select your desired aperture setting. Note that the smaller the aperture number is, the more light passes through the lens, and the blurrier the out of focus areas of your photograph will be (and vice-versa). Note your lens will not stop down until step 5.

  4. [Screwmount lenses only] Switch the diaphragm clutch on your lens to "Manual" (you can leave it on Auto when composing and focusing if you don't want a dark viewfinder).

  5. Measure the light by either pressing the "Green Button" (older bodies may use the Av button), or pushing your power button to DOF preview mode (only available on high-end bodies). Your camera will automatically set the shutter speed for you.

All that's left now is for you to press the shutter release button to take your photo. Congratulations- you've now learned how to use M42 and M & K manual lenses with Pentax DSLRs!

*Screwmount lenses may also be used in Av mode since they are always stopped down to the aperture you will be shooting at (unlike M&K lenses, which are stopped down only when the shutter is released or when you meter as described above).

Note: if your aperture ring has an "A" on it, instead of doing stop-down metering as per this guide, you'll want to set the ring to "A" and use the camera's scrollweel to adjust the aperture via Av mode.

Click here if you found this article helpful!

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