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Forum: Sold Items
06-08-2016, 04:06 PM
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One last bump. I've moved the unsold items to the top.
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Forum: Sold Items
05-16-2016, 09:51 PM
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Thanks
I will mail it tomorrow and send you the tracking #
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Forum: Sold Items
05-16-2016, 03:25 PM
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Bump. Some items have sold, but the rest are still available. I've also dropped some prices.
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Forum: Sold Items
05-14-2016, 01:20 PM
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It's time for me to get rid of all the photography gear that I no longer use. All lenses are K-mount in case it's not obvious.
I'm trying to save time by not taking a picture of everything individually. But I'll be happy to upload more photos of the items if requested. Here is a link to the full resolution photo of everything: Dropbox
I accept Paypal and shipping is $5 for the small items and $10 for the larger items.
Vivitar 28mm f2 - $50
I bought this lens here a few years ago. The aperture wouldn't stop down but I had it fixed. There are a few scratches on the outside, but the glass is clean. Includes old case and generic lens hood.
Vanguard SBH-100 Ballhead - $50
I had this replaced under warranty, so it is completely new and unused. Description on B&H Photo
Bolt VS-510P Flash - $75
Barely used, but the built-in diffuser seems to be stuck. Includes free Pocketbox 6" x 5" attachable diffuser. It's underneath the Metz flash in the photo (my bad) Description on B&H Photo
Kata DR-461 Backpack - $25
Good condition, a few dirt marks inside. Description on B&H Photo
Hoya 67mm Circular Polarizer - $15 (SOLD)
A few scratches on the outside, but the glass is mostly clean.
Tiffen 67mm 1.2 Neutral Density Filter - $15 (SOLD)
Like new condition
Free neoprene filter pouch (holds 2) for whoever buys a filter first.
Cokin Filter Holder and Hitech Soft ND Grad 0.9 - $25
There are a few small scratches on the ND filter. Includes 67mm and 82mm rings.
T 1.25" Adaptor with Pentax K attachment - $15
This is a 2 part adaptor that allows you to attach a K-mount camera to a telescope.
Bower 14mm f2.8 lens - $150 (SOLD)
This lens should work great on the new K-1. After buying it a few years ago, it went out of alignment. But I had it fixed by Advance Camera Repair so it's almost as good as new. There are a couple scratches on the outside, but the glass is nearly perfect. Includes lens pouch
Vivitar 200mm f3.5 Lens - $30 (SOLD)
Great condition. Completely manual and it has a built-in lens hood.
Vivitar A Extension Tube - $10 (SOLD)
This was actually a 2X teleconverter but it works great as an extension tube after I removed the glass since it has the A contacts.
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BROKEN - for parts
I don't know if anybody wants these items below, but I figured it was worth a shot.
Metz 44-AF-1 Flash - $15
It was dropped and it's splitting open slightly at the bottom
Pentax DA-L 55-300mm f4-5.8 - $30 (SOLD)
I don't recall ever dropping this lens. But it seems like it just came out of alignment, and is not nearly as sharp as it used to be, although it's not bad at the wide end. It probably wouldn't be difficult to fix. Includes generic rubber lens hood, and old case.
Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 - $30 (SOLD)
This lens fell in a creek. I opened it up and dried it out, and removed a broken piece. As a result, you can't twist to zoom, you have to push and pull the barrel. I actually kept using this lens for awhile and the IQ wasn't too bad. A little blurry in the corners. Includes original box but no hood.
Free with any purchase: 55mm lens cap, Hoya 49mm skylight filter
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
06-04-2014, 11:46 AM
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You didn't miss much. But I did catch one bright meteor:
Bright Camelopardalid by kevin-palmer, on Flickr
Here's some more shots with the lens here Flickr
I've only had the lens 2 weeks but it's already enabled to get some shots that I would have missed otherwise. If I only had my 14mm lens I would have missed that meteor and not been able to capture the entire storm in the link above.
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
05-26-2014, 04:11 PM
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The stars apparent motion is captured behind the Skyline Arch in Arches National Park. A flashlight was used to illuminate the arch from below. This arch is located behind the amphitheater and is a short walk from the campground.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
05-22-2014, 10:40 PM
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I ordered the last Pentax mount lens from Beach Camera and I got it in only 3 days. Compared to the Samyang 14mm, f2.8, the 10mm is just slightly longer and heavier. Here are a couple sample images from yesterday.
Decaying Thunderstorm by kevin-palmer, on Flickr
Growing Season by kevin-palmer, on Flickr
I'll have a few hundred shots of the night sky (and hopefully meteors) after tomorrow night.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
05-19-2014, 12:56 AM
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I just ordered this lens. I was hoping there would be more reviews and sample images online, particularly for astrophotography. But I can always return it if I don't like it. If it's good I'll probably sell my 14mm f2.8 lens. I'm planning to put the lens to the test on Friday night for a meteor shower.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-06-2014, 09:44 PM
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Thanks for the replies. I decided to buy another copy of the Tamron lens with a warranty. The money I saved can go towards the Samyang 10mm f2.8 lens, if it ever starts shipping.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-04-2014, 08:37 PM
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I bought the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 lens a few years ago. I was impressed with the sharpness and how compact it was, but it always had a few problems. The exif data rarely recorded correctly. Most of the time it defaulted to 45mm. This made it difficult to use a lens correction profile. When I upgraded from a K-x to a K-5, there were autofocus issues. Half the time it would refuse to focus, and I had to turn the camera off and back on again. I think I remember reading that others had similar issues with this lens, and it may have only been in combination with the K-5.
Last fall I was taking a picture of a creek and I looked away for a second, then heard a splash. My tripod fell over and my camera and Tamron lens went in the water. Thankfully the K-5 was fine even though there was no waterproof seal on the lens. The lens was waterlogged and I opened it up to dry it out. Some piece of metal broke off inside the lens and was causing the zoom ring to jam. I removed that, and the only way to zoom now was to push and pull the barrel. I continued to use the lens and at first it was still surprisingly sharp. But gradually I noticed the corners had become blurry and overall it was not very sharp anymore. So it is time to buy a new lens.
My question is, if you use a K-5 and Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 lens, have you noticed any of the issues above? I'm not sure if I should buy the same lens again and risk having to deal with the same problems. I was considering getting the Pentax 16-50mm, but I don't like the very high price, increased size, and lack of sharpness.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
10-24-2013, 12:41 AM
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Here's a short time lapse I shot yesterday morning of the stars rising above swirling fog
You Tube
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src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_vYVN8r5pm8?controls=1" allowfullscreen>
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Tomorrow I should get the Ioptron Skytracker that I ordered. I'm looking forward to testing it out this weekend.
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
10-13-2013, 07:52 PM
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Even though I love thunderstorms, I was hoping for a clear sky to photograph the milky way since I was only in the Badlands one night. At 10 pm it didn't seem like it was going to happen so I returned to my campsite in Wall. But just before going to sleep at midnight I noticed I could see stars. So I drove the 20 minutes back to the overlook and saw this. Badlands National Park is one of the best places you can go for dark skies with very little light pollution. Although it wasn't very well defined, green airglow is visible in this shot. Even a very small town can have lights that reflect on the clouds and that is what the orange spots are. To get this shot, I combined 2 images, one for the sky at 25 seconds, and one for the foreground at 5 minutes.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
09-08-2013, 05:56 PM
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After spending the night in a bag of rice and silica gel packets, the lens didn't look much better; it only smelled like rice. Since I had nothing to lose I thought I would just open it up and dry it out. It wasn't too hard to reach the internal lens elements. I used a microfiber cloth, rocket blower, and a lens cleaning solution when needed. Finally it was mostly dry except for a few drops near the aperture blades. I didn't feel confident taking it apart any further. So I just pointed a fan at it for a couple hours. I stuck the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 on the camera and it appears to work just fine. I guess I got pretty lucky . Now I'll always make sure my tripod is secure before letting go.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
09-07-2013, 09:53 PM
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Today I was taking a picture on the edge of a creek. My tripod wasn't in the most stable position. There was water rushing around the legs and it was resting on slippery rocks. I looked away for 2 seconds, and then SPLASH! I quickly reached down and pulled the camera up. I ended up bending a tripod leg which was caught under a rock. But the K-5 still works just fine. Even though the lens wasn't waterproof, no water got into the body. Now my only problem is drying out the lens. There are drops of water and fog inside the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 lens. I just bought a bag of rice and I have some desiccant packs. Has anybody else dried out a lens this way? I'm hoping it won't take too long since I would like to use the lens Monday night.
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
08-31-2013, 01:07 AM
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A month or 2 ago I bought a Metz 44 AF-1 flash. I didn't get a chance to use it much. But I made the dumb move of setting it on my car one night and driving off. It fell and the plastic casing separated a little bit. It didn't look too bad and I was hopeful it would still work, but it doesn't. It won't fire when the shutter button is pressed, it only fires randomly when I don't want it to. I don't have much hope of it being repaired and I need to have a flash for a class I'm taking next week.
I want to buy a flash with these features:
The more powerful the better
Wireless compatibility (what else would I need to get for this?)
High speed sync greater than 1/180
Looking at B&H I see a cheap flash by Bolt (VS-510P) that seems to have nice features but I've never heard of the company. Is it any good? I'm shooting with a K-5 btw.
I'd appreciate any help.
Kevin
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
07-20-2013, 03:52 PM
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After moving to Central Illinois I was looking forward to chasing a severe storm or two. This storm rolled through Galesburg in mid-May. After seeing it on radar, I tried to predict where it was going and place myself in the best position to get pictures. I had just gotten off the freeway and was looking for a place to pull over when the wind started. There was dust from the farm fields being kicked up by the gust front. That is why there is a reddish color under the storm. As soon as I got out of my car I had to put on sunglasses to avoid getting dust in my eyes. It was a challenge to hold my tripod still in the 60+ mph winds (I have since bought a more stable tripod). It was amazing seeing how fast the shelf cloud was moving overhead. Soon after this the heavy rain and hail started. After capturing a few cloud to ground lightning bolts I headed home. It was worth the 2 hours of driving to capture an awesome looking storm.
Kevin
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
07-17-2013, 07:34 PM
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This is great. I tried to make a milky way timelapse last week but my lens fogged up after only 15 minutes :(
What software did you use to make the video?
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
07-06-2013, 10:07 AM
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That might be it. I wasn't aware that setting even existed. Thanks
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
07-05-2013, 08:36 PM
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My K-5 seems to have a problem, I don't know if it's something I'm doing wrong or what. Most of the time it is not noticeable, except when I want to make a time lapse video or startrails. When I have shake reduction off, the composition shifts very slightly up or down between frames. The individual pictures are not blurry, so I don't think it's a camera shake issue. My tripod isn't the most sturdy one, but even with no wind at all I have this problem, which never happened with my K-x. So it makes time lapse videos unwatchable unless I find a way to stabilize the video in an editor. I don't even know how to stack startrail pictures since each frame moves just a tiny bit. It's as if the sensor is moving between frames. Does anyone know what the problem is?
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
06-28-2013, 04:34 PM
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I'm not sure. Since TC's are meant for telephoto lenses it doesn't seem like it would be sharp with a wide angle lens. But I don't have one so I didn't try.
Royce Bair is one of my favorite photographers. But I'm not sure there is an exact optimum setting due to the sample variation of lenses. But I know my lens is going to be a lot easier to focus now that infinity is where it's supposed to be.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
06-28-2013, 02:33 PM
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The Samyang (Bower, Pro Optic, Rokinon, Bell+Howell, etc) 14mm f2.8 lens is one of the best value lenses you can buy. It's extremely sharp and great for astrophotography (See here)
But many copies have a problem with the focus ring being set incorrectly. The distance markings aren't accurate and sometimes it goes past infinity focus. Mine has been like that ever since I bought it last year. But I didn't want to send it back so I just lived with it. But I just found a video that explains how to fix it yourself in about 15 minutes.
Como calibrar el enfoque del Samyang 14mm. How to fix focus of Samyang 14mm | | VideofyMe
It's in spanish with english subtitles. I found it useful so I thought I'd share.
Kevin
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
06-06-2013, 12:58 PM
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This looks like an interesting lens. As far as I know it's the fastest lens under 20mm available for Pentax mount. If it's anything like their 14mm lens, then it should be great for astrophotography. I don't think it will take away from sales of the 14mm, since that has full frame coverage. I hope the 10mm f2.8 lens that they announced last year is available soon. I'm planning to trade my 14mm lens for that. I would buy this 16mm lens too if I had the money.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
05-28-2013, 01:40 PM
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
05-15-2013, 02:14 PM
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Thanks. I'm saving up for the Vixen Polarie tracking mount. But until then I'm limited to short exposures. If I frame the shot correctly then the object will stay in the field of view for 5 minutes or longer so I don't have to recompose. I use DSS but I'm not very good at it. Sometimes I get a final shot I'm happy with and other times I'll use the same setting and get terrible results.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
05-14-2013, 09:22 PM
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Thanks everyone
Only the close up of the Lagoon and Trifid Nebulas was stacked: 80 4 second exposures plus dark and bias frames. I would love to see the southern night sky from New Zealand.
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