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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
09-08-2009, 07:15 AM
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I've owned a 5D Mark II for less than a week now but I love it. It makes me realize how much I'd have liked it if Pentax put out a FF camera. Parking the thing on ISO 3200 for some night shots around town is so liberating.
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Forum: Sold Items
08-23-2009, 01:35 PM
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I'm getting ready to make the leap to full frame, so I have to bid a tearful goodbye to my Pentax equipment. It's served me well, but the prospect of the high ISO performance, big viewfinder, and awesome autofocus of a Nikon D700 has enticed me away. I'm especially sad to see the FA* 85 go, as it's truly the best lens I've ever used, but I must move on.
Here's what's for sale. I'd prefer to sell within the United States for now, but if anything fails to sell within the next few days I'll probably open it up worldwide.
Pentax K20D for $510 shipped (SALE PENDING) - this camera is in excellent shape. 4581 shutter count (potentially a couple more if people have questions about other items for sale here and I need to take pictures). It works wonderfully and the body is mint. The only signs of use are some slight scuffing on the hotshoe from normal use, and some unavoidable dirt in the viewfinder. Comes with battery (that lasts at least 500+ shots, so it's still good), charger, video cable, USB cable, strap, body cap, viewfinder cover thingy, manual, and original box. Almost all of the original packaging is intact. Pictures at Photography by Lu Nelson/albums.lunelson.com/2009/2009-08-23 Goodbye Pentax.
Pentax DA 35 f/2.8 Limited macro for $425 shipped - this Limited lens is in near mint condition. The only flaw are some small nicks on the metal lens cap from dropping the cap once or twice. Comes with original box, caps, and manual. The box is slightly torn but structurally sound. It works perfectly mechanically and optically. Pictures at Photography by Lu Nelson/albums.lunelson.com/2009/2009-08-23 Goodbye Pentax.
JJC off-brand remote for $4 shipped
2 Corsair 60x 2GB SD cards - $4 shipped for both.
(SOLD!)Pentax FA* 85 f/1.4 for $1000 shipped - this is perhaps the sharpest lens ever made, and perfect for portraiture. My copy unfortunately is missing box, manual, etc, and does not have the original lens caps. It does come with the original hood. Body shows significant signs of wear on the outer silver finish, but is absolutely perfect mechanically and optically. Truly a gem of a lens. Pictures at Photography by Lu Nelson/albums.lunelson.com/2009/2009-08-23 Goodbye Pentax.
(SOLD!) Pentax DA 18-55 for $40 shipped - in nearly perfect condition since I quickly gravitated towards using primes. This is the original kit lens and comes in the original box, with caps, hood, and manual. Pictures at Photography by Lu Nelson/albums.lunelson.com/2009/2009-08-23 Goodbye Pentax.
(SOLD!)Pentax D-BG2 battery grip for $80 shipped - in flawless condition. Comes with its original box and included materials. Pictures at Photography by Lu Nelson/albums.lunelson.com/2009/2009-08-23 Goodbye Pentax.
(SOLD!)Pentax AF-540FGZ flash for $200 shipped - this would be in perfect condition but for one unfortunate problem. The locking lever on the bottom has somehow become loose, such that you have to hold up on it while sliding the flash into the hotshoe or else the locking pin gets in the way. After you get it into the hotshoe it locks in fine, and it works flawlessly. It's a minor annoyance but an annoyance nonetheless. I think I close it too tightly on its plastic base and damaged some plastic (I later saw a warning in the manual not to do this). Comes with original box, case, and aforementioned plastic stand. Pictures at Photography by Lu Nelson/albums.lunelson.com/2009/2009-08-23 Goodbye Pentax.
(SOLD!)Pentax D-L150 battery for $15 shipped - genuine Pentax battery, just a few months old. I recently shot a wedding and this guy went 850 shots, with the battery gauge showing half full, so it's definitely in good shape. Comes in original box with cap.
(SOLD!)Stofen Omnibounce for the AF540 flash for $10 shipped
(SOLD!) Set of manual K-mount extension tubes for $10 shipped. These will get you 1:1 with a 50mm.
Name brand, fast memory cards:
(SOLD!)Transcend class 6 16GB SDHC card for $20 shipped.
(SOLD!)Kingston class 6 8GB SDHC card for $10 shipped.
(SOLD!)Lexar Premium 60x 2GB SD card for $3 shipped.
My eBay feedback is under username Largesock if you're interested in checking that out. Everything ships insured UPS Ground unless you'd like to make specific arrangements for faster shipping (with corresponding increase in price). Thanks!
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
08-11-2009, 01:12 PM
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Yeah, I'm thinking the guy running the auction is the one with the scam, albeit a somewhat minor one since he is accurately representing the item he sold, just with a fake sob story to drive bids.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
08-11-2009, 09:16 AM
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Wow, Agnostic, that's an awesome image. The colors and composition are fantastic. I would definitely stop and stare for a good long while if I saw that hanging up in a gallery.
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Forum: Sold Items
08-04-2009, 11:28 AM
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PentaxForums.com Marketplace Listing
Item for Sale
FA 50 f/1.4
Asking Price
$225 shipped OBO
Item Description
With my DA35 and FA85 f/1.4, I found I just don't use this FA50 that much any more. I'm also considering picking up the Sigma 50 -- either way, I am getting rid of this.
It's in great shape. I'd say it was mint but there is one very small speck of material missing from the rubber focusing ring. I hadn't even noticed it until I looked the lens over for sale. It's in great shape optically and mechanically, and has been treated well. This will come in the original box (which is sadly a bit torn up since I removed the UPC for a rebate) and with caps on both ends of the lens. I think they're the originals but they might have gotten mixed up with other Pentax caps.
Picture above is wide open
Picture above at f/8
Are you the original owner of the item being sold?
Yes
Are you selling or trading this item?
Selling
Item Condition
Used
Excellent
Item Location
Missouri, USA
Shipping Charge
Included
Shipping Services
UPS Ground
Shipping Destinations
United States
Accepted Payment Types
PayPal
Additional Details
.
Please send me a private message if interested in the item!
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Forum: General Talk
08-03-2009, 01:56 PM
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Has anyone tried the Vivo Barefoot? It's supposed to be built along the same principles, but since the shoe covers your whole foot it doesn't look as ridiculous. I'd love some Five Fingers but I doubt I could get away with wearing them to work.
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Forum: General Talk
08-03-2009, 12:48 PM
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Firefox 3.5.2 (now in beta) claims to have fixed rendering for images with ICC profiles. You may want to try it out if you haven't already.
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Forum: General Talk
08-03-2009, 12:46 PM
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As long as this is around $2k or less, has improved high ISO performance vs the A900 (which was terrible compared to the competition), and has accurate autofocus, I might just jump ship. The Sony 135 STF has had me drooling ever since I saw that it existed, even though it would negate the autofocus capability I just mentioned.
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
08-03-2009, 12:40 PM
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You can do pretty well with one flash. Don't think of it as just being one light source though -- if you use a large window, or the sun, or reflective walls properly, you can surround a subject with light.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
08-03-2009, 12:01 PM
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I rented one and enjoyed it quite a bit:
I may have to buy one after all.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
07-31-2009, 10:49 AM
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Very nice leaf and jellyfish. The leaf is interesting to me because it looks like there's nearly no green -- is that PP or just an interesting naturally occurring contrast?
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
07-29-2009, 11:30 AM
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I say take the Sigma, as I like getting a little tighter rather than using WA lenses. The FL of the DA 18-55 would be fine on paper, but it's really not very good at its longer focal lengths.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
07-29-2009, 09:18 AM
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I got three more in on the last batch, bringing me to four in the gallery.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
07-27-2009, 02:16 PM
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Right -- what I was trying to get at is this question: Will a 50mm lens on a 1.5x crop sensor give the same image as a 75mm lens on a full-frame sensor? I know the field of view will be the same due to the crop factor -- how about DoF?
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
07-27-2009, 12:34 PM
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Say you had two hypothetical cameras, a 10 megapixel DSLR camera with a 1.5x crop factor, and a 10 megapixel DSLR with a full frame (35mm) size sensor. Say they also hypothetically had the same per-pixel sharpness, color accuracy, contrast, etc.
Would a picture of the same subject, at the same distance, taken with a 50mm lens at f/4 on the 1.5x camera look exactly the same as a picture taken with a 75mm lens at f/4 on the full frame camera? Or would there be some difference in DoF, distortion, or something else?
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
07-24-2009, 01:14 PM
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Any lens marked 50 mm is going to give you the same field of view on your DSLR, whether it's one from the film era or a digital-only lens. The crop only refers to the fact that the imaging area is smaller. I think this article explains it pretty well: Crop factor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
07-22-2009, 11:00 AM
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Since it would obviously be very easily to program a preference to disable this, I'm assuming Pentax is trying hard to hide something bad about their sensor(s). I guess I can see why they might want to do so -- imagine a review that shows a long exposure shot compared to other cameras where the Pentax fell short. I would guess it could hurt them more than the complaints about being unable to disable the automatic DFS.
However, DFS isn't magic, so if it was really that bad I would think it would show in degraded quality on long exposure shots anyway. Who knows what their thinking really is?
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
07-09-2009, 12:07 PM
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I generally start at 100%, 0.5 radius, and go from there. If I find that I can see artifacting in some areas but it looks nice elsewhere, I'll apply it, then go back with the history brush and tone it down where I need to. It's a quick and easy way to do a selective sharpening, but it is destructive (not on its own layer).
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
07-09-2009, 08:31 AM
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I recently went on a three day backpacking trip with my K20D, Sigma 10-20, and FA 50 f/1.4. If I had to do it over again I'd have just brought my K20 and DA35. The extra weight just bothered me too much, and I found myself using the Sigma at its long end anyway. The only problem I'd have had with it is not being quite as close for some of my wildlife pictures, but I think it would be a reasonable compromise. If I owned the DA* 55 I might have taken that, as weathersealing would be great. I was dealing with a lot of Ziploc bags for the trip since it was in dusty conditions that changed to light rain.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
06-29-2009, 01:10 PM
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1. Pentax DA* 16-50. I've heard great things about the lens and I'd love to be able to go a bit wider than the kit lens. I would also like to obtain a DA* lens for the weathersealing. Right now I don't have any kit I'd take out into the rain or snow.
2. Sigma 50 f/1.4. I love the bokeh on this lens. I feel like I need it even though I already have the excellent FA 50. From reports, it seems like the Sigma would be sharper wide open too.
3. Tamron 90mm macro or Sigma 105mm macro. My only macro right now is the DA35 which is a bit restrictive when it comes to live subjects.
4. Sigma 50-500. Finally, birding and other wildlife photography is the last gap in my lens coverage, and for the price, the 50-500 sounds awesome.
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Forum: Travel, Events, and Groups
06-29-2009, 07:56 AM
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But Sigma separately lists their lenses that will work with teleconverters but become MF. The HSM lenses are listed as special cases at the top of the page and it says they can't be used at all.
Please note, this is just going by Sigma's page -- I've never actually had a teleconverter to try with my HSM version to see if it works or not.
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Forum: Travel, Events, and Groups
06-26-2009, 08:07 AM
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
06-25-2009, 07:29 AM
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I just started doing the PPG thing, and I got my first one in. It's kind of exciting, and I like the perspective it gives. I think being the one who takes the pictures colors my perception of what's actually good. I was quite shocked at one that was declined that I thought was my best shot, but the one that was approved was one I didn't think too highly of at first.
PENTAX Photo Gallery: Artist Bio - Lu Nelson |
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Forum: Lens Clubs
06-22-2009, 11:29 AM
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I was forced to rely on my $10 MC Finex 70-200 f/4 for a concert while my Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 was being repaired. For being a tiny percentage of the price, it did a pretty good job in tough lighting conditions and from far away:
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
06-19-2009, 11:38 AM
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To elaborate, due to the way JPEG compression works, the more detail an image contains, the larger the resultant jpg will be. Since the K20D achieves 10mp resolution images by downsampling with a large sensor, the images have more details before compression than a 10mp file from the K10D.
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