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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories 02-14-2018, 05:24 PM  
Joby Gorillapod - are they worth it?
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 26
Views: 5,980
I have the SLR Zoom model. I bought it thinking it would be amazing... I never use it. I find it more of a pain to carry it around when travelling, so it stays home. YMMV, but I would be hard pressed to buy another.
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 02-14-2018, 05:20 PM  
Lens suggestions for light k3-ii hiking setup....
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 33
Views: 3,666
My hiking (backpacking) lenses are the DA 18-135, DA-L 55-300 and the DA 15. I keep it lightweight, but functional.

If I am out for a day hike, then I probably just take the DA* 300 and DA 15.
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 01-31-2018, 07:41 PM  
Lenses to bring to Iceland trip.
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 35
Views: 3,368
My go to kit for travelling internationally has always been the DA 15, FA 31, and DA 18-135. I very rarely bring anything else.

We've been to Iceland four times now (more to come soon) and I found that the DA 15 lived on my K-3, except for anywhere close to water. That is when the DA 18-135 came into play. The FA 31 gets used for museums, low light, and city life. I cheat though, because my wife brings her 18-55, DA 35 2.4 and my 55-300 :)... which she "forgot", which was too bad for all the eagles, seals, and swans, and ptarmigans we ended up seeing.

If I had the kit that OP has, I would probaby do the 15, 20-40, and 70. The only other thing would be the 55-300 if outdoor nature is going to be a part of the trip (as it should be).


P.S. WR is very important and do not go too close to the ocean
Forum: Post Your Photos! 01-30-2018, 05:00 PM  
Machinery Arctic Trainspotting
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 3
Views: 814
Thanks for the write up, I now know a lot more about Swedish ore. I had actually just been reading about Swedish iron during WWII.
Forum: Lens Clubs 01-27-2018, 06:42 PM  
The FA Limited Club
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 11,815
Views: 2,132,948
I do not remember it, probably cause I was not born yet :lol:



Although, it is on my PVR for me to watch at a future date.
Forum: Lens Clubs 01-27-2018, 05:35 PM  
The FA Limited Club
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 11,815
Views: 2,132,948
I had no idea that thing existed... that is a pretty cool looking rock
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 01-25-2018, 09:37 PM  
K-1 Mark II!
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 875
Views: 123,893
I also cannot read. There are not enough pictures for me to follow along.
Forum: Sold Items 01-23-2018, 07:54 PM  
For Sale - Sold: Selling my entire Pentax setup: K3, 15, 21, 35, 50, 70, 18-135, Metz flashlight
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 10
Views: 2,718
PM sent for K-3
Forum: Lens Clubs 01-21-2018, 09:46 PM  
300mm plus Lens Club: discuss your long lenses
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 40,768
Views: 4,310,288
Well, I guess I will be buying a K-1 soon

I have a Takumar 2x TC. I have never tried the DA*300 on it, but it did okay with the 55-300 IIRC. I think it would probably be an injustice to put it on the DA*.

I guess I will be buying the DA 1.4x TC as well
Forum: Lens Clubs 01-21-2018, 07:10 PM  
300mm plus Lens Club: discuss your long lenses
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 40,768
Views: 4,310,288
This answered pretty much every question I ever had.

To me, the TC + DA*300 + K-1 looks awesome. Am I correct in assuming this is in FF mode and not crop mode?
Forum: General Photography 01-20-2018, 11:02 PM  
What do you do with your photos?
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 37
Views: 2,830
I take the photos, then upload them on my computer and never look at them again. It is actually kind of sad :(

I find now I am getting way better at not taking 10000 photos because that means I have to sort through 10000 photos, which I absolutely hate doing. This aversion to sorting out keepers and editting has actually made me a better photographer. I think more about settings and composition, then take as few photos as necessary.

With time, I have also learned to not take a picture. Why take a mediocre photo (travel) when I can spend the extra time soaking in the moment? I am starting to carry my camera gear a lot less nowadays or letting others take the tourist photos.

In the coming months I will be spending a lot of time cleaning up the last few years of backlogged photos on my computer. I will probably print books of my travels and find a few "keepers" to hang on the walls.
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 01-20-2018, 10:04 PM  
Pentax WR works 99% of the time - An expensive lesson
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 26
Views: 3,168
"Some things in here don't react well to bullets" :)
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 01-20-2018, 12:32 PM  
Pentax WR works 99% of the time - An expensive lesson
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 26
Views: 3,168
Thankfully yes. My biggest problem is there is no "real" replacement for my K-3. I would hate to buy the old K3ii knowing it is old technology now. That leaves me with the KP, which lacks some features that are key to me (IR, dual SD card, etc.). So, in the end I will probably get a K-1... but that price... I cannot wait until the new K3iii (?) comes out as I have a vacation coming up in a month.




I saw that before I shipped it away for "repair". It pretty much crushed my dreams of getting my camera fixed.



This is what I am going to do once I get the camera back.. It is not like I can do any more harm to a dead camera. For reference, it turns on, but has many other issues from there. Here's to hoping...



My wife are usually good for watching out for one another. You know, when the best photo is taken from the middle of a street. That only works if you let your partner know you are going to run away and do something stupid.




Finally, attached is one of the photos prior to my stupidity. This is at Reynisfjara beach in Iceland. I probably should have stopped where I was at (still too close to the water...), but instead I went around that cliff on the left side of the photo. I took some shots there, the best ones were actually from my Samsung S7 (waterproof :)).

Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 01-17-2018, 09:33 PM  
Pentax WR works 99% of the time - An expensive lesson
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 26
Views: 3,168
My biggest worry was that I fried my cards. When I got home from my trip I checked them out and everything was good to go. I got the photos I was looking for, but lost the camera in the process. Now my wife will not let me anywhere near water. I need supervision.
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 01-17-2018, 08:37 PM  
Pentax WR works 99% of the time - An expensive lesson
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 26
Views: 3,168
Well, my K-3 has finally died on me. I do not know who to blame, if it was a design flaw or operator error. Apparently, Pentax never designed the K-3 or the DA 18-135 to be submerged in the North Atlantic salty ocean. Maybe it was my fault for putting myself in a very dangerous spot, amongst rocks, waves, and then fighting for my life to not drown?

The DA 18-135 is getting fixed for 1/2 the price of a new one (new electronics), but the K-3 is beyond reasonable repair. I am not overly surprised that the K-3 is done for, salt water pretty much destroys everything. However, I really wonder how the water got into the camera. All the ports were sealed and there was no water ingress into any of them. The water did not even enter the lens itself. Not a single drop of water entered the camera, anywhere. This is pretty impressive, given the camera was submerged completely under breaking waves (1-2 feet) for 10 seconds. As it turns out, every seal built into the DA 18-135 and K-3 did their job, 110%.

But... my camera was missing a screw since day 1. The bottom of a K-3 has 9 screws that attach the bottom plate to the camera. Well, mine only ever had 8. The damage to the camera showed that water had entered through that open hole, then slowly spread over the circuit boards. This shorted out the camera, which shorted out the lens (no water ever entered the lens). The Ricoh Canada repair centre figured only a very small amount of water entered the bottom plate, but obviously enough to ruin my day.

Yes, my K-3 is dead, but that is because of my own stupidity. This camera was built like a tank... a tank build on a Friday afternoon, before a long weekend. Still, I only blame myself.

For reference, this body/lens combo has seen some amazing weather and performed top notch:

France 2014 - Heavy downpours in Lyon (20mm in 30min IIRC), but I kept on shooting with no worries. I even set the camera down on wet stones to take its picture in the rain
Iceland 2014 - I had a bus of tourists taking photos of me (from their bus) at the Sun Voyageur. They were probably thinking "Look at that idiot using his camera in this downpour".
Elk Lake (Canada) 2015 - 100mm of rain in 30 minutes and guess who forgot to pack a rain jacket? Yep, camera was soaked and so was I. Made for a long 25km hike home, soaking wet.
Denmark 2016 - Blowing sea spray did not seem to bother the K-3 and 18-135 at all. Great combo.
Iceland 2016 - Standing in the steam from geysirs and mist from water falls. I had to keep wiping the water off the lens to get photos, but everything kept ticking. Pretty good for a zoom lens.
Portugal 2017 - Camera worked great despite all the sea spray and blowing sand from the beaches. That could not phase the set up.
Lake O'Hara (Canada) 2017 - Dropped the K-3 in the snow while crossing a creek that was drifted over. I fell in the creek, but the camera fell in 2 feet of snow. Wiped it off and kept shooting. My friends Rebel promptly died.
Iceland 2017 - Standing in the steam from geysirs and salt water spray. Worked great until I went for a swim.

In summary, Pentax WR is no joke. It is the real deal, IMO. The only thing that can kill it is operator error and maybe a missing screw. I think the real trick is to not push the limits too much.

I really do think the best part of Pentax WR is watching Canikon users jaws drop because they can't use their cameras where we can use ours.
Forum: Pentax KP 01-15-2018, 07:24 PM  
Moving from K5 to KP after a microwave event :)
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 22
Views: 4,854
Oh my goodness... at least the insurance company was willing to pay out. I hope the deductible didn't take away too much of their money
Forum: Pentax Price Watch 01-15-2018, 07:04 PM  
Canada: KP @ $1k
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 3
Views: 833
I have done business with Broadway before, they were quite good (online). Camera Canada was also good to me in the past.

Good to see some prices coming down
Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways 09-07-2016, 05:55 AM  
PF 10th Anniversary - Pentax K-50 1-Day Giveaway! - Entries closed, winner announced.
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 1,825
Views: 90,820
Wwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeee a new camera!
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 10-13-2014, 07:01 PM  
Pentax Kr questions (pentax newbie)
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 12
Views: 1,194
Your battery is no good, you should get WWAAYYY more shots than 200. I would stay away from the cheap eBay batteries. I had 2, after a year I had to get rid of them as they swelled to the point where they would get stuck in the camera, plus battery life was quite poor. I have not tried the "Wasabi" brand that others might recommend, but myself, I would buy the OEM Pentax battery. I have learned that buying cheap batteries means paying for cheap batteries and later buying the expensive batteries because the cheap ones died way too soon...

Without seeing a photo, we can't tell if the focus is off. Luckily, if you feel it is off, under the settings in the camera you can adjust the focus for Back or Front focus. It depends what lens you are using, some lenses are fairly soft at certain focal lengths (or distance to object) and that could make it seem like the focus is off.

Geez, it has been a little while since I have used the K-r (too bad, it is an awesome camera!)... but if you hold the middle button of the d-pad it should switch from manual AF point to the screen that lets you choose ISO/white balance. It is documented in the user manual.
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 10-11-2014, 10:04 AM  
Which Lenses to pack for European Holiday
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 21
Views: 2,562
I just returned from 3 weeks in France and a couple days in Iceland.

My kit was:

K-3
15, 31, 18-135

I couldnt have asked for a better kit, other than if the 31 was the size of the 43!

The 18-135 stayed at the hotel most days, but on the days with rain, it got its fair share of use.

The entire trip I kept telling the wife "I have no idea how anyone would willing pack a 5DII with 24-70 and 70-200 on vacation". Stay light, stay mobile, and you'll enjoy any trip ;)
Forum: Pentax Price Watch 09-03-2014, 10:23 AM  
B&H Pentax Lens Price Drops (expire on Sep. 8)
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 24
Views: 4,130
phew, thank goodness I have no money!
Forum: Sold Items 09-02-2014, 08:03 PM  
For Sale - Sold: DA* 60 - 250mm f4.0 & F 50mm f1.7
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 2
Views: 1,128
Congrats on getting some of it found. Sorry about your rabbit though :(

If I wasn't off to France next week I would be all over this!
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 09-02-2014, 11:48 AM  
15 Limited in silver?
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 7
Views: 937
I know the HD is, almost bought one.

As for the SMC, I am not soo sure, but I do not think it was.
Forum: Sold Items 08-31-2014, 09:35 PM  
For Sale - Sold: Free Lens for Labor Day
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 9
Views: 1,442
Congrats and thanks to OP for his thoughtfulness.

I am no longer in one of several I have been in... Unless a credit union counts?
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 08-31-2014, 05:23 PM  
K3 mark II ?
Posted By calculator01
Replies: 39
Views: 4,534
Yes, you are correct. I can't argue that, but if the K-3 had a flippy screen, in one way Ricoh would expect someone to take selfies. I guess it is like saying a sledge hammer can tap nails, but is clearly designed not to (but some users will).
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