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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-07-2024, 07:40 PM
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Last month I was checking out A and FA20 lenses from Japan. All of the listings mentioned some kind of internal coating damage, so I didn't buy.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
03-07-2024, 07:34 PM
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I have no idea what I'm looking at, but it's delightful!
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
02-17-2024, 09:43 AM
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The value of a hand grip is not so much when you're carrying the camera, but when you're actively using it, off a tripod. My K-1 ll weighs 3-5 lbs. with a good lens attached. Without a hand grip, as I've always used it before now, I had to use my hands to support that full weight. The grip transfers much of that weight to my wrist, so my arm muscles take that load.
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
02-16-2024, 03:05 PM
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Greetings from the future! Yesterday I bought one of these forgotten accessories. I think it will be useful taking some weight off my fingers. But I'm confused about one part of the design of this grip. There's a thin web loop that points upward (see photo). It seems to have no function. Is it an alternate connection to the camera strap? Most people will use this grip instead of a shoulder strap, won't they?
The mystery web loop sits beside the leather extension of the grip. Once I figured out that it wouldn't fit my thumb, I snapped it onto the strap.
Does anybody know what this is for?
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Forum: General Talk
02-10-2024, 10:37 PM
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1) I love my Ford C-Max Energi PHEV. It's the most economical car I've ever owned, giving 65 mpg in seven years' use. Rock-solid reliable, too. The only repair I've done was replacing a broken fog light lens. It does most local shopping trips in EV mode. It's a dumpy, odd-looking car, but you forget that when behind the wheel. Consumer Reports just ranked it in "Cars that are the Most Fun to Drive," next to the Mazda Miata, BMW X3 and Mazda CX-5. That surprised me, but not much. My last car was a GTI, and this has a similar peppy character, though lower limits.
2) I love my 2014 Mercedes GLK 350 4Matic, too, for opposite reasons. I bought it to tow a small camp trailer, which it does superbly. It's also a fine city car, compact and nimble and comfortable. Let's not talk about the fuel economy, but it can flirt with 30 mpg on the open road. As an SUV, it's sturdy and capable of going where the low-slung C-max can't. My mechanics recommended it, as did trusty old Consumer Reports.
Some things they both share, and I appreciate: good visibility, comfortable ride, crisp handling, quietness, good headroom, physical button-and-dial controls, and a small LCD screen artfully set into the dash that can be easily turned off.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
12-19-2023, 04:31 PM
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Michaelina2 - The K3 lll's 1.3x crop seems almost too small to bother with, but the K1 ll's 1.5 crop really makes a difference. Sure, you can crop either one in post, but it's always better to see the actual frame as you compose.
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Forum: Photo Critique
12-19-2023, 03:40 AM
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Reminds me of an ECM album cover. I too wish for more sharpness on the foreground rock, but the blur is the real payoff here.
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Forum: Photo Critique
12-19-2023, 03:37 AM
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Yes, it's quite difficult to read the sign. That was my goal. For a few short weeks of aspen season, the leaves and the the letters match. I tried to use bokeh to set the letters apart, but maybe I should have used more of it. I'll try again next year.
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Forum: Photo Critique
12-19-2023, 03:33 AM
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I hadn't visited this post in two years. Thanks for all the kudos! Yes, seagulls are the perfect animal models. They're always showing up in the right place, always looking graceful.
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Forum: Photo Critique
12-19-2023, 03:23 AM
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Taken today as part of a commercial shoot of a big new RV storage facility. This one jumped off the screen at me and said, "I'm a keeper." What do you think? How does it make you feel?
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
09-21-2023, 07:12 PM
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I'm exactly the consumer Nikon was aiming this toward. As a pro in the 1980s I carried a Nikon FM, but it wasn't the camera I really wanted. That was the mighty F3, with the superb High Eyepoint Viewfinder. That was the professional standard, but it cost several hundred bucks more and was quite heavy for my backpacking trips. I finally bought one, and chose a Nikon FA for my little camera because I wanted that camera's exclusive 1/250 shutter speed.
Sure, this new retro version is handsome, but it copies many of the features that I disliked about film SLRs, even at the time.
- a hard-to-reach shutter speed dial up top
- a viewfinder window set flat against the back of the body, with a minimal eyecup and little eye relief or room for the human nose. Also, a downsized, lesser-quality viewfinder image.
- a symmetrical body shell that gains only a tiny hint of a handgrip.
In original SLRs, the shutter speed dial had to be there because it directly adjusted the shutter action below. Viewfinder optics had to be centered to the lens mount and their dimensions were limited by the necessary optical physics. Digital tech should have given us a wider range of body styles and form factors, such as my beloved Panasonic GX-8. My dream camera would be a crop-sensor version of a Pentax 645D, with such perfect balance, and that superb OFV, just downsized.
Sorry Nikon, but I'll skip the Zf and hold out for that digital Nikkormat. I'll want the shutter speed set on the lens mount, of course, and the DOF preview by a little plunger button besides the shutter.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
09-04-2023, 03:35 PM
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All four were between 1/20th and 1/30th. Lighting differences made the bigger difference.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
09-02-2023, 10:49 PM
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During a two night campout at one of Colorado's prettiest campsites, a roaring stream was only steps below my site. I took advantage of my natural laziness to focus my photographic efforts on a single subject - one black, pyramidal boulder that stood resolutely against the water's force. I came back repeatedly in varying light conditions. Using slow handheld shutter speeds between 1/10 and 1/30, I tried to capture the motion and dynamism of the water. It was like shooting fireworks, in the daytime. I did about a hundred exposures, each one different. I'll post four of my favorites, and await your reactions. PS- One of these might have been taken with a smaller-format camera. Can you spot it?
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-24-2023, 05:19 PM
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Olympus has had this feature for a while, and I find it very tempting.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
08-01-2023, 01:27 PM
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That's a good description of one of my favorite lenses! The sharpness of this kit zoom is apparent even before I enlarge an image beyond full screen display. Everything else is a special-purpose lens: wide, long or fast. Or magic, like the 31 Limited. The bokeh of the 28-105 is ok, bit nothing special. The 31 creates stronger contrasts of detail between focal point and background. The DOF seems narrower, and the images seem to come from a medium format system. It's true- you need a better lens to take blurrier photos.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
06-09-2023, 04:42 PM
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Well, the new K-1 ll arrived. On initial testing, it shows the same problem with my 11 Blackstone. The IRIX 15mm seems to be working normally on both. My 11mm is less than a year old, so I'll pursue a warranty claim on it, and return the K-1.
I'd prefer to stay with the IRIX brand for my real estate wideangle duties. The sharpness and distortion control is quite good. Laowa would be my other alternative, but I was unhappy with the Laowa 15mm shift lens I tested. Sharpness was poor away from center. The ergonomics were worse, and the lack of a focus lock adds greater chance of focus error on the job.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
06-07-2023, 04:17 PM
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More details on the problem:
- I'm shooting these brackets in RAW, in a tripod
- the problem only happens with my IRIX 11, not my IRIX 15mm
- in M mode, I'm doing a five-stop bracket either 1.0 or 1.5 EV apart
The problem comes when I select exposures above +1 EV, usually beyond 1 second. Switching between 1 and 1.5 second resulted in several stops of overexposure. In one scene, while set on 1 second, the rear preview screen switched itself rapidly between +1 and +4 exposure! This always happens with this lens, and I've also seen it with my K-3 lll.
Having wasted time and money checking out the K-1 ll, and buying and returning another IRIZ 11mm lens which did the same thing, I guess the only step left is to try another camera. So I've ordered a new K-1 ll from B&H (now with a free battery grip) to test that with the IRIX 11mm. If it works fine, I'll know that the old K-1 is faulty. Then comes another round with Precision repair. This is NOT the best part of my Pentax ownership experience.
Thanks for your ideas and suggestions.
---------- Post added 06-07-23 at 05:26 PM ----------
1) I'm indoors when this happens, away from strong lighting.
2) I've sprayed the lens contacts with electronics cleaner, with no change.
3) No way for me to check on this, but a new 11mm IRIX lens also showed the problem
4) I'm in M mode, ignoring the metering and judging exposure from the rear preview.
5) I'm shooting from a tripod, so no jiggles. Other lenses and brighter scenes show no problems.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
06-05-2023, 02:50 PM
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Here's a problem that's occurring with My K-1 ll and both mu IRIX wideangle lenses, the 11 and 15mm Blackstone models. I use these for real estate photos, mostly shooting HDR brackets of five frames each. I use a constant f9.5 and hyperfocal focusing. When those brackets reach one second or longer, in dim rooms, I'm getting inconsistent exposure behavior that messes up the smooth sequence of brackets. Both in M mode and with autobracketing, the problem shows up. The longer exposures seem to have a mind of their own, sometimes jumping two or more stops of exposure. I've even seen the aperture opening up wider, though I'm only manipulating the shutter speed dial. So I wind up shooting extra exposures and sorting out a suitable sequence of exposures in post.
Exposure brackets work fine at shorter outdoor exposure times.
The camera was just sent in to Precision's repair shop, but they couldn't duplicate the problem and returned it unrepaired. Perhaps I should have sent in an IRIX lens with it, but I didn't. As many have found out, communication with Precision is slow and bureaucratic, and I've lost patience with them. At this point, my choice seems to be to live with the problem, or buy a new K-1 ll and see how it behaves with my IRIX lenses. I love these lenses. The quality/cost equation is unbeatable, and the focus lock makes focusing errors a thing of the past. The K-1 ll has a killer feature that I won't be without, too- Composition Adjustment in camera, giving me significant perspective adjustments without the expense and bulk of a shift lens.
This is one of those times I wish I could visit the local camera shop stocked with Pentax products and see if "They all do that." Since that's not possible, I'll consult the collective wisdom of the Pentaxian community. Has anyone else ever seen this problem?
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
06-02-2023, 08:54 PM
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The 50-135, like most DA* lenses, has internal zoom and focus, so it doesn't have external zooming and rotating parts. That makes it inherently more weatherproof.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
05-19-2023, 08:00 PM
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I'm well aware of the possibility of cropping the edges from 2:3 format. That's what I was doing back in the darkroom when I wanted to maximize use of 8x10 paper with 35mm negatives, and I've kept on cropping that way ever since. But I always had a taste for 645 cameras, especially my old Fuji 645W with the vertical orientation built in. My recent experience with my micro four thirds camera reminded me of the benefits of framing the photo precisely, on the scene. Back home after the exposure, I can crop from either axis, but that's all. I can't step to one side or raise or lower the camera, because those decisions are already made. Viewing in 4:3, I could make all those choices of viewpoint simultaneously with choices in framing, which seems like a better way to work.
My attitude will probably change when the current cloudy weather clears. I may be able to appreciate an EVF in dimmer conditions, but in harsh Western sunlight, only an EVF is bright and realistic enough to show me the full scene and sell me on its possibilities. So I'll be keeping the Pentaxes for sometime to come.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
05-15-2023, 11:25 AM
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I could go on and on about my love of Pentax DSLRs and their lenses, but let's save that for another time. Yesterday, though, I wandered off the brand reservation and was reminded of the one thing I don't like so well about Pentax - the standard 3:2 aspect ratio. A shape inherited from the original Leica 35mm film camera, and not a common aspect ratio in traditional art. It wasn't designed or chosen, it was just convenient. And we've been grappling with it ever since.
For yesterday's expedition to sample the spring green within Clear Creek Canyon, near Denver, I brought along my second system, which consists of one micro four thirds camera and a few lenses. My Panasonic GX8, being mirrorless, can switch between several aspect ratios. Its native format, naturally, is 4:3. That's much closer to the shape of the 8x10 prints I made in art classes, and it still looks like "art" to me. It's especially attractive in vertical orientation, where the 2:3 format always looks elongated and unstable, foreign to the way human eyes experience the world. I also like 16:9 and 16:10, because they make a broad, sweeping statement.
For years I've gone out with my Pentaxes and captured loose-framed images that I take back to the computer to crop to other shapes, mostly 4:3. So it was a real revelation to open those GX8 images and see some (not all) perfectly framed images that I couldn't improve through subtraction. The experience of photography drew closer to the final result, and that's all good. Pentax will never provide that, but they could, simply by providing selectable overlay crop lines in the OVF for the 4:3 shape. Sadly, Pentax has gone in the opposite direction, and the K-3 lll lacks the 1:1 grid lines and display option found on the K-1. Square format is another world of interesting compositional possibilities. My Ricoh GRll gives me the choice of 4:3, (IIRC) and a Pentax 645 would have a similar aspect ratio baked in, but I can't get that in the kind of mainstream DSLR I prefer.
So yesterday's walk leaves me a little more ambivalent about my format future. Maybe this issue will finally tip the scales towards a mirrorless camera system? But wait, yesterday, was cloudy, with heavy skies. Perfect conditions for the Panasonic's EVF to raise contrast and beautify the scene. It's those other days, those bright sunny days when I hate EVFs for the way they crush DR and colors. So many cameras, and none of them get this right!
Does anyone else struggle with the 2:3 aspect ratio of our cameras? While you ponder, here's some harmonious, balanced 4:3 scenes.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
03-16-2023, 02:42 PM
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I experienced this phenomenon on my third trip to "The Canyon," when I arrived by tourist train at 11 am. At that hour on the South Rim, the light comes from right over your shoulder. Robbed of natural shadows, the canyon looks like a flat painting of itself. I could see how so many visitors might go away disappointed if they didn't stay longer. The light was just beginning to ripen when it was time for the "All Aboard" fr the trip back to Williams. I shoulda gotta room!
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Forum: Sold Items
12-08-2022, 05:43 PM
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Has Pentax ever made a wrong decision? I've seen veiling flare often when shooting towards the light. But no matter- keep on polishing, my friend.
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Forum: Sold Items
12-07-2022, 05:10 PM
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Why? Because I think real, functional lens hoods are a useful tool. It can keep your lens from getting wet or scratched, and blocks stray light from robbing contrast. Just Photo 101-level knowledge. Do hoods disturb you on other cameras? The buyer is certainly free to mount the OEM trim ring instead, which is included in the sale.
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Forum: Sold Items
12-05-2022, 06:12 PM
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