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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-30-2019, 11:06 PM
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Forum: Pentax Price Watch
08-17-2017, 10:57 PM
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thanks LukeOB for the heads up!! DCxpert always been a great one to buy from.
A 20-40 and 8-16 now on their way. I was only at CRK this arvo too - could've saved postage and the waiting had I known earlier.
But now need to sell DA* 300 and 15 limited to pay for them.....
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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
12-13-2014, 10:53 PM
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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
12-09-2014, 05:18 PM
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Marvelous. But whats my chance from one little post...:-)
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Forum: Pentax Price Watch
02-27-2013, 03:10 AM
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they are generally fine to buy from. But they have a reputation that when something goes wrong, their 'Australian warranties' are non-existent....
In fact their whole customer service is rumored to be non-existent.
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Forum: Pentax Price Watch
02-26-2013, 11:40 PM
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
12-20-2012, 12:43 AM
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thanks for suggestions
Jatrax, I've continued to try a few different options as suggested;
whether burst mode is on or off makes little difference;
if I turn the power on and wait 10 seconds to take a shot, it is only slightly dark;
so I then changed the batteries - although the Energiser Lithiums were only recently installed (but before problem occurred), and no issue. Put the old ones back in and reoccured, but not as dark as before.....
K0og, thanks but as per initial post it was occurring on other lenses also, so knew it wasn't that.
My guess is insufficient power is getting to the sensor for the first shot. But if that is the case; why is the second shot in less than 1/2 a second ok, but if I leave the camera on for 10 seconds before the first shot it is still darker than the following ones. I wonder how the power is being delivered........???
But, hopefully when I call CR Kennedy tomorrow, they have received the shipment of K5 iis they've been waiting for. The the K-x can be relegated to my stand-by camera before I go away :-)
(they only ordered 20 units from Pentax to see if there was any interest from the Aust market before committing, and then couldn't any for a couple of months after selling them in nothing flat....)
thanks
Andrew
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
12-19-2012, 03:06 AM
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In the last couple of weeks, when turning the camera on and shooting, the first photo is dark, as though under exposed, all others after it are fine. I can turn the camera off and back on, and still ok, but when left for a while and then turn on and shoot, one dark frame. I always have continuous shooting switched on, and I'll take a burst of photos so I'm not loosing the shot, but its just concerning me incase something is about to go wrong with the camera...
Comparing EXIF data between first and second shots in a sequence shows no difference, and batteries are good. The same occurs with different lenses. Setting is currently on Auto, but haven't tried M, Tv or Av.
Any suggestions why it might be happening?
Thanks
Andrew
Pentax K-x, firmware 1.03, 3 yrs old
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Forum: Visitors' Center
10-10-2012, 07:20 PM
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I had the same problem with a 170-500 lens bought off ebay. If the lens was held in a certain way, the AV setting would reappear. (This is a little easier to do with a long lens than the shorter kit lens). when held with F--- appearing, the lens was still usable and the camera would respond to various light intensities.
But it told me the problem lay with the mount on the lens. The mount was bent just so slightly that the contact pin was getting erratic contact. The mount was replaced and all good since.
As this is occurring on two lenses for you, I wonder if the same problem has occurred, but instead on the mount on the camera. Is it possible a lens was knocked whilst mounted to the camera, or maybe a bit too rough when changing lenses? Is a mount on another manual lens damaged, which in turn damaged the camera mount (which you wouldn't know till mounting an auto lens)?
Cheers Andrew
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
02-26-2012, 08:06 PM
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Well, I ended up taking it into CR Kennedy. As soon as the tech looked at it, he said the mount was damaged. (I couldn't anything obvious, but they could). So two weeks and $143 later, the mount is replaced and the aperture setting is back. All good.
Thanks to all for replies
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
02-10-2012, 04:10 AM
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No idea. He 'says' it was was never dropped, and was fine on his K200, but really, who knows. The images taken seem ok, sharp, focusing etc.
I haven't ruled anything out - if I need to demand a refund, then I will. Just seeing what my options are first....
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
02-10-2012, 12:31 AM
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Ok....
I had a bit more of a play.....
When mounting the lens, it 'feels' as thought the flange closest to the contacts is the tight one. I also found the plastic inside the body was marked/rubbed at that point.
The rear cap supplied is different to any others I have, and not an original Sigma one. So I grabbed an original sigma one, and it too is very tight to fit. It also pushes away slightly from the flange closest to the contacts - which doesn't occur on my other sigma lenses. So gut feel is that that is the problem. I'm also thinking if that one flange is not quite right, it is forcing the contacts away so not engaging right, which is why if holding in a certain manner or tapping the lens a bit results in the setting flashing up and disappearing again. (yes this is all conjecture and I'm theorizing)
So lets say that is the case.......
Is it reasonable to assume if I could get my hands on another very cheap Sigma lens off ebay, say an old AF kit lens, I could swap the mount plates. (sigma since screw holes will align etc) or is that unlikely to match exactly?
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
02-09-2012, 03:54 PM
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Thanks,
Cleaning the contacts was the first thing I did - although I used a microfibre cloth rather than pencil eraser. (I know everyone says a pencil eraser, but it is still a vegetable oil based product isn't it - aren't oil based products bad for connections?)
The cloth did bring a lot of gunk off, and enabled the intermittent flashing up of the aperture on the screen.
All other lens run ok, so hadn't done the camera - but yes, makes sense to give that a whirl also.
The lens definitely clicks into the correct position, and seats correctly.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
02-09-2012, 01:01 PM
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I purchased a used Sigma 170-500 off ebay. When picking it up yesterday, visually it all seemed ok.
I've tried it on two K-x bodies with same results - it is a very stiff/tight fit to mount, needing that little bit more force than normally to twist, and the aperture doesn't display on the screen when in A mode. If I tap the lens a little, it will flash up and then disappear again. As though the contact pin isn't making contact. Running my finger over the contacts feels as though the aperture contact actually sit higher than the rest though. manually setting the aperture still works.
Could both issues be related - the tight mounting is affecting the contact?
Is it possible (for a novice) to adjust the mount to make it that little looser?
If I remove the ring to clean the pin contacts (sticky tape on outside on pins to keep in place as suggested elsewhere) are there any other little surprises behind the ring I should be aware of?
Any other suggestions please?
Thanks
Andrew
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Forum: Pentax K-01
02-02-2012, 12:30 AM
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thats not fair.....according to the count down timer, it's after my beddie byes time. I'll have to wait even longer till tomorrow......:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-19-2011, 11:51 PM
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I've also been throwing around the idea of a 50-500 or 150-500, but since reading a number of threads, this one included of course, a fast 300 is moving up the list.... A 300 f/4 DA* would set me back a bit less than the bigma, but no hope of a Sigma 300mm or larger
However, I was looking at the zooms simply for that zoom function - being able to frame the shot better, without having maybe crop later in post. Being a complete amateur (but trying to improve) and thinking zoom is better, when using a prime 300, what do users do if too close or too far away to fill the frame? Will the sharpness make up for the cropping, as opposed to being able to zoom in further maybe maybe softer at a 500 limit. (hope that makes sense)
edit - would be on a k-x now, with intention to upgrade 2012 if a nice k-5 replacement, or FF comes out
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-16-2011, 08:34 PM
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Twitch - which shop in Melb was that? I wouldn't mind seeing if they still have it?
Andrew
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
02-15-2011, 12:27 AM
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First comp entry....
A Galah Cockatoo sits proudly on his throne, surveying his lands. Taken at the Pinnacles In Western Australia.
Andrew
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
01-13-2011, 05:48 PM
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Ok...so my original belief was correct - the larger the glass diameter, the more the light coming in.....but thats only part of the big picture (excuse the pun)
The lens itself is a Tamron 371D, which is the centre one at Tamron 28-200 differences
So if I understand correctly, the larger glass diameter on this is fairly superfluous as the aperture range is 3.8-22. The larger glass would be better suited to a lower aperture? Which could be why the follow model was reduced to 62mm?
Rondec - yes, I was finding better images on the other lenses than this - sharper, improved colour
Andrew
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
01-12-2011, 11:59 PM
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Hi again.
Another noob question....
The DA L 28-55 lens that came with my K-x takes a 52mm filter, my 100-300 zoom is 55mm, and I'm looking at a 28-200 72mm Tamron.
What benefits are there for going to larger 'diameter' lenses. I would've thought to do with the amount of light entering, but I tried the 18-55 and the tamron 28-200 both at 28, and the 100-300 and again tamron 28-200 both at 200mm, and got the same automatic shutter speed and aperture.
Why would I/should I/shouldn't I go larger?
Thanks
Andrew
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
01-11-2011, 04:48 AM
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Thanks for those explanations, that makes a lot more sense now.
As for the DAL/DA, I guess I'll happily hang on the DAL 18-55 i now have, and just look at zooms and wide angles.
Thanks all
Andrew
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
01-11-2011, 02:27 AM
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Hi all.
Firstly, thanks for such a great site. I've been lurking here for quite a while, learning up.
Unfortunately (?), there is so much info here, finding what I'm after through a search can also be difficult:lol:
So, can someone explain a few things about lenses please?
I had a MZ-50 back in the day, which came with a Sigma 28-80 and a 100-300. Both are a little 'clunky' but did the job.
I got a K-x in 2009 with the DA L 18-55 lens, but kept the Sigma 100-300. I'm now looking at improving on the lenses, or at very least the zoom.
I understand the 35mm lenses are affected by image crop due to sensor size vs film size etc. Thus the 100-300mm is really something like 150-450mm (in basic explanation)?
What isn't clear to me is when I look at a DA L or DA lens, which were made for DSLR, is the "18-55" nomination still relative to a film camera, or is that now including compensation for the sensor.
Thus if I go out and get a 55-300mm, is it 300mm for a film and 450mm for digital, or effectively 200mm for film and 300mm for digital?
(does that make sense?????)
Secondly, the differences between DA and DA L???
DA is metal, DA L plastic parts, DA has this zoom lock thing etc. But is there any actual difference in the glass or mechanism etc? Is a DA going to give a better picture than a DA L?
Thanks
Andrew
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