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Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals
4 Days Ago
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There are probably close to 5 billion smartphone users in the world, almost 99% of whom take photographs at least once a year(my personal authoritative WAG) . If 50 million of them also use something other than their phone to take photographs, that's just over 1% of all photographers). If Ricoh Imaging can sell half a million compact half-frame film cameras (a relatively successful product for them in this decade), that's only one percent of something-other-than-a-phone photographers (and 1/100 of a percent of all photographers in the world). That's marketing in the Internet Age, making a profit on a few thousandths of the total market.
There are lots of examples of photographers on this forum who buy non-Pentax photographic equipment to play around with; why not buy a film camera that is very different from their DSLRs and any old film cameras they still take out of the closet from time to time? What about the Canon, Nikon and Sony camera users who don't have something like this in their camera brand of preference? What about the hundreds of millions of smartphone users who have a little disposable income and a burning desire to try something new? As long as the new Pentax film camera works well and isn't outrageously priced, it will be a resounding success (by Ricoh Imaging standards, at least).
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-04-2024, 06:53 AM
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-11-2024, 12:30 AM
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I agree that the KF's release and naming was probably due to component availability and a desire to move on from the early K-70's aperture block issue.
For those who own a fully-functional K-70, I don't see any need to upgrade to the KF (unless it's to replace a broken or worn-out camera). For anyone else looking for a solid and capable lower-mid-range DSLR, the KF fits the bill nicely. At its current pricing - and taking into account how everything is a lot more expensive these days - I think it offers decent value for money. Yes, it's basically just a very mildly updated K-70 with new name - but it's a big step up from older cameras like your K-50.
My K-3 and K-3II will probably last me many more years, but if one of them should die soon, I'd quite happily consider the smaller and lighter KF as a replacement. Technically the AF would be a step backwards, but I never had any issues with the K-5's AF for my own use-cases...
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-10-2024, 06:54 PM
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I think the KF price has gone down since launch and now is basically what the K-70 was.
The KF is neither a failure nor an "upgrade", it's Pentax finding a way to continue offering the best entry level DSLR on the market. IMHO.
So the answer is "none of the above". It's just a great, affordable enthusiast camera.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
01-06-2024, 08:02 AM
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I agree, I love the colours. Whether it’s better than my canons I can’t say.
That K5 is something special I must say. I’m really wanting to go simple these days, so fed up of the constant push with canon to move up to the R stuff. I admit it’s fantastic, but it’s taken all the joy out of taking pictures. You know every single shot will be pin sharp and contrasty, I miss that slight apprehension of not knowing if you got it or not.
Remember how we used to mock those that had high end gear, but kept it on the ‘Green Square’ well for me the canon R system is the new Green Square, just point in the general direction and press the button - hey presto, you’ve got possibly 30+ images to select from, take your pick then move your hand over your shoulder and give yerself a pat, you pressed a button!!……well done lad!!
---------- Post added 01-06-24 at 03:15 PM ----------
My issues with zooms is I’m either at one end or the other, I seldom use the middle unless I make a concerted effort to do so, also the variable aperture is a pain unless you’ve bought a constant fixed aperture zoom, the 2.8’s are big, heavy and cumbersome whilst the slower F4’s are somewhat lighter, but make the wide end a slow alternative to a fixed faster prime. I used to shoot a pair of M50’s each had a fixed prime attached with another prime in the bag. I did similar with FF ran 2 6d’s with 28/1.8 and 85/1.8 again worked really well.
Definitely a love hate relationship - I should know I have dozens of canon zooms. The only one I use constantly is the mighty EF100-400Lii that’s permanently attached to a gripped 5diii for sons football matches, absolute beast of a lens but after 90mins handholding I’m more than ready for it to go back in its bag.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-09-2024, 08:53 AM
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Interchangeable viewfinders are a “pro thing” - if ‘user interface’ is not provided by the K-1, I doubt if it will be provided by the film SLR, and your price expectations are totally unreasonable; I don’t expect even the compact camera to meet them.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
08-23-2023, 12:04 AM
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I had an opportunity to visit Pentax Clubhouse on Aug/21. Last time I went there (about a year ago) it was still new and my visit was limited to 30 minutes. This time there was no such limitation, and I only saw two other customers during my ~1hour visit, which meant that I had more time to chat with the staffs there.
I first asked for cleaning and checking my K-3III, which was supposed to be JPY 3300 (there was a nice report by @ongaku99: Pentax Club House to open in Yotsuya, Tokyo). Even though I knew my K-3III sensor was in a good shape, I just wanted to experience what the service was like. To my surprise, the service staff looked at the sensor using a loupe and immediately said "Mr. kwb, the sensor looks pretty good, not many dusts, certainly no large ones. I'll still check things, but I won't charge you unless I clean the sensor. It will take about an hour." What? He'll work for an hour anyway, right? I won't complain if I'm charged JPY 3300 just for his time!
While waiting for the checkup, I saw a K-3III Monochrome (probably Matte Gray version) with 40mm Ltd on the display counter. I asked one of the staffs behind the counter if I can try it out, and he told me that I can put my SD card in the camera to keep the data. Cool, I thought, but the next thing he said was even cooler. "There aren't many subjects here, please feel free to go outside if you'd like." Maybe that's because he knew that my camera was still in the shop and they have my order form (for the cleanup work) with my name, cellphone number and address, but I was still struck by the trust they had on their customers. I left my backpack there (nobody told me to do so but I felt as if that was a fair "exchange") and went outside with K-3III monochrome. I didn't feel comfortable enough to go too far from the Clubhouse, so I stayed within ~100 meters (~110 yards) radius for maybe 10 minutes or so, but that was enough to have a lot of fun.
After coming back in, I continued to talk with the person who let me handle K-3III Monochrome. (Below is based on my memory, any errors are on me.)
Me: K-1 successor?
Clubhouse staff (CS): Working on it, but no news. Film compact might come first.
Me: Is there going to be the successor of DA* 60-250?
CS: Haven't heard of a plan for that, at the moment we're pointing customers to D-FA 70-210 or D-FA* 70-200.
Me: Is it really true that the development of DSLR and lens are NOT affected by the Film Project?
CS: It's true, film project is not delaying development of digital. They're different beasts and not much overlap.
(I actually had much longer conversation about the film VS DSLR, but I'll just skip it here except that I felt as if the K-1 successor is NOT something that could be brought to the market earlier by throwing person-power at it. That means, at least to me, that we won't see the next K-1 for some time, certainly not this year, but I could be wrong.)
There was one thing that was bugging me for some time, that is, the youtube video titled "What Pentax Values Most in the Future Cameras" was made private at some point. That video was released at the same time as the Pentax brand statement (and the Five Principles of Pentax). You might remember a thread about that (What Pentax Values Most in Future Cameras). If you click the link to the video, you'll see "video is private" error message.
Youtu.be
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src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-tOfTmF7ahs?controls=1" allowfullscreen>
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Is that because Ricoh's direction is not well aligned with the video any more, or something else that is somehow a sure sign of an imminent Doom? :) I didn't say that to him but I simply asked why the video was pulled. Another (third) staff was pulled into conversation and apparently this was a surprise for both of them.
After a while, one of them said "oh, it could be the model release issue". Model what? He asked me if I remember that the video featured a white male model posing with a camera in his hands. OK, I did remember that. He told me that there was a poster featuring the same model, and that poster had to be pulled because the contract for the model was only for a limited time and RI didn't extend the contract. He said there could have been the same issue for the video, too, and Ricoh could have chosen not to extend the contract as the video has served its purpose well to deliver the message to the intended audience. Though I've never imagined that the model contract could expire in just 3 years, it sounded convincing to me, and I was happy to know that this was not a bad omen at all.
At this point the first (service) staff came back, saying that my camera was good. He cleaned the camera here and there, removed small dusts from the sensor (but he didn't charge me, so I guess he just blew them off using blower?). He also checked focus of the camera with my DA* 16-50 PLM (which was good) and updated the firmware from 2.00 to 2.01. That's a lot of work for no money charged! I was a happy customer.
I bought two D-LI109 batteries for my KP (I also wanted to buy Q batteries but they don't have any in stock), thanked them all, and left the Clubhouse. That was a great experience.
Attached are some of the pictures I shot with K-3III Monochrome. The first one is the wall of the Clubhouse displaying monochrome prints shot with K-3III Monochrome. The second and the third are where they were demolishing a small building, the way rubble and things are neatly contained and the way they're working in a tight space looked very Tokyo-like to me.
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
05-11-2023, 01:06 PM
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The complete Sunpak film era DX Series!
I have posted a similar picture to this before, but before I had the complete series. All use (or can use) a camera dedication module - a loose one is near the bottom left. Most of my modules are for Pentax (with a low trigger voltage safe on a digital camera), but those with a red ring on the 30DX and 36DX are single pin generic modules. The DX series was sold from about 1988 to 2005 and was quality kit, rivalling Mecablitz, and all mine are all in mint or near condition from Ebay.
The 555 hammerhead is there because it was also sold as the G4500DX - Sunpak had inconsistent naming. The monster 622 never had a "DX" name but it uses the same modules and was contemporary. Absent, but arguably should be here, is the rare and now expensive bare bulb 120J which also uses the modules and has a very similar body to the 36DX.
The 622 has a EXT-11 multi core lead plugged in, which plugs at its other end into a module in the camera hot-shoe. These are so rare that I have never seen one on Ebay other than the one I bought. It also fits the 555/G4500DX. It seems that the 555 and 622 were sold with a simple non-dedication PC sync lead (there is one on the 555) and most users never upgraded with the EXT-11 and module, which is a shame.
Clockwise from top left : Auto DX 8R ring flash, Auto 555 hammerhead with PC sync lead, Auto 622 Pro System hammerhead with EXT-11 sync lead and module, AD-27 mains adaptor, Auto DX 12R ring flash, Auto 36DX, Auto 30DX, Auto 28 DX, Auto 24DX, a loose module, EXT-10 extension lead
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Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals
03-22-2023, 05:46 PM
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The business model is different here.
Sort of like public radio, supported by member donations, rather than commercial support. As long as there are people like us who don’t mind tossing a few bucks in the hat so we can discuss our passion and share the results of our work, it should thrive.
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Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals
03-21-2023, 10:27 AM
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A real shame in my view.
I have had my issues with DPR in the past, but shrinking resources for photographers in general is not something i welcome.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
11-25-2022, 03:28 PM
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with tiny visitor.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
11-25-2022, 05:28 PM
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Wednesday I took a 2 hour boat ride on the St. Johns River from Blue Springs State Park in Florida. IIRC this was the first photo of a bald eagle that I have taken in my >50 years of photography. Even at 270mm it was pretty far away, and small in the original image, but even with major cropping it turned out better than I expected.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
11-25-2022, 06:07 PM
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One of the later lantana blooms of the season just a short time before the frost.
The late autumn sun shot a nearly horizontal ray beneath the next door tree.
Angky.
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
11-23-2022, 06:09 AM
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Hi---
I've been a Pentax camera user for far too long to mention. I have lots of Pentax kit. I upgraded from my K5iis to K3iii and now I really miss the straightforward ergonomics of the K5iis (I doubt the K3iii can ever replace the K5iis in my heart). I suppose I will have to join the forum to find out how this new complex camera actually works. Nowadays I mostly shoot birds using the excellent 150-450.
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
11-18-2022, 11:38 PM
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Hello Everyone
So, looking at my inbox it seems I registered on here in 2011…
Anyhow, I’m back and hope to contribute more regularly…
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
11-16-2021, 05:49 PM
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As a young U.S. Navy photographer in the early 1970s, the C330 was the go-to medium format camera, and was used for all manner of daily tasks, hand-held, and usually with a Strobonar 880 attached as a handle and light source. I'm 6'5" tall, and I remember crawling up into the very end of the tail of a Lockheed P-3 sub hunter-killer to photograph airframe corrosion. There was barely room to move my elbows, but I got that C330 wiggled up into place and got it focused with one hand while I held the Honeywell flash with the other and managed to get the shots we needed. There was another assignment where a crane pulley about 35' up in the air cracked in half with the cable wedged solidly into it. I used the 180mm and the Strobonar again, hand-held. The shadow-free image was amazing. It was one of the few I wish I'd kept a copy of after all these years. I don't recall ever using one with a tripod in the field.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
11-19-2021, 06:37 PM
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You bring up a point that's stuck in my craw since the invention of auto-exposure... maybe since the inclusion of a light meter in the camera body. Once upon a time, in order to be a photographer, one must have had more than a passing understanding of physics, optics, chemistry, and the properties of light as well as an art education, and perhaps other disciplines such as journalism, advertising, the physical sciences, or some other trade. Being a "photographer" inferred a modicum of education, knowledge, training, and experience.
With the advent of automation, each of those disciplines required for photography has been taken over my mechanization. Now, by selecting the green box, you can allow some programmer to have complete control over the camera. At what point does camera automation replace the knowledge that was once necessary for being a photographer?
I like the mechanical cameras because I select the film speed, shutter speed, aperture, point of focus, and depth of field because I want them to come together for a specific "look." Someone with a P&S that looks like an SLR controls none of those things.
It's a debate that has gone on since the buggy whip was made obsolete of course... but the "KISS" meme refers to the camera being transparent in the photographer's process of making the image, not the camera being in control of the process. In my opinion sorting through menus to have to make basic settings, or override the camera's programming to do what I want it to do is neither intuitive nor "simple."
And there you have it; the Gospel of KISS according to me. :lol:
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
11-19-2021, 07:19 AM
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Always when I see one of those cameras from the days when I started photography, I am struck by their elegant simplicity. Shutter speed and aperture, what more is necessary technically to make a good image (excluding the beyond camera elements of lighting, subject, composition). With just about any and all moderns DSLR's, it's almost impossible to remember all of the pre-shutter-press options available, and for me, only rarely time enough to set the more obscure, but probably useful options at the moment a photo-op presents itself. Does that huge menu of settings incline us to spend more time setting the camera than thinking about, subject-lighting-composition?
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
01-03-2022, 12:52 PM
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My current collection of Pentax cameras and lenses.
It took me a total of more than 2 days to take this photo.
I first had to gather all my cameras and lenses from closets, drawers and camera bags.
Immediately tested and cleaned everything.
All cameras work, except for 3 of them where the light meter does not work.
From leftover oak wood I made the stands for the cards and then I wrote all the cards.
Then I made the background and the setup from wooden planks that I had cut earlier today for this.
Photo taken with my Nikon D700 with the AF-D 85mm f1.4
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Forum: General Talk
12-08-2021, 01:52 PM
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Distance is always protection.
At the store, I try to arrange myself & my shopping cart so as to maintain .social distancing', especially from other shoppers who don't have the sense to mask.
They probably feel brave and superior - I don't care; I don't need to feel brave. Every so often we hear about a motorcycle rider who was killed - no helmet on that brave head.
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
11-17-2021, 01:27 AM
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I use this method too. I have films from over ten years and they are as the first day.
What should be forbidden are the film washers using flowing water, like Paterson Force Film Washer, Jobo Cascade and others...
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
11-16-2021, 01:13 PM
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One of the things many people do after they have drained the fixer out of their developing tank is to open the lid and put the tank under a tap and let water run into it for 20 minutes or so.
This is a big waste of water, and is completely unnecessary.
Here is what I did, based on advice I got from, IIRC, the late Fred Picker of Zone VI studios.
This works for both inversion tanks and rotary tube tanks.
If you are using a rotary processor, leave the tank on the processor.
The first thing you want to know is how much liquid is retained by the film, reels and tank. An easy way to find out is to measure how much volume your first bath (usually developer, though some people pre rinse with water) is, and then measure how much you pour off.
For the sake of the discussion, let's say the film retains 10ml of moisture.
So, we know when we pour off the fixer, there is still ~10ml of fixer remaining in the film.
We want to know this more for curiosity's sake than anything else.
Now, we are going to wash the film with multiple tanks of water, rather than just pouring water past the film.
The fresh water going into the tank will, in about 30 seconds, diffuse as much chemistry out of the film as it is going to, so double that time for the sake of making sure, and do each tank rinse for 1 minute.
Each tank rinse will allow 10ml of moisture to remain in the film, so the remaining moisture will be no more than 10% of the original amount, as long as we have enough tank volume to allow it to happen. In this example, about 100ml/ film would be sufficient tank volume, which is probably not that far off for rotary tubes, inversion tanks tend to be 250ml or more per film, so no worries there.
Your first tank of wash water will leave ~1ml of fixer in the film as the fixer diffuses into the wash bath, your second tank of wash water will allow ~1/10 ml of fixer to remain, your third tank will leave ~1/100 ml of fixer and on and on.
It shouldn't take more than half a dozen tank rinses to deplete the fixer level to the point that there isn't going to be a measurable amount of it left in the film.
We can see that by using this method we can wash the film very quickly, half a dozen 1 minute rinses can be easily accomplished within 10 minutes, but more importantly, the amount of water being used goes down considerably. A few liters of water is all that is required to thoroughly wash an inversion tank carrying 2 rolls of 35mm film or 1 roll of 120 film, for example.
We can also be sure that the temperature of the wash water is correct, which will limit emulsion damage due to rapid temperature swings.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
11-17-2021, 11:38 AM
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The only problem might be the focal range which doesn't cover wide angle.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-23-2021, 03:48 AM
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Regardless of the size of the marked and production costs, the K-3III is not expensive considering what it does and how it is built. There are those who seem to think that a camera is too expensive if it cost more money than they are able or willing to spend regardless...
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-22-2021, 04:43 AM
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My admiration for looking after your little doggy, and his (or her) undying affection :D
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