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Forum: Pentax Compact Cameras
03-13-2012, 10:06 PM
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I'm sure so many of the Pentax products are good. In fact, I advise folks still to get a point and shoot Pentax that is waterproof etc. But...
The now discontinued X90 super zoom of mine is defunct. I once had a Canon S1iS that lasted years, many years, the X90 less than two. This camera made it a little past warranty. I see now why they were discontinued. Loaded with features, unbelievable zoom but it has gone bonkers. I could have done without 90% of the features for a working camera.
My Pentax K1000 still works. (36 years old) My three Canon Rebel's all work and one is the first ever made. My Canon S1is went bad (another super zoom)...but the X90 shut down in no time. I think Pentax would like to forget they ever sponsored it with the Pentax name. I guess I did not get my $300 worth out of it. I bought it to return to the Pentax name I missed having on a camera. My latest is a Canon T2i with Tamron 180mm prime lens.
So goodbye to my X90. I think the bottom of the bay may be a good place for it..get the flash to go off, curse it, then throw it in, in front of others. Naaa..that's polluting. My sympathies, empathies, to others who may have ended up as I have with a camera that went bad way before it should.
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
02-28-2012, 05:06 AM
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Photog 101. Yep, coming back to me now. I think I have chosen the best lens for the money f 3.5 and 180mm prime. It should get me up close, low noise, low blur, and with the 18 mp camera, just maybe I can pull out a portion of the shot as if I were zooming in on it without much loss of resolution. That is the plan. Equipment will be here today.
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
02-26-2012, 11:33 PM
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When you speak of a "fast" lens. Are you referring to the maximum opening size of the aperture?
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
02-26-2012, 10:40 AM
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Yes, I will be cropping the photos. I will use cropping like a "post zooming". I understand zooms in my price range, and I have owned several cheap ones cause noise. Noise is the enemy I seek to eliminate and resolution to a computer screen is most important, not to paper printing.
What I'm looking for I have seen produced on the computer screen and I am hoping by the above described lens I will finally be there. Sigma produces what I want, I will see if Tamron comes close.
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
02-23-2012, 08:47 AM
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I am looking towards buying a 180mm or so prime telephone lens for my DSLR.
I do know from this site that Sigma produces the resolution I want as compared to Vivitar but what about Tamron? Would Tamron be up there with Sigma or down there with Vivitar for producing tack sharp images on a computer screen after a photo is taken at 18mp and 24mm sensor? I sure like the Tamron price compared to Sigma but have no comparison unless you can steer me towards on or just give your opinion.
One other question please. Does Pentax make lenses that fit other brands of cameras? I do own two Pentax cameras but one is 35 years old and the other even though fairly new...the x90 was discontinued right after I bought it! It of course cannot produce the results I am now looking for due to small sensor size and being a zoom cam. I am wanting that freak out sharpness the eye cannot see without a camera lens taking the image to medium first.
Thanks in advance....standing by.
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
01-02-2012, 07:50 AM
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Leavenworth, WA
Pentax X90
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Forum: Pentax Compact Cameras
09-30-2011, 10:39 PM
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I searched for no zoom and nope..all are zoom at varying degrees. Got to take my word for it. With no zoom this photo would have been a mass of torn up pilings at a hurricane ravaged yacht club with tiny little birds as specks in the background. I was able to zoom in...even used digi zoom and capture what I think is called an oyster catcher. (they don't eat oysters) Even with a heartbeat shaking this camera, you can keep hitting the shutter release and one will turn out. Zero in your quarry, hold your breath like shooting a gun, and fire off repeated shots...at least one will be clear, the rest blurred by the zoom. Finally...I have a zoom that works. My old Pentax K1000 never did with a huge, long telephoto lens on it. Always the photos, no matter what the settings were fuzzy...yes, cheap stuff but this camera is also cheap stuff that cost less than one lens in 1974..add inflation..omg...we are talking so little money.
If you know if the statement is true above that this cam has been discontinued please let me know. the x90. I am baffled. I thought I found a jewel of a camera beyond anything I've owned since childhood, yet Pentax has dumped it? (first cam was a dual lens reflex) for all you young folks, that is one you look down on a box with its lid open and your shutter release was directly attach to the shutter. 110mm film. Things are much better now. Those things were difficult.
jb
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
09-30-2011, 10:25 PM
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Omgoosh..I got it. Yes, it was my Rebel. Thought it was wide open to any camera. Got it. My cam is now only x90 and I am in wonder why someone on this forum told me it is discontinued. Had it been birds as the subject I could have posted a fine example of what that camera can do. I don't know for sure if it has been dumped by Pentax and of course it is just a pitiful little sub dslr but once learned of its capabilities it works well. I've reversed, gone from several DSLR's back to it. My first one was a Canon in that realm but had many many problems. The x90 seems to solved all that. I cannot imagine why Pentax would drop it even though I also heard it was not actually made by Pentax, just some marketing thing to get their name on what is called: Super zoom, bridge camera, hybrid..on and on. I could write reams of why this camera is the one to buy for so many but it seems those with slr backgrounds must stay in that realm even though the x90 is so versatile they can have the best of both worlds in one cheap package.
Thank you for letting me know why my pic did not go through. I didn't even think of the exclusive Pentax thing which makes sense.
jb
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
09-24-2011, 11:37 PM
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Well, I just checked my last submission and there is a photo...??? What am I doing wrong? I submit the post with photo yet still get messages that I my submission cannot be found.
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Forum: Pentax Compact Cameras
09-07-2011, 03:59 PM
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Now that I'm not traveling as much my latest shoots have been on a bay at a yacht club that has many damaged piers due to hurricanes. Lee just beat them up some more. With no walking decks but plenty of pilings in the basin the birds perch by hundreds on what is left of the piers. Unless you are in a boat you cannot get close to them so I am using the super zoom feature of my X90 to get close ups of birds in interesting positions as they dry off, preen, and rest. I am even using the very very strong zoom of digital mode which in the past with other cameras has resulted in much less than acceptable results. I am very glad to report that the little X90 is a super camera. Even holding the camera by hand on full digital/optical zoom I can get clear detailed shots thanks to the anti shake feature. At this high zoom the subject is shaking like crazy in my view finder but at least one out of every five shots in good sunset light will come out with clear detail. I never thought it would happen and have always told others to not bother to use their digital zoom capability. Not any more.
This camera allows for hundreds of shots at any size, up to 12 mp each, has long battery life, and is a breeze to operate in manual giving it the feel and technique of a DSLR. To buy a lens that powerful for a DSLR I can only imagine may cost very much. For all the features (most I don't use) and light portability it is truly worth its relatively small price.
I bought the camera not knowing much at all about it but being an old hat and big fan of the champ Pentax K1000, I just wanted to see PENTAX on my camera again. It has been a very good surprise to find it out shoots my previous hybrids, super zooms, whatever you want to call this class of camera and gives a run especially for the money to my huge DSLR's. Until camera fever strikes again, the Pentax X90 is my camera.
:D
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
09-07-2011, 03:43 PM
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This is one of a few surviving trees that made it through the Mt. St. Helens eruption. Although 30 years old it is very small due to the lack of nutrients in the soil just a couple miles from the volcano. It survived by being so small during the blast it was below ground. Prior to the eruption this area was covered in thick tall conifer trees.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
05-10-2011, 07:29 AM
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Very good points indeed. I am thinking now maybe I can stay with my cheaper cams as they work but get a better way to show their stuff...say an Ipad. What I wonder now...new topic is how to edit photos on an Ipad vs. laptop.
Yep..f stop is 4 or 5 at lowest on x90...it does a fine macro and with luck a fair zoom shot. I think I will hang tight till the old Rebel breaks. I've lost one to I guess wearing out...a Canon s1..my first digital but what fun to be set free of film and the dark room. Those chems about killed me. It is a digi world for sure.
Thanks all.
Heading for a shoot in the Hoh rain forest and up the Columbia River today. How cool is that?
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Forum: Pentax Compact Cameras
05-08-2011, 10:04 AM
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You can also check your charger with a volt meter.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
05-08-2011, 12:26 AM
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Ahhh, all good advice. Two things stand out for me....sensor size and lens quality. Big sensor and high grade lens. I will review these replies and figure out maybe the last camera I will ever buy.
Thanks....now to another forum or something. This laptop just got hit by something claiming to be Vista virus protection. Totally locked up the computer. I'm running off a restore point right now but not working well at all.
May have to swipe this thing clean and reload with disc. Oh lord I guess that means all day updates.
Hope you folks out there did not get this very nasty virus I just got today. It is bad news.
Back to matter at hand...I have no expensive lenses, so whatever the camera all i get is midocre reulat.
Thanx again. (my lil x90 is looking better every day)..
jb
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
05-06-2011, 09:03 AM
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I am an old K1000 owner and always proud of my simple rugged no auto anything camera. I had others but my K1000 was my favorite camera.
Fast forward 30 years. I now have a new x90 and very pleased with it but my main DSLR is an old Canon Rebel XT. Would buying a Pentax K7, (if available) and if not what is its current equivalent?...be a move with any improvement over the Canon XT? The only feature I want to improve is clarity of shots either electronically or from better glass. I'm still in the downside of what I can afford...less than $1,000 for cam and lens.
So boiled down question...Would I be changing much of anything in quality to buy a current Pentax model similar to the Canon Rebel DSLR or do they produce about the same clarity for no more than an 8x10 photo?
I don't want to lay out the cash just to have the name Pentax on it. There will never be another K1000 but I'm kinda looking for a DSLR that would be my K1000 SLR in modern format but that probably does not apply...whole different photo world now.
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Forum: Pentax Compact Cameras
05-06-2011, 08:47 AM
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I have bought a new battery then find it defective...won't hold charge. Maybe you just got a bad one. Can u exchange for another. If third one does same...charger is bad. You can test the batt with a volt meter after charging. If it shows proper output it probably took the charge.
Off subject but I have two batts for my x90..original and and a spare. I have never seen a camera operate so long on a battery. What a pleasant surprise with this camera.
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Forum: Ask B&H Photo!
05-06-2011, 08:42 AM
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I go back to K1000 days and would like to move to say K7 but I have a Canon Rebel XT that is like new. Would that camera with it's one lens, and charger be worth anything on a trade or should I just donate it. I gave away my Rebel D300 after finding the bag it was in was worth more than the camera. Maybe the XT is the same.
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Forum: Pentax Compact Cameras
04-23-2011, 10:26 PM
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Yes, I understand, but having a direct shot to and x90 discussion I thought that just maybe those who wonder upon the forum would be more apt to offer their experiences with the camera. If they did a google on the x90 it could bring them directly to a place with specifics about this type of camera instead of wading through to find it and missing the boat because they don't realize they're camera is under compact point and shoot. Some forums have become so huge in various topics subjects become very specific to topics. This one shall grow and like you said, for now just use what is available. It's all good. I appreciate this one, as others exist. I learn a bunch from them no matter what the format.
jb
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Forum: Pentax Compact Cameras
04-22-2011, 10:33 PM
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I agree. Bridge is a good name and almost synonymous with hybrid. My problem is $. I have my x90 which replaced my Canon S1. I have my Rebel XT which replaced my Rebel 300D...so no big deal difference between any of them. I just want to settle down with a forum discussion area for us folks who have the bridge cams and the cheap DSLR's in hopes to boost our abilities within our limitations. I don't have a home in the forum. It is like either you have this fantastic stuff or you are just sharing snapshots from a cheap camera. I'm trying to push the envelope....push these low end cameras to the max..or am I just dreaming here? I did a shoot today with sooo many settings off the x90 on a sunset. No processing yet. If I don't get something really cool, I'll give up and just take my snapshots....yet..some of the work I do gets rave reviews and I'm wondering if others with just the camera I have..the x90 are learning secrets about it that boost its capabilities...there are sooo many settings on this thing it would be nice to confine a discussion area just for this camera.
jb
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Forum: Pentax Compact Cameras
04-21-2011, 11:29 PM
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What you say here is why I appealed for a special section for the x90 since it is so unique unto itself but was turned down, nope, must stay in the section of compact p&s. No one in their right mind would buy an x90 wanting a point and shoot compact camera because neither it is. Soo many names have been pinned on these cameras. I stick with "hybrid." The only thing I ask for from the manufacturers is to get the sensor bigger.
There is no bridge here. You are stuck with your cheap lens on the x90. No filter will change that. But..with enough shots and persistence of shooting some fine results can happen. But...so much of what we want to photograph is only available for a second. To reach in a huge bag of lenses, grab the right one, figure out what settings are best, etc. the shot is gone. The ever ready x90 helps with that problem of getting that shot fast.
I wish we had a section for this camera to share experiences of how to make it perform to its max by focusing on its capabilities and short comings to get that one shot out of a hundred. How was it set, what were the conditions, when it was shot, all info placed here to lend info to those who have either left DSLR back to a hybrid or moved up from a p&s to a hybrid. They truly are in their own little category yet it seems so few people use them compared to the other ends of the spectrum they so are dismissed into the polarization of two kinds of cameras...DSLR/Compact There are now DSLR's smaller than an x90 so how are they compact? Try sticking one in your shirt pocket.
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Forum: Site Suggestions and Help
04-19-2011, 12:59 PM
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As the x70 and x90 gets more traffic here and with all the new cameras to come that are hybrids. Could you please start a section just for those who have the cameras that really do not belong in point and shoot and have so many features and special factors it would be so nice to go there to share ideas and help one another with these cameras.
Some are even offended when you ask DSLR questions and have an x90 as if you are in the wrong place but I have owned DSLR and SLR cameras for 40 years and these cameras are so similar to them yet different in ways it would be great to have our own category.
I'm asking all you owners of what they call "super zooms", "hybrids," to join with me in voting to have a special little section here. Can I set up a voting thread? or will you?
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Forum: Pentax Compact Cameras
04-19-2011, 12:45 PM
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I've had my x90 for a couple of months and growing to like it more and more. I had a Canon hybrid for years and liked it very much but I suspect a young one got hold of it and..well destruction. The price was right on the x90 and like others here I got tired of carrying around this huge bag of lenses for my DSLR Canon that is monster sized...(old Rebel EOS XT) I can now do a great macro, wide angle, general shots, darn good flash, focus assist, and a super duper zoom from one camera although of course with nothing near the quality of the high price stuff. It was disappointing that they did not put the larger new generation sensor in the x90 but that's another story.
I do find a lot about the camera confusing though even though I've been doing photography and studying it for 40 years. I want a forum section just for us. What do you say? Everyone suggest we get released from point and shoot...x90 is not a point and shoot by any means...and be able to share experiences and exchange ideas and understandings of how this camera which is unto itself a kind of camera. I call them hybrids not PandS. If you this camera a a prism to see out the lens it would be a DSLR. (single lens reflex) is all that means. I would be willing to call is a DSLDR digital single lens with digital view finder. It has all the settings of all the SLR's I've owned...(3) so why they call it a point and shoot I don't know. My DSLR can point and shoot too. Kodak Instamatic..now that was a point and shoot. What was that so popular Canon..the 35mm powershot? Now that was a point and shoot. Even if you have auto focus you are not point and shoot. We need more categories.
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Forum: Pentax Compact Cameras
04-19-2011, 12:35 PM
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I had thought the x70 was gone. I bought an x90 just a few months back for 288 us was the x70 much less?
Like you there are many exciting things this little inexpensive camera will do that I have grown to appreciate...especially macro shots but I find the full zoom to be very cantankerous so I shoot shoot shoot and hope one will come out.
This is the first camera I've ever had that has it's own RAM memory...for a few shots, no card needed. And, with a large capacity card and shooting in small format you could virtually put a lifetime's worth of photos on the camera.
I can believe all the settings. The manual is thicker than my DSLR manual with 80% I will never use like putting a funny looking frame around a picture and after trying many of the SCN modes that's snake oil.
I'm still wondering about this green mode thing. Is that the true auto mode? Is it there so no matter what settings you have if you think it is not going well you can just hit green mode just to make sure you get somewhat of a balanced image? And, if Auto is Auto, why should you be able to press green mode to come out of auto to another auto...I find Green mode shoots a better balanced photo than Auto does. The green thing is new to me and even though I read its explanation in the manual something is not sinking in. Why not just make Auto Green mode?
I do rely on auto a lot when you just don't have time to make adjustments because the photo op is going to be gone in a second.
Stitching is pretty cool on it.
Can you believe all that stuff in a camera and it weighs next to nothing?
It truly is a wonder of technology. x70 x90
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Forum: Pentax Compact Cameras
04-19-2011, 12:18 PM
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I was looking for just what you speak and settled for the x90 with a small sensor. Sony had done it, Nikon has one, I guess you could count the G series of Canon in there too of making a small camera with decent quality lens and a large sensor. My next camera will be one of the new generations of big sensor, small cameras but not wanting the very first models out of the new kinds of cameras as I am so prone to do and regret as just a year later here comes a better one for less I am using the x90 Pentax and my DSLR Canon since my S1 Canon mysteriously bit the dust after leaving it at a friend's house where it was accessed by young ones who probably dropped it a few times.
X90 has a lot of good points and bad but for now is my somewhat small camera although the lens is big a chunky so it won't slip into a pocket.
Surely Pentax is in development of a new generation compact with a large sensor. As I have read the megapixels mean very little for what I want to do...6mp is just fine but the physical size of the sensor is very important and cramming 12/14 mp onto a small one is counter productive.
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Forum: Pentax Compact Cameras
04-19-2011, 12:07 PM
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Did you set the view finder for maximum focus for her eyes? There's a little turn wheel next to it. It must be set by looking through it, turn the wheel until the sharpest image comes in focus and it is now set for that person's eye.
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