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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-27-2024, 01:23 PM
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Without (I'm a Mac user, and so far as I know PK Tether is not available for the OSX platform). I posted my step-by-step method in the "How to ..." thread on screwdrive conversion back in 2016, here:
How To: Convert SDM to ScrewDrive + Video - PentaxForums.com
I have used this same procedure to convert my DA* 16-50, 50-135, 200, and 300, all using a K5 IIs body. As many others have reported, it did not work with my 60-250, where the slowly deteriorating SDM finally gave in completely last week!
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-24-2024, 07:36 PM
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From personal experience I can confirm that the K5IIs also works.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
10-23-2016, 12:19 PM
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With much appreciation to the OP (Blacknight659), DavidDwight for the PK Tether workaround, and also posts on the other forum, I have been able to successfully complete the SDM to screw drive conversion without using PK Tether. This is great for Mac users like me (PK Tether is not available for Mac), but it should also work for PC users. I have just used this process to convert my DA* 16-50, using a K5IIs, firmware 1.07. I don't know if it will work with other camera models. For others who may like to try this, I have laid out the process I followed below. This is basically a combination of the processes described in this thread by the OP, David immediately above, and Ron (Brandrx) in the other forum, but I thought it may be useful to lay it out in one place, with some additional notes from my experience:
As noted by the original posters, continue at your own risk - I am not responsible for any damage that may occur to your equipment.
1. Download the two required files from Dropbox, depending on the camera you are using: Dropbox - enable Debug Menu
Note: When I did this on my Mac, for some reason the extension .txt was added to the file names during the download process. You need to remove this added extension, so the file names appear as 00077681.541 and DEVELOP.MOD. This is for the K5IIs - for other models, the numbers in the first file name will be different. The content of the first file is a single line: [OPEN_DEBUG_MENU]. The second file is empty.
2. Copy these two files to the root directory of your SD card. I did this using a card reader - you can also do it with the SD card in the camera, using a USB cord between camera and computer.
3. Put the SD card in your camera, and power on while leaving the memory card door open. The Development Menu will immediately appear. This is the step that gets you into the Development Menu without using PK Tether.
4. Scroll down to Development Menu 4, and select line "LENS ROM DAT CAMERA=>SD", press OK. This copies the LENSEEP.LNS file to your SD card.
5. If you are using a card reader, power off, remove SD card and place in card reader. This is how I did it, but you could also continue working with these files connecting to the SD card in your camera with a USB cord. Make a backup of the LENSEEP.LNS file, and save it to your computer for possible future use.
6. Open the original LENSEEP.LNS file on the SD card using the Textedit app (this is for Mac users, PC users would use Notepad or another text editor). Use the edit, find menu to highlight all occurrences of "C0". These were in the first column on the left, and in the column headed "03". Ignore the first column leaving it as it is, and change all of the "C0" occurrences in column 03 to "80" (in my case there were 16 of them in column 03 needing changing). Save the file changes, making sure that the only copy of the LENSEEP.LNS file left on the SD card is the modified file (the first two files from Steps 1 and 2 should still be there). Using the Textedit app on my mac, I did not have any issues with having to change RTF/ASCII save settings as reported by DavidDwight - I just used the standard file, save, and it worked fine.
7. Return the SD card to the camera, and power on, again leaving the memory card door open so the Development menu appears.
8. Scroll down to Development Menu 4, and select line "LENS ROM DAT SD=>CAMERA", press OK. This copies the edited file back to the lens. You will see "wait..." on the screen, and then some lines of text flashing past for a few seconds. This completes the process. Power off, and power on again normally with the memory card door closed - the lens should now be in screw drive mode. As reported by others, you may need to repeat this step. In my case it did not work the first time, but did after the second.
You will now find a backup file on your SD card created by your camera, called BACKUP.LNS. This seems to be the same as the backup of LENSEEP.LNS created in step 5. I have kept both of these on my computer in case of future need. As you don't need the files on your SD card any more, you can delete them, or preferably reformat the card.
The key to this method which does not use PK Tether is getting in to the Development Menu by having the two necessary files from step 1 in the root directory of your SD card, and powering the camera on with the card door open. I learned this from DavidDwight's post above - it works with both my K5IIs, and my K3. I don't know if it works with other Pentax models. I completed the lens conversion process with my K5IIs. Although I have seen that I can get in to the Development Menu the same way on my K3, I don't know if the whole lens conversion process would work the same as it did with the K5IIs.
I now have a fully functional DA* 16-50 again. As expected the screw drive focus is a bit noisier than the SDM was, but that is a small price to pay for having a working lens, and the confidence that it is not going to fail on me as it has three times previously.
Many thanks also to posters on the other forum for sharing their solutions (especially Ron - BrandrX, RIP).
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Forum: Pentax Price Watch
02-07-2022, 08:12 PM
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Thank you, just grabbed one. Great deal!
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
08-21-2021, 07:00 PM
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B&H is selling it right now for $496.95.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
11-18-2019, 07:48 PM
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The K1 is my first experience of a flippy screen, and I love it. Recently was on a safari holiday in Kenya where my go to stabilization was a bean bag on the vehicle window frame or open roof. The adjustable screen made it so much easier to keep focused on game/bird targets while waiting for a shot, as one lands up holding and pointing the camera at various odd angles in that situation. It was also perfect for tripod based eclipse shots. Now I find myself wishing all my bodies had one (still using my K5iis and K3). Despite prevailing doubts, I’m really hoping that the K-new has one too when final design is revealed.
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Forum: Pentax Price Watch
11-24-2018, 02:57 PM
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Oh boy, here goes - I'm in too.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
08-31-2017, 06:13 AM
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Here's my contribution, individual images taken with K-1, 150-450 at 400, Seymour Solar filter for partial phases, PP in Lightroom. Location was Townville, SC:
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
03-08-2014, 10:04 AM
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
03-16-2013, 12:20 PM
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OK, now have had time for some controlled tests, as per Noam's method above. Gear is K5 IIs (FW 1.03) with AF540FGZ. Settings are X mode, f 5.6, ISO 200, no compensation - well within the flash "comfort zone" in these conditions. Pics posted below in order are:
1. Direct flash;
2. Slight tilt, but not enough to activate tilt indicator on flash rear LCD - distance scale still visible;
3. Tiny bit more tilt, not yet up to 45 degree setting but enough to activate tilt indicator in flash LCD, distance scale not showing (in this position, flash "thinks" it is bouncing, but it is actually still direct flash.
4. Proper tilt at 45 degrees, bouncing off low, flat, plain white ceiling.
Results: Pics 1 and 2 are similar (slightly overexposed for my taste, but the main point is that they are similar). Pic 3 is 1-2 stops overexposed. This is when flash is actually direct, but firmware thinks it is bouncing. Pic 4 is properly exposed, best of them all.
So the misbehavior for condition 3 is still there in FW 1.03 - there is still 1-2 stops overexposure that activates at the point where the tilting mechanism activates the flash tilt sensor - where the flash "thinks" it is tilted for bounce flash, but it is actually providing direct flash light.
But significantly different to what happened with my old K5, and with the K5 IIs with older firmware, the actual bounced flash pics are now properly exposed. To achieve this before, I always had to use a workaround of dialing in -2 EV for any type of bounced flash.
For real world on-board flash conditions, this is a significant improvement for me, as I (and most people, I suspect) never use the situation of "partial tilt", which is the test condition that reveals some sort of ongoing software glitch. Of course it would be much better if the P-TTL actually did what it is meant to do, and provided correct exposure no matter how far the tilt is set, but at least I am now getting normal bounce flash exposures without worrying about EV compensation.
Condition 1
Condition 2
Condition 3
Condition 4
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
01-04-2013, 05:20 PM
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In my case, about 1.5 - 2 stops. See pics below
First pic is direct flash (normal exposure), then upward flash tilt to point just before tilt icon appears on flash LCD screen (still normal exposure), then a fraction more tilt to activate the flash LCD tilt icon (overexposure)
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
12-31-2012, 03:33 AM
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I spent Christmas in Sydney, Australia. Walking through the forest at Mt Tomaree (Shoal Bay), I was lucky to spot this little guy:
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
04-22-2011, 08:19 AM
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Mine doesn't work like that. The moment I turn the switch to SEL, the icon appears in the viewfinder immediately - no need to also push the OK button. The sequence of possibilities is:
- Turn AF switch to SEL
- The 4-way controller buttons are now enabled to move the AF point as desired;
- A short push on the OK button returns the AF point to centre;
- A long push on the OK button disables AF select, and returns the 4-way controller buttons to their usual functions (WB, flash, drive mode & custom image);
- Another long push on the OK button returns four-way controller to AF point control.
Before I learned the above, I thought the AF point move function was intermittently faulty. In fact it was just the changing mode, due to longer pushes on the OK button. If you find the AF point not moving when you push the 4-way controller buttons, just give a long push on the OK button to return the mode to AF point control.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
03-13-2011, 09:14 AM
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I have a small Excel spreadsheet that takes any values. Can't remember where I got it from, but it seems to work when compared to the reference tables. I don't know how to upload it here, but this is how to set it up:
If cell C2= Aperture, C3=Shutter speed (for 1/200, enter value as 200), C4=ISO, then EV calculation formula for cell C5 is: =((2*LOG10(C2)-LOG10(1/C3))-LOG10(C4/100))/LOG10(2)
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