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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
12-06-2023, 10:34 PM
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Interesting to see which lenses are able to be zoomed vs using at wide or tele in the directions with this update
ASTROTRACER Type1
Conventional ASTROTRACER function. Shift the camera’s image sensor in synchronization with the movements of stars (diurnal motion) to priortize the celestial bodies and stars to be captured as solid points.
ASTROTRACER Type2
Shift the camera’s image sensor half the speed of Type 1 in synchronization with the movements of stars to prioritize capturing the landscape and stars in a good balance.
ASTROTRACER Type3*
A simplified equatorial function that enables to track and capture celestial bodies without using GPS. Before actual shooting, a preliminary shot is captured automatically, enabling celestial body tracking from star movements. This feature eliminates GPS positioning wait time and able to shoot in locations subject to previously troublesome magnetic fields. As the star movements are being captured on an image, ASTROTRACER’s auto-tracking function may fail when objects other than stars, such as clouds, enter the image field. In such situations, it is recommended that users select the Type 1 or Type 2 mode. When used with interval shooting, it is possible to perform multiple main exposures with a single preliminary shot.
＊Time exposure of the mode dial B (Bulb Exposure) is available (Normal bulb exposure is not possible).
＊Not compatible with fisheye lenses.
＊Only use the zoom lens at the wide or telephoto end. However, the following lenses can be used at any zoom position.
HD PENTAX-DA 55-300mmF4.5-6.3ED PLM WR RE
HD PENTAX-DA★11-18mmF2.8ED DC AW
HD PENTAX-DA★16-50mmF2.8ED PLM AW
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Forum: Lens Sample Photo Archive
04-10-2024, 11:30 PM
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
6 Days Ago
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Japanese cherry blossom in full bloom in our yard. In our area they only bloom for a week between mid April and mid May depending on the weather. This year is early. I took a whole series at different apertures and eventually selected this one at f/6.7 or f/8 (can't remember), even though it is not the sharpest because of the lack of DoF, I think it is the most pleasing one.
645z + 67 55-100mm zoom.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
5 Days Ago
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My 2 cents.
I've owned three 70-200 2.8's until about a year ago: The Tammy, A Sigma EX DG APO, and the Pentax DFA. I still own two of them and the Pentax is not one of those.
I loved the near immediate and silent focus, and had zero complaints about the images.Performance is amazing. But for the slim advantage it has over what I get from the Sigma in quality and speed, the way heavier Pentax wasn't worth the trade-off. I found myself leaving it at home too often, so off to a new home it went.
So what about the Tamron? It's not up to the standards of either the older Sigma or the newer Pentax, IMO. But it is a bit lighter than the other two, and easier to find. By the way, there are several versions of the Sigma, and I've seen more than one mention that the EX DG APO non-HSM is the best of the lot
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-11-2024, 04:44 AM
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Low cost (<$500) and reasonably good: Tamron SP 70-200 2.8
Optically best, premium ($2000): Pentax DFA*70-200 2.8
Cheaper ($1000), good, smaller, lighter weight: Pentax DFA 70-210 4.0
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-11-2024, 06:36 AM
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What body do you use today? I assume the k-1 or k-1ii? If the k-1, the mk II accelerator might help overcome the 1 stop difference in the 70-210 and 70-200. Conversely, a DA* 200 or an FA 135 might offer enough of a gap fill to make your range more complete. Even better, could the DFA* 85 fill the gap enough or is a zoom essential? I don’t shoot Pentax ff. I shoot apsc in Pentax and Sony and Sony ff. I ditched my Sony GM 70-200 and picked up the latest 80-200/4 partially because I refused to carry the heavier lens (the Sony GM old version I had is about 200g lighter than the DFA* 70-200) but I also rarely shot at f2.8 so the glass was not optimal for my needs. The older GM is also not as sharp as that DFA*.
I have owned the FA* 80-200 (used on apsc) and found it heavy but manageable and compact compared to many alternatives. I own the DA* 200 and a DA* 60-250 s well as the DA* 50-135 so the 80-200 or 70-200 f2.8 isn’t appealing to me over what I own.
---------- Post added 04-11-24 at 09:38 AM ----------
Oh and the FA* outperformed my DA* 200 in head to head shooting. Surprisingly, the FA* has lower purple fringing than the DA* wide open!
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-11-2024, 04:02 AM
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Well, I am not the one who tells others what to do. Personally, I acquired a used DFA* 70-200 mm f/2.8 I found in Alberta, Canada. It was "slightly" defective (bad electrical contact affecting Autofocus) but it cost just 30 $ to have it repaired. It is heavy as hell and hardly handholdable for a long time. But it produces "outstanding" images all the time. I don't think anyone can go wrong with it ...
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
04-10-2024, 05:13 AM
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
12-03-2023, 08:02 PM
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Hello everyone, I'm a photographer based in Taiwan.
I'm thrilled to share with you the events that took place here over the past two days.
Please bear with me as my English proficiency may not be sufficient for precise descriptions.
I appreciate your understanding on this matter.
Firstly, let's talk about the activities on the first day.
The primary focus of the first day was a gathering of PENTAX fans in Taiwan.
The nature of the event leaned more towards an internal assembly of core members.
The organizer was the local agent in Taiwan, which has a long-standing collaborative history with PENTAX in Japan.
Since the era of ASAHI Optical, they have been actively involved in managing the sales and representation.
The main content of the first day's event revolved around sharing information about the PENTAX film project.
There were interactive Q&A sessions with responses from Mr. TKO and Mr. Aki from PENTAX,
including insights shared by the CEO of the Taiwan agency.
Unfortunately, I'm currently unable to share details beyond a certain scope on the internet. I hope you understand.
Regarding the user-submitted questions,
Taiwanese users raised several inquiries, including the following:
1. About K-1 III
2. About progress update on film cameras
3. About sales-related questions about film cameras
4. About DFA* wide-angle fast lenses / 2nd generation DA 50-135
5. About the Q series system
6. About the 645 system
7. About possibility of a mirrorless system
8. In the film project, questions about developing and film-related matters
Regarding the eight questions mentioned above, please understand that I cannot reveal too much information.
The responses are as follows:
1.To achieve a higher level of precision, more time than initially anticipated has been invested.
The procurement of digital camera components has become considerably more challenging than before.
However, please be assured that it is currently in progress. Kindly be patient and await further updates.
2. Progress is going smoothly.
3. Details cannot be disclosed at this time.
4. The primary goal at the moment is to increase business growth and expand into new customer segments.
Efforts toward these objectives will be made in the future.
5. In Japan, there have been users expressing interest in restarting the Q series.
However, the Q series has certain limitations in specifications, and feasibility studies on this matter will be conducted.
6. This project is currently in a later stage of the sequence and cannot be undertaken immediately.
7.The difficulty level is very high.
8. Regarding the production volume and pricing of film, we hope to increase partnerships through the film project.
The aim is to stimulate the film photography market and bring about positive changes.
The same applies to the development process.
The content of the second-day event was similar to the first day,
with the main difference being that the first session was for inviting PENTAX FANS,
while the second session was for inviting film enthusiasts. Additionally,
the second session showcased a small portion of the developmental prototype and offered hands-on experience with manual film cameras.
Regarding the details about the prototype,
I cannot disclose too much, but its size is not large. I believe its dimensions may fall somewhere between the GR and ESPIO 70.
The above provides an overview of the event content. If this article seems to lack substantial information,
I apologize, and thank you for reading.
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
04-07-2024, 05:47 AM
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-06-2024, 05:04 PM
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Just for information, and taking Map Camera Tokyo as an example, the 150-450/4.5-5.6 costs JPY 196,440 new including the 10% tax. This is 1,194.55 Euros at the current rate. Map Camera may be able to organize a tax refund of that 10% at the airport.
The used price is JPY 174,900 including tax. That would be 1,063.39 Euros. Note that even as a used item it comes with a 1-year warranty. Of course, you would not be able to use this easily, but it shows the confidence of the shop in the condition of their used products.
I'm not sure what customs or VAT you would pay at the EU end, but the yen rate is very favorable these days.
STORE GUIDE?Map Camera SHINJYUKU TOKYO
This is probably the best place to go because they are used to dealing with foreigners and tax refunds. Prices won't be much better, even if you spend your time hunting around in other shops.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-18-2024, 05:53 AM
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Thanks for all those who responded. Here are a few first results:
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
03-30-2024, 07:05 PM
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I decided to look into this on some different Japanese websites, and I found out the following.
- The J-Limited 01 camera is now officially moved to the discontinued list on Ricoh Website, but some retailers still have limited stock of individual colors. The most commonly available colour is Scarlet rouge. Ricoh themselves still have limited stock of all colors available except black.
- The K-3 III is not discontinued on Ricoh's website, but that makes sense because they don't discontinue individual colors or kits. Ricoh has all colors available of all kits.
- The K-3 III (black) is listed as a model currently in production by all online stores I can find, except Yaotomi Camera, but even Yaotomi still has stock. When you look on the Kakaku.com price comparison website, it's clear that the silver has better availability than black, but even black is available at 18 different retailers still.
- The K-3 III & 20-40 kit (black) is listed as out of production at most camera stores, but most of them have stock. Kakaku.com has this available at 14 stores, so it's availability is waning a little.
So I don't think this is quite as clear at the initial post makes it.
A few other points:
- Yaotomi is an unusually chatty retailer (via X). They often repeat what their suppliers tell them to customers. I think this is marketing to some extent. They are a small camera shop and this works to keep them in the public eye. I also think they do this as a kind of incentive to "buy while stocks last". So I trust that they were told this but it might be crossed wires or very premature to reveal.
- There have been cases in the past where products were discontinued with one "JAN" number (some kind of Japanese product identifier), and the exact same thing appeared with a different JAN number. An example was a few years ago when most of the 645 ens line-up was showing up twice with different numbers, with the old one discounted a little for clearance. I'm not talking about products that were HD updates of SMC lenses. It was exactly the same thing. I'm not sure if that might happen here, but anyway I think it's too early to say much without more retailers or Ricoh saying the product is discontinued.
- Finally, if you go trying to read the tea leaves too much, you might not like the picture that you mind creates. According to Ricoh's website, all versions the K-3 III are still current. So until something more concrete is said, probably best to take them at face value.
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
03-31-2024, 07:47 AM
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
03-28-2024, 04:14 PM
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Another from the hike through Sand Creek, Antioch, CA.
 Sand Creek
2-exposure, multi-frame pano FA 150/2.8 & 756Z
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
03-27-2024, 04:49 AM
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1. 27th Street, Yangoon, Myanmar 2005
Fuji 645Zi, 55 mm, f11, 1/90, A, 81B, Provia 100F (poussé à 200), scanner : Nikon 9000ED
2. 31th Street, Yangoon, Myanmar 2005
Fuji 645Zi, 55 mm, f8, 1/15, A, 81B, Provia 100F (poussé à 200), scanner : Nikon 9000ED
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
03-27-2024, 03:06 AM
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
03-21-2024, 04:27 PM
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75 on tubes with the Z
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
03-20-2024, 09:20 PM
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Cool cloud at sunset tonight.
GFX 50sII & 35-70
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
03-19-2024, 05:48 PM
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
03-10-2024, 10:02 PM
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been a long dry spell for me and I finally got out to the wind farm
pano with 645Z and DFA 35/3.5
 Montezuma Hills |
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
03-06-2024, 02:29 AM
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
03-05-2024, 02:59 PM
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In the aspens. A favorite zone I recently skied to with my MF kit and tripod on my back.
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