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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-09-2010, 03:47 PM
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I agree about the DAL 55-300 - that's one part of my brother's k-x kit which I am happy with.
As for the Tamron 17-50 lens - I agree that it is one viable middle ground (though even that's courtesy of Tamron). However personally I find the primes to be better bang for the buck. When I used the Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 a few ago, I mostly found it not fast enough for indoor shots and not able to create enough blur for the portrait style shots. On the other hand the Nikon 35mm 1.8 which I used for over a year gave me great image quality and speed for only around $175. Even the canon 50mm 1.8 which I used for a while and which cost only $70 was able to produce great results if used within its limits. I also liked my canon 85mm 1.8 which is again very good optically, very fast focusing and fast aperture all for around $300 used. Then there are lenses like 135mm 2.8 and so on.
The recently announced 35mm 2.4 is a good sign - I seems Pentax has started to realize that the new users they have acquired through the k-x need lower cost upgrade paths once they outgrow the kit zooms.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-08-2010, 02:12 PM
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I recently convinced my brother to get a k-x kit as an upgrade from his Fuji point and shoot. However now that he has bought the setup I am no longer sure if I made the right recommendation. I recommended the k-x to him for the best-in-class high ISO performance and "bang for the buck" as someone mentioned above. He got the two lens kit (18-55mm and 55-300mm) for a very good price.
However I don't think the k-x+18-55mm kit lens offers him significantly more over his fuji specially in indoor situations. The couple of extra stops of high-iso are offset to an extent by the slower aperture of the kit lens. Plus I was disappointed to see that light sources like lamps etc causes the kit lens to flare badly. Incidentally I have a Canon 18-55mm IS lens with me these days and comparing it to the Penatx kit lens, it had no flare at all in similar conditions and held its contrast and sharpness much better. Even the Fuji point and shoot had much less flare!
So I am convinced he needs a fast'ish prime in 30-40mm range to augment or replace his kit lens (2.8 zooms are out of price range). However I don't see any such affordable lens in Pentax lineup. And the more I look at Pentax Lineup the more I realize that with current Pentax lens prices you either have to stick with basic kit lens zooms or go all the way up to expensive exotic glass. There is not much of a middle ground.
I don't understand the people who dismiss the cheaper primes as being "cheap-platisc", low quality etc. Even the cheapest primes are optically superior and faster than the kit lenses or even the more expensive zooms. There need to be offerings between the ultra-cheap kit level stuff and the high-end limited / FA* etc lenses. The "all-or-nothing" approach to lens quality can work for companies like Leica but for general systems used by people with varying degree of fanancial means, "affordable quality" is very important
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
07-27-2010, 04:09 PM
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The prices for Sony 35mm 1.4 and Zeiss 85mm 1.4 are completely in line with other manufacturers. Nikon 85mm 1.4 is around $1250 and Canon 85mm 1.2 is over $1900!! Even the used copies of Pentax 85mm 1.4 go for over $1K.
It is actually great that Sony has the released the 35mm 1.8 lens. I really liked the 35mm 1.8 on Nikon for a general purpose carry around lens and wish that there was something similar for Pentax for use with my recently acquired k-x.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-18-2010, 06:17 PM
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Though let me also add that with Pentax cameras the autofocus performance varies a lot with the lenses as well, which might explain the differences in opinion. When I tried the K20D a long time ago, it was pretty slow with the DA* 50-135 but reasonable with the kit lens
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-18-2010, 06:12 PM
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In my (limited) personal experience with K7 and D300, I did not find the AF of K7 to be any slower than D300 in single shot mode. For that matter D300 was probably a bit slower compared to cameras like Canon 40D/50D, or Sony A700 in locking the focus. The strength of D300 is in its excellent focus tracking for moving objects, not in the speed of initial focus lock. So if tracking moving objects is a concern then certainly go for D300, otherwise K7 should be pretty good (which I found to be much faster than K20D).
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
03-18-2010, 04:35 PM
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Thats an awful lot of space used to say a simple thing :)
I didn't say that no Digital MF camera offers AF - I said that the AF on none of these cameras matches the 11-point AF on 645D.
And this has got nothing to do with 645D versus S2 or other MF cameras. The poster that I replied to, thought that 645D's AF suggests that Pentax is still not serious about AF. I just pointed out that it is wrong to use 645D's AF as an evidence that Pentax is not making progress on AF - The AF on 645D might be average from DSLR standards but it is actually quite advanced from MF standards.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
03-18-2010, 02:36 PM
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Do you know that none of the other Digital Medium Format cameras (Even the one's which sell for 30K+), have an AF which matches the 'SAFOX XI'? From the point of view of MF market, the 645D has managed to put an advanced AF in a very 'cheap' camera.
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Forum: Sold Items
09-15-2008, 04:51 PM
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PentaxForums.com Marketplace Listing
Item for Sale
Tamron 18-250mm for Pentax
Asking Price
385
Item Description
I posted this item a while ago but didnt get much response so here is another attempt.
This is a brand new Tamron 18-250mm lens for Penatx mount. This was sent to me by mistake instead of another Tamron lens which I had orderd for my Canon SLR. An attempt to exchange this for the correct lens was not successful due to non-cooperation of the online store.
I am a Canon user and have no way of using this lens so it has been sitting idle in its box for past couple of months.
Asking $385 Shipped OBO. This lens seems to go for $450 new so it seems to be a fair price.
Are you the original owner of the item being sold?
Yes
Are you selling or trading this item?
Selling
Item Condition
New
Mint
Item Location
Palo Alto, CA
Shipping Charge
Included in Price
Shipping Services
USPS
Shipping Destinations
Continental U.S. Only
Accepted Payment Types
PayPal
Additional Details
-
Please send me a private message if interested in the item!
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
06-25-2008, 01:39 PM
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Sure I realise that CNET is not the greatest of the places for camera reviews :) But since there is not much clear information on this topic so I was looking at whatever I could find
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
06-25-2008, 01:37 PM
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Again thanks for the very infromative shots.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
06-25-2008, 01:36 PM
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Sure I realise that part. And thanks for you sample images as well. These all look very nice and crisp.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
06-25-2008, 01:34 PM
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Great Shots!! Thanks for your input
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
06-25-2008, 01:20 PM
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wow, in the time that I wrote the reply to teh first post I get so many more replies :) thanks guys for all the responses and the actual real world sample photographs. I think I am becoming a believer :)
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
06-25-2008, 01:17 PM
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wow. 3-4 stops is great. But I am curious then that why do most camera reviews mention much more passimistic numbers? I havent seen the latest K20D review at dpreview, but as on example their review of sony alpha 350 suggests an advantage of only 1.3 to 1.6 stops. Similarly the CNET review of K20D suggests just over one stop of advantage???
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
06-25-2008, 12:54 PM
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One thing which I experience with hand-holding is that the focus could shift very slightly due to body movement.
While this is not a problem with say landscape, but it does matter when I am using a 50 1.4 at 1.4 to take a closeup of my infant baby girl. The depth of field is pretty shallow and even the slight movements of my body often mean that the focus is not spot on (specially since the autofocus already focuses anywhere within a depth of focus range). This results in loss of sharpness.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
06-25-2008, 12:30 PM
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Hi
I have been a Canon shooter for a few years (Just switched to a 40D from 30D). But some of the features in pentax cameras attract me, one of which is Shake Reduction.
With the type of shots I take these days, I routinely use my 30D/40D at 1000-1600 ISO. But even with at these high ISOs, at times I need a longer exposure than is possible to handhold. And secondly I would prefer if I could more often remain at ISO800 and not have to go higher. Thus the need for Image Stabilization / Shake Reduction.
On paper a K20D with a 50-135 2.8 lens seems to be the ideal solution for me. I get my desired focal length with a sharp 2.8 lens and shake reduction. There is really no equivalent setup for that in Canon.
So now the main question - how good is the in-camera Shake Reduction in Pentax bodies??. I have seen general comments about the in-camera shake reduction being inferior to lens-base image stabilization but havent seen any comprehensive comparison. I one played with a canon 17-85 IS lens and the IS on that seemed to work very well. If IS on a K20D is anything close to that then I would be very inclined towards buying it. Infact if I know that I could reliably/consistently get a 2 stop advantage then thats enough for me. The 17-85 could easily give atleast 3 stops in my admittedly limited experience.
So if anyone could shed some light on that through personal experience or point me to some article which talks about it, that would be great
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