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Forum: Pentax Q
02-05-2020, 08:39 AM
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Adorama has this item available for order:
https://www.adorama.com/mbsppkqbm1.html?
The Speedbooster was initially offered in a Nikon mount,
which wasn't particularly helpful for Pentax users.
If enough people order this one,
Metabones may be motivated to actually produce it.
As of right now, it does have a manufacturer's item code (MB_SPPK-Q-BM1).
In the meantime, you can dream of converting your 100 mm macro
into a superfast tele with enough depth of field to be useful!
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-21-2020, 06:39 PM
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
11-23-2019, 09:18 AM
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A very interesting interview with Philippe Farreng, General Sales Manager for Europe, Ricoh Imaging:
Pentax fête ses 100 ans : "notre communauté est extrêmement attachée à notre marque"
Pentax celebrates their 100th anniversary: 'our community is extremely committed to our brand' (Google translation)
Some excerpts translated from French by yours truly:
- Ricoh also offer 360 cameras - which are progressing and are one of the company's major focuses. So we are doing more and more trade shows. (....) We are attending more and more B2B shows; the development of 360 cameras is really one of the company's priorities: we therefore have a request from Japan to be present at this type of event.
xxx
- [In France] At the time of film photography - which was extremely stable - there were 2.5 million units sold per year. There were 300,000 cameras with interchangeable lenses and 2.2 million compact or bridge cameras. Today, if we take the French market for cameras with interchangeable lenses, we obtain more or less the same figures if we add those of DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. On the other hand, the entire compact market has completely disappeared. [the last part being slightly exaggerated :)]
xxx
- On the DSLR side, the market is decreasing more in volume than in value - since it is mainly the entry-level models that are disappearing. Full frame and premium models are more resilient compared to the market decline. Mirrorless cameras are now the only sector currently growing, but only its high-end part. (...) What is suffering today in the mirrorless market is mainly the cameras with 4/3" and APS-C sensors. Under Sony's leadership, the full-frame mirrorless market is doing well.
xxx
- Today, the parent company in Japan is asking itself many questions about mirrorless cameras in order to determine whether Pentax shall enter this market, and if so in what form.
xxx
- The full frame mirrorless market is already starting to become saturated in a very short time. (...) In order to hope to capture market share, we must be able to immediately announce a wide range of lenses. That's where the complexity lies today. Indeed, developing a mirrorless camera is easier than designing a SLR camera. However, the difficulty lies in developing a wide range of lenses in a very short period of time.
xxx
- So there are several possibilities for us: to focus only on the niche market that the DSLRs will be tomorrow, to move towards mirrorless - but in this case, do we have the ability to enter this market with a sufficient optical range? - or to use an existing lens mount in partnership. But these are only options at the moment. Today, no final decision has been made on this topic as I speak.
xxx
- In terms of development - new sensor, new design, electronic circuits - a DSLR takes about 14 to 18 months to be brought to market. With a mirrorless camera, this can be done in a much shorter time: in 8 to 10 months it is possible to design a mirrorless camera. The main difficulty is the lenses because different production lines are needed, so there are a number of issues that need to be managed.
xxx
- Initially, we designed [the KP] as a replacement for the K-3 Mark II, but we realised that we were selling it a lot more to non-Pentax customers.
xxx
- The Pentax fan community is very special because of its attachment to the brand. In many cases, the father owned a Pentax, which he later passed on to his children, who themselves bought a Pentax camera. We therefore have a community that is extremely loyal to Pentax, and that has always chosen our products because of certain features that they did not find in competing cameras at equivalent prices.
xxx
- Our renewal rate is lower than those of Canon or Nikon. On the Pentax online forums, we do a big survey every second year asking which cameras people use and we find that a very large number of users are still using cameras that we launched 10 or 12 years ago. It's something you won't see anywhere else. (...) We may therefore offer more attractive trade-in offers to encourage users to switch to more modern equipment.
xxx
- We don't have any particular difficulties with our community because they defend the brand enormously - sometimes they are even a little radicalised! The biggest challenge is to expand this base and get additional customers. We have recovered a number of customers with the launch of our full-frame camera and with the promotional operations around the K70 which is our key to entering the Pentax universe.
xxx
- Today, Pentax is one of our 5 brands and only covers cameras and lenses.
xxx
- One of the most important products of our group is the Ricoh GR, the ideal device for street photography. We launched the Ricoh GR III 6 months ago and we are enjoying an extraordinary success: compared to the sales we made with the GR II we have had an absolutely incredible jump, especially in Europe where we have multiplied our sales by 7 or 8. It's therefore one of the pillars of the group today and one of the areas Ricoh are investing heavily in. In the future, many developments in the GR range are to be expected.
xxx
- The other development pillar concerns 360° cameras. We had envisaged a greater opening to the general public than the actual one and, at the moment, 3/4 of our volumes are made of B2B sales. It is a product that has found its place and we are very much the leader in B2B. One of the most obvious markets is that of real estate agencies, which are making more and more virtual tours of apartments or houses. But we have developed other activities, such as second-hand cars for example, or construction, surveillance or in the military field, where there is enormous potential for development with 360-degree video. The biggest challenge for us is to open this technology to the general public. We will develop the Theta range. The products that will arrive will be much more oriented towards the general public, especially in terms of application development.
xxx
- We are redeveloping our binoculars and optics segment: there is a real demand and it is a particularly stable market, unlike digital photography.
xxx
- We need to be rational, Ricoh's development cannot be achieved through Pentax DSLRs only. Today, the DSLR market is down by 15% every year: it does not allow a whole structure to live from it. (...) Ricoh Imaging's other segments are currently growing: the only one down is the DSLR segment because it follows the current market trend. The advantage is that the profits generated by the other segments can be reinvested in Pentax. (...) Next year, we will launch a flagship APS-C camera. (...) It's a camera that will have many new features. This kind of investment is possible thanks to the profits generated by the other segments.
xxx
- DSLR is an integral part of Pentax's corporate culture. Even though they have been integrated into Ricoh, a large number of engineers on the Imaging side come from Pentax. There is therefore a real culture around DSLRs with new developments planned, both on the side of cameras and lenses.
xxx
- On the mirrorless side, it is likely that the parent company in Japan is taking the issue very seriously due to the very clear market evolution.
xxx
- Tomorrow, will we have to propose a camera dedicated to video, will it have to be a mirrorless camera? Several options are emerging but we have not made a decision yet.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-27-2019, 07:22 PM
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Shoot with what you have, not with what you’re waiting for.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
10-02-2018, 12:27 AM
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The view from Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park. Using a polarizer for this one.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
10-05-2018, 12:26 AM
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Melotte 15 is a cluster of young stars in the mid of the cloud complex IC1805 - the Heart Nebula - in the constellation Cassiopeia.
The image is a combination of 56 x 600s @ ISO 800 with 12 nm Hydrogen Alpha narrowband filter and an RGB image. The Ha data were shot through a 130/910mm refractor with a stock Pentax K3ii. The RGB data were taken with a 80/480 mm refractor and a stock Pentax K5 (48 x 180s @ ISO 800).
Processing in Astro Pixel Processor and Photoshop CC2018
full resolution: Melotte 15 (Ha-RGB) by pete_xl, auf Flickr
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
09-10-2018, 12:40 PM
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The "Dark Shark" nebula is a dust cloud complex in the constellation Cepheus. The two blue patches are the reflection nebulas VdB 149 and 150. I needed 5 hours of light to hook that beast from my homes balcony :-)
 LDN1235 The Dark Shark by pete_xl, auf Flickr
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
08-25-2018, 01:31 AM
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This beach is hard to find but worth it! Big Sur State Beach, south of Monterey.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
08-24-2018, 08:57 PM
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sorry forgot to upload the photo!!
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Forum: Pentax Q
08-14-2018, 04:29 PM
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A couple of Milky ways, both taken with Pentax Q7 + 02
-first taken one day ago in Campo Felice plateau, middle-Italy too;
50 shots @ 6mm f/2.8, 25s e 1600iso
-second taken in July in Forca d'Acero pass, middle-Italy;
Sky: 28 shots + 2 dark frame @ 5mm, f/2.8, 20s, 1600iso. Foreground: 2 shots @ 5mm, f/2.8, 20s, 1600iso.
Sky shots merged in Sequator.
Sky and foreground merged in PS.
Development in LR.
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Forum: Photo Critique
08-13-2018, 09:01 AM
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Forum: Pentax KP
02-27-2018, 07:42 AM
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I have always had a deep rooted passion with photography from a very young age of about 12.
It all started when I watched a gentleman spend a couple hours composing a shot overlooking the Missouri River with a large field camera in Sioux City Iowa.
The Gentleman's name was Lee Russell , and he worked for the Sioux City Tribune that summer in 1941.
Mr Russell also had a small photography studio he shared with another photographer downtown next to the Barber shop that my father frequented.
It seems Mr. Russel had noticed a young girl intently watching him work on several occasions. She had endless questions about the "How" , "What" , and "Why" of capturing images with such a large and strange device.
Little did I know they were both members of the Homeless Mens Bureau and sat on the same county committee every month.
One day the following Spring my father came home with a small package just for me ! I was just tuning 13 and it was 1942 . Times were really tough back then and any gift was very hard earned. Mr Russell's enlightenment had somehow prompted my father to buy it for me because of my fascination with his photography work.
When I opened the package I could hardly believe my eyes , my very own Zeiss Ikoflex Camera !
I was in another world , and still can remember running around town doing every imaginable task just to buy more film. Mr Russel introduced me to processing that year , oh what a smelly affair !
My first Pentax was purchased for me by my Husband the day he proposed marriage about ten years later in 1953. He was a very smart man , and knew a simple engagement ring just wouldn't do it for this Lady, Ha ha !
It was a Pentax Asahiflex. Yes , it did the trick ! I married him the following week and stayed that way for over 62 years until his death a few years ago.
I have owned nearly every Pentax made to date , and used the heck out of every one of them. From the Asahiflex to the Spotmatics , H-1 , EX , MX , LX , PZ1 , and some I have even forgotten the names of.
The one model I never used or owned was the K1000. I dont know how that one slipped past , but it did.
I made the switch to digital a few years back with a new Pentax K30. That turned out to be the very first unhappy experience with any Pentax. It kept breaking down and getting sent back for repairs repeatedly.
I finally got disgusted with it and gave it to a young man in Showlow Arizona that knew what the problem was and said he could fix it . Good riddance !
And now this leads me here to this KP forum.
After the brief love affair with the K30 , and a replacement K5 that I used for nearly 5 years.....I saw the KP.:D
As soon as I saw the picture on B&H last year I knew I was going to investigate.
When I finally got one in my hands while in their store last year it was all over with , I bought one.
It has everything cosmetically that I could want. It looks like a Camera design from decades past. Somewhat of a cross between a 67 and a LX ! That is so Sexy to me !
I really liked my MZ-S film body , but this KP far outshines it too.
The features are so lovely too. I originally wanted a K-3II before handling the KP , but with a different screen that articulates , but no such luck.
When nothing new looked like it was in the works , I went ahead and bought 1 more of the KP models , so now I have 2.
I knew when I saw the looks and specs that this was MY camera , my very last camera.
Im using one PK body heavily , and keep one for a spare to avoid going through anything similar to the K30 fiasco ever again.
Have since sold , donated , and gifted all my old film bodies and gear , and even the K-5.
I did keep all my M42 Pentax lenses and K mount Pentax lenses that Ive acquired over the years.
Of course my old Zeiss isnt going anywhere , nor the Asahiflex my husband caught me with...Haha.
This Old Lady may only shoot in JPG , but the KP is HelenJo Approved !
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-02-2018, 06:17 AM
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When I saw the thread for the Prime Lens Wishlist Survey my addled brain immediately thought of what's the strangest thing I could wish for? Rather than hijack that thread with visions of a 377.5mm f/0.6 tilt-shift circular fisheye, I thought we could maybe discuss the most bizarre, illogical, how-did-a-company-signoff-on-building-this-stuff lenses you've ever seen here. Pentax or not.
Go!
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
07-21-2017, 11:22 AM
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Right in front of my study room window two common buzzards have found a favorite place to spend the day.
Put the DFA 150-450 on the K-1, then the K-1 on a tripod, connected it via a long USB cable to my PC and started Image Transmitter 2 for relaxed liveview experience in the corner of the screen.
Every time I notice the guy looks intersting, I click the trigger. Soon the raw file ends up on the PC.
Doing this has the added benefits of not touching the camera and being able to shoot with electronic shutter.
Using a 450mm lens and having access to 100% magnification liveview is fun. :)
1
2
3 Those guys make some noise.
4 (one of my favorites)
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6 You! With that camera!
7 We all hate rain
8 bzzzzzzzz.... sleepy......
They are all strong crops down to about (FF equiv) 2.000mm F25-36. The extraordinary optical quality wide open of the DFA pays off here.
Birding really isn't my type of photography genre, but those birds are just too cute. :)
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
07-11-2017, 08:33 AM
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Grab a 500mm lens and go to any wildlife reserve. Sit in the hide (or bushes) and point it at the pond or feature that the hide has been created to capture a view of. Unless it is a Pterodactyl you are trying to capture, your lens won't be too long, and yes you will have to crop the image.
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Forum: Pentax Q
07-07-2017, 11:48 AM
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Ricoh/Pentax has a new survey about what we own, what we want to own, etc. There was a thread about it in the PF news and rumors thread. Unfortunately an argument broke out and the thread was locked.
Thought it would be good to fill out the survey and show support for the Q. Filled out the short survey and said I would like to buy a new model Q with built in or optional EVF. I should have also asked for the release of the 09 tele macro. Didn't even think of the macro. Arghhh.
Please fill out the survey and pay our Q some love and respect.
Pentax Survey
Thanks
barondla
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
11-03-2016, 01:04 PM
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Duck 1:that guy shot us with a K1
Duck2:i didn't feel a thing
Duck3:wait for me
Duck4: missed me!
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Forum: Pentax Q
05-29-2013, 10:52 AM
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I'll add my 2¢ here in support of the 06 lens.
In any other system, a constant f2.8 short to long tele zoom (think ~70 to ~200 EQ) is at least a $700 USD proposition, even from 3rd party lensmakers. From an OEM, under $1200 USD would be unthinkable. I was pleasantly shocked to see Pentax introduce this lens at under $300 USD, and didn't even have to think about pre-ordering it at full price, even though I rarely pre-order anything. This lens retails for the same price as the "kit" zoom and doesn't disappoint from an optical performance standpoint. There had to be some compromise to reach this price point. Let's face a real fact -- Pentaxians tend to be frugal (I'm being kind to use this term), and in my estimation, would not have reacted well to a lens of this optical spec, built like a tank, priced a few hundred dollars higher.
Functionally, this "slop" is limited to the collapsing mechanism that allows compact storage since the lens features both internal zoom and focusing (which are, BTW, more expensive to design and mfg). This should have little or no effect on the long term reliability of the lens. I think that plastic is probably the best choice for Q system lenses that need to be very lightweight. The alternative is very thin aluminum, and thin aluminum would be much more vulnerable to distortion from even slight knocks. Of course they could have used magnesium or titanium to reach their lightweight design goal, but I can't even imagine what that would have done to the price. . .
It's fine to be fussy about build quality, but IMO, the Pentax designers made the right choices with the 06. The "slop" is easily and economically fixable on a DIY basis (the shimming solution provided by Riv is brilliant). I suggest we count our blessings on this one. . .
Scott
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
05-04-2013, 05:28 AM
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Dear Pentax lens buyers,
Many prime lenses are becoming seriously expensive. But will their $500 plus premium guarantee better photos? That’s an important question for people buying Pentax dslrs (which really are excellent), and coming to this forum for advice on what lenses to buy. The reason I’m posting this thread is not to moan about the escalating prices of Pentax primes – prices that some camera buyers would not have expected when they chose Pentax and mapped out their wish-list of new lenses - but to praise today’s budget zooms and budget primes. And to pass on the lessons I’ve learned since switching from Canon to Pentax a few years ago.
Don’t buy the story that excellent expensive primes guarantee excellent photos
I purchased a K20D, a 18-55mm kit lens and a budget Tamron 70-300mm, a good coverage from 18mm to 300mm. Then I started to read this forum, and was persuaded I really, really needed to buy my first new “prime lens”. To be honest I wasn’t impressed by the quality of photos I was taking (on auto settings) with the budget zooms. A better, faster, smaller lens should make my photos look more professional; give me better images in low light; and the chance to take the kind of photos I’d seen on this forum with artistic bokeh and narrow depth of fields.
My thoughts were directly influenced by members of this forum. Many times the response to questions like “what is the best Pentax prime for a step-up in your photos” seemed to be: “buy a Limited…because if you don’t buy a Limited you’ll end up wanting one anyway so buy it now”. I got the impression that if I didn’t buy a Limited I’d never get the best out of my new Pentax camera. But OMG the Limiteds have become expensive. For that money you’d almost want a written guarantee that your photos will look more professional. I was always a bit sceptical about that. I couldn’t even match the stunning Pentax kit results I’d see from forum members.
Primes don’t always deliver
So instead of a Limited I found a new FA50mm 1.4 for under $300 (nowadays it would probably be best to go for the cheaper DA35mm 2.4). What I learned from the lens was (1) it doesn’t guarantee better photos; (2) it doesn’t always deliver in low light; but (3) I can take great photos of my kids at or around f1.4 with very artist backgrounds/bokeh, as long as my kids stay still enough. I was getting fast aperture photos I’d never get from the zooms, and remain happy about that. However, I was surprised to find that the FA50mm was often not as good as the zooms outdoors – both budget zooms came with a hood, something the FA50 really needs outdoors but wasn’t included in the price.
Is there much IQ difference between expensive primes and budget zooms at f5.6 or f8?
More generally I started to wonder whether there was a real, significant image quality (IQ) difference between expensive Limited primes and budget zooms at my most commonly used aperture stops - f5.6 or f8? My experience is that if you want to blow up pictures to a bedroom wall size you may notice a difference. But otherwise the difference is hardly noticeable, as long as you take control of the zoom’s aperture setting, e.g. manually set it to f5.6 or f8 and work from there. That’s very easy with modern digital cameras; they’ll do the work for you.
Using semi-manual settings will give you better looking photos
If I was going to do this all again, I’d still buy my budget zooms first and then invest in a cheap ($50), used, film era fast prime lens to learn semi-manual skills at different apertures. Skills that help to get the best out of both budget zooms and primes. Something like the M50mm f1.7 would be a great place to start. All the positive reviews here are not wrong! Don’t listen –as I did initially - to people with Limited lenses who say rather patronisingly, “that’s not such a good lens, the reviews are by people who don’t know any better”. Bottom line is that it may be a $50 manual lens from the film-era, not a $1,000 digital lens, but it is small and solid, fast, sharp and capable of “magic”. (However you define that).
Focus on a couple of focal lengths when you starting buying primes
By using zooms I found the focal lengths I really liked/used the most. Curiously, my two favorite focal lengths turned out to be: 28mm for walking-around and 85mm for special family/kids portraits. “Curiously”…because neither focal length is covered directly by new Pentax primes! But there are excellent alternatives, old and new. You’ll find there are differences to research between expensive and budget primes; between expensive and budget zooms; between new and used lenses; and between M42 and k-mount lens manufacturers. If I’d know that part about focal lengths from the start my lens collection would be far smaller, cheaper and more focused.
And when you do your lens research….
Don’t believe the hype, sometimes perpetuated by members of this forum, that only very expensive prime/Limited lenses take excellent photos, and these primes are faultless in the right photographer’s hands, regardless of “negative” test results and some legitimate owner concerns. At the same time, don’t believe put-downs from owners of high-cost primes that budget primes and budget zooms will never deliver excellence.
The majority of my “best photos” (as judged by friends and relations) have been taken with the two budget zooms, even though they now make up less than 10% of my lens spend. As an example, below is a photo taken by the budget Tamron 70-300mm at 300mm. Some people heavily criticise this “cheap lens” for producing unusable results at 300mm, and “its only a Tamron”. Guess it’s not a DA* 300mm $1,300 lens. But this photo, even slightly cropped, looks sharp and good enough to me; miles better than a point and shoot.
So please if you’re new to Pentax or thinking about a Pentax dslr, or thinking about investing in new lenses, don’t be discouraged by the $1,000 prices of some supposedly “must have” primes, or comments about the “less than prime” performance of budget zooms or budget primes. You have plenty of great, cost-effective options to choose from.
All the best
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I’m sure I’ve missed some key points, and could have got my points across in far fewer words, but I thought I post this thread so others can add their 2c if they want.
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