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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
07-14-2011, 02:55 PM
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I have been a car nut for 50 yrs and many, many years ago, I and every one of my car nut friends, quit paying any attention to Consumer Reports automobile analysis, because, quite simply, it was unbelievably incompetent.
The same is true of their camera reviews. I remember a few years ago when they rated the number 1 point and shoot super zoom (a Panasonic if I recall, rated number 1 by every professional camera reviewer's rating at the time) as last place in their review. The specs were wrong, the testing wrong, everything was useless. It was simply ludicrous.
My suggestion, at least for cars or cameras, is to look at professional reviews done by magazines that specialize in them and then go test drive the ones that appeal to you and make up your own mind. But just completely ignore CR reviews.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
11-18-2009, 10:28 PM
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I have the same problem with the supplied lithium batteries. Just for the heck of it I tried a set of cheap non-rechargeable Rayovac alkaline 1.5v batteries. They worked perfectly. After 100s of shots and two 6min videos I switched back to the lithiums. The Rayovacs read 1.42v and were not working well on the video although they still worked well on pictures. I took out the card and saw that I had taken almost exactly 3GB of data. It was a 4 GB class 10 card (20MB/sec)
The nice thing was that I now know that I can operate the camera for long periods of time on cheap alkalines. But I am worried about the lithiums usefulness.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
04-03-2008, 06:33 AM
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MTF actually works and is very handy on those lens that it supports, especially zooms. I can actually see the difference in the prints between normal and MTF using my Pentax 18-250 when I use P mode.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-28-2008, 02:39 PM
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I also have a 135mm f2.8 that I paid $15 for including a hard case. So I tried it. It does not screw in all the way to touch the contacts so just sanding off the paint does not work. So I'll have to make up a little spacer. No problem.
Anyway, I tried it out with aluminum foil shorting the contacts. I set the aperture to f8 and sure enough, it was easy to focus much more quickly and have the trap focus shot turn out fine. The DOF was so much greater that using this lens this way will be a piece of cake.
I haven't had this much fun with the technical side of cameras in many years. I think I'm becoming a big Pentax fan.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-28-2008, 01:47 PM
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Here is how it seems to work best for me. I focus in quickly until it seems pretty close then press the shutter button half way down and just rotate the focus ring slowly until it fires. It seems to fire as soon as the red light goes on and the pictures are in focus.
I assume that you could move the focus ring faster if the DOF was greater but with the 50mm f1.4, the DOF is quite small. I'll try faster focusing with another lens when I get a chance.
thanks again for the quick responses.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-28-2008, 01:37 PM
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Well, I just tried some samples and they went as follows. If I focussed too quickly, nothing happened. If I took my time and started from infinity and worked back, it seemed to work perfectly. But if I started focussing close-up and then moved out towards infinity, I had more pictures out of focus. However, I'm not sure how much that has to do with the camera and how much it has to do with me losing concentration and just moving past the focus point as the picture was being taken. In any case, it worked fine for me moving from infinity in. My guess is that if you get it close to in focus coming from either direction and then slowly focus in, it will work well either way. I'll play around some more later and post my findings.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-28-2008, 12:50 PM
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Well the sand paper trick worked. I just sanded off the black paint from the very edge of the lens and that was enough to short the contacts. And even if you look closely at the lens, it looks like it was designed and built with that little bit of paint missing.
Thanks for the quick responses. And, yes Stu, I am very happy with my new rig.
On another topic, I have been following the K20D threads with some amusement, particularly with respect to the FPS aspect. My amusement come from looking back 30 years or so when the MD-12 and 15 Nikon motor drives were the best. We had no trouble with them shooting car races, basketball, hockey games etc. And they were only 3 FPS. Funny from my point of view.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-28-2008, 12:14 PM
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Well, I have looked carefully at the lens and it seems that it does not short out any of the contacts. It is seems to be wide enough to just touch them but they are not shorted. By shorting them with a piece of aluminum foil, the trap focus works. I'm not sure whether the lens is not wide enough or if it just the paint on the lens acting as an insulator. I'm going to take a piece of 400 wet/dry and gently sand off a bit of paint and see if that helps. Otherwise, I'll have to fabricate a simple aluminum ring that can fit and short then out.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-28-2008, 11:31 AM
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That is what I am doing. But the shutter does not lock. It just takes the out of focus picture as soon as it is pressed. I have tried every mode setting on the dial also, with the same results.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-28-2008, 11:15 AM
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First of all, let me say that I'm new to the Pentax world although I've been using Canon, Nikon and recently Panasonic for over 40 years I had all my gear stolen recently so when It came time to replace it, I looked very carefully at all the current DSLR's. I decided on the Pentax K10D, and, having used it for a month now, I am very impressed. I bought it with an 18-250 Pentax lens which works very well, particularly with the camera set to "Program line".
However, I recently got a Super-Multi-Coated TAKUMAR 50mm F1.4 lens and a Pentax screw mount converter. First of all let me say that the lens itself is wonderful, absolutely wonderful. And I was quite amazed at how well the old screw mount lens worked with the new high tech digital camera. Kudos to Pentax for a job well done.
However, I have read about the "Trap focus" functionality but I have been unable to get it to work. I have searched the forums but I'm still not sure why it does not work. Is it even supposed to work with this lens? If so, can someone please tell me what I might be doing wrong.
Thanks,
Mike
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