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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
10-20-2011, 10:41 AM
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Your method looks good, same as what I used. Did you use a proper text editor or the one in Windoes? I have attached the files I have used if you want to try them. I created them with Notepad++ Notepad++ Home and they work ok for me. Good luck!
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
10-19-2011, 11:05 AM
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Camera needs to be in debug mode for this to work. It is not a setting added to the additional debug menu, I spent ages trying to find the menu item to turn it on! Now sort out how to put the K5 into debug and allow us to reset the electronic level please!
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-07-2011, 01:10 AM
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-07-2011, 01:09 AM
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Lack of cable release is a real pain, the Kx also stops responding to the IR remote after about 5 minutes, so long exposures over that time cannot be stopped with the remote. You may find something like this a better option, DIY or find one on ebay.
I am about to go K5 and get my cable release back again! Yay!
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
05-28-2011, 02:27 AM
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It is not really clear what the reviewer is actually meaning by his statement, but it could be a reference to the 'catch in focus' feature? I find that helps with manual focus lenses. If you set catch in focus and hold the shutter down, the shutter will fire when it detects something in focus and the focus hexagon will light up in the viewfinder. You also need to make sure you know exactly where the camera is finding focus, so on the Kx I have it set to centre spot permanently so the camera doesn't catch focus from something off to the side. Catch in focus can be a bit hit and miss and it will also be more accurate either sliding through focus from near to far or vice versa, you need to do a bit of playing to work out how it works with your particular lens and a smaller aperture does help with depth of field and sharpness. The following was catch in focus with a Pentax 50 1.4, I think it was set to about f4. This was much sharper than I normally get though
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-07-2011, 12:04 PM
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Hi, after losing my 12-24 in a river I bought a kit lens and the Digital King screw on 0.7 adapter (Digital King DSW Pro 0.7x Wide Angle Lens - 58mm - Only £69.99 - SRS Microsystems )hoping it would keep me quiet. It was barely ok, edge sharpness was pretty bad, but for £30 (I got it cheaper than retail) it was a lot less than a new price-hiked 12-24. I blogged my impressions here: review: digital king dsw 0.7 wide adapter scanar Not sure what the quality of the raynox is like. If you really want wide I would opt for Samyang 14mm 2.8 (not that I own that, but it is likely to be better than the screw ons and not as expensive as the real ultra wide lenses). I saved up and bought the sigma 10-20
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
01-02-2011, 09:50 AM
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No, the DFS is after the exposure finishes. The camera becomes unresponsive to IR while the shutter is still open after a couple of minutes or so. So, for a short bulb expose, press one opens the shutter, press two closes it. On a long exposure (ie more than 90 seconds or so) it opens as normal, but the second press of the IR remote does nothing. It is still recording the image. After turning off with the on/off switch the shutter closes and it then goes through the DFS cycle as normal. I did try to set the automatic power down time to a longer value, it didn;t seem to make much difference. Not a big problem and easy to overcome.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
01-01-2011, 04:58 AM
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
12-20-2010, 01:03 PM
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Nasty doughnut shapes to the out of focus highlights, but that is a lens issue, not camera I think? Looks like the results you would get from a mirror lens.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-15-2010, 05:53 AM
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Little Laker - it got buried back there, but good tip about custom white balance. You need a fair amount of light coming in for the camera to set a custom balance, the 20 stop welding filter is nearly impossible as it is too dark for a reading, but it helps a lot with the 'standard' dark filters.
Yes, they would be worth a shot, I think I went there about 20 years ago and it was a goldmine. Need to beat you by the sounds of it! ;) They seem to have a suitable range from a quick search on their site. I was in Arundel and the photo guy there has stacks of filters as well, I did not look, but I think most were smaller UV etc.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-14-2010, 05:24 AM
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God I hate it when the moderators move things to really obscure locations! How on earth is this lenses?
I have seen some awful shots of infrared contamination with other cameras, I think it is more a factor of the filter than the camera. Hitech are supposed to be pretty prone to IR leakage. Remember that polarising filters are usually transparent to infrared, which is why when the visible light is blocked as you cross them, they still transmit a lot of IR, causing the magenta tone. I think blaming pentax is a cop out for some filter manufacturers, although it is true that it is pretty easy to use an unmodified pentax and get reasonably good results with just an infrared filter. I was going to buy a sheet of that solar film, especially as I was trying to work out a filter for the fisheye lens. I would be interested to see some results using it.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-12-2010, 11:46 AM
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I have tried a few of your solutions. Vari-ND is based on stacked polarisers, but I have not used one. I have stacked various polarisers that I had lying about, some £10 from ebay and some old linear versions. I have tried all the combinations but have not had good results. Magenta casts and cross shaped effects, where the cross is dark magenta and the corners outside the cross are lighter. Welders glass is great and cheap at £4, but it is VERY dark (the one I have is about 20 stops) and green. You can correct most of the colour cast, but you have to ensure that it is clean and scratch free or you will get flare effects around defects. Also, light leaking behind any of these is an absolute no-no (so makes cokin filters a bit of a trial to control). Light leaking back through the viewfinder is a real issue as well (with my Kx and K100,) so block the viewfinder. Cokin & IR is fine, but it will be IR, so not really realistic. I had a good example of the Citiwide ND400 which I gave away. It had a magenta tint as well, but was interesting to use and probably 15 stops rather than the rated 9. Sadly the new versions of that filter were faulty (creating the same magenta cross as bad crossed polarisers, so you can guess how they made it. It is no longer on sale, but if they can fix the problem I would buy another, they were only £13). So all those will cause you problems, and you are left with the expensive solutions. I have a B+W ND110. The 58mm was only £30 I think, the 77mm was closer to £80, but they do actually work well for landscape. There is a slight pinkinsh cast, but it is easily correctbale. I feel that I wasted a few quid on cheap attempts, but do not regret getting either of the B+W ND110s I have.
This is one with the welding filter (this was just to try it out, I would have preferred some moving clouds or something to blur)
There are some with the B+W here Picasa Web Albums - David - Beach Neutral... |
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-26-2010, 09:09 AM
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Hi Patsy, glad you like the article. Yes, the timer remote looks identical to the one I have so it should have a 2.5mm plug and fit the 2.5mm socket from RS. But it is not the IR remote that starts it all off, you need to program the Timer Remote. When it is connected to the infrared remote it just closes the circuit for the button and causes an IR pulse each time. For your scenario, set the camera on manual or Tv to 10 seconds. Set the timer for a 1 second exposure and 30 second interval. (No need to set it to 10 seconds, the time for the exposure makes little difference as the IR only sends one pulse each time the circuit is activated and you setting it to 10 seconds on the camera will take care of it). Set the number of shots to 90 (2 shots per minute for 45 minutes). The button on the right under the screen is the one that starts the timer program running (I think, I am at work). As long as the infrared beam is picked up by the sensor on the front of the camera all should be fine and it will do what you want :hmm:
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-25-2010, 03:55 AM
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Hi guys, bulb mode on the Kx could really do with an improvement. The timer remote I wired to the infrared one just shorts out the ir remote button contacts to provide the pulse to fire the shutter. As Eric said, you can set the camera to open the shutter with one shutter press and close with a second. Same deal with the intrared remode, one press to open, wait then one press to close. You have to be a bit creative with the way you program the timer remote and this gets a bit complicated to explain. Normally, the wired remote holds the shutter open when it is closed contact. This is not the case with IR remotes. The settings on the timer remote are like this:
Delay: eg 3 seconds
Exposure time: 15 seconds
Interval: 15 seconds
Number of shots: 107
When activated on a camera you can plug the timer in (eg K100, K7 but *not* Kx), this will wait 3 seconds, then start taking 15 second exposures, with a 15 second gap for 107 shots.
If you wire it to the infrared and use a Kx this is what happens. It will wait three seconds then open the shutter. The next pulse on will occur 30 seconds later and the shutter will close. The next on pulse will be 30 seconds later and the shutter will open again. Both the exposure time and the delay time when driving the ir remote will both be equal to the 'exposure time' plus the 'interval time', but then that should account for the long dfs anyway. The other thing to consider is that the camera will not 'wake' with an ir pulse, so you need to set the auto off time long enough so that the camera does not go to sleep between your exposures, so plenty of batteries.
Even though I made this frankenstein device, can you see why I have been sticking to a purely mechanical solution an stacks of 30 second exposures or just the plain IR remote for longer exposures? I love the new Kx, but if Pentax brought out a brother with a proper DC socket and a wired remote socket I think I would switch.
diy mechanical shutter release for pentax kx (or any camera) scanar |
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-23-2010, 01:55 AM
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-21-2010, 03:55 AM
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I like hdr as well, but I have only used the incamera hdr on my kx to show people how inadequate it is. It is just an extention on dynamic exposure compensation and I find it cartoon like or very chalky at any setting. I have managed to convince someone they do not need to upgrade just to get hdr incamera, as they thought that would be the feature they would use the most. You are much better off using DynamicPhoto HDR or Photomatix pro to tonemap a set of bracketed exposures than do anything in camera. Results from the camerea are pretty drab and flat. Even a tonemapped single raw image seems to be better than the incamera results. Now if the camera would combine images to create a proper 32 bit hdr image, that would be a whole different matter! Get the exposures and subject sorted and do it in pp for best results.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-10-2010, 03:57 AM
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-05-2010, 12:31 PM
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Sooner rather than later! I went out on Tuesday with my OLD 50mm f1.4 (manual focus and aperture) and was taking pics in an unlit rail shed on an overcast day. The discipline of a fixed focal length is fantastic and the Kx makes it so easy. You can set it to 'catch in focus' so that the shutter fires when the camera thinks the centre is in focus, and it only takes one a quick press of the +- button to get an exposure setting. This lens is way sharper than the 18-55 or the Sigma 18-200 I have and I was delighted with the results handheld. Picasa Web Albums - David - Bluebell Rail... There are a couple of fisheye ones in that set and a little bit of hdr, but the best shots came from the 50. I need to get my 24mm out a bit more as well.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
01-31-2010, 02:36 AM
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Option 2 sounds like a good start and will help you decide which way you would like to go. The kit lens is fine and will focus pretty close. The 55-200 will give you a bit of reach. Use it for a while and you will soon know if you want to shell out for a wider lens (eg the sigma 10-20) as that is pretty useful for landscapes. A polariser will let you adjust to reduce reflections and increase colour saturation, but it can be pretty dramatic in effect in Australia so you need to watch your exposure. I found it caused the camera to underexpose by about 2-3 stops in some circumstances. Buy one the size of the largest lens filter you have (or plan to get) and use stepping rings to fit it on the smaller lenses. A uv filter is mainly just to protect the front of the lens from scratches etc and you will get a lot of people telling you they are spawned by the devil and should be avoided. Cheap ones can cause washed out photos and ghosting of highlights (eg in night shots), so get a coated one. I just bought a protama multicoated uv off ebay and it seems pretty good quality. I leave it on for general photos and take it off if I suspect it is causing problems (eg for night shots where ghost images are a problem). If you are cash strapped you might also want to look at the possibility of getting a close-up filter from ebay. They screw on the front (therefore doubly spawned of the satanic one) but will allow you to get in close with minimal outlay, until you decide if the real macro is worth the outlay.
Good luck!
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
01-31-2010, 02:21 AM
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Thanks guys for the tips. Jeff, I had seen that software for a pda already and I have a Pocket PC smartphone, but it is ancient (about 6 or 7 years old!!) and will not run that software. I have a copy of it stored on my computer for when I finally upgrade the phone. I will be getting a 10-20 before a new phone though. Bill, a simple 6v linear solenoid would do the job with the timer remote to control voltage to it. See here for a PIR using the same sort of actuation: Using a 6 vdc or 12 vdc Push Solenoid to Push the Camera Shutter Button - Jesse's Hunting & Outdoors (JHO) Because of the dark frame subtraction issue I have not been doing that many long exposures anyway, stacking sequential 30 second exposures seems to be work better for me at the moment. I nearly bought a nikon because of the lack of control over dfs and the lack of wired remote on the Kx (or the dfs on the K7). Sticking with the Kx has saved me about £800 in losses for the changeover with lenses etc and provided hours of enjoyment getting around the 'limitations' of the entry level pentax. :cool:
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
01-29-2010, 12:41 PM
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Bill - no electrical interface at all on the Kx :mad:, which is why I had to use the program remote to drive the infrared one. You can set the camera to focus before shooting in infrared remote mode, if needed. If you could see it like I see it, you would not think it looks professional though! I call most of my DIY stuff Franken-whatever as was always cackhanded and getting worse with age.
Andrew, thanks for the tip, but my remote only holds the shutter open for about 1/2 a second so I have to use option #1. I have had a go with using it this evening with the moon. Worked fine, but I actually it is so bright I only need 30 seconds or less, so am making do with my mechanical remote. I need to fiddle with a way of holding all the wires and bits in place with the Frankenremote. It needs a few bits of blutack and an elastic band or two.
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
01-29-2010, 04:06 AM
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My soldering skills are pretty rank, but I have managed to create an unatural bond between a timer remote and an infrared remote. So it is possible to have some program control over the Kx shutter.
 
The only problem I have found so far is that it will not wake the camera if it has gone back to sleep. It also only sends a pulse when the button is pressed, so it does not hold the shutter open in bulb mode except in press for on, press for off mode. Anyone know of any infrared remotes on ebay that will keep the shutter open while the button is pressed?
You can see the 'full' instructions here: creating a programmable remote shutter release for Pentax Kx |
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
01-17-2010, 11:02 AM
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I was just posting a new thread related to this and it has disappeared. Strange. Anyway, I did buy the Kx in the end, and it is miles better than the K100d for long exposures. I tried it out with a couple of long exposures of 6-10 minutes, no probs. I also did a stack using 130 30 second exposures (no long exposure noise reduction, jpeg, f4.5, iso 800, fisheye 10mm) which I was very happy with. See here Kx Star Trails I used picolay and startrails to stack them, but startrails produced a grid pattern on the image:
This was not visible with the default settings of picolay (but it did appear with higher settings for 'minimum contrast' and 'weighted average' processing). Is this common for other cameras? I am delighted with the results for a first attempt, the Kx does indeed succeed!
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
01-17-2010, 10:48 AM
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I am guessing you mean the banding? It is a dark image and it looks like the image has been brightened, possibly automatically by photoshop or picasa or similar? This will bring out noise and artifacts in the dark areas. For HDR the 'dark' images like this one are the ones used to get the highlight detail and it looks like overkill in the bracketing as well, you highlights are rendered as midtones or less here, so I suspect you could not use this one and still create a successful hdr?
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