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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
04-16-2024, 07:25 PM
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Forum: Maintenance and Repair Articles
03-15-2024, 06:23 PM
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My K-7's rubber door / flap cover to the USB/HDMI/DC port broke down into several parts. The hinge had been broken for a while, now the door itself had broken into parts. I see that this is common for the K-7 and K-5 series made by Hoya, especially in hotter climates.
I was organising my bike spare parts box when I came across some rubber strips that were supplied with handlebar lights and I realized that I could potentially use them to cover over the broken ports on my K-7.
For reference, the strip I used was exactly 15mm wide and 2mm deep. I cut it to length and then carefully trimmed off the corners so it would fit in the hole. Then I cut a couple of blocks using more of the 2mm thick rubber and I used a 1mm thick strip along one edge, see photos for arrangement. The rubber can be glued together using super glue (cyanoacrylate adhesive). I used 'Zap-A-Gap' glue. I was lucky to have this strip of rubber that had a nice texture and was exactly the right width. However, you should be able to find something at a hardware store or rubber products place, though you would likely have to buy at least a meter length...
The cover just pushes into place and holds well. You must be careful to make it an exact tight fit. I haven't bothered to make a hinge as that would involve gluing something to the camera and it stays in fine anyway.
You will notice in the photos that the microphone port is also missing it's cover. I have found "3.5mm headphone dust covers" are available for mobile phones and have ordered one from the large internet website that sells that sort of stuff. I'll see how that works out when it turns up next week.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
12-19-2023, 05:55 AM
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12 fps can fill your media with useless data… or you can go back and be creative with it.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III Monochrome
10-07-2023, 09:41 PM
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After a six-month wait my camera and three lenses have arrived. Here are my very initial impressions, as a non-Pentax person from my first day with the Monochrome:
TLDR: oh, wow.
(Except for being paraphrased for a family audience, this was genuine first reaction, and was repeated many times.)
It's so nice to have an OVF again. So nice.
I’ll even go so far as to say how nice it is to use a camera that’s built to be a camera, not electronics.
Aesthetics are personal, but with its greyed-out markings it’s unquestionably the best-looking camera I’ve ever owned. (I will be covering the bold SR logo when I can find my black masking tape.)
If I ever need to do one of those self portraits where I’m holding a camera – presumably to prove I’m a photographer – I’ll hold the Monochrome and DFA21 out in front of my face. Gorgeous.
Mine shipped with firmware V2.10.
DA35 Macro. All photos have been edited.
The grip could be a bit deeper, but I have larger hands and the “pick up and handling” grip is different from the “actually taking photos” grip. It's fine to use.
The shutter is a nice shnick sound. Not as sublime as the Fujifilm XH1, which remains my favourite, but it’s up there with my 2003 Olympus E-1 and 2004 Nikon F6.
The DFA21 is large enough but not too large, and sits beautifully on the camera. The DA35 is small enough but not too small. The 20~40 is a nice size but the design reflects a different aesthetic.
There is a significant difference between 20mm and 40mm.
The metal lens caps are so nice that I’m actually using them. Normally I just leave the caps in the box, or in a bin, and don’t put anything in front of the glass.
Taking the 35 Macro into the woods was a lot of fun. To photograph some things at low level I just held the camera out and trusted – after a few tries I remembered that it has Live View. Both methods work surprisingly well.
The screw-drive AF with the 35 is loud indoors but less noticeable outside. The 20~40 motor isn’t silent, but the DFA21 comes very close.
20~40. I don't need colour.
Highlight-Priority metering really works, but I already knew this from my GR3x.
The autofocus has a surprisingly hard time finding street lights at night.
Bumping into the edges of the AF sensor area, compared to the whole-sensor AF points on newer mirrorless, is as annoying as I expected it to be.
The markings in the viewfinder are not as prominent as I’d like.
It’s really nice to have a camera that can work without emitting any light at all. (The SD card activity light is covered by my thumb when I'm holding the camera. I didn’t know it was there when I was out at night, but will tape it if I’m using a tripod.)
The solid feel of the camera is reassuring. I like that it doesn’t have a pop-up flash or articulated screen. It’s rare but both can and do break; I’m planning on using this camera forever and am happier with fewer moving parts.
The Pentaxness of its controls and design is going to take some time to learn, but I’ve already been able to customize it to fix some quibbles. More remain, but will be overcome.
Having Av, Tv and Ev all immediately available on three different dials is excellent. I prefer the infinite-spin control dial EV Comp to the Fuji-Retro marked and dedicated dial. On a two-dial camera I’d use Av mode with EV assigned to the second dial, but with three dials TAv and Program shift become options.
I absolutely loathe those dual-purpose click-wheel controls from companies that can’t tell the difference between cameras and computer mice. (Even Ricoh gets this tragically wrong by sourcing parts from the Canon and Sony spares bin for the GR3.) Long live Pentax for not fire-trucking this one up.
DFA21, iso64000. Yes, with three zeros.
Image quality is very, very good. Technical considerations are far from the most important aspects of a photograph, but it’s good to know that when I’m able to do my part that the camera won’t let me down.
Looking at the photos, there have been several times when I’ve had to wrap my head around the iso value having an extra zero.
But sometimes high-iso photos come away with a noise pattern, and sometimes they don't. Learning when and why will be a big help.
The sharpness advantage of a non-mosaic sensor is real. Not needing to use monochrome2dng, as I do for my converted 830nm-IR camera, feels like cheating.
Learning how to best edit the photos is going to take some time. A deft and subtle touch seems to be the best.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-18-2022, 04:53 AM
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So, if that name is correct, it will still be screw drive. I find that a little surprising.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
05-22-2022, 12:06 PM
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x-post 
K-1 | FF mode | 21mm |
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Forum: Lens Clubs
05-21-2022, 12:05 AM
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Pentax K1MKII D-FA21mm f/2.4 ED ASPH Limited @ f/2.4 ISO 100 1/1250th
Pentax K1MKII D-FA21mm f/2.4 ED ASPH Limited @ f/2.4 ISO 100 1/320th
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Forum: Lens Clubs
05-13-2022, 01:56 AM
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Pentax K1II SMCP-HD D-FA21mm f/2.4 ED ASPH Limited @ f/2.4
Pentax K1II - DFA21mm f/2.4 @ f/2.4
Pentax K1 II DFA21mm f/2.4 @ f/11 - [SATOBI DCU 5 - tonally tweaked]
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
07-30-2022, 05:50 PM
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Any good 35 to 100 mm lens will give you the results you want. Take a look at this picture my father took in 1961 (over 60 years ago). The camera was a Practika IV and the lens was a simple 50mm (four glass) Tessar. I think folks put far too much weight on the equipment rather than the lighting and artistic eye.
 Practica IV with 50mm Tessar on Kodachrome in 1961 by aeomaster32, on Flickr
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Forum: General Photography
06-08-2022, 02:40 PM
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We have established that a middle aged man owns a Pentax camera.
This thread has run its course.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
10-29-2021, 05:09 AM
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These videos coming out of Ricoh are really resonating with me. I switch off when marketing is in-your-face and this approach is way more to my liking and I hope it develops a stronger brand following because of it.
It's interesting the differences cited between HD and SMC. I do get frustrated with the SMC version and how it doesn't handle flare at all well as I often need better control of stray light, but for subdued light, and a slightly cropped wide angle, it excels for the type of shots in this video. I knew this from the test results we've seen, but it's valuable to be reminded how it's best used.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
07-10-2019, 07:27 AM
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You folks are hilarious. Feel free to ignore if you don't want to play along.
The last thing I want Pentax to waste their limited resources on is a web platform to compete with existing giants (Instagram etc.)
As for Instagram, I don't "waste" a single moment on it. I have an account, and I use it to post a handful of my favourite images (all of which are either Pentax DSLR or film-based). I treat Instagram like a free gallery service that lets people around the world easily find my work -- compared to my web-based gallery which is such a quiet corner of the internet that it may as well not exist. Every time someone "likes" one of my images, I check out what they have posted themselves. With few exceptions, I see excellent work that nourishes my artistic interests. I've spent a total of a few hours over the last few years on Instagram. It has been a worthwhile exchange for whatever lost "privacy" I have given up to use it.
I am well aware of the drawbacks of social media. But don't kid yourself -- your indignation sounds like your great-grand-parent's complaints about how "I don't want a newfangled telephone in my house! How dare they have a telephone-based contest! What's wrong with writing a letter?! Kids these days have terrible penmanship!" All of these points may be valid. There are benefits to staying "off the grid." But it starts to sound like wanton anachronism to everybody else.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
08-09-2019, 07:51 PM
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One from the vault - 8 portrait images taken with K10D and SMC Pentax-DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL WR.
 _IGP1422-9 by Ray Allen, on Flickr
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
06-03-2019, 10:08 PM
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Yesterday evening I hiked a little to catch sunset.
K-1 + D FA 15-30
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
05-20-2019, 09:22 AM
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Pakenham a couple of weeks ago
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Forum: General Talk
05-04-2019, 10:58 AM
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A few weeks ago, I clicked all the appropriate buttons and gave PF my support for another year. Why not? It needs funds to be viable, and I enjoy it, so I support it.
But I thought to myself, "that's just too easy." It takes work to run a website – any website – and this one is exceptionally well run. There should be a bit more to my support than clicking the PayPal button. So with this note, I want to add my thanks.
I love this site. It is populated by civil, respectful, thoughtful people interacting with civil, respectful, thoughtful conversations. This alone makes it more than unique.
There is a cosmopolitan substance to Pentax Forums. We are a global cohort and that allows us all to learn and share our experiences and resources on a worldwide platform. And because we are such a civil group, we open our minds to the knowledge that each brings to the table. This serves to make our forum experience broad, deep, and rich.
The knowledge base here is, to me, astonishing. There seems to always someone who has the resources to help. Do you have a question about some 40-year-old lens you bought on E-bay? Are you spreading your wings and need help understanding a new technique? Or perhaps you are just a new guy who wants to venture away from the auto mode. Not to worry, the Pentax Forums membership has your back. Your question will be answered – and without condescension.
Are there arguments and disagreements? Oh, I hope so. There should be. After all, how can learning occur without questions and debate? But these disagreements – er, debates – occur, for the most, with civil, respectful, and thoughtful discourse (familiar words?). And they are great learning opportunities for those of us who aren’t knowledgeable enough to join the discussion.
Of course, all of this does not occur in a vacuum. Adam sets the tone and keeps things running smoothly. But he does not do this alone. There are moderators and contributors and a core of sages who pull all of this together to make and keep this a special place. I am guessing that nothing happens without this group. To all of you, my applause and my thanks.
So thank you, everyone, for allowing me to join you in good fellowship and bonhomie. I look forward to another year at Pentax Forums.
I realize this seems very “lilacs and roses.” I can hear you thinking, “I can’t believe this guy likes everything about PF.” Well, you are right. My tee-shirt design has never been chosen, and that ticks me off.
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
05-05-2019, 05:57 PM
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Uploaded on my youtube channel - I take the Pentax 645Z to my recent trip to Japan, I visited Ricoh Imaging Square in Shinjuku to have it serviced. I was very impressed by their service and price, they were able to clean the 645Z, Pentax 55mm 2.8, and 150mm 2.8 lens. They only charged me to clean the lenses and cleaning and servicing of the 645Z was free! They did tell me that the 645Z has some front focusing, so I need to dial it in to -5 for the AF fine tune adjust, I had my friend who was translating for me, but for some reason the screw driven lenses 75mm and 150mm, is tack sharp wide open, only the new 55mm f/2.8 needs to be AF fine tuned. So total price was around $20 of service, then the next day had a photoshoot with a Japanese / Brazilian model, here is the link to the video, and some pics are attached here.
You Tube
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src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XNrdou249lY?controls=1" allowfullscreen>
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Forum: Pentax Medium Format
04-07-2017, 04:22 PM
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Forum: Photographic Technique
07-31-2017, 10:17 PM
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So I made a tilt-shift-swing macro bellows over the weekend with commercially available over the shelf (COTS) components. The nice thing about it being COTS is that it's replaceable or upgradeable to add more movements. Because 2.5" of movements may not be enough...:rolleyes:)
Anyway, in addition to being for macros, I built it to do pictorial photography and focal-place-control portraits with simple lenses. I gave it a shot today with a plano-convex lens that creates some pretty glowy images. To control that, I threw on a microscope aperture that stops down to 1mm, which allowed me to get the lens pretty sharp, but there was too much of a breeze for any of the sharp photos not to have motion blur. Anyway, there's something about a single piece of uncoated glass that conveys some amazing color.
Here are photos of the rig and some of the pictorial photo samples I took today.
Yes, that is a lens made of step-up and step-down rings mis-fitted onto an M42 aperture and that M42 aperture is on a PK adapter. Yeah, that actually does work pretty well.
Looking through the lens (the glass is in front of the aperture) at the aperture. It would be possible to mount some lenses behind the aperture, but I digress.
I thought that the tubular bellows would vignette badly and limit movement, but the movements have to be FAR more extreme than in useful for the lenses I've tested (the single-element 100mm lens and the Pentax-D FA 100mm macro) to vignette. On APS-C, this would likely not vignette at all with most lenses.
Here you can see the image vignetting. That's at about 90% of the movement capacity on the front standard.
https://photos.smugmug.com/T-S-S-Macro-Bellows/i-KZB77gZ/0/05af8eb1/L/T-S-S%...%2816%29-L.jpg
Top view of the above shot. This is far more movement than is healthy for anythign except an advanced yogi.
Side view of the above two shots.
Super-glowy single-element lens pictorial photo, no movement, wide open.
Same shot with some tilt and swing applied.
Swung way out to the edge of the image circle with some bellows vignetting.
Stopped down a bit and shifted to maximum camera movement.
Tilted and shifted to capture the very edge of the image circle. At this magnification, the lens covers an area about the size of an LF negative.
If there's interest, I'll post a parts list. All in, this cost around $220 and the parts came from three sources -- Servo City and two eBay sellers. The bellows needed a slight mod so that the 6-32 screws could fit through it (the holes in the bellows were sized for 4-32 screws.) So after drilling the mounting holes out to 7/16 (I think), the screws fit well. The base COULD be made smaller but I over-sized the width for stability and weight to counter balance the K-1's weight. I wouldn't suggest going much narrower. Also, focus is a bit odd since the tripod mount is on the front standard, but I got used to it in a couple of re-focuses. The only technical limitation with this design is that the camera is mounted in portrait orientation. To rectify that, the bellows would need a second tripod mount where the affixing screw is right now. In my mind, portrait orientation isn't the end of the world as the means to achieve portrait orientation with this design would be exceedingly cumbersome.
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
01-08-2013, 02:08 PM
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Our Land Cruiser seemingly floating in the Uyuni salt flats of Bolivia. It had rained a few days before, which flooded part of the flats and creates a nearly perfect mirror for as far as you could see.
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
04-08-2017, 11:31 PM
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That is the best answer ever!
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
04-08-2017, 05:25 PM
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We do listen. We spend our lives listening. We try to understand the problem, and the feelings behind it. What we want to do is alleviate the feelings. We see the way to do that is to try to solve the problem. We want to help. We cannot understand that retaining the problem, and expressing the feelings, is more acceptable than solving the problem.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
12-13-2016, 04:59 PM
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More accurately translated into English it should read:
...video function doesn't "knock you off your chair"
I have spent some time in Germany and have become familiar with some of the local idioms, one of which I immediately recognised:
...ein asbachuraltes SMC Pentax-M...
Asbach is one of the best known quality German brandies with one of them being marketed as Uralt namely more than eight years old and when something is very old or ancient Germans often say it is Asbach-Uralt, where "uralt" simply means ancient.
Asbach Original 3 Year Old German Brandy : The Whisky Exchange |
