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Forum: Pentax Q
05-25-2020, 06:55 AM
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Recently acquired an original K-Q-Adapter and of course had to try it.
First with a FA50/1.4 at approx. f2.4 - hand held:
Then with a Tamron 90mm Macro at f8 - tripod used:
The last one was a 5 second exposure - the Q7 / Tamron combo really is well balanced on the K-Q-Adapter when used with the tripod foot. A real breeze to setup and shoot with.
Phil
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Forum: Pentax Q
05-25-2020, 05:00 AM
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Black Q, black & silver Q7, all lenses 01-08 (04 & 05 are seriously underestimated IMO), original K-Q-Adapter (and a Kiwi one), a third party 110-Q adapter, two 110 Pentax lenses (used with lensbaby aperture discs), a set of automatic Q-mount tubes. Just re-discovered my collection because the mentioned original K-Q adapter was on offer, so I‘m now experimenting with it again. Was quite shocked to discover that a bloated (defective) battery was stuck in the Q7‘s body and had to use pliers and a lot of patience to get it out. But no harm done, was very glad about that.
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Forum: Ricoh Theta 360° Cameras
12-26-2017, 08:39 AM
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Christmas walk today at the Rhine in Germany:
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Forum: Ricoh Theta 360° Cameras
12-05-2017, 12:35 PM
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An update: I now know what the "V" in Theta V stands for: I had to go through four physically misaligned copies of the Theta V, and only the fifth one finally was acceptable. Couldn't believe it (neither could Amazon, but that's a different story). Interestingly enough I got the fifth copy from a different seller, and it had a significantly higher ID code. I do guess that Ricoh might have had some manufacturing problems with the first batch of V's.
The four first copies either had really much too soft seams on one side (and quite acceptable ones on the opposing side) or one completely misaligned lens (and thus were unable to get acceptable infinity focus with that lens) - or both phenomena combined.
My last copy really was also my last shot - I would've given up on the V if it also had failed. But luckily enough it didn't! So I'm finally beginning to enjoy that really amazing cam. :-)
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Forum: Ricoh Theta 360° Cameras
12-05-2017, 12:22 PM
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A local church at first Advent Sunday:
Theta was placed on the black tray next to the candles - and it eliminated itself very effectively.
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Forum: Ricoh Theta 360° Cameras
11-05-2017, 05:12 AM
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I did some thorough testing and found out that the problem manifests itself only in one region of the stitched seam. On the other side - 180 degrees around, so to speak - the seam doesn't show an unsharpness that pronounced.
In live spherical view the problem is also clearly visible, and only at one side of the seam. Reason is quite obviously a misaligned lens on one side of the camera. I'll get another copy next week and hopefully with this one the lenses are both aligned as they should.
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Forum: Ricoh Theta 360° Cameras
11-03-2017, 03:59 PM
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I got myself a Theta V and I am quite satisfied with its overall possibilities and features - but I'm also, as I'm new to this type of camera, a bit anxious about getting a "normal" specimen of that most interesting camera. Major gripe is that the image quality deteriorates massively at the edges of the camera, even with the newest firmware 1.10.1 dating from Oct. 24th installed. I'm okay with that performance if that is to be expected - and if I read the in-depth review of the Theta S on this site I reckon it really could be so ...
So here's the the complete spherical pic that is my reference:
And here the region of it that bothers me:
Of course there's an equally soft region 180 degrees on the other side, but I guess needn't show it here. :)
So all I want to know is: Is this performance normal? I can live with it and position the camera accordingly - but if it's not normal I'll return the copy I have to get a better one.
Thanks very much on every input on this!
Phil
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
03-06-2017, 01:34 AM
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Thought I'd resurrect this thread because I just bought a Kooka KK-P25 and found a way to be happy with it. Parts first posted over at dpreview.
Problems with the tube
I got three major gripes with the Kooka KK-P25:
- First annoying thing is that it includes a aperture simulator lever - not used by DSLRs - that is not spring loaded (which is very unusual for tubes or converters - all other I have do sport a spring loaded simulator). It floats freely inside the tube, and to mount a lens you have to rotate the tube to an angle that forces the lever to go to a fixed position at one end - and only then you can mount a lens (they include a small leaflet in the package that explains what you have to do).
- Second annoying thing is that the screwdrive coupling is very poorly made. If you switch to MF on your camera, the screwdrive pin of the tube does not disengage from the lens, and manual focusing of AF lenses is hampered by this (and accompanied by very unsettling, grinding noises).
- Third annoying thing is again the screwdrive coupling that is - as I said before - very poorly made and machined. At least with my copy of the tube it was a hit and miss thing to get the camera's AF screw to grab the tube's clutch securely. I tried it on multiple bodies - K-1, K-5, K-10, Ds and K-01 - and on all of them it rarely worked after mounting - most times it did not; in those cases the AF motor of the camera whirred in high pitch without achieving anything - not a sound you want to hear too often ...
Apart from that it was hard to achieve correct focus even if the screwdrive clutch engaged successfully; with PDAF most times focus was missed all the same, and only using live view with CDAF focus was usable; even then you got more hunting than usual IMO.
So what to do with that Kooka contraption?
How to convert the tube to something useful
I still wanted to have a tube with K-mount data and aperture contacts, since the manual tubes I already got force you to use stop down metering - this IMO is really not that comfortable in close up and macro photography. I wanted to use it mainly with my FA50/1.4 and my Samyang 85/1.4 - both nice bright primes, but with not so nice minimum focusing distances and because of that good matches for a tube.
So I decided to lose the useless aperture simulator and the unreliable screwdrive coupling. And that turned out to be a painless five minute thing to do. Here's how to do it (I forgot to take pictures while "operating" on the tube, but it's really easy):- Place the tube on its flat front (lens side), so that you look at its back side (camera or mount side) with the aperture control lever looking at you (not to be confused with the aperture simulator lever ...)
- Now remove the three outer screws of the mount (the three inner ones on the black part of the mount stay untouched) and slowly and carefully pull the central mount element from the tube. It takes a bit of wriggling, but you'll get it free eventually.
- After removing the central element you will quickly spot the freely roaming aperture simulator lever. Be careful: don't confuse it with the aperture control lever that is needed to stop down the lens! If you're unsure about that have a glance at this article about the K-mount - skip to the section with the title "The original K-lens mount as introduced in 1975" and look at the first picture in this section to identify the levers.
- Now back to the simulator lever of the tube; it's attached to a metal plate with two tiny small black screws. Remove those two screws - now you can get the annoying simulator lever and throw it away. You won't miss it! Unless of course you want to use the tube with an old film body - in that case save the lever and the screws for attaching them again when needed. The metal plate will still move around in the tube causing some noise now and then, but won't interfere with lens mounting any more.
- Now for the screwdrive coupling: The upper part of the coupling you can remove by hand; but since it's spring loaded you need a pair of pincers to get the small spring below it and to remove the remaining part - the clutch - from the recesses of the tube. Again save everything if you want to re-install it - I was appalled by it's unreliable operation so I didn't hesitate to throw it away.
- Then carefully re-attach the central mount element, fasten its three screws - and you're done!
You now have a cheap, but good working extension tube that has no AF, but allows for smooth MF and provides all other K-mount contacts you need to work with automatic exposure modes. And that sure is a nice thing to have for 25 Euros and 5 minutes of work!
Of course you have to do the conversion at your own risk - it went smoothly in my case, but I can't guarantee it for other copies of the tube.
One last thing: I couldn't test if the tube's SDM pins work properly since I don't have a SDM lens.
Feel free to ask any questions.
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Forum: Pentax Q
01-14-2017, 05:19 AM
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Forum: Pentax Q
01-13-2017, 01:21 AM
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Four tulip macro shots - Q7 with 06@45mm on a 10mm tube. Hand held using a LED ring light.
Magnification with this setup: better than 1:1 on a FF - an object 30mm wide fills the frame. As a bonus you have a very comfortable working distance of about 15 centimeters.
Phil
---------- Post added 01-13-2017 at 09:23 AM ----------
Very impressive, this little guy ... good work & thanks for sharing!
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Forum: Pentax Q
01-10-2017, 02:52 AM
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This months assignment in our local photo club was to create Kitsch pictures - kitschy, cheesy, tacky - whatever you call it. So I grabbed my Q7 with the 08 to combine some of the most scoffed at kitschy routines in photography, among them:
- sunsets
- overly dramatic extreme wide angle shots
- overdone HDR treatment
- overdone saturation
- white vignetting
Those two pics was what I came up with - both done with Q7/08 and of course tons of PP:
Bridge (Sunset/X Wide Angle/HDR/Saturation):
Car (X Wide Angel/HDR/Vignetting):
Have fun!
Phil
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Forum: Pentax Q
01-05-2017, 11:57 PM
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Thanks very much, Mike!
I have looked up the Macro lens club (didn't know it existed, thanks for the info!) - and I think I might post something there in the future if and when I have some other stuff than those boring test shots of the banknote. :-)
Phil
---------- Post added 01-06-2017 at 07:58 AM ----------
You're welcome! Thanks for your comment.
Phil
---------- Post added 01-06-2017 at 08:04 AM ----------
Well, still would come in handy I guess, but hopes that it will ever surface are slim, I guess ...
Thanks for pointing that out. I tend to forget that P-TTL flashes work with the electronic shutter of the Q's, but since I only use external manual flashes I'm not so lucky to benefit from that. So I have to qualify: 04 and 05 sadly don't work with manual flashes and hot shoe flash triggers ... with P-TTL it does work, and another albeit complicated workaround is to trigger external flashes with the internal one - but the external ones have to be able to ignore the pre-flash(es) of the internal one. Not all can do that.
I edited the original post of this thread to include the info that P-TTL flashes work.
Phil
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Forum: Pentax Q
01-05-2017, 01:10 AM
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I acquired a set of extension tubes for my Q7 recently and got interested in trying out the different options they offer. I posted some in-depth tests at dpreview in this thread with full rez examples - see here Macro with the Q7 - a visual test: Pentax Compact Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review - and about working distances and magnifications here - Quick test: Q7 + all Q lenses with extension tubes: Pentax Compact Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review. For details you can go to those threads, but for the essence here my condensed findings:
01: No macro here.
02: You sort of have a chance with the 02 and a 10 mm extension tube, but working distance (from lens to subject) is only 10 mm. Not easy for lighting setups.
03: No real macro here ...
04: The 04 works really good without tubes (and sadly without flashes) for "FF-1:1-style" magnification shots - that means an object around 32 mm wide fills the frame. Some de-barrelizing necessary, depending on the subject. Working distance is okay, but external flash can't be used. EDIT: no manual external flashes or flash triggers can be used, P-TTL flashes should work.
05: If you combine the 05 with 10, 16 or 21 mm extension tubes it works surprisingly good for macro shots with large magnifications. Caveat: border regions shouldn't be of utmost importance. And as with the 04 the 05 sadly doesn't allow the use of an external flash. EDIT: see my edit at the 04 entry in this list concerning flash use.
06: Works rather well at 45 mm in combination with 10, 16 and 21 mm tubes with really good working distances (e.g. 150 mm with a 10 mm tube); delivers a solid performance stopped down to f7.1. If you want a sharp center only you can also use brighter apertures without problems. Use of external flashes is possible, which is a great bonus. Other focal lengths with the 06 not recommended - you'll fast run into border sharpness problems.
07: Can be used with a 10 mm tube for macro work – if only the center of the shot has to be (reasonably) sharp.
08: No macro here ...
And what's the benefit of using a Q7 for macro work compared to a FF or APS-C DSLR with a dedicated macro lens? Size and especially weight! The Q7 and any of the tube / lens combinations mentioned here weigh next to nothing compared with DSLRs, and using combinations of macro rails and tripod heads with a Q7 is much easier – especially if you use unusual angles and positions and want everything to be stable and easy to handle in spite of that.
For more details and samples see the dpreview threads mentioned above.
Any questions welcome also in this forum of course!
Phil
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
05-05-2014, 04:44 AM
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Not too much, fortunately! :-) Thanks for your comment!
---------- Post added 05-05-2014 at 01:45 PM ----------
Thanks, Dave!
---------- Post added 05-05-2014 at 01:48 PM ----------
No, everything okay. :D
I only thought about letting the camera appear to float - didn't occur to me that this could be interpreted as letting it fall ... Hmm, have to come up with another idea for that next time ... :-)
Thanks for your comment!
---------- Post added 05-05-2014 at 02:14 PM ----------
Thanks for your kind comment, Heinrich!
Phil
---------- Post added 05-05-2014 at 02:15 PM ----------
Thanks!
Of course I did the explanation only to cover up that I really have Jedi powers ... ;)
Phil
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
05-04-2014, 10:31 AM
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Dear Pentaxians: Happy Star Wars Day!
And may the fourth be with you ... ;)
Technical notes: K5-II with Tamron 18-250 on a tripod; as subject a K-01 with DA16-45 on another tripod; a third tripod with macro extension arm was used to lift the K-01's strap; several pictures were shot using the self timer with me and the K-01 and without the K-01; final composite was made out of three of these shots; lighting: three halogen bulbs in a row from the ceiling, all pointing towards the subject; a single halogen lamp from the right to illuminate the strap and the lens of the K-01. Taken of course today - May fourth!
Phil
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Forum: Pentax Q
03-24-2014, 01:03 AM
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Thanks! Glad you like them.
---------- Post added 03-24-2014 at 09:07 AM ----------
Thanks - and yes, maybe you shouldn't have. ;-) The 04 is not a toy lens IMO but more kind of a slow lens - that refers not only to its slow aperture, but also to the manual focusing and care you have to use to get the best results. It sure has some barrel distortion that close up, but you don't notice it with subjects like these. And it can be easily corrected, if you want to - same goes for the edge and corner CA.
---------- Post added 03-24-2014 at 09:09 AM ----------
Yes, the 04 can work quite well and is an interesting alternative for macro work.
I didn't know one could modify the 04 - what exactly did you do? Or do you have any pointers to a thread in this forum discussing that?
Thanks!
Phil
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Forum: Pentax Q
03-12-2014, 05:02 AM
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You certainly have to. :) Thanks for your comment!
---------- Post added 03-12-2014 at 01:04 PM ----------
It really is nice. Not that you wouldn't get similar DOF results with a stopped down macro lens on an APS-C or FF body. But it's nice to know that the 04 is capable enough to produce results like this.
---------- Post added 03-12-2014 at 01:17 PM ----------
Thanks!
Yes, the issue with stabilization is a serious one, especially whith a macro arm or/and a macro rail. That's what I like about the Q with a standard lens - it weighs almost nothing, and any tripod setup becomes rock solid with it.
BTW: You won't get the same magnification with the 02. The 04 has one of around 1:7 compared to the 02's 1:16. But at least you'll have a more comfortable working distance with the 02@15mm.
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Forum: Pentax Q
03-11-2014, 11:13 AM
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The second one is very good, and the other two make the sequence work. Well done with Q7/06! Good you had this combo with you.
Phil
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Forum: Pentax Q
03-11-2014, 11:05 AM
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Glad I could help - and thanks for your comment!
---------- Post added 03-11-2014 at 07:07 PM ----------
I wholeheartedly agree with both things you said. The K10D was such a fine camera at low ISOs, but it got into problems going higher.
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Forum: Pentax Q
03-11-2014, 10:50 AM
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Today looking at some freshly planted flowers in my garden and with fine spring weather around the 04 wide angle lens sprang to my mind - with its capability to focus fairly closely and with its maximum magnification of 0,15. But wait - what does that seemingly low maximum magnification mean used with a tiny sensor like the Q7's? It means that at minimum focusing distance an object that's merely 32 millimeters wide will fill the frame with the Q7/04. That's even closer than you'll get with a 1:1 macro lens on a full frame body, and not that far away from my K5-II with its 1:1 Tamron 90mm which yields - as the size of the sensor suggests - a full frame with an object approx. 24 mm wide,
So with the 04 we already do have a real macro lens at hand and don't have to wait for the recently announced one! ;-)
And here some spring blossom shots to prove it - some of them done at minimum focusing distance (with some exceptions I only photographed very tiny blossoms).
This will become a magnolia bloom soon (cropped at the sides):
A bunch of pink daisies (mildly cropped):
One of those pink daisies closer, at minimum focusing distance (uncropped):
An equally small and very colorful primrose (cropped):
A different type of pink daisy (very mildly cropped at left and on top):
Now let's move indoors for two final shots. First is an almost wilted tulip in its last stage of blooming (cropped):
And finally a violet, very tiny flower (about 18 mm wide, but shot at an angle here) - again taken at almost the minimum focusing distance (uncropped):
All shots taken with the Q7/04 on a tripod; a macro extension arm was used to get near to the flowers and to finely regulate the distance - nice thing about the Q7 is that it weighs very little, so it's very easy to adjust and fasten the macro setup at the wildest angles without any problems (my much heavier K5-II/90mm macro combo is not that easy to handle with the same setup). Focus was adjusted using maximum focus assist (6x on the Q7) and focus peaking. ISO 100 was used for all save the last - here I upped ISO a tiny bit to 125 to compensate for some light underexposure (it was inside and not well lit, so shutter speed was with 2 seconds already at its longest).
Hope you like them! :)
Phil
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Forum: Pentax Q
03-04-2014, 03:12 PM
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Well, that question is hard to answer. Since I didn't have the 02 and it came with my Q7, the body wasn't that expensive after all. And one thing I personally like is the wider angle the 02 and 01 have on the Q7. But YMMV here, of course.
At base ISO the sharpness of the Q can be brought to almost the same level as the Q7 with some capture sharpening (we're talking RAW capture here). At higher ISOs the noise makes this more difficult - here the Q7 has real advantages. Here some samples to illustrate that:
That said I particularly like the ease of PP with the Q7 RAWs at lower ISOs, since they are tack sharp to begin with - no need to do any capture sharpening with them.
---------- Post added 03-04-2014 at 11:13 PM ----------
Second that! :)
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Forum: Pentax Q
03-04-2014, 01:30 AM
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Forum: Pentax Q
03-04-2014, 12:50 AM
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Thanks for your comment I noticed only just now. If you & others found it useful than the time for this was well spent! :-)
Phil
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Forum: Pentax Q
03-04-2014, 12:29 AM
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Seven weeks? Wow. You won't be disappointed with that itinerary, I'm sure. And there is lots of fine engineering outside the UK, I assure you. :) Wish you a happy trip!
---------- Post added 03-04-2014 at 08:33 AM ----------
Glad you like 'em, Hans - thanks for looking! And happy shooting with your Q7. I definitely like mine! :-) Only downside is that the my Q seems retired for now. Will see what kind of use I will get out of it.
---------- Post added 03-04-2014 at 08:37 AM ----------
Thanks, Heinrich.
The equation is: Q7 + small tripod = perfect match! :-)
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Forum: Pentax Q
03-03-2014, 03:18 AM
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Thanks a lot! :-)
---------- Post added 03-03-2014 at 11:19 AM ----------
Thanks! And I'm sure you'll succeed. What will you visit?
Phil
---------- Post added 03-03-2014 at 11:21 AM ----------
Thanks for your comment.
And I have to note that the Q7 has some extra clarity and sharpness at low ISO that brings some extra sparkle to the pics and makes them a joy to process.
---------- Post added 03-03-2014 at 11:22 AM ----------
So small - and so versatile. And I never worked that fast with a tripod before. :-)
Thanks for your comment!
---------- Post added 03-03-2014 at 11:23 AM ----------
Thanks! And yes, that sort of illumination is really catching on here. I like it too.
---------- Post added 03-03-2014 at 11:25 AM ----------
I'm glad you enjoyed 'em! :-) Thanks for your comment.
---------- Post added 03-03-2014 at 11:29 AM ----------
I really like the 02 at its wide end on the Q7. Offers a nice "very wide angle" with lots of options - like the b/w one from the Potsdamer Platz illustrates. The only gripe I have with it that is not particularly flare resistant ... Apart from that I'm pretty satisified. Thanks for your comment!
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