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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
09-23-2023, 08:20 PM
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I have no need for adapters as all of my MF lenses are K-mount. That said, some work better than others.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
06-20-2023, 01:49 PM
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Do you have a voltmeter (aka multitester/multimeter) with which you can test the voltage on the battery? Testing the voltage on the battery when it's fully charged would help determine whether it's the camera or the battery. I've got a K20D and its 'evil twin' the Samsung GX20. Both still work fine and the batteries will maintain a charge sitting in the camera, but I have a Kx that seems to have developed a short and will drain the batteries in a couple of days.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
03-17-2023, 07:18 PM
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I have a Vivitar 28mm f2.8 (Cosina) lens with a mount like that. The Ricoh pin is rounded and has a very low profile. I have no trouble with it on the rare occasions I put it on one of my cameras, but that's not to say it yields particularly good results. As a precaution, I always make sure the camera is in manual focus mode before I install it. This keeps the auto-focus pawl retracted and out of the way.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
03-07-2023, 12:37 PM
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I held onto my film cameras (mostly Minolta) for as long as I reasonably could, but I finally bought my first digital point-n-shoot around 2005 or 2006, and my first Pentax DSLR in 2012. At this point, I have no desire to go back to film and I don't really see it as particularly feasible. The big problem is the film processing and printmaking infrastructure has largely been dismantled at this point, and I highly doubt there is enough demand out there for it to be reinstated in any meaningful way. I understand that some folks are going retro as an artistic statement, and that's cool for them. That said, I do have a couple of digital point-n-shoots that I use occasionally--a Lumix SZ-1, which is a pocket sized camera with a nice optical zoom lens and a Lumix FZ-35 bridge camera that feels like a DSLR in the hand, but weighs a fraction as much. It's a great walkin' around camera.
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Forum: Pentax KP
01-28-2023, 08:20 PM
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I've noticed a similar difference between my K20D and my Samsung GX20, which are essentially the same camera, except for their firmware. The Samsung's colors are somewhat more muted, compared to its Pentax step-sibling. The 'Vivid' setting compensates for this, but I still prefer the warmth of my CCD bodies.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-28-2023, 07:57 PM
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Olive drab and battleship gray--I guess these are the 'army' and 'navy' models. I've got a blue Kx that I bought (late night impulse purchase on eBay) just because I liked the color. I still like it. Conversely, I saw KS2's advertised on Woot! in some crazy color combinations for cheap prices (unsold inventory, no doubt), but none of the color combos spoke to me, so I passed.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
01-18-2023, 03:01 PM
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My first Pentax was digital, so I've never owned a Pentax film camera, and at this late date, probably never will. Back in my 35mm days, I was into Minolta. I got a brand new X-570 for my birthday in 1984, and five years later, picked up an XD-5 at a pawn shop, because I wanted a second body. I was using the X-570 regularly in my job at a newspaper and wanted to have my own film in one body and the paper's in the other. A few years after that, I found an XG-1 on the cheap, just because. I shot with it occasionally, but preferred the other two. After I left the newspaper to start graduate school in 1991, my interest in photography waned significantly, but in 2002, my dad picked up an SRT-202 for me at a thrift shop and I shot a few rolls with it and rather liked it. After Dad passed away, I ended up with his two Minolta bodies, an X-370N and a Maxxum 4000si. Oddly enough, he had a several manual focus lenses for the X370N, as well as a couple of autofocus ones for the Maxxum, but the only lens of his that I have is a Sears 28-70mm zoom lens on the X-370N. No idea what happened to the other lenses. I've never shot a frame with either of those two camera bodies since I acquired them, but I remember shooting a little bit with the Maxxum, shortly after I got it. The last time I used any of my own Minoltas was right after Christmas 2004, when I went down to Florida to visit my then-girlfriend. That roll of film, half-shot, is still in the X-570.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-07-2023, 11:17 AM
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As others have suggested, handling is a very subjective term. To me, it is almost synonymous with ergonomics. As many have mentioned, it has to do with how a camera—or camera and lens combination—feels in one's hands. How heavy is the camera or lens or the two together? Does it feel balanced? How much effort is required to hold things steady? How smoothly do the controls work? Are they conveniently located? These factors can vary somewhat from user to user. Someone with larger hands, for instance, may well have a different experience with a particular camera and/or lens than someone with smaller hands, a variable Pentax attempted to address with the interchangeable grips on the KP, for instance. The bottom line is, your mileage may vary.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
01-02-2023, 10:28 PM
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Going back to film is not something that really appeals to me. I loved 35mm photography back in the day, but now I've moved on. It took me a long time to finally transition to digital and I don't really want to go back. Besides, If I were to do so, I've still got a half-dozen Minolta SLRs on hand, so I'm covered.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
01-02-2023, 09:41 PM
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I've owned two Yashicas, an Electro 35 rangefinder and an FR II SLR. My grandfather had bought the Electro 35 at a pawn shop and when he gave it to me, it had a Kodak 35mm canister taped to the strap, not for a spare roll of film, but to store the battery in when the camera was not in use. My dad bought the FR II at the end of a church rummage sale for a pittance and it should have had a film canister taped to the strap. Both cameras went through batteries like crazy. If I left one in either camera overnight, it would be dead by morning. I loaned the Electro 35 to a friend when I was in college and never got it back, nor have I ever missed it. I've had the FR II for almost 20 years, but I've only ever shot one roll of film with it. When I discovered it was a battery vampire, just like the Electro 35, I decided I was done with it.
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Forum: General Photography
12-07-2022, 08:02 PM
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It's an interesting philosophical question. Where does one draw the line between photography and art? Is there a certain percentage, beyond which the image becomes more of one than other? Is there a certain percentage of alteration?
And on the other end of the spectrum, where does one draw the line between photography and fraud. The old saying that the camera doesn't lie doesn't exactly hold true anymore. Of course, maybe the camera doesn't lie; it's just people who do.
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Forum: Repairs and Warranty Service
12-04-2022, 12:29 PM
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Pleeeeeeze make sure you have a fresh set of good quality batteries in the camera when you update the firmware. You can irrevocably 'brick' the camera if it cuts out while you're upgrading. This happened to me several years ago with an *ist-DL. The experience was so traumatizing that I did not attempt a firmware upgrade again for the next three years.
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Forum: Pentax KP
10-29-2022, 08:09 PM
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When I was shooting for a newspaper 30-odd years ago, I always subscribed to the 'film is cheap' philosophy. I never worried about 'wasting' frames and I always reloaded my cameras as soon as I took a roll out for processing. I've essentially carried that mindset over to my digital cameras and always regard spare SD cards as a minor and wise expense. I keep at least one or two extra SD cards for each camera and the first thing I do when I pull a card out of any of my cameras is to immediately slap a fresh one right back in its place. At that point, the camera is ready to go and I can work at my leisure with the images I just shot. The only time I've lost any shots was when I put a random 32GB card in my Samsung GX20, went out shooting and I learned the hard way that camera is sort of persnickety about cards larger than 16GB capacity when I pulled the card out, stuck it in my computer and found that nothing had been saved to the card. I've also got a Nikon D50 that can't accept cards larger than 2GB. The few 2GB cards I have stay in the bag with that camera.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
10-18-2022, 07:01 PM
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I use generic ink cartridges in my HP Photosmart 5520 all-in-one and have had zero issues. The cartridges I use come from eBay and cost a pittance, compared to their genuine HP counterparts.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
10-11-2022, 06:15 PM
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I've always removed the card and put it in the computer's SD card slot. For me, that's always been the easiest thing. It also doesn't drain the camera's internal batteries.
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
08-29-2022, 07:36 PM
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Sorry if I mis-remembered the condition of batteries I received and tossed out more than five years ago. I'm sure the earlier post from 2017 is more accurate since it was written when I still had those batteries in my possession. They were long gone by the time I wrote the post above. The bottom line is that swollen or just stone dead, all three batteries were useless junk. The most important part of what I wrote, both in 2017 and in the post above is that using rechargeable AA cells in lieu of the D-Li109 batteries has provided a far superior user experience that I would recommend to anyone.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
08-27-2022, 09:48 AM
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Back in 1984, when I got my first 35mm SLR camera, a Minolta X-570, the salesman at the camera shop told me black bodies were preferred by professional photographers because they were "more unobtrusive". He could have been telling the truth, but I also recognize that it may have been a bit of 'Kentucky windage' to convince me to pony up the extra $30 or so for the black X-570 over the silver X-370, which also lacked some other features, including exposure preview and automatic exposure lock, but it doesn't explain why he didn't try to up-sell me to the more expensive, top-of-the line X-700. I did buy the X-570 and never regretted the purchase, having gotten a good 20 years of regular usage out of it. As for digital cameras, the only silver one I have is a Panasonic Lumix FZ50 bridge camera and there is absolutely no difference between it and the black version, which I also have. The only non-black Pentax I have is a blue Kx, which I also happen to have in black, and again, other than the color, there is no difference whatsoever.
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Forum: General Photography
08-17-2022, 04:52 AM
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It's been several years since I've bought or sold any photo gear on eBay and overall, I've done more of the latter than the former. While i got a few good deals on gear I bought, I was usually disappointed at the prices I got for the gear I sold. Although not camera related, I had been selling off my late father's antique toy collection on eBay, but over time, it became less and less lucrative between rising shipping costs and now the IRS wants a piece of the action if you sell more than $600 worth in a year. The limit used to be $20,000. At this point, I don't even want to fool with it.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-05-2022, 07:39 PM
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I don't know if the K-r offers this option but with my K30, I ditched the D-L109 batteries and got a AA battery holder and have been using Eneloops in it without ever looking back. Although the camera is slightly heavier with the AA's, performance is much better, so the tradeoff is more than worthwhile.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
08-05-2022, 07:32 PM
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I've never bought a vintage camera on eBay, but every Pentax DSLR I've ever owned came from eBay and every one of them worked just fine when it arrived. I make that qualified statement because the very first one I killed in a botched firmware update. I've also bought a bunch of lenses off of eBay with mixed results. Most were fine but a couple were non-functional. Same with flashes.
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Forum: General Photography
07-21-2022, 02:31 PM
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I have a Panasonic Lumix FZ-50 digital bridge camera that was co-developed with Leica and was one of the few such collaborative efforts that actually had a Leica counterpart, the V-Lux 1. I bought the Lumix used for around $100 about five or six years ago, and at the time the Leica V-Lux 1 was selling used on eBay for about $300. The cameras are virtually identical, except they each have their own firmware and some slight variations in the case design, sort of like the Samsung GX series of DSLRs that were essentially clones of Pentax models (*ist DL and DS and K10D and K20D) with their own firmware and minor case variations. Also, when new, the Leica had a three-year warranty, compared to one year for the Lumix. Side-by-side reviews of the two showed performance differences between the two were negligible and the consensus of opinion was, not surprisingly, that the Panasonic was the better value for the money. Brand enthusiasts, though, had differing opinions. Leica enthusiasts panned the V-Lux 1 as a Leica in name only, while Panasonic-friendly reviews hailed the FZ-50 as an opportunity to own what was essentially a Leica without the Leica price tag.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
07-18-2022, 05:10 PM
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For my K10D and K20D, I use Kastar batteries. They seem to work quite well and are reasonably priced. They have a low self-discharge rate, so they can sit in my camera bag for a while and still have juice. For my K30, I invested $3 in an aftermarket AA battery holder and quit using D-Li109 batteries altogether. I find Eneloops are far more satisfactory.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
07-18-2022, 09:41 AM
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The only colored Pentax camera I have is a blue Kx that I bought on eBay in about 2015. I've always liked the color because it's not too garish, striking the right balance—at least for me—between sporty and sophisticated. It has a shutter count somewhere in the 2,000 range and is also free of nicks and scratches. I don't shoot with it much anymore but I guess you could say I have a bit of a sentimental attachment to it.
I also have a basic black Kx that I paid next to nothing for and occasionally let my friend's 12-year-old daughter take out shooting—under my close supervision, of course. The body is small enough for her hands and the interface is simple enough that she can get consistently good results with it. I would consider giving it to her if she took better care of her things.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
05-16-2022, 07:59 PM
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I bought Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher a couple of years ago and really liked them--until the computer they were on died. I need to figure out how to transfer the license to my new computer.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
03-09-2022, 09:04 AM
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I find a little Murphy's Oil Soap on a damp paper towel usually does the trick.
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