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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
03-21-2024, 08:56 AM
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The K-1 writes to the cards sequentially, which inevitably means it takes longer. The writing speed is fairly low but the maximum burst rate is also fairly pedestrian so this is not a terrible drawback. Am not sure if any Pentax camera with 2 slots can write to them both at the same time.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-11-2024, 01:24 PM
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The landscape is breathtaking in the Faroe Islands and the two lenses you suggest should cover most uses. I brought a K-1 and found that the 28-105 was a good choice. The 18-135 covers the same range on an APS-c body and in addition a bit more at the telephoto end so that lens alone is probably going to meet most your needs except perhaps the bird shots. You might contemplate bringing a wider lens though. Water resistance is quite useful of course. If you go sailing around the islands (highly recommended!) it is a must.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
09-26-2023, 04:57 AM
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As others have pointed out a USB-c card reader is the way to go. You might also go for a multi-purpose dongle with a card reader and a selection of ports. That could come in handy if you need something besides USB-c. They are fairly inexpensive.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-18-2023, 03:28 PM
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With the DL I would not use ISO higher than 800 and preferably 400 or less. The sensor performs quite reasonably at low ISO but gets noisy very quickly if you raise the ISO. Definitely shoot in raw and use a tripod, you will be ending up having the shutter open for several seconds, even with a fast lens. The last time I shot the northern lights I ended up exposing for something like 30 seconds at f2.8 and ISO 400 (not with my DL, I retired that a long time ago and was using a K-1) and that came out quite well but your situation might of course be different so experiment with different settings.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
08-04-2023, 01:36 PM
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The MX is pretty sturdy, although by now any copy you can find will be something like 40-50 years old. It is fully manual but simple to use and certainly has no problem using M series lenses. There are many other options though and all Pentax SLRs with a K mount should work fine with M series lenses. The film cameras will actually work better than Pentax DSLRs from one perspective, that is being able to figure out what aperture the lens is set to use.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
05-24-2023, 02:02 PM
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The GPS works well out of the box without any configuration. However you might want to calibrate it. It is a simple (if strange) ritual, described on p. 80 of the manual. If you are using the astro-tracer function then I believe calibration is needed or at least recommended but if you are simply logging where your photos are taken then there does not seem any need for it.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
05-24-2023, 09:20 AM
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The DL should be able to focus accurately, if a bit slowly, unless something is broken. Note that it only has 3 points that it uses to set focus and they are all quite close to the center of the image. So, if whatever you are focusing on is not quite close to the center the camera will focus on something else. You can get around this by using 'focus and recompose' - focusing (by pressing the shutter button halfway down) with the object you want to focus on in the center and then, keeping the shutter button pressed halfway down, composing the photo and finally pressing the shutter button all the way.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-05-2023, 04:23 AM
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The Sigma 17-50 2.8 is excellent. Image quality stellar, rapid focus and good build quality. Not WR and no macro capabilities though if that is important to you.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
03-24-2023, 05:35 AM
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The MX was probably the most robust K mount camera ever when new. Now the surviving cameras are approximately 40 years old (it was marketed from 1976 to 1985) so they are probably considerably less robust. My copy still works though!
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-04-2023, 09:49 AM
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As others have pointed out the MX is probably the last Pentax camera that only uses the battery for the light meter. Everything else in the MX works without a battery. The LX has mechanical shutter speeds from 1/75 to 1/2000, the ME Super only 1/125. Eventually Pentax started also using the battery to wind the film and those models of course do not work at all without a battery. If all you need is a no frills camera that takes K mount lenses and works without a battery then a K1000 is probably the best option. It is more or less a Spotmatic with a K mount instead of a screwmount.
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Forum: Product Suggestions and Feedback
01-12-2023, 01:52 AM
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Pentax (Ricoh) could of course produce another mirrorless camera based on the K mount but this seems highly unlikely. One of the main advantages of mirrorless cameras is the fact that due to the absence of the mirror the lens can be much closer to the sensor. That calls for a new mount and a new lens series. That is what other camera manufacturers have done and abandonded their old mounts and lens series although old lenses can still be used with an adaptor, not a neat solution. The K-01 did not go down this route and maybe that was part of the reason why it was not a huge success. It was a nice camera though but Pentax released it before they had done enough work on the contrast detect based focusing system. Even if that system eventually got much better with firmware upgrades the camera never really took off. The design was not to everybody's liking but it was certainly bold and in my view quite well done. There were other questionable decisions made in marketing the K-01, it was quite expensive and the kit lens made little sense, its only advantage being how small it was. Introducing a new lens mount at this stage would be very expensive for Pentax and hard to see it selling in the volume needed. If they wanted to do something in the mirrorless market they could of course resurrect the Q mount. There are several nice lenses available for that mount already so they would only need an updated camera body. The Q series uses a fairly small sensor of course so it would not take the place of an APS-C or fullframe mirrorless camera, it is closer to phone cameras in that respect.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
01-03-2023, 09:50 AM
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Apparently Ricoh's first effort will be a compact film camera. Maybe they have some market research indicating that there is a market for that, like something you bring to a party to show off, hopefully developing a cult following. If they follow up with an interchangable lens film camera the choices are harder. They could go with a new K1000 - everything manual - but that hardly makes much sense given that there are plenty of old ones still around and far less expensive than a new camera would have to be. If you want a fully manual film camera there are plenty of choices from Pentax, including not only the K1000 but also the MX and even Spotmatic and of course also from other manufacturers - although getting them serviced is not easy and getting harder. Going in the other direction and making a truly modern film camera would be a far more complicated task and the final product very expensive - but Ricoh would own this niche since even the last film cameras that were brought to market are quite old by now. Pentax *ist was among the last, released in 2003. Pentax is the only company still using their film era lens mount (K) so that would help. So, a modern one could have great lenses, a better focusing system, metering system and in general faster and better electronics. I am not sure that would tempt many though, since it would still be far behind digital cameras in many ways due to the limitations of film.
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Forum: Pentax K-70 & KF
12-21-2022, 01:50 AM
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The Northrups have a fine Youtube channel and certainly know what they are talking about. In this case they are right, the Kf was a very minor upgrade to an old camera while the change of name indicated something more dramatic. That was a disappointment and pointing that out is hardly an indication of bias against the brand. If Ricoh had made a real effort they would have brought out something like a cheaper version of the K3-iii to replace the K-70 with a regular viewfinder, simpler controls and focus system, less rugged but with the same sensor and thus similar or the same image quality (resolution, noise, dynamic range etc.) and 4K video at a significantly lower price than the K3-iii.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
11-09-2022, 04:14 PM
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Marketing this as a new camera is a bit dodgy. It is basically a K70 with a new screen. Calling it K70ii or K70s or something like that would have been more appropriate. This is a bit like when Pentax started issuing 'new' models in the *istD range, that were more or less all the same basic camera with only minor differences. So in 2004-2006 we got *ist DS, DS2, DL, DL2 and as if that was not enough, also K100D and K110D. The only substantial difference between these models was that the K100D introduced shake reduction.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-07-2022, 05:01 AM
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I find having the GPS data embedded in the DNG files extremely useful. Lightroom makes good use of this data (the various versions don't all use it the same way though), can show on a map where photos are taken and you can bring up the location in Google maps easily. I think it was a big step backwards to skip the GPS module in the K3-iii and certainly hope that the same will not apply to the K1-iii whenever that comes out (hopefully it will at some point!).
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
07-31-2022, 06:47 AM
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This is very strange. Lightroom should not have any problems handling DNG files from these cameras. I use it myself for DNG files from a K-1 and have not experienced anything like this. You might try to let it work with a few jpg files from the cameras as well to see if the problem could be with the cameras themselves, although that seems highly unlikely given that two different cameras are being used. You could also try reinstalling Lightroom or processing a few files in the online version of Lightroom.
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
07-07-2022, 04:21 AM
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I tried printing on Cibachrome. The process was easy enough and the image quality great, with very vibrant colors. It was easier to use in a home darkroom than what Kodak was offering (until they offered Ektaflex but that had its own drawbacks) but the material was very expensive as far as I recall. The prints still look excellent after 40 years or so.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
05-25-2022, 06:02 AM
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I have both - and my LX is broken, exposing erratically. Of course that is just anecdotal evidence but the LX is a far more complicated camera, especially the shutter and viewfinder systems, so one would expect it to break down more often than an MX. They are of course both quite old by now so the odds of mechanical problems are getting higher.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
05-19-2022, 12:55 PM
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As others have pointed out, the LX works well in aperture priority mode with the older K series lenses. I might add that it works in this mode with all K mount lenses that have an aperture ring, so not the very latest lenses but all the old ones. Manual mode on the LX works as well for the same lenses.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-13-2022, 03:54 PM
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I have never tried the DA35 but have had the FA35 for a long time. Optically it is quite decent, at least if you stop down a bit, but even wide open it can deliver nice photos, if a bit soft. The only real weakness in my view is that focusing is somewhat slow (and loud). I would expect the HD version to be slightly better optically but I have the original SMC version.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
01-31-2022, 03:31 PM
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In theory it may have seemed a good idea but in practice powerzoom really only added weight and made a very loud noise when zooming. The kit lens for my PZ-10 is a powerzoom and I used that pair for a long time but never found the powerzoom useful. At some point the switch on the lens that takes it in and out of powerzoom mode broke and to repair it I glued it stuck in powerzoom mode (not a very elegant repair I will admit). Some regret over that when I bought my first Pentax DSLR as it could not powerzoom (the lens could be used but only as a 50 mm lens). Eventually I got a DSLR that supports powerzoom, the K-1 (I checked!), but its kit lens is much better than this 30 year old film era lens so no use for it now.
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Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals
01-18-2022, 03:07 AM
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The buyer in cross-border transactions outside a customs union should not pay double VAT. Generally this is accomplished by the seller (exporter) not charging VAT but then the VAT is added (using the rate of the importing country) when the goods pass through customs in the country of the buyer (importer). There may sometimes of course also be tariffs or excise duties and processing fees added to the bill when goods cross a border (and shipping charges). The EU has the same external tariffs for all countries in the EU but the rates may differ depending on the type of goods and their origin. VAT is added last, on top of everything else. To complicate things a bit more most sellers will list prices with the local VAT included, so this will have to be subtracted from the price before shipping. There are other options though, sometimes an exporter will take care of getting goods through customs in the land of the buyer, pay VAT etc. and have all this included in the price (or invoice) that the buyer sees. The effects of different currencies and exchange rates should be easy to figure out but retail transactions that involve different currencies generally get a rather dismal exchange rate, with intermediaries (banks, credit card companies etc.) taking a hefty cut.
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Forum: Pentax Mirrorless Cameras
01-06-2022, 06:49 AM
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I don't know what may be going on with your copy but am not surprised. My own K-01 died suddenly a few weeks ago after almost ten years of use (not much use in recent years though, since I replaced it with a K-1). The symptoms are somewhat similar, the shutter all of a sudden stopped opening. The camera seems fine in other respects but is of course useless now. I doubt that it is worth the effort to try to have it resurrected, it is after all an old camera and if it needs a new shutter then the cost will certainly be higher than buying a used K-01. I do miss my K-01 though, it was fun to use, great image quality and fairly compact and light, at least compared to the K-1. I wish Pentax had kept on developing their mirrorless line but apparently the market was not very interested.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
09-11-2021, 02:22 PM
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Old lenses are obviously a very mixed bag. Old zoom lenses are usually rather poor IQ wise but many prime lenses can give you excellent photos. They may not quite match top of the line modern lenses in laboratory tests for resolution and other aspects but still be quite good. Focusing is also usually slower or only manual, so an old lens might not be a good choice for, say, sports. I have a selection of old Pentax lenses, mainly from the M series and they all work just fine with the K-1. That said, I would still recommend getting at least one modern lens, the 28-105 kit lens, if you buy the K-1 (mark 1 or 2). It is a wonderful lens, very practical and fairly inexpensive. It is weather (water) resistant, matching the K-1 in that respect. Older lenses generally are not.
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
09-08-2021, 08:42 AM
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I don't see why the characteristics of the developer would change dramatically when crossing a certain threshold of storage time. The developer can though go bad quickly if it is contaminated. The fixer will destroy the developer, even only tiny amounts. Don't know if that could have caused the 'noise' that you see. Switching lenses should not have any effect on noise but since you also switched cameras it is possible that they are exposing differently. Underexposure will give you noisy and washed out negatives. You should be able to tell by looking at the negatives. If the negatives from the two cameras differ significantly then that indicates a problem.
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