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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
12-14-2019, 03:22 PM
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Thanks for your quick response. I found the discs today! The Operating Manual (not so important as I have printed ones) and the Utility disc. I'll do an update to the firmware when I have time. It might be useful if I could find an update to the Digital Camera Utility as mine is Version 4.
CORRECTION! I found the Update to Ver 5 but can't get it to install as it says in can't find the old version to upgrade! I D/L'd the exe file into the folder where the old Ver4 resides but it doesn't like it! When you run the exe file (I have a 63-bit system but also tried the 32-bit without success) it doesn't let you target a directory to upgrade. Clearly I'm doing something wrong.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
12-12-2019, 02:32 PM
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Sorry if this is a frequent repeat question but I can't find my original CD for the software - not firmware as I'll sort that out at a future date. I assume that the software disc has utilities and photo manipulation. (several years since I had it in use - if ever!) I have D/L'd stuff from Ricoh but it wants the original disc. I have found here that I can load it onto an SD card, but before I do that can someone tell me if I'm right about the software being utilities?
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-25-2013, 02:07 PM
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Digital match needle - that's a good point guys, but we DO have a spirit level, aircraft navigation style. What more could you ask for? :lol:
Talking about the old KX meter; did you have any problem where it wouldn't switch off? It should auto-off when the lever is returned flat against the body and/or when the rotary switch on the top is turned. Mine failed on both counts so I took it to a local Pentax "expert", as recommended by camera shops. He "fixed" it and charged a reasonable fee; it worked for a while then failed. In hindsight I should have sent it to Pentax's UK people. Too late now as that was over 25 years ago! :( |
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
02-17-2013, 11:37 AM
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If you've done all that and set the same channel on the transmitter and receiver then, as you say, the unit must be faulty. The only other possible test it to find another Pentax to try it on. It probably doesn't have to be a K5 or K7. I'm sure there must be others with the same kind of mini jack plug socket.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-15-2013, 03:17 PM
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Don't "move" from film to digital. Just ADD digital to your repertoire. 35mm isn't dead yet! I have several PK-mount film bodies which share lenses with my latest buy - the K5. Best of both worlds and the 35mm is useful as a backup camera too! As a general purpose 35mm AF I tend to use the Z1. I have an old Kx, bought new in around 1977, but the mirror lockup failed as did the meter off-switch! It means the batteries would run down when I put the camera away. I kept it but bought a Chinon CE4 with powerwind and more sophisticated metering. I used my SMC 50mm f1.4 lens on it! Plus the tele and wideangle. Now they all work happily on the K5 too because I can remember how to manually focus and set the aperture. Clever eh? :lol:
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
02-15-2013, 02:50 PM
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Just to clarify - I'm assuming that Bob's 2-piece remote is a radio operated one. "Wireless" is a bit ambiguous as Infra Red is also "wireless". I haven't actually bought one although I'm thinking about it. I've found this info for one currently advertised on Fleabay (Item No.380315844019)
"How to Connect?
1. Switch off the camera.
2. Make sure the receiver and remote control are on the same channel (check the little switch on them).
3. Connect the receiver to your camera's remote control socket.
4. Press the button on the receiver to turn it on (the Power LED should stay red when it is on).
How to Use?
With the shutter button on the remote control, you can do the followings:
Turn on power:
-Turn on the power of camera and receiver
Autofocus:
-Press it halfway to activates autofocus. (Indicated by Green LED)
Release Shutter:
-Press it all the way to release shutter and take pictures. (Indicated by Red LED)
Continuous Drive:
1. Switch the camera to continuous drive mode.
2. Press it all the way to release shutter continuously.
Bulb Mode:
1. Switch the camera to Bulb mode.
2. Press it all the way for 3 seconds until the Red LED on the remote control goes off.
3. The receiver is in bulb mode now. (Indicated by Red LED on the receiver)
4. Press the button again to close the shutter."
Notice what it says about setting the transmitter and receiver onto the same channel? My IR remote cost about £2.69 and the wired one cost £4.45 new! This included post! Must be top quality then? :lol: No-one could accuse me of being a tightwad!
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
02-15-2013, 01:46 PM
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Unfortunately the K5 manual doesn't list a wireless remote control so you are rather at the mercy of aftermarket providers. In theory it should work the same way as a wired setup, with the receiver plugged into the socket on the side - bottom right. I bought a cheap wired remote as well as an infra-red one and they both work well. Incidentally the IR remote works from the front or back of the camera but has to be setup on the 4-way controller, as you said.
A plug-in remote doesn't need setting up like that. It should work ander any conditions. Mine even works in IR mode so I could use either of my remote shutter switches. Your wireless unit should have come with instructions. I would suspect battery trouble or poor contact with the plug. Whilst pressing & holding the remote switch, try waggling the plug around to see if it fires. You should always have the camera switched off before plugging in or unplugging any device. Let us know your results.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-01-2013, 02:16 PM
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When you zoom with the shutter open you get what was called a "trombone" effect with the subject streaked and converging toward the centre. It give the impression of speed but probably best done using a tripod and longish exposure time - e.g 1/2 second minimum although it depend how fast the zoom is.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-12-2013, 05:30 PM
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There's no guesswork involved here. Even if you don't own a current, or even earlier model, you can check the Specs in the PDF manuals kindly provided by Pentax. I have a K5 so just look at the K5 manual and it says on pages 337/338 that power zoom is available with KAF2 lenses. The same goes for the K7 on pages 292/293. It's not rocket science!
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
12-12-2012, 04:31 PM
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The KX is the one, not the lower spec K1000!
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
12-12-2012, 11:30 AM
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I have recently bought a K5 because I can use all my old lenses from my 1977 KX which I bought from new. SO I think it would be best to go for an AF camera, like I also have recently. They are VERY cheap so I was able to buy a few, try them and sell the ones I didn't want! Most came with decent lenses too so I kept them and am selling the bodies. The SFX and SF7 are well specified. The MZ60 is all-plastic and very light so it would suit a backpacker or biker but I couldn't vouvh for its durability. It can only use AF lenses which is a bit limiting and the reason I'm selling it.
With an AF body you can "upgrade" to a Pentax DSLR and use all your old lenses! That's what I'm doing. |
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
12-12-2012, 11:23 AM
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I bought an SFX-n and an SF7 off eBay recently and one came with both battery grips. Lucky me! I also have a Chinon (PK fit) manual body which can take a 2CR5 or 4 x AA batteries without changing anything! WHY couldn't Pentax have done that? It has a couple of little fold-down tags to allow a 2CR5 to fit - you just slide the battery in the door. (Their AF body is the CP9-AF) You can buy rechargeable 2CR5s from Hong Kong /China. They are listing at £21.72 on eBay at the moment. I used my Chinon CE4 in preference to my Pentax KX for many years - it has an add-on power winder and better metering. I used it with my SMC 50mm f1.4 lens though! I also use that on my K5 body. |
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
12-12-2012, 11:12 AM
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PS. In an earlier post I mentioned my book that's 150 years old. Silly me!! A mistake - it's 250 years old! |
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
12-12-2012, 10:08 AM
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Hi guys, I've just bought a Z1 (PZ1 in the USA) with the intention of adding it to my kit of lenses and my K5 - killing at least two birds with one kit - but it doesn't auto-focus with most of my lenses. :mad: It only does it with my Pentax DAL, 18-55 Zoom. I have another Pentax lens, 2 Sigmas (one is new) and Tamron AF lenses and it doesn't like any of them! "Quelle disastre!" as they say in Scotland! The camera shop (Chiswick Cameras) is happy to give me a refund but we agreed I'd try the forums to see if there was a fix first - no rush, in other words.
I have 3 other 35mm AF Pentax bodies and all my AF lenses work on all of them with no trouble. (AN SFX-n, SF7 and MZ60 - the fussy one!) I can't see why one lens would work but not the others. That seems to rule out electrical contacts probs, although I have cleaned them up of course, even though they were already clean.
It will be a shame if it is touchy about lenses as it's about the best spec of any PK film cameras I've seen. 1/8000th second shutter speed - the same as the K5! :eek: |
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
12-05-2012, 03:37 AM
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I would always recommend a UV/haze filter; to protect the lens more than anything else. I have one on all my lenses, some over 30 years old! More lenses could be good - it depends what you've got but bear in mind that an SLR's advantage is also its disadvantage! Changing lenses! Never do it literally in the field! No SLRs like dust or moisture; DSLRs are even more sensitive to it and as it rains every single day in the UK you want to go out with ONE lens fitted! OK if you're a "twitcher" and have a bird hide I suppose. If you are likely to go out for a whole day it might be a good idea to buy a battery grip (D-BG4). They are only around £30 from China (quite safe to buy from there in spite of the rumours!) but even quicker is from Wales where I bought mine (through fleabay of course) It only cost me £34.54 with free postage. The only way to buy one if you want it before Christmas. They are a nice piece of kit and carry up to 6 x AA batteries or 1 x D-LI90.
For outdoor work (see above!) you'll need a good water-resistant, padded bag - preferably with a rain hood for when it gets tropical! One that floats might be a good idea :-)
I always remove my SD cards from my cameras and upload/download them via a card reader, BUT FIRST always set the switch to "Lock"! After a Norwegian cruise earlier this year one card got trashed just reading and copying from it! I managed to recover all the stills but no video clips. I hadn't bothered with the switch before but always will from now on!
For studio work you'll get the best quality with "prime" lenses but for field work you'll sacrifice a little quality for versatility with a zoom lens - as 'fast' as you can afford. I've still got some of my manual, fixed focal length telephoto lenses too and they are fine with my K5. One is a 135mm f2.8 - nice! Even old auto-focus lenses go cheaply now - I've been collecting a few over the last month or so. It was the reason I stuck with Pentax K-mount for my first DSLR.
The focal length multiplier on the K5 (and most DSLRs ) is 1.5 so an old 50mm lens will be the equivalent of 75mm - a good portrait lens. A 200mm will be 300mm and so on. My longest lens is a Sigma 70-300mm f4 macro so it's equivalent to 450mm on maximum zoom - or 1350mm using my 3 x Vivitar converter! (£11.50). I bought them because A) I thought it might be a good idea B) they were quite cheap! (always a good reason to buy anything!)
Cheers, Lionel
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
12-03-2012, 12:09 PM
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In the olden days, when I were a lad and Dinosaurs roamed the Earth (1962 actually!), I first took up 35mm photography 'seriously'. As serious as a 16-year old can get anyway! I started with a Halina 35X, lever wind, viewfinder camera (no rangefinder!). I can't remember what aperture the fixed lens had but I also bought (new) the supreme Weston Master V to assist my exposure (!!). It proved to be brilliant ,as my choice of film for quite a few years was the unforgiving Kodachrome II, 25 ASA colour reversal! (Well, I didn't know!). I was rewarded with superb slides and only ever had a maximum of one dud one on any roll.
Many year later I bought a Zenit 'B' SLR with its standard 58mm Helios f2 lens (I still have it). Now my point! f2 was considered the smallest aperture lens you should buy. An f2 was only if, like me, you were poor. Much more preferable was f1.8 or - The Holy Grail - f1.4, which is what I bought with my Pentax KX in 1977. This lens is still unsurpassed and I have used it at music gigs in very low light - stage lighting only and its light gathering properties are obvious. So for low light situations you need a fast, large aperture lens. To my mind the low light capabilities of the camera are less important. It may be old-fashioned (OK - it IS!) but I still work on the prinicipal that the quality of the lens is more important than that of the camera.
Go for a cheaper body with the best lens(s) you can possibly afford. Even better - if you can still remember how to set an all-manual lens, buy a good secondhand one and use it with your DSLR. I have the K5 which, of course has the stabilisation built into the camera so all my old manual lenses benefit from it. Simples! |
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
12-03-2012, 11:38 AM
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Comparing oranges with apples then? We're obviously both right! I said it's as cheap as chips to get back into SLR film to accompany your digital Pentax. It stands to reason it would be best (but not essential) to have AF lenses to share with your kit, but some manual primes are cheap also. This is excludes wide aperture primes of course. They always fetch a good price, which is why I'm keeping my old but immaculate Pentax SMC f1.4 which I bought in the late 70s with the KX - NEW! I use it on my K5 now as well. From the old days I also have a Bell & Howell f2.8 135mm and a Hoya f2.8 35mm.
I was keeping the SLXn I bought recently but, fickle as I am, I might now go for a Z1/PZ1 or similar.:)
So covering 35mm and digital is VERY cheap by anyone's standards mainly because people think digital has supoerceded film! :eek: |
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
11-23-2012, 04:43 AM
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That's a shame as digital shouldn't replace film any more than it should replace books. I have books 150 years old at home and they are still in good, readable condition. Hands up anyone who thinks they will be able to say that in 150 years time about digital replacements! DSLRs shouldn't replace film cameras even though commercial pressures are trying to force us in that direction.:(
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
11-23-2012, 03:54 AM
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Crikey!! I've recently paid £34 for an SFX camera with 28-90mm AF zoom lens; £33 for an MZ60 camera with Pentax AF Zoom lens, and £35 for a Tamron AF 28-80mm aspherical zom lens; £35 for a Chinon CP-7m camera with full kit of flash, 2 x Zeiss manual lenses (immaculate!) and shoulder bag! I call these prices "cheap as chips" and I have more bits on order whilst they're that cheap. So you were paying less than £10 for lenses before? AMAZING!!!!
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
11-22-2012, 03:15 PM
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Now here's the thing - SLRs are becoming the "New" DSLRs! People are realising that Pentax K-fit lenses are extremly versatile and can be used on almost any K-mount camera. I have at least 4 for my K5 plus my original KX body from the late 1970s with the superb 50mm SMC f1.4 prime lens - awesome! So have a backup 35mm camera body with you or go back to using film for certain occasions. A fully manual lens is fine for those who can remember how to focus and can read the info the camera tells them about aperture. Even better get a lens with an "A" setting. The big thing about all the "old" tech is that it's all as cheap as chips, as we say in the UK. I bought a Pentax SL-X with an auto lens for about £35 off eBay recently and I've started collecting other Pentax and Chinon bodies and lenses. One Chinon came with a beautiful, all manual, Carl Zeiss 35-70mm Macro Zoom lens. Actually, forget everything I've said or the demand and prices will go up!
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
11-15-2012, 04:54 PM
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Thanks again - as I said in my second post - I found it! DOH!! I am busy collecting all the unwanted Pentax SMC lenses from 35mm cameras, some with auto-aperture, as I can remember how to focus lenses manually :-) . My SMC 50mm f1.4 lens from my old Pentax KX film camera is superb and saves a lot of money (I already had it!) compared with buying a new fully auto DSLR version. I have even found old early AF lenses in a K-fit. They all work brilliantly in my K-5 and, thanks to the Pentax system, they all benefit from in-camera optical stabilisation. I have also bought Pentax AF 35mm cameras which are going for a song (or somgs!) This gives me the versatility of superb quality 35mm film as well as the convenience of digital. Cheers, Lionel |
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
11-14-2012, 09:07 AM
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Many thanks for taking the trouble. I had posted the question on a seperate thread but found the answer just after posting on this one! I HAD looked in the manual but there wasn't anything in the index about remote control so going through 383 pages wasn't something I was keen to do! :( I found my answer on Page 88 - as you have responded. Thanks again for taking the time. |
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
11-14-2012, 06:05 AM
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Sorry people!! Mister Stupid has now left the building! I found the info on Page 88 of the manual - "Direct key setting items". The "Up" button gets "Drive Mode". |
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
11-14-2012, 05:28 AM
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A bit too late for an answer I guess but where do I find the "Drive mode" on my standard K5? (It's not a Mk.II) I can't find any settings options labelled "Wireless remote". Consequently I can't use the remote.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
11-14-2012, 05:22 AM
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I'm new to DSLRs and I can't find how to activate the infra-red wireless function on my D5. I can't find "Drive" mode mentioned by some and have even looked in the manual! ;) I have a paper version and the electronic version. OK, so I only bought a cheapo remote on Fleabay but it's marked for Pentax use so it should work right?
I just want remote firing for wildlife photography.
Please can someone give me blow-by-blow instructions how to get to the relevant section of the menu? |
