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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 02-24-2014, 11:22 PM  
Classic 35-70 and 70-210 repairs?
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 9
Views: 1,197
Heard back from Eric Hendrickson today; sadly, he said that he couldn't fix either one and that they wouldn't be of use to him as parts, either. Oh, well. :(

Many thanks to everyone for your help/suggestions!
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 02-22-2014, 10:46 AM  
Classic 35-70 and 70-210 repairs?
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 9
Views: 1,197
Thanks for all the advice!

I'll try emailing Eric Hendrickson and see if he thinks it'd be worth it; I admit the responses here aren't sounding too promising. It still kind of burns to think of the good glass going to waste; do you know if he (or anyone else, for that matter) might have a use for the parts?

@Driline: I paid $50 for the pair, including an SF1 body.
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 02-21-2014, 09:18 PM  
Classic 35-70 and 70-210 repairs?
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 9
Views: 1,197
Greetings!

I recently picked up copies of the classic Pentax-F 35-70 and 70-210 zooms at an estate sale. Both of them, the glass looks like it's in excellent shape, but have problems that make them almost unusable. On the 35-70, the inner barrel is knocked out of alignment; one side extends about 1-1.5mm further than the other. The 70-210 appears to be in good shape externally, but the zoom is stiff and the electronics (aperture and autofocus circuitry) don't work.

So, first question: is it worth getting them fixed? I didn't pay much for them, so I wouldn't cry if they weren't economically fixable, but it does hurt to lose them when the glass is good and the rest of the lens seems solid.

Second, if it is worth fixing them, who's a good repair shop these days? The main local repair shop I'm familiar with closed its doors in December when the owner retired. :(

Many thanks!
Forum: Pentax K-30 & K-50 12-27-2013, 11:06 AM  
K-500 Impressions
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 47
Views: 9,428
Another new K-500 owner from the Hunt's deal - in this case, adding to a K-01 (my first Pentax K-mount) that I've generally been happy with, but which had problems with the back LCD washing out in bright sunlight; MF lenses in particular were just about impossible to use, even with tools like the Delkin sunshade.

Overall, I like the handling, though I was surprised at just how much bigger and heavier it is compared to the K-01; will definitely be keeping it around!

Unfortunately, I'm having one serious problem with it. After the first couple of days taking pictures, I've started seeing a black horizontal line, about 2 pixels wide, stretching across every picture about 1/8 down from the top. (I can post sample pics if that'd help.) Any idea what's wrong, or am I going to need to send it back to Pentax?
Forum: Pentax K-01 08-31-2013, 11:02 PM  
Add your best K-01 photos here
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 3,868
Views: 777,015
FA 35-70. Playing around the KC Irish Fest, got a few I thought worth sharing...


Union Station Reflected by Travis Butler KC, on Flickr

Union Station as seen in a neighboring building.


Washington Park, KC by Travis Butler KC, on Flickr

The Washington statue in Washington Park...


Washington and the Irish by Travis Butler KC, on Flickr

...accompanied by a new friend. :)


A Classic Engine by Travis Butler KC, on Flickr

And a nice display from the Firefighters Museum in Union Station.
Forum: Pentax Q 08-29-2013, 11:28 AM  
K-Q Adapter (again...)
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 34
Views: 5,084
I admit, I was never that fond of the 35mm Fujian when I tried it; I thought several D-mount cine lenses beat it, like the Kern-Paillard 36mm and any of the Elgeet 38mm f/1.8s.
Forum: Pentax Q 07-24-2013, 10:19 AM  
What Optical Viewfinder?
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 9
Views: 3,344
I also find my Tele-Wide very helpful in aiming when I'm trying astro shots with the Q; while you can try sighting along the lens barrel on some of those ginormous 400-500mm lenses, the Tele-Wide makes it much easier.
Forum: Pentax K-01 07-05-2013, 09:44 PM  
Any great deals on the K-01 40mm still to be had?
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 11
Views: 2,086
They had a couple of K-01's, an original Q w/01 lens, and a couple of K-30s in the clearance section at the Kansas City store, when I was there a couple of days ago.
Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways 07-05-2013, 08:54 PM  
Ricoh GR Digital IV Giveaway: Ending 7/8/2013!
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 630
Views: 102,073
Forum: Post Your Photos! 07-05-2013, 08:53 PM  
Landscape Duck Lake Sunset
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 1
Views: 975
I love sunsets anyway, especially with clouds; and a lake offers even better opportunities for framing one...

Taken with K-01, at Adorama
Forum: Monthly Photo Contests 06-29-2013, 08:48 PM  
F/A-18 Kalamazoo
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 0
Views: 691
F/A-18A at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo, Kalamazoo, MI; K-01 w/DA 18-55 AL
Forum: Pentax Q 06-06-2013, 04:07 PM  
Purple toned photos
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 13
Views: 2,360
I've seen it a few times, and most often it's because I forgot to reset the white balance. I have had a couple of D-mount lenses that have shown strong purple tints outdoor around sunset, but it may have been white balance as well (it's been long enough since I took the pics that I forget).
Forum: Pentax Q 06-06-2013, 04:00 PM  
Why only one fast Q lens from Pentax?
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 20
Views: 2,557
I honestly haven't been favorably impressed by most of the video/CCTV lenses I've tried. The Fujians were worthwhile mostly because they were cheap. I just picked up a 75mm Fujinon C-mount video lens that's been surprisingly good so far, but the build quality doesn't match the Pentax lenses - and the list price I found checking up on it was around $275, though I found it under $15 on fleabay. The Sony, Sony/Canon and Toyo video zoom lenses I've tried have been very well-built, but also very large and heavy on the Q, and the wide aperture was mostly an illusion; it might work well for video, but for stills with the Q I had to stop down to f/2.8 or even f/4 to get reasonable results.

The lenses I have found impressive are C- and D-mount cine movie lenses (for 8/16mm film), and by no means all of them; I've tried close to 50 by now, and found maybe 7 or 8 of them that can rival the sharpness of the 01 prime. And while some of them were wide-angle on movie cameras, very few were even somewhat wider than normal on the Q - and of those, only a couple had what I'd consider 'good' image quality there. (And *everything* I've tried wider than the 01 vignetted something fierce.)
Forum: Pentax Q 06-05-2013, 07:07 AM  
Let's share shots with Q!
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 6,907
Views: 1,198,246
Very nice; I love contrasty night shots.

In the spirit of the subject matter... Liberty Memorial (official U.S. World War I memorial) with the 01 standard prime, program mode. Taken from an off-angle in a side parking lot.
Forum: Pentax K-01 06-01-2013, 09:10 PM  
What lens do you use most often with the K-01 ?
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 122
Views: 18,446
I've been pretty happy so far with the F35-70 I picked up on the suggestions here.

That said, what do you use most often when you need something wider?

Just took my K-01 on its first museum shoot at the World War I museum under Liberty Memorial, with the F35-70, a 40xs, and an old DA 18-55 kit lens that I picked up cheap. 40mm was definitely too tight for most of the shots, and even the 35 low end was too tight too much of the time, so I ended up using the 18-55 for almost everything. Unfortunately, the lighting was so dim that it was very hard to work with in several spots - too-long exposures, focus hunting, and sometimes a complete inability to lock focus.

I also had the Q with 01 lens with me, and it could get a shot in just about every case where the K-01 couldn't (although the 01 was also too tight for good framing). I'm pretty sure the big difference was the f/1.9 aperture, especially given the smaller Q sensor.

So I'm thinking I need a faster wide-angle for that kind of indoor museum shooting, since the 18-55 couldn't cut it. I've been getting tempted by the DA 21 Limited, but from the reviews it sounds like it's still somewhat slow for that environment - and it's honestly more than I ought to be spending right now anyway, even if I can snag one of the under-$400 ones on fleaBay. I'm going up to Michigan with some friends in a week and a half, and we're planning on hitting the Kalamazoo Air Zoo and the Henry Ford Museum, so I'd like to have something better by then... but the trip is also absorbing a lot of my spare cash for the next month or two.

I was watching 28mm's from both Kiron and Sigma (Mini-Wide) on fleaBay, missed bidding on both because something came up right as the auctions were closing, and both ended up going for around $20; I'm really kicking myself for that. :( The Pentax-A 28mm is quite a bit more expensive.

Any recommendations?
Forum: Pentax Q 05-31-2013, 11:54 AM  
Let's share shots with Q!
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 6,907
Views: 1,198,246
Sigh. Let's try this again...

The new Kansas City Star building, pressroom enclosed in glass; very neat sight at night. The 06 zoom didn't do too bad a job with this one... (see smaller pic) Sadly, my favorite Elgeet 38mm D-mount gets it sharper, I think (larger pic).
Forum: Pentax Q 05-30-2013, 01:02 PM  
Sample images taken with C-mount lenses
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 11
Views: 10,892
While none of the C-mounts I've used has quite matched the 01 Prime, they've certainly been better than the 02 zoom, and honestly some of the C- and D-mount lenses have been sharper than even the SMC Takumar 50mm 1.4 (M42). See this 25mm Cosmicar, for example, or the Takumar 1.4 versus a Bausch & Lomb 50mm C-mount. Or my favorite D-mount for sharpness, the Elgeet 38mm. The whole set of Q lens tests is at Q Lens Tests - a set on Flickr

The key to doing well with cine lenses, I think, is to avoid the cheap ones sold for security cameras, and go for classic 8mm/16mm movie film lenses.
Forum: Pentax K-01 05-13-2013, 01:32 PM  
Reflections on the K-01 from Soundimageplus
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 15
Views: 2,523
I think he means make everything but the mount area thinner - big chunky block to maintain the sensor-lens distance for the K-mount, slender grip. In other words, the same kind of parlor trick used by the NEX series to make it look thinner, except more of the bulk would be in the body and less in the lens.

Not a good idea, IMNSHO. As I've said about the NEX before, the end result is a huge unbalanced weight with the lens/image box, and a much smaller grip to try and control it with. The end result wouldn't be significantly easier to carry with you; making the grip smaller wouldn't let it fit into a smaller carry bag. (Think of a box fitted to the height, width and depth of the camera; making the grip smaller doesn't reduce the size of the box, it just adds some extra space in one corner.) It might add a little additional flexibility, fitting into oddly-shaped spaces... but I think any real effect would be more cosmetic than practical. And as others have mentioned, reducing the grip means going with a smaller battery.

What I could see doing is taking a slice out of the body between the lens and the grip - adding extra space for the fingers to wrap around the grip, so you get a better hold on the camera. .
Forum: Pentax K-01 05-07-2013, 05:42 PM  
Lets see your new K01
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 223
Views: 57,569
Haven't done any serious shooting with it on the K-01, yet; some of the test shots I took didn't look bad, although there were some light spots that could be flare. Some of the flat black paint inside the lens barrel has flaked off, leaving the metal showing through; however, since all the optics are up at the front end of the lens, I may be able to fix that. (Some of the stuff I read about it online suggested that the front half with the optics can be unscrewed from the back half, and in that case it probably wouldn't be hard.)
Forum: Pentax Q 05-07-2013, 03:20 PM  
Help with adapted lens on my Q
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 39
Views: 4,192
I'd second the comments others have made about the lens's resolution compared to the Q's sensor. In my own testing - admittedly mostly dull shots of the same scene out my office window - most of the 35mm lenses were somewhat soft compared to cine lenses, which were designed to focus on a much smaller film frame. (I wouldn't be surprised if the Pentax Auto 110 lenses had much the same effect, but I haven't had the chance to play with any yet.)

For example, compare the M42 Takumar 1.4 with a C-mount Cosmicar 25mm - the Tak is supposed to be one of the better lenses out there, but on the Q the Cosmicar is better, IMHO.
Forum: Pentax K-01 05-07-2013, 07:11 AM  
Lets see your new K01
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 223
Views: 57,569
Another pic of mine with The Beast mounted; also, a nice little slimline lens I originally got for the Q, but looks rather nice on the K-01.
Forum: Pentax K-01 05-06-2013, 08:12 PM  
Add your best K-01 photos here
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 3,868
Views: 777,015
Love those sunsets. Something about the combination of colors - especially when there's blue or cloud to set off the oranges and reds - really grabs me.
Forum: Pentax K-01 05-06-2013, 03:30 PM  
Add your best K-01 photos here
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 3,868
Views: 777,015
Not my best, by any means, but I felt like I had to take advantage of the May snowstorm we had last week... :)
Forum: Pentax K-01 05-06-2013, 03:06 PM  
K-01 and Sigma 10-20 in Old San Juan
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 8
Views: 2,521
Sometimes you can get creative with 'em, though; pic from my pre-Pentax days, but I kinda like it.

https://picasaweb.google.com/tbutler67/SunriseSunset#5295074888532022690
Forum: Pentax Q 05-06-2013, 12:46 PM  
HALP! I'm confused with all those adapters!
Posted By Travis Butler
Replies: 13
Views: 5,909
I've got one of the Kiwi M39-Q adapters, and the adapter itself seems fine; solidly built and well machined.

However, I can't say I'm too crazy about the quality of the Russian lenses I've tried so far:

IMGP0895 Jup 11 f5.6 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
IMGP0900 i61 f4 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

The Jupiter 11 is just fuzzy, full stop. Not impressed.

The Industar 61 isn't... bad, but it isn't any better than the average C or D mount lens, and it doesn't match up to the best C and D's. See:

All sizes | IMGP0909 Elgeet 38 f4 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
All sizes | IMGP0900 i61 f4 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Since the C's and D's are lighter, smaller, and easier to fit into a kit bag - especially if you add in the comparative sizes of the adapter - I'm not sure I'd bother unless there are specific M39 lenses you're wanting to adapt.
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