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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
04-10-2024, 04:37 AM
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Yep, get a K3 or K3ii. I bought one of the last new K3 bodies in the shop when the K3ii came in; I use the built in flash of the K3 sometimes but I didn't have much use for the astrotracer in the K3ii that replaced the flash in the K3; you might feel differently.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
03-16-2024, 02:08 PM
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I think you mean pointed upwards a bit but otherwise I think you are right.
skolkmeier, this is just natural perspective. 21mm is pretty wide so it will soon show this sort of perspective if the camera is pointed up or down more than very slightly. It is not lens distortion; it is just because the sensor and lens is at an angle to the posts and it happens with all lenses. It's least noticeable in the middle of the frame in the area a longer lens might cover, so it often goes unnoticed with those lenses. But more extreme wideangle lenses really show it up.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
03-01-2024, 08:12 AM
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Further to my comment about how I use a second monitor and drag the bottom (image browser) dock to it to allow a larger image scale on my main monitor for portrait shots, I can view an entire portrait format shot at 45%, when it's a 6,000 pixel high image.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
02-29-2024, 08:31 AM
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I have a late 2015 27" iMac, so that's a 5K display; 5120 X 2880 resolution. For nearly all my image processing I use DXO Optics Pro10, though I'll soon be moving to a later version. But the layout will be much the same; left and right docks and a bottom dock that shows the thumbnails in the project I'm on.
I now use a second monitor which I've dragged the bottom dock to, giving more room on the main screen. That means portrait format shots can be shown at a larger scale, and as I want to view landscape and portrait shots both at the same scale, all my shots can be seen larger; at a higher definition and making the most of my 27" display. The second monitor isn't high definition, but it's good enough to view thumbnails.
You could do the same thing with your Macbook and a larger monitor.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-28-2024, 11:27 AM
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Forum: Repairs and Warranty Service
02-25-2024, 07:17 AM
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I got a similar quote for replacing the card door on my K3, here in England. There's a bit broken off but as it doesn't affect the water resistance I didn't get it done. I might build up the door one day with some two part epoxy or similar, probably JB Weld. Could you do something similar?
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
02-17-2024, 05:16 PM
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There's no histogram to be seen in the optical viewfinder. I have a K3iii, (colour version!) and just like my previous Pentax cameras I set the main switch to digital preview; it's in the C2 menu, third one down; "Preview Dial". In digital preview the camera takes a photo but does not save it to the SD card, so it appears in about half a second. I have the preview set to display both the histogram and highlight alerts; these options are also in the C2 menu, third one down. While it's not the same as a live histogram, you can take your time, zoom in if you wish, and it also shows you the effect of using flash.
I believe it's possible to get far more out of the shadows with the K3iii Monochrome than with the colour version, so if in doubt perhaps you can bias your exposures to being a bit darker. But the other Monochrome users here should be able to advise you better than I can.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
02-07-2024, 04:42 PM
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I'm usually in manual mode and using flash when this happens, so I just set the mode dial to 'B' and try not to forget to turn it back to manual before I take the shot. I never thought to look in the menu.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-03-2024, 01:21 AM
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Nothing more I need for my Pentax outfit. I do have a lot of old manual focus kit that needs to go that I've hardly used since I got my K20D in 2009, plus a load of flashguns, lighting stands, modifiers and remote triggers, given to me when a photographer friend passed away.
I will keep my old Minolta X700 camera as I've had it a long time, and it's about time I got a darkroom sorted out. That's mainly a matter of light proofing and chemicals; I have all the kit. I'd also like to try out a couple of box cameras I have, so I'll need a few rolls of 120 film.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-03-2024, 01:10 AM
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I'd just use the 20-40mm lens, coupled with flash. I do a bit of gun-and-run, where I use a 24mm lens, a hand held flash with a bounce card, and fill from the on camera flash. the main, hand held flash is a Metz 52-AF1. A similar setup would work well for you.
The bounce card makes the hand held flash into a bigger light source. the flash is connected to the camera with the short F5P cable, which is long enough to hold the flash at arm's length. The on camera flash is set to 2 stops under, the main flash at full power. I have the ISO at 400, setting about 1/30th or 1/45th at f/5.6. This gives enough depth of field and room lights look natural; neither too dark nor too much of the wall/ceiling around them blown out to white.
I gel the flashes, using gels from the Rosco Strobist Collection. The main flash gets a 1/4 CTO (pale orange), the fill gets a blue, and a green, together. This mimics daylight, with the main light warm like the sun, and a cool fill like the sky. The green gel stops skin tones lit only by the fill turning purple.
I see you have a K3iii, so no built in flash. Well okay, you'll need a second, small flashgun. It just needs a guide number of at least 13 at 100 ISO (metres) as that's the power of a typical built in flash. You'll need a Hot Shoe Adaptor F on each end of the short F5P cable to accept the flashes. Set the flash compensation to -2 stops on the camera to control the fill flash, then cancel that out with +2 stops adjustment on the main flash.
I wouldn't get a portrait lens. The K3iii has more than enough resolution to crop in later, or on the day with the 1.3X crop function. (I have a K3iii)
But practise first at home and review your results, at least three times. Then you'll be ready on the day and it'll be a low stress event for you. But talk to your cousin before you do anything and make sure you both have the same sort of photos in mind.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
12-30-2023, 10:14 AM
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Realising that ink dried in the print head, I made my own test pattern with large blocks of graduated colours and with lines of text. I ended up using it two or three times a week; it wasn't enough. But the issue is that while the waste ink tank was easy to remove and clean, the printer is designed to fail as it cannot be reset.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
12-29-2023, 08:03 AM
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I bought an Epson ET-1810 ecotank printer. The print quality was okay, but the nozzles kept blocking up requiring a clean. The printer counts how many cleans you carry out, and when it gets to a certain number, warns you you haven't got many cleans left. I cleaned it once more after this warning, and the printer locked up. It will not reset; there is nothing in the software to allow this meaning I spent £150 for six months of printer use. I was printing maybe half a dozen pages a week. It is not the only printer that does this; as well as other Epsons I think some other makes do it, too.
There are online sellers who will sell you a "patch", but they just look like a way to get an infected computer.
So, avoid.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-24-2023, 06:06 PM
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Well spotted! The 16-50mm PLM lens seems to have the same contact plate, too. I've never thought about it, but it makes perfect sense from a production viewpoint.
Now I'm wondering if the lens mounts are all the same too, if of course they are both the same version of the mount.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
12-22-2023, 09:31 AM
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Verily, the end is nigh! Repent, unbelievers! Cast thine eye from ye evils of mirrorlessness and returnest thou to thy pentaprisms!
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
12-21-2023, 04:30 PM
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I went from a K20D to a K3, and there was a great improvement in high ISO performance and low light AF performance. I have taken lots of low light photos with the K3 that I wouldn't even attempt with the K20D. There's not a lot of difference between the K3 and the K3ii but you can check the spec sheets on this site. The main difference is, K3: built in flash. K3ii: no built in flash but there's a built in astrotracer instead.
It'll take you a good while to reach the limits of what a K3 or K3ii can do. But keep your K10d, at least for now.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
11-28-2023, 04:41 AM
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I don't think anyone has explained what the hyperfocal distance is, so I'll do so.
When you set a lens to its hyperfocal distance, everything from half that distance to infinity will be in focus. It's a depth of field thing, and the distance varies according to the focal length of the lens, the aperture, and the size of the sensor/film image, just as it does with depth of field in general. If you've ever come across a simple film camera (like an old Instamatic) where everything is in focus from (say) 5 feet to infinity, the lens on that camera is set at its hyperfocal distance of 10 feet.
Here's a few examples of hyperfocal distances that apply to your early morning shoot, so on an APS-C camera, with various focal lengths from 18 to 135mm, and f/10:
18mm: 5.33 feet
35mm: 20.1 feet
50mm: 40.9 feet
70mm: 80.0 feet
100mm: 163.1 feet
135mm: 297.1 feet.
For example, at 70mm and f/10 set to 80 feet, it's all in focus from 40 feet to infinity. These figures are from the same site as p706 linked to, above. In practise it's not possible to estimate distances this precisely, but you can still use this information. I'm just giving you the exact figures from the website so you'll recognise them.
You can learn to estimate by (say) measuring the length of your garden, then when out with the camera you can look at something and estimate it to be, let's say, three garden lengths away.
Let's say you are 50mm and f/10. If you can find something to focus on that's obviously further away than 40.9 feet, you are guaranteed to be in focus at infinity, and everything from infinity to a bit closer than whatever you focused on will also be in focus. Here's some examples:
Focus at hyperfocal distance: sharp from 20.45 feet to infinity.
Focus at 50 feet: sharp from 22.5 feet to infinity.
Focus at 100 feet: sharp from 29 feet to infinity.
Focus at 200 feet: sharp from 33.8 feet to infinity.
Focus at 297.1 feet: sharp from 35.8 feet to infinity. (this is the hyperfocal distance for 135mm and f/10)
It's possible to set the focus once and then just zoom in and out, if the nearest object you need to be sharp is far enough away. But zoom lenses don't always stay focused at the same distance when you zoom; you'll have to experiment.
If you look at the Online Depth of Field Calculator where I got these figures or maybe your photopills app you can try different focal lengths, distances and apertures and see how the depth of field changes. On that linked site I selected "Pentax K-r, K-x, K7 as a camera.
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Forum: Pentax KP
11-22-2023, 02:16 AM
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Oh, they would still have complained, just about something else... :)
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
11-07-2023, 11:54 AM
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I use a Sony A6000 with the 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens, usually at about waist level with the screen tilted up. It's small and in my large hands seems to be hard to spot. The lens isn't bad, and this setup can be found used for not too much money. The electronic viewfinder isn't great so I don't use it much. The sensor is the same 24mp unit as found in my K3; high ISO performance is on a par though looks different from the K3's output somehow. Colours are not quite as nice as from the K3; perhaps a matter of taste. The lens retracts when the camera goes to sleep, but it will remember the last focusing distance; very handy.
I tend to sit in one spot and wait for pictures to come to me; glancing down at the screen now and then. Try about a 35mm focal length on APS-C; in landscape you'll get a full length adult at about 15 to 16 feet. That's far enough away to be fairly inconspicuous, and you'll get a natural perspective. Of course it's about the equivalent angle of view as the 50mm lenses Cartier Bresson used.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
10-27-2023, 01:25 AM
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Great! Back when the Canon A1 was a current camera, I took about a dozen photos with one and was instantly impressed by how it handled.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
10-22-2023, 03:06 AM
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Indeed. There are big and similar prime lens gaps in both the APS-C and the full frame ranges; 22.5mm= to 31.5mm= in the APS-C range, and 21mm to 31mm in full frame. The 15mm f/4 for APS-C is a fine lens, but it's quite slow. An APS-C format 16mm f/1.8 would give us a fast wide angle and a choice between speed and compactness. An 18mm f/1.8, by the way, would perhaps a bit too close to the 21mm f/2.4 in size and function to gain too many sales.
For full frame a 24mm f/1.8 would do the same job for the full frame range, while also making a fine 36mm= lens for APS-C. I know this is also a bit close to the 21mm f/2.4 but only for the APS-C format; the difference between 21 and 24mm on full frame is perhaps surprising. I admit to a bit of bias, as I just can't gel with a 21mm lens on APS-C.
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Forum: General Photography
09-20-2023, 06:30 AM
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Yes, I do, but it's a motorcycling bag, commonly used by old British boys like me who ride old British motorcycles. In it there's a "puck"; a wide plastic foot that goes under a bike stand when parking on soft ground, a few spares, and an old ammo pouch with a Sony A6000 and kit lens. Small and light and with the same sensor as my K3, it's just the job for a daily carry; though the user interface is not up to Pentax standards.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
09-18-2023, 08:56 AM
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I solved my problem of not being able to find the rear AF button by sticking a small piece of self adhesive Velcro (the prickly side) to the button. I've done this to three cameras so far. the Velcro needs replacing every once in a while, but inch wide strips of Velcro are only about £1.20 per foot and I only need a little bit each time. I get mine from a local sewing and fabric shop.
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Forum: Product Suggestions and Feedback
08-25-2023, 03:38 PM
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There is certainly a big gap in the primes between 21 and 31mm, and a lens somewhere between those two focal lengths would certainly have appeal; maybe a couple of lenses. All sorts of ways to do it, but a couple of full frame 24mm lenses, one large but fast (say f/1.8) one inexpensive and compact but slower (say f/2.8) is one way. Another way would be to make the cheaper lens a pancake, a 27mm f/2.8. It would be the equivalent of the old 40mm M series lens, but for APS-C. Canon has already produced something similar at a good price, and it worked well.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
08-10-2023, 02:09 PM
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The setting is in amongst all the AFS modes and is not easy to recognise. Hold in the AF Mode button and turn the rear e-dial to scroll through the options as normal. There are two choices that say "AF" on the bottom left corner of the screen. One will give you a symbol like a square divided into four above "AF", and a plus sign with the middle missing to show where the focus spot will be; that's it.
It's a sort of crosshair. You can move this focus spot around in the usual way but it cannot change size. This is your only option for AFC in live view, as far as I can see.
The other option that shows "AF" on the bottom left has nine tiny squares above "AF" and the corners of a rectangle show up on the screen; the camera will focus on objects within that rectangle, but only in AFS mode.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
07-12-2023, 10:27 AM
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I've found that a Pentax K rear cap will fit and stay on a Sony E lens, but the Sony cap will not fit on a Pentax K lens. But it's handy if I use my 77mm lens on the Sony, because I can fit the adaptor and just use the same rear cap.
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