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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
12-12-2013, 07:28 PM
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I won't buy a K3 until Ricoh personally apologizes to me for putting their name on their camera, and sends me an assorted cheese basket.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
05-30-2023, 04:21 AM
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Sony A7r mk V is a $4000 mirrorless camera, a completely different beast than anything Pentax makes. If you're made of money and can afford the expensive lenses that go with it (assuming you want autofocus) and don't want an optical viewfinder anymore I'd say go for it
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Forum: General Photography
12-24-2021, 08:06 PM
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The point of this thread was to compare the two systems alikes and differences for anyone cross shopping the two. Like I didn't know Nikon had focus confirmation with old manual lenses similar to Pentax until I was learning the camera. The purpose wasn't to compare dogs chasing balls off in the distance outdoors to toddlers indoors nearby running at you or debate if a lens was decentered when just about every Pentax lens I've owned fringed wide open to some degree whereas I'm 4/4 no fringing with Nikon so far. I'm done with this thread too, off to take some pics tomorrow morning with my Nikon, or even my cell phone if I feel like it :) Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
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Forum: General Photography
12-24-2021, 11:49 AM
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Yeah ironically both the Pentax and Nikon color approach aren't my favorite, shooting old Minolta Maxxum lenses on my Sony alpha bodies had amazing colors, but good thing I can tweak those things pretty easy in Photoshop. And strangely the D600 grip felt awful in my hands like made then cramp up, as well as the K10D, but the K-3 and K200D were amazing to hold like the D750.
---------- Post added 12-24-21 at 12:18 PM ----------
I really don't think there was anything wrong with my 77mm, other than it had purple fringing about as much as other reviewers said, especially outdoors in Arizona sun. So I looked through a bunch of old photos trying to find a good 77mm one shot open, because most were stopped down a little to avoid the purple fringing in bright light and I don't really have any awful purple ones left since by now I'd have thrown them out. But here is one you can see is sharp zoomed in, so I don't think the lens is defective or anything, but you can see the photo the couple is holding is quite purple, her eyes brows are purple, the top of his head is purple, their hands are purple-ish, and this is after me trying to desaturate and turn down the purple levels quite a bit: [url removed]
I still like the photo and I think it turned out ok, but I found myself using the 50mm 1.4 much more and eventually got rid of the 77mm for other gear. I also distinctly remember a photo I took where the model was wearing a black and white polka dot shirt and when she wanted to see it afterwards I was so embarrassed that it was purple and white polka dot shirt and she was so confused why the 77mm made it turn out that way lol
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Forum: General Photography
12-23-2021, 06:16 PM
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I did have the Pentax FA 35mm f2 for a while. I found it had erratic focus precision too which kind of ruined an important family photo shoot I had and which was basically the turning point to start from scratch. But even then, I didn't really love that focal length and find 50mm to be a good sweet spot for me. I'd like an 85mm f1.4 on full frame but then it'd be cramped indoors all over again haha
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Forum: General Photography
12-23-2021, 03:59 PM
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I listed quite a few shortcomings of the Nikon system I have encountered. One less obvious one is Nikon users seem to not treat their gear as well as Pentax users. I had to send a few lenses back when trying to fill up my bag again because they were either flat out not functioning properly or in rougher condition than the photos of their listings. And since many pros use Nikon a lot of the camera bodies for sale are sporting 200-500k shutter actuations so its hard to find a lightly used one
---------- Post added 12-23-21 at 04:20 PM ----------
Also older manual focus Nikon's seem to have grease that hardens with age, whereas my old Takumars, K, M, A lenses were all buttery smooth after all those years
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Forum: General Photography
12-23-2021, 03:33 PM
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That's way more money lol I spent $700 not $3000 and I probably would have missed it with that expensive combo since it is crop sensor and wouldn't have had room to scoot back to get the shot. I do not miss having a crop sensor with 50mm lens indoors. The Pentax DA 50mm 1.8 I had was very hit or miss with its autofocus accuracy. I owned it and replaced it with the Pentax FA 50mm 1.4 which I loved and maybe would have been great on a K-1 but I decided I was done waiting around for a decent K-1 deal and it was more cost effective to switch systems.
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Forum: General Photography
12-22-2021, 09:13 PM
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It was definitely sharp wide open, but any subject of high contrast would get such a noticeable purple fringe it's either ruin the image or I'd be working on it too long in post and it still wouldn't come out great :(
I get the D750 was much more expensive at launch and sadly I don't have a K-1 to compare but since the D750 is only a year newer in age and they are both advanced cameras I think it is a pretty fair comparison, especially since the major reason the higher cost of the D750 is because larger sensors drive up the cost exponentially. And to be honest the K-3 actually could pull sharper photos at base iso since it had no AA filter and was exceptional with stationary subjects, it was only until my busy toddler came around that I had to look for better autofocus otherwise I'd still probably be with the same gear :)
That is a good thought, using that logic I think I would keep them the way you describe except my thumb rests on the rear dial better than my index finger rests on the front dial so I may have to look harder for the menu to switch them (as another user pointed out to me in a private message that it can be done).
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Forum: General Photography
12-22-2021, 03:31 PM
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A couple months ago I made the switch to Nikon F mount. My reasons were I felt my K3 and the lenses I had for it just couldn't keep up with my toddler, mainly the autofocus system. Selling off my Pentax gear allowed me to buy a gently used D750 and 4 lenses, and paired with the 50mm 1.8G lens my keeper rate has become insanely good. I also added a manual focus Nikkor 105mm f2.5 lens that is neat because Nikon has a lot of backward compatibility as did Pentax with old lenses. Then to cover my wide and tele ranges I picked up some plastic fantastic lenses at about $40 each that blow my mind optically (the Nikon 28-80mm f3.3-5.6 G and a Nikon 80-200 f4.5-5.6 D). There is basically zero purple fringing with any of these 4 lenses straight out of camera and uncorrected. The only Pentax lens I ever had that didn't do this was the FA 50mm f1.4 but it did have a glow wide open. The 77mm limited was unusable until f2.8 for me, which is crazy a lens that expensive is bested by such an old and budget friendly lenses. These Nikons are all sharp wide open too. There are other interesting things I noticed Nikon does, like the ability to reset the camera or formatting memory cards by holding a combination of buttons. It is weird that Nikon lenses screw on the other direction, that took getting used to. I don't love the Nikon menu layouts in the DSLRs (Pentax is superior there) but the custom menu option with Nikon is neat. If only you could add the minimum shutter change speed to that menu... And I like how both systems allow to customize buttons, but Pentax gave more freedom with e dial customization. I don't like how the front dial adjusts aperture on my Nikon and can't be switched to the back as far as I can tell. The build quality feel of a Pentax camera body was a little nicer too, but I'm shocked how my full frame weighs about the same as my K3 did. I loved the battery door on my K3, but the Pentax K30 inner door tab broke on me. The D750 battery door feels a bit too flimsy like the K30. The lens mounting/dismounting button Nikon uses seems way more robust than the K mount one though so maybe build quality is all a wash. The K3 has a quieter, more sophisticated shutter but I love the typewriter sound of the D750. Pentax screw drive autofocus is noticably louder than Nikon's screw drive autofocus. I love the minimum shutter speed you can select with Nikon, it bothered me a ton that Pentax didn't offer that on any of the bodies I used. But I hate the shooting mode dial Nikon used to switch to burst shooting or timer mode- it is a huge pain to consistently turn that thing while holding to lock button down!
Anyways, these are my observations so far, I may add some more later. I just thought I would start a thread for those who own or have owned both Pentax K and Nikon F mount to add any knowledge or observations they have had about using each system to help those who plan on moving to Pentax or Nikon to help weigh pros and cons of each. Hopefully F mount isn't "doomed" as it seems people are thinking mirrorless is slowly taking over but a pentaprism will always be #1 in my book!
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-05-2021, 07:32 PM
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Is it just me or of the name of your camera is Pentax then it should probably have a good pentaprism in it? That's what led me to the K-30 years ago since its viewfinder was touted as better if not at least equal to the competition.
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Forum: General Photography
12-16-2020, 10:08 AM
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-17-2015, 05:30 PM
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A landscape lens and a portrait lens are usually two different types of lenses. The rule of thumb is that portraits are taken at 85-135mm (give or take) and landscapes are usually wide angle, yet I've seen some nice landscape photos at longer focal lengths. And you say you want a good walk around lens too. Hmmm, I'm going to suggest the DA 50mm 1.8 since it is very affordable and can somewhat meet all these requirements. I like mine a lot, and if 50mm is ever a little tight indoors I just turn the camera sideways to portrait orientation and nearly always get the shot I want just fine. I find old "K" and "M" manual lenses a little bit of a hassle because you have to use the green button and stop down before a photo, and using auto iso is out of the question. "A" lenses can be used in more than just manual mode but cost more and still only have the option of manual focus.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
11-11-2020, 04:00 PM
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
11-04-2020, 09:57 AM
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Reminds me of a shot I took haha:
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
10-15-2020, 09:33 PM
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I think anyone and everyone that wanted a mirrorless has already gone that route and will either stay there or come back to optical viewfinder, like I did. Pentax should be just fine doing what they are doing- staying small and specialized. The DSLR boom that started 10 years ago when new models were getting churned out every couple of months has passed. Everyone that jumped on that craze either got serious and upgraded their beginner DSLR to something more advanced/higher end and stuck with it, or they let that cheap DSLR sit in its bag hardly used as cell phones improved to the point where the inconvenience of carrying a big camera was not worth it to them anymore. Just my thoughts.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-28-2020, 12:26 PM
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Went for a drive, took some pics:
4 peaks:
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
06-03-2020, 01:14 PM
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-10-2020, 11:28 PM
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Lens images look really good. Sure wish I could afford one.
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Forum: General Talk
09-30-2019, 09:31 PM
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An ex-wife that wanted a DSLR to take food pictures of her cooking creations. I did a lot of research about them and bought one for her, and taught her what she needed to know to get good pictures such as relationship between shutter speed, aperture, iso... she was like no thanks, so I realized I enjoyed the camera and it became a passion of mine. Her, not so much lol
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
12-03-2019, 08:49 AM
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I can't find any reason to upgrade from my K-3. It does everything well, I'm not sure the K-new will even tempt me?
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
12-03-2019, 08:54 AM
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Looks like you guys are still here, posting to this thread. Like to check in every once and a while. I wonder if the original poster "pentax dude" knows he has created a legend here?
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Forum: General Talk
12-02-2019, 08:35 AM
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So close!
Yeah that's a pretty good trade on your side of the deal.
The most luck I've had was at a pawn shop in Utah. Got a Pentax A 135mm f2.8 for around $30 and a Super Takumar 50mm f1.4 for around the same. Also found a heavy duty Manfrotto tripod for $10 on Craigslist when living there too.
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Forum: General Talk
12-01-2019, 02:23 PM
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Saw that and thought could this be the score of the decade? haha
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Forum: General Talk
12-01-2019, 11:07 AM
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Looks like a good lens, but I'm glad it's out of my budget so I'm not too tempted haha. I haven't bought a lens in a while now and I'm trying to keep it that way!
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
10-31-2019, 05:35 PM
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I'd like to add that some Pentax DSLR's I've owned have had more movement than others with the shake reduction system inside when off. Can't remember specific models but I think a K-30 I had was very noticeable and a K-200 perhaps was not, so I'd chalk it up to variance in manufacturing.
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