Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-26-2017, 07:42 AM
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Me either.. I think it is more a marketing spiel to raise eyebrows.. Nikon seems to do the same thing on their announcements.
But still nice to see up to ISO 3200 on the page for now.. the reviews from IR and other places should be fun. :lol:
One other thing I noticed, is those sample photos were taken in early/mid December with firmware 1.0, so it seems they completed before the end of the year..
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-24-2017, 12:30 PM
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Frankly this looks like a very weird camera. The retro design is cool I guess, as are the hand grips, but the user interface looks like a step back in terms of usability. No top LCD, awkward front e-dial, and a super-sparse settings dial. What's the point of it when there's room for more settings, especially when you lose the top LCD? It looks like there's no Wi-Fi or GPS, either. It also looks like the main LCD could be about half an inch bigger.
That said, maybe there's a redeeming factor in the official specs, so we'll just have to wait until then! But for now this looks like a stripped-down K-1 to me, and more of a one-off model than a K-3 II replacement.
One nice thing: the flash is back!
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
11-18-2016, 05:04 AM
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Arrived in Cork this morning :) I'll take a few shots over the weekend and the following days.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
11-02-2016, 04:23 PM
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It's like a flashback to the 80s. :D I totally forgot how little control we had over the images after pressing the shutter. However, I rediscovered the nifty fifty and it's versatility. It's good for almost anything. It was so much fun! :)
I used 400 b/w, 200 colour and a 1600 b/w.
Here some of my favourites. A few more on the flickr group. Kaptivating K-Mount Traveling K1000 | Flickr |
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-17-2016, 01:01 PM
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So the K1000 is on its way to gorme and four rolls of film are sent to develop. It's such a nice camera and I'm sad that it's gone now. That shutter is massive! : :D Focussing is not easy. I forgot how slow it is when shooting with film. Missed some shots because I didn't fwd to the next frame :/ Also blew some shots because I forgot to set ISO from 1600 to 200 for a new film. Meh. :lol:
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-04-2016, 06:22 AM
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No longer theory! sbh contacted me by PM just a few days ago and said the camera has arrived.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-25-2016, 04:11 PM
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Sigma has no plans for a Pentax line of the new art and sport lenses.
My 60 minutes with Sigma and a lot of coffee were interesting but in case of Pentax more sadly than interesting.
The Japanese chief of engineers only shook his head after the point that I know a big pack of Pentax user worldwide with the will to buy this new 85 and all the other new lenses
But nope,Sigma isn't looking for that,no interest.
I gave him current numbers of production and numbers of sale of the K-1 but only answer was,no way currently.
But nobody knows the situation in 2 years.
That was the last sentence and than we talked about the new 4.0 500.
But not anymore about Pentax anyway.
The new 500 is a dream,lightweight and absolute highest end.
But,not for Pentax.
Best regards
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Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals
09-14-2016, 02:29 AM
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I shoot with primes a lot. The reason to shoot with a zoom is not for papparazi photography, but because it is flexible. To use your 70-200 example, you can shot a relatively wide shot at 70mm and then zoom in and get a head and shoulders shot. This can be pretty handy.
The reasons to shoot primes are for smaller size, better flare resistance, and wider apertures. Otherwise, they are all just lenses and they are what you make of them.
Back to the topic, clearly Pentax decided the most important thing was to have focal lengths covered with zooms from the beginning and then fill in the prime spots that were missing. We have focal lengths from 15 to 450mm covered right now with zooms, with primes at 31mm, 43mm, 50mm, 55mm, 77mm, 100mm, 200mm, and 300mm (I may have missed a couple -- I'm doing this from memory). I have used the majority of those lenses and have found them quite good. The FA 50 needs updating and maybe they should add some weather sealing to other primes than the 100, 200 and 300, but if you are a prime person, you could do a lot worse than start with a K-1 and a set of FA limiteds. To me, the big gap is the area wider than 30mm and maybe an 85mm f1.4 lens too.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
09-06-2016, 10:28 PM
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
08-11-2016, 03:12 AM
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No probs... cheers
Voigtlander 20/3.5 arrived today..... first go..... |
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
07-07-2016, 07:19 AM
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A value-priced lens you should consider is the Samyang/Bower 85mm 1.4. I picked one up barely used for around $150, and they aren't that hard to find under $200. It's sharp, fast, with excellent color rendition. One caveat is it's manual focus. Shooting wide-open requires a decent eye considering the shallow DoF but I've got 60-year old ones littered with floaters and can nail it more often than not. Stop down to 2.8 or more, which is better for portrait anyway (F4 is ideal with this one), and even bad eyes should have no trouble IMO with a little practice.
All three of these were taken on the same overcast day with the Bower version. These are rookie shots too. I'd had the lens no more than a couple of days, and shooting a DSLR for not much more than a year when these were taken. You can do just as well if not better with it, I'm certain.
To me based on the results it's worth the tiny investment, even brand new under $260. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=Samyang+85mm+pentax&N=0&InitialSear...op+Nav-Search= |
Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
05-11-2016, 08:39 AM
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They admitted it was a mistake and will fix it. Didn't even really get a thank you for letting use know either.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
05-03-2016, 11:06 AM
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Received my K1 yesterday. My current system(s) are an A7rii/A7ii and previously I shot 5d mark iii, EM1 and XE1.
I've also rented D810 for landscape/medium format replacement in the past and also used with wedding.
My take...
The focus system for AFS is shot to shot similar in experience to the D810. Ignoring the sheer volume of PDAF points, as DSLR's will never go the route of hundreds of points as we find on mirrorless - actually it would probably be disadvantageous if it comes at the expense of smaller cross type that are less sensitive. When it comes to DSLR's the points are not limited by the pixel size of the sensor plane. As they are off sensor they can be larger and more sensitive if required - probably partly why as pixel pitches increase on mirrorless we are likely to see larger and larger number of focus points on plane. It also makes for great marketing/selling brochure material "X camera are 500 focus points!". What I'm most interested in is the sensitivity, accuracy and the AF algorithms in place to make sensible/intelligent AF decisions. I feel that the AF algorithms is where Canon/Nikon have the advantage today in tracking over everybody.
Digress.... the K1 has more cross type than the D610 and the focus spread is wider. Focus speed for me is equivalent to the D810 / 5d mark iii in point to point (using SEL point center). It's faster with the 24-70 in good light. It's also quite a bit more sensitive/accurate in lower light than I have experienced with the D810 or A7rii.
The bad news on AF is that I have found in lower light and pushing the af system e.g. -1.5 -> -2EV and wide area focus, ISO3200-6400, the K1 with 24-70 2.8 the camera hesitates as if it is looking for something to lock on to. It actually hesitates for longer than my A7ii (not a7rii) using firmware 3.1 or the D810.
This 'lag' for a few moment is a little frustrating but does eventually lock focus very accurately. The k3ii did not exhibit this behavior and was actually much quicker in this scenario leading me to think it's a bug or firmware update. With center single point af it's much better but can still exhibit the same behaviour to a lesser extent.
Where this is weird for me is that swapping over to live view and the K1's CDAF I've actually gotten a faster result. If Pentax can remove the need to reset the mirror after each shot when in live view, then in theory this is not far off mirrorless speed! I would expect the PDAF and OVF to be faster here!
This is the only negative that I can speak to right now regarding the AF and I have not noticed this with the 77mm limited so it's likely only a firmware bug that Pentax will fix.
Other than that the camera is super responsive and in most lighting situations (to echo falcon eye's point) it is plenty accurate for 99% of working/shooting scenarios.
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
05-03-2016, 10:07 AM
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As far as I know NY state sales tax cannot be recouped when you go back through customs.
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
04-29-2016, 12:04 PM
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In general, there is an additional import duty to be paid, based on 'customs value' (incl. VAT equivalent tax). But it happens that for DSLRs the rate is currently 0%. It is 4.2% on analog cameras and 6.7% on camera lenses.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
03-25-2016, 12:55 PM
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Zooms are less expensive but not as sharp.
A 400f4 would be very interesting. 300 f2.8 on full frame is almost a portrait lens.
You know how to tell how many Pentax shooters there are in a crowd? Wait till it rains.
Long shooters are in my experience serious photographers that have multiple bodies and a collection of lenses. These are target consumers, you either have all their sales or none of them.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-18-2016, 11:45 AM
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I think the larger prime looks a bit small to be an 85mm F1.4 doesn't it - that lens was a monster wasn't it? I do hope it is though and it's interesting that it is pretty widely regarded as perhaps the best 85mm F1.4 ever built by anyone and even better than the FA 77mm F1.8 limited. In addition wasn't the FA*85mm F1.4 one of the first lenses they showed with the K1 on the teaser site. With that in mind I would have thought the old design is very much good enough even for a latest generation camera and would still be a world class lens even in its original configuration but with weathersealing and some new coatings. If I was Pentax I would certainly be putting that one back into production.
My only slight regret is that I just bought the 77mm F1.8 and after a lot of deliberation I decided to keep it. Given the choice I don't know which I would choose - the 85mm is the better portrait lens but it's also much heavier and bulkier and less suited to travel and the confines of my rather small portrait studio.
The 77mm is a formidable portrait lens though - shot this with it only last week. |
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-17-2016, 09:03 AM
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-12-2016, 09:18 AM
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A 135mm F2.0 would be welcome
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
11-09-2015, 03:08 PM
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I had the chance to borrow Kenspos lens this weekend for something totally different. Really nice lens at K-3, sharp, silent, fast focus and nice soft out of focus areas. Here´s one for the Bokeh people @ f/3.5:
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-18-2015, 01:47 AM
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In my company, when our new products have bugs, marketing call it unexpected new features :-)
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
08-26-2015, 07:45 AM
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It will be The Answer to the Ultimate Camera of Life, the Universe, and Everything the K-42 |
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
08-25-2015, 08:16 AM
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
08-20-2015, 07:41 AM
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Mostly all the doomsayers. There are more imagined reasons to predict doom than there are fixes for these reasons.Doomsayers are aligned with the mighty kingdom of doom. The sign over the door , reads "Put aside all optimism when you enter here, and put on your doom face, there is nothing a doomsayer hates more than a happy face." From what I understand you can't see the Kingdom of Happy Go Lucky Optimism from the kingdom of Doom, but they obviously have internet connections there in the depressing darkness.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
08-18-2015, 07:57 AM
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Well those who needs resolution in APS today (tele + crop or something like that) will pass on the FF if it has 24MP. That's it ans that's all.
More MP (36-42) or D810 range cams AND price. No reason to moan. At all. Really.
So I fully agree with Rawr.
For most people, 12MP in APS mode is more than enough.
Wants more? Pay more. Or use an FF body AND an APS body. That's not the end of the world.
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