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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-26-2024, 04:07 PM
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My memories of the istD* was that for its time it was quite good but the shoot 5 raw files and wait 45 seconds to take another picture was not what I wanted, after being used to shooting film with multiple bodies. For portraits this was torture. The other thing I remember about this camera was how easy it was to unintentionally open the door where the CF card went in. If you did this the camera locked up and wouldn't shoot until you closed it. So it was an impressive first effort, but I was grateful when I got a K 10 and many of these issues were resolved by a much more functional camera.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
09-30-2022, 10:59 AM
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Thanks for the suggestions--I have an ACCMAX on order from Amazon.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
09-29-2022, 01:58 PM
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I recently bought a K1 Mark 1 and would like to get a screen protector for it. I bought something from B&H that doesn't really stay attached to the screen (getting the camera out of by camera bag and putting it back in starts to remove it). I tried to reach some of the earlier suggestions in this thread and they either don't ship to the US or aren't available any more. Any suggestions would be welcome.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
06-16-2022, 01:44 PM
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I just bought a K 1 and find that Pentax Image Transmitter is no longer available at B&H or Adorama. Any ideas about a work around?
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Forum: General Photography
07-12-2021, 01:53 PM
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With the popularity of zoom lenses, especially the f/2.8 lenses, I think that there would be few buyers for prime lenses in that range. Since I have shot lots of paintings and other artwork for years I own 35, 50, 70 and 100 mm macro lenses. The 70 is a Sigma; all the rest are Pentax. All of them give excellent results with consistent sharpness and very low to non-existent distortion. It is interesting to watch what happens in Photoshop Camera Raw when you apply the lens correction filter--with these lenses virtually nothing happens. With my zooms, it is very different.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
03-15-2018, 01:25 PM
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I've used 3 Vivitar 285 HV flashes powered by either NiCad or NiMh batteries with a variety of Pentax film and digital SLRs with no issues at all--your problem with the KM may simply be a coincidence. The electronics in a KM would only relate to the meter since it has a mechanical shutter. If there is a voltage issue, either the hot shoe or PC terminal connections would still be a problem. A radio transmitter/receiver or a Wein Safe Sync hot shoe adapter should guarantee no future problems.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
12-01-2017, 11:20 AM
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Another excellent choice is the Sigma 70 mm f/2.8 macro. I have one along with Pentax 35, 50 and 100 mm macros and the Sigma is comparable in performance to the the excellent Pentax choices. As noted above--AF is of little use for macro work and your focal length choice is best determined by the subjects you will be photographing. I have a full set of macros because I shoot a lot of artwork from very small to very large and prefer the sharpness and lack of distortion that the macro lenses offer over even very good zoom lenses.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
09-15-2017, 02:07 PM
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I own both the Sigma 17-50/2.8 and the Pentax 50-135/2.8 . Both have worked well for me for professional photography, and my only hesitation with the 50-135 is the AF problem with the SDM motor. I bought my copy used and it worked well for about a year, then the SDM died. I sent it off to Uncle Vanya (on this site, I am only a satisfied customer) to be converted to screw drive. It has worked perfectly since then, but with more AF noise. One other suggestion: the Pentax 50-200 kit lens. If you have studio flash equipment, the slow lens speed isn't an issue, and the sharpness is quite adequate for most portrait work. It is inexpensive and light in weight, and my copy has held up well with regular use.
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
06-05-2017, 02:07 PM
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Thanks for the flash guide--I've been a working pro for the last 30 years, but have mostly worked with studio flash units and a flash meter. I haven't really taken the time to get totally familiar with the 540's, but was surprised by the difficulty of getting a decent consistent exposure after having a lot of experience with primitive Vivitar 285's and having good results with just setting the shutter speed and f/stop indicated by the calculator dial on the flash. I would have thought that TTL metering would easily do a good job on exposure since the non TTL of the Vivitar usually did. I will spend some time with your guide, a K3 and a 540 flash in the next couple of weeks and see if I can get this figured out. Thanks again.
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
06-02-2017, 01:14 PM
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I've tried setting exposure compensation when in manual, but the exposure still varies from shot to shot. I'm hoping that the AV setting will be more consistent. I am quite aware that the flash duration is effectively the shutter speed when working in low light levels, that's why I find it annoying that the automation is trying to drag in some ambient light at the expense of selecting a slow shutter speed on the camera that might result in ghosting or blur.
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
06-01-2017, 11:54 AM
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I've done a little more testing in my studio and I'm finding that AV mode seems to be working a lot better, although the camera is frequently picking a shutter speed of 1/45 or 1/60 at f/8 with the ISO set to 400, which isn't my first choice of shutter speed for what I use these for--event coverage. That is also why I don't want to go completely manual for settings--I do that all the time in my studio with monolights, but don't have time to constantly adjust when shooting spontaneously. My previous method had been to set the f/stop and shutter speed manually and use the flash automation to determine exposure, which always worked well with my ancient Vivitar 285s. In other respects, the Pentax 540 II is a great flash--a bit more powerful than the Vivitars, more compact and with faster recycling. My tests were with the Sigma 17-50 f/2.8 and a Pentax 18-55 kit lens. Both seemed to be variable in exposure when set manually to shutter speed and f/stop, but seemed to be a lot more consistent in AV mode.
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
05-31-2017, 12:01 PM
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I have 2 Pentax K 3 bodies and 2 Pentax 540 FGZ II flash units and a variety of lenses (some Pentax, some Sigma, Tokina, Tamron). No matter how I use them (on camera, with a bracket and TTL connecting cord to the hot shoe, or bounced) exposure is inconsistent, mostly tending to over exposure. Has anybody come up with a work around? I usually wind up dialing in a 1 stop underexposure on the flash, which seems to work reasonably well, but it is annoying that my low tech Vivitar 285's from the early 1990's are more consistent than the $$$$ new Pentax flashes. Any thoughts?
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-15-2017, 12:05 PM
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I've owned both, and both are good performers. When I sold a lot of redundant lenses I kept the 85 f/1.8 K as I think it is slightly sharper wide open, which is where I use it a lot for theater photography. Balanced against that is the smaller size and weight of the M series. Both the K and M series have the same issue with metering on digital bodies--if you don't mind that, I would say go with the 85 M. I haven't used the 77, which has a great reputation. But since you seem to like the look of older lenses, you might like the 85 M well enough.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
03-13-2017, 01:27 PM
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Thanks, I just stumbled upon this a couple of minutes before you answered my question. I wish some of these buttons didn't have to do so many different things...
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
03-13-2017, 01:05 PM
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I just went to set one of my K3 bodies to a different custom WB setting and the screen won't turn on for that or for motor drive, flash or other settings. It does work for preview, live view and info. I have tried removing and replacing the battery and putting in another fully charged different battery, but no luck. Any ideas?
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
02-17-2017, 01:39 PM
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I have yet to have a Pentax battery die on me, but I did have a house brand replacement for my K-20 suffer sudden death after a year or so, so I have stuck with the originals since. I have batteries dating back to my K-7 from 2010 that still hold a decent charge and work well. I'm not familiar with the Wasabi batteries or chargers.
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Forum: Product Suggestions and Feedback
01-15-2017, 07:47 PM
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I also don't care that much about video but I think the OP is right that Pentax can and should do better if Canon/Nikon can. I've been a mostly happy Pentax user for many years, with no complaints about AF speed or framing rates , but I do wish that warrantee service was faster.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-13-2017, 12:40 PM
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I just received my 50-135 back from "Uncle Vanya" and it works perfectly on my K3 bodies. If you don't have the older Pentax body needed to turn off the motor or don't want to get involved with tinkering with your lens, I highly recommend his services. And no, he didn't ask me or pay me to write this.
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Forum: General Photography
01-09-2017, 02:06 PM
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Congratulations--you're lucky you got one with a working meter. I too have been impressed by the small size and great finder. Enjoy!
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
11-26-2016, 02:39 PM
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Thanks for the suggestions--I just finished successfully updating my second K3. For some reason, the file was getting renamed upon being loaded onto my computer. After a bit of a search, I discovered that I had another update file with the same name in my downloads folder from last April. When I got rid of that and downloaded again, the name was correct and the installation went perfectly. Thanks again for all of the help.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
11-25-2016, 03:24 PM
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I have downloaded firmware Version 1.30 for my K3 bodies to a good SD card and cannot get it to show up when I turn on the camera while holding down the Menu button. I formatted the card in the camera before downloading the update. Any ideas?
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
10-26-2016, 12:47 PM
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Does anyone have any further information on the K1 and tethering? Is that Lightroom plug in still in beta, or has it been made available? Thanks.
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Forum: Repairs and Warranty Service
10-07-2016, 08:08 AM
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I had a non functioning diaphragm on a 100 mm DFA macro, still under warranty. It took about two months to come back, which Precision blamed on needing parts to come in from Japan. The lens has worked fine since July when it returned to me, but communications were minimal at best and I think that Pentax needs to do a better job on this if they expect to keep customers happy. It doesn't seem too much to ask that their authorized repair service keep replacement parts in stock, and that they actually bother to send e-mails when they know that things will be delayed. When it became apparent that they weren't returning this lens very quickly, I bought a used Pentax FA replacement since I use this lens a lot for art repro work so at least now I have back up.
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
07-08-2014, 12:10 PM
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I will be teaching a class this fall and would like to be able to connect my K5 to a MacBook Air w/ USB2 and Thunderbolt connections. My goal is to be able to show lighting and to show completed images (small JPEGs) to a class of 10 or so students. Has anyone done this, and if so, what cable(s) did you need to make it work? Also, did you need any particular software on the computer or firmware update on the camera? Thanks in advance.
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