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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
11-19-2023, 08:45 AM
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Putting this as a second reply to keep it out of the basic camera gear and focus more on technique:
These are beautiful portraits that appear to be shot using available light with maybe a small fill flash. I think you should invest more effort on your lighting setup to control the exposure on the environment relative to your model. Why? So you can stop leaning on wide open apertures to diffuse the background.
I am by no means a flash or portrait expert and haven't shot flash in about 15 years ... but if you had a nice softbox overhead and soft fill from the side, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to get aperture up to f4 ~ f8 and use flash to darken down the backdrop. This will reduce small errors with focus-recompose, and maybe add a bit more drama to the images. In the shots above you have quality light (from some bay windows I'm guessing) but the model is disappearing into the scene a bit too much for me.
The other thing that will make even your K5 look like an upgrade is to invest in a camera stand and get away from tripods or strictly hand-held shooting. Once you try one of these you don't want to go back. It's so easy to figure out where critical focus is and just mark the floor with a small piece of tape to move the rig in and out of the way. Add an external 4k monitor plugged into the video output and you don't even need to bother with tethered shooting.
Also, consider that the Hasselblads and PhaseOne's MF rigs have a single center focus point and you'll understand why the cadre of youtube sony crybabies aren't taken very seriously.
my .03
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
11-07-2017, 04:21 PM
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On a recent trip to Lofoten, I used the following on a K-1:
1. Samyang 12mm f/2.8 fish-eye - the lens I bought before this trip. This gives you enough angle for shots covering a large portion of the sky, without the extreme size compression of a classic fish-eye like the Zenitar mentioned above. By now prices have come down a bit since introduction. A very sharp lens with very little coma even wide open. I like fish-eyes also during the day, with its flare resistence I'am very happy with this lens. Absolutely recommended for your trip. An example:
And another: No way to capture those structures with anything less than 180 diagonal coverage:
Much less moonlight here, so I'm struggling with orange Sodium streetlights in the foreground.
2. Voigtländer 20mm f/3.5: Definitely not corner-sharp wide open (just center), nor very fast, but my widest rectangular choice. Some nice shots with ~10s @ f/3.5. So do give your 25mm, stepped down a bit, a try at home in the night sky and see how it behaves! Btw., no A-setting needed. Expose in M, ISO set to 800 and do the rest in post-processing. Check moon phases and look for similar light before your trip to try!
2. F28/2.8. Not ideal wide open because of clearly visible coma in the corners. Not so bad as to become distracting for aurora shots, but not great for "starscapes". The angle of view is useful for shots of landscape features "under aurora lights", i.e. when focusing on certain patterns in the sky with landscape context.
3. F50/1.7 @2.0. Sharp and fast, narrowing down even further. Was useful e.g. to photograph lights over the somewhat solitary mountain on the right in the fish-eye picture, again in full moon:
I'll add more samples once I get around to scale/upload them - likely for posting in other threads.
How fast of a lens do you need? In general it is of course the usual trade-off between shutter speed, noise and depth-of-field. I found 4s to 8s at f/2.8 to give very satisfactory results for medium-strong lights (I think we had a max. Kp of ~5, often not more than 3) noise-wise. You can see that the above 4s exposure still retains a good structure at the far right, where the movement happened. Occasionally, I wished I could have gone faster when lights moved quickly, a (badly composed) shot with the F50/1.7 at 2s turned out a little crisper. On the other hand, under almost full moonlight, you get a nice landscape balance with the 12mm@2.8 without having to combine exposures in post-processing, i.e. the above was a single exposure. So if you find a 24mm/1.4, it will be excellent in giving you options. But you may wish for a wider view occasionally as you'll be similarly far under the lights oval.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-18-2023, 03:23 AM
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I have discussed lenses for the K-1 for northern lights a while back and gave exposure times. For the *istDL you will likely need at least three, maybe even four stops more light for noise-wise similar images, translating to 8x to 16x longer exposures compared to the numbers given there, at the same aperture. A solid tripod or other base is essential and your images will have less pronounced structures in the moving lights - use the fastest lens(es) that you have available. While the very wide shots are great, the one I shared that was taken with the F50/1.7 is among my favorites.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III Monochrome
06-29-2023, 02:20 AM
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A wedding photographer explains his choice to switch from Leica M10 to monochrome pentax k3III.
A choice to appreciate at least the courage.
You Tube
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src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1K_l3qWUHRY?controls=1" allowfullscreen>
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
01-14-2022, 04:27 PM
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Parallax errors scale with D*2*sin(Theta/2) where D is the distance from the sensor to the lens' nodal point and Theta is the swing angle.
You are right that taking fewer shots with a larger-format, higher-resolution camera will risk worse parallax errors than taking more shots with a smaller-format, higher-resolution camera. In fact the larger camera is doubly-bad both due to the larger swing angle and due to the larger nodal distance typically found with a larger camera with its larger lens.
However....
1. Nothing stops the pano shooter from taking lots of small steps with a larger-format camera -- digital images are almost free.
2. Nothing stops the pano shooter from mounting their larger-format camera such that the pivot point is quite close to the nodal point.
3. Smaller-format, lower resolution cameras suffer from requiring multiple rows of shots (a 100 MPix medium format camera in the recommended portrait orientation collects a row 11500 pixels tall while a 20 MPix M4/3 camera collects a row only 5100 pixels tall so it requires 3 overlapping rows to get as much resolution). Collecting multiple rows increases the risks of subject motion or changes in lighting during the collection process.
All that said, your analysis does show the merits of narrow-angle stepping rather than trying to get away with fewer shots and bigger angle steps. And it shows that getting good results with image stitching requires some thought.
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Forum: Pentax K-S1 & K-S2
12-09-2019, 07:49 AM
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Solenoid-Replacement Pentax K-S2
(Pentax K-70 is almost identical except screw of solenoid situated on left instead of right side!)
Tools required:
- Soldering iron with pencil-tip: Ersa Multi-Pro 20W or soldering needle/USB soldering iron.
>>> Butan-gas soldering-iron = A absolute No-Go! Too hot, it will do damage! <<<
- Solder: Good quality thin resin flux solder (I use thin leaded solder, for such a small work it is not really dangerous due to its lead-content)
- Screwdrivers JIS000 or PH00 + PH000 (JIS size works for all screws, PH000 a must for the solenoid screw. JIS is preferable!)
- Tweezers or precision pliers
- Headlamp is very useful, makes things easier
- photos of the K-S2 with location of screws.
Preparation:
- Print out all those photos, glue them on some cardboard, drill 2mm holes where the screws are located so you can later on stick all those screws into those holes. Makes it easier and safe due to different length of the screws.
- Make sure you took the battery out 24 hours prior undertaking the repair. This is for discharging the flash-condenser, which is well protected within the K-S2, nevertheless you don't want to risk getting a nasty shock! This condenser charges as soon as you open the pop-up-flash with battery inside the switched-on camera! So don't open the flash prior removal of the battery! You need to open it for access of 3 screws!
- For a better option how to discharge the flash-condenser read HERE
Sequence of opening the body (Body-cap is mounted on the K-mount for protection of sensor etc.)
1. Remove all screws from the bottom part:
- 11 x screws direct access (green arrows)
- 3 x behind the battery-door (blue arrows)
- Like with other Pentax DSLR, there is one screw deep within battery-case left side: DON'T take this one out!
2. Remove all 3 x screws from the left side (2 of them hidden behind the rubber grip):
3. Remove all 3 x screws from the right side (all 3 hidden behind the rubber grip):
4. Open the flash (battery is out!):
Remove the 2 x screws there underneath the pop-up-flash and the 2 x screws where next to where you fix the strap/belt:
5. Remove the 2 x screws behind the rubber-eye-cup:
6. Now you lift the TOP-PART 1 cm (with the open flash). This is very important because otherwise the front-part is more difficult to remove!
7. Set the AF-MF switch on MF (see photo #2 where it is yet on AF)! Check position again when you assemble it back!
Make sure you understand its position: When on AF, the screwdrive is out, when on MF, it is retreated inside this small hole of the stainless-steel bayonet!
Take the FRONT-PART OFF: It is a bit tight, you might have to lever a bit to release it but don't worry, this is normal!
8. Now you have access to the green solenoid:
9. Unsolder both leads and unscrew the screw on the right side (K-70 left side, only difference). Take the solenoid out.
10. Install the white-Japan-made Solenoid (the only correct solution, avoid filing/grinding/sanding!):
11. Make sure you tighten the screw, you might want to fix it with threat-locking-laquer or nail-varnish, but I never needed to do it!
12.Solder the two wires back to the pins (left=pink//right=lilac). Crucial to do a good job, hold the wires with tweezers and pull to make sure they really are well soldered!
13. Now bring the top-part (with flash) back into position for being able to test the solenoid.
You might want to fix it with 2 screws (right to the viewfinder and the on the right strapholder, so the buttons have a good contact!
CLOSE THE POP-UP-FLASH!
Insert the battery and plug on a lens.
Switch the camera ON, in Av-Mode wide open take a photo.
You can see if the solenoid actuates and the photo should be alright.
If all is alright, take the lens, battery and the 2 screws off again.
14. Lift the Top part again slightly
15. AF-MF-Switch alignement: The is crucial now:
- Outer part of AF-MF-switch on the front-housing on MF:
the same switch from the inner side of the housing, you can see the rod which needs to be aligned:
- The internal part (black plastic, white arrow left) has to be upwards...
.... so the screwdrive mechanism "retreats" into this tiny hole (white arrow right). This mentioned rod of the AF-MF switch connects with the internal part!
(you have checked this before and understood the principle well, remember!)
16. Assemble to front-part back on and then the top-part (w. flash)
17: Test AF-MF-Switch! If it doesn't work correctly, take the front-part off again and realign!
18. There is this small plastic ring on the microphone-socket, don't lose it:
When you come to the bottom-plate, make sure you haven't missed this small part, which sometimes comes off:
It slides just on and off easely and is there to protect the cables from the display:
On its place it looks like this:
and with the bottomplate back on place it looks like this:
19. Very early K-S2's had a copper-washer glued with the same red thread-locking-laquer as the solenoidscrew onto the bottom part. You can see it very clearly here on this white K-S2:
This washer was used to even out a tiny hight-difference which was solved more elegant in later versions of the K-S2 and the K-70 (same body):
20. The rest is clear now, all screws in the same order as you got them out.
21. Test the K-S2 again: All should be fine
I have not written here about the differences of the solenoids, you can read more about this important issue HERE
Good luck!
If you are interested in this very interesting history of the development of the solenoid in Pentax SLR and DSLR bodies, then read this post:
A little history about the development of solenoids in Pentax cameras |
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
11-29-2021, 11:15 AM
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Hey guys, I'm Leo, from Augsburg, Germany.
I have been a mostly enthusiastic Pentax User since my K5 purchase in 2011.
Currently, I'm using a K1ii.
I love doing landscape photography, especially on a tripod.
Here to increase my horizon :)
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Forum: Pentax Q
06-01-2021, 05:27 AM
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Nice lens!
The lens probably includes a relay lens inside it.
Normally a UWA requires lens elements that are extremely close to the sensor. For a lens that goes to a focal length of 1.8mm, the rear element would be significantly less than 1.8mm from the sensor. But that's not possible for C-mount/CS-mount due to the flange focal distance of 17.526 mm and 12.526 mm respectively.
Some UWAs use a retrofocus design to stretch the focusing point of the image further back. But retrofocus has it's limits. A 4X retrofocus (e.g., used to put a 12mm UWA on a 46 mm mount like Pentax K) wouldn't be enough for the Theia. The Theia lens needs something more like a 9 or 10X stretch to be compatible with C-mount.
For a really long stretch, lens designers use a relay lens. In a relay lens, the image from the main lens comes to a focus inside the lens barrel and then the relay lens captures the focused image rays and sends them further on. In doing so, the relay lens inverts the image relative to what the main lens created. For extremely long stretched lenses such as endoscopes and borescopes, the long pipe of the lens has a series of relay lenses.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
02-20-2021, 02:11 AM
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The March issues of a number of Japanese camera magazines were published this Saturday, and they all have reviews of the Pentax K-3 Mark III. The one I bought was Capa. It has the K-3 III on the cover and a four-page review of the camera inside. Here it is a link to the cover. Please control your frustration that that young lady has got her hands on it before you.
??????????????????CAPA?3????????????CaPa+2021??? | CAPA CAMERA WEB
It’s worth mentioning up front that the style of reviews in the Japanese press is quite different from some reviews and discussion you find in English online. They are more interested in what you can do with the camera, rather than pitting one camera against the others or debunking manufacturer claims. Also, the magazines focus more on the JPEG performance. Photos are provided, but often too small to really say that much. Video is not covered at all.
Body and viewfinder
There is not much new to say about this because Pentax has covered this quite thoroughly in their own communications. The body is small and feels very high quality. The viewfinder is the top class in APS-C. Not only is it bigger, but it is also 10% brighter.
AF and continuous shooting
41 of the 101 points are selectable using the 8-way joystick on the back of the camera. AF points go right up close to the sides of the frame allowing focusing more like a mirrorless camera. The real-world speed is 11 fps in AF.C mode and 12 fps in AF.S. They showed a sequence of shots of an approaching train using AF.C taken with the DA* 50-135 at 11 fps. I don’t know how difficult it was for them to get a whole sequence in focus, but it was a clear, in-focus series. It’s interesting that they used the 50-135 because it’s not known as a speedy AF lens. It seems that the advantages of the AF system will be felt whatever lens you are using. The text also mentions that the system is good at keeping eyes in focus for portraits and good at birds in flight.
Image quality
The new sensor is BSI and with PRIME V and the Accelerator II it produces better image quality over the whole range of ISO values.The “fine sharpness” mode is also much improved to improve edge sharpness in in a natural way without emphasizing noise. There is a shot of a cat at ISO 1,600,000, presumably in near complete darkness. While it looks noisy as you would expect, it does not look worse than to top ISO of Pentax cameras in the past. Both. varieties of noise are everywhere, but there is at least some detail in there. It's no worse than my K-5 IIs at 51,200. A shot of bottles at ISO 12,800 looked very clean and with vivid colors. In a different magazine, an enlarged ISO 3,200 shot looked completely noise free to my eyes. The Capa review also mentioned the improved colors and IQ at lower ISOs. Overall, they describe the image quality as highly advanced, with high-sensitivity performance you would normally expect of full frame cameras.
Image stabilization and other features
The 5-axis 5.5-stop image stabilization is very effective. They were able to take 1/4 of a second exposures of a waterfall and commented it was the kind of image you would expect to have been taken with a tripod. Another magazine had a steady, handheld 1 second exposure of car light trails at night. Back to Capa, in this section they also mentioned real resolution and the low-pass simulator, but it seems to be more or less the same as previous models. They talk about the convenience of the new advanced hyper program mode. They said they had found it especially helpful for sports shooting. Finally they talked about using old lenses with the camera. The new function to record aperture in exif is useful, and the viewfinder makes it a lot easier to focus the lenses.
The final comments on the camera are that although Pentax decided to call it “K-3 Mark III”, this is a camera one rank up from what has come before.
So what I took away from this is that the camera is ready and just held up in production. The “character” of the camera is going to be very similar to the K-7/K-5/K-3 cameras, just better in every way. And the happiest thing is that it seems even existing lenses (vintage and current) will benefit from all the improvements. The photos were taken with the DA*50-135, the DA*55, the DA 18-135 and the DA 20-40, current but not even the latest ones.
---------- Post added 02-20-21 at 06:27 PM ----------
Oh. And I forgot to mention that the magazines once again mentioned that the price would be "around 200,000 yen". That is below what the K-1 II sells for, even three years after release.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
01-11-2021, 02:40 AM
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Forum: Pentax KP
12-22-2020, 01:39 PM
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Last week I got my new KP as a replacement of my good old K-01 that passed away with a shutter stuck...
This Saturday I went out with it early in the morning on a dull winter day . I took some old light weight M lenses with me and took some shots with them most of the time two stops down. I shot RAW and developed those to JPG's trying to recover as much as possible that was caught in the dynamic range. So where the out of camera JPG's showed bright skies I stretched the capture range to get some texture in the bright clouds and dark fields. That results in paint-style pictures that I really like.
I was surprised that even at a 24 MP cropped sensor these old cheap lenses deliver enough sharpness stopped two clicks down. Even my M28 delivers very crispy and contrasty pictures at the 5.6 - 8 range.
I think my KP and I will become good friends when I want to travel light. Manual focusing feels even more spot on than on my K1ii.
Some shots I took can be found here: Henrico's Album: New KP with M-lenses - PentaxForums.com
Enjoy!
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
05-14-2020, 01:46 PM
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Keukenhof Gardens, Lisse, The Netherlands. From original Kodachrome transparency taken with Asahi Spotmatic; image digitized with Pentax 10D.
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
05-18-2020, 08:41 AM
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Hello Pentax Forums member,
I started writing on the second edition of my book.
It has been more than twenty years ago that the first edition appeared.
The new edition will be aimed more towards collecting and using old Asahi Pentax cameras and Takumar lenses.
Don't expect the book to come out soon.
It took me 7 years to write the first edition, but it won't take that long for the second.
To be on the safe side financially, the first print order will not exceed a few hundred copies.
If this is successful, a reprint will be done easily.
I hope you will be interested.
I will post a picture of the provisional cover.
Regards,
Gerjan van Oosten
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
03-29-2020, 05:05 AM
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Greetings, Pentaxians
My good friend Nandakumar has made a couple of trips to the Indian Himalayas to document the people and landscape on film.
His most recent post has just been published on Kosmo Foto.
The Indian Himalayas on medium format (Part Two)
He took both a Pentax 67II and the 645N. I think it's a testament to both cameras that they managed to soldier on in temperatures as low as 030C.
Hope everyone is coping with the various lockdowns OK.
Best
Stephen
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Forum: Pentax Mirrorless Cameras
02-13-2020, 04:01 AM
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I don't see Pentax coming out with an MILC unless it would have a K mount -- basically a K-01 with better style and ergonomics and an EVF. That could work if the specs were there. True, it wouldn't be as thin as some of the other MILCs on the market, but there are plenty of chunky MILCs out there these days. The inability to buy lenses from shorter mounts and stick them on using an adapter is probably the biggest negative, but it would be negated (for Pentaxians) by being able to mount their lenses without an adapter and have them work out of the box.
I don't see Pentax coming out with a new mount, mainly for logistics reasons. Unless the camera market shifts dramatically, there just isn't money for them to create a new lens line up in any sort of decent time line. I know how people are complaining about the lack of full frame lenses and can't imagine if there was a new mount with one to two new lenses coming out per year. Technically they could join the L mount alliance, but it feels like the benefit to them would be minimal.
I will just add that there is a group of people who enjoy using optical viewfinders and find EVFs give them eye strain and headaches. I understand that those who don't have trouble with them don't understand this, but I am guessing that it is a sizable chunk of the market. If even 20 percent of photographers don't want to use EVFs for whatever reason, that is a nice segment of the market for Pentax to pursue and cater to, even as the other brands leave them behind.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-26-2018, 04:40 AM
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Was the 560 to big for the booth?
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-30-2018, 11:41 AM
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Be happy with the equipment you have, and use it to* the best of your abilities.
Camera envy is for others.
Cut down your visit to the forums as unfortunately there is too much negativity there, use the forum for what you registered for; for advice , exchange of ideas, and inspiration.
The "mirrorless revolution" will continue without you , it is ok to dislike evf.
Therefore, bless Ricoh for their commitment to explore and better DSLR.
When YouTube bloggers going crazy about a feature on a new camera, it might be very different,* when experiencing it first hand.
Photography is very diverse, hope is will stay that way.
A camera is a tool, develop your abilities.
Go to see as many exhbitions of photography as you can.
Gr III is tiny 😉
I love my kp even more then before, and thats a good thing. 😊
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
08-14-2018, 10:10 AM
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Indeed. Just like every single other technology company in the world. Buying an iPhone...the next one is soon. So is the next Playstation. So is the next Alfa Romeo. So is the next LG TV. So is the next Yamaha bike. So is the next Xiaomi smartwatch. So on and so on.
If you need a body now, buy whatever you want now. If not, see what is available when you do need it. Simple.
I for one am glad they don't splurge out new models in some upgrade diarrhea like Apple. I'd rather they released models with some longevity...my K-3II may be a relatively old design, but it still holds its own even in today's marketplace, and still takes great images. I'll replace it when it breaks, with whatever is best at the time...if that's tomorrow, it'll be a K-3II.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
07-26-2018, 10:22 AM
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So then it is only really usefull on a tripod. It picked up the movement of the monopod in 1/13th of a second quite well. I hadn't noticed it very much before but a wider FOV's the effect will be less apparent.
This shot of the same bottle was shot hand held and also show the effect. Not a wavy distortion but the dimensions of the bottle are off in two of them, then it is wider, then it is narrower:
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
07-26-2018, 09:27 AM
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Your subject doesn't have to be moving. Camera movement will do it 200mm 1/500th shot on a monopod. The relatively high shutter speed doesn't prevent it.
The same shot same shutter speed with mechanical shutter:
After this I turned of electronic shutter mode in live view.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
11-02-2017, 11:34 AM
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No, that is wrong.
The first problem is that a most important part is missing from your statement: equivalent to what?0
The second problem, obvious once we answer the first: there's no point for an APS-C user to relate to a system he's not using (FF). Conversion factors are an unnecessary complication.
The third problem is the temptation to apply those unnecessary conversion factors to FF lenses only (instead of all the lenses). Which I get the feeling it's happening here.
The proper answer is: the focal length is independent of the sensor size, period. It's also independent of the lettering on the barrel (e.g. those DA, D FA etc.markings)
So you can directly compare the 70-200mm with the 55-300, and at every common focal length the angle of view will be the same (camera being the same format, of course).
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Forum: Lens Clubs
10-15-2017, 06:20 PM
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Inspired by the great results shown in this thread, I "upgraded" my crop-only not-really-usable-at-3.5 Roknon to it's fullframe sibling, the Samyang 12mm f/2.8. In addition to the moderate, immensely useful projection, I just love that I can use it without any doubt at f/2.8:
Taken on a recent trip to Lofoten (Norway, in the polar circle). F/2.8 allows to keep exposure short at 2s in order to retain the structure of the lights. A single exposure - the full moon helped with lanscpace and clouds.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
06-19-2017, 10:06 AM
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I think that is number 11, Super Takumar 55mm F2 model 1 early [345-1 or 345-3].
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
04-06-2017, 01:44 PM
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You have to get the other one to rewind the film.
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