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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
09-07-2016, 07:55 AM
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Hi:
Both my and my daughter's Pentax K-100d's now die after a few moments of use, and it has nothing to do with batteries. I've tried new batteries in each, but they seem to get massively drained after just a few moments, although if I let them rest for a while, they will still light a small penlight for a bit. Hers dies first, and mine began experiencing the same symptoms a few months later.
There are no longer any camera shops anywhere near here, and I'm not very confident in just sending them off for a look-see without getting some opinions from those who may have had experience with mail order Pentax repairs.
I've owned many Pentax cameras before, beginning with the Spotmatic in the late 1960s, but never had the need for any repairs; given the number of lenses and other accessories we've collected over the years, I'd sure like to bring these back to life.
Any recommendations ???
Frank
P.S. The new red K-50 would save some repair or replacement costs and insure a steady supply of photos of my grandsons, as I suspect that, if I did win it, my daughter would immediately "borrow" it!!
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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
12-14-2014, 08:26 AM
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My other lenses would love a new sibling - particularly one as cute as this!
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
12-10-2014, 12:39 PM
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Hi Rich:
I don't remember the *ist flash problem, but I was wondering how close you are going to be to the players on the court when you will be taking the pictures.
In most normal courts - certainly in high school courts - unless you can get awfully close, even a higher-power external flash really doesn't do much. In spite of all the flashes you see going off from the stands in such games (and even in full size stadiums) the laws of physics cause the light to drop off with the square of the distance - in other words, their effect is negligible at best.
I believe you would probably be better served by doing a few things:
* Try setting the ISO much higher - in manual, not automatic. Any grain this adds really doesn't affect sports shots unless you're shooting for Sports Illustrated.
* Use (or borrow) the "fastest" lens you can, even if it isn't telephoto. You will have an easier time cropping a good image later than trying to work with a poor or underexposed one.
* If you feel comfortable with getting good manual focus (and with fast motion like basketball, that's not easy), try opening up your aperture as far as you can. Autofocus, cool as it is, is still a bit dicey for fast-paced action. Read up on panning techniques; they'll serve you better.
* Tripods are awfully inconvenient (and possibly annoying to the other viewers/attendees), but monopods are pretty easy to conceal between your legs while you are seated. If you don't have a monopod, you can sometimes improvise one, particularly if you have a tripod with a removable head. Otherwise any other form of stabilization you can find will help (e.g. can you sit along a railing and brace the camera there?).
* Try to get in a few practice runs if you have the time; the lighting should be fairly consistent from court to court, and particularly so for games in the same court. If the coach doesn't get annoyed, even taking some shots during practice sessions can narrow down the best settings for you to use.
* Raw mode takes more memory in the camera, of course (and I can't remember whether the *ist even had that option), but if it's possible, that will give you a better image to work with in Gimp or Photoshop or whatever you might use for cropping and such things.
I hope this might give you some ideas, as I really don't think having the flash will really make a lot of (if any) difference. Besides which, if you are close enough for the flash to actually help the exposure, you will probably end up annoying some of the players!
Frank
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
08-25-2008, 12:41 PM
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Hi:
I have recently purchased my first digital SLR (the K100D) and got only the vaguest of answers when I asked the sales people if I could use TTL flashes that were intended for Pentax film SLRs - specifically the Quantaray QTB-9500A that I used with my ZX-5N with great results.
I hesitate to just attach it and try it (even though the contacts on the hot shoe look identical) without hearing comforting noises from people familiar with Pentax.
Any advice??
Frank
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