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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
05-25-2010, 05:26 AM
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that's how it started with my lens. from what you describe it didn't take long until it opened up in two pieces...
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
05-25-2010, 04:08 AM
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I am not very advanced in using flash. I use it simply because there is not enough light to shoot handheld indoors; I don't know yet about the things you mention. I am experimenting because there seems to be no other way to get a proper exposure, but I was expecting that the auto-exposure system will know how much power to use for the flash to get a proper exposure, especially with P-TTL. And I still don't know why that doesn't happen.
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
05-25-2010, 02:16 AM
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I tried the X mode and it does what I wanted - it allows me to shoot at the highest shutter speed available with flash and I can control ISO with one wheel and aperture with the other.
The problem now is that P-TTL doesn't seem to work at all in setting the flash power to produce a correct exposure; or I don't understand it. I would expect that P-TTL would not allow over-exposed shots, but it well does. When in X mode I have to adjust exposure by stopping down the lens (ISO is already at 100), or I get overexposed shots. I would expect the flash to output just the amount of light that is needed, but this doesn't happen. Is this how things are supposed to work, am I missing something here?
Thanks,
dan
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
05-20-2010, 06:36 AM
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I think X sounds like what I want: shutter speed at 1/180, manual aperture and ISO, is that correct? I don't have the camera with me...
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
05-20-2010, 03:17 AM
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this is revealing, thanks a lot. I had no idea about the connection between focal length and shutter speed in Av. Is this documented in the user manual, or is it general knowledge?
Indeed, if I use a 50mm lens, the speed is set at 1/90; it's 1/60 with a 35mm.
I will try to do what you suggested.
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
05-14-2010, 04:51 AM
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Hi. I tried to find an answer using the search but nothing came up.
I am using my K7 with a Metz 48 flash in Av, with the Metz installed on the camera.
My problem is that in this setup the K7 always sets the shutter speed at 1/60. I have no idea why that happens as maximum flash sync speed is faster than that.
Is there a way to have it set the shutter speed to the maximum 1/180 in this setup? I know I can get that using M but I would like to have it in Av.
Thanks,
Dan
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-14-2010, 05:52 AM
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I'll second that. The K7 autofocus motor is definitely more powerful than the K100D and it did slam the lens back and forth, so it's impossible not to link that with the lens falling apart; manufacturing problems? likely, but the japan/vietnam debate that ensued on that is really, really boring, people, and it's cluttering this useful thread, it should be moved somewhere else.
I never had any other Pentax bodies to compare with. But AF with the FA50 is a totally different story on K7 compared to K100D, K7 is really way faster to AF with this lens, something that I can't say I'm noticing with other lenses, like DA35 for example.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-13-2010, 05:55 AM
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it is extremely complicated, I was also considering doing it myself and I am very glad I didn't try. The repair guy showed me photos of the process and he had to disassemble it way more than what you did. The entire aperture mechanism was removed, I think. Of course, if you feel you are up to it by all means go ahead, but this is really a job for a professional. check my post (#31) for some details about how my lens was repaired and feel free to contact me if you need more details.
is the contact brush intact? if it's not broken you have a good chance to fix it or have it fixed, but if it is then you will need a replacement and that part is no longer supplied by pentax. It's not impossible to find though...
I agree with you that the K7 motor was slamming this lens and it is quite likely that it caused the lens to split, but this wouldn't have happened with a solid lens. So, manufacturing quality is to blame too in my opinion.
Good luck,
Dan
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-15-2010, 03:11 PM
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So how do you get the K7 to apply UniWB? did you go through all the pain of shooting charts, filters, etc? or is there a file available like there is for canon and nikon, that you just save as custom WB?
thanks
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
03-05-2010, 03:12 AM
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I was looking for the same thing; I wanted to be able to see in LR the exact version of a custom image (in my case I wanted a BW image) as created by the camera's processing engine. Short story is that you can't have that in LR, but you can in the Pentax software.
I even downloaded the DNG profile editor and messed around with it. I wasn't able to obtain a BW profile; the image just never looked like a normal BW. I admit I don't understand how the profile editor works, but I just wasn't able to obtain what I wanted and I'm pretty sure it is not really possible, for the reason below:
- the camera's processing engine uses different parameters than LR. Not only are they called differently, but some of them are simply not available; for example, the camera doesn't have a "clarity" parameter. And I am sure that there are parameters used by the camera that LR doesn't use. Finding equivalents is not impossible, I believe, but they will never render the exact same image. That's why there are differences between raw processors.
- even for the parameters that do the same thing in both camera and LR, you have no way of translating them. For example, brightness: how you translate +2 brightness in-camera into LR's brightness scale that runs from -100 to +100 or something like that? I suppose that's not impossible, but you have to be able to write LR plugins.
- then if you overcome the previous two problems, LR will still not match your photo with a profile automatically. You can create a "vivid" profile, let's say, that looks exactly like the in-camera "vivid". However, LR does not recognize that your file is tagged "vivid" and will not apply that profile automatically to your photo. You still have to go through all your photos and apply the profile manually. I suppose this can be solved with an import plugin; LR is able to read all metadata written in a raw file and actions like applying one profile when a certain tag is present should be programmable in a plugin; but I'm not a programmer, I wouldn't know how to do that.
On the other hand, Pentax's software that comes with the camera does exactly that: recognizes the custom image tag, understands all the settings and applies them automatically to any image.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-02-2010, 05:05 AM
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shit happens, I'm sorry to hear that; I'm glad though that nothing really serious happened to you. But, at least did you get some good pics before you fell? ;)
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-25-2010, 03:57 AM
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I carried my K100D for years in a normal backpack when skiing, without any protection (ziplock bags or whatever). I even took a few nasty falls and the camera came out of the bag into the snow and it was fine. I usually had the kit lens or the DA35 on. Camera and lenses never had any problems with condensation or anything; the K100D kept working at -15C, even -20C without any problems whatsoever. Sometimes if the weather was fair I would ski with the camera hanging on my neck and stop every now and then to take a pic. I think that if I had it in a ziplock bag which was then in another sealing pack and then everything in a backpack it would have been to much trouble to take it out. Just keep it simple, the cameras are more resilient than we think. Of course, that is if you don't do really stupid things with them.
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Forum: Sold Items
02-24-2010, 04:07 PM
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sounds great. you have a PM.
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Forum: Sold Items
02-24-2010, 03:49 PM
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I currently have an older M 135mm f/3.5 and I like it a lot, but sometimes MF becomes quite tiring after you shoot with it for a while. I may like this one even more as it's faster and AF. So what I'd like to know is how's the AF? is it fast to focus? and is the focus precise? have you ever tested it? is it noisy? on what camera are you using it? Thanks, Dan.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-22-2010, 05:05 AM
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aerodave, thanks, I had no clue as to how long was the wait supposed to be. I found my rebate on the tracking site, it says that it is in processing.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-19-2010, 03:05 AM
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I can't find any rebate tracking on the pentaximaging site, can anyone provide a link here? My rebate was submitted almost a month ago with no response whatsoever. thanks a lot.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
02-17-2010, 05:04 AM
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I'm not a pro, I never give files to anyone so my flow is really simple. I shoot raw (DNG since I have the K7), import in LR, edit/cull, process. Then mark and sort what I want to post in a webgallery for family and friends and export to web using a LR plugin; this sends the Jpeg files to the web (picasa in my case, but you could send to any image hosting site) without saving them locally. If I print, I print directly from LR which also doesn't save an extra JPG. I know, LR doesn't soft proof so color management is a bit of trial and error, but for the limited amount that I print it works fine for me.
So, if you don't give processed files to customers and you don't send files out for printing I don't really see what would be the benefit of saving a JPG for each RAW that you keep. You have a "latent" JPG anyway as RAW+LR settings (which by the way I save in the DNG file, so they are recognized by newer versions of LR) and you can render the JPG anytime you need it. The only reasons would be to save space, (but that would imply deleting the RAW which I don't want to do), or improve speed; viewing large RAW files that don't have the previews already built can be really slow on older computers. But you can have LR build the previews while you sleep and set LR to not discard them ever and you have them on hand for easy viewing. You can even keep a library catalog that is disconnected from the raw files and view just the previews and that is really fast (this is what I'm working on, but I have to work out some issues like how to arrange backup in this model, which involves two catalogs, one conected to the RAW files and one not. or maybe I can do that with just one catalog but that's a totally different discussion).
Of course, the RAW keepers are backed up on an external drive.
Am I missing something?
Thanks,
Dan
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-12-2010, 03:05 PM
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I don't think he would mind the free advertising; the only problem is that he's in Bucharest, Romania and I'm not sure how convenient shipping to Romania would be for most people on this forum; also I suppose that good repairmen are available anywhere, so probably shipping stuff to Romania for repairs would not be necessary in most cases. But if anyone wants to get in touch with him, just PM me and I'll be happy to help.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-12-2010, 06:15 AM
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I am very happy to let you guys know that the lens was fixed by an extremely capable repair guy I found here in Bucharest. Fortunately, the contact brush was not broken so he just took it apart and put it back together. This sounds simple, but it wasn't; he showed me the photos he took during the dissasembly and it is indeed a very complicated operation. I don't know what was I smoking when I thought I could try it myself, this is definitely something for a professional.
The reason for the lens coming apart is this: there are two metal rings that are supposed to stay screwed together; one is silver one is golden in colour; the golden one is glued on the plastic chassis of the lens by a glue, or by applying heat (??); in any case, there is nothing to fasten that golden ring to the chassis, like a screw, nothing; it seems to be glued or it just stays there because of friction. What happened is that this golden ring disengaged from the chassis, remaining stuck on the silver one. This probably happened because of a slight decentration, making the friction between the two rings in a certain position higher than the friction keeping the ring on the chassis. In time, this un-stuck the ring from the chassis...so the lens came apart. At least this is what I understood and seeing the pictures all this made sense.
Putting it back is a major pain, because the screw on the silver ring has multiple start points and you have to find the right one otherwise the lens won't focus properly; then they should be screwed together and a special vaseline needs to be applied so they don't actually come in contact; the vaseline keeps them apart a certain distance. This is what gives the lens the smooth focusing feel.
Then, the golden ring had to be attached back to the plastic chassis somehow, and this was done with a special glue. Then of course everything is put back together, the lens is calibrated; for that step a Pentax camera is needed of course.
Anyway, the lens is working again and I'm very pleased with this repair. It costed about 100USD and I think it was totally worth it.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-08-2010, 03:32 AM
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here's my two cents to help confuse you even more:) I came from a K100D and was oscillating between a K20D and K7. I got a K7 and I don't regret it at all. I choose it over K20 for several reasons:
-I wanted a new camera instead of used; new K20D run in the vicinity of 7-800USD, I got the K7 for 1000 including kit lens, not such a big difference. I plan to keep the K7 for at least 4-5 years, like I did with the K100D (unless something dramatically better appears in my price range, like something with live view AF and a tilt screen and some other features; no, FF is not on my wishlist).
- I wanted a smaller camera, the focus-assist light and AF speed improvement,
- I liked it that it has useable video (not a game-changer though, for me) and
- Most important, I could afford paying the difference from a new K20 to the new K7. If I wouldn't have afforded the difference I suppose I could happily accept the size difference and lack of some features and be very happy with the K20D too. Of course, the difference between a used K20D and a new K7 is even larger, so your mileage may vary.
And the comparison between K7 and K100D? Heaven and hell.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-04-2010, 07:57 AM
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I bought mine ONE DAY before it ended, but then they announced the rebate was extended for one more month; dunno, should I feel cheated ;)
anyway, what I wanted to ask - where is that site where you can track the rebate?
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-29-2010, 06:19 AM
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maybe the admin can merge this thread with this one
Page Not Found - PentaxForums.com[wtf]-my-fa-50mm-f-1-4-just-fell-apart-my-hands-2.html
it has more information on the subject
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-29-2010, 03:13 AM
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Here's a quote from the reply I got from the technician at the Pentax repair center in Germany (I sent the message last night and he replied this morning):
how to say ? Over the years I have seen diverent kind of lenses whitch are falling in parts but not in this way, its strange.
I am nearly sure that it is possible to repair and I think the costs will be aprox. 100-150,- Euro + tax and shipment.
Fortunately the wires on the contact brush are not broken, they are just bent.
Now, I paid for this lens 220USD+shipping from B&H, so the cost of this repair would get close to the cost of the new lens. Of course, B&H's price today is 369USD, but you can still find this new or slightly used at around 250 in other places, including this forum. Besides, I am not sure that I want to take the risk of something like that happening again, so I may consider buying another fast fifty, like the F1.7 which is even cheaper. I guess it's a no-brainer that I have to try something myself, even though I'm not really crazy about fumbling with small screws and springs.
About the Chinese site - are you guys sure that that's a successfull repair? There's no photo with the lens back together in one piece... and one of the last photos show the two parts packed, looking like he was sending them for repair.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-28-2010, 05:27 PM
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same thing happened to me yesterday. Is this depressing or what. I just got the K7 on Monday... for my birthday, only to have this happen with the lens a couple of days later.
I don't know if this makes sense but someone mentioned stresses on the lens; I did have the feeling that the K7 is being quite brutal with this lens. It did focus A LOT faster than on the K100D, but I had the feeling that the K7's motor is really pushing the lens. It was zipping back and forth really hard and you could feel the lens hitting the stops. Hard to say if this is what caused it, but it's a thought.
And when I say faster focus, I mean that with the K100D I was really not very keen to use it because of how bad it was at AF in low light, but with the K7..? I didn't want to take it off the camera. The difference was amazing, it was like a different lens. Only to die in a couple of days... The short happy life of the FA50.
Maybe we can open a club and post photos of our broken lenses, taken with other favourite lenses we have; then analyze for sharpness, bokeh, etc :mad:
@thirdofthree and all, thanks a lot for this thread; it's given me a good headstart and saving some time and frustration; this forum is just fantastic.
So, I gather that "Product # 41001, Part # E401" is the little metal bit with the thin wires that provides the contacts, right? You haven't inquired with Pentax Europe if they may have that part in stock, have you?
In any case, I have already sent an e-mail to Pentax Germany asking for help, I'll let you guys know what happens.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
01-28-2010, 04:43 PM
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saien, thanks a lot, I was just about to start searching myself when you posted the link! this is why it is worth to be a pentaxian!
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