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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
06-07-2016, 03:19 PM
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Having just received and tried my Metz 44 AF-1 (£99 on ebay) I can confirm that:
a) it doesn't work on the Cactus and I have a funny feeling that one of the Cactus units has died. It just turn on no matter what
b) I think it was a really bad idea to buy the Cactus V Duo in the first place for £82 (compare this with the above £99)
The Metz works beautifully with my K3, both in slave mode and P-TTL mounted on the camera. Worth every penny of the £99.
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
06-05-2016, 02:38 PM
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There is definitely a problem with the flash and Cactus V as as soon as you switch on the flash (while mounted on the cactus) you don't hear it loading (its dead!). You take it off, and you hear the flash charging until the red light come on for "Ready".
The other thing is that when pressing the button on the transmitter, you get the green light on the receiver only if the Vivitar is NOT mounted on the receiving unit. If you take the Vivitar off the receiving unit, and press the button on the transmitter, it flashes green on the receiver too. It's as if the Vivitar was short circuiting the Cactus or something.
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
06-04-2016, 03:42 PM
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Hi,
I purchased a Cactus V Duo as I wanted to revive my VIvitar 2600 with my K3 but unfortunately the Vivitar doesn't not want to work with the Cactus. The flash definately works as it goes off on my SLR. As soon as you switch it on while on the Cactus, it stops charging. So do not buy a Cactus V if you want to use it with a Vivitar 2600.
In the end I purchased a Metz 44 AF-1 on ebay to keep budget low. After all, I will only occasionally use the flash. Is it worth keeping the Cactus V Duo now that I have a proper flash? I seems to understand that the flash is wireless so I install the flash offline on a tripod (so that it acts as a slave ...?) and fire it with the K3's onboard flash thanks to the P-TTL. Is my understanding correct? Me reading of this is that I don't need the Cactus V Duo anymore. Correct?
Cheers
Antonio
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
01-18-2016, 04:05 PM
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Hi,
I sometimes I wonder what it is that makes the proud owners of a Pentax tick. I suppose, apart from the K-mount, which is certainly one of the biggest reason to be a Pentax fan, the fact that its not Canon or Nikon means that you are not following the masses and you feel unique?
I've owned Pentax family cameras (starting with a Chinon) since I was a little boy and never moved away but I suspect that many of you own/have owned Canon/Nikon, etc. So why do you think Pentax makes the difference? I find it difficult to compare with friends that have the Canons/Nikons and that most of the time think they are a step ahead ...
Clearly, if I were on a Nikon forum I would have to weight comments accordingly so I will do the same here given this is a heavily biased forum ;-)
Regards
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
12-07-2015, 04:44 PM
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You are correct. That is exactly what happens.
Right, this is what I have tried on my K3:
a) When on M mode, have aperture ring set and lense on "A" mode, then I can use the back wheel to set the f value.
b) When on M mode, have aperture ring set and lense on any value except "A", I get F-- on the screen but when I press the green button, the finder goes black a tiny bit and the shutter speed gets set to a specfic value (but the screen still shows F--). If i change the f value on the lense by turning the ring and press the green button again, the shutter speed changes. I assume that this means that there is metering going on. I assume this means that the mirror is raise so that the light corresponding to the aperture can hit the sensor to obtain metering (this is what is meant by "stops down the lens temporarily"?)?
c) The behaviour I describe in b above does not occur on any other camera setting other than "M" mode, even when I put the lense on "A". THe green button seems to have no effect at all unless the camera setting is on "M".
Now this is what I don't understand from your post. What I have asked myself is what difference is there with having camera on "M", lense on "A" and then using the wheel to select aperture and leaving camera on "M", selecting a setting for apearture on the lense ring and then pressing the green button. From what I see, the only difference is that you do not need to set the shutter speed with the front wheel when not using the "A" on the lense. Anything else I'm missing?
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
12-03-2015, 03:17 PM
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Ok, I now think I understand what the "A" lense means. Correct me if I'm wrong. Basically, the lense has an (A)P on the diaphrame ring.
When the following conditions are true:
a) the setting on the DSRL is set to "Using Aperture Ring" setting;
b) the programme of the camera is set to "M" (Manual setting);
c) the diaphrame ring is set to (A)P,
then the following happens:
1) I can set the f setting via the back wheel on the camera body of my K3 (it shows F-- if the lense is NOT set to (A)P) and the f setting actually shows on the camera screen,
2) I can set shutter speed via the front wheel.
I can actually see the effects of changing only the f setting via the back wheel (so NOT by turning the diaphrame ring), in terms of exposure. Does this mean that the camera is actually able to adjust the diaphrame automatically, as I'm not even touching the ring? Is this what "stop down" means?
geotux
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
12-02-2015, 05:43 PM
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Well,
maybe I called victory too early. It is shooting photos but I can't get it to read the aperture and it's just showing two dashes -- no matter what mode i set on the camera. Any clues?
Cheers
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
12-02-2015, 04:33 PM
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Hi All,
so I did some research and although i don't think I got very far i have understood the following:
a) the CPC lense is a pure "K" mount lense, to be precise it appears to be exactly this lense CPC 28mm, f/2.8 macro MC AUTO CCT Lens Reviews - Miscellaneous Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database which is a PKA/KR mount;
b) the body of the Pentax K3 has a KAF2 mount;
c) I attached the two and found i was about to get a heart attack because the lense would not unscrew. NOw I have found that it appears to be due to the fact that the lense has a Ricoh pin (theatre of noise: Ricoh Lenses On Pentax Cameras -- The Ricoh Pin Fix) which i believe i need to remove.
d) i'm still not clear as two whether the two piece are compatible as the PKA/KR mount does not appear in this list The Pentax Camera Lens Compatibility Chart so surely this PKA/KR mount is not a PENTAX mount?
I think i'm going to have a go at taking out that pin and hopefully the two will work together.
Do you think I am risking breaking my camera?
CHeers
---------- Post added 12-02-15 at 05:20 PM ----------
Hi,
tried removing the Ricoh pin (it's the one at 6:35 on the right image) and now the lense locks nicely in place on the camera body. Tried taking some photos and it all works fine. I now have a macro lense ... urah!
Antonio
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
11-27-2015, 06:14 PM
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Ok People, thanks for your help so far. I think I may go for the Cactus which will yes cost me same as a new cheap flash but at least I have remote control when I do decide to buy a better flash.
Regarding the lens, the front says:CPC Auto 28mm Macro CCT 1:2.8 52mm No. 930752
Difficult to understand how many contacts. There seem to be at least 4: 2 look brass contacts, two look whitish which suggests plastic. THe camera body has a huge amount of contacts. Won't they short circuit if I sling the lens on the body?
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
11-27-2015, 05:07 PM
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Hi,
the proud owner of a K-3 for a few months, I now want to start thinking of using some old equipement that I posses from my SLR days. I have a Vivitar 2600 flash. I've searched the web and have learnt that the trigger voltage could fry my camera. Even worse if the flash has reverse polarity.
I searched for the flash manual online and found that it actually doesnąt help as neither these details are listed. I've also figured out that I don't need to connect it physically but that I could use a Wein sensor to trigger the flash remotely. Any advice on what you think the best approach is? I also seem to understand that you can use these Wein Safe sync hot shoe adapters but I've read that many people have trouble with using them (the flash doesn't trigger).
I also have a couple of CPC lenses that I was using on my Chinon. A 280mm and a 28mm. It would be good if I could use these on my K3 but I'm concerned again about contacts. The camera body has loads of contacts on its mount while the lenses barely have a couple. Is there some sort of intermediate ring to be used?
Thanks for your help in advance.
Regards
---------- Post added 11-27-15 at 05:19 PM ----------
Mmm, for the flash bit of my post, it seems like i need something like this "Cactus Cactus V5 Duo". Correct?
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