|
Paul MaudDib posted:I'm not sure how much you know, but until the K-mount lenses were released Takumar was Pentax's premium line of lenses (just as Nikkor was Nippon Kogaku's). The SMC are later lenses that have better coatings and sometimes feature newer designs. Sweet, according to this site I have the newer version- can't wait to try this sucker out!
|
| # ? Sep 30, 2010 23:45 |
|
|
|
| # ? May 24, 2013 06:23 |
|
|
So I got a Pentax ME-Super for free, on the condition that I fix it. It has a sticky shutter, apparently. Now, I'm a handy man, and I'm confident in my abilities to do this, given enough time, but holy crap, this is ridiculous. Just looking at instructions on how to disassemble, it's fairly intimidating. Anybody here try to do some minor repair on a similar camera? I've been researching the gently caress out of stuff just to figure out poo poo like "DON'T touch the mirror, use only the tiniest bit of the lightest lubricant you can find, and probably use less than you think is the tiniest bit, take pictures of every step of disassembly (that's for anything, though)" There's not a whole lot to lose here, since it was free, but I would like to do this, if not for a functioning camera, for my own pride. Any and all tips are appreciated.
|
| # ? Oct 10, 2010 20:20 |
|
|
Shutter repair is one of those things you are probably better off paying someone to do for you. Eric Hendrickson is the go-to guy for Pentax repairs. It'll be on the order of $60. He has one of my cameras right now. So far I'm not entirely thrilled with him. I'll reserve judgment until my camera is safely back in my hands. If you're really intent on doing this there's a service manual here
|
| # ? Oct 11, 2010 02:45 |
|
|
So, I've been looking into getting a new lens and I am undecided whether to get the DA* 16-50 and sell my WR 18-55 or keep the WR version and get the Tamron 17-50... does doing one of these makes more sense than the other?
|
| # ? Oct 14, 2010 17:55 |
|
|
betamax posted:So, I've been looking into getting a new lens and I am undecided whether to get the DA* 16-50 and sell my WR 18-55 or keep the WR version and get the Tamron 17-50... does doing one of these makes more sense than the other? As far as I know, the DA* series is weather resistant. I may be wrong, though.
|
| # ? Oct 16, 2010 01:09 |
|
|
Kazy posted:As far as I know, the DA* series is weather resistant. I may be wrong, though. No, pretty sure you're right.
|
| # ? Oct 16, 2010 15:51 |
|
|
Kazy posted:As far as I know, the DA* series is weather resistant. I may be wrong, though. Which is probably why he's thinking about selling the WR kit lens to buy the DA* zoom (to keep at least 1 WR lens in his kit). Beta, from what I've heard about the DA* there's a whole host of potential issues with the SDM which is a real bitch to repair. If I were in your shoes I'd be inclined to pick up the cheaper Tamron, then put the money saved towards a DA Limited Prime. He'll, why not forget about the normal zoom completely and pick up the DA15, 35 and 70 in one hit? Makes for a fantastic set of primes within the normal zoom range, and the lens are a real joy to use..
|
| # ? Oct 19, 2010 12:08 |
|
|
The DA series has both WR and non WR lenses. It will be on the face of the lens. The SMC PENTAX-DA 1:3.5-5.6 18-55mm AL WR was my kit lens with my K7 and I also picked up the SMC PENTAX-DA 1:4-5.6 50-200mm ED which is not a WR lens but was $100 or so less than the WR model at the time of purchase. (This has changed  ) The DA more or less means that they are not for a film body, which the FA models are for.
|
| # ? Oct 19, 2010 17:22 |
|
|
Hmm question - why does it take seconds for the image taken with a K-7 and the DA* 55/1.4 to pop up for review, but my Sigma 24-70/2.8 does it instantaneously? I can't figure out what it is, barring some kind of combo bug.
|
| # ? Oct 19, 2010 17:29 |
|
|
My mom just passed me down her old K-1000 and some lenses; I've only finished one roll of test shots, but I love it already. I am looking to get a tripod, though; should I just hunt around on craigslist?
|
| # ? Oct 20, 2010 13:19 |
|
|
Just ordered the Pentax M42->K adapter, now my box full of old beastly lenses can get some more use. Still don't have any AF lenses for my K10 though... I'm trying to decide between getting the cheap used kit lens as a cheap "whatev" stopgap or waiting a bit for a used Tamron 17-50 2.8 in P/K. I don't think I'll ever bother going for the more expensive Pentax-branded AF lenses though... ~$350 for an AF lens and ~$200 for a flash will probably be my last investments in this system.
|
| # ? Oct 20, 2010 22:55 |
|
is go
|
Dr. Cogwerks posted:Just ordered the Pentax M42->K adapter, now my box full of old beastly lenses can get some more use. Still don't have any AF lenses for my K10 though... I'm trying to decide between getting the cheap used kit lens as a cheap "whatev" stopgap or waiting a bit for a used Tamron 17-50 2.8 in P/K. I don't think I'll ever bother going for the more expensive Pentax-branded AF lenses though... ~$350 for an AF lens and ~$200 for a flash will probably be my last investments in this system. I've got a K10D and the SMC PENTAX-DA 1:3.5-5.6 18-55mm AL, which if I am not mistaken is the kit lens (I bought the body and lenses separately on ebay back in April). The lens is not great. It was dirt cheap, like $50 including shipping, and it's generally sharp enough, but the autofocus hates infinity. Manual focus can bring infinity in easily, but the autofocus won't let me actually take pictures at infinity focus, it flashes that annoying little hexagon and refuses to take the shot. I flip it to manual, and get decent shots. So I normally leave it in manual focus mode when that lens is attached. I love old lenses. I bought a manual-focus Vivitar Series 1 28-105mm F/2.8 about a month ago from another goon (props to Nannypea) and I love it. Sharp as hell, and the macro mode lets me get stupid close to ugly bugs. Love it love it love it. Take some pictures through your "beastly" lenses and throw them up here, I'm very curious about old M42 stuff. Old lenses are one of the big reasons I went with Pentax - I like knowing I can slap any old K-mount onto my camera and it will work. How much did your M42-to-K adaptor cost? Here's an example image from the kit lens, if you feel like pixel peeping you can see I missed the focus by a bit. 55mm, F/7.1, Exposure Bias -1.3EV.  Click here for the full 800x536 image.
|
| # ? Oct 21, 2010 01:15 |
|
|
ExecuDork posted:tl;dr - get the Tamron. I want one, tell me how much one costs in K-mount. Hrm, alright. Thanks for the tip, I think I'll just avoid the kit lens then and just wait til I can afford better. I've seen the Tamron going for about $360 used. The adapter I just ordered was the ~$35 one from Pentax's webstore. Here's what I'm using at the moment: P/K: K10D, K1000 Pentax M 50mm F/2 Vivitar 28mm F/2 (lovely on the K1000, needs modification for the K10) Auto Soligor 135mm F/2.8 (slow blades but pleasant images) Vivitar Series 1 70-210 Macro F/3.5 ($20 find and it rules pretty hard.) M42: Praktica Super TL, Zenit-B (and soon the other two) Auto Magnon 28mm F/3.5 Meyer Optik Gorlitz Oreston 50mm F/1.8 (love it) Mamiya Sekor 55mm F/1.4 (very, very sticky blades) Helios 44-2 58mm F/2 Magnon 135mm F/3.5 (big fuckoff spots on coating) Yashinon-DX 200mm F/4 (quite nice) I do really love my old lenses, but after trying to do some outdoor portraiture sessions with a subject who wouldn't stay still at all, I'm thinking that having one AF lens would be pretty useful. Also, a buddy is trying to get me to do paid second-shooter stuff when he's doing weddings and my all-manual kit probably wouldn't cut it. However, I don't want to commit myself too far into Pentax AF stuff - my next ideal big purchases would be lighting gear and eventually a used 5dMkII. Dr. Cogwerks fucked around with this message at Oct 22, 2010 around 06:50 |
| # ? Oct 21, 2010 01:56 |
|
|
ExecuDork posted:Here's an example image from the kit lens, if you feel like pixel peeping you can see I missed the focus by a bit. 55mm, F/7.1, Exposure Bias -1.3EV.
|
| # ? Oct 21, 2010 09:03 |
|
|
Well, I am basically an idiot.  I was trying to find a photo I knew I'd take with that lens that was actually (reasonably close to) in focus, for a fair comparison. Most of my in-focus shots with that lens are long exposures (like 13 seconds) on a tripod, which doesn't seem like a reasonable way to discuss the relative merits of a lens. Seems I need more practice.
|
| # ? Oct 23, 2010 00:10 |
|
|
Dr. Cogwerks posted:Hrm, alright. Thanks for the tip, I think I'll just avoid the kit lens then and just wait til I can afford better. I've seen the Tamron going for about $360 used. The adapter I just ordered was the ~$35 one from Pentax's webstore. I actually have the Tamron for sale over in the buy/sell thread, if you're interested.  I also have a FA 50mm f/1.4 (AF lens) as well if anyone is interested. I just decided to get out of Pentax. The K-5 looks good, just not $1600 good.
|
| # ? Nov 8, 2010 03:04 |
|
|
speaking of the K5, I was looking at this: http://dxomark.com/index.php/en/Cam...ompare-sensors/(appareil1)/176%7C0/(appareil2)/676%7C0/(onglet)/0/(brand)/Canon/(brand2)/Pentax And man that is an impressive sensor. Too bad my most used focal length is a 35mm 1.4 on a full frame, and there is nothing similar other than the sigma 24mm 1.8 which I can't find any reviews for.
|
| # ? Nov 8, 2010 13:44 |
|
|
http://www.pentaxforums.com/lensrev...mm-F2-Lens.html FA prime series is realllly good. but yeah, good luck finding it.
|
| # ? Nov 8, 2010 19:04 |
|
|
poopinmymouth posted:speaking of the K5, I was looking at this: When Pentax first announced the K5 I was one of many skeptics who thought it was overpriced and irrelevant. And then I saw this benchmark. Now I don't know what to think? I still think that the K5 just doesn't have the improvements or feature set to justify the upgrade from a K7. Would have loved to see an improved video mode or significantly smarter & faster AF. On the other hand, this new sensor seems to be an absolute ripper! So so confused... it's one of those "the head says no but the heart says yes" moments 
|
| # ? Nov 9, 2010 11:41 |
|
|
The greatest sensor in the world means nothing without the system around it. Not that the K-5 is bad, but I'd take a D7k over it any day of the week.
|
| # ? Nov 9, 2010 12:20 |
|
|
As an afficionado of fine used electronics, I welcome the introduction of the K-5 at this time. I'll probably be in a nice position to pick one up, second-hand, in about 4 or 5 years.
|
| # ? Nov 10, 2010 05:04 |
|
|
I 'needed' my K7 this year so I don't feel bad about buying it to upgrade from the K10D. But no way in hell I'm upgrading again...maybe the K3?
|
| # ? Nov 10, 2010 06:39 |
|
|
Is there a way to shoot tethered under Windows 7 with my K10D? Pentax doesn't provide a 64bytes version of their software as far as I can see.. I can't even update the k10d firmware.
|
| # ? Nov 26, 2010 18:25 |
|
|
I don't think Pentax supported tethered shooting but i never looked into it. I did update my K10's firmware last year with Vista?? Also http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...4.html/18-135mm Holy poo poo, I spent $350 on an FA-35 f/2.8 for nothing
|
| # ? Dec 3, 2010 03:13 |
|
|
guidoanselmi posted:I don't think Pentax supported tethered shooting but i never looked into it. I did update my K10's firmware last year with Vista?? It does support shooting tethered, but you need the Pentax Remote Assistant which installer doesn't want to even execute under Windows 7. The firmware also came in a package that I can't extract under 7, I used my vm XP box to extract it and that worked, oh well.
|
| # ? Dec 3, 2010 17:33 |
|
|
Quick question: are the FA 31/1.8, 43/1.9 and 77/1.8 limited primes as good as PentaxForums seems to think? They sound amazing and I really like the idea of owning such a distinctive set. But everyone over there seems to have drunk the Pentax Koolaid... I'm trying to decide on a platform and Pentax just has this irresistible draw. I realise foregoing Nikon and Canon has some serious downsides in terms of flexibility and convenience, and for the most part I'm ok with that. But it would be nice to know that, as a long term goal, having these (monstrously expensive) pieces of glass would mean actually being able to produce great results as well as just being quirky and different. After a wild moment where I considered the K-5 I'm thinking the K-r with the kit lens would make a fine first DSLR. NIGARS fucked around with this message at Dec 8, 2010 around 03:56 |
| # ? Dec 8, 2010 03:14 |
|
|
 
|
| # ? Dec 8, 2010 05:27 |
|
|
NIGARS posted:Quick question: are the FA 31/1.8, 43/1.9 and 77/1.8 limited primes as good as PentaxForums seems to think? They sound amazing and I really like the idea of owning such a distinctive set. But everyone over there seems to have drunk the Pentax Koolaid... I haven't touched them, but yeah they seem like what they're cracked up to be. otoh, they also have annoying screw-in covers. I'm pretty content with my normal FA primes (35 f/2, 50 f/1.4) which have a bit more glare succeptibility it seems and cheaper build. quote:After a wild moment where I considered the K-5 I'm thinking the K-r with the kit lens would make a fine first DSLR. I don't know what's on the K-r, but you can probably nab a used K7 - or K20 - for cheap and get a nice, useful prime. nasoren posted:lol wtf?
|
| # ? Dec 8, 2010 06:48 |
|
|
K-5 review at dpreview. They didn't have many negative things to say...
|
| # ? Dec 19, 2010 20:21 |
|
|
NIGARS posted:K-5 review at dpreview. They didn't have many negative things to say... Motion JPEG in the year of our lord 2010?? 
|
| # ? Dec 24, 2010 17:15 |
|
|
Mightaswell posted:Motion JPEG in the year of our lord 2010?? Pentax is sort of being brought kicking into the video realm. I'm curious to see what the video looks like shot through one of their camera filters - I don't see it ever being done seriously, but I'd be interesting in knowing how it affects framerate and such.
|
| # ? Dec 24, 2010 21:58 |
|
|
I've just bought a Pentax K-M (my first ever DSLR) and I'm trying to shoot a little with some old Pentax M lenses that I've had for a while, I found a walkthrough article about how to do it but I can't seem to get the camera to stay with shake reduction on when I put the manual lens on, does anyone have an idea of how I can do it?
|
| # ? Jan 5, 2011 17:53 |
|
|
Charlie Bubblegum posted:I've just bought a Pentax K-M (my first ever DSLR) and I'm trying to shoot a little with some old Pentax M lenses that I've had for a while, I found a walkthrough article about how to do it but I can't seem to get the camera to stay with shake reduction on when I put the manual lens on, does anyone have an idea of how I can do it? Make sure the camera's off when you change lenses, if it doesn't ask you for the focal length when you turn it back on select it on the menu screen (page 3 of the red menu on mine) then it should let you turn shake reduction on. Also check you're not in self timer or remote control mode since these automatically disable shake reduction.
|
| # ? Jan 5, 2011 19:58 |
|
|
Charlie Bubblegum posted:I've just bought a Pentax K-M (my first ever DSLR) and I'm trying to shoot a little with some old Pentax M lenses that I've had for a while, I found a walkthrough article about how to do it but I can't seem to get the camera to stay with shake reduction on when I put the manual lens on, does anyone have an idea of how I can do it? I do remember when I first got my k100d super I had to check something in the menus to let me use the stabilization with manual lenses. After that it would ask me what the focal length was every time I mounted a m-lens to do the stabilization correctly. Sorry for being so vague.
|
| # ? Jan 5, 2011 20:00 |
|
|
SheepOfDoom posted:Make sure the camera's off when you change lenses, if it doesn't ask you for the focal length when you turn it back on select it on the menu screen (page 3 of the red menu on mine) then it should let you turn shake reduction on. Yeah this is the part where I'm stuck, after changing the lens and turning back on, I get the usual F--- message but when going to input the focal length via the menu I'm unable to do it (even while in single shooting mode), and also unable to turn shake reduction on. It's probably something really small that I'm missing!
|
| # ? Jan 5, 2011 23:51 |
|
|
I've never looked at a K-M, but my K10d has a switch to turn shake reduction on and off. I've accidentally hit it before and turned SR off, and I don't think it can be turned back on through the software if that switch is sitting at "OFF".
|
| # ? Jan 6, 2011 00:10 |
|
|
Thanks but fixed it, I hadn't turned the Using Aperture Ring mode to Permitted 
|
| # ? Jan 6, 2011 00:34 |
|
|
Charlie Bubblegum posted:Thanks but fixed it, I hadn't turned the Using Aperture Ring mode to Permitted
|
| # ? Jan 6, 2011 07:38 |
|
|
so was really thinking about getting a k-x and now you can get the 17-50 and 55-200 package for £400 it seems like a great deal. I know they are lovely lenses but seems a good starting point for a first dslr
|
| # ? Jan 7, 2011 09:52 |
|
|
|
| # ? May 24, 2013 06:23 |
|
|
I've not heard bad things about those lenses. They're not top-of-the-line, sure, but I haven't seen any complaints. Browse the lens reviews on Pentaxforums. I think the 18-55 that comes with the K-X is the SMC Pentax-DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II. This comment from one review seems typical PentaxForums posted:This lens will make a very good walk around lens. And my guess for the 55-200 is the SMC Pentax-DA 50-200mm F4-5.6 ED Another comment that looks typical to me: PentaxForums posted:This lens is a great deal normally, an awesome deal if you can get the rebate! A perfect companion to the kit lens, but even better optically I believe. I have never seen a complaint about the 50-200's IQ. It's light enough to take everywhere and a very useful range. It extends quite a bit at the 200mm end, and the apertures are nothing to brag about - but this lens is a great value. Recommended for anyone looking for a little extra length from their kit lens. In other words, not lovely lenses, and that does seem like a pretty good deal. I've never used a K-X, but I know one person who has exactly that package, and is very happy with it.
|
| # ? Jan 8, 2011 01:15 |
|
