Pentax Life

I know a lot of people who were waiting for this moment for more than the three long years (and I can remember there are some people who were holding their fingers crossed hoping for a digital 645 or 67 from the times when you could put a several dozens of digital photos on a 3,5″ floppy drive with your trustworthy Sony Mavica). I know that there were several gigabites of forum discussions posted on every single rumor emerged during these very long years. I know there thousands of 645D concept models were built in our dreams. And today Pentax put our waiting, our anticipation to an end. And I think I can name this day the first day of the new era:

The new era of not so cheap but much more affordable medium format than before. Meet the new 100% official Pentax 645D - a 40 Megapixels 44mm*33mm CCD medium format digital SLR.

If you haven’t read the full spec sheet already, do it now at the Pentax Japan website (and don’t forget about shiny new SDM lens). The specs are all awesome and the price tag starting from the $9400 is something revolutionary for such kind of cameras.

Of course, the official announcement wouldn’t stop the rumors. The first one, emerged on a day 1 of the new era says that Pentax 645D won’t be sold in the United States for some reason. Definitely, not the most solid one. Most likely the mix of envy and the poor joke.

Matthew Miller has collected every piece of information on Pentax, Metz, Sigma and other P-TTL compatible flashes on his easy to navigate and useful wiki-like website, which also includes the thorough flash related reference. Here is his own description of the project:

I’ve written a guide comparing in detail the current Pentax flash offerings and P-TTL-compatible third-party options. If you’re not sure what to buy, or even what’s available, this will answer all of your questions, including ones you might not have known you have.

I’ve gathered information from many diverse sources, collected it all together, and presented it in several different useful ways. Not only are there easy guides to the top-level features like flash power and tilt/swivel reflectors, there’s a lot of detail on less obvious (but important!) distinctions that most people don’t learn about until after they make a purchase.

I wanted to make sure everyone is able to get the most out of their equipment. Different photographers have different needs, so there’s no one answer to “what’s best for me?”. This guide makes sure you’ll know the answer to that question before you buy.

And, even if you already own a flash, you might learn something, either about features you have but didn’t realize were there, or about features you didn’t know you were missing.

Pentax P-TTL Flash Comparison: The definitive guide to Pentax hot shoe flashes and compatible 3rd-party options.

Pop Photo Editors have speculating about future pro-grade Pentax DSLR based on the full frame sensor that is probably in development by Samsung:

Pentax We have heard talk of a new pro level camera in the works. The next big offering from Pentax is likely to have improved noise levels and include a full-frame sensor from Samsung.

Samsung The company isn’t likely to make its own DSLR, as its consumer market is more in the big-box and electronics stores. The company probably will continue working closely with Pentax. A full-frame sensor for a Pentax DSLR is likely in the works.

Such rumors are floating around for more than a year, but the sources are becoming more and more credible.

Pentax K20D firmware update 1.01 is ready to download. It fixes the previously reported “hot pixel” bug when taking picture with 2 seconds self-timer mode. To download and install this update follow the instructions here.

Samsung Techwin didn’t posted any firmware updates for GX-20 DSLR (Samsung analogue for Pentax K20D) yet as well as didn’t confirmed the same bug.

According to Imaging Resource, Pentax has confirmed the “hot pixel” problem in Pentax K20D DSLR and assured that the firmware update to solve this issue is on the way:

Pentax USA has confirmed the issue, themselves noting that it only seems to occur when the 2-second self-timer is employed. They said that the engineering team was working on a firmware fix for the problem, and that a fix would be publicly available at some point in the future. No ETA was available for the fix yet, as the engineering team had apparently only just recently confirmed the problem and its cause.

DPReview forum user Pfan has contacted Pentax European Headquarter chief technician and reported that…

Since yesterday evening there is a firmware-fix ready and we implemented it on my K20D - IT WORKS !

This update will be implemented in the next firmware version - it will be available after quality testing phase in the near future.

So they worked fast and fixed it - it´s NOT a hardware question - and everybody can update the K20D´s via normal sd card update process.

The Brother Group signed the deal to acquire Pentax Mobile Solutions Division (Golden, Colorado) from Hoya Group. Two Pentax product lines affected: Pocket-Jet ultra-portable printers and Pentax DSmobile 600 scanner. In the last fiscal year both product lines have generated $14 million.

DPReview forums user rArWebWorks has quoted the words of unnamed service manager at the Golden, Colorado service center, who said that there won’t be any further firmware upgrades for Pentax K10D DSLR.

Earlier, Pentax Europe product manager Wolfgang Baus has confirmed ‘no more firmware updates for K10D’ policy to the popular German Pentax community DigitalFotoNetz.

More in the news: OK1000 has reported Apple adds Pentax K200D and K20D RAW support to Aperture 2.0 and iPhoto ‘08.

Pentax has launched new rebate program. You can save up to $375 on the set of Pentax latest DSLR gear:

• $100 on Pentax K200D and K20D bodies
• $100 on PENTAX DA 16-45mm F4.0 ED/AL lens
• $100 on PENTAX DA*50-135mm F2.8 ED (IF) SDM lens
• $100 smc PENTAX DA*16-50mm F2.8 ED AL(IF) SDM lens
• $50 on AF-360FGZ flash
• $50 on AF-540FGZ flash
• $25 on D-BG2 battery grip
• $25 on D-BG3 battery grip

As usual, only US customers can apply.

Pentax Imaging has announced a major update to its popular waterproof digicam series - Pentax Optio W60. The most noticeable improvements in comparison with the previous models are:

• 5x zoom lens with the real 28mm wide angle (28-140mm). A Digital Wide function merges two shots into one image for ultra-wide-angle image capture (equivalent to a focal length of 21mm in 35mm format).
• New 10 Megapixel 1/2.3″ sensor. Sensitivity could be set up to ISO1600 in full resolution and up to ISO6400 in 5 Megapixel mode.

W60 allows to take pictures 30% deeper than the previous model - 4 meters. In addition to the JIS Class 8 waterproofing standard, the camera is JIS Class 5 dustproof against dirt, sand and dust and operates in extreme temperatures as cold as 14 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 10 degrees Celsius). Furthermore, you can make 720p HDTV (1280 x 720 pixels) movies in such harsh conditions.

According to DPReview, Sigma has announced the availability date for K-mount versions of its new lenses. 70-200mm f/2.8 APO EX DG and 50-150mm f/2.8 APO EX DG will hit the shelves at the beginning of August, 2008.

Both lenses have constant F/2.8 aperture, 100cm closest focusing distance and nine diaphragm blades. Nothing new here but what makes these lenses unique is HSM motor which is compatible with the newest Pentax DSLRs. Unfortunately, AF will not work at all on the Pentax K100D and older Pentax cameras like *ist series.