A guy from Poland nicknamed desperadodrugi has made his own vertical grip at home. It looks a little creepy, weights around 400 grams and can’t handle batteries but it has a second shutter release button. This handmade grip was sold for 12.50 Polish zloty or around US$4.5.
According to Impress Watch, Kenko to launch its first angle finder KF-001 in August 2007. It will be fully compatible with all Pentax digital SLRs including K10D and K100D.
Kenko KF-001 equipped with diopter adjustment lever, magnification ratio switch (you can choose between 1x and 2.5x magnification) and could be rotated 360 degrees which is useful when you hold your camera with battery grip in a portrait orientation.
The price to be announced.
According to Korean forum SSdslr.com, battery grip for Samsung GX-10 digital SLR is ready and should be available by the end of April. Good news for GX-10 owners, present or future, since the Pentax D-BG2 battery grip for K10D doesn’t fit Samsung GX-10 due to slight dimensional differences.
Pentax Japan has listed all available accessories for K10D camera (auto translated). There are D-BG2 battery grip, AF540FGZ and AF360FGZ flashguns (the only two models that could work in P-TTL mode), Remote control F, O-ME53 eye cup magnifier, cable release switch CS-205, D-LI50 battery and dedicated charger (the same as Minolta NP-400 or compatible), three focusing screens: standard one (LF-80), LL-80 - similar to the LF-80 focusing screen but also features division lines that correspond to the rule of thirds and marks to center your subject, and cross hair LI-80.
All accessories except for flashes, remote and cable release switches will be available November 30th. Also Stereo Adapter D Set with 3D image viewer scheduled. This interesting accessory dedicated to produce 3D images with one shot. You can mount it on any lens covering 50mm field of view in 35mm terms (49mm to 52mm step up ring required to mount it on the 49mm filter diameter lens).
Impress Watch have reviewed new Pentax digital SLR sensor cleaning kit (auto translated). To get rid of the dust particles, oil and any other rubbish you should press the cleaning steak with its orange lollipop-like head (shown on the image above (image copyright (c) 2006 Impress Watch Corporation and an Impress Group company)) to the low-pass filter covering the sensor and then clean the head from the dirt with the special paper supplied with the kit. It will work with any Pentax digital SLR cameras from *istD to K10D as well as other manufacturer’s DSLRs. Recommended price in Japan is 4,200 Yen which is about $35.
According to Richard Day, K10D shares the same focusing screens as *ist D and *ist DS camera models. So the widely available Pentax LI-60 and LL-60 as well as third-party (like Katz Eye) focusing screens will fit. Richard, who had a chance to test K10D for a weekend, said that viewfinder is “the same size as the D/DS but whiter and brighter, more like the K100D“. He also confirmed “that the battery is identical to the Minolta NP-400, so anyone who had a Minolta 5D or 7D (plus some others) can use their old batteries and chargers“.
Impact branded battery for upcoming Pentax K10D DSLR camera is now available at B&H for $19.95 (thanks to DPreview user manual_focus for information). This battery looks exactly like Minolta NP-400 clones. So the rumor is confirmed.
The same form factor, the same contacts configuration, the same voltage. You can find this kind of batteries almost everywhere for around US$20 and they should work with K10D. Note the common mistypo on the Impact’s battery - “Replaces PENTAX D-L150” - though the Pentax’s proprietary battery is marked D-LI50 (”i” not “1″) in the specifications from the Pentax Japan and Pentax Imaging (US) as well as many others.
Review of German underwater housing for Pentax *istDS was posted at Wetpixel.com. Mark Stiebel (the author) have evaluated it in the water down to 40 meters depth and found it pretty good. “All the external controls, and the way they transfer operation to inside the housing is all well thought out…“
This housing is suitable for *istDS with DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6. Also available extensions to fit more bulky lenses. UK-Germany (the manufacturer) claims the maximum diving depth 80 meters. The body made of aluminum and weigh less than 2 kilos (slightly more than 4 lbs.)
