PentaxLife Forum: Digital SLR cameras

nonfan on "Pentax Dishonours Warranty"

nonfan — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:11:09 +0000

I've had Pentax SLRs since 1967 when I bought a Spotmatic. Since then I have had K1000, ME, ME Super, K10D and now K20D. For all I have a range of lenses, and still use them all. In all these years no warranty claims were necessary, until the seal strip came out of the 16-50 2.8 zoom, and the autofocus failed. I was shocked when Pentax refused the warranty on the lens, claiming it had been dropped. When I asked for proof they sent a photo of the inside at the back, which clearly showed the problem: One mounting screw had been over-torqued, probably in manufacture, because the mount must be removed to see it. The screw fractured its mount, and slightly warped the lens case, causing the failure of both the seal and the autofocus. With the photo came a new claim, that the lens had been on the camera when it was dropped. Donkey-dust.
Neither the lens nor camera has suffered any trauma, and there are no marks on either that would indicate abuse. There is only a severely overtightened screw inside the seven-month-old lens. I guess its time to move on to Nikon, with a much better engine, far less image noise and a warranty that can be trusted.
PS I was also responsible for the purchase of more than 800 k1000s, MEs and ME Supers during the '70s and '80s while teaching a course in composition.

benjikan on "My first ever Benjamin Kanarek Blog..."

benjikan — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:14:28 +0000

Hello All;

I have just posted my first blog ever. It is very recent, i.e. today and yesterday. It will be a general, photography, advertising, marketing and creative blog, that will NOT be brand related.

Please feel free to contribute comments etc.

Thanks
Ben

http://benjaminkanarekblog.com

mattdm on "K-7"

mattdm — Wed, 20 May 2009 23:47:59 +0000

So, unless this is the only Pentax site you ever visit, you know that the K-7 is out and it looks awesome.

This place just seemed so dead I figured someone had to say *something*!

MJBDIGITAL on "645D releasing in japan"

MJBDIGITAL — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 05:03:08 +0000

It's been a long time since I've posted here (just like everyone), I actually had to sign up again.

...but I thought, if you havent seen this, you might like to...

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/news/PMA_Pentax_revives_medium_format_digital_camera_plan_news_278069.html

enjoy

camel58 on "autofocus trouble w/k10d"

camel58 — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 11:28:56 +0000

hi everyone i'm needing help.AF on my k10d does not work i've tried with 3 lenses so i know it's the body i have cleaned all contacts,reset to default settings taken battery out and put back in i don't know what else to do someone please help.my camera has become my life...thanx

Vortex on "Advice on buying a DSRL"

Vortex — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 07:23:18 +0000

25 years ago, I was into phtography. It died after about a yesr. Recently, I see mysef fascinated by some of digital photos I see & the amzing detail of nature-related subjects.

So, I am building my small set of camera for general use & macro/tele shooting. This is what I am thinking:

>> I get a small P/S for general use and landscape photography. I get a DSRL with a single lense (somthing like 70 - 200 or 300) for tele shooting. I already got Canon SD990 for my general use. I like its IQ & am happy. I am very badly torn between Pentax K20D & Canon xsi or 40D.

I used Canon xsi for a short time and very much liked the zoom capability of the liveview, i.e. 10x, for macro focusing. I read that Pentax liveview really sucks & the 8x zoom cannot be used.

My questions are:

Does k20D liveview zoom responds to manual focus, i.e. if I use manual focus do I see a focused 8x window or it is blurred.

Second question: What do you think of my setting plan and am I better of with K20D or Canon, considering that I have Canon SD990.

Third question: Which lense is more appropriate for general/flower/bird photogrphy: Pentax 55 - 300 or Sigma 70 - 200 f/2.8 and 2x teleconverter.

Thanks

shoottothrill on "Speculation about K300D and K30D"

shoottothrill — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 02:21:13 +0000

I can't see anything that says the images are 17mp.

Simen1 on "Speculation about K300D and K30D"

Simen1 — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:41:06 +0000

Here are a 17 megapixel Pentax Photo:
http://www.pentaxslr.com/lenses/lens_35

Does this mean that there will be a K20D sucsessor soon? I really hope it features HD video capability like Nikon D90 and Canon 5Dmk2. I altso hope the megapixelmania doesent hurt the dynamic range and ISO properties to much.

Simen1 on "Mirrorless "DLSR" from Pentax/Samsung too?"

Simen1 — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:31:31 +0000

Recently Panasonic and Olympus announced the new mirrorless micro Four Thirds (mFT) system. I want to start speculating if Pentax/Samsung is planning something similar. Hopefully with 1,5 crop sensor size. If not, maby with a smaller sensor then the mFT system.

The mFT may switch me over to Olympus/Panasonic, but i hesitate a bit bacause of the smaller sensor size and would prefer a Pentax sticker on the camera.

Canon, Nikon and Sony is not very interessting to me of various reasons.

Vitali on "Plans for new 28-105mm or 28-80?"

Vitali — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:17:22 +0000

28-105mm will be 42-152mm on a APS-C cameras like K20D. I doubt Pentax will rool out something like this until there will be at least a couple of more or less affordable K-mount full-frames.

Ojay on "how to switch off OPS in SAMSUNG GX-10?"

Ojay — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:00:42 +0000

Switch at the lower right-hand corner of the screen (with the hand icon on it)

signamax on "how to switch off OPS in SAMSUNG GX-10?"

signamax — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:03:42 +0000

subj is the question.
I attached manual lens to the body, and manual call for OPS being switched off.
In the menue the OPS option is AUTO and not highlighted so cannot be switched to MANUAL. cursor skips it.
folks, please, adivise.

Max

chewbacca on "Plans for new 28-105mm or 28-80?"

chewbacca — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:30:55 +0000

Will either of these two be produced? Hopefully the 28-105mm, since now the 17-70mm is at the door, hopefully with a Star attached or atleast SDM. If it was upp to me i would like to se it with weatherseal instead of SDM but both would be best :)

Any one who knows anything about this?

silas on "K10D lcd preview"

silas — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 23:39:46 +0000

This might be a dumb question... Just recently bought a Metz 48 flashgun. Used it as bounce flash off ceilings etc.. The previews I was getting on the K10D lcd screen looked a little darker than final result viewed on a laptop. Overall the pics came out great. Although some shots were overexposed. Is there a way of getting more accurate previews while shooting?

Vitali on "That full frame camera on the new/cover of this site."

Vitali — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:53:57 +0000

This was photoshopped image of the MZ-S based MZ-D a.k.a. K1D prototype. Chinese took this image to illustrate the news bit about upcoming Chinese Patrion-Aigo branded DSLR. It is, actually, seven - eight years old for now.

Mitchel109 on "That full frame camera on the new/cover of this site."

Mitchel109 — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:24:04 +0000

Isnt that a really really old picture of that camera? I saw it over a year ago, although it didnt have that patriot logo on it, and it said pentax on the popup flash....

Vitali on "Hi"

Vitali — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 02:35:28 +0000

Try to find Lenspen lens cleaning kit.

Also, Marumi, Hoya or Kenko circular polarizer would be nice addition to your 17-70mm Sigma.

>> If I could get some help with a way to keep my kit dry as my lenses are not weather proof.

Just avoid shooting in too dusty conditions and under the rain (use umbrella in that case).

europanorama on "Zenit N1 manual focus DSLR from Russia"

europanorama — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 19:08:50 +0000

this could be highly interesting if the mount can be exchanged. 2nd
i have signals fromk kmz-zenit that there will be a digital horizon(rotating pancam). we will see if its a 360 or a swinglens((short rotation). with changing lens and 360-wow. i would only miss a 24mm shiftlens(135)if its 4/3 we would need a 12,13 or 14mm shiftlens( fx2) 24, 26(roundshot 65/70/220-rsp 65el) equivalent) or 28mm.
but stitching noshift and shiftshotshould be no problem i was told. i will try it out with my roundshot. rectiliniar superwideangle-shots-up to appr. 160 degr can easily be created. using panoramafactory or altostorm rectiliniar and other software.
michael przewrocki
www.europanorama.ch.vu
3dstereo-aeropanoramas
marspanoramas like never before

EvilRobotSanta on "Hi"

EvilRobotSanta — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 18:33:51 +0000

I am new to photography in a way as I have only just purchased a new DSRL camera (PENTAX K200D).I have some equipment ,but am looking to make the most out of my upcoming holiday to Las Vages and Canada. Can I get some ideas as to what I should get in the way of lens filters and cleaning equipment.

Body : Pentax K200D
1st lens : Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC Macro
2nd lens : Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO DG Macro
2 x 4GB SD cards
Tamrac 3340 carry bag

If I could get some help with a way to keep my kit dry as my lenses are not weather proof.

Ojay on "Samsung GX10 support & overall longevity"

Ojay — Thu, 29 May 2008 03:31:55 +0000

Apple update 10.5.3 with camera raw update (includes Pentax K20D) and still no support for the GX10!

I've been getting ready to buy a GX20 but I think I might make it a K20D for convenience sake.

Pity...I much prefer the grip on the Samsungs.

Aspex on "Samsung GX10 support & overall longevity"

Aspex — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:20:51 +0000

Hey all, can anyone lend a hand as to how i properly update to version 1.3..being new to the digital cameras all i keep reading is to load it to root directory?????? but i must not be doing it properly because everytime i hold the menu button while switching on it just say ver 1.00 then turns on???? if anyone can help it'd be awesome..Cheers

Vitali on "Leaning Pic's"

Vitali — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:06:06 +0000

It's a rare issue. Contact your local Pentax dealer. He would help.

Vitali on "K10d manual mode issues"

Vitali — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:03:37 +0000

Nope Never seen it.

jbl on "K10d manual mode issues"

jbl — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:46:35 +0000

Hi, has anyone had this issue with their camera....with a battery only in the grip, not the camera body, the f stop dial does not function. Its frozen at f8. I have tried various lenses. Even with camera menu selected to use battery from grip first, it does not function in manual or arp/priority mode. Functions fine when battery is in camera body. Also, does anyone have a heads up on where to buy a grip for the samsung?

ratcatcher on "Leaning Pic's"

ratcatcher — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:54:38 +0000

Hi All

I have noticed on other Pantax forums that some people with the K10D (myself included) have experienced some of there photo's leaning to one side and i was wandering if anyone on this forum had experienced the same. If so what has been done to fix the issue.

Richard

steveh0607 on "Rechargeable AA Battery Life"

steveh0607 — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:00:30 +0000

Thanks Vitali. Looks like I'll be coming home to Pentax (I have a SuperProgram from the early 1980's - that still works!).

Vitali on "Rechargeable AA Battery Life"

Vitali — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:37:25 +0000

You could expect from 700 to 800 shots on four 2500 mAh AAs and more than 1000 shots on a set of 2850 mAh AAs. This is for K100D or K100D Super.

K200D is reported to have a little better battery life.

steveh0607 on "Rechargeable AA Battery Life"

steveh0607 — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 01:58:23 +0000

I'm thinking of switching from the Nikon D70 to the K200, but need some feedback on the battery life of the rechargeable AA's.

Thanks, Steve

DSLRS on "PART 2...Dedicated to all Pentax DSLR "Newbies" . Join the fun."

DSLRS — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:40:29 +0000

3/9/08

This is Part 2 of the post about Aperture, Shutter Speed and Sensitivity posted on 3/7/08. I am writing these posts especially for all the entry-level photographers. I know that it is over-simplified at times, but as photography skills develop, the techniques will come easy. Too much information at the beginning tends to confuse too much.

Combining all three elements described in my post of March 7th, 2008.

You can understand that to take a properly exposed photograph, one has to balance the aperture and shutter speed according to a sensitivity value (ISO). In the 35mm film era, the sensitivity would remain constant for the duration of the roll of film. In digital, the sensitivity (ISO) can be adjusted on the fly, making this third element more important and flexible than ever. Luckily, technology spares us from long exposure calculations. We can adjust one of these three elements, and the camera will adjust the two other automatically. We can set the Aperture, for example, and let the camera select the appropriate shutter speed. That is called Aperture Priority, (Av or Aperture value) on your camera mode dial. If the exposure is impossible at the chosen aperture, the camera will either suggest using the flash or increasing the ISO rating. Both of these functions can be set to make the decision automatically or within some preset parameters. Alternatively, you can decide to set the shutter speed and the camera will choose the appropriate aperture. That is called Shutter Priority (Tv or Time value) on your mode dial

Your camera (K100D and most of the Pentax 6MP - The K10D and K20D don't have the small icons) has many preset and automatic modes, represented by small icons on the mode dial. This further simplifies the decision making for the photographer. You set the camera to portrait, and the camera is already programmed by Pentax to use the standard settings typical for a portrait shot. You set it to moving objects, and the camera leans toward a fast shutter speed to freeze the action. You set it to landscape and the camera leans toward a small aperture for maximum depth of field. These settings are fine for the casual photographers and at the beginning of your learning curve as photographer, but sooner or later, you will want to have more control over the camera. Although the technical progress made in just the last decade is nothing short of astonishing, the human element is still far superior in decision making. Once you fully understand the three essentials items explained in the preceding post, you will take the creativity control over the camera.

Adjustments to consider

Choosing a small aperture can make the scene in focus from just a few feet or inches in front of the camera to infinity.It is very useful in landscape photography. This effect is proportionally accentuated when using wide angle lenses. However it will require a slower speed or a faster ISO. Tripods are commonly used in landscape photography.

Choosing a large aperture limits the depth of field, making your subject stand out with a blurry background and foreground. (It's really called selective focusing) It will likely require a fast shutter speed or lower ISO value. (P.S. Always try to shoot at the lowest ISO value as possible. It will always produce the minimum amount of noise) This is very useful for portraits. This depth of field is proportionally accentuated with telephoto lenses. However, with telephotos, it will probably require a faster shutter speed (because a telephoto that brings the subject say, five times closer, will also register the movements as being five time faster) or a higher ISO value, as the maximum permitted aperture will be smaller

Using a fast shutter speed can freeze the action and is often used for sports and fast moving activities. However, it will require a wider aperture, a faster ISO value or the use of a flash.

Using a slow shutter speed will allow taking pictures at night or will render a feeling of movement by deliberately blurring a moving area of a scene such as water falls, etc. You will likely need a tripod and perhaps a wider aperture and faster ISO.

You can shoot with a very fast ISO and capture almost any image with little effort, but the image will contain noise.

You must have realized by now that photography is indeed all about light. Modern DSLRs have other tools to further refine the art of capturing the images with the optimum results. Built-in meters give you the choices between multi- segments metering, center-weighted or spot metering. Auto focus modes in either single or continuous focus make your photos crystal clear and sharp despite you. Shake reduction allows using slower speed than most humans could ever achieve by hand-holding the camera. White balance control assures, most of the times anyway, that the color of the scene will be the same on the saved image or file. Instant view of the capture images allows you to retake the shot(s) if not satisfied. The use of memory cards allows you to take hundreds or even thousands of shots, at practically no cost other than the purchasing cost of the card. I tell you, with digital cameras, especially with Pentax DSLRs, we?ve got it made. Remember what they say; ?practice makes perfect? or close to it anyway as I don?t believe that perfection can ever be achieved.

I will continue to post "simple to understand" Digital Photography lessons in the weeks to come. All of the advanced photographers out there, this may be over-simplified for you, but remember that there are many entry-level photographers that need such information. We all started by knowing nothing about photography, and learned Little by little. You can certainly and hopefully contribute to this post, but try not to confuse the "newbies" with too much technical information. Once the basic of photography is understood, the technical stuff will sink in better.

Thanks for reading.

Yvon Bourque - http://pentaxdslrs.blogspot.com

Contribute an answer

DSLRS on "Dedicated to all Pentax DSLR "Newbies" . Join the fun."

DSLRS — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 11:28:58 +0000

Too often, we forget that new Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras are sold every day to someone with no experience with DSLR cameras at all. Whoever we are and however good we are, we started somewhere. So I decided to dedicate the next few posts to the "Newbies", the entry-lever photographers, the shooters upgrading from a point-and-shoot camera, etc. Let's go back to the basics of photography.

This post will not make you an expert in photography alone. Like any other skill we learn, practice is what makes us excel in any of our undertakings. There are many books on photo techniques on the market that you can get to further learn the craft or art of photography. For years, Kodak has regularly publish updated books targeted to beginners all the way on up to the professional photographers. Of course, lots of information is also available on the internet.

Photography, is about light. It?s about light reaching a media, film or digital sensor, and turning the results into an image that we can see, on a computer screen for example, or print on paper.

Other than the lighting conditions of a scene, there are three major items that directly affect how the light reaches the recording media. The Aperture (lens opening), the shutter speed (the speed at which the shutter opens and closes) and the media sensitivity also known as ISO number (the amount of light recording on the media for a given exposure). Too much light reaching the media, and the image will be washed out. Too little light reaching the media, and the image will be too dark. This is to say that the balance between these three items must be just right. Technically speaking, a large aperture will let a lot of light in, and therefore the shutter speed and/or the recording media will need to be adjusted accordingly. Let?s assume for a moment that the sensitivity is set at ISO 200 and cannot be changed. We now have to balance the aperture and shutter speed to get the correct amount of light in. An aperture of f/4 at a shutter speed of 1/125th of a second would give the same results as an aperture of f/5.6 at a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second. In other words, if you increase the aperture by one F-stop and decrease the shutter speed by one shutter step, the same amount of light would would reach the film or sensor. The difference between the two is the composition. Since we are dealing with digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras, from now on lets use the word ?sensor? for media.

Aperture scale explained

The aperture, being the lens diaghphram opening, lets more or less light pass through the lens. The f-number (aperture opening) is proportional to the ratio between the lens focal length and aperture diameter, which is proportional to the square root of the aperture area. Big analogy but what does all that means? Well, lenses are usually marked with the F-numbers ranging from the largest aperture to the smallest aperture. For example, a typical lens could have an aperture range of f/2.8 to f/16. The lens would be marked as follow : f/ 16, f/11, f/8, f/5.6, f/4, f/2.8. In this example, the largest aperture would be f/2.8 while the smallest would be f/16. Have you noticed something a little surprising here? The larger the number is, the smaller the aperture is. You need to remember that. Furthermore, each (f-stop) number to the right lets twice the amount of light in as the (f-stop) number to its left and each (f- stop) number to the left lets half the light in as the (f-stop) number to its right. For example, f/4 lets twice as much light in as f/5.6 but only one half the light of f/2.8, and so on. One unit of increment in aperture is called a stop.

Shutter Speed scale explained

In photography, shutter speed is the length of time the shutter takes to open and close. The total exposure is proportional to the duration of lighr reaching the imaage sensor. Similarly to the aperture, a standardized 2:1 scale was adopted for shutter speed so that opening one aperture f-stop and reducing the shutter speed by one step resulted in the identical exposure. The agreed standards for shutter speeds are typically 1 sec,1/2 sec, 1/4 sec, 1/8 sec, 1/15 sec, 1/30 sec, 1/60 sec, 1/125 sec, 1/250 sec, 1/500 ses, 1/1000 sec, etc. A shutter speed of 1/125 sec lets twice as much light in as a shutter speed of 1/250 sec, but half the light of a shutter speed of 1/60 sec. For example, combining aperture and shutter speed, a shutter speed of 1/125 sec with an aperture of f/16 is equivalent to a shutter speed of 1/250 sec and an aperture of f/8. Alternatively, a shutter speed of 1/125 sec with an aperture of f/16 is also equivalent to a shutter speed of 1/60 sec with an aperture of f/22. Remember that one unit of increment in shutter speed is called a step.

ISO Value scale explained

Similarly to the aperture and shutter speed, the ISO linear scale, which corresponds to the older ASA scale, is 2:1. Doubling the speed of a film implies doubling the numeric value that designates the film speed. Here again, a film rated at 200 ASA or ISO 200 will absorb half of the light of a 400 ASA or ISO 400 film, but twice as much light of a 100 ASA or ISO 100 film. In the digital world, the sensitivity defines ISO speed in terms of the amount of light needed to achieve a certain quality in the sense of a per-pixel signal-to- noise ratio. The image sensors in digital cameras can be adjusted, or can have their outputs adjusted, in sensitivity to function with metering at any given comparative ISO setting. This is usually done by simply amplifying the output of the image sensor, which increases image noise, sometimes beyond the level that the ISO standard says is acceptable. Just as with photographic film, greater sensitivity comes with some loss of image quality, visible as image noise. What does that mean for you? The lower the ISO value on your digital camera, the less noise you will have and therefore, your image will appear clearer. ISO 200 is twice as sensitive to light as ISO 100 but half of ISO 400.

Next post...Combining all three elements.

Experienced photographers, let's help the new entry-level photographers. Leave your comments.

Thanks for reading,

Yvon Bourque - http://pentaxdslrs.blogspot.com