Almost half of LBA/CBA challenge

Anyone there... I have not chatted with Rose and others and I wonder if anyone

is still in the game and I hope some of you can share a thought or two. What I

want to see if all have purchased new gear and left me alone in the game. If

half of you bail out, can we end the game early! Rose will snap on me for sure.

I need encouragement to stay on till the end, my friends.

 

I can brag a little about the pain and achievement. I have gone with no new

gear for 1.5 months. And I did manage to keep my ebay watchlist to zero to all

times. I have visited ebay perhaps no more than few times checking on

batteries. Yes, 0 watchlist works for me. And the lens road map work for me

as well in planning what I need:

http://techtheman.blogspot.com/2008/04/hins-camera-gear.html . But frequent

forum discussions on new gear get me look at reviews and reports especially on

K20D and new lens as in DA 35 and DA 55-300.

 

My current LBA/CBA thoughts, not in any particular order, are in Nikon D300,

Canon 40D, Pentax K20D, DA 35 Macro, Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8, Tamron 90mm f/2.8

Macro, and Sigma 10-20mm. And I find the DA 35 mm Macro most interesting to

me as it alters my thoughts of limited trio from 21/43/77 to a different course

with 21/35/50/70 + 90 from Tamron Macro.

 

Yes, I know, I become more greedy with all the oppression with no new gear in

the challenge. And my slight disappointment with noise and VPN in my K10D leads

me to study Nikon and Canon gear more closely. I have been trying to convince

my work colleague in studying K10D/20D and I end up getting converted in looking

more closely into Canon and Nikon offerings in comparison with Pentax. I hope I

don't get converted.

 

It is a bit of long winding! Please share a few thoughts of your challenge,

your tempted thoughts in the challenge. Did you stay put in the challenge and

sleep through the night with no new gear?

Hin, I tried but in the end failed....I bought a couple of lenses that I really wanted.

The Sigma 500mm F/4.5, The Sigma 100-300 F/4.0, DA*300...and a Pentax 1.7TC if that counts....

Well, I've been out of the game from the beginning and have acquired several lenses since the challenge started (including the DA* 300mm f4 SDM which arrived today) but the spirit of your endeavor has helped me pass on a quite a few very enticing ebay opportunities.

No purchases of even accessories on this end! For both of us - even though I drug

him in unwilling

Can't fail if you don't try :-)

 

Got a 31mm, 50mm SMC-M, and a ME super and have a watchlist longer than the Mississippi river.

 

I TRULY admire your self dicipline though. Can't buy that on the-bay.

 

I wish you the best of luck.

 

PS. Aren't you afraid that when the 3 month "no buying ban" is up you will go on a shopping-spree that will embarrass Ms. Paris Hilton?

 

Cheers

 

Fredrik

PPS.

 

Don't you dare venture over to the dark side. Who will show us cool food pics then?

 

And who will be our guide to the really cheapo lenses out there and show us how to remove stuff from them in order to make them work? ;-)

 

Don't let the Canikon propaganda get to you. Ours is so much better :-)

 

Cheers

 

Fredrik

I am still in. Well, I did a lens exchange but my actions were forgiven by Hin Man. So far no purchase plans ahead for me. I guess the only thing that might get me is if I find limited lens for $20 at the garage sale :-)

Hin, what VPN issues are you having? Do you have a faulty K10D maybe?

 

While I've bought a few lenses off eBay, I will be selling all of them (together with others I have lying around) pretty soon. It's a bit like fishing; you catch one, take a photo with it, then toss it back into the river.

 

Stick with it, Hin! Just make sure that, like Fredrik said, you don't go on a buying binge when all this is over. You know those people that go on a diet for 3 months, lose 20 lbs, then finish their diet and go back to their old eating habits? They generally gain *30* lbs back, making them worse off than when they started. It's not about dieting, it's about making Life Changes, modifying your approach to eating and your relationship with food. I believe LBA is exactly the same thing.

 

As for Canikon, I can asure you that if you go to the Dark Side you will find other, different problems, but problems nonetheless. For starters, I'm sure you would miss SR when taking those night shots you like so much. :-)

I was out before I got in. That amazing 300mm f2.8 PK-A I bought locally for $475 was not a passable opportunity. And with the rare 1.7x Pentax MF to AF function converter its a stunning combo. So far the 300mm 2.8 is the best manual focus lens I've tried with the MF to AF function converter.

 

Then came my long awaited full frame canon dslr 5D purchase two weeks ago. I already own several brass PK to Eos mount adapters so I guess that kinda makes it a pentax related item too, right?

I agree with Miserere's fishing analogy - I have a bunch of glass I'll be selling off as well. None because they're bad lenses, but only because they're not what I want or need and it takes some trial and error to get what you really desire.

Actually, Last night I decided to sell some of my Lenses as well. Maybe even my K100D super. I simply have to much stuff and to much over lapping lenses. I have never sold anything Like this, so it may be a challenge.

Thanks for all the warm, thoughtful and hilarious replies.

 

"... ebay watchlist longer than the Mississippi river" from Frederik

 

"... unless $20 limited lens found in garage sale" from Maurycy

 

" ....even though I drug him unwillingly" from Maria

 

"... the Darkside with Canikon" from Miserere

 

" .. shopping-spree that will embarrass Ms. Paris Hilton?" from Frederik

 

And I still have companions with Maria, Matthew, Maurycy and hopefully few others to stick to the end at July 15. And of course you all are included in pursuing the goal in buying wisely with a plan to enjoy LBA/CBA in a positive way.

 

And I take note in the mindset of buying spree after July and I will think of the follow up plan after challenge period.

@Miserere, I bought my K10D used and my model number from PhotoME shows earlier model with serial # in 1.2. I fall short in liking it fully based on my amateur frequent use with jpg. I see myself with 90% jpg and 10% raw in dng kind of guy at the current moment. And I lack post processing tool such as lightroom and photoshop and raw tool to fully enjoy the raw benefits from K10D.

 

In jpg, I am surprised to see noise at iso400 as compared to my K100D. Noise in iso400 bothers me. And I am not certain if my problems is related to VPN, though I frequently review pictures from others and I noted quite frequent showing on noise in dark areas with vertical banding that look like stripes.

Hin, you are right - I'd be severely disappointed if you didn't hold out until the end.

 

I am still in the running, and I have to admit that I was handed a huge challenge and I survived it. One of my coworkers is soon going on vacation and she asked me for advice on which P&S to buy. Yes, I spent 3 days researching P&S for her, gave her about 6 suggestions - and, yet, I did not buy one myself.

 

Still, I will admit that the top camera on the list, that she thought was too expensive - was the Canon G9. What a little beauty! ... I may get one after July 15th.

 

She settled on my second 'cheaper' suggestion. the Canon SD850IS. - as far as P&S's go - it's a decent little camera.

 

Still going strong - and, I WILL survive until July 15. :)

Still in!!

 

Unless buying a replacement rocket blower counts :)

I haven't bought any Pentax gear at all this year. What I have in this system is 100%

sufficient and satisfactory to my needs. I have a bit too much as it is and will likely sell

some of it.

 

Other gear ... well, I am always buying equipment and consumables as a part of my

business. I'm not a hobbyist or collector.

 

G

Hin, I am not too surprised regarding your observations of the JPEG performance. I shoot mostly JPEG myself, and have found the K100D to be a superior performer for high quality excellent JPEG images, and low noise at higher ISO. This little camera, with all its available features, is one great performer, especially for the price.

Hin, have you tried the Pentax version of SillyPix that comes bundled with the K10D to convert from RAW to jpeg (or TIFF)?

I have not tried the SilkPix and the PPL that came with K10D. But I did play with opening DNG files in Picasa. The latest Picasa 2.7+ seems to convert the DNG to jpg better than the in-camera jpg engine. But there is big caveat with Picasa -- it loses all the exif in the conversion. I am looking into IrfanView + UFRaw a bit more but I see others also loosing EXIF in the conversion. And Lightroom is another candidate but that will mean $300 lens fund. I may try out the 30 days trial version on Lightroom.

 

I won't be jumping ship easily. I enjoy my status quote of cheap guy fond of cheapo but quality lens. Pentax fits my amateur, budget minded needs plus more. Until I can get paid for the hobby, the expensive dark side is unlikely to get to me.

 

But I really have to say praises for the darkside that I encountered. I bumped into my past friend in the zoo and he lets me borrowed his Nikon D300 with a VR lens 70-210 f/2.8. I can't hear any noise/sound in AF and the 100% viewfinder open my vision like a movie big screen. And then, there is my brother-in-law who upgraded to Canon 40D. I used to brag about my K100D with his Canon 350. And with the 40D, he shot his pictures the shotgun fashion in 6 fps, I have no idea how hist pictures turn out but it is just plain impressive to hear the overwhelming beat of quick shutter.

 

Please forgive me about my whining. And if anyone that uses Lightroom with great success dealing with Raw files, please update me as I prefer something simple to work on photos as compared to Photoshop.

 

And Rose and Paul, thanks for sticking in for the challenge.

I use Lightroom constantly. It works very well and I find it easy to use. Download and

try it through a 30 day evaluation period. Also look up and go through some of the

many free video tutorials available on-line ... that's how you'll get the most out of your

30 days.

 

G

I have been very happy with Lightroom for the last few months. Combined with a fast computer, I can no longer tell that I'm processing RAW rather than JPEG except for the much more tweakable results. I now hate when I have to process JPEGs captured by my compact (Pentax Optio A30) because they don't respond nearly as well to exposure adjustments.

I purchased Lightroom a while back and have only used it a few times. I really love photoshop. As for RAW, I still can't get myself to shoot RAW. I still am a Jpeg shooter. I am sure their is a difference, but I have not noticed it in my own shooting.

Hin, maybe you should give LightZone a look. $200 for the full version is less than Lightroom. I've read a lot of good things about this program and am waiting to have some time on my hands to try out the demo. From what I've seen on their site, this seems like software that would appeal to my way of working:

 

http://www.lightcrafts.com/products/

 

I think Godfrey also uses it; he might want to chime in with his comments.

Thank you for all the valuable inputs on Lightrooms & LightZone. I will look into them with a trail version. And for raw conversion, I will look into UFRaw, RawTherapee (?) and the Silkpix/PPL altogether. Raw, together with a easy workflow in post processing from raw to jpg, have been a headache for me.

 

And Javier, I hate to tell you my experience on selling unused gear. It is harder than I thought originally. It definitely takes much longer time than it took me in purchasing those items. I would highly suggest to try out the marketplace in pentaxforums. You are friendly, supportive and very popular in pentaxforums, and you will be followed closely in marketplace. You can review my feedbacks where you see how I trim my items http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/feedback.php?u=389 and I make bunch of good friends in being honest, courteous, and diligent packaging.

Hin, Thanks for the kind words. I am no rush to sell anything, but will give Pentax forums a try. I was looking over my gear and the funny thing is that I have accumulated quite a bit of ''film gear'' and I am not even considering those things to sell.