christer_medin1

It really isn't that complicated...

 

Go to live.com and search for something like 'pentax camera'. Most likely (all the time for me) you'll get a little ad near the top saying "You may get 20% off" and an ebay link. Click the link. Anything qualified purchased within the next 60 minutes off ebay gets 20% off. The item needs to be a 'buy it now' item, and I think Paypal has to be the only option to pay (though in most cases it is).

 

You should be able to find a K20D from a reputable place for around $1100 listed. Take 20% off that price, then another $100 for the Pentax rebate (again, make sure you're not getting ir from some shady place), and you have yourself a deal. When you hit buy it now you should see a little 'microsoft cashback' logo and something saying how much of a discount you're looking at. If you don't see this then the item/seller isn't eligible for some reason. I just tried a few and they all worked though...

 

And yes, you do need a 'live cashback' account which takes all of 2 minutes to sign up for free.

Just thought I'd share. I've been shopping for a new DSLR for a while, and been eyeing the K20D as well as the

A700 and 40D. It appears Microsoft has been hitting the crack pipe lately and is offering 20% off ebay purchases

if you use Live Search:

<br><br>

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=850694&highlight=pentax

<br><br>

And combined with the Pentax rebate you can likely score a K20d for < $800 shipped. Just wanted to share since I

am sure people other than me are still on the fence. :)

I have the A590IS and it's not a bad camera at all. However, I would spring for something more compact/flat if it's to complement another camera -- it's not all that compact and not a good pocket camera.

The guy's in PA (I think) and posted it on every city's craigslist...

 

Ended up not getting anything; the Fujinon was sold and I didn't want to pay what he was asking for the 400mm.

Yep, and either setting leads to it counting to 24 frames before winding on...

I have a nice C330 that is in excellent shape in every way except one...

regardless of what it's set to (120 or 220) it insists on advancing to 24

frames. There's a little lever on the camera body that's being pressed by a

metal piece on the camera back, and that appears to occur properly, so I'm

guessing there must be something inside the body itself that's causing this.

Before I figure out how to take it apart, any suggestions on what it might be? :-)

You guys are great. He's asking $30 for the Fujinon (if he still has it, the ad was a couple days ago but there's not much demand for screwmount Pentax gear around here). They're all M42 mounts, he's also selling several camera bodies (Fujica, Ricoh (I think), and a Spotmatic).

 

Douglas: thanks for the heads up, he wants $100 for it so I'll pass on that one.

A local guy is selling some M42 gear, and I'm curious as to whether it might be

worth taking a look at. The great Google didn't help much trying to track down

good info on these lenses:

 

Fujica EBC 50mm f1.4, Soligor 55/2.8 Macro (1:1), Mamiya-Sekor 400/6.3, Yashinon

-DS 55/1.4

 

If anybody has any info on either of the above, please let me know. :-) I have

a Samsung GX-1S which is a Pentax *ist DS2 clone, and only have a 28/3.5 in M42

mount for it so far.

One quick note.

 

The camera shipped with firmware version 1.0

 

1.0 does not support SDHC.

1.02 is available and does.

 

You need an SD card to load the update. So don't order the camera with an SDHC card unless you have/can borrow an SD card for the update... I'm just using a 2 gig SD card but I know SDHC is getting cheap and popular so wanted to make mention of it.

It is here, and the viewfinder is really damn good. I am very, very pleased so far! Put an old manual focus Pentax-M 50/2 on there, and even in dim light with the factory focusing screen it wasn't too hard to focus. Here's a quick shot from it:

 

http://www.beyondthematrix.com/norabook.jpg

 

Hand held at 1/20th wide open. Can't wait to see what this thing can do once I get some time with it. :-)

I checked out a K100D in person and found the viewfinder to be very lacking, unfortunately. Antishake isn't a big deal to me, so hopefully the better viewfinder on the DS2/GX1S will make me happy. :-)

It certainly looks nice and compact. If amazon isn't lying to me, it should be here Thursday and I'll be sure to post my impressions. Thanks to all for your advice and suggestions.

Well, I think I might brave it and pick one up. Not too worried about future support, and I like the idea of a pentaprism rather than a pentamirror. Hell, it's cheaper than a used DS2 from KEH, and it has a lens AND a warranty!

 

I wonder how a 135/2.8 will look on it. :)

OK, one more question... on the GX-1S (or DS2), with the .95x viewfinder, has anybody used this while wearing glasses? I know some of my rangefinder cameras get hard to use with glasses due to the viewfinder magnification.

 

Actually, two questions. :-) Somebody on a review of the GX-1S said that he returned it because the shutter wouldn't work in manual focus unless he got a focus confirmation from the camera. That doesn't make much sense -- did he get a bum camera or was he confused?

Ed: I had no idea about the GX-1S. Been looking at DS2s but would love something with a warranty. I will have to take a look at that; the viewfinder is supposed to be one of the best APS-C sized ones on the Pentax and I'd imagine the Samsung is identical.

 

Now I have to weigh that against the E-410... if I can switch the focusing screen on the GX-1S more points to it too!

OK, been reading up on the Olympus cameras, and I have to say they look darn good!

 

Godfrey, thanks for the explanation on the metering.

 

The Olympus E-410 looks like a real bargain, and the live view might be handy to have to complement the somewhat smallish viewfinder. The E-1 looks like a great body, but I don't really need the weatherproofing, and I can get an E-410 setup for less.

Godfrey, that is a really great shot -- the people really pop out of the image.

 

How well does metering work with older lenses on the Olympus? Do you have to manually stop down to meter?

 

Walt, any recommendations on AF lenses with good focusing rings? I looked at the 28mm Nikons they had at KEH and the pictures make it seem like the focusing ring is really skimpy. Thanks for the Katz Eye link, that is good to know; looks like they provide (costly!) screens for most DSLRs.

 

So far I'm liking what I read about both the Olympus and Nikon/Fuji cameras...

I read up on the D1X yesterday and while it seems like an excellent value it is pretty damn huge. Hoping I can find something more compact...

Long story short, I've come to realize that while I love film and prefer it,

sometimes I really do need digital. Thus, I am shopping for a decent

inexpensive DSLR. I'm a big manual focus guy, so would like to be able to use

some older lenses without too much hassle. Brand isn't all that important,

though I have some Pentax and Olympus OM glass I'd love to be able to use on

digital if possible.

 

Initially the K100D seemed perfect, but I got to play with one and did not

really care for the viewfinder. I gather the *ist D,DS and DS2 have better

viewfinders, and they can be had for fairly cheap these days. Also have

interchangeable focusing screens which is a bonus. Looks like you really need

to shoot RAW with those cameras from what I hear, since the image processor

isn't the best... is that true?

 

Having been away from shopping for digital gear for quite some time (I had a 10D

for several years and it was a good camera though a bit bulky), I noticed that

some cameras that were way out out of the range of what I was willing to pay can

be had for cheap now; several Olympus models, the Fuji S2 Pro, etc... been

reading up on them best I can, but I have zero experience with any of them. The

S2 Pro looks like a really excellent value, but I can't find any definitive

information as to how it handles older lenses.

 

So, here are the requirements:

 

Sub-$500 for the body (used is fine, but I'd want to get it from someplace like

KEH rather than ebay so prices might be a little higher than 'market' for me).

Would prefer $400 or below.

 

Ability to use older prime lenses without too much hassle (metering is my main

concern there).

 

Good viewfinder, focusing screen suitable for manual focus.

 

Other than that, I am not too picky about features. Mirror lockup would be nice

but not a must.

 

Ideally, a good body and a nice quality manual focus 35mm or so lens (to deal

with the crop factor; I pretty much exclusively shoot 50mm focal length or

equivalent in film) with a good viewfinder would be the ticket.

 

Any suggestions?

Well, I came to my senses (after reading the service manual) and sent it off to John for a CLA/repair. I don't mind doing things like light seals and work on more basic cameras, but this is a fairly complex beast and one I want to keep for a long time.

Hi, I have an Exakta VX with what appears to be split image focusing only. It's

pretty painful to use (a recent acquisition of an OM2 has ruined me for life

focusing wise), and I was wondering which would be the best choice for the

28-135mm range. At this point I only have a 58/2 Biotar, but might add some

more in the future.

 

Also, are there any places where these can be had for less than the $30+ they go

for on ebay?

Well, this is getting interesting...

 

In Auto mode the metering's fine. However, even with film loaded, the shutter is a few stops slower than meter reading. In Manual mode the meter's way off except for once or twice where it suddenly decided to agree with Auto reading. Bizarre.

 

On a brighter note I acquired the service manual for it. :-)

Hi guys, and thanks for the answers. I'll throw some film in and see if it works OK in auto mode. Was planning to use it as an aperture priority camera anyway, so if manual mode is bust as far as metering I'll just live with it I think... if the alternative is a $100+ repair bill. Of course, if the shutter starts sticking again I might have to send it off after all.

Hi all,

 

Just got an OM2 that's been sitting around for about a decade. Threw some

batteries in and while the shutter seemed sticky at first firing a dozen times

at each speed seems to have cleared it up. It was still sticking at 1/500 and

1/1000 occasionally earlier but this afternoon everything seems to be working great.

 

My question is, in manual mode the metering seems way off. If I switch it to

auto in my office, I get 1/125 at f/5.6 ISO 400 which is exactly what both my

light meter and SRT101 say. In manual it's more like 1/2 second at f/1.8 to get

the needle in the middle. From what I read it seems like manual mode uses a

different pair of cells for metering. Any idea what the trouble might be with

it? I can live without it (can always meter in auto), but if it's something

simple I'd like to fix it.

 

And a second question... in auto mode when I 'dry fire' (no film) the indicated

shutter speed is a lot faster than actual. I gather this is due to the

reflection off the pressure plate not being the same as from the film, and that

makes perfect sense. However, the question: I read that at shutter speeds

slower than 1/45 it meters off the film, and if faster off the curtain. If my

indicated speed is 1/500, why should it matter if the camera has film in it or

not? Should it not meter off the curtain? I'm a little confused as to the

mechanics here! :-) Bow does it 'know' when to meter off each one, is it based

on the initial reading or what? I suspect it'll be fine when I get home and pop

some film in, but am mainly curious as to how it works.

 

Oh, got a Winder 2 with it as well. Seems to be working great too, and has a

killer paparazzi sound to it.

I love the second shot. Your IIf says hi. :-)