chuck a

The screen is this one http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=22564232&q=k10d+ds+screen&qf=m

 

and the Nikon magnifier is model DK-21M.

 

Both work great and the vf rivals the full frame Canon 5D for size.

I use the Nikon version (yes it fits the Pentax) and a split image vf screen and I love it. My main lenses are manual focus A lenses and it makes manual focusing almost as good as the old SLRs. There is a little vignetting (I don't wear glasses) but it is barely noticeable and I don't even see it while I am photographing any more. But I don't wear glasses either. I can see that it would be annoying with glasses. I have tried removing it but the mag is just enough to add some fine details that are difficult to see w/o it. I makes my manual focusing faster and more accurate. So I leave it on and enjoy it.

 

Chuck,

 

www.pbase.com/candrask

I just received this screen for my K10D. From the same vendor. Mine will not even install correctly. It will not sit flat in the holder. It seems to be just a touch too large. If I push it down to sit flat it just pops up again. The Pentax screen does not do this. It goes in and out just fine. I repeated this several times to make sure that it wasn't me. The new split screen does not do this. It is even hard to get the holder closed.

 

Mine came with the tab. It makes it easier to install but does not allow you to install it upside down to see it that helps. I have contacted the vendor and we will see what happens.

Thanks for the info folks. I ordered one of these on Sunday so I will have about a week and a half to wait. I keep reading stories over at Dpreview about the screen not working so I have been sweating my decision to buy it. Some are sayimg it works shiny side up, others shiny side down. Some say that their split image isn't focusing correctly. Some are saying their AF doesn't work right as well.

 

I will just have to see about all of this. I hope that I get one with the tab though. I bought from the guy Wiggy recommends. I am going to try it in my K10D where I use my manual focus lenses about 90% of the time.

 

Thanks,

Chuck

I am not sure about CCD failure but I think that I read somewhere about 100,000 shutter activations being the projected life of the shutter.

 

Thanks,

Chuck

I tried it in a photo shop. I don't have my mitts on it yet to photograph it. I did see some photos of the Pentax version on a K10D over at dpreview.com .

I tried the Nikon DK-21M on a K10D and it worked great, just a bit tight. I was able to compare the magnified finder to the FF Canon 5D and it was very close. When I get the K10D it will be a permanent attachment. It should fit on the K100D as well.

I will have to shop around for price. The lowest I found was on eBay at $890 for kit. The smaller cameras (D, DS, K100D) feel like they would be easier to lug around but the K10D did feel good in my hand.

I have been considering a move to the Pentax DSLR line. I was interested in the

DS or DS2 originally but after some discussion here I thought about the K100D

and even the D because of the extra control buttons. I drove an hour yesterday

and found a camera shop that had the K100D and the K10D.

 

I spent some time looking at the K100D and was impressed. I decided to check

out the viewfinder on the K10D and really liked it. I tried adding the Nikon

viewfinder magnifier and WOW. They had a 5D there and the K10D and the

magnifier was not quite as good but close. Great for my manual focus Pentax

lenses.

 

Also, I was really impressed with the feature set and ease of use of the K10D.

The RAW button, two adjustment wheels and weather seals in particular. I am

having a problem getting past the size though. Why couldn't they have made it

the size of the D? I will be carrying this camera every day and it is fairly

large and heavy. It actually feels nicer in my hand than the K100D though. I

started with a Canon D30 and it was pretty much this size. I moved to the Canon

XT to get something smaller.

 

Next is the price. To afford the K10D right now I will have to sell my Leica

M6TTL. I have been considering this anyway because I am not doing as much film

lately and have other film cameras to use if I want. But, if I sell it I want

it to be for a digital that I will keep for years. I need a DSLR. Since I sold

my Canon XT I have been using small sensor cameras and while they are OK they

just don't have the image quality for low light and for prints of 11x14 and

above.

 

So now I have done it. I went in looking at a $500.00 camera and have come out

thinking about selling my Leica and buying a $999.00 camera.

 

Any input is welcome. If Pentax came out with a K20D that is the size of the D,

I would buy it immediately.

 

--

Thanks & God Bless,

Chuck

http://www.pbase.com/candrask

 

'The photograph isolates and perpetuates a moment of time: an important and

revealing moment, or an unimportant and meaningless one, depending upon the

photographer's understanding of his subject and mastery of his process.' -

Edward Weston

 

'If I knew how to take a good photograph, I'd do it every time.' -Robert

Doisneau

 

'You learn to see by practice. It's just like playing tennis, you get better

the more you play. The more you look around at things, the more you see. The

more you photograph, the more you realize what can be photographed and what

can't be photographed. You just have to keep doing it.' -Eliot Porter

Nice post Jan. I am in the same boat. I am unable to see these cameras in person and am considering a DS2 or a K100D. The K10D is too large for my tastes. The viewfinder comparison should be valid here as well. I want to be able to manual focus as easily as possible and will probably add the 1.2x viewfinder magnifier for some help.

 

The K100D adds the SR and better jpg processing to the mix. So the choice is really bigger buffer and larger vf or SR and better jpgs.

 

I owned a Canon XT for a while but it had some fatal flaws. Image quality was great. The vf was terrible (impossible to manual focus) and ergonomics were not well thought out. Also, I had a terrible time finding prime lenses that would AF accurately. Canon AF prime lenses are not very fun to manual focus with either. The primes are sloppy and feel cheap. Not like manual focusing the Pentax M and A line.

 

If I have missed something here, let me know.

Andrew,

 

Circuit City in my area actually had the istDL for a while. I was hoping that they had the K100D as it is on their website. But no luck. There is one camera store in the area and they have an extremely limited stock of digital SLRs. I will have to travel a couple of hours to try to see the Pentax line. Finding certain technology can be a problem when you live in a rural area.

 

Chuck

They put an issue like this out once a year. Most of the other issues are fluff. I let my subscription expire recently and missed this one.

Great info Michael thanks, and thanks to all for your responses. I am in no rush so I am going to try to see the cmaeras before I buy. I tried at Best Buy and Circuit City today but no luck.

 

Size, image quality and ease of manual focusing will be my primary concerns. I did see the D40 and D80 today. The D80 has a very nice finder and the D40 was pretty good. I wish that I had the K100D there to compare.

Thanks Lindy, good info. So you don't like the finder on the K100D. That is why I am seriously considering either a DS or trying the Samsung.

 

I am glad that you like the Samsung. If you go to Samsungs USA website they don't list any firmware updates that I could find. There was one for the DS2 though to allow it to use the newer SD cards. I guess that there probably won't be any other updates though. The product is pretty complete and near the end of its life.

 

I guess that I have to decide if the SA and other extras of the K100D outweigh the better finder of the DS or GX-1S. Anyway, thanks for the help. I really have to look around to try and see these cameras in person.

 

 

Thanks,

Chuck

Hi All,

 

I have been a photographer for a fairly long time and have used dozens of

cameras both digital and film. I have used mostly Nikon, Canon and Pentax. My

last DSLR was the Canon XT. At the time I bought it over the DS because it

focussed faster. BIG mistake. I loved the size as I carry a camera with me

always. It had nice image quality but the build quality and ergonomics were

really lacking. Also, the viewfinder was small and manual focusing was

difficult. I had a hard time finding AF lenses that would not back or front

focus and Canon lenses aren't very fun to manual focus. I sold it and am

looking for another DSLR.

 

I love the compatability the Pentax line offers. I have a few older prime

manual focus A lenses that are smooth to focus and sharp. I have decided to

get a Pentax DSLR as my next digital camera. I want a smaller camera so I am

looking at the DS, DS2 or the K100D. The K10D has better features but it is

much larger and would be more difficult to carry every day.

 

A used DS is pretty easy to find and the firmware can be upgraded to the DS2.

The only real difference between the two is the 2.5" LCD. It gets great user

reviews as well as having interchangable screens.

 

I would really like a DS2 because of the 2.5" LCD but I can't even find one.

My older eyes really like the larger LCD. The GX-1S is available and is the

same as the DS2 but it doesn't look like Samsung supports it with firmware

updates. This could be a problem.

 

The K100D is very intriguing. It seems to have better jpg image processing

than the DS. Also, I like the 2.5" LCD and the SR. I am a bit worried about

the viewfinder being a pentamirror. The Canon XT had a pentamirror and it was

not good for manual focussing. I haven't been able to see a K100D in person

yet.

 

My basic question is whether the viewfinder in the K100D is as easy to manual

focus as the DS? I will be using mostly manual lenses as I really prefer to

manual focus whenever I can and I love the manual lenses.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

--

Thanks & God Bless,

Chuck

http://www.pbase.com/candrask

 

 

'The photograph isolates and perpetuates a moment of time: an important and

revealing moment, or an unimportant and meaningless one, depending upon the

photographer's understanding of his subject and mastery of his process.' -

Edward Weston

 

'If I knew how to take a good photograph, I'd do it every time.' -Robert

Doisneau

 

'You learn to see by practice. It's just like playing tennis, you get better

the more you play. The more you look around at things, the more you see. The

more you photograph, the more you realize what can be photographed and what

can't be photographed. You just have to keep doing it.' -Eliot Porter

I have the CLE version of the 40 and the 90 and they work great on my M6 TTL. I did some tests and the 40 matches the 35mm framelines on the M6 at infinity. I haven't ground my lensmount yet but am considering it. The 40 is a superb lens and dirt cheap for the quality.

It is great to hear some good news about thr R-D1. There is alot of neg stuff posted. I am glad you had so much fun with it on your trip. Please post some work when you get a chance.

 

I have been considering buying this camera for a long time but the QC issues and the lack of support for them from Epson really makes me wary. I will probably eventually get one. Perhaps a used one that has been a performer and has all of the bugs worked out.

 

Chuck

Here is a shot with an M2 and a 50mm.<div></div>

The color looks interesting but the B&W is uninspiring. Perhaps some better light might help but they are flat with little detail in the shadows..

Vinay,

 

According to these tests at John Colliers site, there is a similar drain on power when the shutter is not cocked and the shutter release is pressed as there is with the shutter cocked. You wouldn't think so because the meter lights don't work but...

 

http://leica-users.org/v17/msg07164.html

 

At the above URL, John Collier concludes:

"It is fine to leave the camera "on" as long as there is no pressure on the shutter release. If there is pressure on the shutter release and the camera is not "off", the battery will drain down regardless if the shutter is wound or released. ..."

From what I have discovered the battery will drain with the shutter cocked or uncocked if the shutter release is pressed. I had the camera in my bag with a soft release on it and the shutter was uncocked. The soft release was probably being pressed in the bag. I thought that there would be no battery drain as the meter doesn't come on if the shutter is not cocked. But the battery will drain if the shutter release is pressed unless the camera is in the OFF position.

There was a recent thread on RFF about turning an M6TTL to off to prevent

battery drain. Well, I am stupid and can't seem to do this. I have had the

camera a few weeks and am on my third battery. All it takes is forgetting once

and voila, dead battery. Especially if you have a soft release.

 

Last nights battery drain happened even though the shutter was not cocked. The

meter doesn't turn on if the shutter isn't cocked so why did my battery drain?

Can anyone tell me why this happens?

 

I read something about someone making modifications to the battery cap by

adding a switch. Allowing power from the battery to be controlled without

having to rotate the shutter dial to off. Does anybody have any info on this?

 

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love this camera. I am just trying to find a

power drain workaround. The Bessas have it correct with a collar switch on the

shutter release to control power.

 

Thanks

Yes this is all digital 101.

 

 

1) As of yet nobody has posted or reviewed any of the output from this camera. When this happens we can compare it to other comparable cameras as far a megapixels and sensor size goes.

 

2) The crop factor just means that the sensor is smaller than the standard 35mm negative. Because of this lenses used with it do not act the same as with 35mm. Their output is cropped, in this case from 36x24mm to about 27x18mm. This gives them a smaller field of view while keeping other attributes such as DOF the same. A 35mm lens will have the same field of view as a 46mm lens but with the DOF of a 35mm lens. Just multiply whatever focal length is on the lens you want to use by 1.33 and that will give you its ne field of view.

 

3)Digtal sensors do mcuh better with noise when they are larger. The individual photosites can be larger and have a better signal to noise ratio. Hence in theory the M8s 1.33 sensor should have pretty low noise. I say in theory because this also relies on other parameters such as firmware. This is where we need to see some output. That will tell it all.

 

Others amy have more to say.

Thanks for the info, the thread was informative. My camera was a different one. It seems that there are a number of these.

It is in the 1533xxx area. I checked the Leica Pocketbook and the Cameraquest site and it shows up as an M4-2. It must have been one of the girst M4-Ps.