andy_coach

August 3, 2010

Thanks Andrew. The SA-23 seems hard to find... Time to post that WTB add.

August 3, 2010

Thanks Jean-Yves. I found more info here: http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/pentaxlx/screens/index.htm I have a few LX screens coming from a seller on pentaxforums.com, SG-20 among them but since I've never actually changed one, I was hoping to go straight to the right one on the first try :)

August 3, 2010

My Pentax LX with the 50/1.2 is by far my most used and beloved manual film kit ever. The current focusing screen in the LX is all matt, i.e. has no lines, no etchings of any kind, it's just blank. It is a fine screen and has worked pretty well for me for a long time. Unfortunately, my eyesight is getting worse with age and focusing with the LX has become more difficult.

As luck would have it, the other day I got a cheap Nikon FE with a 50/1.8 attached. The FE has a screen that works really well for me, i.e. the focusing is fast in that the contrast between the blurred/oof areas and the in-focus area is near instant and extremely sharp. The screen (Type E) is described here: http://mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonfeseries/fefmshared/html/screens.htm

So I wonder - is there perhaps a screen that works similarly well for the Pentax LX? I use the LX with the 50 almost exclusively. Would greatly appreciate your advice on this.

February 15, 2010

I simply love using the MZ-S, typically with the 24-90mm lens. Btw, I found this link to the MZS Brochure:

www.stamor.pl/instrukcje/Pentax/MZS_Brochure.pdf

February 13, 2010

Justin,

So far I am pretty happy with the % of keepers from the D90 but have started eying the D700 in hopes of even better AF performance. On the K20D I use the AF button to focus and the shutter release button to fire, is that what you mean? I would typically put the K20D with a longer lens (200+) on a monopod and turn off SR. It never occurred to me to turn off AWB though, I will definitely try that - thanks!

February 12, 2010

Andrew, I needed a faster AF to shoot kids basketball indoors and baseball and soccer outdoors. The typical issue I had with my K20D (latest firmware) was that almost regardless of the direction of motion, by the time the camera locked focus on the player, the moment had usually passed. A large percentage of time I was unable to lock focus and take a shot at all.

I mostly use the Pentax 50/1.4, Sigma 18-50/2.8, and Sigma 70-200/2.8 HSM II. I admit that I am not a very experienced sports photographer and there are likely a few things I could have tried to improve the number of in-focus shots. I did shoot many games using manual focus but got a bit tired of that approach.

While the AF on the D90 does not get me 100% of shots that I go after, it gets enough to keep me (and my daughter 20 years from now, I hope :) happy. I have to admin though that I still find my K20D and my beloved LX much “sexier” to use than any Nikon I’ve tried and I really prefer the look of the jpegs that the K20D or the K10D produce compared to the D90, but of course I just started using the D90.

February 11, 2010

Thank you for your feedback, I was afraid this was too good to be true. To keep everything Pentax, I would have liked to get the K7 but its AF, while better than K20D’s, felt slower than the D90; I am still hoping for a K7x with lightning fast AF. Oh, well, it was worth a try :)

February 11, 2010

Hi, I recently acquired a Nikon D90 and four lenses (35/1.8, 50/1.8, 18-105, 55-200) to make it easier on myself to photograph my daughter sports activities, since with my K10D, K20D, and the K100D Super I was not very proficient at getting enough in-focus shots. For anything else I enjoy using my Pentax gear which I am keeping.

I read somewhere that there was an adapter that enables the use of Pentax lenses on Nikon bodies. I was only able to find a few of those on ebay (searched for "Pentax PK Lens To Nikon") but cannot find any reviews or user comments on how these things actually perform. I am hoping someone on this forum has used such an animal and might be willing or share his or her impressions. - Crossing my fingers now :)

October 4, 2009

Amazon is selling K7 for $1,100.99, I wonder if this rebate can be used to reduce the price to $1099? I could not find a way to do that through Amazon check out.

May 3, 2009

The hunt didn't take long :). I woke up this morning to an email from a forum member here and was just in time to snag one Tamron 1.4x TC from eBay. Thanks!!! This is one the nicest things that has ever happended to me on any forum, wow!

April 29, 2009

Dave, thank you for doing the AF test. I just checked, seems like this TC is still hard to find (but at least I have something to hunt now :) Thanks again.

April 29, 2009

Thank you Javier, do you recall if AF was possible?

April 29, 2009

Hi,

I have the Sigma APO 70-200mm F2.8 II EX DG MACRO HSM lens and would like to get either 1.4 or 2.0 TC for it but according to Sigma (http://www.sigmaphoto.com/news/news.asp?nID=3471)

"SIGMA APO TELE CONVERTER 1.4x EX DG for Pentax mount and APO TELE CONVERTER 2x EX DG for Pentax mount are not compatible with lenses epuipped with HSM. "

I wonder if there are any TCs that work with this lens that preserve AF?

Thank you in advace for any advice.

Andy

March 16, 2009

I really like the 1st Hermosa Beach photo:

November 26, 2008

Nancy, I recently got the Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 for use on my K20D and after it was adjusted by Sigma service, I have been able to capture my daughter's games in low light conditions. It is a very heavy lens though, I normally use at least a monopod with it.

September 19, 2008

Last night Ballet Arizona presented a few dances in a park, here are some snapshots, mostly at 2.8 and ISO 1600,

all hand-held.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5 - the detail on the announcer lady's jacket looks pretty good to my eyes

September 14, 2008

Peter, Javier - thank you for your kind comments. I think this lens has a lot of potential even in my amateur

hands and look forward to playing with it much more. I would definitely think twice before spending $1600 on the

FA* 80-200 although it sure looks pretty racy in white :)

I was trying to shoot at ISO 100 as much as possible, here is some EXIF info for the above pic:

Model - PENTAX K10D

ExposureTime - 1/750 seconds

FNumber - 2.80

ExposureProgram - Aperture priority

ISOSpeedRatings - 100

ApertureValue - F 2.80

ExposureBiasValue - -0.50

MeteringMode - Spot

Flash - Flash not fired, compulsory flash mode

FocalLength - 200.00 mm

SensingMethod - One-chip color area sensor

SceneType - A directly photographed image

CustomRendered - Normal process

ExposureMode - Manual

White Balance - Auto

Contrast - Normal

Saturation - High

Sharpness - Hard

September 14, 2008

Thanks a lot for the tip, this in itself sounds like a good reason to upgrade to version 2.

September 14, 2008

I think I made a mistake by not taking the tripod and shooting at 200mm and f/2.8. At 100% crop, most of my soccer game shots show blur which I believe is due to lens shake. Will have to play with it on a tripod.. Anyway, here is a sample shot taken at 200mm and f/2.8, hand held. I do like the bokeh on this lens.

September 14, 2008

Well, ok, I found this in Lightroom:

===============================

Find photos using EXIF data

In the Library module, do any of the following:

- Choose EXIF from the left pop-up menu at the top of the Find panel and type the EXIF data in the search text

box.

- Select one or more EXIF items in the Metadata Browser.

- Click the right-pointing arrow next to an EXIF text box in the Metadata panel. The arrow is only available for

certain EXIF items.

===============================

This is useful but still quite a painful way to deal with EXIF tags. I am looking for a database-like interface

to image files, able to act on EXIF tags...

September 14, 2008

I've searched the forum but have not found a utility that would allow viewing or querying EXIF data on multiple

image files at will. For example, I would like to xecute a query like "select all image files where the lens was

this and aperture was that and focal length was this" - does anyone know if such utility perhaps? I have

Lightroom 1.4 but it does not seem to be able to do much with EXIF. Thanks!

September 13, 2008

Javier, your logic makes sense but I think it would take a skillfully written ad to convince a potential buyer to look at your for-sale gear this way. I believe non-pros tend to look for a bargain and are willing to take a risk rather than pay near-new prices for tested/used gear.

September 12, 2008

Btw, I tried the Sigma with the Kenko 1.5x teleconverter, it seems to have the right contacts. The aperture dropped to 5.6 and the AF was gone but I was playing with this setup in low light; will try again tomorrow in daylight. I don't expect the AF to work but even in manual mode I hope to get decent sharpness.

September 12, 2008

Peter, I was startled by the near-silence of the HSM AF mechanism, the difference between it and the old standard is striking, at least to my aging ears. I've not yet developed a solid opinion of the focus speed with the HSM but hope to do that tomorrow. One thing's for sure - the lens feels quite heavy relative to the 18-250 or even the old 300mm Takumars, and the Sigma 400/5.6 is feather-light compared to this "beast" :) But the glass looks wonderful, it holds a lot of promise; I sure look forward to using this one a lot.

September 12, 2008

Peter, thanks a bunch for the link, old firmware was the problem. Wow, what a relief, I won't have to send another piece of gear to be serviced :)

I am missing the football game but at least will be ready for my kid's soccer match tomorrow morning. Thank you again!

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Posts posted by andy_coach