dgoller

<p>Thanks, maybe this one can make me trust SR, so far i could never say for sure it actually helped.</p>

Since you don't have the K20D yet, the question about the manual lenses still stands, if you use a crop body already, just it won't be the K20D yet.

Give the Sigma 17-70 a fair consideration, it delivers good quality and the range is good.

I also like the build.

The color and contrast are nice, and i don't see anything the Pentax offers, the Sigma won't do, it only lacks the name.

 

Yeah, i like Pentax manual lenses, but i would ask you, how comfortable are you really using them on the K20D, if you feel you hit focus and exposure with them on the K20D as well as you did on your film body, maybe the Sigma's range won't interest you, but if you by any chance find (consistent) focusing and (consitent) exposure more work, then the Sigma will defenitely interest you.

 

At f/8 the 18-55 II is nothing to snear at either, but having owned the 18-55 II and 16-50/2.8 (a good copy) and looking at my needs, the Sigma 17-70 is a nice alternative that lays in between the two in cost, the saved money went towards a 70/2.4 (I call it the "who needs a 77/1.8"-lens), and the money saved from the 50-135/2.8 sale went for an excellent Sigma 30/1.4 ("who needs a 31/1.8"-lens)(there is no HSM for Pentax, don't get confused when you start looking at that lens, and for me, the softer corners do not matter for my use)

 

Hope this helps,

 

Daniel

What do you shoot the lens on normally? K10D? Do you notice the soft corners there too now or only on the K20D shots?

I am asking since it almost looks like Pentax may have allowed a little more variation in the K20D than i'd expect from a dslr, with the AF adjustment capabilities of the K20D in mind, and if my K20D is not adjusted my 16-50/2.8 looks horrible due to extreme front focusing. Adjusting that would be great, but some days i may be happy at -7 in the AF menu, some days it seems -4 will do it.

That's why i ask if the 16-45/4 looks normal on your usual body.

And i blame the K20D and not the lens since the 50-135/2.8 shows variations too.

And one more thing, looking at K20D at 100% makes things also much more obvious (which is why i try to avoid doing so like the pest :> )

Adobe Camera Raw, the raw converter PSE and PS use to convert, also lightroom revolves around ACR.

Fast stone isn't actually too bad, based on the open source dcraw.

Sounds like you want Lightroom more than PSE (if you like to stick with adobe, if not you'd want Bibble), to me a photo editor like Photoshop (Elements) is just not as useful as a powerful raw converter that allows me to work fast, does what i want and does not get in the way. "if I want exposure adjustment, noise reduction, cloning etc., I'll go to PSE", a good raw converter does those things for you w/o hopping into a fancyful (that's bait for CS3 owners) photo editor.

My idea was that if it's an older cam, you upgraded to 1.01, or if it's new it came with 1.01.

 

if you do have 1.01, get exiftool, available for linux, OSX and windows. and a simple commandline will take care of it until PSE6 (or the ACR it uses) is fixed for it.

Or check if you can upgrade the ACR for PSE6 (since most ACR users boasted how they had no issues like me with my software ;) )

Have you upgraded to V1.01 firmware?

Some programs did not like the Make string to change from Pentax Corporation to just Pentax. You can modify the Exif to say Pentax Corporation again until there is an upgrade for your software.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for sharing. Nice change from gear threads.

Since everyone seems to agree that 15MP is the max on APS-C sized sensors, and Canon declared 2008 as the year of dynamic range, i'd hope to see some of those dynamic range patents realized in future cameras, noise even more ridiculously reduced if the next cam is a K30D and not a [takeyourpick]MP FF Sensor K1D (and neither camera for a few months, cause if they come sooner my K20D suddenly will stop taking pictures. And i can't afford replacing it just yet.)

Noone suggests not having enough cards, just the balance between total space and number of cards to reach that total is what people typically argue. Above i somewhere mentioned loss, i didn't mean losing cards either, i mean failure of one card, the more cards your shots are spread over, the less problem this one card failing will cause you. think about one of one 8gb card or one of four 2gb cards or one of two 4gb cards. It's all just a question of personal taste at this point.

The adapter can be loose, like MAthew said, once you tighten the lens against he camera's flange, it all will hold nice and tight w/o any play.

 

The difference between Canon and Pentax is that M42 and Pentax K have the same register distance, so the adapter needs to fit inside since a flange would kill infinity focus. Canon's is shorter and the adapter has a flange to adjust for the difference.

 

The flange aside from adjusting the register distance has the side effect you can basically create a fully functional EOS Lens mount on any of the flanged adapters.

 

The genuine Pentax M42 to K adapter can not get tight w/o a flange, so it will not get tight until you mount your lens in it.

 

I would only use the Pentax M42 adapter.

Card reader: I bought my Sandisk Ultra II with included MicroMate, works reliable and is faster than the 2 previous ones i had.

 

SD Card: I am fine with 4GB, allows me 167 raw images per card on my K20D. Plus i rather lose 1 of 2 4GB cards than 1 of 1 8GB cards.

 

Grip: It's a good addition if you plan on shooting a lot in portrait orientation, plus it stores the remote and an extra SD card (i love leaving my SD card in the reader, so this is going to be very useful for me) plus after buying the 50-135/2.8, i now understand why people say they buy grips to balance the camera.

 

If you got the money for the 77, grab it, look if you really rather have the 43 or the 31, don't ignore the 21,40 and 70 though :)

 

Software alternative, unless you did order LR already: K20D V1.00 + Bibble 4 is great, if you upgrade to V1.01 you will have to fix the EXIF until Bibble is updated for the change in the Make string (Changed from PENTAX Corporation to PENTAX (with padding))

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Universal_Serial_Bus#Mystery_micro_plug

I meant to suggest to use any mini-usb ot usb cable, which is not the connection the K20D uses, i had my old 30D

in mind, so yeah w/o your camera cable, a good usb reader would be a good investment, if even a micromate won't

read them right, replace the card asap. Sounds more like a hardware problem, if they were erased on a properly

working hardware platform, you could use recovery software, which i don't think will help when the hardware is

acting up.

May the cable finding luck be with you.....

On a side note, i have no idea where my cable is, but the cable from my old coolpix just plugged in and connected

the camera properly, maybe you can find a cable at a radioshack tomorrow, since this must be an even tinier usb

standard.

I think i mixed up my cameras there, sorry.

Not clear, have you tried plugging in the K20D directly into your computer/laptop and download the rest this way?

And then get a good card reader. I bought an Ultra II with the micromate, fast and works well.

Y'all ought to try Bibble With Andy Pro plugin for B&W conversions.

Michael: You could recommend a little nicer lenses (40 pancake being excepted), settling and the realizing one has settled is what causes LBA in the first place.

I meant with that "I was done taking chances with my film in other people's hands" ;)

James P Jones: I almost went the scanner route hadn't it been for labs giving me prints that showed negatives drying on each other, not sure how they managed it, but they did it, no scanner is going to fix that.

 

Mel: As far as the K20D goes, i think it is worth every penny, i can't compare it to the K10D with it's CCD sensor, i do love to compare it to my former Canon 30D with its CMOS sensor and i'm loving the K20D.

Although i do love tinkering about with RAW files (as in come back for another look after i am long done delivering prints), i was never this happy with jpegs straight out of camera.

Many should appreciate the "hands off" approach to forced noise reduction on ISOs under 3200.

What surprised me the most is to see a company supporting all their old lenses on their latest DSLR. Add the M42 to K adapter from Pentax for even more support, It might irk some to need a flash with "Auto mode" if you want to use flash with pre-A lenses, which doesn't come into play with studio strobes or available light photography.

Considering the K20D's resolution, and your background in MF, i would expect you enjoying Limited lenses on the K20D, or if the budget for it is there even Zeiss ZK lenses.

 

Did i mention the K10D would leave you w/o something you might expect to find? No PC Sync to plug into. The K20D has it. (which may not matter if you use wireless triggers that you have on your hotshoe)

I never owned a K10D, i did however see people mention skin colors when talking about why they prefer the K20D, couldn't find a reference right now, maybe you may want to ask/search on pentaxforums.com

 

Hope any of this is useful,

 

Daniel

The 24-70 gave me better image quality compared to the 17-70, I owned the 17-70 briefly on a Canon 30D, and used the 24-70/2.8 until i sold the camera.

It's good at any aperture, sweet spot is around f/5.6.

 

While i disliked my 28-135 on a crop cam, having 24mm was useful indoors.

The 18-24mm range you can easily cover with a kit lens stopped down if all you use this range for is landscapish shots.

 

I am trying to decide for myself what zoom to get, i was aiming at the pancake trio, but found myself enjoying the kit lens downtown recently and am looking at a 2.8 zoom now.

 

I can't make up my mind between all the 16|17|18-50mm choices, consider the 24-70 still only if the 24-60/2.8 is not as great, it lacks the macro designation of the 24-70/2.8 DG Macro, which is good, no zoom makes a good macro, and the Adaptall Tamron 90/2.5 on K-mount is fantastic (i know, "only 1:2") (It was $110 used with $30 for the mount)

 

So while i am kind of in the same boat as you, i know the 24-70/2.8 is a great lens, and the Sigma 17-70 is not as great (while i think it may still outdo my 18-55 AL II (which stopped down is fun), i'd rather get the 24-70 again)

 

Hope this helps,

 

Daniel

I like my Metz 48 AF-1 on the K20D, seems all i want it to do is there, nicer single button release for the bounce head (Compared to the SIgma EF 2 button stuff), plastic feel less hard and thus i trust i won't break the hotshoe on this one, on an EF-500 Super it eventually cracked off.

Electronically the Sigma flash did no disappoint either on a Canon 30D, just the build is flimsy.

17-70 is a nice range...

 

I don't *need* weather sealing, it would be a nice extra.

16-50 is a very classic range if we look at the equivalent angle of view.

 

f/2.8 can be useful but is not an absolute must.

I read about the Tokina 16-50 before, so i guess i could look at that, too bad comparisons are not cross system comparable, so i'd have to look at a few lenses i know on nikon to get a real idea.

 

No MTF chart is every really telling you the whole story, which is why i figured i ask here, to get feedback from people who use the lenses.

I often buy lenses to see if i like them and if not sell them at a slight loss, which is usually less than what renting that lens would cost me, but $670 is out of the "Heck, i try it." range.

 

'Thanks,

 

Daniel

I'll try to keep myself short, i deserve a cookie if i actually can. ;)

 

I do admit i like the Photozone.de reviews of lenses, my problem is, they have

the 16-45 and not the 16-50 there.

 

Although i plan on slowly adding until i have the pancake stacker (instead of

continuing with manual lenses), I do find myself using the 18-55 AL II more than

i expected and of course now regret not having gotten one of the faster zooms

(and consequently already plan on selling it).

 

If i knew the 16-50 is optically satisfying i might like to get that one even

before the 21/3.2 and 70/2.4, would be nice to lose the excuse of "i'd take

pictures right now, if it only didn't rain/drizzle/*" since it complements the K20D

 

So can anyone who upgraded from a 16-45 to a 16-50 share if they felt it was an

upgrade also optically or mostly only noticable to have the extra stop, SDM and

weather/dust sealing? (Is the 16-45 CA as bad as reviews say? How is the 16-50

with CA?)

 

And/or can pancake owners who also own the 16-45/16-50 share how those lenses

compare optically?

 

Thank you for your time reading this,

 

Daniel

Any inconsistencies a screen could cause could be mapped out and corrected in firmware as much as with sending out new screens for self installation, considering the cam is actually designed to have them user replaced.

A self install screen would also be a far smaller logitical hurdle than a recall and replacement in their service department.

If i owned a company i'd try to satisfy customers with firmware options first due to the lower cost obviously.

 

If this does not silence the voices, a user installable screen to fix the issue physically would be next.

 

But first a company has to know there is a problem with their product.

 

"Self medication" by buying a screen on our dime is not going to open their eyes to the issue.

I guess this is more of a petition/request than a question.

If you know your K10D / K20D does not meter properly in stop down metering and

varies from under, correct to over exposures based on the lens speed and

aperture used,

then i'd like to ask you to contact pentax support and ask/request to see this

fixed/improved in an upcoming firmware release.

 

They are both great cameras, and still beat many of their competitor's cameras

in many ways, but if you as a company claim your cameras support any old lens

you ever made for this format, you may as well show it with excellent support

through firmware updates as well.

 

If you agree, contact Pentax and request a fix, if not, thank you for your time

reading this.

 

Daniel Goller

 

http://www.pentaximaging.com/customer_care/contact_customer_service

 

Click the "Email" or "Contact Customer Service Web Form" links and enter the

required info there with your request.