wpoupore

<p>Speaking as a Canadian, I found Justin's comment rather humourous. You give our's far more credit that it deserves. If they were inspired by the American counterpart then they forgot to copy one of the most important ellements. As for which part that is, well you're on your own for that one. ;-)</p>

<p>It doesn't matter where the Pentax factories are when comparing U.S. to Canadain prices as long as the factories aren't in either of those two countries. I think it's safe to assume Pentax doesn't have one factory that ships to Canada and a different factory that ships to the U.S. I would presume cost from the factory to Pentax Canada and Pentax U.S. is the same and while I could understand the cost of doing business may be higher in Canada, once you adjust for exchange rate some of the lenses in Canada are close to 50% more than in the U.S. The worst example probably is the 50-135 which I is $750 U.S. from B&H and in Canada it's now priced between $1,600 and $1,800 CAN. Prodigital doesn't have their new price online yet and it's garanteed to be better than Henrys, Vistek, eat al, but it's still going to be about 50% more than the U.S. price once you adjust for exchange rate.</p>

<p>Well it's no April fool's joke. Those price increases are real. Henrys brick and mortar stores and Vistek have raised their prices to bring them in line with Aden Camera. Fortunately, Henrys' web site still had the old prices today. When I pointed out the difference to the salesperson in the store they had no problem giving me the web price once they had double checked that the SKUs were the same. </p>

 

<p>If you're going to buy the 31 from Henry buy it TODAY!</p>

<p>The 31 is one of the lenses getting hit with a big price increase in Canada. Henrys still has it on their web site at $950 but it won't be for much longer. Aden Camera, which is typically cheaper than Henrys, now has it at $1250, and Vistek has it at $1400! Henrys has put their prices up in store but the web site hasn't been updated yet.</p>

<p>Can't tell you what their new price for the 31 will be as it wasn't one that I was shopping for. FYI - right now they will honour the lower web site prices in store.</p>

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<p> </p>

<p>

 

 

<p>Not that the OP (me) was asking about exchange rates, but it would be a little inaccurate to say the exchange rate has been around 1.25 "since forever". At times in the first half of last year the $CAN actually traded above par with the $U.S. And if we go back a little closer to "forever" for a long time we Canucks could only dream of "only" paying 1.25 CAN per $U.S. </p>

<br />

<p>Getting back to the present, at the moment it's $1.2374 CAN per $U.S. If we were to take the price for the 50-135 at B&H, which is currently $749.95 U.S. and convert it we would get $927.99 CAN. Recent rices for the 50-135 in Canada ranged from $828 (ProDigital) to $1,000 (Henrys and Vistek). All of which seems quite reasonable in comarison to the price at B&H. Now, if Aden Camera has it's numbers right (they already upped their prices) the new price for the 50-135 is $1550. That's more than 50% more in Canada. Unless you Americans are about to get a hefty dose of sticker shock, that's one heck of a price differential to maintain between to countries that, geographically speaking, are rather close.</p>

<p>Now nobody is more in favour of a company's right to sell their products at whatever price they want than I am. And equally we all have the right to decide not to buy a company's products if we don't like the price. Having said that, I would be very interested to hear Pentax's rational for such a large price differential, especially since they have not felt the need for it until now.</p>

 

 

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<p>The prices have already gone up at one dealer here in Toronto (Aden Camera) I don't have their exact old price so I'm estimating their old price based on how they typically compared to other stores that haven't put their prices up yet. Bare in mind that both old and new prices are in CAN $.</p>

<p>DA* 50-135, old price $900, new price $1550</p>

<p>DA 12-24, old price $700, new price $1150</p>

<p>DA 35 Limited, old price $450, new price $700</p>

<p>FA 43 Limited, old price $450, new price $700</p>

<p>Obviously a little bigger increase than what has been seen at B&H lately. I'm curious to see if you get hit with similar price increases south of the border when April 1st comes around.</p>

 

<p>Has anyone seen any sign that the massive price increases hitting Canada for some of the Pentax lenses are also going to hit the U.S.? Is it time to satisfy the LBA before while the buying is good?</p>

 

<p>

Anyone have both the FA35 and the DA40? I already have the DA40, and I'm wondering if there is enough difference between them that it's worth having both if you never shoot film?

</p>

<p>Wow! Thanks for all the detailed responses. At this point I'm leaning towards the Manfrotto 055XPROB legs and 488RC2 head. Looks like a solid combination. </p>

<p>John mentioned spikes for the legs and a second quick release plate. Any other "must have" accessories for a tripod. I do plan to get a remote release.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the help<br>

<br>

<br>

Bill</p>

<p>Wow! Thanks for all the detailed responses. At this point I'm leaning towards the Manfrotto 055XPROB legs and 488RC2 head. Looks like a solid combination. </p>

<p>John mentioned spikes for the legs and a second quick release plate. Any other "must have" accessories for a tripod. I do plan to get a remote release.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the help<br>

<br>

<br>

Bill</p>

<p>

 

<p>Heaviest would be a K10D with grip and my Sigma 17-70 for the moment. My primes are all limiteds so they don't weigh too much (12, 40, 77) Down the road I will be adding a macro lens but haven't determined which one, and I can see perhaps the DA* 50-135. I've got a Sigma 70-300 for longer shots and don't see it being replaced by anything heavier.</p>

<p>It would be for landscapes, wildlife, macro, and some car racing where I'd be carrying it around the track for the day so weight is a consideration. I don't envision flying anywhere with it. I had been hoping that $300 would buy at least a reasonable quality tripod and head. Am I dreaming?</p>

<p>Bill</p>

 

</p>

<p>A follow up to my own question. I see the Flashpoint doesn't include any sort of ball head. What would be an appropriate match for this tripod? My experience with tripods doesn't extend up into the range where the ball head is a separate item so this is new territory for me.</p>

<p>Bill</p>

<p>I know there have been some good posts in this forum in the not too distant past on tripods, but not having found how to limit a search to a particular forum using search isn't very helpful finding them. Anyway, I'm looking for a good basic tripod. It doesn't need to survive hurricane force winds and it doesn't need to be so small and light it would fit in my back pocket. Just light enough that it won't be left in the trunk, and sturdy enough that I won't regret having bought it. I do have an old post of Justin's recommending the Adorama Flashpoint and it sounds like the sort of thing I'm looking for. Wondering if anyone can suggest similar tripods I should be looking at?</p>

<p>Bill</p>

<p>Renato,</p>

<p>With the current state of the CAN$ that $300 becomes $360 CAN. Add shipping and that price from B&H is probably going to be pretty darn close to the $400 Duane mentioned. Ah, for the good old days when the Canadian dollar was worth more than the USD. Last August or thereabouts wan't it?</p>

<p>Duane, where did you find the FA 35 for $400? I haven't seen a listing for it in any of the places I'm familiar with.</p>

<p>Rose >> isn't windows better? :)<br>

<br /><br>

No :-)</p>

<p>More to point:<br>

iPhone ≠ Mac<br>

Windows Mobile ≠ XP or Vista</p>

<p>Since a phone is now much more than a phone, what is right for one is not necessarily right for another. Best thing to do is to go to a store are try them both out. You may just find you don't like any of them!</p>

<p>If global warming is the culprit then you can look forward to an increase in the number of snow cover days because we've already started back into another period of global cooling. I'm sure Londoners are looking forward to the Thames freezing over again.</p>

 

<p>Justin,</p>

<p>Where did you order to cards from?</p>

<p>

 

Micha,

<br />

Is it that you don't find the pictures from your Pentax to be as vibrant as other's you've seen? I've heard it said the Pentax chose a more "natural" tone for the default jpeg settings than other manufacturers. As a result to some the colours can look look dull compared to the over saturated colours that are produced by default from other camera brands. To be clear, I have not used any other brand DSPR, so I have absolutely no way to say if this is true or not, it's just what I've heard/read.

<br />

 

</p>

<p>I'd agree with R.T. regarding the white balance. Still lots of room for improvement. Manually switch it to Tungsten and the results are much better.</p>

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<p>It was not my intent to suggest that the stickers are acceptable. I was merely trying to address that preceeding comments regarding the features of the camera. My apologies if I failed to make that clear with my final point.</p>

<p>In the interim, I have taken a look at the kit lens included with the camera. I've been luckier than R.T. because the stickers on mine are as firmly adheered as I've ever seen on any product. Personally, I'd prefer the way they have done the Limited lenses with no stickers or badges, but then I've been known to strip all the badges off my car just to give it a nice clean look.</p>

<p>Beyond the stickers, my initial impression of the K-m has been a bit different than R.T.'s. I've found the menus to be clear and easy to follow, and for example had no problem finding where to reprogam the help button and the AF button. I think the info provided by the help button would actually be helpful to someone not already knowledgeable about photography. For example, for the Landscape scene mode it says "Expands in-focus area and enhances colors in foliage and the sky." If you're someone who would benefit from scene modes I expect you would benefit from this kind of information. More advanced photographers would find this completely pointless, but then you can reprogram the Help button to do something useful. My girlfriend, who is about as much of a non-camera person as you could find, found the information on the LCD display on the back much easier to understand than the top LCD display on the K10D, and overall found it the most inviting of the bodies I've got.</p>

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</p>

<p>

 

<p>I hope everyone isn't forgetting that this is Pentax's new entry level model and not the re-incarnation of the *ist D that some of us would like to see. This camera is intended for people who would likely be intimidated by all the controls/features on a K10D/K20D, so it is missing some things that most people on this forum would not want to do without. But I think they have done a good job leaving in what is appropriate to the target market. I think the fact that some of the more advanced features are off by default if a good idea. (program shift, AF separate from shutter)</p>

<p>A couple of comments from the very short time I've had to explore mine:</p>

<p>- as Andrew said, you can turn on program shift but without a green button the easiest way I've found to get it back to the default exposure is to switch it out of Program mode and then back in.</p>

<p>- I haven't found any mention of hyper-anything in the manual</p>

<p>- the help button can be reprogrammed to do Digital Preview, Custom Image, Digital Filter, or as a Raw button</p>

<p>- AF button can be reprogrammed to:<br>

> AF with AF still active on the shutter release<br>

> AF and disable AF on the shutter release<br>

> AF with shutter release button is disabled when the AF button is pushed <br>

> to be AE Lock</p>

<p>- I haven't taken the new kit lens out of the box so I can't comment on it, but I can say that quick-shift focusing works with other lenes</p>

 

 

</p>

<p>I don't have a link handy, but when Pentax first announced that they would be making lenses that would be SDM only they made a statement about what their policy was. Policies can change, but as I recall this is what they said:<br /> <br /> 1) no new lenses that are both screw drive and SDM<br /> 2) for reasons of cost and weight future lenses would be either screw drive or SDM<br /> 3) the example of Limiteds continuing to be screw drive to keep size and weight down was given<br /> 4) all cameras would continue to support both screw drive and SDM<br /> <br /> <br /> Justin, if your *ist D ever dies and you want a new compact body, I've found the my Limiteds (21, 40, 77) work very nicely with the K-m.</p>

<p>Waterproof is definitely a great thing to have in a P&S, especially if you have children. I got some great shots of my son at the waterpark at the Toronto Zoo last summer, and they were only possible because I was able follow him with the water spraying all over us. I suppose I could have used the K10D, but it's just a little too big to take down the water slide.</p>

<p>Here is a link to a post on Ned Bunnell's blog comparing the size of the K2000/K-m to the *ist D, k100D, and K200D:<br /> <br />http://nedbunnell.blogspot.com/2008/09/k-m-k2000-body-comparisons.html<br>

<br /> I just got my K-m and can say that the small differences in the shape of he hand grip on the back and front make a noticeble difference in how easy it is to hold one handed compared to my *ist DL2. With the DA 40 it fits comfortably in the pocket of my winter parka, making it a great choice for street photography. And that was enough to get me to give in to temtation and buy the DA 21 Limited.</p>

<p>That's a sweet deal on the 24-60. Unfortunately for those of us who live beyond the borders of the U.S.A. Amazon won't ship to us. Someone could probably have a nice little business acting as a middle man for all the great deals that the manufacturers won't let Amanzon ship out of country</p>