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monochromekx

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Posts posted by monochromekx

    Right angle finder for K10D

    in Pentax

    Posted

    <p>RE: OOF lens corrected by OOF Finder, resulting in OOF image - when I set the diopter on my K10D I set it to make the LED display as sharp as possible, then I leave it. I have always been able to trust my MF lenses, and can make them slightly sharper than the focus confirmation indicates (it seems).</p>

    <p>When I correct my Oly Varimagni (seem to have to do this frequently) I again focus to sharp LED's.</p>

    <p>So far I have not encountered OOF pictures, but that <em>could</em> be because I use focus confirmation.</p>

    Yellow tinted Super Takumar elements

    in Pentax

    Posted

    Hi: I recently cleared an S-M-C T50/1.4 of the yellow tint issue - but I pointed the REAR element at the UV source.<p>Leaving the lens cap on the front, I wrapped the entire lens in foil (to reduce heat gathering by the black paint) save the rear element. I placed the lens on the rear cap in a south-facing window, angled upward to about the angle of the sun for that season.<p>Fully clearing the tint took three weeks.

    Panoramas - wrong track, and closer

    in Pentax

    Posted

    If you go the custom frame route try to find a wholesale frame contract/job shop in your area - most art/retail shops send their work out to a framer. If you have a business ID (any kind, not just photography) they will usually charge you the "reseller" price, about 40% of retail.

    500mm+ telephoto prime or zoom for K-Mount

    in Pentax

    Posted

    Try researching the Vivitar catadioptric (Solid Cat) mirror lenses (400mm,

    600mm, 800mm) if you don't mind donut bokeh.<p><A

    HREF="http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/lenses/solid_cat.shtml">

    Luminous Landscape on Solid Cat </A><p>

     

    <A

    HREF="http://cgi.ebay.com/Vivitar-600-8-Solid-Catadioptric-VMC-MINT_W0QQitemZ280202590818QQihZ018QQcategoryZ707QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247">

    Kevin's Cameras Solid Cat </A>

    Rumor of Pentax's Demise

    in Pentax

    Posted

    Well, I wouldn't want to contradict someone who has been on these boards since 1999, has over 10,000 posts and seems to have a rich background in photography, especially since I'm so new to the internet and digital side of photography.<p>Hoya/Pentax REPORTED sales from the imaging division are down 24% 4q 2007 vs. same period prior year.<p>IN the US when a company is taken over, especially when the integration process takes a year, reported sales and revenues look terrible for the old company - then they look terrific after the final merger, by comparison.<p>Sales and distribution relationships are changed; contracts are renegotiated; products are discontinued; financial statements are examined and losses intentionally allocated to the transition year; products are assigned to different reporting lines or divisions; all kinds of things happen internally that aren't revealed in the public revenue and earnings reports.<p>But what do I know.<p>I've only been here three months and I'm already tired of the negative threads and hysterical "sky is falling" mentality of many drive-by posters, and even long-time, knowledgeable people who should know better.<p>Show me something deeper than supposition and maybe I'll listen; until I see real announcements from Hoya to the contrary I will continue to believe Pentax is a valuable asset in need of capital, marketing and management expertise that Hoya plans to provide.

    Rumor of Pentax's Demise

    in Pentax

    Posted

    @Lindy: Looking carefully through the binder I believe it covers the years 1978 through 1981, all mixed together, with some expected sections missing. The cover is dark blue and has PENTAX POWER printed on the spine.<p>Unfortunately the monocular is not listed with the accessories.<p>I once let one get away on ebay - oh well.

     

    This binder has been on my For Sale table for over a year as I reallocate my Pentax investment to Limited lenses and things i use.

     

    Request my email from my workspace - -

    Rumor of Pentax's Demise

    in Pentax

    Posted

    @Lindy: I just happen to have a 1979 Pentax Dealer Catalog (ebaY $0.99).<p>To become or remain a Pentax dealer the minimum annual order total was $2000. The minimum single order was $50.<p>Times do change!

    Rumor of Pentax's Demise

    in Pentax

    Posted

    I haven't read anything like this recently on the other Pentax Forums I frequent. Not to say this is or isn't correct, but if it is, you just broke the news to the entire Pentax global community.<p>What I believe is going on is Pentax changed its US distribution focus from direct sales by Pentax reps to account sales to large distributors - and they rely on the distributors' sales forces.<p>If you are a regional camera store chain, large enough to buy direct but not a national chain, and you lost your Pentax rep, your distributor rep might not be up on Pentax yet, or the distributor might not have accepted any Pentax promotions yet (Canikon would try to prevent that).<p>All this means is Ned Bunnell needs to get this train moving - Walmart and Target aren't going to cut it in the higher-end DSLR market.<p>Pentax NA will get its act together, but it will take longer than we would like. I'd bet this Christmas season is uncommonly important.

    which flash is for me in the 250-400 dollar range????

    in Pentax

    Posted

    Hi Halil: I just got a Promaster 7500EDF-PX for my K10D last week for $229. So far it has all the P-TTL features I need and is programmed to work with Pentax functions. I don't need wireless triggering, but the manual suggests it can be fired remotely by the on-camera flash.<p>One interesting feature is a second, smaller flash on the front of the body that serves as autofocus assist in dim light, red-eye reduction pre-flash and can even provide front fill-flash while you bounce the main flash off something.<p>I think this is a fine value in a matched P-TTL flash.

    Choosing an old film camera

    in Pentax

    Posted

    Fredrik: Any of the cameras mentioned on these responses will serve the right photographer well - they are all fine cameras.<p>I'm surprised no one has suggested the K2 - the premier camera of the K-line, targeted at the mid-70's professional.<p>I have owned a KX since 1977 and an MESuper since 1984. Both have had a complete CLA and the KX recently had more of a rebuild.<p>The KX is a large,tank-like camera, fully mechanical, with DoF preview, self timer, MLU, and match-needle metering, etc. The MESuper is a smaller, electronic camera that can operate in manual mode when you want it to, but is at its best with Av automation. It was targeted at the enthusiast consumer, while the similar sized but mechanical MX was targeted at the professional.<p>At current prices you could buy both a KX and an MESuper!<p>I use the KX on a tripod with K-series manual lenses and the MESuper as a pocket camera with a 50mm f/1.7, and as a fun camera with a small number of 60's screwmount lenses and an adapter.<p>I use all these manual lenses on my K10D and my modern FA lenses in manual mode on my older cameras as the mood strikes me.

    Fan of DA 50-200 f/4.0-5.6

    in Pentax

    Posted

    Hin: I saw your Auto 11o kit - I actually had to look at my Excel spreadsheet lens roadmap to keep from bidding on that one!<p>The plan here is to have a rational set of manual K-series lenses to use with my KX as long as film lasts, and a versatile set of lenses for digital that will last as long as the K lenses have.<p>So my next three purchases are the three FA Limiteds.<p>I have a list of [FS] items that includes camera, fly fishing and model railroading things I no longer use - as I sell them I can buy each lens when I have the cash. If I stray, I have to "earn" that purchase back with another sale.<p>I shared this list with my wife, so it is real!!

    Pentax Collectible

    in Pentax

    Posted

    Chicago -- a specialized belt buckle manufacturing company - I don't have it in front of me right now, but I wondered that too - and there it was, cast right into the back of the buckle.

    Fan of DA 50-200 f/4.0-5.6

    in Pentax

    Posted

    First, I should have left a grin,<P>It is a wonderful lens with beautiful color rendering. I bought my lens on purpose at a steep discount from the B&H price, and I would have kept it - but I bought the other.<p>Truth be told, I love the 50-200 outside, but I was disappointed by underexposure in a well-lit (artifical light) indoor session right after I bought it. Maybe it was operator error, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I wouldn't keep the lens.<p>You must have lots of light in your home to get those shots of your son.<p>I am fully aware of the weight difference w/ my new-to-me lens, and the degradation in quickness - and the manual focus issues, as well, but my A 35~105 actually feels heavier at 615 g because it is so much shorter - I won't let that go, either.<p>Also please understand I still shoot film with a KX and these lenses are suited to that camera.<p>But I'm one of those people who haven't yet learned that a lens is just a tool - there is a certain pleasure in using a classic lens to take a picture, even if it is irrationally heavy, manual and in my case 23 years old.<p>Maybe in a year I'll buy a 50!200 for less than I just sold it for. If I were you I'd keep the lens and let go of something else.

    Fan of DA 50-200 f/4.0-5.6

    in Pentax

    Posted

    @HinMan: It really isn't that hard - I just sold that lens tonight - even if does render amazing color in sunlight.<p>Of course, I had cheated - earlier today I bought a a Vivitar (Komine) Series 1 70~210mm f/2.8~4 ver. 3 in shiny near-mint condition.<p>And I never promised to actually trim my kit - I knew better.

    Rip this photo apart

    in Pentax

    Posted

    Well, Jemal, let me chime in as a rank amateur who cannot yet offer technical or artistic advice - but - I was drawn to the shot and studied what you recorded before I thought about this comment. Maybe that is not an artistic response, but if that was your purpose it worked for me.<p>studying and modeling the mineral mining and railroad empires of the late 19th C. western US is another of my hobbies, so I was immediately drawn to the railroad cars in the center of the valley. This looks like a William Henry Jackson composition, and that is a compliment.<p>I know from reading that a landscape should have a foreground, a middle-ground and a background; that each should tell its own story but that they should complement each other, and that light matters. You certainly have the foreground - and it tells a story. You have the background and it tells a story.<p>To ME, because of my interest, the middle-ground tells a story, but that is to me and other nuts who have 200 B&W picture books on SW Colorado and CA in the 1880's (Banning, CA is an old mining town).<p>I might have tried this shot with a 24mm (I actually have one), but I really would have been interested to see a shot with a long telephoto, perhaps from a more oblique angle on the mountains if there was a different overlook, to compress the center area some. I might have tried to get down into town and contrast the puny efforts of man and railroad against the (relative) majesty of the mountains, from a lower angle.<p>How I would do that is beyond my skill right now, but those are my thoughts.
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