martin_engineer

<p>Wow, that's amazing that Pentax still supports a 4 year old camera with firmware updates. Kudos Pentax!<br>

I think the failure rates for SDHC cards are low enough to be considered safe for non high end work.<br>

Now... there's only one more K10D update that we've all been waiting for..... the one that will allow screw drive on SDM lenses. Then the Camera will be an example of perfection at it's best.</p>

<p>Hey Dan,<br>

Your shutter shutter speed of 1/320 was fast enough to prevent camera shake, so that' defenatly not the issue. <br>

Looking at the image, or the EXIF data, can you tell what the camera focused on? Which focus point was locked, and onto what subject? <br>

A wild guess here. The camera locked on to the guy's ear, because it's few inches behind the girls and you might have been at F2.8, it's reasonable that the girls would be a bit out of focus. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the K-x does not show you in the view finder which of the focus points are locked on.<br>

The tripod test will tell you if it's the equipment. Tim Jackson has been kind enough to maintain a website that will help with your testing. <a href="http://focustestchart.com/">http://focustestchart.com/</a></p>

<p> </p>

<p>It all comes down to how much you want to spend....<br>

Sheldon, the ATI 5770 will support up to 3 monitors on it's own, so you don't need a second card for that.<br>

The Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black drives are pretty fast, so I would give a thumbs up to those. Yes, disk I/O speed is important for everything. I get to play with old disks that read/write at around 30 MB/sec and new ones like the Caviar Black drives that read/write at around 90-100 MB/sec... there is a very noticeable difference in performance. <br>

Intel Core i7-920 - - - $279.99<br>

Asus CrossFireX Motherboard - - - $184.99<br>

XFX 5770 - - - $159.99<br>

OCZ Gold 6 GB kit - - - $178.99<br>

WD Caviar Black - 1 TB - - -$104.99 <br>

WD Caviar Black - 1 TB - - -$104.99 * A second one for RAID 1 backup configuration<br>

Intel X25-M Gen 2 - - - $211.99<br>

CoolMaster Centurion Case - - - $49.99<br>

Antec TruePower TP-650 - - - $109.99<br>

Sony CD/DVD Burner - - - $22.99<br>

TOTAL = $1408.90</p>

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<p><br /></p>

<p>Whatever lens you get, if you have an extra $100 left over my suggestion would be to buy the nifty fifty... 50mm f1.8. Build quality is crap, but image quality great. You can't go wrong for the price. Every Canon photographer should have one.</p>

<p>I remember watching a youtube video where a Pentax K10d was put into a shower and then shown to still be operational. It made me feel more comfortable as a K10d owner to take it out in the rain with weather sealed lenses. <br>

I would ask a brave Canon user to do the same with a 7D, but I might get sued... so please don't put your 7D into the shower.</p>

<p>Hey Marius,<br>

If you can get an extended warranty from the retailer, the DA* 16-50 will probably convince you to sell your 12-24 and 18-55 kit. For me it was a daily workhorse... the lens that is always on the camera unless I have some special agenda. For me the f2.8 and weather sealing win over the 17-70 although I was uncertain when I walked into the store to buy one or the either. It almost permanently put my Sigma 10-20 on the shelf, and it pretty much replaced my 50mm f1.4 except for certain special times.<br>

I went through a couple of the DA*16-50's - returned the first because the zoom ring was not smooth, it would get tight as the second barrel extended. Returned the second one because of SDM failure. The third one was the magic charm. Still works flawlessly almost two years later. <br>

Not to burst your bubble, but I just had a DA*50-135 SDM die on me recently... I was very angry and swore that I would never recommend an SDM lens.. I wonder if someone from Pentax could tell us... If we go out tomorrow and buy another SDM lens, say a DA* 50-135... does it have an upgraded SDM with a lower failure rate... or is it the exact same type of unit with the same failure rate?</p>

<p>Hey,<br>

Check out this website, it's got a bit of info and some cool pics. I think it'll help.<br>

<a href="http://canonfieldreviews.com/7d-1-weather-sealing/">http://canonfieldreviews.com/7d-1-weather-sealing/</a></p>

<p>Hey Roger,<br>

If you wanted fast AF then you should have never switched to Pentax. That is one of the few things that are done badly here. I'm sure you know what a superb lense the DA* 50-135 is since you've used it. Unfortunatly Pentax decided to go cheap on the AF system. My take is that part of the problem is that Pentax uses a really old AF system in it's top of the line DSLR's and cheap SDM motors to top it off.<br>

I hope you got the extended warranty on your DA* as they're nutorious for SDM failure.<br>

Considering that you could have bought a EOS 40D/50D for the same price as a K20d... do you feel that the benefits that the K20d offers outweigh the shitty AF performance and burst rate?<br>

I recently got a chance to play with a Rebel XT and Sigma 17-50 F2.8 HSM. I dare say that it would beat a K7 and 16-50 SDM in an autofocus performance test.</p>

<p>If you're going to carry your camera for long periods of time, consider the 24-105 as it weighs considerable less than the 24-70.<br>

The 24-105 is 670g while the 24-70 is at 950 grams.</p>

<p>Nice,<br>

I thougth the water reflection was bokeh for a second there.<br>

Did you have to use some kind of adapter to mount it on your camera?</p>

<p>Dear Mr. Bunnell,<br>

Please ask the software / firmware department to enable screw drive focusing on SDM lens' that support it and cameras that should support it. This would elevate Pentax to the only camera company that offers a backup focusing system for the *rare* occasions when the SDM motors fail. <br>

The development and testing cost of the new firmware will surely pay for itself with all the new customers you attract with the redundancy argument. Also you will not loose so many customers do to catastrophic failure. In most cases your existing customers loyalty will be increased when their SDM motor fails and the screw drive kicks in.<br>

In closing I just want to say that I believe Pentax cameras to be superior to the competition in many ways. The few areas that Pentax lacks in, it could easily catch up to the competition with the next generation of SLR's. One principle that most photographers believe in is that reliability should not be sacrificed for value when you are selling 'professional' equipment.<br>

- Martin</p>

<p> </p>

<p>A Sigma 10-20mm (or similar) for wide rectaliniar would probably see much more use than your fisheye. <br>

Or if you replaced the kit lense with the DA* 16-50, I promise that you wll never miss the kit lens.<br>

Just make sure that you get an extended warranty on the DA* 16-50. I had mine replaced... TWICE. due to the SDM motor failing.</p>

<p>Thanks for the quick response guys...<br>

I used a pen to carefully lift the mirror up, it went very smoothly. I think the shutter is the culprit and not the mirror. Anyways, I've contacted Pentax Canada and they said I should bring it in for a quote on how much it will cost to repair. Might be up to $500 according to them. : ( </p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hey Everyone,<br>

I was out in the park today with my my wife, kid, dog and trusty K10D, and on the way home we stopped off to get some groceries, and I took a few pictures of my 1 year old in the back of the car... and after a few shots, my camera shutter wouldn't fire! I thought it might be caused by a low battery, so when I got home I changed the battery with a fresh one from the charger... still the shutter wouldn't fire. I tried the MF setting on the body, nothing. I tried changing lenses... still the shutter wouldn't go off. I tried the "Sensor Cleaning" option that is supposed to lift the mirror... still it won't go up. I'm getting freaked out now. <br>

I did a quick google search and it seems like my options are to either manually try to move the mirror myself to get it "unstuck" or to send the camera to Pentax for repair.<br>

Has anyone had any experience with a similar problem? Can you give me some advice? My K10d has under 45000 exposures. Still pretty young... not even old enough to have a mid life crisis yet!<br>

How much would a repair for something like this cost? <br>

Can I repair it myself? Should I just force the mirror to move with a pen or something?<br>

When I press the shutter release, I feel and hear the camera trying to move the mirror, but the mirror doesn't move at all.<br>

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>From a marketing / manufacturing point of view, it will always be cheaper to produce a crop sensor. There will always be a market for cheaper sensors.<br>

From a photographers point of view... as some of you have already said, the crop sensor does have advantages over full frame. <br>

- Smaller and lighter camera bodies<br>

- Smaller and lighter lenses<br>

- Longer reach with the same focal length lens<br>

- Less glass in the lens = Cheaper lenses</p>

 

<p>Check out the Induro AT114. Fair specs, good price and good warranty. I've use an Induro and find it's just as good as the Manfrottos that my friends use.</p>

 

<p>I second Douglas' suggestion. I've found some pretty sweet K mount lenses at pawn shops for unbelievably low prices.</p>

<p>Hi Andy,<br>

- File size is determined by compression level and the actual complexity of the image. For example a photo of a white piece of paper will be compressed easily and thus have a smaller file size than a photo of a persons face. You will not notice a difference in print's up to 8x10.... probably even larger.<br>

- the web-friendly rule of thumb is to keep file sizes as small as possible for their intended purpose. That's usually under 1 MB.... usually around a few hundred K.....100KB to 500 KB.<br>

- Take a file and save it using different settings. Save it with high compression, then with low compression... different file sizes etc.... see what's acceptable to you. Keep in mind that someone will eventually see it on a webpage and will not want to wait a long time for the image to load. If the page has 100 images it takes that much longer for the page to load. Most people wait 15 seconds and if it hasn't loaded by then, they'll go on to a different webpage.</p>

<p>I think that Daniel makes a very good point.<br>

When you take the higher megapixel image and reduce the size, you also reduce the noise.<br>

I'd like to see if that reduction of size and noise on a eos 7d from 18 MP down to 12 MP would equal or beat a Pentax K-x</p>

<p>Thanks for the great responses. The 35mm macro seems to be a winner among this crowd.<br>

But don't you guys find it weird having the front element so close to the subject when shooting macro?<br>

I agree with what David said about all lenses having their own personality, and I think that it's hard to choose a favorite with the DA Limiteds. It's like trying to choose only one person among a group of friends. I'd settle for the one who buys me the most beer... I guess that translates into the lens that gets you the most good shots. ( based on subject and style of shooting )</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I would like to read some opinions on the DA Limited lenses. If you could have just one... which one would it be, and why?<br>

My choice would be the DA40 mm, because it's small, fast focusing, and near 'normal' focal length. A great compromise for street, landscape and portrait shooting.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>If you have had this computer for 3 years, I would reinstall Windows. You can try to use recovery discs to do a full restore, or if you have a Windows XP disk I would do a clean install. If you are not sure how to do it, I'd give the neighbourhood geek $40-50 bucks to take care of it. Should take 2-3 hours max if you know what you're doing. - It will make your computer run like the day you first got it.<br />Do you use archival quality DVD? In my understanding normal DVD-R's deteriorate after 2-5 years, making the data unreadable.<br>

If you have any reason you dont want to wipe your current hard disk, you can pick up a new one for cheap and use that for your Windows installation. Both disks would be in your computer. Your old one would be fully accessible. ( $65 CDN gets you brand new 500 GB hard disk )</p>

<p>He shouldn't have any problems with the k20d. There is a lot to learn, but if he feels lazy for a little while, he simply has to turn the dial to the green mode. <br>

The only downside I can find is that the AF is just a tiny bit slower than that of Canon 40D and 5d mk2.</p>

<p>What are your requirements? Ask your self seriously... what do you really need that you don't have now with your current DSLR? <br>

Since image quality is very similar to a K20d, you might save some money by going that route. <br>

But the K-7 does seem like a really nice camera.</p>

<p>Getting an SLR is like joining a family. You're not just buying the camera and a lens or two. You're buying into a system of products, people and features. Look at the other products offered by the vendors, because you'll most likely want to get accessories and upgrades in the future. Once you've put in a significant amount of money into a Camera system, then you will be bound to that manufacturer's constraints and limitations in the future.<br>

Cost of ownership is another thing to consider. Look on the internet for all the lenses you might want to buy in the future. Then add up the prices of all the lenses and accessories you'd like to own. Is the price difference significant enough to sway your decision.<br>

When it was my time to choose I walked into the store. The Xti was too small and felt too palstiky, the d80 didn't have enough features, so I got a Pentax. </p>