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johan_ingles_le_nobel

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Posts posted by johan_ingles_le_nobel

    Neotec Monopod

    in Nature

    Posted

    <p>Old thread, apologies for reviving but I was just doing some research on this monopod as I've just done a writeup on it myself. The way the OP describes it is exactly the way I carry it too, over the shoulder, on a ballhead (RRS BH_55). Perfectly safe because the pistol grip of the monopod is moulded over the monopod rather than a separate unit on top. Excellent setup, very fast to operate.</p>

    What if one hates AF540 flash

    in Pentax

    Posted

    <p>540 is better than 360, but since the K5 the Pentax flash system has been a royal PITA. I focus stack so use things like reversed enlarger lenses, which being "manual" lenses, Pentax has decided in its infinite wisdom to mean that even with the metz58af2, you can no longer do rear sync manual exposures from k5 onwards (used to work fine with k7). I did a few write-ups on my new site that might interest you although they're macro specific:</p>

    <p><a href="http://extreme-macro.co.uk/macro-flash-reviews/">http://extreme-macro.co.uk/macro-flash-reviews/</a></p>

     

    Couple of tips

    in Website Creation

    Posted

    <p>I just built a new website at <a href="http://extreme-macro.co.uk">http://extreme-macro.co.uk</a> and I wanted to pass on a tip to folks.<br>

    Lots of photography websites are just about galleries and are just photos. That's great to show clients but doesn't contain a whole load of text for the likes of google to grab and get you found on.<br>

    Secondly, if you do add text, add your name, google author markup and link it to your google+ account. That way you get a nice piccie besides listings in the search engine, which increases clickthrough by as much as 50%. If you're the only dude on the list with a pic you're the one they usually click on.<br>

    Anyhow, there you go - feel free to browse <a href="http://extreme-macro.co.uk">http://extreme-macro.co.uk</a> to tell me what you think!</p>

    <p>Thank you,</p>

    <p>- Johan</p>

    I guess we don't have to wait anymore....

    in Pentax

    Posted

    I just bought one of the last k5s, the price is a steal and it does stuff my k7 doesn't. I'm happy =)

     

    What I'm increasingly UNHAPPY about though, is accessories. Why do you suppose Pentax don't do such basic basic things as a decent

    TC or extension tubes? There's a clear market for these

    Lens Prices

    in Pentax

    Posted

    Hmmmm, don't know. I don't disagree with the thrust of the comments, that people think of Pentax as the 'quality' 'value'

    brand, heck I'm much the same. Even taking into account the price increases it's still a good brand for people who like to

    tinker and experiment. But I do admit that since I'm on an ultramacro binge at the moment there are all sorts of little ways

    in which Pentax is lacking, sadly =(.

     

    The FF point, not entirely sure about that myself. As in when the 645d was introduced at a whopping 10k the masses

    didn't rise up, and the funny thing is, by all accounts that model *hugely* outperformed the sales expectation of Japan hq.

    I personally suspect it depends what a FF would be compared to, the APSC bodies and their (lower) costs or the

    equivalent C/N bodies and their (higher) cost. And you know I think that just boils down to some sensible marketing

    (being a marketer myself).

    Lens Prices

    in Pentax

    Posted

    That's fair enough... but what I'm seeing is that since this announcement, the general thrust of threads seems to be to

    pick holes and find issues with Pentax and the various bits that comprise the system rather than find and write about

    reasons to be positive about it - not really what you want your users to be doing. Sure, people complain on all sorts of

    forums, but I've personally never seen it to this extent on Pentax forums before. Not an entirely unexpected reaction to

    price rises, but still, can't be great when your own users call your brand a bit iffy.

    Lens Prices

    in Pentax

    Posted

    What's interesting is that a lot of Pentax forums used to be full of threads waxing lyrical about Pentax lenses, extolling

    their virtues. Since this move, Pentax users the world over now seem to be falling over themselves pointing out the bad

    points about Pentax lenses. When your own brand adherents say your lenses are a bit rubbish then I think you've got a

    bit of a problem on your hands. Let's see what Ned writes about it.

    K7 and "debug mode"

    in Pentax

    Posted

    <p>pk-tether (which I just tried for the first time today btw, so not really experienced with it) seems to have a debug on and off option. maybe use that to switch it off. If that doesn't work you have to do a hack with modset files if I remember rightly, or it's some esoteric button combo. Google k-7 firmware hack, there's a site and in there somewhere are the directions you need (did it 2 years ago or so but forgot url sorry)</p>

    Stabilizing your camera - no tripod.

    in Pentax

    Posted

    Not really surprising though that people have slightly objected to this post. It does rather read like marketing. Anyhow,

    spam/advertising issues aside, some more detailed feedback.

     

    It's very much a rock/solid surface accessory, which is only a small part of my photography world. Not really useful on the

    beach or on the ground, for example, you need to have something to put it on. When I'm landscaping I can stick my tripod

    onto anything - mud, water, beach, rock, whatever, this will never replace that. And too rarely used to supplement it

    either. In terms of keeping it on, It looks a bit big and clumsy to keep on there all the time in the bag and I'm not sure if I'd

    want a thing with little feet like that on my cam if it's round the neck as it might snag something. Maybe als makes it all

    into an awkward shape to actually take a shot? Besides batteries also need changing so I'd still have to keep putting it on

    and off. Lastly I can't help but wonder if having to fine adjust 4 threads might not prove a bit of a chore, it looks like the

    adjustment is just done through twisting which I could see being a bit fiddly if you've got gloves on.

     

    Not sure if it's really a mass market accessory. I've seen bean baggy things with a male thread protruding on sale that are

    lighter and quicker to set up into position with the only difference being the level indicator, which is a hotshoe purchase

    (or on many tripods/cams already). Those bean baggy things cost less that £10, even at that pricepoint they don's sell by

    the millions but that's what you're up against. If I were you I'd go and talk to some outdoorsy and mountainy forums/retail

    chains/brands, see what else their users might like on it and then flog it there as a specialised product rather than mass

    product. Mass product you'll get no margin, and supply runs of this are likely to be low.

    K-5 upgrade dilemma and ranting

    in Pentax

    Posted

    <p>@Hin - not sure if there's anything I can say that'll help your dilemma really :). The K-5 owners I speak too all wax lyrical about its AF performance compared with previous models so I'm sure you'd gain from the purchase. One small observation, maybe you need to take that painful step and sell the 645 gear - ongoing costs with film are relatively expensive compared to digital. Bottom line... we can't have everything. I'd love a shiny new K-5 myself for high ISO and lack of noise reduction but my K-7 is still good enough and as much as I'd love to I can't really justify 2 bodies to myself :)</p>

    K-5 upgrade dilemma and ranting

    in Pentax

    Posted

    <p>@HinMan - hello Hin, nice to see you posting. When I reapproached photography after buying a K-7 I used to follow your blog a lot because your writings about cheap Pentax photo stuff was interesting. But, I thought that the K-x repair experience and your reaction were both regrettable. Anyhow, we all live and learn.</p>

    <p>Honest advice, examine what you think you actually really need a K-5 for. If it's the high ISO then consider a used K-x instead, much cheaper. For the price of one K-5 you can buy several K-xs so you never need to be in the 'dependant on one cam so crisis if it breaks' position again. If it's all the other bells and whistles not high ISO get a used K-7, again cheaper.</p>

    <p>In terms of funding/cost, I don't think there's anyone who is into photography who doesn't periodically say 'ouch', myself included. But, I think everyone deserves one hobby that keeps them sane and makes them vaguely happy in life. So for me, eventhough it costs money, well, it's worth it. And, Pentax was the right choice, because I get old stuff cheap so it's saved me thousands.</p>

    <p>My personal opinion, meant in the kindest of manners so don't take it badly - in addition to being a recovering 'gearhead' maybe you're also a bit of a 'publicityhead'. Ie you need interaction with others. Having the blog and being talked about with your Pentax adventures is important to you and, getting rid of the K-x, meant that tailed off as well. 2 thoughts with that - you'd have just as much of that with a used model as with a new one and maybe it's worth examining if it's not something that might be a good idea not to place a little less emphasis on :)</p>

    Field monitors with K-7

    in Pentax

    Posted

    <p>Pricey, but boy is it nice.</p>

    <ul>

    <li>As expected the HDMI field monitor takes over everything you'd see on the back of your cam which itself is left off. The output through HDMI is laid out differently to the output you see on the screen with Liveview.</li>

    <li>The signal is crystal clear, and on all resolutions. I compared the same monitor using composite in, and the difference is like night and day</li>

    <li>Beautiful high res display which can be stretched, squashed and viewed 1:1 pixel by pixel. You can lose all black bars that you want on 480, 720 and 1080.</li>

    <li>Sits comfortably on the flash bracket with a very thin rechargable battery on the back (comes precharged).</li>

    <li>Solid as a brick, and the anti-scratch screen fits beautifully.</li>

    <li>The focus assist feature works really well, as does peaking, false colour etc.</li>

    <li>In terms of helping you to focus, I found that I could use it to focus on a star at 20mm; takes a little practise and at first I was pushing EV up to +5 to find the damm thing, but after a while and using the various filters (notably inverting) it gave me a solution</li>

    <li>It has a split screen feature which allows for 2 simultaneously visible inputs, one via hdmi one via composite.</li>

    <li>The factory colour setting looks pretty far off the mark but there are all sorts of controls to correct it.</li>

    <li>The screen remote which I thought looked a bit gimmicky is in fact very useful.</li>

    <li>I'm betatesting SmallHD V2 - this adds an array of grids that you can superimpose over the picture, inc 4:3 cropping, a centre mark and other things</li>

    </ul>

    <p>I'll do a proper review in time but so far so good.</p>

     

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