scanar

wide again

David — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:34:58 +0000

After lots of dithering, I have been to Park Cameras again today, coming back with the Sigma 10-20, must be careful not to throw this one in a river! So far so good, it seems sharper than I expected, a bit soft on the right hand side wide open, but fine by f5.6 or f8. Not too much vignetting with my massive old linear polariser either. Bring on the wide expanses of Scotland!

a compact and a macro

David — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 19:03:43 +0000

Ebay can be a real treasure trove at times. Last Friday Dixons were selling off all the exdemo and returns stocks at pretty unbelievable prices. I dallied and missed a Nikon D90 and the 14 or so K7 that were going for around £200. I did jump for a Canon ixus200 (24mm, touch-screen etc) and a Pentax 100mm macro. There was a lot of nervousness in the forums http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1036&thread=35491311, but it does seem that most people got what they were expecting and are very happy! I certainly am. The compact canon is pretty decent, maybe not outstanding though. Close-up seems a bit hit and miss, but I need to play a bit more. It is certainly better than the old Lumix with a gutfull of dust. The Pentax macro is nice and sharp from the quick play I have had so far. This is possibly a better (sharper and faster) alternative to the 18-200 at 200.

winner II

David — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:00:08 +0000

I am on a roll. I won the Man in the Landscape competition as well. Need to be careful next time. Don’t want to upset the status quo.

more sales

David — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:50:12 +0000

I just sold my old Pentax DSLR and the free Pentax bag I got with the new one! Both amazon sales. I only put the DSLR on on Friday and was not really expecting it to move at that price. I had thought that I might hang on to it while mum was over, but I got as much as can be expected for it.

That 10-20 or 10-24 is getting nearer!

lba

David — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:44:49 +0000

I have the potential to succumb to LBA (Lens Buying Addiction, as coined by the on-line Pentax community). Since getting such fantastic results with the f1.4 50mm I have had all these years, I hankered for something fast and sharp in a longer focal length. I have just received a Tamron 135mm f2.8, it is the second I won on eBay. The first was mixed up by the seller and sounds like the receiver took advantage of the error. I got a Canon SLR instead (sent it on to the intended buyer). The Tamron I won this time is the old BBAR version so is from the late 1970s I think. 5-10 years older than the other, but it looks clean enough where it counts and seems to be working fine. It meters in Av mode with my PKA Adaptall 2 adapter, although I think this is the older Adaptall. It does not seem to stop down to f22 properly, but this is down to the mechanical stop down lever and could be fixed. So far, the few photos I have taken with it look sharp enough (see crop attached), so it could be a keeper.

remote

David — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:00:54 +0000

I wish Pentax were listening. I cannot believe the amount of correspondence about the crippled state of remote control on the Kx. Just one little socket would make all the difference to a lot of users. Since I posted the DIY article, the timer remote has overtaken the ND correspondence by a long shot. Go on Pentax, give us back our sockets!

winner

David — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:31:15 +0000

I have been going to the Partridge Green Photo club for a couple of years and moaning about not winning the monthly competition. Pearls, swine etc etc. Well last night it all changed, as I have now won! The theme was ’13′. As winner, I get to choose next months theme, which I have set as ‘Man in the Landscape’. Plenty of interpretation there.

fast fifty

David — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:05:35 +0000

I was out with the Pentax f1.4 50mm manual lens today. I was very happy with the results, considering the age and manualness of the lens, I thought they were pretty good and the fast aperture is a real boon. I think the image quality and clarity is better than any of the zooms I have at 50mm (if the focus and shake are up to scratch). I have a 24mm f2.8 manual lens as well, I think I need to try out that one next time. Not as fast as the fifty, but I think I need to explore it a bit.

It is pretty easy to adapt a manual lens to work as an auto aperture one. You only need to add the contacts to short out the ‘A’ sensing on the lens. With nothing else, the f1.4 is recognised as an f1.2, or you can add the necessary insulators to make it work properly. I had a fiddle with adapting the 50 to auto aperture. I have drilled the hole on the lens mount, but chickened out of drilling down to get a contact in. When it came to doing something permanent, I decided that the ‘press button for setting the exposure’ before taking the photo is not that bad after all!

Kx – did it

David — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 18:39:36 +0000

Park Cameras was busy and the staff were more stressed than they needed to be, but I guess they had had a bunch of anoraks like us all morning as well, so we will forgive them. Anyway, no time for fiddling or faffing, so I have bought it. So far, I love my new Pentax Kx! I have had a minor play, including a couple of shots outside in the cold. The image quality is much better, as expected. It is also slightly smaller and lighter than the K100d and the blue is nice and discreet. Not sure how thick that is though, so I can see it wearing off. Also, you can feel the silver line around the body where the seams do not quite match exactly. But the shutter is quieter and quicker. Drive mode is much quicker, as is the focus speed. I have had a play with the hdr and multi exposure modes, both look interesting. Video as well, although hand-holding is just as shaky as it was with the Lumix. A very easy transition, as it is so similar to the K100d, I just need to get used to what the buttons on the back are for quick access in the dark. Do I miss the exposure point confirmation, lack of cable release or cost of the D90? Not so far!

kx day

David — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 12:24:07 +0000

I have had a little money for Christmas towards a new camera, so the intention is to go to Park Cameras today and come back with a blue Pentax Kx. That is the intention, whether it works out like that is another matter.