Pentax general discussion

[Gianna'sPapa]

Ok so here come my questions...I just got my new purple camera yesterday! Now I was wondering what bag do you use to cary your camera in the parks? I want something that can act as my purse as well (I carry a small purse think along the lines of a mini-hipster by VB, so I don't need a lot of room). I will have my camera, only the kit lens, extra batteries, and extra memory to carry around, so I don't need a big bag. Do you use the strap that comes with the camera or do you have any suggestion on something better. Mine looks like its just going to irritate my neck. Thanks for any suggestions you might have.

Let me take a crack first at the easier (IMHO) of the two questions, the strap. There are several manufacturers that make good straps, Op Tech gets good reviews and they are reasonably priced. I used Lowepro until my equipment got heavy and I switched to the Black Rapid (RS4). The Black Rapid is more expensive than most. The DW still uses Lowepro. Others may have more/other opinions.

As far as bags, they are so individual. Half my camera storage space is filled with bags of various sizes and styles. I would recommend you find a brick & mortar camera store and try them all to see what works for you. Currently, we use a Lowepro Slingshot 200 AW and a Lowepro Fastpack 200. I prefer the slingshot style, but so does the DW, so you know which one I carry, the Fastpack (backpack style). Crumpler, Tamrac are other brands that gets good reviews. There some bags that look like purses also. Again, I recommend you find a store and try as many as possible.

 

[Groucho]

Woo-hoo. Just bought a K-X in purple after much deliberaton on what my first DSLR would be. Can't wait for it to get here on Wed. Any tips or advice for a newbie DSLR user would be greatly appreciated.

Congratulations! Mrs Groucho would have loved the purple one but it wasn't being sold in the US yet when we got her red one. Oh well, she still loves the red too.

As for bags - best is to go to a proper camera store, where they have a real selection, and try them out. Decide which is the best style. If you don't fall in love with one, try looking at the online places (Amazon, B&H, Adorama, etc) to see what other options are available in the style that you like.

 

[liriel]

Congratulations! Mrs Groucho would have loved the purple one but it wasn't being sold in the US yet when we got her red one. Oh well, she still loves the red too.

As for bags - best is to go to a proper camera store, where they have a real selection, and try them out. Decide which is the best style. If you don't fall in love with one, try looking at the online places (Amazon, B&H, Adorama, etc) to see what other options are available in the style that you like.

I love the purple, its awesome and distinctive.

Yeah I figured I should go look at some. The closest real camera shop is at least an hour from me though, so finding time to go in the next 13 days before I head to WDW is going to be more tricky. I might just get something not too expensive off amazon and then go from there if I don't like it.

 

[atsolomon]

Hi all,

I just saw this on a photo blog I read and thought of this thread (though I'm a Canon owner). There are rumors that Pentax will replace its dSLR line with "EVIL" cameras only (electronic viewfinder interchangable lens). I believe elsewhere this is called micro four thirds.

http://www.petapixel.com/2010/10/12/olympus-ditching-dslrs-in-favor-of-evil-cameras/

--Adam

 

[ukcatfan]

Hi all,

I just saw this on a photo blog I read and thought of this thread (though I'm a Canon owner). There are rumors that Pentax will replace its dSLR line with "EVIL" cameras only (electronic viewfinder interchangable lens). I believe elsewhere this is called micro four thirds.

http://www.petapixel.com/2010/10/12/olympus-ditching-dslrs-in-favor-of-evil-cameras/

--Adam

You might want to re-read that. It is Olympus that is doing that, not Pentax. Pentax does not have any EVIL cameras at all and none planned that anyone knows about. The micro 4/3 was developed by Olympus and Panasonic. Pentax had no part in it and those lenses will not work on any Pentax cameras.

 

[ZuZugal]

Hi everyone-

I'm hoping for some help on finding the best Pentax camera/lens for sports. We locally have Creve Coeur Camera stores and have spent some time looking at the Canon and Pentax, and for a number of reasons are really leaning toward the Pentax K-7. (Main reason is the whisper shutter. We will be taking lots of golf shots and need a "quiet" camera for the courses.)

Sports we will be shooting are baseball/golf outside and basketball/hockey inside. There will be a BIG learning curve no matter what we get, but we want to make sure we are starting out on the right foot.

Thanks.

 

[atsolomon]

You might want to re-read that. It is Olympus that is doing that, not Pentax. Pentax does not have any EVIL cameras at all and none planned that anyone knows about. The micro 4/3 was developed by Olympus and Panasonic. Pentax had no part in it and those lenses will not work on any Pentax cameras.

Boy, is my face red! Where are the Olympians?

It's funny, I was talking about this during the carpool to work today. I was shocked that the company that made the K-1000 was giving up on SLRs. I'm very glad that I was wrong.

:-|

--Adam

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

Hi everyone-

I'm hoping for some help on finding the best Pentax camera/lens for sports. We locally have Creve Coeur Camera stores and have spent some time looking at the Canon and Pentax, and for a number of reasons are really leaning toward the Pentax K-7. (Main reason is the whisper shutter. We will be taking lots of golf shots and need a "quiet" camera for the courses.)

Sports we will be shooting are baseball/golf outside and basketball/hockey inside. There will be a BIG learning curve no matter what we get, but we want to make sure we are starting out on the right foot.

Thanks.

First off, let me preface my remarks with, I am and have been using Pentax equipment for many years, both film and digital. I really like their equipment. Now the reality, if you plan on shooting sports professionally you will be in the minority with Pentax. I work with some of the best sports photographers in the world. These folks have more knowledge in their little finger than I do in my entire body. The majority of them use Canon or Nikon. Pentax has concentrated its efforts on APS-C with lenses to match that format. They do not make the long, fast glass that Canon and Nikon do. An example is the 70-200 f2.8, which every sports photographer seems to have in their bag. For the Pentax mount you would have to buy third party, Sigma or Tamron. The good thing about Pentax is that the stabilization is in-body making all lenses stabilized and cheaper than their Canon/Nikon counterparts. We could go round and round on who makes the better lenses, so I'm not going to go there. The other weak points to the Pentax system, in their high end cameras, has been the lowlight auto-focus and the high ISO usability. This was recognized as a problem with the K10, introduced four years ago and the camera I use. It got slightly better with the K20 and better again with the K7, but never matched the Canon/Nikons. That is until the recent introduction of the K5. Preliminary reports indicate all these weaknesses are now strengths of the Pentax system. This is the camera I am waiting to purchase. One of the greatest attributes of the Pentax system (IMHO) is that it has superior weatherproofing with lenses to match. Unfortunately, for sports, the longer Sigmas and Tamrons are not weather resistant.

Now with all that, will I continue to shoot sporting events with my Pentax? Yes I will. I love the ergonomics of the Pentax equipment over the others and am just waiting for the price to drop from the MSRP introductory price to pull the trigger on the K5.

Note:The Creve Coeur prices for the K7 seem a little high, $1,099 body only vs $889 at Adorama and B & H.

 

[Daisy14'sDH]

I havent been around much lately been preparing for Halloween!

Heres a video I shot with the K-x, you can watch it in 720p (bottom right corner lets you change resolution). Shot with my Tamron 18-250, which is the only zoom I carry with me anymore.

My Halloween Decorations

Things I learnt while trying to use video.

1) Turn Stabilization OFF!

2) Use Manual Focus

3) Keep 2 hands on the lens. One on the Zoom Ring and the other on the Focus ring.

4)Use a Monopod or tripod to acheive Tip #3 lol

I really havent played with the video option on the Kx much, but will more often now that I see how simple it is to use. I didnt like the videos I made the first few times cause there was sooo much noise from the stabilizer the zoom and the autofucus, not only was the noise a problem but it was slow and frustrating.

Does the camera select an ISO for me to use in video? What about aperture? Just curious, I never thought about it until now and I dont feel like digging the manual back out! Lol

 

[Groucho]

Does the camera select an ISO for me to use in video? What about aperture? Just curious, I never thought about it until now and I dont feel like digging the manual back out! Lol

I believe that ISO depends on how you have it set (manual to a specific value or auto) and the aperture varies. You can lock the exposure, which is a good idea, otherwise if you're moving the camera around, you might be big variances in brightness as camera passes over lighter and darker objects.

 

[Daisy14'sDH]

Thanks Groucho. I'll play with it more tomorrow, I want to get it figured out in time for Halloween so we can get some good video of our little show...

 

[MinnieForMe]

I'm just curious because everytime I go to purchase one it seems to be backordered or out of stock. Is the Pentax DA 18-250 mm still in stores?

Thanks.

Michelle

 

[ukcatfan]

I'm just curious because everytime I go to purchase one it seems to be backordered or out of stock. Is the Pentax DA 18-250 mm still in stores?

Thanks.

Michelle

I am pretty sure it was discontinued over a year ago. It is basically the same lens as the Tokina I believe.

 

[Daisy14'sDH]

I have the Tamron 18-250. Great walk around lens. Got mine used on Pentax Forums .com

 

[Maria Perry]

i have never used any lens in my life time

 

[MinnieForMe]

I'm glad to hear you like the Tamron 18-250. I'm waiting impatiently for an email from B&H that they have the Tamron 28-300 back in stock. Of course, I've been looking at other lenses unsuccessfully!

I want a decent walk about lens as I find that when I keep the 55-200 mm on my camera (I love zoom) that I occasionally miss a cute picture of the kids.

 

[Daisy14'sDH]

ITs a decent walk around, but is slow in low light, and you get a tonne of distortion at the wide end. Its all fixable in post but to be truthful I have only processed 3 pictures in the last 3 months. Theres been no time for post. If I could I would sell this lens and buy the 70-200 f 2.8... I really have grown to appreciate fast glass in the 10 months I've owned this camera.

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

The 18-250 was a re-badged Tamron. Depending on your budget I, like Daisy14'sDH, love the faster glass, and my walkaround is a Sigma 28-70 f2.8. It also has been discontinued, but they have the 24-70 f2.8 in two versions, HSM and non-HSM. The non-HSM is obviously a little cheaper. On my last trip to WDW I used the 28-70 about 90% of the time. I do have the Sigma 70-200 f2.8 and while I do love it, it can get heavy after awhile. I found that the Pentax 50-200 worked very well at AK because it is a very light lens (APS-C lens (DA) and easier to hold when bouncing around on the Safari. For those few situations where I needed to go wider I was able to use the 18-55 kit lens. For those with unlimited lens budgets, there are other solutions, but with my budget, this is what worked for me

 

[MinnieForMe]

The 18-250 was a re-badged Tamron. Depending on your budget I, like Daisy14'sDH, love the faster glass, and my walkaround is a Sigma 28-70 f2.8. It also has been discontinued, but they have the 24-70 f2.8 in two versions, HSM and non-HSM. The non-HSM is obviously a little cheaper. On my last trip to WDW I used the 28-70 about 90% of the time. I do have the Sigma 70-200 f2.8 and while I do love it, it can get heavy after awhile. I found that the Pentax 50-200 worked very well at AK because it is a very light lens (APS-C lens (DA) and easier to hold when bouncing around on the Safari. For those few situations where I needed to go wider I was able to use the 18-55 kit lens. For those with unlimited lens budgets, there are other solutions, but with my budget, this is what worked for me

Would you use this lens in place of a prime 50 mm? I'm looking for good bokek too! Perhaps, if I eliminate my need for the 18-250 and the 50 mm prime, I could buy the 24-70 2.8. Would that make any sense?

 

[Daisy14'sDH]

Anyone have any experience with the Sigma 18-50 f2.8 EX DC Macro?