Remote control

Looking for a bit of advice.

Having placed the order for my camera (sorry but it's the S@ms*ng GX-10; I wanted a Pentax, honest, but was blinded by the savings I could make) I immediately started thinking about what extras I would need. The first is likely to be a remote control. So ...

... does anyone out there have a preference between wired and wireless? Strikes me that the wired remote gives a lot more flexibility but I was slightly surprised at the cost £25 upwards. Yes I know that £25 doesn't go very far nowadays and that I have just splashed several hundreds of pounds on a camera but I was wondering whether there are any alternatives to the Pentax branded remote.

I think John Sebastian (OK so I'm old enough to remember The Lovin' Spoonful) summed me up rather well in about 1969 - "Cheapo cheapo!

I know the feeling

If the wired version is anything like the istD then you can make one for under a tenner and a visit to maplins.

If it is infra-red, then I believe one of those all purpose TV etc remote controls can be taught the right code. If I did not read it on this site then it would have been on the AP site. Worth a search

Regards

Graham

I have a Pentax IR remote. Disadvantage on my Ds is that it only works from the front, but I believe on the K10D/GX10 that it also works from behind. It is very small and I like it a lot.

I use both ir and wired,the ir is handy when the weather aint so good. The best (read Cheapest) place is ebay,ive had a few things come from hong kong /china without any problems at all,and no duty on the doorstep

It seems you might be a bit late to ask for advice if you've already ordered Samsung. Will you remember the savings you think you've made when it's worth nothing in 6 months time once you've realised your mistake and want a proper Pentax instead?

The use of a cable or wireless remote is dictated largely by the individual shooting scenario and often, either will do as well as each other.

If you decide on IR, compare the sizes of a TV remote (as previously suggested) to the Pentax remote. TV remotes are all gigantic in comparison. The Pentax remote is roughly half the size of a compact flash card and smaller than a Sony memory stick. I know which I'd prefer to carry around.

I'm intrigued; why will I want a proper Pentax in 6 months? If the Samsung is that bad I assume I will notice fairly quickly and if that's within 7 days I can return it under the Distance Selling Regulations. And if it really was that bad, why would I replace a re-badged K10D with a real K10D.

I tend to keep my cameras for at least 2 years and don't bother trying to part-exchange or sell them. I bought my last 35mm SLR (a Pentax!) 8 years ago; this replaced my trusty Practica SLR which had served me very well for a couple of decades. My first digital (a whopping 2Mp) I got a couple of years later; but I managed to drop it after about 2 years (unlike the Practica it didn't bounce) so my current 4Mp Olympus I've had for about 4 years. As I said I don't sell them I keep them, perhaps I am just an old sentimental cheapskate!

So I have never thought of a camera as having a resale value; once purchased, that's it. Therefore the £130 saving I thought I'd made turns out to be real. Which is just as well as it's almost certainly going towards the Sigma 75 - 300mm lens.

Me too, a large TV remote. Well, maybe not

The Samsung and Pentax bodies are essentially the same, mechanically and electronically, as far as I know. Like the Intel based Mac and Windows PC, it's the software/firmware that makes it work, together with the accessories, support, and availibility of expert advice.

Pentax make cameras and other imaging equipment, endoscopes and the like. Samsung make everything from earth movers to mobile phones and just about everything electro-mechanical in between. Ask yourself which of those two companies has more commitment to photographic imaging.

If you are happy with your purchase of a Samsung badged Pentax camera, which is as different from a Pentax camera as a Canon or Nikon by virtue of its firmware, I'm happy for you.

Why then join a Pentax forum where most of the contributers here have little or no interest in Samsung products, even if they are manufactured in a Pentax factory. I could of course be totally wrong and in fact, The Pentax product might even be manufactured by Samsung. Who knows, I don't.

Good luck with your new camera and perhaps you'll share some of the results here.

According to any and all reviews I've read, the Pentax and Samsung are virtually the same in every regard. I don't even believe that their firmware is different. He'll probably end up with mostly Pentax lenses and ultimately the only non Pentax thing about this camera will be the logo.

Samsung's arrangement with Pentax is surely good for Pentax and that is ultimately good for Pentax users. The same thing that happened to Minolta could just as easily have happened to Pentax. This will likely open the door for more third party lenses made available in the PK mount. At some point maybe we'll even see some high end Schneider lens rather than just the Schneider name on Pentax glass.

In any event, congrats on the new camera.

Definitely different. Their user interface has a different "feel". However, that may be just a "skin". The Samsung also doesn't support the losslessly compressed PEF RAW mode (around 9Mb) and only supports the DNG (16Mb).

More interesting is the fact that the K10D has already had one firmware upgrade, and with the release of the new 16-50 and 50-135 f/2.8 star lenses it looks like there'll be another to support the supersonic focus.

Doesn't look like Samsung have these upgrades yet...

But, yes, in other respects they look like the same beast. Either way it should be a good 'un
Have fun!
Matt

True, altho' unlike the MAC /PC comparison under the casing the two cameras are identical

As far as accessories go, apart from the battery grip, I think I can use just about everything else. So if you ever get fed up with your 600mm I could use it (couldn't afford it but it would work). Support will probably be more of a problem. I bought a consumer product at a consumer price. I guess that makes me a consumer


Ask me again in 12 months once the Hoya takeover has been completed and the cameras are stuffed full of Samsung electronics.

Are you sure? You might very well be correct but I understood that the basic firmware was identical and only the menus were different. Oh and the Samsung doesn't have the Pentax proprietary RAW format. It's more than possible that Pentax will release updates more often but we'll have to wait and see. As for the Samsung being as different from the Pentax as the Canon - how true. Silly me, of course I don't have access to all those Pentax accessories, just as I don't have access to the Canon or Nikon accessories.

Because it's basically the same camera and, for example, the question I posed in this thread related to remote controls; which Samsung do not make as they suggest you use the Pentax remotes. Plus the fact that there were other threads that referred to Samsung. Obviously I am in the wrong forum, as my Pentax is called a Samsung and the badge is much more important than anything else!



Doubt it as "the contributers here have little or no interest in Samsung products" so why would they give a damn about the results?

This is fun, do you wind people up often?

Finally (as I doubt I'll be back, I'll find somewhere where they care about photography and not the make of camera) here is the report dated 11th October 2005, from Reuters:

Japan's Pentax Corp. said on Wednesday it has tied up with a unit of South Korea's Samsung Electronics to jointly develop digital single lens reflex (SLR) cameras, aiming to pool resources and cut costs.
<snip>
The alliance will bring together Samsung's strength in electronics and Pentax's expertise in lenses. Pentax also hopes the deal will allow it to accelerate product development and better weather a brutal price war in the digital camera market.
<snip>
Pentax reported a 48 percent fall in group operating profit for the 2004/05 business year, hit by sliding prices of compact digital cameras, which pushed its imaging division to an operating loss of 1.6 billion yen ($14 million).

It aims for 10 percent of the digital SLR market in the future, up from about 3 percent now.

Pentax said the alliance with Samsung could expand to eventually include procurement by Pentax of key parts such as memory chips, image sensors and displays from companies within the Samsung group.

So who knows, in a year or two you might have top buy a Samsung with Hoya glass as Pentax might be no more. Unlikely, but possible.

Enjoy the badge while you can.

Bye folks and thanks to those of you who took the time to give me good advice.

I use both, as I have the *dsl2 and the electronic can only be used in front.

Lastly enjoy your new TOY, and don't worry about it's x or y as sometimes people really care about names as for me, I used Minolta for years I went to Pentax as it was a great price.

Keith,

Don't let one poster take you out. I rather like Pentax users for their true devotion to their product. I think it set's Pentax users apart from others. I think most would agree that you have the same camera as a k10 but a few might not... don't worry about them.

A bit harsh, Peter?

The Samsung GX10 is of interest in that it is indeed a Pentax K10D and any minor differences surely have to be of interest. If those differences were significantly in favour of the GX10 then why wouldn't we buy it in preference? However, the differences are minimal and the Pentax name and backup will ensure a longer useful life and better eventual trade-in, probably. So individuals will decide whether the Pentax branding and infrastructure is worth a little extra.

I think it is, and I certainly wouldn't be buying a DSLR from a High Street catalogue shop anyway. The Samsung does seem to be more obvious in non-photographic supply chains.

John,

I was rather hoping that the OP might share some valuable wisdom/knowledge/experience which helped him make the choice in favour of Samsung over a Pentax badged product. Instead he has simply picked each of my comments to bits and made it personal.

I was initially trying to be helpful and illicit information at the same time. It didn't work. Apologies to all (including the OP) for that.

I'm sure he will be well pleased with his purchase and hopefully I haven't put him off of this forum for good.

I still reckon the Pentax remote is a better option than a TV remote

Just a few points;......

You could always use a 'cable release' which wil cost very little or even nothing and will work better in some circumstances that an electronic device,...you will have to rig up your own bracket for mounting as DSLR makers,..in their infinite electronic wisdom, or is it arrogance, have seen fit to deny serious photographers the facility of a threaded cable release socket.

Alternatively, how about a 'mini TV remote'?....these are tiny and very inexpensive. I was looking at some in a 'pound only' shop at the weekend,...for, surprisingly, £1

As regards the GX-10 / K10......the facts are that nobody really knows what the real differences are between the two as they are NOT identical........this will only be sorted out when someone tests them side by side using the SAME lens to make RAW files. Two or three so called side by side reviews have been done but until the above conditions are met they remain largely pointless.