Sorry to revisit this, but I'm having problems

K-30 with hoya 135/2.8 manual lens and in either M or Av mode and I'm getting 'F--' flashing and cant take pics.

What do I need to do?

Hi Jamie,

I'm in a similar position, owning an E-510, an E-1, 14-54, 50-150 and various other oly lenses. I've not used an E-3 though.

I've just bought the K-30 and the 18-55 WR lens.


I'd been thinking of moving away from Olympus for a while because I'm not convinced that there is a future for the 4/3 range. Oly have made announcements implying that the full size DSLRs are on the way out - and indeed the effort seems to be going into the m4/3 side of things. Plus the financial difficulties.

While I've been very happy with the olympus lenses I have, there is the issue that there is minimal 3rd party support and the oly glass is quite expensive. I do use older manual lenses with adapters, but really Olympus look like consumers and semi-pro have to move to m4/3.


First impressions are that the low light performance of the K30 is streets ahead of my oly kit in image quality and AF performance. The body and many lenses are weather sealed. The K30 is lightweight, but solid not cheap feeling, and has two dials. I guess that I'd place it as semi - pro. More options and control than entry level bodies which often only have a single dial, but not quite the ergonomics of a pro level body (but after all thats what the K5 is for).

As said - I've not used an E-3, but I'd rate the K30 as being significantly better in the hand/ergonomics than either the 410 or 600. Image quality is obviously better with newer sensor etc. IS in body as with olympus.

Compatibility with all older pentax fit lenses is a plus, as is support from Sigma, Tamron, etc giving a much broader range of glass/prices. Similar I suppose to the Sony compatibility with the minolta glass.

As the K30 is new and I've only had mine two days I'm not up to speed on the menus and settings yet.

Overall, I'm pleased with it. There are things I miss compared to the E-1 (ergonomic stuff - K30 doesnt have as many buttons), but the performance is very good.

And replied to

Hi Tony,

If you'll still accept £60, then I'd take this and the Hoya 135 for £80 total.

regards

Mark

SnoozeMoose - I was talking about using an olympus DSLR body - I was hoping, and sounds like it is the case, that this issue will go away with the Pentax Body.

On the Focus/DoF issue, I think that you need to go back to the circle (sphere) of confusion (or do we have enough confusion?) and accept that there isn't an absolute point of focus in the real world.
I also think that the cameras mechanism for detecting focus - looking for sharp contrasts - is always going to be better at large apertures. At small apertures you have two issues, the amount of light reaching the sensor is reduced and the depth of acceptable focus is so great that the camer cannot detect the centre of the focal zone.

Thanks John. The focus trap sounds useful as well.

Algy, no I *didn't* get confim on the olympus bodies. What was even more annoying was that if I used non-olympus lenses with an adapter I could get focus confim (using the right adapter with a chip in it) but that wasn't possible with olympus MF lenses.

I find plain screen focusing inexact - my eyes aren't good enough. I could manage with a katz-eye but had problems with lowish light.

That said the K30 does have a nice bright screen.

In the past I've done online registration becuase it put all my serial numbers in a convenient place in case of theft. I don't know if Pentax runs a theft register? Do dealers check when kit goes in for repair / service?

Quick question - do you get a focus confirm indication when using a manual focus lens?

Thats one of the things that really annoyed me on the Olympus range, I couldn't see any reason why it couldn't be done in the software and focusing by eye on a digital viewfinder is tricky.

I have some issues with these terms.

8: Every Effort? Highest quality? I'd think about the wording and get legal advice on the consequences. I suspect reasonable effort and provide services. Try googling uk law best effort and have a read.

9: Can you exclude consequential losses? That may not be deemed reasonable in a wedding photography contract. As others have said, you'll want PI insurance. Have a look at 'Force Majeure' terms in general and also have a term which ensures that if any one term is deemed unenforceable then only that term is struck.

10: Agree that you should retain copyright - but you should specify exactly what usage rights the client gets - you mention providing a DVD but it would be a breach of copyright for the client to distribute copies of that DVD or put the images online. Are you looking to make money through print sales as well as for the photography? Will you provide all photos taken or just selected ones (which ? How many?) Will the DVD provided be at highest quality or reduced quality/size or by negotiation/payment?

I also agree with the comment about requiring assistance/compliance from guests and that you should have a clause about this. I'd make a point of requiring the client to identify a named person to help you deal with guests on the day. The client will be too busy so either best man or one of the ushers should be able to tell uncle pete to shut up and sit down when hes had too many drinks.

I also assume that in your packages you are listing specific photos that they want? Not just of the ceremony, but the things like bride getting ready, brides shoes, rings, flowers, etc. If you do a more journalistic style then I guess thats less important, but you should have a tick list of things that they want.

OK, but that is clunky in a live wedding situation. I'd want a single button press and dial selection.

I'm really not dissing the K30. I've just bought one and like it. But, in a fast commerial environment I would never want to be fiddling with menus, even easy ones. Specific button and dial to adjust setting.

As I said, I haven't really found my way around the K30 yet, quite possibly I can reconfigure the buttons to work exactly as I would like.