What's the battery culture?

Cheers
David

Hi Chris, you are right about the diffused cap on the Pringles Tube, I have sanded mine to make them completely opaque, you could achieve the same effect with thin tissue paper. The tube end fits over the flashgun head (it must be a tight fit to stop it falling off or moving about) and the cap is the diffuser end. I mentioned a powerful flash because this is required with my 'double-header' diffuser, which fires the light from both sides of the subject (hence avoids shadows) and to do this it splits the output from the flashgun into two, so a fair amount of the power is lost.

Good luck with your shooting; please post some images so we can see the results!

Regards
David

I really don't understand what all the fuss is about on this thread. Eneloops (or the equivalents by other makers) are cheap, readily available and do the job in the K-x just fine. Why anyone would need to buy other sorts of batteries is beyond me.

Just buy Eneloops and use your K-x's to your heart's content!

Regards
David

All very nice Carl, number 3 in particular catches my eye.

Regards
David

That's a really great image, thanks for posting it here.

Regards
David

Hi again Chris, lots of questions there!

Firstly, you have some kit that will take stunning macro shots. My first port of call would be the Pentax 50mm F1.7 or the Tamron 90mm SP. Both will be super-sharp performers, good for close up work. I would make the following recommendations:

1) Get yourself some extension tubes - don't buy the very cheap Chinese made ones; you can get excellent quality used Vivitar or similar at many retailers for around £15 a set (try ffordes.com)

2) If you don't have a flashgun, get a cheap, powerful manual one (Neewer or Yongnuo would be good) and make a flash diffuser out of used Pringles Tubes. I have made several of these, both single and double-headers and they provide excellent diffused flashlight with no shadows - perfect for great macros. You need a powerful flash as you will need to shoot at least F11, preferably F16 or so to get enough depth of field so a lot of light is necessary

3) Buy a reversing ring for a couple of quid so you can reverse the 50mm F1.7 directly onto your Pentax Bayonet. You will need to manually set the aperture before shooting and you will find focussing difficult in the extreme but you get used to it with practice. Again, use a narrow aperture for best DOF

When I shoot macros, I usually try to get a composition, rather than aiming for extreme close-ups, but that's more to do with my style of shooting than anything else. See below for a few shots, the first was with a reversed Pentax-A 50mm F1.7 in natural light, the second is with a Sigma 105mm F2.8 DG EX Macro lens with a full 68mm of Extension Tubes and the Pringles Tube flash diffuser, the third was in natural light, with a SMC Takumar 135mm F3.5 and Extension Tubes.










Hope this is useful. BTW, the depth of field in the second shot is so narrow because of the length of extension tubes used. This effect was intentional as I wanted to create something a bit abstract, but with the fly's eye in sharp focus.

Regards
David

John, that video was shot in 2009, approximately 3.5 years ago, so it is very misleading and not relevant today. At that time the camera would have been running firmware 1.0; it is well known that there were issues with the battery indicator / meter with firmware 1.0. These issues were rectified in later firmware releases, as detailed by Pentax on their firmware download page.

I am not aware of issues with batteries in the latest firmware releases and I certainly have not had any problems with 3 K-x bodies. Other K-x owners may wish to comment?

Regards
David

Some excellent images posted here, all of these old lenses seem to be good performers. I too like Stuey's leaf, but for me the young Starling on the Bamboo Cane is the stand-out shot. I also like the look of the Takumar 200mm F3.5 pre-set shots. I have the Takumar 200mm F5.6 pre-set version (a thing of real beauty), which I hope to try out pretty soon, but I have heavy work commitments at present and have to go abroad, so apologies for the delay in posting any.

Regards
David

Lithiums work perfectly fine with the K-x, there is no problem with this type of battery, except they are expensive and you don't need to buy them. Get some more Eneloops!

If the previous set of batteries works, this points to one of two things:

1. One or more of the previous set of batteries is not delivering enough current

2. There is something wrong with the camera

There are no issues (as stated earlier) with the K-x and firmware 1.03. I have been using this combination for over a year on three different K-x bodies and no problems with any of them. I think you are making assumptions about Pentax and their hardware / software based on one isolated experience; admittedly this is your experience but it doesn't mean there is a general problem.

Regards
David

Payment reveived, many thanks to Andybrownhome for a brilliant transaction. Enjoy the lens Andy!

Regards
David