All Forum Comments
Comment by johnha posted on FS, Pentax MX & 50mm lens at 15/05/2013 - 20:15
Hi Deryn,
Portrait lenses traditionally have been around 85-105mm with wide apertures to allow minimum depth of field. These are now generally expensive - the cheapest new is probably the Samyang 85mm f/1.4 manual focus (about £230).
A 28-80 zoom is typically going to be f/4 or f/5.6 ish at the long end, which will give you the the right field of view, but won't allow the narrow depth of field.
The most affordable option is to look for a cheap 135mm f/2.8 lens (loads of these were made by a variety of manufacturers) or an M series 135mm f/3.5 if you want to keep it Pentax. As these are longer lenses, you'll need to be further away from the subject to compensate.
Remember that any lens you buy will be usable on digital (and a 135mm is equivalent to a 200mm there).
Regards,
John.
Portrait lenses traditionally have been around 85-105mm with wide apertures to allow minimum depth of field. These are now generally expensive - the cheapest new is probably the Samyang 85mm f/1.4 manual focus (about £230).
A 28-80 zoom is typically going to be f/4 or f/5.6 ish at the long end, which will give you the the right field of view, but won't allow the narrow depth of field.
The most affordable option is to look for a cheap 135mm f/2.8 lens (loads of these were made by a variety of manufacturers) or an M series 135mm f/3.5 if you want to keep it Pentax. As these are longer lenses, you'll need to be further away from the subject to compensate.
Remember that any lens you buy will be usable on digital (and a 135mm is equivalent to a 200mm there).
Regards,
John.
Comment by johnha posted on portrait lenses? at 14/05/2013 - 21:47
Hi Deryn,
As far as the lenses go, traditionally the 28mm is ideal for landscapes and the 50mm is a great all-round, fast lens. Portrait lenses are traditionally longer than 50mm (75mm+) because shooting too close to the subject (i.e. frame filling with a 50mm) doesn't look too flattering. These are the traditional uses, but many shoot landscapes with 50mm and 28mm is a generic wide-angle.
To get an idea of the coverage, your kit lens on digital at 18mm is about equivalent to 28mm on film, likewise 35mm on the kit lens is equivalent to 50mm on film.
Film wise, you need to make sure it's DX coded (almost all will be). Black and White film is a good choice, the most common film is probably Ilford and you should probably be thinking about ISOs of 100-400 initially. Those I'd suggest are FP4+ (ISO 125), HP5+ (ISO 400) - both of these need to be developed with black & white chemicals/lab. The other option is XP2 (ISO 400), this can be developed at any C41 colour lab (it usually has an orange colour cast if printed - should be easy to correct this digitally on a scan). Traditional black & white printing can be quite expensive these days.
Make sure you understand how to load the film before doing it, it's not difficult but if you haven't done it before it can seem daunting. There are several videos on youtube showing how to do it. The most likely hickup is the film falling out of the take-up spool after you close the back - the film then doesn't advance. In order to check this, turn the rewind knob to take up any slack just before closing the back - when the film advances, the rewind knob should then spin as you wind on. Before loading film, check there's no dirt inside the camera back or on the pressure plate of the door to minimise the risk of scracthing the film.
Regards,
John.
As far as the lenses go, traditionally the 28mm is ideal for landscapes and the 50mm is a great all-round, fast lens. Portrait lenses are traditionally longer than 50mm (75mm+) because shooting too close to the subject (i.e. frame filling with a 50mm) doesn't look too flattering. These are the traditional uses, but many shoot landscapes with 50mm and 28mm is a generic wide-angle.
To get an idea of the coverage, your kit lens on digital at 18mm is about equivalent to 28mm on film, likewise 35mm on the kit lens is equivalent to 50mm on film.
Film wise, you need to make sure it's DX coded (almost all will be). Black and White film is a good choice, the most common film is probably Ilford and you should probably be thinking about ISOs of 100-400 initially. Those I'd suggest are FP4+ (ISO 125), HP5+ (ISO 400) - both of these need to be developed with black & white chemicals/lab. The other option is XP2 (ISO 400), this can be developed at any C41 colour lab (it usually has an orange colour cast if printed - should be easy to correct this digitally on a scan). Traditional black & white printing can be quite expensive these days.
Make sure you understand how to load the film before doing it, it's not difficult but if you haven't done it before it can seem daunting. There are several videos on youtube showing how to do it. The most likely hickup is the film falling out of the take-up spool after you close the back - the film then doesn't advance. In order to check this, turn the rewind knob to take up any slack just before closing the back - when the film advances, the rewind knob should then spin as you wind on. Before loading film, check there's no dirt inside the camera back or on the pressure plate of the door to minimise the risk of scracthing the film.
Regards,
John.
Comment by johnha posted on NEW TO FILM. at 13/05/2013 - 23:25
OK, thanks John.
John.
John.
Comment by johnha posted on Ricoh on the forum at 13/05/2013 - 00:48
Hi John,
The 35-70 wasn't a 'kit lens', that term hadn't been invented then. It was simply one of several zoom lenses available from Pentax (discounted very slightly if bought with a body). If you couldn't afford the camera & 35-70, you could buy it with the 50mm f/1.4 or for a bit less the 50mm f/1.7. If either was too much, you could buy the body only and use your existing K lenses (no crippled mount and AF 'in focus' indicator and arrows to tell you which way to turn the focus ring). Primes were cheap then and zooms expensive...
I'm really embarrassed to state how little I paid for my F 50 f/1.7 in '91
As an aside, the P30T (Titanium) was launched to match the colour scheme (Titanium) of the 'F' lenses.
John.
The 35-70 wasn't a 'kit lens', that term hadn't been invented then. It was simply one of several zoom lenses available from Pentax (discounted very slightly if bought with a body). If you couldn't afford the camera & 35-70, you could buy it with the 50mm f/1.4 or for a bit less the 50mm f/1.7. If either was too much, you could buy the body only and use your existing K lenses (no crippled mount and AF 'in focus' indicator and arrows to tell you which way to turn the focus ring). Primes were cheap then and zooms expensive...
I'm really embarrassed to state how little I paid for my F 50 f/1.7 in '91
As an aside, the P30T (Titanium) was launched to match the colour scheme (Titanium) of the 'F' lenses.
John.
Comment by johnha posted on Wanted: SFX(n) AA Battery holder at 13/05/2013 - 00:46
From my understanding, the Pentax UK website is referring to Pentax-Ricoh imaging and the new GR appears to fall into that category (as does the MX-1).
As a GR1s owner (recently dug out of the cupboard), I'd forgotten how good it was (is). There's a lot of extremely good engineering that went into it.
My question is, should this forum include historic Ricoh products (many of which were based on the 'K' mount in the first place)? My suggestion is that it should.
John.
As a GR1s owner (recently dug out of the cupboard), I'd forgotten how good it was (is). There's a lot of extremely good engineering that went into it.
My question is, should this forum include historic Ricoh products (many of which were based on the 'K' mount in the first place)? My suggestion is that it should.
John.
Comment by johnha posted on Ricoh on the forum at 13/05/2013 - 00:24
Hi Kris,
Do you have any lab recommendations (develop + scan)?
I vaguely remember shooting Ektar 25 back in the '90s but can't remember much about the processing.
John.
Do you have any lab recommendations (develop + scan)?
I vaguely remember shooting Ektar 25 back in the '90s but can't remember much about the processing.
John.
Comment by johnha posted on Wedding photographer, Central Park, NYC at 12/05/2013 - 23:59
I used to have an SFXn in the early '90s, my thoughts at the time were that it was built like a brick privy. It was my 'party' camera and it came through everything I could throw at it.
I've recently acquired an SFX (primarily because it came with a 35-70 F zoom), dug out an old 2CR5 and it fired straight up. Back in the '90s a 2CR5 was £15 minimum - far cry from today. I regret selling my old SFXn & AA battery grip, probably for a pittance!
I'm still amazed that a modern lens will completely work with a 25 yr old AF camera and that a 25yr old AF lens will work with a modern camera (OK I know we're Pentax shooters and compatibility is a boring subject, but come on - it's impressive).
It's hard to believe though that the SFXn was Pentax's most advanced camera before the Z-1 appeared - even when I didn't have any AF lenses, it was by far the best Pentax I'd owned.
John.
I've recently acquired an SFX (primarily because it came with a 35-70 F zoom), dug out an old 2CR5 and it fired straight up. Back in the '90s a 2CR5 was £15 minimum - far cry from today. I regret selling my old SFXn & AA battery grip, probably for a pittance!
I'm still amazed that a modern lens will completely work with a 25 yr old AF camera and that a 25yr old AF lens will work with a modern camera (OK I know we're Pentax shooters and compatibility is a boring subject, but come on - it's impressive).
It's hard to believe though that the SFXn was Pentax's most advanced camera before the Z-1 appeared - even when I didn't have any AF lenses, it was by far the best Pentax I'd owned.
John.
Comment by johnha posted on Wanted: SFX(n) AA Battery holder at 12/05/2013 - 23:39
For some reason I avoided this thread, didn't realise how much entertainment I'd missed...
Please keep it up!
On the other hand, how does SR deal with the movement of the earth - or do you need the GPS add-on thingy to compensate for it completely?
John.
Please keep it up!
On the other hand, how does SR deal with the movement of the earth - or do you need the GPS add-on thingy to compensate for it completely?
John.
Comment by johnha posted on People think that i am not civilied. What do you think? at 12/05/2013 - 22:58
Hardgravity wrote:
As for the P series, I like my P30 but would suggest either a P30n or t, they seem happier with M series lenses. Early P30 models don't always want to work with the older lenses.
The original P30 only had Program & Manual exposure modes, the n & T added Aperture Priority. Using a lens without an 'A' on the aperture ring isn't as intuitive as it should be (at least for me).As for the P series, I like my P30 but would suggest either a P30n or t, they seem happier with M series lenses. Early P30 models don't always want to work with the older lenses.
The obvious choices (things that are plentiful and most likely to be reliable whilst offering full manual control) for me are: MX, K1000, ME-Super, P30n, P30T.
Desirable options (possibly less reliable - but great if you get a good one): Super-A, Program-A, P50.
All of the above should work just fine with M lenses.
I've limited it to manual focus bodies but there are countless AF options available: SF, Z & MZ series (IIRC a few of the MZ series don't offer open aperture metering with M series lenses?).
The most common problems I've had with electronic cameras have been faults with the shutter timing circuitry - the shutter fires but only at one speed (probably the x-sync speed) and not the one indicated by the camera. Mechanical shutters are more reliable but may not be as accurate or consistent.
DA lenses will only work in Shutter Priority or a Program modes (unless it's an AF body with HyperProgram or HyperManual available).
Regards,
John.
Comment by johnha posted on NEW TO FILM. at 12/05/2013 - 21:22
Thanks Matty.
Regards,
John.