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johnriley

Joined: 19th March 2002

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johnriley
I wouldn't dream of taking shots at anyone! But I do wonder if this is worth the probable difficulty. There is a firm (SRB?) who advertise in Amateur Photographer and who make all sorts of adapters including special orders, so maybe they could help.
I would be tempted to wait until Pentax make a proper interchangeable lens Digital SLR, in which case I would hope they would continue their excellent track record with the K-mount and all the lenses would be compatible.
In the meantime, the K1000 will out-resolve any digital camera and produce excellent photographs.....

Comment by johnriley posted on k-mount lens question at 14/08/2002 - 23:39

johnriley
Just to add a note to my last post, the teleconverter is a Soligor 1.7x for 110.

Comment by johnriley posted on auto 110 lens adaptor? - auto 110 lens adaptor? at 27/05/2002 - 21:37

johnriley
If you mean to enable 35mm lenses to be used on the 110, not to the best of my knowledge. The size of the 35mm lenses would absolutely dwarf the 110 SLR, and I'm not so sure they would be any use anyway. The back focus of the 110 camera is very, very much shorter than the 35mm ones, so even if an attachment was possible they would not focus anywhere near infinity.
On the other hand, I have a vague recollection that maybe an independent manufacturer made a teleconverter for 110, but I am not sure of that.

Comment by johnriley posted on auto 110 lens adaptor? - auto 110 lens adaptor? at 21/05/2002 - 19:58

johnriley
I am situated near Manchester and would be interested in the idea of a local group

Comment by johnriley posted on Local Area Groups at 21/03/2002 - 23:14

johnriley
I would attend an actual meeting but we do need more responses than posted so far. I am already involved in helping in the running of a local photographic society and in other areas as well, so any meetings for me would have to be probably quarterly at first.
There is potential in this, but only with enough people!

Comment by johnriley posted on Local Area Groups at 24/03/2002 - 21:51

johnriley
I too use the pentax 645n, and it is a terrific camera. The viewfinder is one of the best I have ever seen. The lenses are excellent and the ease of use is wonderful.

The Fuji S2 Pro you mention is reputed to be extremely good for portrait work, perhaps one of the characteristics of the Super CCD.

The only other camera I could really like to own at present is the Rolleiflex 4.0 Wide, with its Super Angulon lens. A lovely brand new TLR - very old fashioned but gorgeous engineering! In terms of useability the 645n wins hands down, though.

Comment by johnriley posted on Where are all the Pentax users? - Can more traffic be generated? at 08/03/2004 - 21:44

johnriley
The K1000 still is a good camera if you can find a nice clean one, but why not also look at the MX, which is smaller, has a self timer, a superbly bright viewfinder and better LED readout for the exposure meter. I have found the MX to be extremely reliable and it has outlasted many other camera bodies.

The KM is also a good camera, being basically a Spotmatic with bayonet mount. And also the KX with its silicon cell metering. Both these are older and relatively rare. They also seem to be priced a bit higher when in nice condition.

As a final thought, current bodies that can be used in much the same way as the manual ones mentioned are the MZ5, MZ5n and MZ3. They retain a conventional shutter speed dial and in manual exposure mode operate little differently from a Spotmatic or any other body mentioned above.

Comment by johnriley posted on Where are all the Pentax users? - Can more traffic be generated? at 07/09/2003 - 09:53

johnriley
Welcome! Hope you get some good information from the site and the chat on this forum. Yes, it can be a bit quiet at times, but on the other hand when someone posts a question there is usually a reply and a solution found by somebody (sometimes even me!)

My wife Sue and I have used pentaxes for a long time and we are very happy with the ergonomics of the bodies and the quality of the lenses. We use a lot of M series lenses (autofocus is not our main objective) although Sue now has the latest *ist (film) camera and likes it very much so far. I love the clean, crisp images that Pentax lenses deliver and I am sure you will not be disappointed.

Enjoy your new camera and keep a look out for some of the masses of second hand lenses available, manual or auto focus, there are some terrific lenses to be had.

Comment by johnriley posted on Where are all the Pentax users? - Can more traffic be generated? at 16/06/2003 - 22:14

johnriley
We have the same low take-up on our club site and I don't think it can be easily changed. There's no point talking unless you have something to say, and perhaps there's not a lot going on just now?

The new *istD might generate some activity...

Comment by johnriley posted on Where are all the Pentax users? - Can more traffic be generated? at 22/03/2003 - 11:15

johnriley
Hi Matt

I will certainly have a serious look at your web site in the near future, but in the meantime a few comments.

Why not invest in two things - a good book on general photographic skills will cover the basic principles, but then as large a choice as possible of photographic books that show the work of great photographers. Look at Ansel Adams, Julia Margaret Cameron, Bob Carlos-Clarke, David bailey, Terence donovan, Atget, Man Ray and hundreds of others. They will show you by example how to take those basic "rules" and use them or ignore them to make great photographs.

I like two quotes in particular - Ansel Adams made the point that he did not take photographs, he
made photographs. And someone else gave great advice on how to make your photos ooze quality and sharpness, "Make small prints!"

Comment by johnriley posted on Composition lessons - Where can I learn more? at 29/01/2003 - 19:55

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