All Forum Comments
Comment by MattMatic posted on 31mm price in US and UK at 19/09/2011 - 13:40
Worth checking what version of firmware in the K5... (just in case!)
Matt
Matt
Comment by MattMatic posted on Does your old manual lens crash your DSLR when it gets dark? at 16/09/2011 - 11:36
Alex,
You didn't really answer the questions I posed in the previous thread you posted...
You will need a MASSIVE flash to make any difference with a 250mm lens. The effectiveness of the flash decreases by a quarter every time you double the distance (Google "Inverse Square Law"). So, for a flash that works very well at 2 meters, it'll have a quarter of that power at 4 meters, a sixteenth of the power at 8 meters, and a measely sixty-fourth power at 16 meters. It'll be like trying to use a pocket Maglite for portraiture
Maybe a bank of 4 or 8 of the AF360FGZ will help a bit - but it'll put off the kayakers too!
You are better off honing your panning skills, raising the ISO on the K5, and consider shooting RAW (especially when using higher ISO settings) - before you splash out on flash!
You may get more mileage from buying Lightroom 3 Student Edition
Matt
You didn't really answer the questions I posed in the previous thread you posted...
You will need a MASSIVE flash to make any difference with a 250mm lens. The effectiveness of the flash decreases by a quarter every time you double the distance (Google "Inverse Square Law"). So, for a flash that works very well at 2 meters, it'll have a quarter of that power at 4 meters, a sixteenth of the power at 8 meters, and a measely sixty-fourth power at 16 meters. It'll be like trying to use a pocket Maglite for portraiture
Maybe a bank of 4 or 8 of the AF360FGZ will help a bit - but it'll put off the kayakers too!
You are better off honing your panning skills, raising the ISO on the K5, and consider shooting RAW (especially when using higher ISO settings) - before you splash out on flash!
You may get more mileage from buying Lightroom 3 Student Edition
Matt
Comment by MattMatic posted on Flash for action watersports at 13/09/2011 - 21:03
Weekend bump
If anyone would like to make an offer, then please feel free to PM.
Matt
If anyone would like to make an offer, then please feel free to PM.
Matt
Comment by MattMatic posted on FS: K7, FA24-90, DA55-300, Metz 50MZ5 etc at 10/09/2011 - 12:10
Gwyn - interesting blog on the Q Now I want one too
Matt
Matt
Comment by MattMatic posted on Hands-On Q in AP at 09/09/2011 - 11:24
...going sliiiiightly off topic....
Reminds me of "Sorry I've Got No Head"
Glad the paint-scraping tricks got things working for you John
Think I'll have a go at making a small mod to my extension tubes and internally shorting the data pin to ground... will let you know if it does the trick for DA* lenses
(You see I don't have a macro lens any more - I rarely used it!)
Matt
Quote:
They would quite happily sit on her hands and endure this
They would quite happily sit on her hands and endure this
Reminds me of "Sorry I've Got No Head"
Glad the paint-scraping tricks got things working for you John
Think I'll have a go at making a small mod to my extension tubes and internally shorting the data pin to ground... will let you know if it does the trick for DA* lenses
(You see I don't have a macro lens any more - I rarely used it!)
Matt
Comment by MattMatic posted on DA-star and problems with extension tubes at 09/09/2011 - 09:53
A bit of Googling for the "rarer than hen's teeth" Kenko Uniplus 25DG came up with this thread:
So there may be hope...
Matt
Quote:
However, you can use any extension tube that has the contact pins but does not have the powerzoom contacts (used to drive SDM) by shorting out the data pin (the very bottom pin as you look into the camera) and using catch-in-focusing. By doing this you can use any autofocusing lens on Pentax K10D, Pentax K200D, Pentax K20D, and a Pentax K-7. See my thread at:
]http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=35995640
However, you can use any extension tube that has the contact pins but does not have the powerzoom contacts (used to drive SDM) by shorting out the data pin (the very bottom pin as you look into the camera) and using catch-in-focusing. By doing this you can use any autofocusing lens on Pentax K10D, Pentax K200D, Pentax K20D, and a Pentax K-7. See my thread at:
]http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=35995640
So there may be hope...
Matt
Comment by MattMatic posted on DA-star and problems with extension tubes at 08/09/2011 - 13:17
John,
Do your tubes have the aperture 'finger'?
Pentax produced manual tubes, and 'auto' tubes. The manual ones were just a tube, and the auto ones have the mechanical linkage for the aperture lever.
AFAIK, only third party ones have electrical contacts, and there is only one (very rare) Kenko 25mm tube that has PZ contacts (i.e. the SDM contacts).
Wouldn't mind trying the Kenko ones
Matt
Do your tubes have the aperture 'finger'?
Pentax produced manual tubes, and 'auto' tubes. The manual ones were just a tube, and the auto ones have the mechanical linkage for the aperture lever.
AFAIK, only third party ones have electrical contacts, and there is only one (very rare) Kenko 25mm tube that has PZ contacts (i.e. the SDM contacts).
Wouldn't mind trying the Kenko ones
Matt
Comment by MattMatic posted on DA-star and problems with extension tubes at 08/09/2011 - 13:11
Peter - I've tried both the DA*16-50 and DA*50-135
I reckon it's not tolerance, but down to the body expecting SDM communication from a lens that it knows is SDM
If I put an SMC-A 50/2 on the end of the same tubes then everything works absolutely perfectly
That's why I'm hoping I can get the body to see the DA* as an SMC-A style lens... maybe! (Better still would be a firmware update!)
Matt
I reckon it's not tolerance, but down to the body expecting SDM communication from a lens that it knows is SDM
If I put an SMC-A 50/2 on the end of the same tubes then everything works absolutely perfectly
That's why I'm hoping I can get the body to see the DA* as an SMC-A style lens... maybe! (Better still would be a firmware update!)
Matt
Comment by MattMatic posted on DA-star and problems with extension tubes at 08/09/2011 - 12:46
I've just bought one of these lights and thought I'd have another go at macro with the DA* lenses.
The problem is that the Teleplus (sorry: Teleplus) tubes I have - which have the electrical contacts - seem to freak out the K5. Now, it did it with the K7 and IIRC the K20D as well. It's almost like the camera is confused, knowing that the lens should be SDM focused, but not able to communicate.
Now, I'm not one to take this without a fight
So, first thing: switch the lens or body to the MF setting. When the lens is on AF, the "MF" sign flashes madly in the viewfinder. (But I've lost focus confirmation ability!) With that, I can take shots through the viewfinder...
...but, odd things are going on. Holding a button down doesn't auto-repeat anymore (unless you slightly dismount the lens). Oh, and Live View doesn't work - the camera just opens and closes the shutter. Pah
I did manage to get it to work by holding the lens release tab and slightly rotating the lens.... but it's not working all the time
It's such a shame that Pentax can't update the firmware to allow for this situation. But, I admit it's low down on their priority - supporting a third-party extension tube!
My only other option is to modify the tubes to mask out one of the contacts - so the body thinks it's got an unidentified lens attached that still supports "A" aperture.
Will keep you posted
Matt
The problem is that the Teleplus (sorry: Teleplus) tubes I have - which have the electrical contacts - seem to freak out the K5. Now, it did it with the K7 and IIRC the K20D as well. It's almost like the camera is confused, knowing that the lens should be SDM focused, but not able to communicate.
Now, I'm not one to take this without a fight
So, first thing: switch the lens or body to the MF setting. When the lens is on AF, the "MF" sign flashes madly in the viewfinder. (But I've lost focus confirmation ability!) With that, I can take shots through the viewfinder...
...but, odd things are going on. Holding a button down doesn't auto-repeat anymore (unless you slightly dismount the lens). Oh, and Live View doesn't work - the camera just opens and closes the shutter. Pah
I did manage to get it to work by holding the lens release tab and slightly rotating the lens.... but it's not working all the time
It's such a shame that Pentax can't update the firmware to allow for this situation. But, I admit it's low down on their priority - supporting a third-party extension tube!
My only other option is to modify the tubes to mask out one of the contacts - so the body thinks it's got an unidentified lens attached that still supports "A" aperture.
Will keep you posted
Matt
Comment by MattMatic posted on DA-star and problems with extension tubes at 08/09/2011 - 12:20
Matt