My Metz 58 AF2 originally did not work correctly with the K3 II in PTTL mode. I got some wild exposures. However Metz then released a new firmware to fix it for the K3 II and K1.

So maybe the 36 AF-4 does not have the needed fix for the latest Pentax cameras.

Here is a link to the Pentax K3 II recall announcement mentioned earlier, just in case you have one fo the affected cameras.

Pentax K3 II recall

I believe the K3 II has an optional GPS logging function that when enabled will result in the GPS operating even when the camera is off. So you might want to check if that function was enabled in the menus.

Both the camera and grip and have now been sold.

I am selling my one year old Pentax K3 II DSLR and also the Pentax D-BG5 grip that matches it.

- Pentax K3 II body: £450 inc. UK delivery.
- Pentax D-BG5 grip: £85 inc. UK delivery.

Pentax K3 II

I bought this camera from SRS at the end of May 2015. It has shot 1695 frames.



It is my understanding that SRS will honour the remaining year of the camera warranty if a forum member buys this, but the buyer would need to check if this is still the situation. I will include the original invoice.

I have created a web page that has the details including a set of pictures where you can examine the condition of this camera. Overall the camera is in good condition but has a few minor marks in the paint from use. On my web page I indicate where these marks are.


Pentax D-BG5 Grip (for K3 series)

This is a genuine Pentax D-BG5 Grip that fits the K3 and the K3 II cameras. I bought this grip when I bought the Pentax K3 II above a year ago. Apart from checking it works on the camera the grip has remained stored in a cupboard. As such it is essentially unused and is in mint condition.



The grip comes with everything that comes with the original package including: lithium and AA battery holder, contact cover, manual and box.

I have created a web page that has the details including a set of pictures where you can examine the condition of this camera.

I'll accept payment by bank transfer or Paypal.

I have charged my battery from a solar power bank using a Ex-Pro EZi-Power USB Charger. Seemed to work ok. When travelling I normally pack this charger as it is half the size of the Pentax one. It does state it needs a 5V 800mA input so may only work correctly on higher-powered USB power supplies.

It is always amazing how fast the moon moves (3,683 km/hr).

I mounted the camera on an astronomy equatorial mount. This offsets the Earth's rotation, but it is still suprising how fast the moon moved through the Earth's shadow (Timelapse Video). Still, it allows the following to be made with a 1" exposure:




I guess I could also have used the astro function of my K3 II to reduce blur in moon photos.

Just to note that Pentax UK have a notice related to this:

link

Mine does switch off, but takes a couple of seconds to get around to it.

I had a look at the picture in the original link and think I understand what is being proposed.

In a traditional autofocus system, the light enters, and some passes through the primary mirror, is reflected of the secondary mirror and down into the autofocus assembly. I believe the secondary mirror is quite small which probably impacts autofocus coverage area. Example.

It looks like, in the patent, the light that hits the secondary mirror is reflected straight back in the direction it came in. It then is reflected a second time off the back of the primary mirror and down into the autofocus sensor. So it now bounces of the primary mirror twice. The secondary mirror also has a lensing arrangement (curved mirror?) that probably focuses a wider coverage area onto the current small autofocus sensor. They also talk about a half-wave filter, I believe the light passing through the primary mirror is polarised. so I assume this filter adjusts the polarisation so more gets reflected when the light is bounced again off the primary mirror.

Looks quite clever - I wonder if it is effective and we will see it in the FF camera?

I have played with both PK Tether and pktriggercord with my K5. Both seem to work fine for capturing images, though they both cause the top LCD to stay on and flicker. I have read, but have not checked for myself, that pktriggercord may be able to capture long exposure RAW images without blackpoint compensation applied - useful for astrophotography. One day I'll get round to investigating this.

Having just shot a timelapse of the Solar Eclipse using the "interval shooting" feature of my K5, here are my time-lapse tips (not astrophotography related):

- Use manual exposure and expose for antipated extremes of exposure.
- Use manual focus.
- Set manual white balance (I always forget this).
- Use JPG mode (if you don't want to cope with Gbytes of images).
- Remember to switch of shake reduction as you are on a tripod.

I have been using Sony Vegas to convert my images into a movie sequence, but I am sure there are many lighter weight programmes if you don't need to edit. the movie. There can be quite a few subtleties as to how images are converted to movie (e.g. sharp transition between frames or fade between images).

I find selecting the injterval rate of images is something I am not on top of yet. Do you want the final result to be a speeded up smooth video, or a sequence of image jumps? Lots of opportunity for fun.

Have you checked out http://stargazerslounge.com ? I would expect lots of useful information about astrophotography there.