Re: Why choose *ist DL over Nikon or Canon competitors?

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Christian wrote on 02.06.05 5:15:

> I wonder if Pentax could make a K to 4/3 adapter. :-)
There's already one among others :-)
http://www.cameraquest.com/adapt_olyE1.htm

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: OT: Kodak kills DSLR - the end of FF dreams

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

On 2005-06-01, at 19:52, Jostein wrote:

I haven't read the article you refer to yet, but I have discussed the 
matter with a guy who usually test Canon gear for a Norwegian photo 
journal. He was embarrassed about Bjørn's test because it showed, as 
he said, that "Canon has no really good wide-angle zoom". He ventured 
on to test the D1s mkII with an off-brand WA to prove Bjørn wrong on 
the camera part. The results from his test hasn't appeared in print 
yet because the journal is delayed in print, but he says his results 
show there's nothing wrong with the camera...:-)
That's interesting :-) So it seems that if you want to have the same 
brand of camera and decent WA zoom, you just can't go with Canon ;-) 
BTW - which third-party zoom has used your friend? That would be 
valuable information for us  :-)


--
Best regards
Sylwek

Re: Pentax *ist-DL

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Kostas Kavoussanakis wrote on 01.06.05 17:54:

> This is billed as Safox VIII.
Yes, but my piont was, that they could use old Safox IV - the same as in
MZ-5N or MZ-6 - after all it has three AF points too.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: OT: Kodak kills DSLR - the end of FF dreams

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Jostein wrote on 01.06.05 17:50:

> I think Bjørn's "experiment" should be read with considerable caution.
> It is inadvertently staged to be in favour of Nikon.
Caution should be taken just because he has been Nikon user for many years
:-)

> In the vignetting
> example, they chose a WA-zoom from Canon which certainly isn't top
> notch. It was selected simply because it was the only WA zoom his
> Canon friend owns. Bjørn, OTOH, has access to just about every Nikon
> lens he fancies.
So which WA-zoom from Canon is "top-notch"? 16-35/2.8 L??? Read then this -
from long time Canon user:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/lenses/canon-17-40.shtml

> Also, since they're using jpeg files, they're inadvertenly testing the
> quality of in-camera processing. It's especially evident in the last
> image example, where both cameras shot with the same lens. Contrast
> and perceived sharpness is lower with the Canon, but I would say the
> highlights are considerably less attractive in the Nikon. It may be
> more a result of different jpeg compression algorithms than anything
> else, if I have got this right.
For me differencies are small enough to conclude that there are no real
advantages of one camera over the other. Yes, there are points in which they
are better for certain purposes, but generally I'd say image quality from
D2X is on pair with 1Ds.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: OT: Kodak kills DSLR - the end of FF dreams

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Toralf Lund wrote on 01.06.05 14:33:

> Or maybe the Nikon would still have sold more than the Kodak even if
> they had swapped sensors? Differently put, don't you think the Nikon
> sold more than the Kodak just because the Nikon is a Nikon and the Kodak
> is, well, not a Nikon, or a Canon, or even a Pentax...
Maybe you are right :-) But regarding brand popularity I gues Kodak is still
more popular than Pentax - good source of this information is here:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/stats.asp
Pentax has never, ever received more cicks than Kodak :-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: OT: Kodak kills DSLR - the end of FF dreams

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Boris Liberman wrote on 01.06.05 14:12:

> Sylwek, I think the main issue here is like this. Imagine for a
> moment, just for sake of this discussion, that Pentax or Minolta are
> considering investing into development of FF DSLR, but still on the
> marketing level. Now they read the news. What would they say - "these
> guys at Kodak are not stupid, and they've just cancelled the FF DSLR
> they had"... Perhaps the technology is not still there, not from the
> cost effectiveness point of view. So they decide to not even think of
> pursuing a FF DSLR...
> 
> Is it good? Is it bad? I've no clue. But I think it is a plausible scenario.
> 
> That by the way would be my response to Kostas' question as well...
> 
> Who knows, perhaps development of FF DSLR is *the* next breakthrough
> which now will be postponed, perhaps indefinitely... Or may be not...
Who really knows? For now it seems unlikely that FF will ever be popular.
Demand is low and thus production too hence price high... And it seems that
pros prefere cameras as good photographics tools - that's why APS-C sensor
based D2X is and was selling much better than FF Kodaks even though their
price was very similar.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Pentax *ist-DL

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Toralf Lund wrote on 01.06.05 14:16:

> Meaning 3 point or spot autofocus...
So it seems Pentax was left with a stock of used in MZ-5N/6 Safox IV
circuits...

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Pentax *ist-DL

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Tom Ivar Helbekkmo wrote on 01.06.05 13:31:

> It means "pentaprism viewfinder".
Thanks Tom :-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Pentax *ist-DL

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Kostas Kavoussanakis wrote on 01.06.05 13:19:

> I think that's what Henri (the OP) suggested. I think his surname is
> Finnish :-)
> 
> http://www.mail-archive.com/pentax-discuss@pdml.net/msg253937.html
I think Paul knows better as he comes from "polypeptide.SE" ;-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: SV: Pentax *ist-DL

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Eriksson Paulus wrote on 01.06.05 13:16:

> It "means penta prism viewfinder".
Thanks Paul!!! So aparrently this is not "pentamirror" as some suggested :-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Pentax *ist-DL

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Kostas Kavoussanakis wrote on 01.06.05 12:56:

> I don't think the s had pentamirror, but I may be wrong.
Does "pentaprismasökare" mean "pentamirror"? Who speaks Swedish here?

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Pentax *ist-DL

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

David Sládek wrote on 01.06.05 12:52:

> Well, it is downgraded with the AF points at least...
Is there anything in this text about AF system? Sorry, I don't understand
Swedish so I couldn't find this info :-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Pentax *ist-DL

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

David Sládek wrote on 01.06.05 12:33:

> http://81.92.66.63/index.asp?url=http://81.92.66.63/default.asp?cat_id=491
> here is the correct link... DNS servers seem not to work
Thanks David for IP :-)
For me it seems to be just silver version of *istDs and nothing more...

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: OT: Kodak kills DSLR - the end of FF dreams

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Toralf Lund wrote on 01.06.05 11:57:

> Hmmm... I've been thinking that camera producers are bound to increase
> the sensor size soon because the megapixel race won't stop, and sensor
> elements much smaller than the ones used today are quite pointless (as
> far as I understand - not due to the component size or anything, but
> pretty "hard" optical limitations.) Or do you think they'll keep
> squeezing more pixels into the current size, not caring about the fact
> that the quality/dynamics of each pixel will deteriorate?
Theoritecally yes. But in practice there is sensible limit of used
megapixels. Megapixel race is mostly visible in compact digicams. Somehow
manufacturers don't want to screw-up quality delivered by much bigger
sensors in DSLRs even though they could make now 24 MPix APS-C sensor with
photodiodes as small as in current 2/3" 8MPix sensors. 6 MPix is good enough
to make 30x45 cm prints comparable to output from good slide film. So bigger
sensors would be neccessary only in case you do a lot of cropping or bigger
size prints. Even then - 12 MPix as used in Nikon D2X - would be more than
enough for 99,99% of us and would compete output from at least 6x4.5 cm MF
film. Even Michael Reichmann who uses 1Ds was impressed by quality of
20"x24" (50x60 cm) prints from D2X. Yes, it has more noise than 1Ds mk II
but lower than original 1Ds. In direct comparison these two cameras perform
very close - each has its strong and weak points. Here is small comparison
of these both cameras:
http://www.naturfotograf.com/D2X_rev06.html#top_page

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: OT: Kodak kills DSLR - the end of FF dreams

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Jostein wrote on 01.06.05 10:11:

> I think you're right. Now that the MedF systems are entering the market with
> cameras more suited for work outside studios, chances are they will put the FF
> high-pixel cameras in a squeeze.
Yup, it seems so. Pros demanding high resolution will choose portable MF
systems rather. All others will choose smaller, lighter and cheaper APS-C
sensor cameras. So who knows if in the future FF DSLRs would disappear
completely...

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: OT: Kodak kills DSLR - the end of FF dreams

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Shel Belinkoff wrote on 01.06.05 1:34:

> Camera bodies are discontinued.   Kodak will continue to develop CCD and
> CMOS image sensors.
> 
> Here's the part that's most discouraging: Kodak will only support the
> cameras through 2008.  So, the cameras are what, about a year or so old,
> making it that Kodak will only support what is arguably their flagshio
> camera for a total of four or five years.
> 
> That's todays digital world, I guess.
So long for FF sensor cameras popularity. It seems that popularity of 35 mm
sized sensor cameras will decline. Nikon has sold 4 times more D1X than
Canon their EOS 1Ds and sales of D2X are much higher than that of 1Ds Mk II.
Not to mention millions of already sold cheaper cameras with APS-C sized
sensors. Sometimes I think that Canon keeps production of FF DSLR just for
prestige and to keep amateurs thinking that they'll have "upgrade path" in
the future. Now it seems that FF DSLRs will just remain as expensive
professionals' specialized tools and will never gain any popularity among
amateurs like us. FF is dead - long live APS-C! ;-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Questions re Pentax made lens filters

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Boris Liberman wrote on 30.05.05 15:32:

> Are they worth it? How do they compare to other manufacturer's filters?
Boris,
main problem with filters is that they can cause unwanted flare and gosting.
That's why SMC-coated filters theoretically should be the best. However I
use Marumi WPC thin filters and they are quite good too and with more
scratch and moisture resistant coatings (Water Proof Coated) - something
similar to B+W MRC. More on flare and gosting when using UV filters you can
read here:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/sm-feb-05.shtml

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Pentax 16-45/4 or Sigma 18-50/2,8

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Cotty wrote on 19.05.05 16:29:

> Okay, okay. I've mucked about and not answered Tim's question. Well, here
> it is:
> 
> Of course, don't buy either of those plastic excuses for lenses. Get
> yourself a decent bit of glass - in fact, the only real portrait lens
> that Pentax ever made:
> 
> 
It's not the only one :-) There is still this one:
http://kmp.bdimitrov.de/lenses/primes/short-tele/FA85f1.4.html
and it gives beautiful results like this:
http://www.dariobonazza.com/test_istd/Imgp0298.jpg
and it is mainly built of metal, but of course manual focus feeling is not
as good as on A* 85/1.4 :-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: DA-40 on 35mm? was Re: LittleTest:

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

UncaMikey wrote on 13.05.05 5:44:

> Does the DA-40 work on a 35mm body?  Any problems?  Pentax says
> 'digital only' but I've read reports on the 'Net that it works fine
> with film.
Vignetting is visible with DA 40/2.8 mounted on MZ-5N even within its 92%
viewfinder...

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Flash issue (was: The first DS impressions)

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Dario Bonazza wrote on 12.05.05 14:11:

> My question has nothing to do with AF400T and P mode.
> My question mainly deals with AF500FTZ (or AF360FGZ, or built-in flash) and
> Av mode, for using fast apertures in order to increase flash range and/or
> reduce flash recycling.
Well Dario, I think it is not applicable to AF360FGZ, which works in
pre-flash P-TTL mode and doesn't have any problems with fast apertures - I
tried it with f1.7 and everything was just OK. Just sometimes there are
situations when you need to be at certain minimal distance to subject to
avoid overexposure (there must be some limitations to P-TTL), but it is
indicated on flash' LCD panel.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: *ist DS questions

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Rob Studdert wrote on 28.04.05 12:15:

> Yes they use the same sensor, the Sony ICX413AQ, here is a brochure:
> 
> http://www.sony.net/Products/SC-HP/cx_news/vol28/pdf/icx413np.pdf
That's not true Rob. D70 uses different sensor made by Sanyo to Nikon's
specifications. If you look closely on spec sheets of both cameras' CCDs,
the one used D70 has even different pixel count horizontally/vertically than
the other one in *istD/Ds.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: OT - Nikon Lens compatibility

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Steve Desjardins wrote on 05.04.05 23:04:

> I know some of you have Nikon's and a colleague of mine has a question.
> Will lenses bought for an F3 or FM work on a D70 and what limits (if
> any) will there be ?
Apparently only AI, AIP and AIS will work, but exposure meter won't work -
you have to use external one. And manual focusng will be tough because of
small (although very bright) viewfinder - I'd rather rely on electronic
rangefinder (in-viewfinder focus confirmation) then.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Free image browser

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

David Mann wrote on 05.04.05 10:58:

> I've heard the Amiga OS may be making a comeback, but I'm not sure
> which hardware platform it'll use.
One option is Pegasos - Power PC G4 based platform with Amiga OS compatible
Morph OS:
http://www.pegasosppc.com/
second one was Amiga One - it was PPC based too, but I don't know if it is
still sold.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: DS Doing Well in Japan

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

frank theriault wrote on 05.04.05 1:56:

> Japan is a county of 130,000,000 people.  It's population is largely
> affluent.  It's population seems to love the latest in high-tech
> gizmos, and I'm thinking that DSLR's are included therein.
That's true. What is interesting however, from what I've read - Japan is one
of the countries where film is still very popular among advanced
photographers. It has still a strong position for instance among wedding
photographers. There are a lot of positive film lovers - proof in Fuji offer
for Japan - Velvia 100 (not 100F) was there available about one year before
UE and USA... And sales of expensive (over 2000 USD) Nikon F6 proofs it too.

> Whatever place they are in the world camera market, they are a
> significant and important market.  That Pentax is making a significant
> dent in that market is A Good Thing (as Martha Stewart would say).
Yes, it seems that Ds sales are exactly as expected by Pentax. This company
was never serious contender for giants like Canon or Nikon, but it always
had more or less fixed share on SLR/DSLR market. Let's hope they will be
able to keep up with the forthcoming ~600 USD class Nikon D50...

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Free image browser

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Cotty wrote on 04.04.05 17:06:

> Oh flippin eck, I'm going to have to move off the Mac soon and find some
> other niche system that's still ambling happily along.
Good idea Cotty. We'd better look for a good Amiga or Atari computers - they
will be free from these problems forever :-P

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

New Pentax DSLR!

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

At last some short info about *istD successor! It seems that most of our
wishes regarding features and especially ergonomics has been taken very
seriously in consideration! Here is official info (Japanese):
http://www.pentax.co.jp/ppc/product/pro_d/1.html

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

New Pentax DSLR!

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

At last some short info about *istD successor! It seems that most of our
wishes regarding features and especially ergonomics has been taken very
seriously in consideration! Here is official info (Japanese):
http://www.pentax.co.jp/ppc/product/pro_d/1.html

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Enablement, The best 35mm camera ever!!!!

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Jens Bladt wrote on 01.04.05 9:21:

> Why the *ist D AF system. I think the MZ-S has faster AF than the *ist D.
That's not a speed, but rather "christmass" style red lights that are
appealing to Mark :-P

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Enablement, The best 35mm camera ever!!!!

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Mark Roberts wrote on 31.03.05 3:21:

> My dream film camera would be an MZ-S with the dual control wheels and
> AF system of the ist-D and the OTF metering of the LX.
Well, if MZ-S would have AF system of *istD I wouldn't buy it as this new
Safox has much worse low-light performance than the one used in MZ-S. It
would be the best if Pentax would improve sensitivity of AF sensors from
*istD/Ds... Right now it is unusable for even slightly moving in low light
subjects, even with AF assist from AF360.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: An new record?

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Rob Studdert wrote on 31.03.05 11:42:

> I suspect that this has to be a new record price for a crappy old manual focus
> 85mm lens? :-)
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7503794246
Slowly, but it seems that Pentax is becoming the most expensive SLR system
to own :-P

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: On production cost (was Re: Future of DA lenses)

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

KT Takeshita wrote on 30.03.05 15:32:

> Obviously, it is
> impossible to have a butter smooth MF feeling (oh, I miss my old M50/1.4)
> with the AF capability :-).  Unfortunately, we cannot have it in both ways.
Not true :-) There are some AF lenses, which don't move focusing ring during
AF operation (either because it is declutched during AF or it is driven by
in-lens motor) and they have very, very nice MF feeling. One of these lenses
is Zuiko Digital 14-54/2.8-3.5 for 4/3 system - I tried it lately and it has
very good build quality and MF feeling as well :-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

*istDs competition is coming

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Manual for new Nikon D50 leaked to the internet. It is already removed from
Asian Nikon site but uou can still download it here ;-)
http://www.lolas.pl/tempy/nikon/D50_UserManual.pdf
Interesting - it uses SD cards and is just a bit larger than *istDs. Anyway
nothing special as DSLR. However the most interesting thing is expected
price tag - 500 USD for body and 599 USD with new DX AF-S 18-55/3.5-5.6 (the
same specs as DA 18-55) - that would open completely new era in DSLR
pricing!


-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

*istDs competition is coming

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Manual for new Nikon D50 leaked to the internet. It is already removed from
Asian Nikon site but uou can still download it here ;-)
http://www.lolas.pl/tempy/nikon/D50_UserManual.pdf
Interesting - it uses SD cards and is just a bit larger than *istDs. Anyway
nothing special as DSLR. However the most interesting thing is expected
price tag - 500 USD for body and 599 USD with new DX AF-S 18-55/3.5-5.6 (the
same specs as DA 18-55) - that would open completely new era in DSLR
pricing!


-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Future of DA lenses

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Rob Studdert wrote on 29.03.05 15:42:

> LOL, at least they weren't foolish enough to adopt the 4/3 regimen
Fortunately they weren't. After all it wouldn't make a sense to use K-lenses
on that then :-)

-- 
Pozdrowienia
Sylwek

Re: Future of DA lenses

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Rob Studdert wrote on 29.03.05 15:25:

> Exactly, just like Pentax 110 lenses. :-P
Yeah, yeah, but 110 was never as popular as 35 mm. Seeing progress of things
(millions APS-C DSLRs sold) it seems that FF will soon become a kind of
"digital 110" :-P

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: FA stands for Family

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Lindamood, Mark wrote on 24.03.05 15:10:

> http://members.cox.net/mark.lindamood/FiveFAs.jpg
Well, why FA 135/2.8 has won 1st place? ;-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: D645 musings

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Herb Chong wrote on 24.03.05 12:34:

> the only one of the big 5 to revise their profit forecast upwards is Canon.
> there are speculations by financial analysts that as soon as the replacement
> for the Nikon D70 is announced, there's going to be the start of the same
> price war as we a saw in digital P&S cameras. the entry level DSLRs from
> Canon, Nikon, Pentax, and Olympus are basically the same. what's the
> differentiator when that happens? megapixel and price wars.
Replacement for D70 (it will be called D70s and will appear soon) will not
be a reason for a new price war. Both - Nikon and Olympus plan to release
something even chepaer very soon. AFAIK Nikon will call it D50 and it will
be much cheaper than D70... It should appear around April or May. If the
rumours come true - that would mean price range around 500-600 EURO(!)
At last DSLRs would become available to almost everyone. Let's hope Pentax
will catch up.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: OT: BBC WIldlife Photographer competition

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Kenneth Waller wrote on 23.03.05 2:23:

> Wish me luck. I've entered 7 images in the BBC competition.
> You can check them out @
> http://mypeoplepc.com/members/kwaller/entries2005bbcwildlifephotographercomp
> etition/
Great photos! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you :-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: DA and DFA roadmap

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Alin Flaider wrote on 17.03.05 15:40:

> This looks like the decade long awaited FA 70-210/4 with ED glass.
> I'll believe when I see it.
Yup, at last! And very likely because FA* 80-200/2.8 has disappeared lately
from japanese Pentax lens catalogue. Nice thing is that it will be D-FA lens
- so film users will be happy too :-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Nowe szkla DA i DFA

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Sorry for this post! I have too fst fingers sometimes :-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Nowe szkla DA i DFA

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Ktos na dpreview przetlumaczyl co i jak, tak wiec mamy to co bylo na tej
tablicy a co Pentax planuje wprowadzic do produkcji 2005-2006:
- DA Fisheye zoom (approximately 10-20mm zoom range)
- DA "thin" LIMITED wide prime (20-30mm range)
- DA "thin" LIMITED mid-tele prime (60-70mm range)
- DFA "high performance" tele zoom (approximately 50-200mm zoom range)
Calkiem niezle. Widac naprawde przelozyli spore srodki do dzialu lustrzanek
a wlasciwie cyfranek. Wyglada na to, ze bedzie cyfrowy "standard" (czyli
pewnie jakies 35/1.4), portretowka no i wysokiej jakosci tele zoom (cos mi
mowi, ze bedzie to stale swiatlo f4 - maly i lekki ale pewnie jakies IF i ED
;-).

-- 
Pozdrowienia
Sylwek

DA and DFA roadmap

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Someone on Dpreview forum was keen enough to check it and translate so here
we have future lenses to be introduced 2005-2006
- DA Fisheye zoom (approximately 10-20mm zoom range)
- DA "thin" LIMITED wide prime (20-30mm range)
- DA "thin" LIMITED mid-tele prime (60-70mm range)
- DFA "high performance" tele zoom (approximately 50-200mm zoom range)
Looks nice. We'll have fast and small "standard" and portrait tele.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Potential buyrs of a D645?

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote on 17.03.05 14:25:

> So.  Where does all this leave the 67 system?
Sorry Mike, they'll have to wait for 67 D ;-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Potential buyrs of a D645?

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Rob Studdert wrote on 17.03.05 15:40:

> As will be the 22MP Mamiya ZD which will likely be in users hands well before
> the Pentax offering
Let's hope this difference will be as small as possible :-) Much smaller
than between Nikon D1 and *istD ;-) AFAIR it took Pentax about one year from
showing non-working prototype of *istD to its actual appearance in shops.

> and which has a well established user base as it utilizes
> the excellent Mamiya 645AF lenses.
Well, Mamiya AF lenses are no better than their Pentax equivalents, but
usually much more expensive, aren't they?

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: 645D Photos (under glass) here

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Frantisek wrote on 17.03.05 13:17:

> 
> All have square body with mirror housing, definitely. Also, the Kodak
> sensor is not capable of electronic viewfinder at all. That's just
> technological impossibility at this moment. Third, IstD has a very
> small prism too.
Actually I think all MZ-series Pentax SLRs have very small prisms too :-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: 645D Photos (under glass) here

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Frantisek wrote on 17.03.05 10:11:

> Contrary to few rumours that are floating on dpreview (pure
> speculation forums as always), the lens doesn't reminiscence the
> Tokina 12-24 at all.
No, it doesn't. But on the other side Nikkor ED 70-300/4-5.6 doesn't
reminiscent Tamorn 70-300 at all but all know that these are the same lenses
produced by Tamron ;-P

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: 645D Photos (under glass) here

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Rob Studdert wrote on 17.03.05 9:14:

> If the "C" body (*ist D family likeness) is really an option then we can
> pretty 
> much assume that mechanical aperture coupling won't be an option since the
> aperture ring will be difficult to operate because of the superfluous prism
> overhang. Probably as cost saving move. LOL
Don't worry. They'll "repair" it via firmware update ;-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Man of the year

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Alin Flaider wrote on 16.03.05 12:42:

> I believe at least one of these was taken in Romania. :o(
I have been several times in Romania and never seen these men ;-)

> Do I see the an incipient essay? ;o)
No, I bet it is closed now ;-)

-- 
Pozdrowienia
Sylwek

Re: 18.6 MP 645 announcement

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Frantisek wrote on 16.03.05 12:20:

> I meant I laughed at the constant quarrels between people there on DPREVIEW...
Oh yes, that's true. Neverending, pointless quarrels. Just like a small
children, who often like to quarrel with friends who has the best toy :-)

> If the price you mention is near real, it would be some great
> camera...
That was rumours 1 or 2 years ago. I hope they were close to true.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: 18.6 MP 645 announcement

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Frantisek wrote on 16.03.05 0:52:

> I wonder about the "extra large sensor" and only 18.6 MP. It could
> mean the noise would be well controled, perhaps quite better than the
> 22MP backs so far.
Let's hope it will be better than Kodak's CMOS sensor used in DCS-14x
models. It wasn't too good noise-wise.

> OTOH that puts it in competition with EOS 1DsII, so
> it better have ~8000$ price
645D was rumoured to cost around 5000-7000 USD so that would be very good
price for digital MF. And it is not so unlikely if you consider that Kodak's
FF DCS-14 bodies that uses either F80 or SD-10 body as base (so they must
buy it from someone else) sell for abut 4000$.

> and some darn fast AF...
I think it will use AF sensor array as used in *istD/Ds. So they better
improve its low-ligt performance, otherwise it will be just "some darn slow
AF" ;-)

> If not, I would
> share Rob's scepticism. Although, I am not a sceptic. I just laughed
> at all the threads on dpreview about D2X vs 1DSII.
Both are great cameras. I wish Pentax could produce *istD succesor with
12MPix sensor as used in D2X. And AF performance at level of D2X would be
nice too ;-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: D645 Prediction

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Rob Studdert wrote on 16.03.05 1:32:

> I predict that if and when Pentax actually get a D645 body to market Canon
> will 
> before if not very soon after release a full frame 18MP body at a very
> attractive price point which will be near half the price point of the Pentax
> D645. In the interim Pentax will be no closer to production of a full frame
> 35mm DSLR and APS DSLR development will remain stagnant.
Well, price point of 645D is not known yet. However from various rumours
that we heard before, I think it won't be more expensive than Canon's FF
35mm. It was somewhere around 5000-7000USD (seems too low to be true ;-) If
that would be case I think there will be a lot of photographers who'd buy
it. But of course we'll have to wait for official annoucement.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: why So who would buy...

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Peter J. Alling wrote on 15.03.05 17:16:

> Blasphemy and unnatural acts!  Shame, Shame.
Shame? As we used to say in Poland "Necessity is a mother of invention" ;-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: PESO: Late night shopping

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Frantisek wrote on 15.03.05 2:46:

> Found this man, with the strange thing he apparently bought, one late Prague
> evening. Shootng Cotty style from the hip.
> 
> http://www.frantisekvlcek.com/peso
> 
> Comments and critique welcome!
Good snap. My very first impression was that this man has just bought real
living lion ;-) I like blurred movement in the background.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: why So who would buy... (was:Special Interview with PENTAX @PMA)

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Peter Lacus wrote on 15.03.05 16:38:

> yes you can. But you can't go from a Pentax (D)SLR to the 1Ds Mk2 and
> use Pentax glass with it. This is very important to me, because I chose
> Pentax not because of their bodies, but because of their fine (and
> reasonably priced) glass.
No, no, no! You are absolutely not right! It is possible to mount Pentax
lenses exactly on Canon 1D. See here:
http://www.cottysnaps.com/snaps/mods/eoskmount.html

:-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: New member intro

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Rick Womer wrote on 15.03.05 16:15:

> You clearly have advanced contrarian and antisocial
> tendencies.  If you give away all your C gear (you
> can send the 20D to me) and buy a new Pentax kit,
> there might be a cure.
I think Cotty's illness is not listed as 20D but rather as 1D version 2 ;-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: This must be some sort of record.....

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Butch Black wrote on 15.03.05 4:10:

> Stupid question. Is the A 85/1.4 significantly superior to the FA 85/1.4?
> The FA is listing new for $800 on B&H and the 77 LTD for $690.
I don't think so. Look at Arnold's test:
http://www.arnoldstark.de/pentax/pentax.htm
They have quite similar resolution (A* is slightly better wide open, FA* is
better closed down). If you take a look on test photos, for me FA* has
slightly better contrast and lower chromatic aberrations than A*. So I think
FA* represents much better value for money, at least optical quality-wise.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: 80-200mm 2.8 Lenses Thoughts

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Frantisek wrote on 14.03.05 16:10:

> Interesting :-) So much about the hype of ultrasonic motors. They can
> do just as well with normal ones.
Yes, it seems so. Maybe the difference could be seen more clearly when we'd
compare bigger lenses with heavier mass to move? For me the only good side
of using ultrasonic lens is its quietness and possibility of FTM (althought
it is possible in Pentax DA lenses now too). Of course quietness of the lens
means nothing if you have loud camera like EOS 20D - I really don't know why
Canon has downgraded perfectly damped mirror from 10D :-( Costs cutting???

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Full Frame DSLR (two responses in one)

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote on 14.03.05 15:04:

> Canon makes a whack of cash on their full frame DLSR because no one else
> makes a full frame DLSR currently, and, the type of people that shoot a
> full frame dlsr (because they can afford it) are willing to pay the bucks
> for one.
What about two Kodaks DCS-14 N and C (with Nikon and Canon mount
respectively)? They are FF and are not produced by Canon as one might guess
;-)

> To me, that's simple economics - it's what the market will bear currently
> and as such they can make that amount of money on the camera.
> 
> No matter how many people clamour; until someone else (i.e. Pentax or Nikon
> are probably the closest since Minolta's DLSR was only just released) can
> release another full frame DLSR, Canon will continue to make the big bucks
> off of theirs since it's "the only game in town".
Not the only. See above.
I think the problem with FF is that it is inteneded for professionals only.
As such it is produced in small quantities and that won't help in FF's price
drop anytime soon. Seeing rising popularity of APS-C size sensor based DSLRs
it is almost clear that this smaller factor will be the most popular - just
as 35 mm film became before II WW... FF will be more affordable but still a
niche product. It will be rather like every film format bigger than 35 mm
became - affordable, especially second hand, but not popular and much more
expensive than its smaller cousin.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Full Frame DSLR (two responses in one)

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote on 14.03.05 15:04:

> Canon makes a whack of cash on their full frame DLSR because no one else
> makes a full frame DLSR currently, and, the type of people that shoot a
> full frame dlsr (because they can afford it) are willing to pay the bucks
> for one.
What about two Kodaks DCS-14 N and C (with Nikon and Canon mount
respectively)? They are FF and are not produced by Canon as one might guess
;-)

> To me, that's simple economics - it's what the market will bear currently
> and as such they can make that amount of money on the camera.
> 
> No matter how many people clamour; until someone else (i.e. Pentax or Nikon
> are probably the closest since Minolta's DLSR was only just released) can
> release another full frame DLSR, Canon will continue to make the big bucks
> off of theirs since it's "the only game in town".
Not the only. See above.
I think the problem with FF is that it is inteneded for professionals only.
As such it is produced in small quantities and that won't help in FF's price
drop anytime soon. Seeing rising popularity of APS-C size sensor based DSLRs
it is almost clear that this smaller factor will be the most popular - just
as 35 mm film became before II WW... FF will be more affordable but still a
niche product. It will be rather like every film format bigger than 35 mm
became - affordable, especially second hand, but not popular and much more
expensive than its smaller cousin.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: 80-200mm 2.8 Lenses Thoughts

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Frantisek wrote on 14.03.05 13:24:

> I too found out a lot of purple fringes - I attributed it to flare
> though. God knows what it was. But remember that the Sigma in Nikon
> mount uses HSM - their equivalent of ultrasonic motors. These do make
> the focusing a lot faster, especially on a body with weak AF motor
> like the D70. I think on Pentax the difference wouldn't
> be big?
Well, when I was in Italy last year, we have an opportunity with Dario to
test this Sigma head to head on both - D70 and *istD. And to my surprise AF
on Pentax was about as fast as on D70 at least in good light conditions. Of
course Pentax was much noisier and there was no FTM. So I suspect AF with
Tokina would be slower than with Sigma on Pentax.
One more thing. Sigma produces two perfectly matched for 70-200/2.8 APO
teleconverters - 1.4x and 2x. I didn't try them myself, but from what I've
read so far, even 2x TC gives good results, especially on DSLR.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: 80-200mm 2.8 Lenses Thoughts

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

David Volkert wrote on 13.03.05 9:49:

> I'm looking into buying either the Sigma 70-200mm 2.8 or the Tokina
> 80-200mm 2.8 lens (the Pentax version is way out of my price range).  Do
> any of you have thoughts on either of them?  I shoot alot of action so
> auto focus speed is really important to me.  Thanks for your help,
I tried both on Nikon D70. Tokina has worse sharpness than Sigma at open
apertures and has much higher chromatic aberrations (probably because Tokina
uses just 1 ED element while Sigma 4). And Sigma has much faster AF thanks
to true IF, is lighter despite having very good build quality (not as tough
as Tokina, but much better than any amateur FA zoom, it is more like FA*
zooms) and has more usable petal bayonette type hood (Tokina has screw-in
type AFAIR).

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Pentax meets Canon

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Cotty wrote on 11.03.05 17:13:

>> You could have made a much more "interesting " shot with slightly
>> different positioning.
> 
> I'm all ears Steve.
Cotty, I belive Steve wanted it this way:
http://www.republika.pl/sylwekp/images/img1824.jpg
:-P

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Enablement

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Shel Belinkoff wrote on 08.03.05 16:10:

> Never having used a flash, forgive my ignorance.  What makes the Sigma a
> better choice than the Pentax?
Higher GN (40 at 50mm/iso100 vs. 30 in Pentax), swivel head (AF360 has only
tilt movement), "Multi-Pulse Flash Function" - burst of low power flashes
that enables you to catch subject's movement steps on one frame. AF360 would
be better in terms of compatibility - it is said to be analogue TTL
compatible, so it would work with LX and the likes too.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Power zoom lenses

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Scott Loveless wrote on 08.03.05 15:07:

> Howdy!  I'm noticing that Pentax states power zoom functions are not
> available on the *ist film camera (which I have) and the *istD.  The
> ZX-60 and the *istDS literature makes no mention of this.  Anybody
> know if these lenses work with the latter two cameras?
Yes they work. But power zoom function doesn't :-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Sunday photographer "Just to be contrary"

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/sm-mar-05.shtml
Interestng conclusions. And information that new Nikon F6 sells very well is
surprising too. Apparently there are a lot of people still using film for
PRO work too (Natoinal Geographic should be a good example)...

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Kyocera Pulls Plug in Contax?

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Alin Flaider wrote on 04.03.05 7:29:

> The mention of Sony as a potential buyer coupled with the rumour
> that Sony wants to be a DSLR player could mean we might see a Contax
> resurrection. Anyway, I doubt a powerful brand will just simply
> vanish. Look at Cosina-Voigtlander.
That would be interesting. I'm curious what mount would Sony choose to go
with? Some rumours are saying that Sony will build 4/3 based DSLR and that
would make a sens as it is open standard. They could sell it of course under
Contax brand with Zeiss lenses... If that would be true, 4/3 could become
really popular DSLR system as either Sony and Matsushita (which is supposed
to show their first 4/3 based DSLR on next year's PMA) are much bigger and
more powerful companies than even Canon...

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: ping

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote on 03.03.05 10:34:

> Cztery, Piec, Szesc
Oh! Thankuje :-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

ping

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

1, 2, 3...

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Film Scanner

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Butch Black wrote on 02.03.05 4:41:

> FWIW I seem to remember reading somewhere that the LED illumination used by
> the Coolscans doesn't always work well with Kodachrome and B&W and that a
> fluorescent light source works better in those cases. The down side is that
> on film you can use digital ICE on the LED's work better.
Yes, that's true. Nikon has improved this in newer models by using diffusor,
but older models had very poor quality of scanning B&W materials. The
problem was that LEDs emit directional light, which had problems passing
through particles of silver halides. That was never a problem for scanners
with diffused fluorescent light, like Minoltas. I remember test of optical
density of film scanners. And while Nikons performed great (Dmax around 3.6)
when scanning slide and negative film, Dmax dropped drastically to somewhere
around 2 in case of classic B&W films. And that's exactly my experience when
I used Coolscan III. AFAIK only medium format Nikon's scanners (8000 and
9000) use rod dispersion LED technology, that creates more diffused light to
achieve good results when scanning B&W films.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Sigma 10-20 for Pentax

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Peter Loveday wrote on 01.03.05 0:04:

> Anyone heard anything about the availability (and price?) of the Sigma 30 /
> 1.4 prime for Pentax mount?
Yeah, that would be even more interesting for bright "standard" lovers.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

[OT] D2X reviewed...

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

OK, not so completely OT, as it could be of interest for these hoping for
use of this 12MPix sensor in future higher-end Pentax DSLR. And seeing the
results (even compared to FF EOS 1Ds mk II) I hope such a *ist{whatever}
will happen sooner than later :-)
http://www.naturfotograf.com/D2X_rev00.html

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Yet Another Rumor (YAR?)

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Rob Studdert wrote on 22.02.05 5:50:

>> i've heard, but not from any reliable source, that Panasonic and Sony are
>> planning to enter the DSLR market in the next year. yet the people who are
>> saying this are people who are supposed to be on top of these things. they
>> aren't sure and i'm not sure either, but there you have it.
> 
> Which mounts?
No hope for K mount :-) Undoubtely it will be 4/3. This is the only system
open for everyone and Panasonic joined seriously 4/3 participants a few
months ago. Panasonic is supposed to show DSLR with this mount on the next
year's PMA, and rumours are saying that Sony is currently developing 4/3
interchangeable lens camera but without mirror... just with EVF. And there
are serius rumours that Panasonic will make their own lenses with 4/3 mount
with optical stabilisation - which is no surprise taking in consideration
their experience in doing that but for video cameras and digicams.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: OT - Anti is Upped

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Cotty wrote on 17.02.05 11:30:

> Interesting!
> 
> It showed a 'Digital Rebel XT' in black with a battery pack attached,
> quoting the 8MP sensor and 3 frames per second
Yeah, I've managed to read it all, and responded to your original post, but
it didn't reached PDML... Anyway - letsgodigital removed this page, because
embargo on new Drebel end on 20.02 :-)
Anyway seems like a new Drebel will be killer DSLR...

-- 
Pozdrowienia
Sylwek

Re: *ist-D TTL Flash Confirmation

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Mark Cassino wrote on 16.02.05 5:05:

> I get the pre-flash and the flash from the AF360, but no TTL flash
> confirmation in the view finder of the *ist-D (the lighting bolt blinking
> after the flash.)  The exposures are OK - maybe a full half stop under
> exposed but I think the *ist is designed to do that to preserve highlight
> detail. If I cover the lens and shoot, the flash exhausts itself, so I know
> some TTL function is there.
> 
> But when I put an AF500FTZ on the camera, I *do* get TTL flash confirmation.
> The exposures are about the same, with the AF500 maybe being just a little
> less underexposed..
Yeah, there is NO flash confirmation in P-TTL with either *istD nor with Ds!
There is simply error in *istD manual stating that confirmation should be
visible but it is not. They corrected it in *istDs manual.
It is very strange, because with analog P-TTL aware bodies like MZ-S flash
confirmation works as it should... Apparently there is a bug in both Pentax
DSLRs... Strangely there is flash confirmation with plain TTL flash units...

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Which Macro lens do you like the most?

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

On 2005-02-15, at 21:38, Kostas Kavoussanakis wrote:
I believe I have read here that the FA100/2.8 suffers from CA on the
digitals. Someone will surely correct me with vigour if denigrating a
fine (and expensive) lens.
Yes it does, but only at specific angles of view and in apertures range 
about f2.8-5.6 (raraely used in macro...). Generally I could live with 
it - it appeared only ocassionally, let's say once per 100 frames ;-)

 If you are to buy new, the DA100/2.8 will
likely not suffer from CA on the digitals.
I hope so too :-) And it is 1/2 in weight, 49mm filters, with wider 
focusing ring and QFS. But I suspect build quality is much worse (FA 
100/2.8 macro is built like a tank).

--
Best regards
Sylwek

Re: PESO A bunch of stuff

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

On 2005-02-15, at 10:19, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Might have accidentally sent an empty version of this mail, for which 
my apologies and may webmail inventors roast in Hades for all 
eternity...
It doesn't appear to be empty ;-)
http://home.fotocommunity.de/mike.a.wilson/
Mike, my favourites here are:
Kittyhawk, Pam in Krakow, Rebirth and Red for danger (in alphabetical 
order :-) I like the way you catched people, and front shots of 
airplane and car are very interesting to my eye too.

--
Best regards
Sylwek

Re: New Pentax 55-200?

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

On 2005-02-15, at 17:32, Rob Brigham wrote:
Sorry - have been deleting hundreds of unread posts lately as not 
enough
time for cyber-skiving at work at the moment!
No need to be sorry :-) I've made similar mistake so many times too :-)
--
Best regards
Sylwek

Re: New Pentax 55-200?

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Rob Brigham wrote on 15.02.05 17:24:

> http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/news/articles/story_2553.html
> 
> Not seen this mentioned, but havent been able to read all the mails
> here...
It was mentioned on PDML with "DA 50-200 f4-5.6" subject :-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: DA 50-200 f4-5.6

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Joseph Tainter wrote on 15.02.05 3:24:

> P.S. Pål predicted (reported) that there would be at least 5 DA lenses.
> We now have five. Will there be more?
Let's hope there will be. New cheapo low-end DA 55-200 with its dark
aperture f4-5.6 and filter size 52mm is only suited for DA 18-55/3.5-5.6
that came as a kit lens for Ds.
I think most of advanced Pentax DSLR users are awaiting rather something
like DA 50-200/4 with 67mm filter size and petal type hood (with PL filter
window) as a perfect match for their DA 16-45/4...

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: DA 50-200 f4-5.6

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

On 2005-02-14, at 20:51, David Zaninovic wrote:
I just hope it is optically as good as or better than Pentax-F SMC 
70-210 so I can buy it. :)
Constant f4 would be even better and I don't think it would add too 
much weight as it is almost too light now.
Light yes, small - no. Filter size - 52 mm corresponds with18-50 in DA 
line, but it is still bigger than 49 mm in full frame F or FA 
70-210/4-5.6... I hope they'll release f4 zoom in similar focal range 
and not with 77mm filter... ;-)

--
Best regards
Sylwek

Re: *Ist flash problem

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

MikeM wrote on 14.02.05 14:48:

> I have tried with Av mode and today I tried setting metering and focus to
> spot and the standard mode when I took a shot of a bird near the top of a
> bush with a clear late afternoon eastern sky background. The bird was in the
> shade of a tree while much of the bush around it was in sunlight.
Hmmm... so check if your flash is not in fully automatic "A" mode ("A"
visible on the LCD). Auto mode should be switched off, then flash would fire
always regardless of light conditions.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: *Ist flash problem

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

MikeM wrote on 14.02.05 14:18:

> I have been using my *Ist for about 10 months and still can't force the hot
> shoe flash, Sigma EF500, to fire when there is backlighting or part of a
> bright window in the frame. I try to avoid these situations as much as
> possible, but some sometimes couldn't avoid it. I have a Tamron 24-135 lens
> on it.
> 
> What do I need to do?
Did you use Av, Tv or M mode? Otherwise in scene modes metering won't fire
flash when it assumes "enough light" and that could happen in situation
described by you.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: MZ-S Question

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Patrick Genovese wrote on 14.02.05 13:48:

> Are you sure coz it seems to do it even at the beginning of a roll.
Yes, I am sure and it is mentioned in the manual. But if it happens at the
beginning of the roll, then something is rather wrong.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: MZ-S Question

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Patrick Genovese wrote on 14.02.05 12:53:

> Sometimes right after taking a shot it beeped 4 times other than that it
> seems to function normally. I haven't processed the film yet so I don't
> know if there are any "bad" shots.  Does anyone know what this means coz
> I could'nt find any explanation in the manual.
Usually it means that you've reached 30th frame. It acts as a warning that
your film would soon end :-) You can switch this warning off along with
other audio signals in PFs AFAIR.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Velvia 100

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

On 2005-02-10, at 20:59, Pål Jensen wrote:
This film was released a couple of years ago along with the Velvia 
100F and Astia 100F.
Yup, but so far it was only available in Japan.
--
Best regards
Sylwek

Re: When will we get image stabilisation for Pentax DSLR?

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Martin Trautmann wrote on 10.02.05 11:19:

> Could you describe further what the KAF3 mount would be?
> What's the difference to KAF2 (or probably the crippled KAF2)?
AFAIR there was a lot of changes, but full compatibility with manual lenses
was preserved. Dou you (or anyone) want .pdf file with full specs?

> Is there any real chance to use IS lenses for the latest *ist D's?
I seriously doubt it, as there is only one contact suitable for digital data
transmission (that could be actually OK, serial transmission today can be
very fast) but no power contacts of any kind...

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: When will we get image stabilisation for Pentax DSLR?

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Martin Trautmann wrote on 09.02.05 14:29:

> IS and in-lens-AF would not work with *ist D/*ist Ds - would it?
Exactly - they both have removed PZ contacts. So they are not able to use
IS/USM type lenses.
If you're interested in, I have took a time to put KAF3 patent together in
one .pdf file -  I can send you that via e-mail.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: When will we get image stabilisation for Pentax DSLR?

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Martin Trautmann wrote on 09.02.05 13:07:

> AFAIK there's no more electrical contact from the body to the lense that
> could provide power for stabilisation. This looks like an early decision
> against IS within the lense.
Actually, in KAF3 patent filed by Pentax a few years ago power zoom contacts
were utilised as source of power needed by I.S. KAF3 according to technical
specifications available in patent is ready for both - I.S. and in-lens AF
motors, but it hasn't apeared in any of Pentax products so far...

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: K85/1.8 -- US$570.00??

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Greg Lovern wrote on 07.02.05 3:38:

> A K85/1.8 just sold on eBay for US$570.00. Does it usually sell for that
> much?? If so, I guess I'll forget about ever having one...
Lots of money. I've seen used FA 77/1.8 limited going for similar price...

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: *ist Ds firmware update

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

On 2005-02-02, at 22:11, Cotty wrote:
I can't be the only one who's seen this?

No, I've seen that about one week ago on japanese Pentax site. 
Unfortunately I was too busy lately to let anyone know on PDML :-)

--
Best regards
Sylwek

Re: New 12 MPix DSLR from Pentax???

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

On 2005-02-02, at 19:16, Cotty wrote:
Yeah and boy do those Pentax boys work late into the night
Do they work on that new hat designed for barbecue? ;-)
--
Best regards
Sylwek

Re: New 12 MPix DSLR from Pentax???

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

On 2005-02-02, at 22:21, Mark Roberts wrote:
Not really "available": The chip is a Nikon design that they're having
manufactured by Sony so any third-party licensing would be up to Nikon,
not Sony.
Oh, that's just cruel ;-) But there's always possibility that Sony 
would build their own 12MPix sensor (no matter CMOS or CCD). But that's 
just pure speculation ;-)

 I'll leave it to you to decide how likely it would be for
Nikon to license it to Pentax ;-)
E... do I have 0.01 percent? ;-)
--
Best regards
Sylwek

Re: PESO PAW - Forsaken

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Shel Belinkoff wrote on 02.02.05 16:56:

> Over the years I've photographed this relic numerous times.  Here's one
> interpretation ...
> 
> http://home.earthlink.net/~pdml-pics/forsaken.html
Poor, old boat... 

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: PESO Having a mate over for dinner

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Rob Studdert wrote on 31.01.05 2:13:

> The image has been cropped by about 30% as the subjects were still a little
> small in the frame. Don't check the link if you are Arachnophobic :-)
> 
> http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~distudio/temp/IMGP0448.jpg (~200kB)
Nice spiders :-) Nice background (should I say bokeh? :-) - but what would
you expect otherwise from 77 Ltd? ;-) Seriously, good choice of framing and
DOF. Colours seems nice to my eye too. And of course it is great you managed
to do this not having macro lens, unless these spiders were man sized ;-)

> Comments, criticisms or outright bagging over the use of such crap equipment
> welcome.
Oh really, all of your equipment Rob is really crap :-P Thankfully you are
photographer good enough to make some good pictures using it ;-)

-- 
Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: New 12 MPix DSLR from Pentax???

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Jon M wrote on 02.02.05 16:53:

> See the mass of emails with the following subject
> line:
> 
> "Spotted on another group ..."
> http://www.mail-archive.com/pentax-discuss%40pdml.net/msg226179.html
You're right :-) I just haven't got enough time lately to read majority of
posts on PDML ;-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

New 12 MPix DSLR from Pentax???

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

http://www.upcdatabase.com/item.pl?upc=027075076662
I suspect it's just hoax, but who knows? After all Sony already has new
12MPix CMOS sensor used in Nikon D2X available...

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: To Mac Users

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

David Mann wrote on 02.02.05 10:48:

> Be aware that Apple do charge for 10.x releases.  It's not obvious from
> the numbering scheme but these are pretty major updates.  I think they
> charge US$129 - this is the full price; there is no "upgrade" pricing.
> I don't think it's too bad considering the amount of improvements they
> make:
Actually it's much cheaper. You can buy unboxed, legal version of OSX 10.3
on DVD from OWC for only 49 USD:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/item/7359/APL6035470A/

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Has anyone used the Canon 8400F scanner?

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Marcel Bourque wrote on 23.01.05 15:21:

> Hi;
> 
> I'm considering buying a Canon 8400F scanner and wondered if any PDML
> members had any experience with this scanner.
> 
I use it. Nothing particulary great but not bad either. Good scan quality,
poor software, fair speed (about 2 minutes per 35 mm frame scan with FARE at
1600 dpi) if you have fast computer.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Update: GF not going Canon!

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Graywolf wrote on 26.01.05 5:37:

> OTOH, those who chose Canon instead of Pentax should be excommunicated (GRIN).
Thanks God I choosed Nikon ;-)

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek

Re: Pentax 50mm News

[Sylwester Pietrzyk]

Rob Studdert wrote on 26.01.05 10:59:

> I've had my *ist D for over a year and shot over 10k images with it and I
> still 
> don't like the body based aperture control. Granted I use it but I can't see
> one reason that it's so much improved over lens ring based controls that I'd
> love it? How is it going forward for the user? How can it improve my
> photography (bearing in mind too that the other two current film bodies that I
> use regularly only offer aperture control on the lens)?
I think Rob it's a just matter of getting used to the thing. I learned to
used it effectively in my D70 quite fast. And honestly, I don't think that
using aperture ring on long zooms like 70-200/2.8 or lenses with tripod
mount could be convenient until you've got three hands ;-) And of course
you've got a choice of EV step with in-body aperture control.
However I still like very much using aperture ring with short lenses mounted
on MZ-S.

-- 
Balance is the ultimate good...

Best Regards
Sylwek