Re: Disappointed - Pentax technicians couldn't answer extension tube question.
But the fact is it all depends on people not a company. Nevertheless such persons should not work for any big company. Instead of giving you correct information she/he was rude. What a guy! If she/he did not know the answer he/she should call Pentax service or somewhere. Pity. But when you set any lens on non-A position you should expect some overexposure with you PZ1p! Cheers Alek - Original Message - From: Kathleen [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, August 04, 2003 12:50 PM Subject: Re: Disappointed - Pentax technicians couldn't answer extension tube question. Not only did the tech not know about extension tubes, but he was arrogant, as well. I've never had to call them about anything before, but when you get that kind of treatment for just asking a simple question (including not getting an answer), I'm sorry I invested in their equipment at all. In addition, I phoned them on Friday at about 10:00 a.m. their time. He told me that they were closing for the day in 2 hours (nice hours for customer service), and maybe they would call me back on Monday if someone knew the answer to my question. Kathy L. - Original Message - From: Alek Kozak [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, August 04, 2003 2:51 AM Subject: Re: Disappointed - Pentax technicians couldn't answer extension tube question. It is very strange, indeed. Another field where Pentax does not care about clients. And the stuff...Uhhh Cheers Alek - Original Message - From: Mark Cassino [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 8:10 PM Subject: Re: Disappointed - Pentax technicians couldn't answer extension tube question. The Pentax tubes lack the electrical contacts needed for the body and lens to communicate. In this case, the term auto in the tubes' name means that they support open aperture metering, but that's all. They don't support program modes when the lens is set to A and the camera will default to center weighted and spot metering only, no matrix mode. But, when the aperture is manually set the metering should be accurate. I have a pair of Vivitar extension tubes that do have both the aperture coupling and the contacts, and I'd suspect other third party brands are out there that also support the full functionality. I'm surprised that no one at Pentax understood how their tubes work, and I've long wondered why Pentax has not updated their brand of extension tubes. Hope this helps - MCC At 12:28 PM 8/1/2003 -0400, Kathleen wrote: I'm really disappointed that the Pentax people couldn't answer a simple = question about their own (Pentax) extension tubes with their own camera = (PZ-1p). I just got Extension Tube Set B (Auto) made by Pentax from KEH. They are in great shape, except when I try to use them, the only information that shows in the viewfinder is the shutter speed. Where the F-stop should appear, there is just a blank. This happens whether I am in automatic or manual mode. Also, the autofocus won't work (which I really don't care about because I focus manually most of the time anyway).
Re: Disappointed - Pentax technicians couldn't answer extension tube question.
OTOH, current auto mechanics don't know much about carburetors these days. Also, did she actually talk to a tech, or just some front office person? Extension tubes are really relics from before macro lenes, probably the only reason Pentax is still selling them at all is they continue to have a bunch in the warehouse. Hence, no auto focus version. Ciao, Graywolf http://pages.prodigy.net/graywolfphoto - Original Message - From: Alek Kozak [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, August 04, 2003 2:51 AM Subject: Re: Disappointed - Pentax technicians couldn't answer extension tube question. It is very strange, indeed. Another field where Pentax does not care about clients. And the stuff...Uhhh Cheers Alek --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.504 / Virus Database: 302 - Release Date: 7/24/03
Re: Disappointed - Pentax technicians couldn't answer extension tube question.
Alek Kozak [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: But when you set any lens on non-A position you should expect some overexposure with you PZ1p! Why should this be the case? My PZ-1p exposes fine on or off the A position. -- Mark Roberts Photography and writing www.robertstech.com
Re: Disappointed - Pentax technicians couldn't answer extension tube question.
Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 06:50:20 -0400 From: Kathleen [EMAIL PROTECTED] Not only did the tech not know about extension tubes, but he was arrogant, as well. I've never had to call them about anything before, but when you get that kind of treatment for just asking a simple question (including not getting an answer), I'm sorry I invested in their equipment at all. The trouble is to get through to the right person. A few month ago I odered a replacement rail for my slide copier attachment. When I called Pentax they gave me answers like this : I don't know what this is; we don't have it ; we don't make it anymore ; it does exist only in Japan etc. Finally I came through to a person who obviously was something like a replacement part store keeping manager who told me: of course we have it ... I got the rail the next day. The upshot from this is: Be nasty and insistent In my impression their sales management is poorly trained. Some of them don't seem to know much about their own products. In addition, I phoned them on Friday at about 10:00 a.m. their time. He told me that they were closing for the day in 2 hours (nice hours for customer service), and maybe they would call me back on Monday if someone knew the answer to my question. Kathy L. I think you would get the same kind of treatment by many other companies these days. Service costs are high with no ~immediate~ turn around. Alexander __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
Re: Disappointed - Pentax technicians couldn't answer extension tube question.
In my impression their sales management is poorly trained. Some of them don't seem to know much about their own products. Sounds like a poorly managed company which relies on luck. regards, Alan Chan _ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963
Re: Disappointed - Pentax technicians couldn't answer extension tube question.
I have this extension tube set too, and it won't allow any f-stop display simply because they do not have the neceassily contacts on the mount. So they basically turn every lens into K/M lens. For the same reason, you cannot use the 'A' button of the aperture ring. regards, Alan Chan I'm really disappointed that the Pentax people couldn't answer a simple = question about their own (Pentax) extension tubes with their own camera = (PZ-1p). I just got Extension Tube Set B (Auto) made by Pentax from KEH. They are in great shape, except when I try to use them, the only information that shows in the viewfinder is the shutter speed. Where the F-stop should appear, there is just a blank. This happens whether I am in automatic or manual mode. Also, the autofocus won't work (which I really don't care about because I focus manually most of the time anyway). Can anyone help me on this. I thought I read somewhere that this extension tube set would allow me to use all of the Pentax functions of my camera. (I am really upset that Pentax technicians couldn't offer me any help on this. They did say that someone would get back to me on Monday, though.) _ Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail
Re: Disappointed - Pentax technicians couldn't answer extension tube question.
You're right Mark. It would only provide multizone metering, not usefull with macro. Sorry for the confusion. On the contrary, if you mount a digital flash on AF body, the chosen f-stop would be displayed. :-) regards, Alan Chan _ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus
Re: Disappointed - Pentax technicians couldn't answer extension tube question.
I appreciate everyone's reply to my question. My extension tubes don't have any electrical contacts. They must be pretty old. KEH charged me $144 for them, and now I'm thinking maybe I didn't get such a good deal. They are in great condition, though. I don't care at all about manual focusing. What I care about is that the camera (using its spot meter or center-weighted meter) gets the right exposure. I see the shutter speed in the viewfinder. Do you think that the aperture is the setting that I have it on (I rarely use the A setting). I use the PZ-1p hypermanual mode and set my aperture right on the lens. I guess I am just not sure if the camera is using the F-stop that I have set on the lens I'm using. Are you saying that it is using that setting? I really appreciate your help. Thanks. Kathy - Original Message - From: Pat White [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 5:39 PM Subject: Disappointed - Pentax technicians couldn't answer extension tube question. Kathleen, do you know what year your extension tube set B was made? It probably communicates all the features that were transmitted at that time. Older cameras, like the MX for instance, read out the aperture in the finder by means of a little window on the pentaprism, which looks down at the aperture ring. Naturally, that doesn't work when using an extension tube or teleconverter. Later cameras and lenses have electrical contacts to communicate with each other, but that didn't begin until 1983, with the KA series lenses. Take a close look at the extension tubes. They'll have a mechanical linkage to stop down the lens (that's the Auto part), but probably no electrical contacts, which would be needed to transmit the f-stop info, nor a drive mechanism for autofocus. At present, I don't believe Pentax makes extension tubes which permit autofocus. Kenko makes a tube (not a set) which does allow AF. However, the lack of AF and aperture readout shouldn't stop you from happily using your extension tubes. I have an extension tube set K, probably dating from the early '70s, that works fine with my MZ-S. It has no linkages whatever, and is really just a set of tubes. Having to stop the lens down manually is an extra step, but for occasional use, I don't mind. I agree that the folks at Pentax (if it was a technician you spoke to) should have been able to tell you this, but a junior technician might have been in diapers when your tube set was made, and not familiar with it at all. Hope this is helpful. Pat White
Re: Disappointed - Pentax technicians couldn't answer extension tube question.
Thanks for answering my question. I am going out to a local horticultural garden tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m., and I'm going to do flower macros and am going to use them and see what happens. Kathy - Original Message - From: Pat White [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 8:43 PM Subject: Re: Disappointed - Pentax technicians couldn't answer extension tube question. Kathy, if your lens is set to 'A' while it's on an extension tube, the diaphragm will be at its minimum aperture, probably f22. If you take it off 'A', when you press the shutter button, it will stop down to the aperture you set . Until you press the shutter, it will remain wide open, for easier viewing and focusing, just as it would when mounted directly on the body. This is the Auto feature. To sum up, yes, the lens will use the aperture you set. The metering will be centre-weighted. I'm not sure whether spot-metering is available, but evaluative (multi-zone) is not. Now go take some pictures! Pat White
