the new small option

My wife wants a 'small' camera.  The nx300 is a very good choice - and so is the K-r with its new DA 40mm XS.

Not even NX lenses come this thin (yet!); I expect that most people presume the XS is a fancy lens cap.  However it's optically the DA Limited 40mm in disguise, with nine aperture blades and all the talent within, merely modified by designer Marc Newsom to go with his K-01 dream camera.  Few actual photographers shared his dream but at $300 closeout prices people came around :-) and learned of its special talents (like standing on end on a flat surface for vertical shots!).

Every now and then this lens also can be had cheaply.  Lórien could use the K-r with a manual 50mm, but when I found this deal I knew the automation and exquisite Image Quality were for her!

One lens has yet to arrive in this K-mount realignment.. so another update soon.

old friends and acquaintances

We've celebrated some financial freedom by bargain shopping and scoring on some of my 'best-of' lenses.

In the last post we welcomed my 3rd copy of the smc-A 50/2.8 macro, a 1:2 wonder that gets high marks everywhere.  This copy is as good as the other two and might focus a bit more smoothly.  Next up is the F 17-28mm f/3.5-4.5 Fisheye zoom.  I really like the K17/4 Fish-Eye but this does as well and I finally found a sub-$200 copy; that's a real surprise in the new post-anouncement, imminent-36×34 'FF' Pentax dSLR environment!  The zoom has AF and data contacts and somehow goes slightly wider than the K17, so those features will ameliorate the loss of extra-close focusing that the prime does so well.  In most places the K24 will do for wide enough, but the F17-28 gives me back the ultrawide option.  Hoo Ray!

F17-28, DA18-55wr, K-r with A50 macro, K24, and another K-r (faux K-x)

The 17-24 seems a bit looser in the zoom ring than my previous copy, but thus far images look fine.  The 18-55wr was a $50ish toss-in deal, so about half what I usually paid; now at least the two bodies have that zoom in common.

Two more surprises next week, an old friend and a new oldie! :^)

excuse me - but Two?

The second K-r body arrived on my door-step today.  For a total of $118 I have two bodies in like-new condition with a total of 130 shutter actuations.  This for a four-year-old design with minimal video abilities and a HOYA label on the bottom?!?

Well yes, that's what I did.  At those prices, why not?  How much can I complain about in this case, and what do I lose if something goes awry?  I have the K-5 interface that I know very well (give or take a few items like the 3-way AF switch).  I regain interval timing which the K200 and NX300 lack.  I can go to ISO4000 at 12Mpx - yes the Samsung can do it at 20 but I don't seem to shoot many poster-size prints.  And I have a small camera that natively takes K lenses and stabilizes them.  What am I to regret here?

 Lórien wants a small but talented camera, and one for each of us; the Pentax Q was a good option and nx300 even better, but this saves cash, uses common lenses and is mighty small!  I guess I could find her a 40mm XS for the ultimate minimal dSLR.. some day

OK, my one regret is that they're both black.  But wait: for about $25 I can find a parted-out body and steal its baseplate (or top, front or back cover)!  I can pretend it's a K-2S with black body and red or white bottom plate.  Whoopee?

Cheap thrills abound.

p.s. looking at the camera on the right, you see why the K24 lens was sold in Ugly condition..Image taken with the A50/2.8 macro, glad it's back :~)

hooked on ergonomics

Each camera system has its vital features (if you like them) or quirks (if they aren't your type).  I like the Samsung nx300 for many things (including its compact size!) but the small and talented K-r is reminding me about many Pentax features that I really like.

High on that list is shoot/play/±, the sequence that turns a jpeg shot into a raw file after the fact.  This saves me a lot of switching to raw in advance or using raw+jpeg mode when doing casual imaging.  Most of my shots have no future on a wall so jpeg is fine, but many have lighting or color issues that might make a difference - and raw can make that image show its full potential.  Massively handy!  Also cool is the in-camera processing, which I often use to crop, re-tint or convert to monochrome/IR simulation for dramatic cloud images.  It's really nice to use the buffer in such creative ways!  Similar things can be done with many other cameras including the nx300, but I find that for no clear reason it suits me better on Pentax bodies.

Yes the K-r shows its age in many ways, like 720p no AF video.  I've now experienced the joy of fullHD auto-focus videos..and find it seldom convinces me to shoot more of them.  Pentax has said in the past that video is not a priority to them, and it seems they had me in mind!  I like the NX1 concept whereby 8MB images can be extracted from their  4k video - but that's a future item for me.  As of today (around noon) I'm more than satisfied with the K-r/K-5 ergonomics, lesser video data and the OVF/Live combo set.

This week will reveal a K-3ii model, it seems - leakers have an image, forum members have dreams.  Apparently a different sensor (whether denser or just updates) is vaguely confirmed, the prism hump is different (AF? WiFi?) and who knows after that?  Time will definitely tell.

comeback flashback

As much as I've enjoyed using the NX300, many times even with fast glass I find blurry/shaky results.  "Everybody" talks about how a bulky camera is great for removing such issues -- but I believe SR/SSS/younameit stabilization works even better.  I'm a fan of small cameras, and sadly most companies believe focus-group studies (those "everybodies") that bulky cameras convey status so better features almost require a big body for credibility.  Too bad for me.. more or less.

Pentax introduced the K-S1 in part to show that a small camera can be very talented; the reviews focused on "disco lights" and "flashing LEDs" and o by the way, great images.  I liked the concept so much that I preordered a white one -no blue, no black!!  Then a budget contraction hit, I pulled out, and soon the fashion police disguised as camera reviewers came out swinging.  The K-S1 now has a very conventional sibling, and everyone loves and wants a K-S2. (No this is a different "Everyone", it's everyone else!)  Amazing.

And yet some strong logic is at work here.  The K-S1 can do great stuff, but for reasons unknown many common camera functions & features were left out - like image rotation, which has been commonplace for at least five years.  Weather seals are also absent, OK by me but I need at least one wet-weather body - so the K200d will do.

While seeking deals in the vastness of eBay I encountered a dumping of Colorado K-x and K-r bodies.  These presumably are coming from people who bought quantities of spares from the former Pentax Authorized repair shop that was recently de-Authorized.  Still at $20 more or less, why not drop a bid?  Soon I had my second K-r in my hands.

I had owned one of these in the awful, no-win time between the amazing/groundbreaking K-x and the overwhelmingly impressive K-5.  It was a very nice camera surrounded by amazing siblings, so it felt less good than I'd hoped.  Yes it had a loud shutter, part machine gun and part guillotine.. wonder in what other ways I despised it?  
Wow, such a biased and narrow-minded camera user am I..

Interesting to note that the K-r is almost identical in size to the K-s1.  Yes many new features are absent - no 20Mpx sensor with variable AA filter here.  However, the 12Mpxl sensor is excellent, and items like image rotation are back.  And I paid $28 for a camera with just over fifty actuations on its 100000-shot shutter.   Hopefully it will keep working; I have not tried every feature to ensure its full functionality.  If what works now keeps working though, I still made an absurdly good investment.

 Wow?  Indeed wow.  I'm watching for another one, so L and I can have a matched set!

other geeky decisions

For the past year I've been enjoying the use of an Asus HD7 tablet.  Asus made the original Nexus7 for Google, then 'downgraded' it and sold it themselves as the HD7.  The downgrade is not the screen which can do basic 720HD, nor is it the battery life which is quite similarly long.  It probably has a slower processor and has an earlier Android system onboard, I cannot say.  What it does have is a microSD slot which Google did not want to include on their Nexus.  I found mine refurbished, in a flourescent pea-green color, for a very nice price.  Simple stuff works really well (though it pays to buy into the Google virtual ecosystem for tying in mail/calendar/etc, which some won't like) and we watched the Super Bowl on it with only a few hiccups slowing it down .. not bad since the wifi base was at the opposite end of the house!  Games are easy to pull from the Store, and listening to radio, podcasts and music sounds good.  I've enjoyed using the HD7 (or is it 7HD?) quite a bit.

And yet, here I sit with a new 10" Win8.1 tablet.

The Transformer is also an Asus product, can manage 1080HD, includes an HDMI port and still has very good battery life, rated at over eight hours.

After a comfortable life in the Android world, why do such a thing?  Here's what caused the tentative switch:

• The Transformer was on clearance for just over $200 (was $329) and it includes a dedicated keyboard.  Click the tablet in place and get typing - and it folds up laptop-style in this setup!  Very handy, and no Bluetooth to fuss with (yes, for some reason it was fussy on the tablet).  If I do sell the Android tablet the net cost of the Transformer is really low.
• Spreadsheets.  I test-drove several Android office-type products, and purchased the full copy of the best-rated one.  Using Google Drive (what else?) as a source I created several workbooks that could be shared by tablet and desktop, where MSOffice still rules.  Unfortunately, nearly every time I did this the workbook was corrupted between the two systems.  I could not trust the programs to work together, and even in retirement I find spreadsheets to be a very convenient way to keep my life organized.
• Convenience?  Well that's hard to say.  The screen on the Transformer is really nice, the on-tablet virtual keyboard is almost full size, and the latger text is nice so I need not squint at my work.  On the other hand, the 10-inch size is not entirely safe to hold with one hand.

That's all I have really, just a few points - but important ones.  I have already pulled a MS 'app' from their shop for aurora forecasts, that works as well as Google Play -- but where is Weather Underground?!?

I have two weeks to decide if Win8.1 and the larger screen are worth the bargain price by jumping aboard now.  As always, WeShallSee!

comings and ..

Shouldn't 'going' be part of that title?  Well I thought so, but other than a few nice conversations nothing has come of my sale posts.  It would be nice to clear some space - especially in light of those 'coming' items!

Primary among those is a copy of the SMC 24mm.  Its condition is a bit rough but that might turn out well in the future.  The Pentaxforum site has a hobbyist who refinishes lenses, often in silver.  I would love to have that done, so maybe this will be the lens to rework!  Nothing soon though, maybe next year.

My risky investment was typically done with no time to think.  Someone cleaned out a former repair shop's Pentax cameras so I bid on two K-X bodies at $20 apiece.  Great his&her cameras at a bargainb price!  Well, for the red one I was outbid and the black one may not be salvageable, so not my best decision - though for the price we'll see.  Maybe I can put the working parts into my K200 body and have a K200x?  That would be a fun challenge for someone as unfamiliar with camera-guts like me..

Arrival of the 24: the lens reached me a day early, no complaint here!  While it looks like it spent an hour underwater based on the aperture blades and interior lining, it functions well and takes nice images.  This fits into the dual-kit lineup far better than the nx20 and the pk28 so in theory it should be there a while.  As to its refinishing future..well the price just went up a bit!