RiceHigh's Pentax Blog: Pentax TidBits 8-19

Monday, August 19, 2013

Pentax TidBits 8-19

1. DA50/1.8 is on sales, for the US users only, at $120:

http://www.pentaxwebstore.com/product/31909

Btw, is it really cheap? Just compare it with the similar offers from Canon and Nikon! One thing is for sure anyway, the original set price of $249 is just ridiculous!

2. DC Watch has reviewed the DA560, with various full samples posted, taken with a K-5IIs:

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/review/lens_review/20130819_611192.html
(in Japanese)

I am really not impressed with the IQ of this combo. The colour rendition is terrible. Images lack contrast. The broken pixel "sharpness" of the K-5IIs images also look rather odd to my eyes.

3. A Pentax joke posted at the Pentax Forums:

http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/general-photography-industry/234141-ricoh-imaging-promises-new-hi-end-rumours-possible-another-company-name-change.html#post2477691

Guys, let's take some humours! :-D

4. Making your own Pentax digital FF DIY:

http://digiphoto.techbang.com/posts/5156-film-camera-in-conjunction-with-cross-generation-smart-phone-low-cost-diy-digital-backs
(in Traditional Chinese)

Now, the Pentax FF dream finally comes true! ;-p

Old Related:

New DA560 Test Review: "Disappointed"!

DA560 Lens Review Published at PF

Comments (22)

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Z.T. · 603 weeks ago

Actually, I like DA560 samples. Especially the picture with grey crane. On that picture, pine trees are out of focus, and those trees look a bit "awkward" because their normal texture is too busy, and looks like "broken-pixel sharp" in photographs. I live next to a small pine-tree forest and have experienced same, with many lenses used. With less sharp lenses the effect is not as visible and DA560 is, obviously, very sharp.

3 replies · active 603 weeks ago

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Z.T. · 603 weeks ago

Gosh, what a crazy website and its audience; only here people get thumbs down for stating something positive about Pentax and Pentax products. LOL :-D

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zosX · 603 weeks ago

There are a lot of detractors here. Rice knows his audience well. This site is a train wreck, but then again so is Pentax. Most people have long given up or accepted them for what they are. I'm an enormous fan of their old glass and love their newer bodies. I don't know what the future may bring, but I do know that I have at least another 2-3 years of usability from this system and hopefully more. Ricoh isn't going anywhere anytime soon. How committed they are to k-mount is another question entirely. BTW, sometimes I swear Rice does most of the voting around here.

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RiceHigh 110p · 603 weeks ago

Welcome to watch two train wrecks at the same time!

BTW, I do agree that Pentax' train wreck is of course related to mine. When Pentax dies, my this Blog will die, too! :-D

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Joe · 603 weeks ago

that does not convince me at all. of such an expensive lens, I expect more. the shots look, as my 70-200 with tc

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zosX · 603 weeks ago

What strikes me is how awful the bokeh is. Anyone else feel this way? On a scale of 1 to 5, I gotta give it a 2-3 at best. None of these samples look super sharp either, but its hard to say with shots at iso 2000 and NR smearing detail.

2 replies · active 603 weeks ago

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RiceHigh 110p · 603 weeks ago

With a lens with effective 135 focal length of nearly 900mm and a maximum aperture/speed of only F5.6, a higher ISO speed is a must.

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zosX · 603 weeks ago

Oh trust me. I realize that. Its just hard to tell much from these samples.

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zosX · 603 weeks ago

FWIW I woud love to see this compared to the sigma 400mm f5.6 APO with a 1.4x teleconverter........

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Dan Johnson · 603 weeks ago

I have a Sigma 100-300mm f/4.0 tele-zoom that I bought for price ($1000) and weight savings. Lenses (like Sigma's 500mm f/4.5) which are more of an equivalent price, focal length, and brightness make for a better comparison. Let Ricoh come out with a good 18-35mm f/1.8 wide angle zoom and I'll be interested in knowing how much it will cost, until then I'll keep an eye on Samsung's 3-D NX (in spite of paying for 120 fps video capture I'll never use) and the (rumored Full Frame sensor Samsung NX) so I can use an adaptor for my tilt shift and other great lenses to their fullest (in place of a Pentax FF DSLR) no matter who gets upset.

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Sébastien · 603 weeks ago

Well none of the sample I've seen on the web for this 560mm have been taken by a gifted photographer.
They have errors that an experienced bird's photographer would not commit...

With such focal length, i's very easy to make dull pictures.
Buying an expensive lens (or body) won't turn us in an very good photographer, although it's what we unconsciously think.

Let's way decent independent tests or good samples as RICHO did for the K-50 to see what it is possible to do with this lens.

The main technical issue, for me, is the small maximal aperture.

2 replies · active 603 weeks ago

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Anonimity is Great · 603 weeks ago

I am not into photographing birds or wildlife or anything else at that focal length (the lens prices at those FLs are out of my league anyway), but I am curious as to what kind of aperture is required? I thought 5.6 is bright enough.

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zosX · 603 weeks ago

A lot of wildlife shows up in the worst lighting conditions like at dusk or under a dark canopy of trees. You want to keep your shutter as fast as possible if possible because camera movement is so greatly magnified at 900mm equivalent. Even with good technique and a good tripod head you will find that the slightest vibration rob sharpness at lower shutter speeds. That's why everyone is complaining about the speed of the lens. In perfect daylight f5.6 is plenty bright, but not every day is like that. Its not awful IMO, but not what people expect for 7 grand. This lens seems designed mostly for wildlife and nature IMO, which is too bad because its far too long to carry around in the field I think. I think pentax needed a good fast 400mm and instead we get a telescope with a K-mount on one end.

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Alex · 603 weeks ago

Here's some pics from an Italian photographer http://www.pentaxiani.it/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&...

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Ducky62 · 603 weeks ago

DA50/1.8 is on sales, for the US users only, at $120:

Too bad Ricoh decided the best way to build trust and confidence with US users was to renege on the deal and cancel all orders.

7 replies · active 602 weeks ago

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RiceHigh 110p · 603 weeks ago

Oh really? They've breached the "contract"?! :-0

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Ducky62 · 603 weeks ago

IANAL, but there was a pdf BoS/invoice with a "thank you for your purchase of this 50mm f1.8 for $119 shipped" and a similarly-worded e-mail confirmation, a PayPal "pending" charge and order-tracking confirming the status as "back-ordered" ("in-stock" on 8/13 when the order was placed. If Ricoh really wants to earn some good will they should follow the "Q-watch" line with Pentax-branded dildos for all those fanboi apologists over at Pentax Forums. No matter how many they make I'm sure they'll all be "back-ordered" within a few minutes of showing up on the Pentax Price Watch .

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zosX · 602 weeks ago

Re: DA 50mm/1.8 for $120
In reply to bubblzzz, 1 week ago
"I ordered the DA 50/1.8 three days ago for $ 119.00, today I got an email saying "due to an unfortunate pricing error, we had to cancel your order" but they offered me free shipping on my next order, which will never happen, only buy from stores that will honor their prices. cant post any of my reply on here because of bad words, so if you ordered the sale lenses, and haven't heard anything, you could get this apologizing email from them."
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3531355

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zosX · 602 weeks ago

According to what I'm reading if you ordered on the 13th they are honoring the price, but on the 14th or later they are sending the e-mail. Why honor some but not all? Not a very good way to handle their mistake.

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Ducky62 · 602 weeks ago

No. Everyone's orders for the $120 DA 50mm f/1.8 were canceled . I ordered around 9PM EDT of the 13th. Some people actually got assurances from employees of Ricoh's subcontractor that orders on the 13th would be honored but Ricoh Imaging NA put the kibosh on that..

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zosX · 602 weeks ago

Wow. That's some serious BS!

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zosX · 602 weeks ago

WTF? They didn't honor that?

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RiceHigh's Pentax Blog

Monday, August 19, 2013

Pentax TidBits 8-19

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