Web Analytics RiceHigh's Pentax Blog: February 2013

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Will There Be a K-02? (Poll)



Above is an imagined/PSed diagram by someone for a K-02, with the new short back focus 18-70 kit lens. The PS job was either done by someone who had nothing better to do or officially! ;-D To compare the original K-01 diagram, click here.

So, here is the poll:-

Do You Think That There Will Be a K-02?
  
pollcode.com free polls 

Related:-

K-01 is Discontinued

Is K-01 the End of the "Line"? (Pentax Interview @Photokina)

New Firmwares for K-01 and K-30 (V1.03)

http://www.pentax.jp/english/support/digital/k-01_s.html

http://www.pentax.jp/english/support/digital/k-30_s.html

"Corrected – When recording Movies, contrast AF does not work for some lenses in firmware version 1.02."

Monday, February 25, 2013

A Latest K-01 *User* Review - One Year with the Brick!



http://steevemarcoux2.com/2013/02/17/pentax-k-01-one-year-with-the-brick/

So, the K-01 is not that bad at all. I especially like its extraordinary ability to stand vertically without the need of a tripod! Brick has its real advantage! ;-D

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Pentax K-5+DA15 Vs Sigma DP1X Head-to-head Field Comparisons (Full Size Images)

The Bayer Vs X3 Fight begins! @ the Xitek Forum Post Here (in Simplified Chinese).

Set 1: Pentax Sigma (Click to Enlarge; Warning: Original Files in Large Size!)

Set 2: Pentax Sigma

Set 3: Pentax Sigma

Set 4: Pentax Sigma 1 Sigma 2

After all, the pixel sharpness of the DP1X pictures is impressive. And I do somehow prefer the colour rendition of the Sigma, too, which looks more natural for the sunlight whilst the K-5 pics are way too cool (blueish). The K-5 picture in the Test Set 2 was way underexposed, also.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

The DA560 is Not Completely Full Frame Compatible

See the latest test by the PF with a roll of film for the $7,000 DA560 lens put onto a MZ-S:-

http://www.pentaxforums.com/news/da-560mm-f56-is-it-a-full-frame-lens.html

The test pictures speak for themselves, there is heavy vignetting at corners at f/5.6. It should be noted that the hood was not extended for these shots. The darker corners can still be seen at f/8, i.e., one stop from wide opened, although it is not as obvious then.


Updated:  Compatibility of DA Lenses on Full Frame

Saturday, February 09, 2013

MX-1 Now Made in Indonesia, An Unboxing and Quick ISO Test/Comparison


The box and package is in the same style and uses the same material as the WG series of digital cameras of Pentax.

Source: http://forum.pentaxfans.net/thread-134470-1-1.html (in Traditional Chinese)


MX-1, the first "Pentax" camera that ever made in Indonesia.


The lens is what we can find in Olympus XZ series of DCs, for exactly the same specification and outlook. Btw, I don't think it matches well enough with the elegant bronze metal body of the MX-1.


The flipped mon. is awesome, though, especially when it can be found in a *Pentax* camera! :-o

As for the ISO test, it can be seen that the noise shows up more obviously starting from ISO 800 and up, whilst image details and colours are still good up to ISO 1600. Colour noise starts to show more clearly from ISO 1600 and ISO 3200 is not that usable IMO after all.


Last Related:-

RICOH MX-1 Samples

Friday, February 08, 2013

Pentax Dumb Bell Camera is Now a Ricoh



Read this latest DPR news and we can learn that the Pentax dumb bell concept camera that was first display in the Photokina has now become a Ricoh.

Do note that in the YouTube demonstration video by the Digiinfo.tv, the guy who carried out the demo wore a Pentax uniform, but not a Ricoh. So, should this cam a Pentax product, or not? :-)

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Full Review: K-5 Wi-Fi, Q Wi-Fi and EOS 5D6! ;-)


(Above: My New 5D6!~)

Background

I bought this and all my current cameras have now suddenly become Wi-Fi capable! :-D



So, my Pentax Q is now the Pentax Q Wi-Fi, my K-5 is now the K-5 Wi-Fi and my 5D3 is the 5D6 now, which is actually a 5D3 with some of the Wi-Fi features of the 6D two in one!~

Basic Operation

This card has two transfer/connection modes, the first is that the card acts as a Wi-Fi Access Point itself, which is called the "Direct Mode" by the maker and the second is that the card logs in a common Access point so that it can communicate with all other mobile devices that are connected to the same LAN under that AP, which is named as the "Internet Mode".

Software

Install the App for the OS of your device, then photos/videos in the card can be browsed, selected and downloaded. Actually there is nothing to set up for the card and device, what you need to set is only the login username and password when the card acts as an AP (for your mobile devices to log in) and also the AP(s) that the card is to be connected, which a maximum of three AP logins can be remembered. For better security, the user may also wish to change the default admin login and password. That's all of it!

For other devices with other OSes other than the above, e.g., a laptop runs on Windows, the SD card still provides a webpage interface to do the jobs for the same function set. The internal IP address for that webpage is http://192.168.11.254/.

Btw, the full user manual and working instructions of the cards (in 16 and 32GB) can be downloaded from the official Transcend website here.

Compatibility

It should be noted that Transcend has maintained an official list of compatible and incompatible cameras with their this model of the Wi-Fi cards, which they have fully tested, I believe. In fact, my card was programmed with the Firmware version 1.4 which I found was really not compatible with my K-5 (even with the latest Pentax firmware 1.14), but it did work well with both my Q and 5D3 instead. So, their compatible and incompatible lists are 100% correct for what I tested!

So, what I did was to update the firmware to 1.5 (which can be found here, together with full update instructions) and after that I was happy to find that it also works in my K-5 now! :-D Btw, I have not tested it with my other cameras (many) but I hoped that it will work eventually!

Connection Speed and Stability

Overall speaking, I found that the connection is stable and transfer is fast for the "Direct Mode", while in the "Internet Mode" the performance is not that good and it is rather slow, although the connection did not break anyway, last time I tried. I have tested it with my above three cameras and no problem of any was found. One important tip to keep the Wi-Fi connection alive is by always keeping the camera awake when Wi-Fi is needed. This can be easily achieved by either seting a longer power save activation time or to half-press the camera more frequently from time to time when needed.

Power Consumption

As for the power consumption, as any other WiFi cards and devices, it uses up the battery juice quite a bit and the card will become warm after a certain period of use. I found that for device that has a small capacity battery like the Q should be used more cautiously whilst for devices that have a larger battery like my 5D3 and K-5, it is much a lesser problem.

There is one tip of mine to save power yet, that is, to set the auto power off to one (1) minute for the time-out period after the card is powered on but not connected. And at the same time, the camera's auto power off time limit could be set to longer, e.g., 4 minutes for my 5D3 after idling. So, the WiFi SD card will become a normal SD card without wasting power to transmit RF when it is actually not connected - best of both worlds. :-D

Supported File Types

The card and software should support all common photo and video file types. It fully supports JPEG directly without the need of installing any external App. As for other more special file types like the PEF and DNG etc., I have tested it with my Pentax Q in RAW(DNG) mode and it does fully work also! Just press hold (instead of just click directly the file, which will launch the associated App) or use the selection function (if there are more than one files in folder) and download the selected DNG files under the Transcend App's Browser (under the "Others" File Type Tab) and then you can start working with any installed App that can handle the DNG files after they are downloaded. Ditto for the MOV/AVI video files, which can be downloaded under the "Video" File Type Tab instead.

Trick for Using with the 5D3

Btw, there is a special using tip of mine with the 5D3, I think, i.e., with its dual card slots and flexible saving configuration options, I set to record separately with the CF and SD cards. Whilst for the CF card I set to the best quality JPEG or RAW as needed, I set for the SD card to record a small 2.5MP "S2" JPEG which is far smaller and thus much faster to transfer to my mobile devices. Just see the illustration below:-



Conclusion

All in all, this Transcend card is the best buy I can find now and I am impressed with the support, stable software and continuous improvement of its software (including firmware) as a whole package. It is a Class 10 card in 16GB for mine, and it is much cheaper when compared with other (older) alternatives such as the Eye-fi and the Toshiba FlashAir for the same storage size and speed. Do note that both the Eye-fi or FlashAir does require a first-time setup at the computer instead of capable to do the transfer On The Go with *any* Wi-Fi device like that the Transcend can do, without the need of a setup computer. Nonetheless, there are other options of Wi-Fi SD cards like those made by the Chinese brands of PQI and EZ-Share etc., but I do trust Transcend more for the SD card itself as a storage mean as the brand is more famous and well known.

DA560/5.6 First User Samples (14 Nos.)



http://kakaku.com/item/K0000416085/picture/#tab
(in Japanese)

All of them are bird shots. Btw, the lens is now on sales at the B&H, for a price of $7,000!


View Also:- 

AF Performance and Accuracy Verified for the New K-5 Firmware! ;-D

Sunday, February 03, 2013

PF Pushes Rumours about Pentax FF at the CP+

First saw this the day before: http://www.pentaxforums.com/news/tokina-confirms-pentax-full-frame-under-development.html

And then this today: http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-news-rumors/214117-pentax-confirms-full-frame-cp-inteview-pentax-forums.html

As PF is close to the official Pentax second to nothing (they should be even closer to Pentax than DPR by now), their promulgated rumours should be trusted!

But the problem is, as Adam said, it is not a problem of whether a FF is being developed or not, it's now only a problem of "when". It may still take longer than expected for a Pentax FF body and system to come!

In the meantime, I have been preparing for a Pentax FF system for yet too long for my "recent" Pentax lens investment in the last several years. Unfortunately, it still does not happen up till now, and still no any outsider knows *when* can it finally come, at least it should not be in the near future, after all! >:-(

AF Performance and Accuracy Verified for the New K-5 Firmware! ;-D

At the Field! :-D (@ the Hong Kong Wetland Park.)

















All the photos were taken with my K-5 with my F*300/4.5 lens mounted. The firmware programmed in body is the latest version of 1.14. Phase-matching AF was used mostly for nearly all the shots I took:-



What I subjectively felt was that the AF is somehow faster but I did not find any significant improvement in accuracy, which is yet considered to be fair to good. As for the metering accuracy, it seems that it is somehow improved.

Besides, I would like to add two images that were taken by my Pentax Q at the same place and same time. It is very convenient for not having to change lenses during shooting and especially when I was working with a bigger camera with a bigger lens. :-D It is quite ideal to have the small Q to shoot in conjunction for other things that do not require a long lens but a normal one.





Btw, who said the IQ of the Q is not good enough? The above are direct JPEGs from the camera but only just downsized and then lightly re-sharpened but no other re-touching of any! :-o

All Photos Above: Copyright RiceHigh (c) 2013. No copying nor re-using in any form anywhere is allowed unless my prior written permission is obtained. All Rights Reserved!