Forum Index > Photography Talk > Pentax K50
 Reply to topic
Previous :: Next Topic
Author Message
MLHSN
What goes here?????



Joined: 09 Sep 2007
Posts: 1067 | TRs | Pics
Location: Wenatchee
MLHSN
What goes here?????
PostSun Nov 02, 2014 8:07 am 
Does anyone here own or have used a Pentax K50? I'm considering getting this package because of the weather resistance and I was hoping for some user feedback from backpackers. http://www.costco.com/Pentax-K-50-Weatherproof-DSLR-Camera-2-WR-Lens-Bundle.product.100071823.html I've damaged my last two point and shoots by getting wet and dropping. The Pentax is suppose to be relatively rugged which is why I'm leaning this way.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
mike
Member
Member


Joined: 09 Jul 2004
Posts: 6389 | TRs | Pics
Location: SJIsl
mike
Member
PostSun Nov 02, 2014 11:48 am 
I think Pentax in general is a good value. You're not paying the canon or nikon tax. I'm not familiar with this camera but you piqued my interest so I took a look at the specs. The first thing I noticed was that the B&H specs did not match the Costco specs. ?? Prices are the same. It looks like a nice kit albeit a little heavy. Frankly I'd go with B&H and save the sales tax. edit: and 18mm on the short end is not nearly wide enough IMO. I would find this much more suitable for my use.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
MLHSN
What goes here?????



Joined: 09 Sep 2007
Posts: 1067 | TRs | Pics
Location: Wenatchee
MLHSN
What goes here?????
PostSun Nov 02, 2014 1:52 pm 
Thanks for the input Mike. I was wondering what additional lens to get for landscape photos. I think my pictures will mostly be large landscape views: ridgelines, lakes, meadows, etc. in addition to wildlife and some flowers. Is there that big of a difference between the 16mm of the one you suggested and the 18mm that comes with the camera? An $800 lens will not currently be in my budget. Also, what kind of lenses is everyone using for sunrise/sunset photos? I plan on a doing a lot of low-light photography and I'm curious what kind of f-stops I'll be needing.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
monorail
Member
Member


Joined: 06 May 2012
Posts: 267 | TRs | Pics
monorail
Member
PostSun Nov 02, 2014 3:07 pm 
Here's an extremely useful tool for comparing focal lengths: http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/simulator/ ...but be sure to click on the "DX" lens format, not "FX" (very important, since DX is the same sensor size as the Pentax). I haven't used the Pentax, but one cool thing about it is that it's compatible with about a million old 35mm lenses that used the K mount. Those old lenses are often very cheap and quite good (although I think wide-angle lenses intended for 35mm often don't work well on the smaller APS digital format. And they cease to be "wide angle" because of the conversion factor. But old medium-to- telephoto lenses work great). I see them all the time at Goodwill for $5-10. Some (perhaps most) of them may require manual focusing, though-- I'm not sure about that part. But manual focus is better anyway. Having said that, there are a lot of advantages to mirrorless. But the few weather-sealed mirrorless cameras are really expensive.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
MLHSN
What goes here?????



Joined: 09 Sep 2007
Posts: 1067 | TRs | Pics
Location: Wenatchee
MLHSN
What goes here?????
PostMon Nov 03, 2014 1:33 pm 
monorail, I was wondering how to know if a lens will work with the Pentax autofocus. I know a lot of the older lenses would be manual but I was sure if this is a designator in the name to tell if it will autofocus with the K50.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
monorail
Member
Member


Joined: 06 May 2012
Posts: 267 | TRs | Pics
monorail
Member
PostMon Nov 03, 2014 5:34 pm 
I'm not too sure about this, because my experience with Pentax is limited to a 35mm camera from the early 1950s that I inherited from my grandfather. Needless to say, it didn't have auto-focus... or auto-anything. No battery, no on/off switch. But it worked perfectly for 60 years; I think it was serviced once in the 1970s. Awesome camera (it got stolen a few years ago). Anyway, here's a webpage with some useful info: http://www.robertstech.com/compat.htm From that, it sounds like any lens marked F, FA, or DA would be autofocus, and the autofocus would work with the K50. If it's marked A, M, or just "SMC Pentax" with no other designation, it's manual focus (still works with the K50, but only in manual focus). And the old screw-mount/M42 lenses (which you can use with a cheap adapter) are manual. I'm thinking the super-cheap-but-good lenses I see everywhere are mostly manual focus. But there's probably lots of good used autofocus lenses out there, too. One thing to keep in mind is that most of the old (and new) lenses are not weather sealed. So if you're in monsoon conditions you might want to stick with the weather-sealed lenses, so water doesn't seep in through the lens mount. (Although, I use my non-weather-sealed Panasonic in soggy conditions a lot, and haven't had any problems yet. But I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time...)

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Bedivere
Why Do Witches Burn?



Joined: 25 Jul 2008
Posts: 7464 | TRs | Pics
Location: The Hermitage
Bedivere
Why Do Witches Burn?
PostMon Nov 03, 2014 11:06 pm 
Dropping any camera is likely to break it. Get yourself a good neck strap and use it religiously. The $$ goes up with a DSLR when you start breaking stuff. There is a big difference between 16 and 18mm. For quite awhile I used an 18-35mm lens as my all-around lens when hiking and found it just wasn't wide enough a lot of the time. Now I have a 16-85 (like the one in the above link but a Nikon) and it's wide enough that I don't find myself wishing it was wider nearly as often. I still want to get a Tokina 11-16 though, for those real wide angle landscapes. Thing is, I'm jonesing to upgrade to an FF/FX sensor and Nikon has recently released the perfect camera for me (D750) so I need to be saving for the upgrade instead of buying a DX only lens...

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
MLHSN
What goes here?????



Joined: 09 Sep 2007
Posts: 1067 | TRs | Pics
Location: Wenatchee
MLHSN
What goes here?????
PostTue Nov 04, 2014 7:41 am 
thanks for the info. I've also been looking at a few Nikon's on Ebay. They often reference shutter counts. What is a good shutter count and how many will a typical camera get? I'm guessing this is similar to a cars mileage?

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
boot up
Old Not Bold Hiker



Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Posts: 4745 | TRs | Pics
Location: Bend Oregon
boot up
Old Not Bold Hiker
PostTue Nov 04, 2014 9:33 am 
Bedivere wrote:
and found it just wasn't wide enough a lot of the time.
isn't that what panoramas were invented for? biggrin.gif I tend towards wanting more reach on my hiking lens. 35mm at the top end for telephoto would irritate the heck out of me, as would constantly switching lenses. Work around.... Tip the camera on its side and then do a horizontal sweep for in-camera or at home stitched panorama. The vertical held sweep gives higher resolution and/or wider angle for your infinitely adjustable wide angle lens workaround. agree.gif

friluftsliv
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
mike
Member
Member


Joined: 09 Jul 2004
Posts: 6389 | TRs | Pics
Location: SJIsl
mike
Member
PostTue Nov 04, 2014 10:28 am 
boot up wrote:
isn't that what panoramas were invented for? biggrin.gif
stitching is useful for distant, static subjects only. Pretty limiting and no substitute for a wide angle lens. Plus it is time consuming. Not dissing panos, I like to do them myself as you can see from my posts. Whether 18mm on APS-C is wide enough depends upon personal style. Not wide enough for me. A 24-120mm FF equiv range suits me fine. And I don't mind changing out for a longer lens on rare occasion. I am finding that my % telephoto is steadily declining. Of course YMMV

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Dalekz
Member
Member


Joined: 01 Mar 2002
Posts: 487 | TRs | Pics
Dalekz
Member
PostTue Nov 04, 2014 10:44 am 
I picked up a K-50 last year from Costco (it was $100 more than now after rebate). I think it has worked really well pictures look nice. This is my first foray into the DSLR arena from the point and shoot. Liked the weather resistant body for hiking after reading about other cameras getting moisture on the sensor etc.. It fits good in the hand when taking pictures. But I am an old Pentax person, My other camera (1970) is a Spotmatic. It took thousands of pictures before slide film ended with no problems. It still works, even using a silver oxide battery instead of a mercury one for the light meter. Picked up the screw adaptor but haven't tried my old lenses with it. For using old lenses there is a tutorial from Pentax http://support.us.ricoh-imaging.com/node/1536

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
boot up
Old Not Bold Hiker



Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Posts: 4745 | TRs | Pics
Location: Bend Oregon
boot up
Old Not Bold Hiker
PostTue Nov 04, 2014 11:25 am 
mike wrote:
stitching is useful for distant, static subjects only.
Correct! If you want to get that wide angle shot of the bear chewing your leg off, the panorama workaround is pretty worthless. Then its a much better idea to swap out lens from your general walkaround to the wide angle. Hopefully the bear is still working on your leg by then. smile.gif Time consuming is getting to be less of a factor as camera companies finally figure out that even people with "fancy" cameras want to take panorama shots. My Panny GX7 has a panorama mode that sounds like a gattling gun when taking the pan, but it processes it into a single photo right there. It does have some learning curve, but the results are usually pretty decent. And yes, its a tradeoff, but probably covers a lot of applications that people use wide angle for. And I am thinking the op is looking for budget constraint workarounds. Without in-camera, you do trade a bit of time post processing, but tossing the shots into ms ICE is not all that bad. In camera "wide angle" pano examples from last weekend....
Yellow Aster Butte, WA 11/01/14
Yellow Aster Butte, WA 11/01/14
Yellow Aster Butte, WA 11/01/14
Yellow Aster Butte, WA 11/01/14
Yellow Aster Butte, WA 11/01/14
Yellow Aster Butte, WA 11/01/14

friluftsliv
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
mike
Member
Member


Joined: 09 Jul 2004
Posts: 6389 | TRs | Pics
Location: SJIsl
mike
Member
PostTue Nov 04, 2014 12:07 pm 
boot up wrote:
swap out lens from your general walkaround to the wide angle.
My general walk-about lens is a wide angle smile.gif

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
spamfoote
Member
Member


Joined: 26 Oct 2014
Posts: 860 | TRs | Pics
spamfoote
Member
PostWed Nov 12, 2014 5:45 am 
mike wrote:
stitching is useful for distant, static subjects only.
Not true entirely. With a little work... bawl.gif Requires a tripod for truly close subjects such as flowers at 2 feet. You do have to find the neutral point first though... If doing handheld, can't be all that close as one cannot hold the neutral point in the plane, but with practice can get objects within say, 3-5 feet to stitch without a problem quite often. If doing handheld stitcher, take more than one shot. Better chance of it coming out. A moving person or two in a stitcher is not a problem. LOTS of moving objects or fast moving objects on the other hand are a death knell and forget lake stitchers with a little wave action unless one is taking LONG exposures and stitching. That being said, stitching is a bunch of work, but so is carrying all that extra weight of an extra lens, or working all those extra hours to pay for that nice quality wide angle lens. Though with not much work as 5 years ago let alone 10 years ago. Back then, stitching really WAS a lot of work. Now it is nearly all automated unless you are doing HDR and a stitcher all in one. Even then with PTGUI etc doing this on a semi automatic basis... No free lunch. It is extra work either way. Is anyone surprised? If so, I have some bridges to sell you. Hey, I know, I will sell you naming rights to stars... Does anyone else think those organizations "selling" naming rights to stars is such a pile of.... eek.gif

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Hulksmash
Cleaning up.



Joined: 20 Apr 2008
Posts: 7113 | TRs | Pics
Location: Arlington
Hulksmash
Cleaning up.
PostWed Nov 12, 2014 12:25 pm 
I do not have a K50. I do have a k7 and a k5IIs. As another poster noted the kit seems kind of heavy. Yep the camera is built like a tank. I've dropped both of my cameras with no ill effects. The K7 has been submerged when i fell while fording a creek. No ill effects. Any K mount lens will work. So any K mount lens designed to auto focus will work.

"Bears couldn't care less about us....we smell bad and don't taste too good. Bugs on the other hand see us as vending machines." - WetDog Albuterol! it's the 11th essential
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
   All times are GMT - 8 Hours
 Reply to topic
Forum Index > Photography Talk > Pentax K50
  Happy Birthday speyguy, Bandanabraids!
Jump to:   
Search this topic:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum