Random crap with Uno.

[Geo]

Not to mention life (sometimes).

[Buster's Uncle]

(too often)

[Unorthodox]

I want one.

In Focus: Mammoth Bone Huts of Mezhirich

[Unorthodox]

Well, at least my knee is feeling better after a weekend of trying to stay off it as much as possible. 

The whole Christmas haunted house at the church thing was...they got issues. 

If you say 6, you really need to be ready to go at 6.  We sat at least a half hour before they started moving at all.  Once started, it was a decent pace though. 

It's funny, otherwise they seem to take my advice into account, though we've not gone for a couple years (and they had to skip last year, anyway).

They ATTEMPTED to fix the lighting I had last noted to them by adding these battery powered lanterns to the mix.  EXTREMELY WHITE, atmosphere destroying, LED lanterns that were like looking into car headlamps and obscuring as much as they were revealing. 

Years past, I had mentioned their use of scrim to make a nice illusion at the end, sadly that is gone.  Also several small firepits with smoldering tiny flames rather stunted the enjoyment for me personally, wood smoke is nigh on lethal to me. 

Various other little tidbits weren't 100% operational, but I doubt anyone else even noticed.  Just something I always see is little bits that are supposed to DO something and they arent. 

[Unorthodox]

So...after the whole situation last December scuttled my attempts to procure a Pentax K30, it was time to look at it again. 

Last year, Pentax released the K-3.  Upper end fancy camera.  This had the pentax community clamouring to grab the new shiny, which meant a lot of the old shinys were being sold off.  However, the K30 was a very small niche crowd at the mid-tier.  People tend to upgrade from the low tier straight to the upper tier, and this mid-tier camera gets lost in the shuffle. 

Selling new last year at $600, used prices stabalized at $400.

Last year, Pentax was also purchased by Ricoh, keeping the pentax name.   

Ricoh quickly rebranded the K30 as the K50 and released it to the market at a lower price.  K50's now sell for $400 new.  Why cheaper?  Lower quality bodies. 

Poor sales later, Ricoh released the Pentax KS1....to HORRENDOUS reviews.  Look, us Pentax people have been pentax people because of build quality and lenses.  Other cameras are better at the digital features spectrum, we get that, but we like the QUALITY of the glass and images and do the digital stuff post processing. 

Totally blowing up the camera and trying to turn build one into an iphone that could use pentax lenses and pairing it with a bunch of cheaper lenses was NOT what people buying DLSRs want.  Most especially Pentax people. 

This has all led to a bizarre marketplace right now.

The K3 has a couple bare bones models that are selling well.  The K50 selling steady at $400, KS1 not selling at $600, and NEW K 30's selling at $550.  However, do you trust Ricoh that these new K30s are actually up to spec? 


So, here I am:  I'm heavily invested in Pentax.  Well over $1000 in lenses.  However, the company is heading down a very dark path trying to turn itself into Canon. 

I can get a confirmed Pentax pre-Ricoh K30 used for about $325 right now.  However, in doing so, I might be dead-ending myself with the last DSLR I can buy.   

Jumping ship to another brand, however, will be extremely costly and time consuming and I frankly wouldn't even know where to begin.  Other brands take tier level jumps typically to catch up to my low light needs. 

[Unorthodox]

Well, think I'm circling in on not buying a camera. 

Taking a wait and see approach, I'm looking at instead buying more lenses for my existing camera. 

While this sounds insane, to invest even more heavily in a Pentax line I'm not sure I'll be interested in later down the road, the truth of the matter when it comes to SLR cameras is that Bodies devalue as time goes on, Lenses typically do not.  So, I'm not throwing money away, really, as I'll be able to sell them at near what I'll be paying if I decide to jump ship. 

Plus:  Great lens + cheap camera is always better in terms of output than cheap lens on great camera.  It's why all these cheap kit lenses that come with your camera are nonsense/ways for these camera companies to raise the price of their cameras. 

Currently debating whether to buy a right and proper "D" Macro (specifically designed for the dslr's, actual lens that I don't have to run full manual on, the camera's meters will actually WORK), or a proper telephoto "M" lens (old school, all manual)

The Macro would bring me up to the modern technology and allow me to continue to grow in that little sub-hobby, and at 100MM, could double as a portrait lens and allow greater diversity with my existing extension tubes. 

The telephoto option will be interesting for our upcoming trip to Yellowstone, and those times when I want to get a shot of the moon or something similar.  Probably not as diverse a use as the macro, but a use I really don't have such a great option at right now, where the macro I at least have SOME ability at presently. 


Also found a place that will buy my old crap laying around.  I have a couple ye olde film cameras, a few spare lenses, and crap I'm never going to use.  Might be able to get enough to buy both if I'm lucky.  Gotta plug in the serial numbers and see. 

[Geo]

Might be able to get enough to buy both if I'm lucky.  Gotta plug in the serial numbers and see.

Plug away, mate!
And make profit.

[Unorthodox]

2 snowflakes and people suddenly forget to drive...

Road isn't even WET idiots...

[Unorthodox]

realizing if I go EVEN OLDER on lenses, I have a remarkable variety to choose from.  I need to modify the camera first, though...

Overall it would be a good modification.  Might try it on my busted Ist camera first.  For that matter, the Ist might actually make a suitable downgraded camera.  It was fancy things like autofocus and light metering that busted...I've since moved to manually doing both anyway, probably test it soon.  Suitably modified, it makes the manual operation easier at the expense of some of the automagic features...

Yep, time to see if the sensor also busted or just the automagic stuff. 

[Geo]

Perhaps you should pay a visit to the former German Democratic Republic? They had the best lenses I ever heard of (Leica?).

[Unorthodox]

Yeah, I think those are going to be out of my price range.  Most Leica lenses need to be modified for my pentax anyway. 

One day I wouldn't mind some Zeiss lenses, but even they are well out of my price range.  Even used. 

60-70 year old pentax are just fine.  (most have actually gone UP in price over the years, but not quite enough to pace inflation) 

[Unorthodox]

THE IST LIVES!!!!





And I thought Bertha sucked in JPG, oi...  Once I found the settings to get it going full manual and raw, we were rollin'. 

Anywho, now it's time to retrofit this thing to accept lenses older than me.  Unfortunately, I can't swap the focus screen with one of my older film cameras here, was hoping, but they are one of the few pieces that changed when it went digital.  This is actually a better camera for the macro work and 'normal' lighting, Bertha was only better at low lighting. 

[Unorthodox]

Got the Ist updated so it will actually take modern memory cards.  Now got to take it apart and replace a few things to render it permanently manual.  Hoping to send off the old cameras soon as well. 

[Unorthodox]

Alarm company come to do a "simple" test of the building's fire system this morning:

BOOM!!! 

Alarms (despite them being put on test)  Attempt to cancel alarms results in feedback blowing the speakers. 

Physiclaly go round everyone up from evacuation to get them back in, they come rushing back out: Floors 2-4 are flooding. 

I think the system officially failed it's test...

[Geo]

 

At least its not as dangerous as a failed Tsunami warning system.