Pentax K-7...almost a reality.

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Hi Pentaxian friends.

Those pictures were referred to on Image Insider today. I'm still not going to get in the middle of what Pentax is really going to introduce, but we're in photography and we all know that a picture is worth a thousand words. At the end of the day it doesn't matter who was wright or wrong about the rumors of the new camera to be unveiled by Pentax in May. I just don't want to be the one that leaks information. It makes me smile, sing about it, and conjure up all kind of good feelings. I can hardly wait to get one of my own!

Here goes... Sweet, isn't it!

This is the picture of Desmond Young, who posted a simple image and ask "is this pic of K30D? Look at the flash on top of the body.... quite different from K10/20D.....maybe....it's...." on PentaxForums ...the rest is making history. Almost 200,000 hits and counting.

Desmond, you're a star!

Yvon Bourque

San Bernardino Mountains, Elevation 7,332 ft, viewed with the Pentax DA 15mm Limited.

Click pictures to enlarge.

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Hi Pentaxian friends.

There's almost too much talk about the upcoming Pentax DSLR, the K7 or K-7. I got out of the rumors frenzy and went out with my current K20D (still a pretty good DSLR) and the new DA 15mm Limited. Above are just a few images. I used a 77mm Circular Polarizer handheld in front of the lens. I adjusted for contrast and brightness in Lightroom 2.3.

Thank you for looking,

Yvon Bourque

It's no secret, Pentax is coming up with a new Flagship DSLR.

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Hi Pentaxian friends.

There has been so much written lately about this new upcoming DSLR, forums everywhere have exploded with more rumors, speculations, negativeness, arguments, etc, that I decided to pull the content of this post and just wait for Pentax Official release in May.

Thank you for reading.

Yvon Bourque

It all started with a field trip to test the DA 15mm limited...

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Hi Pentaxian friends.

Yesterday, Monday April 20, 2009, I woke up with the intention of going to the San Bernardino Mountains and test the ability of the new Pentax DA 15mm f/4 ED IF Limited lens. The wild flowers are emerging everywhere and I thought they would be good subjects for field testing this promising new lens. I did indeed drive to the mountains with my Jeep and brought the K20D with the 15mm lens and the K200D with the new DA* 55mm lens.

It was our first really nice day this year and the thermometer reached over 90 degrees Fahrenheit. I really had good intentions and I had the cameras and lenses with me, but once I reached the foot of the mountains, it seemed that it would be so nice just to drive up to the summit with the jeep. The lens testing became secondary. I took plenty of photos, but none were intended to test the lens.

As I was climbing the mountain with the Jeep in "four-wheel-drive" mode I kept thinking that I still had not named my Jeep. It is customary to name your Jeep. Men usually give a female name to their Jeep and women usually give a male name to their Jeep, but not necessarily. Well, I knew my Jeep was a "she" because when I bought "it" I was told "she" liked to climb.

My two principal hobbies are photography and four-wheeling. I wanted a name that would reflect both hobbies. The Jeep came unaltered from the factory and we worked on improving it and finishing it the way it is today. We lifted the whole Jeep 6", put a new motor, new coil-spring suspension, 35" monster tires, etc. It's sort of parallel to digital photography, whereas your original pictures can be taken in "RAW" format and after working on the images, they can be saved in "JPEG"format. My Jeep was originally in "RAW" form from the factory but after altering it, it becamed like a "JPEG" format. So I decided to name my Jeep Miss" J. Peggy". This is an acronym for "Jeep Photographer Environmentally Going Green...Yes!". For short, her nickname is really Miss Peggy. It fits both of my hobbies and my views about the environment. I always drive on assigned trails, and usually pick up the trash that other people left behind. It's our only earth and we better take care of our little planet.

So, although the photos here were taken with either the DA 15mm limited or the DA* 55mm, they are not what I would have used to field test the lens and draw my conclusions. You can still see the resolving capabilities in some of the pictures. I guess I will try testing the lens this coming weekend, and maybe I shouldn't drive Ms. Peggy. She might distract me from my mission by taking me to new places that only she can take me. I could be distracted again and forget my mission for the day.

I swear that I saw Ms. Peggy smiling. I got the proof right here!

The San Bernardino Mountains are about 60 miles North/East of Los Angeles.

This is where we started our escapade, Elevation 2,000 ft.

The vegetation changes according to the elevation. These wild flowers were starting to bloom between 3,000 to 4,000 ft.

Here we are at about 4,000 ft elevation and we took the wrong direction. The trail ended here. Turning around is harder than it looks. I was on top of a ridge.

Back on the trail and climbing. We're at 5,000 ft.

Time for a rest. We are at around 6,000 ft and the air is fresh and the temperature down in the seventies. No city noise, just the chirping of birds. It's beautiful up here.

We are on top. The mountain with the snow cap is Mt. San Gorgonio at an elevation of 11,499 ft.

It's time to go home. You don't want to get stuck up here without camping gear.

It still a bumpy ride going down...

and you can't go there with your car...

but we'll be back soon.

Thank you for reading.

Yvon Bourque and Ms. Peggy!

Pentax DA 15mm f/4 ED Limited lens arrived today.

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Hi Pentaxian friends.

I received my Pentax DA 15mm f/4 ED Limited lens. What a beautiful little lens. I like big lenses and big cameras, but lately, I have been so impressed with the Pentax Limited lenses, that I got to have the whole series. I still like big cameras and lenses when I go for a planned photo shoot, but for traveling, I am now favoring the Limited lenses with either the K2000 or the K200D without the handgrip.

The Pentax prime lenses have a very good reputation.

I will test the lens in the coming days and will report my impressions on this blog.

Thank you for reading,

Yvon Bourque

What does tomatoes have to do with Pentax equipment?

Hi pentaxian friends,

Well, it could mean that some Pentax equipment for a lucky and talented photographer who likes growing tomatoes. I have been growing tomatoes every summer (almost) for all my adult life. The leaves smell so good and there is nothing as good as a fresh tomato sandwich with mayonnaise, or a good BLT.Ned Bunnell is going to announce the prize and details for a "Best Tomato Photo '09" contest. Visit his site for more details, and good luck. I will submit photos of my home grown tomatoes.

Did you purchase a Pentax K2000? Are you new to Digital Photography? Read on, I have something for you.

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Hi Pentaxian friends.

You can buy one from EBay right now

I got a Pentax K2000 DSLR for my wife a few months back. She loves photography but don't know all that much about the technical aspect of digital photography, and don't care all that much about learning it. What she does have, is a good eye for photography.

She joins me often on my photo treks and once I set her DSLR to get the type of photos she wants to take, she gets excellent results. Of course, if I'm not around, she leaves the DSLR on Auto and she gets good results most of the times. Considering the situation, I decided to write a "one sheet" of instructions that she could bring with her that would help her. First, it was a little cumbersome to bring the 8 1/2" x 11" sheet, so I re-formatted the sheet to fit on glossy tri-fold pamphlet type paper. Well, a tri-fold still measures 8 1/2" high x a little more than 3 1/2" wide. Then, I decided to make it so that it would be protected from the elements. Then, she wanted it smaller still. Finally, I added a carabiner key chain so that it could be attached to the camera strap, camera bag or simply through a belt loop.

Here's the results. The instructions are straight forward, from the simplest way to use the camera, to more advanced settings, all in "laymen terms". If you or your loved ones have the K2000 and are new to the DSLR world, this would help immensely.

I am selling them on this site at the very reasonable price of $7.00, with the carabiner key chain , the weather-proof plastic pouch and free shipping no matter where you live. Get your K2000-K/m Easy-Sheet now. Stay tuned or drop me an email yvon@k10dbook.com

You can buy one from EBay right now, or trhough this site, as shown in the upper left column.

Thank you for reading,

Yvon Bourque

New firmware update for the Pentax K20D.

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Hi Pentaxian friends.

The following is from Pentax Japan.

Thank you for using a PENTAX K20D digital camera. PENTAX wishes to announce the release of Firmware Update Software Version 1.03 for K20D. Firmware in this document is the software that runs inside digital cameras.

Changes to V1.03
The following content have been improved in Version 1.03:
Improved the accuracy of SR (Shake Reduction) function.

Look who is making a white limited camera! Copying Pentax?

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Hi Pentaxian friends.

Remember how so many Pentaxians got upset when Pentax introduced the white K2000?

Well, looks who is introducing an all-white Antarctica camera:

Looks to me like Leica is watching what Ned Bunnell is doing. You just wait and see what Pentax has up it's sleeve for this coming year.

Source: ImagingInsider.com

Thanks for reading,

Yvon Bourque

I'm trying Panoramic pictures...

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Hi Pentaxian friends.

I went out and shot a few pictures today. I wanted to try to get some panoramic images. I only converted two, and I did it actually with Photoshop Element 7. I was going to purchase ArcSoft’s Panorama Maker 4 Pro, but it seems that Element 7 does a pretty good job. I might have saved myself $79.00. What do you suggest for software?

Surprisingly, the two pictures herein were done shooting “handheld” with no tripod or special panoramic heads. I used my K20D with the new Pentax DA* 55mm f/1.4. All shots were taken in manual mode. I used the green button for testing the suggested aperture/shutter speed, and interpolated the results to 1/30th sec @ F/22 for maximum depth of field. I know these aren’t the greatest panos, but I will get it right with a little practice. I am awaiting my panoramic head for adjusting the nodal point and shooting at closer range.

Click here to enlarge the picture above.

Click here to enlarge the picture above.

Thanks for reading,

Yvon Bourque

Pentax offers instant savings on select cameras. April 3 - 11, 2009 only.

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Hi Pentaxian friends.

Pentax has just announced instant rebates on select cameras. (Only from April 3rd to April 11th, 2009)

There is no need to submit or track claims or wait up to eight weeks for a rebate check that needs to be signed and deposited.

The rebates are available on the following cameras:

Pentax K2000 kit (Camera, DA L 18-55mm lens and AF200FG flash) : $50.00

Pentax Optio E70: $20.00



Pentax Optio P70: $50.00



Pentax Optio W60: $50.00



For more information, check http://www.pentaximaging.com/news/200/

Thank you to Michelle Martin of Pentax for this information.