Email: brqyvn@gmail.com 

Hi Photographer friends,

I'm almost done with my new Pentax K-01 "Everything you need to know...and then some" iBook. I have to say that this is the hardest task I have ever embarked on. It's not easy to write a book, it takes a lot of research and hands-on handling of the camera. It's was ten times harder to write this e-book (or iBook in this case) for the Apple iPad since Apple only released the application last December. There has been very little help from Apple as most "Apple Genious" were not yet trained with the "iBooks Author". I really think they have a winning app here, but it's taking  a little long to publish an "iBook Author Guide". Maybe I should make that my next project!

In the end though, I believe this will be the best e-book in my series. It has everything needed to help the readers understand. It uses all media currently available. It has text, images, video, interactive screens, search inside the iBook or the entire Internet, the ability for the readers to make notes and save the notes as flash cards for later use...and then some.

Does it show that I'm excited?

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What's more, I am contemplating continuing the series with the most popular cameras from all manufacturers. That will include Nikon and Canon cameras.

Oh yes! I'm definitely a Pentax user, but I believe I can be more helpful to the photographic circle by writing iBooks for all the most popular models of all brands.

One last word, frankly, I was a little disappointed with the K-01 not having  an OVF or EVF, but after using the camera for nearly one month, I am really pleased with the live-view that the monitor offers.  I took some images on sunny days, with no clouds, at noon, here in the Mojave desert, and I could see the image on the screen very well. There seems to be very little reflection problems with the K-01. I can't say that even with my K-5. 

I will releasing the iBook next week to 100 Beta testers and shortly after that, it will be available through the Apple App store.

Thank you for your patience, I know I haven't post much lately. This iBook writing has taken over all my other activities.

Yvon Bourque

Here are a few "Screen shots"

BETA readers needed for a new Pentax K-01 iBook.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com 

 Hi Photographer friends,

If you think that I haven't written much on this blog lately, you would be correct. I have been working late every night to complete an "How to" e-book or rather an iBook for the Pentax K-01. I still have a couple of weeks to go before I can publish it.

Unlike my previous e-books, that were and still are available in PDF, this new K-01 iBook is specifically written for the iPad. Apple came up with a new app in December called iBooks Author. Take a look at what it can do here on the Apple Site.

This new format is the most exciting form of digital book available yet. When reading the iBook, all media forms are included within the iBook. In other words, instead of multiple pages of text and images, you can view a video right from within the iBook, or peruse through a gallery of useful images pertaining to the subject at hand. From the iBook, you can even surf the internet or look at any website mentioned in the iBook and come right back to the same page you were reading, all with one tap on the screen. Get this, you can highlight a word or a paragraph, and create your own flash card with your own words to retrieve at any time later on. Enlarge the screen, rotate from portrait to landscape or just swipe to the next page or chapter.

Search within the iBook or Wikipedia or the entire Internet for more information about a word, and still return the page you are reading. Some of the images are interactive and tapping on a area brings additional information, etc.

This is the way we will all read and learn in the not-so-distant future. Once again, Apple is changing an entire aspect of our lives. My new Pentax K-01  iBook will be one of the first of its kind, if not the first. I have been working directly with Pentax and Apple for a while on this project.

People that do not have an iPad will not be left in the dust, as I will simultaneously release a PDF version. However the PDF version will not be as dynamic as the iBook.

Now, not everyone that has a Pentax K-01 has an iPad, but for those who do, I will release the K-01 in BETA to one  hundred  people. I'm not as big as Adobe, so I can't distribute BETA copies to everyone. 

If you have a Pentax K-01 and an iPad, and would like to be a BETA tester, please email me at brqyvn@gmail.com.  When the iBook is ready, it will be available for BETA testing directly from the Apple App Store. You will receive a unique password as a BETA tester and I will also email you when it's available.(Around the end of April)

If you are interested in being a BETA tester, email me as soon as possible, as I don't think it will take very long to enroll 100 people. In return, I will expect your opinion, pointing out of  typographical errors  and any suggestions about the iBook and future "How to" photography iBooks. I am planning to write similar iBooks for all popular digital cameras, including Nikon, Canon, Sony, Olympus, and of course... all future Pentax cameras.

Thank you for reading,

Yvon Bourquqe

Everybody is upset in the US about Pentax lenses price increase. I am too.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

 Hi Photographer friends,

Yes. we're all upset about the Pentax lenses price increase. I should have bought more lenses while they were priced within my budget. However, I believe that Pentax is not making the extra profit. If you ever noticed, in the B&H pages of advertisement in most magazines, the Pentax lens prices were never published. Pentax sell to the retailers, but the retailers always sold the lenses the prices they wanted to. Obviously, the big store were able to sell the lenses at a discounted price compared to other smaller stores.

This is probably one of the main reasons you hardly see any Pentax equipment in your local camera store. If they would carry the Pentax line, most of us would try the equipment in the local store, but purchase the equipment online because the discounted prices. With the new policy, I believe everyone will have to sell at the manufacturer's suggested retail price. That way, even your local small camera store can carry the Pentax line and make sales and profits.

Try and buy an iPad or any Apple equipment at any store country wide. They all sell the at same prices. I believe that Pentax is adopting the same policy. If the same focal length and quality lens is more expensive from Pentax, compared to Canon or Nikon, the marked will fix that problem quickly. I admit that Pentax is no Apple, but time will tell.

Thanks for reading,

Yvon Bourque

The Pentax K-01 with OVF. It's happening.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com 

 Hi Photographer friends,

Like I predicted in my blog a few days ago, people are adapting OVF (Optical View Finder) to the Pentax K-01. If you have a picture of how you solved the non-OFV presence on the K-01, send us a picture with your Name and we will post it here.brqyvn@gmail.com 

 Nothing will stop true Pentaxians.

Let's see some more adaptions.

Thanks for reading,

Yvon bourque