Pentax K10D Battery advice needed

[paulrbarnard]

Yea, the modern DSLRs are not cheap. A used Canon 80D would be a great choice, but even that would likely still be £500+.

It is worth hanging on for the Amazon Black Friday deals. They often have older models at significant discounts from all the brands.

My daughter bought a Sony A7 a couple of years ago for a very low price (less than £500 I seem to recall), including the quite acceptable kit lens. It is three models old now but produces fantastic images

 

[paulrbarnard]

I've never heard of those before, are they readily available? and how difficult and how difficult are they to use? They are certainly at the right price

They are available for pretty much any interchangeable lens camera. Mine actually pass the electrical signals through from my lenses so autofocus and lens data works with them. Basically they are just hollow tube that goes between the lens and the camera body. They are widely available

 

[Garno]

Just ordered a set for £7.32, worth a try for that price

Macro Extension Tube Set for Pentax K K10D K20D K100D DSLR Camera | eBay

Ideal for macro photography situations that change quickly. An all-in-one solution for normal portraits and -macro photographs. Creates beautiful macro shots of insects, flowers, coins, jewelry and more.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[paulrbarnard]

Just ordered a set for £7.32, worth a try for that price

Macro Extension Tube Set for Pentax K K10D K20D K100D DSLR Camera | eBay

Ideal for macro photography situations that change quickly. An all-in-one solution for normal portraits and -macro photographs. Creates beautiful macro shots of insects, flowers, coins, jewelry and more.

www.ebay.co.uk

Great price! Have fun.

 

[Sandyn]

I use extension tubes on my Canon 5D. they work fairly well, but not as good as a dedicated macro lens, but they were nowhere near as expensive. depending on how many you stack, the depth of field can get very very shallow, but great fun playing with them. At £7.32, it's worth a try.

 

[dickm]

The ones recommended are unlikely to allow autofocus, so you'll need to relearn the skill of manual focussing. The ease of this seems to vary between cameras. My old *istDS is definitely easier to focus manually than the K30. Using extension tubes, a tripod will also be almost essential.

 

[sploo]

Or a set of extension tubes. They are super cheap and convert any lens into a close focus lens. I have a set of three for my Sony which cost £20.

That's what I said ("Another cheap option is extension tubes.")

 

[sploo]

The ones recommended are unlikely to allow autofocus, so you'll need to relearn the skill of manual focussing. The ease of this seems to vary between cameras. My old *istDS is definitely easier to focus manually than the K30. Using extension tubes, a tripod will also be almost essential.

At macro focussing distances/depth of field, autofocus is often not that useful anyway, so manual focus tubes aren't (usually) too much of an inconvenience.

 

[sploo]

Just ordered a set for £7.32, worth a try for that price

Macro Extension Tube Set for Pentax K K10D K20D K100D DSLR Camera | eBay

Ideal for macro photography situations that change quickly. An all-in-one solution for normal portraits and -macro photographs. Creates beautiful macro shots of insects, flowers, coins, jewelry and more.

www.ebay.co.uk

The thing to understand with tubes is that they're increasing the distance between the lens and the sensor plane; which allows you to reduce the distance between the lens and the subject. I.e. you can get closer, whilst still being able to achieve focus.

The longer the focal length of the lens, the more extension is required to have an effect, but conversely this means that a short focal length lens (e.g. 50mm) won't need much extension before you bring the plane of focus behind the end of the lens.

Best thing to do is to start with a short tube and see if that allows you to get close enough to achieve the desired magnification. If not, then use a longer tube. With extension tubes, the lens focussing ring sometimes won't bring your object into focus, so you instead need to adjust the camera position.

BTW I find that some zoom lenses don't play well with extension tubes, so if you have a prime lens it'd be worth starting with that.

 

[Garno]

Using extension tubes, a tripod will also be almost essential.

Funny enough I ordered a tripod last night.

I got a National Geographic one from Amazon for £7.99. I think it will earn its keep and for the money I am not expecting a great deal and it will not hold a patch to the more expensive and higher quality tripods but it will do a job.

National Geographic Phototripod Kit Small, with Carrying Bag, 3-Way Head, Quick Release, 4-Section Legs Lever Locks, Mid-Level Spreader, Load up 1 kg, Aluminium, NGHPMIDI [Amazon Exclusive]: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

Shop National Geographic Phototripod Kit Small, with Carrying Bag, 3-Way Head, Quick Release, 4-Section Legs Lever Locks, Mid-Level Spreader, Load up 1 kg, Aluminium, NGHPMIDI [Amazon Exclusive]. Free delivery and returns on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[Garno]

BTW I find that some zoom lenses don't play well with extension tubes, so if you have a prime lens it'd be worth starting with that.

I can't find the original lens that came with the camera so I am stuck with the Tamron 18-250mm lens. It will turn up one day and I will no doubt swear blind that I had checked that place 4 or 5 times.

 

[paulrbarnard]

That's what I said ("Another cheap option is extension tubes.")

I missed that sentence. There were a lot to chose from

 

[sploo]

I missed that sentence. There were a lot to chose from

Yea, sorry. I did rattle on a bit

 

[sploo]

I can't find the original lens that came with the camera so I am stuck with the Tamron 18-250mm lens. It will turn up one day and I will no doubt swear blind that I had checked that place 4 or 5 times.

Be aware that 30mm of extension tube with an 18mm focal length lens will likely result in the focal plane being somewhere in the middle of the lens. The same extension with a 250mm focal length won't make much difference to the lens. That said, some zooms behave quite strangely with tubes, so you'll have to give it a go and see what happens. Ideally stick the lens at, say, 100mm, and don't change it - trying to change the focus ring, zoom ring, and move the camera (when using tubes) will be an exercise in frustration.